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A
Coat of Varnish. Play
of Murder. Ronald Millar, suggested by the novel by C. P
Snow The elderly Lady Ashbrook is brutally
murdered in her London home. Chief Superintendent Briers
discovers the murderer but has no proof and his ultimate
dilemma is how to convict the man he knows to be guilty.
This play was premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket,
London, in 1982. 'A thriller with a conscience... '
Standard The
Cocktail Hour.
Comedy. A. R. Gurney With a mixture of gentle comic poignancy
and dramatic tension, one of America's leading contemporary
playwrights here examines the problems which arise when
John, a leading playwright, returns home to ask his parents'
permission to produce his latest work, a play about his
family. The Cocktail Hour had a long and successful
run in New York and successful tours in both the UK and
Australia. Cold
Comfort Farm. Play.
Paul Doust, adapted from the novel by Stella Gibbons Orphan Flora Poste, heroine of Gibbons's
tongue-in-cheek classic novel, likes everything to be tidy
and comfortable so when she goes to live with her eccentric
relatives at Cold Comfort Farm she tries to alter her
surroundings and encourage others to greater things. But
this proves difficult ... Period 1930s. 'Paul Doust's new
adaptation embraces the book with a stylistic exuberance.'
Financial Times Collaborators.
Play. John Mortimer Henry is a struggling lawyer who makes a
little money now and again writing for the radio. When he
meets up with Sam Brown, who wants him to write a script
about marriage - 'something truthful' - Katherine, Henry's
wife, is not at all enthusiastic, foreseeing sinister and
intrusive complications. The complications-and
collaborations-that do in fact develop from Mr Brown's
arrival for dinner and the subsequent conversation
out-distance her expectations. Period 1950s Come
As You Are. Four
Playlets. John Mortimer The characters in all four plays are in
their twenties to forties and can either be played by the
same four artists or by separate casts. The first, Mill
Hill, calls for 2 Men and 1 Woman, the remainder,
Bermondsey, Gloucester Road and Marble Arch,
call for 2 Men and 2 Women each. These four plays are linked
by their themes of sexual entanglements and by their central
or suburban London settings. Come
Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy
Dean. Comedy-drama.
Ed Graczyck In a small-town dime store in West Texas,
the Disciples of James Dean, now middle-aged, gather for
their twentieth reunion. The ladies' reminiscences mingle
with flash-backs to their youth; then the arrival of a
momentarily unrecognised woman sets off a series of
upsetting and revelatory confrontations. The action takes
place in 1975 and, in recall, 1955. Come
Back for Light Refreshments After the
Service. Play. Julie
Day Beth is in the kitchen preparing food for
her father's wake - real sandwiches, cakes, etc., that the
audience are invited to partake of as they become the
visiting mourners. After nursing her father for five years
before he died, she plans to sell the house and go
back-packing despite the disapproval of others. This play
about relationships and understanding garnered rave reviews
and an Edinburgh Fringe Award for excellence. Come
Blow Your Horn.
Comedy. Neil Simon Harry Baker should be a happy man, but
his sons are a daily trial. Alan is a playboy with a
penchant for beautiful girls and now Buddy, formerly so
timid and obedient, has joined his brother in dissipation,
unsuccessfully experimenting with the fair sex while his
parents become more mystified and irate. Alan suddenly
redeems himself by settling down, and Buddy, having learned
how to handle women, determines to take over Alan's role as
the family playboy. Comedians.
Play. Trevor Griffiths The setting is a schoolroom near Manchester where an evening class of budding comics congregate for a final briefing from their tutor before facing an agent's man from London. Telling jokes for money offers an escape from the building site or the milk round. But the humour is a deadly serious business that also involves anger, pain and truth. How and why are laughter engineered? What dark secrets within us trigger mirthful responses to shaped remarks about sex, ethnic groups and physical disabilities'? Comfort
and Joy. Comedy. Mike
Harding It's Christmas. Relatives you hardly ever
see and who are now very different from you arrive at your
house for the festivities. No-one receives a present that is
at all appropriate. Culinary disasters abound. Long-buried
resentments rear their ugly heads as the alcohol flows and
tongues are loosened. Comfort and Joy, Mike Harding's
comedy, is painfully - but always amusingly - familiar. The
Common Pursuit. Play.
Simon Gray A very English modern play, reeking of
real tragedy, real humour and real life. The Common
Pursuit chronicles the erosion of the ambitions of a smug,
elitist group of Cambridge friends. Stuart is editor of a
literary magazine and the pursuit of excellence is shown to
be economically a bad proposition in this world. The
magazine collapses and the characters' fates vary as the
play proceeds. An ironic epilogue returns to the early days
in Cambridge with the young people planning their
futures. Communicating
Doors. Comedy. Alan
Ayckbourn An ingenious time-warp comedy which
begins in the year 2014 when a prostitute, Poopay, is
summoned to a deluxe London hotel suite by an infirm elderly
businessman to witness a document detailing the murder of
his two wives by his psychopathic business associate. Poopay
finds herself in the year 1994 confronting Ruella, the
second wife, and when Ruella finds herself in 1974 with the
first wife she decides to rewrite the future! Confusions.
Five inter-linked one-act plays. Alan Ayckbourn These five short plays deal riotously,
but with sharply pointed undertones, with the human dilemma
of loneliness; a mother unable to escape from baby talk
(Mother Figure), a disastrous fete (Gosforth's
Fete), an unsuccessful seduction attempt (Drinking
Companion), a fraught dinner encounter (Between
Mouthfuls) and the final play, A Talk In The Park,
sums up, with five self-immolated characters on park
benches. Conjugal
Rites. Play. Roger
Hall A middle-aged couple, Barry and Gen, are celebrating their twenty-first anniversary - in bed. It begins amiably enough - it's a time for reflection and celebration, after all. But the rewards of middle-aged married life are doubtful, and gradually, the picture darkens as they confront the spectres of death, physical decline and adultery that surround them. The
Constant Wife.
Comedy. W. Somerset Maugham When Mortimer Durham storms into the
Middletons' home revealing that Constance's husband is
having an affair with his wife, Constance refuses to create
a scene. A year later, and financially independent,
Constance feels entitled to sexual independence. She
announces that she will, as John has done, take a short
revivifying break by having a holiday with an early admirer,
leaving John first outraged and then appreciative of his
remarkable wife. The
Continental Quilt.
Farce. Joan Greening Mike is looking forward to a pleasant
stay with girlfriend Gloria. Scarcely has the curtain risen
than a ring of the doorbell shatters his plans-his brother
Dick seeking help after being thrown out by his wife,
Marion, following her discovery of him in the bedroom with
his neighbour Angela. There follows the most hectic evening
of Mike's life and an even more hectic morning as he tries
to sort everything out. Coriolanus.
Play. Bertolt Brecht. Translated by Ralph Manheim Brecht writes of his adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy, 'I don't believe the new approach to the problem would have prevented Shakespeare from writing a Coriolanus. I believe he would have taken the spirit of our time into account as much as we have done, with less conviction no doubt, but with more talent.' He follows the framework and shape of the play very closely, but adapts the general slant to his own purpose of commenting on the modern world. The
Corn Is Green. Play.
Emlyn Williams Miss Moffat settles in a remote Welsh mining village and starts a school for the local boys, one of whom, Morgan Evans, shows great promise. Miss Moffat determines to do everything to help Morgan's application for a scholarship to Oxford. But Morgan rebels against help from a woman and falls prey to the flashy charms of Bessie Watty. His chances of success are almost destroyed but Miss Moffat's courageous wisdom and her affection for him win the day and Morgan wins the scholarship. Period late nineteenth century Corpse!
Comedy thriller. Gerald Moon Evelyn, an out-of-work actor, engages
Powell, with a shady past, to do away with his suave,
sophisticated, moneyed twin. As with most 'foolproof' plans
things do not go as they should and people are not what they
seem. Corpse! is not so much a whodunit as a
whodunit to whom! 'If The Mousetrap is the thriller
for the fifties; Sleuth for the sixties;
Deathtrap for the seventies; Corpse! is
surely the thriller for the eighties...' Los Angeles
Times. Period 1936 Corpsing.
Four one-act plays. Peter Barnes This collection of plays-three duologues
and one three-hander-on a strong theatrical theme, may be
presented individually (see the separate listings in Section
B) or in one programme as a complete evening's entertainment
under the title Corpsing. Together they encapsulate
Peter Barnes' consummate skill of contrasting opposites and
simultaneously combining 'the absurdly tragic and the
tragically absurd'. Count
Dracula. Play based
on Brain Stoker's novel Dracula. Ted Tiller This is a new witty version of the
classic story of a suave vampire whose passion is sinking
his teeth into the throats of beautiful young women. There
are many surprising but uncomplicated stage effects (full
details are given) including secret panels, howling wolves,
bats that fly over the audience, and Dracula vanishing in
full view of the audience. The
Country Wife : William
Wycherley By claiming impotence Horner, a London
libertine, gains easy access to a whole succession of
married ladies. Horner's sexual lie remains a secret to all
but the women he seduces, even when succeeds in running off
with Mrs Pinchwife. Wychereley's lively comedy of manners
contains all the classic Restoration characters: wits, fops,
lecherous older women and accessible younger women, but
within a subversive plot that turns cuckolding into romance.
First performed in 1675. Court
in the Act! Farce.
Maurice Hennequin and Pierre Veber, translated and adapted
by Robert Cogo-Fawcett and Braham Murray First performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, this brilliant, hilarious adaptation of the classic French farce went on to enjoy a successful run at London's Phoenix Theatre in 1987. No man can resist Mademoiselle Vobette, from a provincial Judge to the Minister of Justice himself and from her arrival in the backwoods town of Gray, Hennequin and Veber spin a series of seductions, cover-ups and mistaken identities which catch the characters well and truly in the act! The
Cracked Pot. Play.
Blake Morrison. Translated and adapted from Heinrich von
Kleist's Der Zerbrochene Krug The Cracked Pot is more than a
translation of Heinrich von Kleist's Der Zerbrochene
Krug, as the action now takes place in Skipton,
Yorkshire, in 1810, with Kleist's German verse transformed
into tough Yorkshire dialect. Funny, earthy and satirical,
the play concerns Judge Adam, Skipton's sole agent of
justice, who is far from happy to be visited by the
investigating magistrate Walter Clegg, seeking out signs of
malpractice. Cracks.
Play. Martin Sherman California, 1973. Rick, a musician and
dancer, is shot dead. Was it Gideon, his drug-happy
co-performer? Maggie, his older lover, an actress'? Roberta,
Rick's transsexual bodyguard? Or one of the other oddball
guests? As Rick's friends investigate one murder follows
another ... no-one is safe! With a host of hilarious,
way-out characters, outspoken dialogue and a mystery that
keeps the audience guessing until the last minute, Cracks
is a truly entertaining adult comedy. Crimes
of the Heart. Comedy.
Beth Henley Three sisters have gathered in their small Mississippi hometown awaiting news of their grandfather who is dying in a local hospital; Lenny, unmarried, Meg, a failed singer and Babe, on bail having shot her husband. Their troubles, which are grave yet somehow hilarious, are highlighted by their cousin Chick, Doc Porter and Babe's lawyer who is trying to keep her out of jail while waging a personal vendetta against her husband. But the play ends on a joyful note with the three sisters reunited celebrating Lenny's birthday. The
Cripple of Inishmaan.
Play. Martin McDonagh Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland in 1934, this is a strange comic tale in the great tradition of Irish storytelling. As word arrives on Inishmaan that the Hollywood director Robert Flaherty is coming to the neighbouring island of Inishmore to film 'Man of Aran', the one person who wants to be in the film more than anybody is young Cripple Billy, if only to break away from the bitter tedium of his daily life. The
Crucifer of Blood.
Play. Paul Giovanni, based on characters created by Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle A Sherlock Holmes pastiche based mainly
on The Sign of Four, though with some fundamental
differences (the lady in the case proves to be far from Dr
Watson's true love), and bringing in elements from other
stories. The action starts in India with the theft of the
Agra Treasure, moves forward thirty years to deal with the
exciting events resulting from the crime and concludes with
a tantalising hint of one of Watson's most famous unwritten
adventures - 'The Giant Rat of Sumatra'. Period 1857 and
1887 Crystal
Clear. Play devised
by Phil Young in collaboration with Anthony Allen, Diana
Barrett, Philomena McDonagh When Richard, who is partially sighted,
meets blind Thomasina and subsequently loses the sight of
his other eye, he and Thomasina are forced to confront the
basic question of how successfully two blind people can live
in a world made for the sighted. This beautiful and moving
play enjoyed a successful run at Wyndham's Theatre in 1983,
and won Phil Young The Standard's Drama Award for
Most Promising Playwright (1983). Cuckoo.
Play. Emlyn Williams Spoiled and cosseted over the years by
her devoted mother, Cuckoo's future is thrown into crisis by
the death of Mam. But it's not just Cuckoo's future which
then becomes doubtful - what of sister Lydia's plans to
marry wealthy Jerome, and those of her aunt Madam, and the
physically disabled Uncle Powell? First produced at
Guildford with Rosemary Leach in the title role, this
absorbing and touching play reveals the hidden depths in the
woman who has always been treated as a child. '... there is
plenty of cosy humour to give (it) charm ... very
actable...' Daily Telegraph. Period 1935 Curl
Up and Dye (in South
Africa Plays) : Susan Pam-Grant Five women discuss their lives in a
run-down hairdressing salon in a 'grey area' of
Johannesburg, 1989. 'A bitter, biting and funny play ...
I cannot recommend it warmly enough' John Peter,
Sunday Times The
Curse of the Werewolf.
Play. Ken Hill. Songs by Ian Armit and Ken Hill Dr Bancroft has brought his wife,
daughter Kitty and butler d'Arcy to visit a medical school
chum, Steiner, at Walpurgisdorf Castle. Strange things
happen when the moon is full - men change into werewolves.
Then it transpires that Steiner is carrying out experiments
on the various inmates of the castle turning them into
werewolves. His plan to mate Kitty and Martin to produce a
natural werewolf is foiled by the return from the forest of
the other male members of the party. Curtain
Up on Murder.
Thriller. Bettine Manktelow An amateur drama company is rehearsing in
the theatre at the end of the pier. Storms rage overhead and
the doors are locked - they are trapped! Then a mysterious,
ghostly presence passes across the stage, and when the
Assistant Stage Manager falls to certain death through a
trapdoor, the remaining actors are thrown into disarray.
Their panic increases when one of the actresses is poisoned
and it becomes evident that a murderer is in their midst
... Curtains.
Play. Stephen Bill It is Ida's eighty-sixth birthday- a milestone she would rather not have reached. Her family has gathered to celebrate with a birthday tea. After tea is cleared the family disperse leaving Katherine remembering a pact she made with Ida not to let her suffer into old age. She helps her out of her misery and into the next world. Returning to find a mercy-killer in the house the family proceed to reveal a panorama of English mores at their hilarious worst. This triple award-winning play was presented at London's Whitehall Theatre. The Story: Ida's family is throwing her a `birthday tea' for her 86th birthday. Though her family is cheerful and wishes her well, Ida is racked with pain and making it to 86 has been a struggle she would gladly relinquish. Susan, the prodigal daughter who has been away for 25 years, arrives and is surprised to see that her mother has only brief periods of lucidity, and worse, no longer remembers her long-lost daughter. After the party is over and the family members depart, it is Katherine, Ida's eldest daughter, who is left to look after her. Katherine is tortured by the promise she made to her mother not to let her suffer, and after several attempts, is finally able to "help" her mother pass peacefully to her next life. But now that Katherine is a mercy-killer, a new can of worms is opened as the rest of the family struggles with morals, rivalries and their own inadequacies, and all the pathos and humor that they can trigger. ISBN 0 573 01686 0 Curtmantle.
Play. Christopher Fry The stage is William Marshal's mind, as though he were remembering King Henry's life. Though it follows chronologically it is not a chronicle play; its form is one of memory and contemplation. It adds up to no more than a sketch of Henry - whose character covers a vast field of human nature, as the thirty-five years of his reign contains a concentration of the human condition. Period 12th century Cut
and Run. Comedy. Peter
Horsler The young, altruistic Dr Glow is
perturbed when his National Health Clinic is hired out to Dr
Boxclever, a private consultant who extorts outrageous fees
from his patients by prescribing unnecessary treatments and
useless medicines. Boxclever persuades Dr Glow to
impersonate an eminent specialist and so begins a slide into
malpractice. The denouement, though, is not as
straightforward as it would appear for, by another twist of
the plot, all ends happily. This is an hilarious comedy
painting large the dangers in private health care. Cyrano
de Bergerac. Comedy. Edmond
Rostand. Translated by Christopher Fry Rostand's hero has become a figure of theatrical legend: Cyrano, with the nose of a clown and the soul of a poet, is by turns comic and sad, as reckless in love as in war, and never at a loss for words. Audiences immediately took him to their hearts, and since its triumphant opening night the play has never lost its appeal. Christopher Fry's acclaimed translation into 'chiming couplets' represents the homage of one verse dramatist to another. Period: 1640-1655
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