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The
Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon
Marigolds. Play. Paul
Zindel Encouraged by her teacher, Matilda undertakes a gamma ray experiment with marigolds which wins her a prize at high school - and brings on the shattering climax of the play. Proud, jealous, too filled with her own hurts to accept her daughter's success, Beatrice can only maim when she needs to love, and deride when she wants to praise. Yet, as Matilda's experiment proves, something beautiful can emerge from even the most barren, afflicted soil. 84
Charing Cross Road.
Helene Hanff. Adapted for the stage by James Roose-Evans In 1949 a struggling American writer
started a correspondence with a firm of British antiquarian
booksellers that was to last for twenty years. The warm,
compassionate and very human exchange of letters was
published as a book and is here skilfully and lovingly
adapted for the stage. 'An evening of enchantment and charm
the like of which is rarely encountered in the theatre.'
What's On in London The
Elephant Man. Play.
Bernard Pomerance The true story of John Merrick, treated first as a fairground freak because of his hideously, repulsively deformed body and later exploited more subtly by Victorian society. He is befriended by a young doctor who provides him with a home in the London Hospital where Merrick is shrewdly used for fund-raising. He is introduced to high society, and is trapped by Victorian values so incongruous to his reality. Even those who love him can't help him and he dies from his horrible affliction. Period 1884-90 Elizabeth
Gordon Quinn (in
Scot-Free) : Chris Hannan Elizabeth Gordon Quinn battles to keep her dignity as she is faced with squalor, poverty, rising rent prices and a son who is wanted for desertion from his regiment. You expect that a play set in the
Glasgow rent strike of 1915 will be a model of dour social
realism, but [the play] confounds all expectations.
The result is both startling and provocative.
Guardian. Elsie
and Norm's "Macbeth".
Comedy. John Christopher-Wood Elsie and Norm have decided to have a bit
of a bash at culture by staging a production of Macbeth
in their living-room. After a spot of judicious
rewriting by Norm to make it snappier and more punchy, and
undaunted by the large cast, Elsie and Norm set out to act
'one of the greatest pieces of literature what has ever been
wrote in the English language', playing all the characters
between them. The hilarious results set Shakespeare spinning
in his grave! End of Me Old Cigar. John Osborne. Copies available on hire only. Please contact Samuel French Ltd for further details. Elton
John's Glasses. Play.
David Farr Bill is a fanatical supporter of Watford FC. Day after day he sits in his unfurnished flat, watching the 1984 Cup Final with an obsession verging on madness. The video replays the fatal moment when the Watford goalkeeper fumbles the ball and Everton take a two-nil lead. Bill blames the goalkeeper's mishap on the glare from Elton John's glasses. Reconciled to an agoraphobic existence, Bill laments the decline of his beloved team: 'It was there the dream died'. The
End of the Food Chain.
Play. Tim Firth Welcome to the 'animal shift' at Kale
Moor grocery distribution depot. Under the guidance of
Bruce, work here is an endless round of sports and juvenile
humour. But a change is due, for their new colleague is not
a born games player and is-even worse-a woman. Wildly funny,
sharply observed and peopled with vivid, likeable
characters, this is another comic gem from the author of
Neville's Island. An
Englishman's Home Play.
Stephen Mallatratt Brian, a bit of a snob, has furnished his
'castle' with luxurious trimmings to show off to his
relatives. They remain unimpressed, as does his wife, Mandy.
After one family gathering, Mandy decides she has had enough
and leaves him. The other young members of the group try to
effect a reunion; unfortunately their efforts only reveal
their own hidden tensions, and the result is worse for Brian
than before. Enjoy.
Play. Alan Bennett Dad thinks everything will be better when
the family moves. The social worker who calls to observe
their lives turns out to be absent son Terry, idolised by
Mam, in drag. Secretary daughter Linda, in reality a
prostitute, breezes in, shattering Dad's illusions. The
house is dismantled around them to be rebuilt in a park
preserving the ideals of family life. Mam will be in a
showcase whilst Dad is carted off to the geriatric ward. The
Enquiry. Play.
Charlotte Hastings Kate, a prisoner sentenced for killing
her very sick child, has been attacked and driven to attempt
suicide. The prison authorities discover that the attack was
made by an inmate, Gow, who has a lesbian attachment to
another prisoner, Valentine, and who is insanely jealous of
Kate's innocent friendship with Valentine. The
investigations also reveal that Kate's husband had killed
the child and that Kate, herself innocent, is shielding the
man she loves. Enter
a Free Man. Comedy.
Tom Stoppard George Riley refuses unemployment on the grounds that he is employed in inventing; unfortunately his inventions are slightly ahead of their time. Every Saturday he sweeps into his local declaring that he has left home to make his fortune. But this Saturday his long-suffering, pocket-money-providing daughter has had enough, and she too runs away, only to discover that her knight in shining motorcycle gear is already married. Sunday finds them both back at home once again. The Entertainer. Play. John Osborne M5 (young, middle-age, 50s, 70s) F3 (young, 22, 60s). A living-room, a front cloth. Archie Rice is a failure as a comedian.
News of his son's death while on military service arrives as
the family is anticipating his return with a party. Archie
tries to stage a comeback for his befuddled, has-been father
who, mercifully, dies in the attempt. A prosperous brother
offers to send the family to Canada but Archie cannot leave
the decaying world of the music hall, where he is at
home. Entertaining
Mr Sloane. Play. Joe
Orton A youth named Sloane comes in search of a room, and is then seduced by the landlady. Along comes her homosexual brother, who sets about capturing the affections of the youth for himself. Their father believes he witnessed the youth murder someone and, to silence him, Sloane kicks the old man to death. The landlady and her brother now have Sloane exactly where they want him: each of them will enjoy his company for six months of the year. Entertaining
Strangers. Play.
David Edgar Sarah Eldridge, a beer-brewing tradeswoman, embodies the free-thinking, bustling spirit of a community beginning to reap the rewards of the Industrial Revolution. The rise to commercial eminence runs parallel to the story of Reverend Henry Moule, a hard-line fundamentalist who believes brewing to be a sinful trade. During the Dorchester cholera epidemic Moule, spiritually intolerant, proves socially altruistic, while self-interest keeps Sarah away from helping the infectious sick. Period Victorian Epitaph for George Dillon. John Osborne. Copies available on hire only. Please contact Samuel French Ltd for further details.
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