Me
and Mamie O'Rourke.
Play. Mary Agnes Donoghue Louise's Los
Angeles house is rapidly turning into rubble as her
architect husband David takes a sledgehammer to it as
effectively as he has to their marriage. Louise escapes her
unhappiness through fantasies of a former lover and through
her close, but often stormy, friendship with Bibi, a cook
who dreams of becoming an animal behaviourist. Me
and My Friend.
Play. Gillian Plowman A black
comedy, the play explores the relationships between two
'odd' couples thrown prematurely out of hospital care.
Firstly, we see two men conduct fantasy interviews for jobs
they will never get, then two women trying to 'make plans'
as urged to do by the hospital. They all meet when Oz throws
a disastrous party with the four desperately attempting the
niceties of social intercourse. Medea.
A play by Euripides, translated by Alistair Elliot Medea finds
herself wronged by her husband Jason when he marries the
King's daughter. She is banished by the King, Creon, but,
fatally, he gives her one day to prepare for her departure;
'one day,' he says, 'is too short a time to do us harm.'
Racked with grief and anger and hatred, Medea undertakes
horrendous acts of revenge that see the death of Jason's new
wife, and, most brutally, of her own children.
Medea.
Euripides. Trans F. Raphael & K.McLeish The powerful
myth of Medea, who murders her children to revenge her
husband's infidelity - in a translation first performed at
the Royal Exchange, Manchester in 1992. Original first
performed in 431 BC. The
Memorandum.
Play. Václav Havel. Translated by Vera
Blackwell Written and
performed during Czechoslovakia's era of relative political
freedom in the 1960s, this is a provocative and witty
assault on the madness of 'efficiency' peculiar to total
bureaucracy. The action takes place in a model political
bureaucracy where a harassed manager introduces a new jargon
designed to supplant the popular language and expedite
regimentation, but which proves to be unworkable.
Men
Should Weep.
Play. Fria Lamont Stewart Written for
Glasgow Unity in 1947, this extraordinarily moving play of
women surviving in the east end of Glasgow of the 1930s was
revived by 7:84 Company to tremendous critical acclaim. It
finds in the lives of Maggie, her family and her neighbours
not only all the tragedy that appalling housing, massive
unemployment and grinding poverty can produce, but also a
rich vein of comedy - the sense of the ridiculous, the need
for a good laugh.
Messiah.
Play. Martin Sherman Messiah is
set in Poland in 1665 following the Cossack uprising in
which over a third of the once thriving Jewish community has
been slaughtered, the rest impoverished. Now everyone is
obsessed with the certainty that the Messiah will come. So,
with the news that the Messiah is preaching in the Middle
East, Rachel and her family journey to Gallipoli with tragic
results. ' ... handles the Jewish dilemma with humanity and
humour.' Standard
Mick
and Mick.
Play. Hugh Leonard Fran returns
home to Ireland for her brother's ordination and is
confronted by her mother and sister, who are concerned with
the neighbours' reactions to Fran's bleached hair and
low-cut dress. Fran finds a soul-mate in her brother-in-law
who is trapped in a web of stifling domesticity and meets up
again with the fiancé who jilted her eight years
previously. But a cruel misunderstanding forces her to leave
home once more. Middle-Age
Spread.
Play. Roger Hall Colin and
Elizabeth are giving a dinner party for two other couples.
As the outwardly smooth, conventional dinner proceeds a
series of flashbacks to the preceding weeks shows hidden
links and stresses among all three couples. Among other
things, it is revealed that Colin has been having an affair
with one of the other wives; however, it seems possible that
between Colin and Elizabeth there may be a chance of a
deeper understanding. Midsummer
Mink.
Comedy. Peter Coke The amiable
aristocratic crooks of Breath of Spring are at it
again. Brigadier Rayne deploys his charity campaigns with
little monetary success until Nan is passed a mink coat by a
crook on the run, and soon they are running a meticulously
organised receiving system for stolen furs, giving all their
profits to charity. Finally, with the house full of furs and
a police inspector making inquiries, they decide to retire -
temporarily. The
Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Any
More.
Play. Tennessee Williams A stranger
arrives at Mrs Goforth's Italian villa, a young poet known
as the Angel of Death because he has been present at the
decease of a number of elderly ladies. She thinks that he
will afford her a final fling before she dies, but it turns
of that he is there as a spiritual rather than fleshly guide
and merely wishes to comfort her during her declining years.
The author describes his play as 'a comedy about death'.
The
Mill On the Floss.
Helen Edmundson This
acclaimed adaptation of George Eliot's classic feminist
novel was conceived for Shared Experience Theatre Company
and first performed in 1994. 'More compelling and fully
human than the original' The Times. The
Miracle Worker.
Play. William Gibson Helen Keller
is world-famous for her work with those born blind, deaf and
dumb. The play tells the story of Annie Sullivan's efforts
to teach Helen to communicate, fighting against the
thoughtless indulgence of Helen's family and her doting
possessive mother until, at last, Annie achieves the miracle
of teaching Helen language. Here, Helen's life can truly be
said to have begun. Period 1880 The
Misanthrope.
Comedy. Molière. English version by Tony
Harrison Commissioned
by the National Theatre for the 1973 production starring
Diana Rigg and Alec McCowen, Harrison's transposition of the
action to the 'reign' of Charles de Gaulle helps to clarify
the truly human dilemmas in the play so often obscured
behind the frills and stiffness of traditional productions.
This comedy of manners centres on the high-principled
Alceste who cannot bring himself to temper the truth with
tact and has the comic misfortune to be in love with the
frivolous wayward Célimène Period 1966
THE
MISANTHROPE
Comedy 8M 3F
Interior set
Outraged and
disheartened by the vain flattery and calculated duplicity
of his fellow men, Alceste declares that henceforth he will
speak only the truth, no matter what offence this might
herald. His philosophic friend, Philinte, counsels him to
temper his rashness, but Alceste claims that he can no
longer tolerate the convention of saying one thing to a
person's face and another behind his back. Alceste's
romantic entanglements only serve to complicate the
situation further. Ultimately, Alceste self-righteously
declares he will renounce the world and seek a place where
honesty can still flourish.
The
Miser.
Comedy. Molière. Adapted by Miles Malleson Harpagon, the
miser, loves his gold but decides to take for his second
wife Mariane, the beloved of his son Cléante.
Meanwhile, Valère and Elise are in love. Harpagon
threatens to marry Elise to a certain Seigneur Anselm, so
the four lovers urgently plot to save themselves. It
transpires that Valère and Mariane are the lost
children of wealthy Seigneur Anselm. As Anselm is a
benevolent fellow, the lovers' happiness is assured. Period
1668 The
Miser.
Comedy. Molière, translated by David Chambers. The ageing
but vital Harpagon is hoarding every centime he can get his
hands on, making sure that his two children, the virginal
Elise and the dandy Cleante, live under his iron will. To
complicate matters, Elise has fallen in love with the
handsome Valere, who masquerades as a servant in the
household, despite his noble birth, and, worse yet, Cleante
and Harpagon are both smitten with the same woman, the
beautiful, if somewhat dim, Marianne. Meanwhile, scheming
servants and assorted hustlers angle for Harpagon's
incredible wealth, much of which is now buried and protected
by snarling Dobermans. The delirious plot spirals to a
wildly comic finish, filled with all the masterful plot
twists and outrageous revelations one would expect from one
of Molière's finest plays.
Misha's
Party.
Play by Richard Nelson and Alexander Gelman In 1991,
Mikhail celebrates his sixtieth birthday in a Moscow hotel;
outside, communist reactionaries are attempting a coup.
Mikhail has gathered together an uneasy group: his two
ex-wives, and their new husbands, his disgruntled daughter
Masha, and his young fiancee Lydia, Masha's flatmate.
Meanwhile, an American, Mary, frantically searches for her
lost granddaughter. Using a recent event in Russia's
volatile political history as its backdrop, this poignantly
explores many themes pertinent to Russia and the West, from
historical determinism to the conflict between generations.
Misogynist
(in The Crack In the Emerald). Michael
Harding Written by
'one of the most significant new Irish writers of his
generation' (Sunday Times) and strongly influenced by
religious and folk ritual, this near-monologue, full of
erotic imagery, offers the opportunity for a
tour-de-force for a male actor. Miss
Julie.
August Strindberg. Trans K. McLeish Written in
real time, Strindberg's play is an unnerving story of the
seduction of Miss Julie. Bored with her sheltered existence
in her father's mansion, Miss Julie tempts the attentions of
the footman, Jean, during the Midsummer Night's Eve
celebrations However, Miss Julie experiences far more than
she bargained for ... First performed in 1889. Also included
is Strindberg's influential Preface. Miss
Roach's War.
Play. Richard Kane. Adapted from The Slaves of
Solitude by Patrick Hamilton 1943. The
Rosamund Tea Rooms houses several women and elderly men, all
of them single and lonely, who nurse resentments and wage
minor wars with each other. Enid Roach makes two unfortunate
friendships which heighten the tension to breaking point:
one with Pike, an American lieutenant, the other with Vicki
Kugelmann, a German who steals Pike from Enid and then sets
about humiliating her former friend. MISSING
BELIEVED MARRIED
Comedy 5M 5F
Interior set
Diana
Roberts, an attractive heiress, has lost her memory. All she
recalls is falling in love with a sailor, marrying him at
sea and losing him in the port of Cape Town. She can no
longer remember his physical appearance, and only knows his
name - Edward. Consequently, following a series of public
announcements from her family requesting any information
which may lead to the discovery of her husbands'
whereabouts, three men appear - each claiming to be Mr
Edward Roberts. Diana however, far from being distressed,
believes that three husbands are better than none and
becomes determined to keep them all on the go! Mistress
Of Desires
(in Latin-American Plays). Mario Vargas Llosa,
Trans S. Doggart Set in a
1940s Peruvian desert town this play is a powerful
exploration of machismo and sexual desire. When a young girl
disappears it seems that only La Chunga, the barwoman, knows
the truth, but refuses to tell. Undeterred, the local men
make up their own version of what happened in an attempt to
extract the full story. Mistress
of Novices.
Play. John Kerr The play
recounts the story of Bernadette and the miraculous vision
she claims to have been granted, and also the conflict that
this assertion causes in her relationship with the sceptical
and strong-willed Mistress of Novices. Set mainly in the
Convent of St Gildard, Nevrs, it follows the life of
Bernadette until its agonised end, and closes with the
announcement of Bernadette's canonization. Period
mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century. Mixed
Doubles.
Mixed
Feelings.
Comedy. Donald Churchill Arthur is
extremely satisfied with his Friday evening interludes with
Sonia but trouble starts when his ex-wife persuades him to
help her get rid of her own lover, and Sonia becomes so
jealous that she fakes a confession to her husband, Dennis.
Norma and Arthur invite Dennis round to give their side of
the story. However, when he arrives they discover that
Dennis has been perfectly happy to condone Sonia's affair
with Arthur as long as she tells him all about it - and now
he wants to join in.
TOP
M2 (20s, 30s) F2 (30s). A converted basement.
ISBN 0 573 01844 8
M2 (30s-40s) F2 (20s-30s). Two flats.
(Please note that the first two acts of this play may be
presented as one-act plays, but that the third act may
not.)
ISBN 0 573 01831 6
M5 (50x, middle-age, old). F2 (middle-age, old). Greek
chorus, 2 children. Various exterior settings.
5m 2f, 2 children, chorus. Classical tragedy. Multipurpose
set.
ISBN 185459 164 9
M 12 F3. Three offices.
M4 F9. l girl (11), 1 boy (8), babies (voices only). A
kitchen.
M2 (24, 50x) F4 (28, late 408, middle-age). Extras.
Musicians. Various simple interior and exterior
settings.
M6 (20x, 30s, 60s, 80s) F4 (20x, 30s, 60). Extras. A
hall/living-room, a garden, a pub.
ISBN 0 573 11272 X
M3 (middle-age) F3 (middle-age). A sitting-room, a bedroom,
and a bedsit.
ISBN 0 573 11273 8
M4 (20s, young, middle-age, elderly) F7 (20s, middle-age). A
living-room.
ISBN 0 573 01277 6
M5 (young, 17) F4 (young, elderly). Composite
setting.
5m 3f. Drama. Minimal set, if possible on two levels.
ISBN 1 85459 276 9
M6 (9 (black), 20s, 40s, 60s, elderly) F7 (6, 8 (Black), 17,
20s, 35 (Black), middle-age). Composite setting.
ISBN 0 573 61238 2
M8 F2. A room.
Molière, translated into English verse by Richard
Wilbur
M11 (20s, middle-age, elderly) F3 (young, 20s, middle-age).
A room in Paris.
ISBN 0 573 01279 2
8 men, 3 women (flexible casting); interior.
M7 (30s-60s) F7 (16, 20s-50s). Various interiors.
1m 1f (possible chorus). Drama Minimal set. Video and sound
effects can be used.
ISBN 1 85459 237 8
1m 2f, extras. Classic drama. Single interior set.
ISBN 185459 205 X
M3 (35, 59, 70s) F5 (20, 39, 60s) or M3 F4 with doubling.
Five acting areas.
ISBN 0 573 01919 3
Colin Morris
ISBN: 0 85676 103 6
4m 2E Drama. Single interior set.
ISBN 1 85459 249 1
M3 (middle-age, elderly) F12 (young, middle-age, elderly).
Extra 1F. Standing set.
ISBN 0 573 06012 6
An entertainment on marriage by George Melly, Alan
Ayckbourn, James Saunders, Harold Pinter, Alun Owen, Fay
Weldon, David Campton, Lyndon Brook and John Bowen.
M 1 F1 for each sketch. M 1 for linking scenes.
ISBN 0 573 01584 8
M4 (young, middle-age) F2 (middle-age). A basement
flat.