Richard of Bordeaux. Drama. Gordon Daviot
M23 F6. Nine interiors.

This is a sympathetic study of Richard 11, laying special stress on Richard's desire to foster the arts and crafts, and to promote the cause of peace, both in Ireland and France. How the young and gradually spoilt and embittered, as well as favourite-ridden King was impeded by the inveterate prejudices of his uncles, especially Gloucester, is shown vividly in the course of twelve scenes, ending with the penultimate stage of Richard II's life. Period 1385-97
ISBN 0 573 01379 9

Riddance Linda McLean

Is murder ever justified? Even in defence of a child? And if you're never caught, are you always in hiding? And though you may feel safe, is it inevitable that there will be a day of Riddance? This chilling emotional thriller about two men and a woman bound together by the secrets of surviving a childhood in a Glasgow tenement was premiered by Paines Plough at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, after previews at the Chelsea Centre, London. Linda McLean's play is suffused with wit, suspense and truth, a sober reminder that we can never escape the sins of our past. Her earlier one-act, One Good Beating, was part of Family, a trilogy of plays staged by the Traverse Theatre Company in Spring 1999. Published alongside the premiere production, this "Instant Playscript" is intended to reflect the immediacy of the play on stage. It is printed directly from the author's own disk prepared only a few days before opening night. The aim is to give audiences at the theatre and readers all over the world instant access to the best of current new writing as it hits the stage
ISBN 1 85459 465 6

Ring Round the Moon. Play. Jean Anouilh. Adapted by Christopher Fry
M8 (young, middle-age, old) F6 (young, 30, middle-age, elderly). A winter garden.

Christopher Fry calls this play 'A Charade with Music'. The same actor plays the twins Hugo and Frederic. Hugo, fascinating and heartless, sets the charade in motion. He has invited Isabelle, a ballet dancer, to the ball that evening, intending that she should make diffident Frederic love her and leave the beautiful Diana. The would-be puppet master is overruled by his aunt, who arranges for the four young people to be happy.
ISBN 0 573 11380 7

The Ring Sisters. Comedy. Charles Laurence
M4 (30-50s) F3 (50s, 70s). A living-room.

Silva Ring is a world-famous singer with a severe hangup about her age so when an interviewer reveals it she resorts to increasingly desperate measures to prove him wrong. Aided by her housekeeper she pretends to be her own sister Iris, who is tough. Lola Wales, an old singer, is brought in to be her aunt and Fred, a petty forger, is persuaded to attempt to destroy her files at the Family Record Centre. But Silva wins through and emerges stronger than ever.
ISBN 0 573 62677 4

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. Play. Jim Cartwright
M3 (young, 40s, 50s) or 4 F3 (young, 40s). A living-room and club.

Little Voice (LV) lives alone with her mother Mari whose sole purpose is to find another man. Mari's imposing presence drives the shy LV into spending her time in her bedroom listening to her late, beloved father's records. When small-time impresario Ray Say hears LV's faultless impersonation of famous singers, he recognises the gold in her voice and determines to exploit it, but the whirlwind rush for success breaks LV Later, however, she learns to sing in her own voice ...
ISBN 0 573 01883 9

A Rise in the Market. Comedy. Edward Taylor
M4 (40s, elderly) F3 (20s, late 30s). A lounge area.

Sir Clive Partridge hopes to be president of European Community, but he needs the support of puritanical elder statesman Jacques Berri. So it's bad news for Partridge when Berri calls on a day that he is trapped in a luxurious Paris flat where he is beset by glamorous young women he can't account for, plus an angry wife and an exploding boiler. Wild mishaps and comic confusion abound right up to the hilarious climax in this sharp satire.

The Rivals. Comedy. R. Brinsley Sheridan
M8 (young, middle-age) F4 (young, middle-age). Four interiors, three exteriors.

Captain Absolute, heir to a tidy fortune, has disguised himself as penniless Ensign Beverley, all because his lady-love, Lydia Languish, is determined to marry a man who despises wealth and who will marry her despite the fact that the disapproval of her tough old aunt, Mrs Malaprop, will cost Miss Languish her immense fortune. Another pair of lovers, Julia and Falkland, have their own peculiar difficulties ...
ISBN 0 573 01382 9

The Rivals - Richard Brinsley Sheridan
8m 4f, extras. Classic comedy. Multipurpose set.

Lydia Languish, a young woman from a good family, holds on to an impossible romantic ideal of love, and resolves only to marry a pauper. Thus the hero, Jack Absolute, pretends to be a poor soldier in order to win her hand. Meanwhile, Jack's father is attempting to procure the match through the proper channel of Lydia's guardian, and Jack becomes a rival to himself, before he is finally challenged to duels by rival suitors in both his identities ... First performed in 1775.
ISBN 1 85459 099 5