|
|
|
Road.
Play. Jim Cartwright Under the guidance of the rum-soaked
wide-boy Scullery, we are taken on an evening's tour of a
scruffy, depressed road in a small Lancashire town. Moving
from street corner to living-room, from bedroom to kitchen,
we met the inhabitants, glimpsing their socially and
emotionally wretched lives in this sharp, sad, funny and
angry play. ' ... the most significant and original new
English play to appear in London for a long time...'
Observer Road
Movie Godfrey
Hamilton Winner of an Edinburgh Fringe First in
1995, this is the story of Joel's journey across the USA to
join his lover Scott, and of the people he meets along the
way; all grieving for the loss of loved ones. 'A piece of
gay theatre which neither bludgeons with its own agenda nor
whirls in a miasma of self-indulgence: a glorious
experience' Independent Robin
Hood. Comedy drama.
Larry Blamire Larry Blamire has accomplished the enviable task of synthesising the conflicting legends and ballads about the outlaw folk hero into a sometimes hysterical, sprawling action-packed drama. Besides ably retelling the legend, he indulges in and makes fun of the stilted dialogue found in tiresome historical novels and adventure films. He has created roles that challenge and reinvent the myth, including a wise-cracking Maid Marion who is arguably a better swords person than any of Robin's merry men. Robin
Hood. Musical
celebration. David Wood and Dave and Toni Arthur This is a series of playlets which tell
the various well-known tales of Robin Hood. The
possibilities for presenting the play are numerous -open
stage, promenade, open air as well as on a proscenium stage.
There is a basic cast of fourteen, but the authors envisage
productions 'in which large numbers of local people take
part', emphasising the basic concept of the play which is
that of a musical celebration by a whole community. Robin
Hood - the Truth Behind the Green
Tights. Play. David
Neilson 'Feared by the bad, loved by the good'
goes the song about Robin Hood, but in the case of Albert
Ross, the distinction is not quite so clear-cut. For Albert
is a coward, transferring his allegiance from Merry Men to
Sheriff and back again at the drop of a hat- or rather, at
the point of a sword. All of which lands Albert, his wife,
Robin and Maid Marian in some very awkward situations
... Robin
Redbreast. Play. John
Bowen Norah decides to live alone in a remote country cottage. She is soon attracted to Rob but there is something very strange about their brief affair - the local villagers are odd and when Norah becomes pregnant and wishes to leave the place and have an abortion she finds increasingly sinister forces arrayed against her. The tension mounts to a horrifying climax of witchcraft ritual, in which Rob - or Robin - is hideously sacrificed. Romantic
Comedy. Comedy.
Bernard Slade Jason Carmichael, successful co-author of
Broadway romantic comedies, is about to marry a society
belle and his collaborator is retiring from the fray. Enter
Phoebe Craddock, a mousy Vermont schoolteacher and budding
playwright and Jason acquires a talented, adoring
collaborator. Fame and success are theirs for ten years and
then Jason's world falls apart - his wife divorces him and
Phoebe marries a journalist and moves to Paris. Jason goes
into decline but re-enter a chic, successful Phoebe - and
guess the ending! La
Ronde. Ten Dialogues.
Arthur Schnitzler. English version by Eric Bentley This is Schnitzler's popular roundelay of
love, as practised in Old Vienna, and as told in ten
interlocking scenes. Each scene is made for two persons, and
each person plays two consecutive scenes, serving
alternately as the link between them. Thus the soldier of
the first scene leaves his lady of the evening to appear in
the next scene with a parlour maid. An amusing tour de
force, popular throughout the world. Rookery
Nook. Farce. Ben
Travers Gerald rents Rookery Nook where his wife,
Clara, will join him later. He is agreeably surprised by a
pretty stranger called Rhoda who comes running to him for
protection against her irascible German stepfather. Gerald
allows her to stay in one of the bedrooms but as she is clad
only in pyjamas, it is vital to conceal her presence from
nosey neighbours. Rhoda gets herself some clothes just in
time before Clara arrives but Gerald has some difficulty in
convincing Clara of his innocence. Period 1920s Roots.
Play. Arnold Wesker This is the second play of the trilogy
which opens with Chicken Soup with Barley. Beatie
returns for a holiday to her fenland farm home trying to
impose on her stolid family the ideas of a young Jewish
intellectual, Ronnie, whom she believes will marry her. But,
awaiting his arrival, slowly Beatie realises he will never
come and her famous final speech exults that Ronnie has
taught her independence and how to free herself from him.
Period 1950s Roots
and Wings. Play. Frank
Vickery Griff has discovered that his son Nigel
is not only a drag queen but gay; hours later, Nigel is in
hospital having been hurt in a car crash in which his lover,
Kevin, has incurred much worse injuries. Robust, sensible
Ruby, Griff's wife, has much to deal with - Nigel's fears,
Griff's prejudices, her own confused emotions, Kevin's
parents - and has to use every resource at her disposal to
keep the peace. Rope.
Drama. Patrick Hamilton Brandon wants excitement at any price. He persuades his weak-minded friend, Granillo, to assist him in the murder of a fellow undergraduate, Ronald Raglan. They place the body in a wooden chest and invite some acquaintances, including the dead man's father, to a party, the chest and its gruesome contents serving as a supper table. The horror and tension are worked up gradually and we see the reactions of the two murderers, closely watched by the suspecting Rupert Cadell, until finally they break. Rose.
Play. Andrew Davies Rose, a disenchanted teacher, feels
frustrated in all walks of life: at her tough Midlands
school, in her relations with her mother, the school staff,
her dullish husband. Her professional efforts to introduce
new ideas are blocked; her husband threatens suicide and a
possible affair dwindles to a few brief moments in a car.
Finally she faces her class as so often before- 'What are we
going to do today?' The original production starred Glenda
Jackson. The
Rose Tattoo. Play.
Tennessee Williams The Rose Tattoo, says the author, is 'the Dionysian element in human life, its mystery, its beauty, its significance'. Serafina boasts of her husband's prowess as a lover and nephew of a Baron. On hearing he had not been at all what she supposed she takes up life again with a flourish. In addition she now gives consent to her daughter's marriage to a young sailor. Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern Are Dead.
Comedy. Tom Stoppard Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sit in the
Court of Elsinore endlessly spinning a coin, waiting for
their stage entry - which may never come. Unsure who they
are and why they are there they even have difficulty
remembering which goes by which name. Against the action of
Hamlet they seek their identities and their purpose
and reflect the feelings of all those who question
existence. While this play deals with themes already
familiar from Beckett, its style is that of brilliant,
literate comedy. The
Roses of Eyam. Play.
Don Taylor A remarkable and true story of a village
stricken with plague through the arrival from London of a
box of clothing; of the villagers determination, under the
persuasions of the present and former Rectors, to prevent
its spread by remaining within the village and containing
the disease at the certain risk of their own lives; of the
human tragedies and even comedies that ensued; of the
idealism and the courage required to live with that
idealism. Period 1666 Ross.
Play. Terence Rattigan The story starts at the end, with
Lawrence as Aircraftsman Ross seeking anonymity. A prey to
fever contracted in the East, he relives his past in a night
of delirium, his early enthusiasm and triumphs; living with
the Arabs; the capture of Akaba; meeting with Allenby;
arousing of Turkish hatred and final betrayal into Turkish
hands. The refinements of destruction which he underwent as
prisoner of the Turkish Governor are made to account for the
complete change in character. Period First World War
|