The
Sacred Flame.
Play. W. Somerset Maugham Maurice
Tabret, paralysed from the waist down, has only love and
pity for his wife Stella, who is thus denied a normal life
and children. Maurice's mother lives with them. Stella falls
in love with Maurice's brother, Colin, and soon she is
pregnant by him. When Maurice dies in his sleep Stella is
accused of murder, but Mrs Tabret confesses that she killed
her son out of love for Maurice, no less than for Stella and
Colin. Sad
Hotel.
Play. David Foley Set in a
house on the Florida coast in the early sixties, Sad
Hotel is a fictionalised account of a famous
playwright's relationship with his male lover. The play
traces the dissolution of a fifteen year relationship under
pressures of fame, failure and addiction. Trapped between a
choice of love or loneliness, and the extremes of desire and
betrayal, the characters in Sad Hotel test the
limitations of human contact. Yet in the face of final loss,
they struggle towards reconciliation, forgiveness and a kind
of peace. Period 1961-1963
Sailor
Beware!
Comedy. Philip King and Falkland Cary Beware of
mothers-in-law, especially of one like Emma Hornett. Albert
Tufnell, AB, is anxious that his fiancee, Shirley, should
not take after her mother, Emma. Albert is also disturbed to
find that Shirley has weakly acquiesced to living only three
doors away from her mother. Albert's only defence is not to
turn up at the church. Later he makes peace with Shirley and
the wedding is 'on' again. St.
Nicholas
(in an edition with The Weir) - Conor McPherson A cynical and
jaded drama critic falls for a beautiful young actress. In
pursuing her he meets a group of modern day vampires, who
offer him eternal life. His part of the bargain is to feed
their bloodlust ... McPherson, the author of The
Weir, is 'already heir to the great Irish tradition of
absorbing tale-telling ... [he] has a priceless
narrative gift' Michael Billington, Guardian. SALLY
AND MARSHA 2 women.
Interior
Sally, a
waif-like young wife and mother originally from South
Dakota, has settled into a rather cramped New York City
apartment with her two young (and unseen) children, while
her husband is on the road selling detergents. Desperate for
a friend, Sally strikes up a conversation with her next door
neighbor, Marsha, a cynical, wise-cracking native New Yorker
who is impatiently waiting for her own husband to complete
his residency in orthopedics. Although complete opposites
the country mouse and the city mouse the two women gradually
warm to each other as they exchange ever more personal (and
amusing) confidences about their hopes and fears, their
likes and dislikes, and their relationships with their two
very different husbands. In time, despite occasional
misunderstandings, they become each other's main moral
supports, as the homespun Sally grows more worldly and the
neurotic Marsha regains her self-esteem with both benefiting
more than they might realize from the growing closeness and
mutual admiration which, inevitably, makes their eventual
parting all the more poignant. Salt
of the Earth.
Play. John Godber Hull Truck
Company's production of this richly humorous, affectionate
and touching portrait of life in the West Yorkshire
coalfields won a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival and
was presented in London at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre.
Spanning three generations, from 1947 to the present, this
compelling saga vividly captures the dreams, ambitions,
joys, fears, heartaches and disappointments of the Parker
sisters, Annie and May, whose hopes centre on May's son,
Paul, and his academic success. SALT-WATER
MOON 1 man, 1
woman. Exterior
The time is
1926, the place the front porch of a summer home in the tiny
coastal town of Coley's Point, Newfoundland. Mary Snow, a
lovely young girl of 17, studies the evening sky through a
telescope. Her reverie is interrupted by the unexpected
appearance of Jacob Mercer, the boy with whom she had once
fallen in love, and who, a year ago suddenly departed for
Toronto without so much as a goodbye. Now Jacob has returned
to Coley's Point, wanting to win back the affection which
Mary once felt for him. In his absence, however, Mary has
decided to accept the marriage proposal of Jerome McKenzie,
the local schoolmaster, who may be on the dull side but is
certainly reliable and more than willing to provide for her
younger sister, Dot. But when memories of Jacob are revived,
and when he feigns leaving for good, she suddenly realizes
that he just may be the man for her. Same
Old Moon.
Play. Geraldine Aron Chosen to
reopen the Oxford Playhouse in 1991, and then seen in
London's West End, Same Old Moon shows us scenes in
the life of Brenda Barnes, the aspiring writer. We follow
her from age nine to fortyish, and see through her eyes her
eccentric and sometimes fiery Irish family; her wilful and
self-destructive Dad, her put-upon, sometimes hot-tempered
Mum and many others. A charming, but not uncritical, look at
family life with some wonderful acting roles. Same
Time, Next Year.
Comedy. Bernard Slade This
long-running Broadway hit is about an adulterous love affair
taking place only once a year - and also a reflection of
twenty-five years of American attitudes. George picks up
Doris in a California inn in 1951 and they agree to meet
there once a year. Before each scene, tapes portray America
of the time in speeches, sports and news broadcasts. The
New York Times described it as the 'funniest comedy
about love and adultery to come Broadway's way in
years'. THE
SANTALAND DIARIES AND SEASON'S
GREETINGS.
Comic
Monologues. David Sedaris, adapted by Joe Mantello.
1 man, 1
woman. Unit Set
The
Santaland Diaries (1M) is a brilliant evocation of what
a slacker's Christmas must feel like. Out of work, our
slacker decides to become a Macy's elf during the holiday
crunch. At first the job is simply humiliating, but once the
thousands of visitors start pouring through Santa's
workshop, he becomes battle weary and bitter. Taking
consolation in the fact that some of the other elves were
television extras on One Life to Live, he grins and
bears it, occasionally taking out his frustrations on the
children and parents alike. The piece ends with yet another
Santa being ushered into the workshop, but this one is
different from the lecherous or drunken ones with whom he
has had to work. This Santa actually seems to care about and
love the children who come to see him, startling our hero
into an uncharacteristic moment of goodwill just before his
employment runs out. Sarcophagus.
Play. Vladimir Gubaryev. Translated by Michael Glenny M
12 (20s, 50s) F6 (20s, 40s, 70s). Extras. A clinic
ward.
In this
moving play by the science editor of Pravda, victims
of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station
embark on a non-return journey in a terminal radiation
clinic. The arrival of nine survivors from the disaster
starts a string of confessions and recriminations which ends
in a powerful condemnation of the bureaucratic muddle and
official cover-up.
Saturday,
Sunday, Monday.
Play. Eduardo de Filippo, adapted by Keith Waterhouse
and Willis Hall At first
sight a typical picture of Italian family life with
characteristic displays of Mediterranean temper, the play
concerns the essence of any relationship between a man and a
woman after years of married life. A monumental family row
begins to brew on Saturday night while the Sunday ragu is
being prepared in the kitchen. The row breaks on Sunday, the
traditional day for family quarrels, and is finally and
touchingly resolved on Monday.
Savages.
Play. Christopher Hampton M10 (3 Brazilian Indians) F1.
Extras M. Multiple set.
In a
passionately angry, bitterly cynical and yet wholly workable
play which veers from the soapbox to high comedy we are
shown the contrasting publicity surrounding the murder of
one diplomat and the anonymity surrounding the slaughter of
a hundred Brazilian Indians. Period 1963 to 1970
Say
Who You Are.
Comedy. Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall M2 (30s) F2
(30s). Various settings.
A telephone
booth is an important cast member in this comedy! Every
Friday evening David Lord's wife, Sarah, lends their flat to
her unmarried friend, Valerie, so that the latter can
entertain her married lover, Stuart. David does not know of
this arrangement and Stuart believes that Valerie is married
to David! When David rebels one Friday at being dragged to
yet another foreign film and Stuart has a fit of masochistic
jealousy the resulting embroilments defy further
description.
Saying
Yes
(in Latin-American Plays) - Griselda Gambaro. Trans.
S. Doggart A man goes
for a haircut and gets more than he bargained for from the
inscrutable hairdresser ... This shocking story is by
Argentina's leading woman playwright. 'One of the most
innovative and powerful writers in the world today' Diana
Taylor. SCALES
OF JUSTICE Drama 9M 3F 1
boy 2 Interior sets
Based on a
true story, Scales of Justice is a fascinating
exploration of the nature of British justice and sense of
fair play. At the height of the 1914-18 war between Great
Britain and Germany, Hans Mühler, a recently
naturalized German, is interned. After his release he claims
that his internment was the work of Richard Neville, a
prominent Member of Parliament who has also taken over his
business. Mühler decides to sue Neville for fraud, but
in war-time England he has difficulty in finding any one
willing to represent him except a young and inexperienced
barrister. As the second half of the play moves into the
courtroom and finds Mühler's case facing a defense
composed of the best available councillors in the country,
can the scales of justice possibly remain balanced? Scapino!
Play. Frank Dunlop and Jim Dale, a long way off from
Molière Inspired, at
some distance, by Molière's Les Fourberies de
Scapin, this 'comic madness' is set in present day
Naples. Ottavio's and Leandro's fathers are away, leaving
their sons in the care of guardians - Scapino and Sylvestro.
Ottavio marries Giacinta and when he learns that his father
plans to 'marry him off' he seeks Scapino's help. The spirit
of the play is evident at the outset, when a slapstick
sequence is accompanied by a crazy song made up from the
menu at an Italian restaurant.
The
Scarlet Letter.
Play. Phyllis Nagy, adapted from the novel by Nathaniel
Hawthorne The setting
is Boston, Massachusetts, 300 years ago, a puritanical world
dominated by religious obsession, superstition and secrecy.
Hester Prynne, a convicted adulteress, will not reveal the
identity of the father of her curious, illegitimate
daughter, Pearl. Her bitter husband, Chillingworth, plots a
wicked revenge which leads him to the guilt-ridden minister,
Dimmesdale. A symbolic and tragic depiction of the human
response to love, sin, betrayal and repression. The
Scarlet Pimpernel.
Play. Baroness Orczy adapted by Beverley Cross This
swashbuckling tale of English aristocrats rescuing their
French brethren tom the jaws of Madame la Guillotine in
revolution-torn, eighteenth-century France has something for
everyone - humour, adventure and just a dash of romance!
Beverley Cross's spectacular adaptation was seen at
Chichester and subsequently at the Theatre Royal, London,
starring Donald Sinden. 'It is a long time since the theatre
saw an adventure so joyous ... a stunning adaptation ... an
evening of simple but unalloyed theatre magic.' Daily
Telegraph A
Scent of Flowers.
Play. James Saunders A girl has
died in deep distress, and as the priest and the
undertaker's men proceed with burial, she is present on
stage. Imagine Zoë's first real brush with life,
perplexed, afraid, alone. To whom should she turn'? Her
family, her friends, her priest? They offer the help they
deem necessary, not that which her need demands. None of
them realise that interest, concern, even love, are not the
same as compassion and charity. Although it is a poignant
story, the dialogue is unsentimental, often grimly comic.
The
School for Wives.
Comedy. Molière. Freely adapted by Miles
Malleson from L'Ecole des Femmes Arnolphe has
selected as his wife the charming innocent Agnes, his ward,
whom he trusts will not succumb to the prevailing vice of
infidelity. But Agnes falls in love with Horace, whose
father, Oronte, is Arnolphe's friend. Oronte, delighted at
the romance, confides to Arnolphe that the young lady is
bedevilled by a tyrannical guardian. Furious. Arnolphe plans
to remove Agnes to a safer place but the lovers are united
in the end. Period 1660 The
School For Scandal
- Richard Brinsley Sheridan A tale of two
brothers. Joseph Surface is apparently a model citizen, his
brother Charles a dissolute wastrel. But when the schemings
of the scandal mongers go awry, the reverse is shown to be
true. First staged in 1777. THE
SCHOOL OF NIGHT Drama 8M 2F
Flexible staging
On May 30th,
1593, Christopher Marlowe was killed in a brawl ... or was
he? In the company of Thomas Kyd, Sir Walter Ralegh and the
mysterious Tom Stone, Marlowe sets about writing his finest
poem while charges of treason and atheism hang over him.
When Kyd is arrested soon after, he implicates Marlowe who
is forced into hiding at the now deserted Rose Theatre, once
home to his greatest triumphs. Faced with increasing danger,
Marlowe must plot his escape from England with the
assistance of others whose loyalties appear united but
remain tragically divided. Was his death simply a fight over
a tavern bill, as officially recorded? Or was Marlowe,
caught up in the minefield of dissidence and treason
surrounding the Elizabethan Court, brutally murdered in a
trap set by mercenary spies? The mystery surrounding his
death and his membership in the clandestine School of
Night is brought vividly to life against a backdrop of a
politically and religiously divided England. First seen in
Stratford upon Avon and then in London at the RSC's Pit
Theatre during 1992-1993 season. The
Scorched Garden
(in Spanish Plays) - Juan Mayorga. Trans. N.
Drake A group of
inmates has been locked up in a mental hospital since the
Spanish Civil War. For forty years their only contact with
the outside world has been with an elderly doctor. Until
Benet, a young medical student arrives and unveils their
histories and madness. Premiered Royal Court, 1998, in a
staged reading. Schweyk
in the Second World War.
Play. Bertolt Brecht
William
Rowlinson, music by Harms Eisler M12 F3.
Numerous simple sets.
Brecht
transposes Jaroslav Hasek's satirical 'hero' from World War
I to the Prague of Hitler and Heydrich. Schweyk gets out of
awkward situations in his farcical adventures by a
combination of cheek and guile. Eventually he is sent to
fight the Russians at Stalingrad, and on the way he meets an
equally lost Hitler who asks him if he knows the way back.
Interludes show Goering, Goebbels and others assuring Hitler
of the loyalty and devotion of the Little Man.
The
Scottish Play.
Play. Graham Holliday Michael has
always harboured an ambition to direct Macbeth, so
when he is offered he autumn production by the Shellsfoot
Thespians he seizes his opportunity. He encounters problems,
of course, from finding enough men, to telling grande
dame Geraldine shat he doesn't want her as Lady
Macbeth, despite being offered a bribe that would pay
production costs. The theatrical jinx surrounding the play
extends to amateur productions and Michael's life, too. A
witty, humorous play, totally true to life, which was first
broadcast on BBC Radio.
M4 (young, 30s, middle-age) F4 (20s, elderly). A
drawing-room.
ISBN 0 573 01394 2
M3 (40s, 50s) F3 (40s). A kitchen and sitting-area.
M4 (20s, 40s, 50s) F5 (20s, 40s). A living-room.
ISBN 0 573 01395 0
1m. Full length monologue. Minimal set.
ISBN 1 85459 347 1
Play: Sybille Pearson
ISBN: 0-8222-0980-2
M5 F6 or M3 F3. Various simple settings.
ISBN 0 573 01689 5
Play: David French
ISBN: 0-8222-1388-5
M 10 F11, may be played by M3 F5 (minimum). Various simple
settings.
ISBN 0 573 01892 8
M 1 F 1. A bedsitting-room.
ISBN 0 573 61604 3
SEASON'S GREETINGS. (1W) Another funny, touching and
twisted monologue about the season.
ISBN. 0-8222-1631-0
M 11 F6. An apartment in Naples.
2m. Hour-long comedy/drama. Simple set.
ISBN 1 85459 249 1
Peter Saunders
ISBN: 0 85676 134 6
M 10 F4. A cafe bar.
M4 (20s, 50s) F3 (20s, 30). Various simple settings.
ISBN 0 573 69529 6
M 17 F3, doubling possible. Various interior and exterior
settings.
ISBN 0 573 01650 X
M7 F2. A room.
M6 F2. Inside and outside a house.
ISBN 0 573 01399 3
12m 4f. Classic comedy. Multipupose set.
ISBN 1 85459 420 6
Peter Whelan
ISBN: 0 85676 159 1
6m. Drama.
ISBN 1 85459 418 4
Translations:
Susan Davies
M6 F7. Various simple interiors.
ISBN 0 573 01679 8