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Six Plays by Romulus Linney


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The Second Mrs Tanqueray


Arthur Wing Pinero - 1893
    Controversial but successful on the London stage, this play reveals the fate of a "notorious woman" in Victorian England.

Grasses of a Thousand Colors


Wallace Shawn - 2009
    Due to the scientific manipulation of the world’s crops, a destructive system for which Ben is partly responsible, there is very little nourishment left to be had, except for those most privileged and connected. Despite the dying off of most of the world, these characters manage to survive, at times tasting the good life, admiring the beauties of nature, feasting on animalistic sex, and finding love. The play raises issues of redemption, forgiveness, and responsibility as it recounts a somewhat passionate, erotic adventure story.Wallace Shawn is the author of Our Late Night (winner of the OBIE Award for Best Play), Marie and Bruce, Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Designated Mourner, The Fever, and the screenplay for My Dinner with Andre, in which he starred. Grasses of a Thousand Colors, Shawn’s first full-length play in ten years, will be produced in the United Kingdom and the United States in 2009. Shawn is a well-known film and television actor. He resides in New York City.

A Bounty Hunter Never Sleeps


Ethan Westfield - 2021
    However, his life has not always been a bed of roses. When was just a 12-year-old boy, he saved his best friend from a grisly death at the hands of the outlaw gang that killed her parents. As if that wasn’t enough, his friend was sent away to an orphanage in Denver City and John vowed to one day find the murderers and bring them to justice. Years go by and he works out a plan to shed some blood and take down those who stood in the way of his friend’s happiness. What will John be willing to risk in order to get the revenge he’s been waiting for his whole life?Maggie McDermott is deeply traumatized by the events of that nightmarish night. Having lost all of her childhood memories—even those of her best friend, John, she can’t help but wonder whether she’ll find peace one day. That is until John shows up at her door many years after the haunting event that changed her life. He has become a successful bounty hunter and has a bold plan to recover her childhood memories. His plan involves Maggie joining him on a dangerous mission of vengeance, in order to capture the gang that destroyed her life. Will Maggie find the courage to follow this dangerous prescription to get her childhood memories back?Even though John and Maggie haven’t seen each other for many years, their wild thirst for revenge will take them on a sprawling adventure with gunfire, romance, and a longing for justice. Will John be able to protect the girl from the most infamous outlaw gang in the West? Or will they be forced to abandon all hope for a better life once and for all?

Tusk Tusk


Polly Stenham - 2009
    Let's take check: Finn Bar, slightly ruffled but still in fighting form. Maggie, could do with a full night's sleep but otherwise all in order... Stay here. Don't answer the door. I'll go out and get some proper food.In a new flat, three children play hide and seek. Eliot wears a crown, little Finn, King of the Wild Thing's, draws on the walls. Maggie climbs them. Hiding from the world, needing to be found, their one shared focus a mobile phone. Will it ring? Who will call? And what are they waiting for?Tusk Tusk is a tale of family loyalty as an uncertain future circles. Polly Stenham's second play premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in March 2009.

Unity (1918)


Kevin Kerr - 2002
    This phenomenon in effect brought the terror, the panic, the horror and the sense of helplessness of the Great War home with the returning soldiers—more people died of this epidemic than had been killed in battle throughout the armed conflict.As fear of the dreaded flu begins to fill the town of Unity with paranoia, drastic measures are taken. The town is quarantined in an attempt to keep the illness out. Trains are forbidden to stop, no one can enter, and the borders are sealed. Mail from overseas, feared to be carrying the deadly virus, is gathered and then burned. But when the disease descends upon the town despite their precautions, the citizens begin to turn on each other as they attempt to find a scapegoat for the crisis.Very little has been written about this worldwide calamity which, more than the war itself, destroyed forever the genteel and naive presumptions of European colonial society at the beginning of the twentieth century. Kevin Kerr offers audiences not only an epic chronicle of this forgotten chapter of Canadian history, but a chilling preview of the beginnings of our own new century.The play is a gothic romance, filled with dark comedy and the desperate embrace of life at the edge of death.

Fire and the Rain


Girish Karnad - 1998
    This play by one of India's foremost playwrights and actors is based on a story from the Mahabharata which tellingly illuminates universal themes - alienation, loneliness, love, family, hatred - through the daily lives and concerns of a whole community of individuals.

Goodbye Charles


Gabriel Davis - 2012
    Concerned something has happened to her husband, Jill follows a string of clues to try and find out the secret Charles was keeping from her.

Another Part of the Forest


Lillian Hellman - 1948
    Marcus Hubbard, rich, despotic and despised, made a fortune during the Civil War by running the blockade and worse. In his family life he is equally injurious: one son he bulldozes while the other he holds in contempt for his frailty. By Marcus's side stands his mentally deranged wife and, finally, Regina, the adored daughter amoral, conniving, and beautiful as an evil flower. Marcus, it would seem, has been on the top of the heap long enough and someone must depose him. Turning the tables on a tyrant has always made for high drama, and when Hellman puts her brilliant talents to work on such a theme the result is a play of great theatrical intensity.

Brother Man


Roger Mais - 1954
    It is a portrait of a ghetto saint - an ordinary man selected by the universe to bring enlightenment to poor belittled people.

Liliom


Ferenc Molnár - 1949
    He works intermittently as a barker for a merry go round and many servant girls fall victim to his charms. Among these girls is Julie, whom he eventually marries. Learning that he is about to become a father Liliom participates in a robbery to enhance his fortunes. But he is caught and stabs himself rather than submit to arrest. He is tried in the Magistrate's court on high, but they see through him there. They know what repentance is in his heart though he is much too cocky to admit it. He is sentenced to a term of years in the purifying fires with the promise that after that sentence has been served he can go back to earth with a chance to do one good deed there. A tender and moving story told with a master's touch.

Dances with Wolves


John Barry - 1991
    Comes complete with a color photo section of scenes from the movie and a bio of the renowned film score composer John Barry.

The Arrangement


Shay Gray - 2013
    Being granted only a few months to live, he constructs an idea on how to care for his four children in the event of his death. He comes up with an idea he calls, "The Arrangement". The only problem is convincing his wife and the two mothers’ of his children of his idea. "The Arrangement", is all three women must agree to move into one house for six months with their kids in order to receive any money from his will. When Terrance’s wife, Tanya learns the details of "The Arrangement" she is disgusted. She has basically put her life on hold after becoming pregnant to take care of her husband. She finds herself emotionally drawn to her husband’s best friend for comfort, as her husband’s illness takes a toll on her. Eventually,she finds herself facing her own demise and loses everything she has come to love Portia Jackson is the mother of two of Terrance’s children. She owns her own hair salon, drinks like a fish, and stays in brand name clothing. She is a rude, no nonsense, type of woman who makes it her business to let everyone know what she feels, or thinks, no matter whose feelings get hurt in the process. After a secret she has held on to for years threatens her inclusion in "The Arrangement", her world begins to crumble around her. Afraid of losing the glamorous life she is accustomed to having, she will stop at nothing to keep it.Amber Sykowski is the mother of Terrance’s oldest son. She comes from a long line of money and has always been ridiculed by her racist mother for having a bi-racial child. She feels the only way to escape her mother's disapproval is to go against everything she was taught, and make her own rules. When it almost costs her life, Amber has to make a hard decision that could turn her entire world upside down.In several unexpected events all three women eventually come to depend on each other forming a unique and unexpected bond. Will "The Arrangement' help them all to learn the value of forgiveness, love, and friendship?

On A Journey Of Life


Kajal Rai - 2021
    The only thing getting her through the guilt of taking the trip against her father's wishes is the beautiful sunset in the hills and the echoes of her heartfelt conversations with Arjun. As she uncovers some secrets of her mother's life from the diary throughout the trip, she struggles against the fate decided for her and dares to hope for something more out of her life and with Arjun.But when her father's constant demands to come back home threaten to cut her trip short, Saanchi must make a choice. Will she go back to her restrictive life or take a chance at living life on her terms?***That Summer - Nivedita KarmaranAfter being forced to spend that summer at Bungalow No. 64, a thirteen-year-old recluse yet free-spirited Rashi Anand, who is bored of her parents’ monotonous lives forms an unexpected friendship with the maintenance man of her guarded society, Lalit. She should have nothing to do with him, yet they find themselves comforting and confiding in each other. But is such friendship considered forbidden? Would Rashi rebel to rescue her friendship and will their friendship stand the test of time?

After the End


Dennis Kelly - 2005
    Louise wakes up to find herself trapped with Mark, who has saved her life. Mark is always prepared for the worst and has everything he thinks they will need to survive; tinned chilli, Dungeons and Dragons and a knife - now all they need to do is to wait until it's safe to go outside. Can they survive the attack? Can they survive each other?After The End received its world premiere at The Traverse Theatre in August 2005.

Fear of God


Vadhan - 2020
    The reason for the murder appears bizarre. As videos of the slaughter of several corrupt politicians go viral on social media, those who considered themselves untouchable are scurrying for cover. The vigilante’s next target is a war hero and top constitutional lawyer who took three bullets for the country. Why then is he a target? Jagan Jigyasi and his Special Crimes Division of the CBI have to race against time to stop the killings. The legendary lawman has never failed to solve a crime. The war hero is as brilliant in a courtroom as he is fearless in facing a speeding bullet. The vigilante is as devious as he is effective in instilling the fear of God into those who think they are above the law! Who will be the last man standing?