The Norman Conquests: A Trilogy of Plays
Alan Ayckbourn - 1973
This brilliant comic trilogy details the amorous exploits of Norman, assistant librarian, whose one aim is to make the women of his life happy—these women being, as it happens, three sisters, one of them his wife, who can’t wear contact lenses because “life with Norman is full of unexpected eye movements.” Each play stands uproariously on its own yet interlocks with the others to form an ingenious Chinese puzzle of successive relations.
Boeing-Boeing
Marc Camoletti - 1967
This 1960's French farce adapted for the English-speaking stage features self-styled Parisian lothario Bernard, who has Italian, German, and American fiancees, each beautiful airline hostesses with frequent "layovers." He keeps "one up, one down and one pending" until unexpected schedule changes bring all three to Paris and Bernard's apartment at the same time.
Three Plays: Once in a Lifetime / You Can't Take it With You / The Man Who Came to Dinner
George S. Kaufman - 1980
"Once in a Lifetime" is a satire about three small-time vaudevillians who set out for Hollywood as films move from silents into sound.The 1936 Pulitzer Prize winner "You Can’t Take It With You" is about a zany family of hobby-horse enthusiasts. For thirty-five years Grandpa has done nothing but hunt snakes, throw darts, and avoid income-tax payments; his son-in-law makes fireworks in the basement, and other assorted family members write plays, operate amateur printing presses, and play the xylophone. They live in playful eccentricity until daughter Alice brings home her Wall Street boyfriend."The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1939) became a long-running hit. It portrays an eminent lecturer (based on Alec Woollcott) who accepts a dinner invite in a small Ohio town, slips on the ice outside his hosts’ home, and is forced to their sickbed. Convalescing he turns the house into bedlam with his wacky friends and diabolic pranks.Also included in this volume are “Men at Work” and “Forked Lightning,” two essays Kaufman and Hart wrote about each other.
Rise of Humanity: Book 2 - Arc Two, The Wild World
Zai Zhu - 2018
Zhong Yue now finds himself at the border that leads to a world outside of the familiar Great Wilderness. Seeing his people suffering at the hands of the monster race, how will Zhong Yue respond? Will he answer with metal and blood? Or will he use a more delicate approach to strike at their hearts from within?
The Flawed Princess
Alice Ivinya - 2019
She is tired of being ignored and longs to help her people, who have been abused and suppressed by the court for generations. Their ancient magic is almost forgotten.When she is caught up in a deadly rebellion, Violet is taken hostage by the king and dragged to the capital. A prisoner deprived of friends and family, she is thrown into a dangerous world of politics and strange magic, where men and beasts are bonded together. Violet realises she must quickly learn the rules of the castle in order to be a voice for her forgotten province. But the bonds that tie people are fragile, and true evil lurks in the shadows of the castle. As war and assassination threaten to break the kingdom apart, Violet realises that to save it, she must learn to forgive her captor. And maybe even allow herself to be loved.
Manga Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Richard Appignanesi - 2008
Hermia is in love with Lysander. Demetrius is in love with Hermia. Helena is in love with Demetrius. Add to the mix Puck, a fairy with a powerful love potion, and chaos is sure to follow. Now everyone’s in love with Helena, Hermia is hopping mad, and the fairy queen Titania is in love with a man with a donkey’s head! Using the style and visual language of manga, Kate Brown transforms Shakespeare’s world into something new and vibrant. It’s the perfect introduction to Shakespeare’s work for reluctant readers and manga fans alike.F&P level: Z
Auntie Mame
Jerome Lawrence - 1960
Besides being the source for one of America's most popular musicals, AUNTIE MAME set a standard for Broadway comedy that's been sought after ever since. "Auntie Mame was a handsome, sparkling, scatterbrained and warm-hearted lady who brightened the American landscape from 1928 to the immediate past by her whimsical gaiety, her slightly madcap adventures and her devotion to her young nephew, who grew up to be Patrick Dennis. Through fortunes that rose and fell and a pleasant but brief marriage to a likable Southerner, who had the bad luck to tumble down from the Matterhorn, Auntie Mame's chief concern was that nephew, whom she raised [the play's] central figure is a woman of spirit, innate kindness and undefeatable courage " NY Post.
X
Alistair McDowall - 2016
This is where they send the new, the under-qualified, the old. And most of all the British. Mars is full of blonde Americans. It's like they're building the master race out there.Billions of miles from home, the lone research base on Pluto has lost contact with Earth. Unable to leave or send for help, the skeleton crew sit waiting.Waiting.Waiting long enough for time to start eating away at them.To lose all sense of it.To start seeing things in the dark outside.Alistair McDowall's play X premiered at the Royal Court on 30 March 2016 in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs.
Toronto at Dreamer's Rock - Education Is Our Right
Drew Hayden Taylor - 1990
Toronto at Dreamer's Rock is a moving portrayal of a teenage boy who is torn between the traditions of his people, which he only vaguely understands, and the lure of modern life. His magical encounters with two members of his tribe - one from 400 years in the past and one from the future - make him aware of how little he has thought about what it means to be an Indian. Education is Our Right borrows from the familiar story of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, but in this version the spirits of Education Past, Present and Future attempt to show the Minister of Indian Affairs the error of his ways. Drew Taylor combines humour, passion, spirituality, and tough realism to create a hopeful vision of the future that will appeal especially to young adult readers. Both plays have toured extensively to schools in Ontario and Quebec.
Festen
David Eldridge - 2004
Missing from the roster of invitees is Christian's twin sister, Linda, who recently committed suicide. The reason for her action and the repercussions from it, form the basis of the shocking and painful events that transpire during a twenty-four hour period. In the midst of dinner, Christian makes a startling accusation and, even as the disbelieving guests are choosing sides, the play slowly unwraps the truth.David Eldridge powerful new play is adapted from Thomas Vinterborg's screenplay of the very successful film, Dogme.Published to tie in with Almeida Theatre production in March 2004 directed by Rufus Norris
Stupid Fucking Bird
Aaron Posner - 2016
A nubile young actress wrestles with an aging Hollywood star for the affections of a renowned novelist. And everyone discovers just how disappointing love, art, and growing up can be. In this irreverent, contemporary, and very funny remix of Chekhov’s The Seagull, Aaron Posner stages a timeless battle between young and old, past and present, in search of the true meaning of it all. Original songs composed by James Sugg draw the famously subtextual inner thoughts of Chekhov’s characters explicitly to the surface. STUPID FUCKING BIRD will tickle, tantalize, and incite you to consider how art, love, and revolution fuel your own pursuit of happiness.
Hamlet: Screenplay, Introduction And Film Diary
Kenneth Branagh - 1996
"Its a ghost story, a thriller, an action-packed murder mystery, and a great tragedy that is profoundly moving." With an outstanding cast of international actors--including Derek Jacobi as Claudius, Julie Christie as Gertrude, Kate Winslet as Ophelia, Charlton Heston as the Player King, Robin Williams as Osric, and Gerard Depardieu as Reynaldo--Branagh's version, in which he will play the title role as well as direct, is sure to go down in film history.This beautiful volume includes Branagh's introduction and screenplay adaptation of Shakespeare's text, color and black-and-white stills, and a production diary that takes us behind the scenes for a day-to-day look at the shooting of his film.
Three Plays: Naga-Mandala; Hayavadana; Tughlaq
Girish Karnad - 1994
The first play, Tughlaq, is a historical play in the manner of nineteenth-century Parsee theater. The second, Hayavadana was one of the first modern Indian plays to employ traditional theatrical techniques. In Naga-Mandala, the third play, Karnad turns to oral tales, usually narrated by women. This selected work of one of India's best known playwrights should attract the attention of students and scholars of comparative literature, or any reader interested in South Asian literature.