Book picks similar to
An Absolute Turkey by Peter Hall
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Mother, was it worth it?
Tottie Limejuice - 2014
As her full-time carer, Tottie listened to daily recitations of her favourite saying: 'Mother, mother, it's a bugger, sell the pig and buy me out.” Catch up now with Tottie in the AM years – After Mother – as she starts her new life in the rural Livradois-Forez region of the Auvergne, living in Tottie's Grottage. Meet the local inhabitants, from exotic birds to colourful characters like the Bin Pickers, Library Lady and the Bowing Farmer. All are described with Tottie's familiar gently ironic humour. Discover the procedure behind the Frogification of Tottie, and if her bid for French nationality is successful. 'Mother Was It Worth It?' is the concluding part of the Sell the Pig series, which began with 'Sell the Pig' and 'Is That Billinge Lump?'
Time Flies and Other Short Plays
David Ives - 2001
Zany, thought-provoking, and always original, this anthology brings together all the one-acts from the Off-Broadway hit Mere Mortals and from the all-new Lives of the Saints, as well as several new and uncollected plays, including Bolero, Arabian Nights (which premiered at the celebrated Humana Festival in Louisville), The Green Hill, and Captive Audience.
Moon on a Rainbow Shawl
Errol John - 1958
Snatches of calypso compete with hymn tunes, drums and street cries as neighbours drink, brawl, pass judgment, make love, look out for each other and crave a better life. But Ephraim is no dreamer and nothing, not even the seductive Rosa, is going to stop him escaping his dead-end job for a fresh start in England.Set as returning troops from the Second World War fill the town with their raucous celebrations, Erroll John's Moon on a Rainbow Shawl depicts a vibrant, cosmopolitan world that is as harsh as it is filled with colour and warmth.
The Escape: A Leaf For Freedom
William Wells Brown - 2000
The first published play by an African American writer, The Escape explored the complexities of American culture at a time when tensions between North and South were about to explode into the Civil War. This new volume presents the first-edition text of Brown’s play and features an extensive introduction that establishes the work’s continuing significance.The Escape centers on the attempted sexual violation of a slave and involves many characters of mixed race, through which Brown commented on such themes as moral decay, white racism, and black self-determination. Rich in action and faithful in dialect, it raises issues relating not only to race but also to gender by including concepts of black and white masculinity and the culture of southern white and enslaved women. It portrays a world in which slavery provided a convenient means of distinguishing between the white North and the white South, allowing northerners to express moral sentiments without recognizing or addressing the racial prejudice pervasive among whites in both regions.John Ernest’s introductory essay balances the play's historical and literary contexts, including information on Brown and his career, as well as on slavery, abolitionism, and sectional politics. It also discusses the legends and realities of the Underground Railroad, examines the role of antebellum performance art—including blackface minstrelsy and stage versions of Uncle Tom's Cabin—in the construction of race and national identity, and provides an introduction to theories of identity as performance.A century and a half after its initial appearance, The Escape remains essential reading for students of African American literature. Ernest's keen analysis of this classic play will enrich readers’ appreciation of both the drama itself and the era in which it appeared.The Editor: John Ernest is an associate professor of English at the University of New Hampshire and author of Resistance and Reformation in Nineteenth-Century African-American Literature: Brown, Wilson, Jacobs, Delany, Douglass, and Harper.
Philip Pullman's Grimm Tales
Philip Wilson - 2016
In this stage version by Philip Wilson, you’ll meet the familiar characters – Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel – and some unexpected ones too, such as Hans-My-Hedgehog, the Goose Girl at the Spring and the remarkable Thousandfurs.Full of deliciously dark twists and turns, the tales come to life in all their glittering, macabre brilliance – a delight for children and adults alike.These Grimm Tales were first performed as immersive storytelling experiences underneath Shoreditch Town Hall, London, in 2014, and Bargehouse on the South Bank in 2015. They also offer plentiful opportunities for youth theatres, schools and amateur companies looking for a vivid new version of the classic fairytales.
Aria Da Capo
Edna St. Vincent Millay - 1920
Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
Cabaret: The Illustrated Book and Lyrics
Joe Masteroff - 1999
Surely one of the most acclaimed and beloved plays of all time, this modern classic is honored for the first time in a lavishly illustrated book. Here is the complete musical book by Joe Masteroff and all the words of the songs written by John Kander and Fred Ebb. It is illustrated with more than 100 photographs and drawings (including 74 in full color) of the original cast of the Roundabout 's smash Broadway production by Joan Marcus, never-before- published backstage photographs by Rivka Katvan, and archival photos of past productions. The accompanying text explores the evolution of the play in all its incarnations, from the 1930 stories of Christopher Isherwood to two films and three stage adaptations. Here are all the fantastic artists who have brought this play to life: Julie Harris (the original Sally Bowles), Joel Grey, Liza Minnelli, Natasha Richardson, Alan Cumming, Ron Rifkin, and directors Hal Prince, Bob Fosse, Sam Mendes, and Rob Marshall. Also featured are original drawings by costume designer William Ivey Long and set designer Robert Brill. For theatre lovers and film fans, for those who've seen the play and those who haven't, this book is an exclusive insider's glimpse into a stage and film phenomenon, one of the most astonishing artistic achievements of our time.
French Dreams, Dogs and a Dodgy Motor: Discovering our little home in Haute Provence and all that came next.
Jane Smyth - 2020
Hard work, study and a determination to fulfil a long-held dream eventually became a reality when a computer search led to the discovery and purchase of their much loved mountain property. Follow Jane and Rob on their journey through a mosaic of early memories, anecdotes, observations and funny stories. As they travelled back and forth from their home in the UK to the Alpes de Haute Provence, their journeys over the years have provided a rich source of material, from a weird encounter with strangers on a ferry to the trouble dogs can get you into. Jane brings to life these and other experiences, introduces residents and neighbours and peppers her tale with facts and vivid descriptions of the area, making you want to pack your bags and see it for yourself!
Dry Land
Ruby Rae Spiegel - 2015
Amy is curled up on the locker room floor. DRY LAND is a play about abortion, female friendship, and resiliency, and what happens in one high school locker room after everybody’s left.
The Book of Will
Lauren Gunderson - 2017
But without Henry Condell and John Heminges, we would have lost half of Shakespeare’s plays forever! After the death of their friend and mentor, the two actors are determined to compile the First Folio and preserve the words that shaped their lives. They’ll just have to borrow, beg, and band together to get it done. Amidst the noise and color of Elizabethan London, THE BOOK OF WILL finds an unforgettable true story of love, loss, and laughter, and sheds new light on a man you may think you know.“THE BOOK OF WILL…unequivocally announces Gunderson as a playwright with whom to be reckoned. It is, quite frankly, one of the best plays I have ever seen. It will bring tears of both laughter and sorrow to all but the most jaded audience member’s eyes. It is, in a word, a triumph.” —Boulder Weekly (CO). “[Gunderson] has peopled the stage with lively, historically based characters…She paints a vivid portrait of the times in language sometimes formal, sometimes poetic and often…contemporary…She also gives a real feel for theater life and what it means to be an actor; you sense this is a work of both scholarship and love. …[THE BOOK OF WILL] serves as homage to those who sacrificed to make the first folio happen and to Shakespeare’s magnificent words.” —Westword (Denver, CO).