8284 shows
Clear filtersGeorges, son of explorer John Hatteras, drinks a potion that lets him travel beyond the probable with his fiancée Eva, Doctor Ox and others. They journey to Earth’s center, the bottom of the sea and planet Altor, where Georges’ attempt to save the resource-depleted world backfires. Ox and Volsius reconcile their opposing scientific and spiritual influences, restoring Georges to health and leading him to renounce his obsession with travel.
Maxwell Anderson retells the Holy Family’s journey to Jerusalem when Jesus is twelve, paralleling biblical events with Hitler’s rise through Herod Antipas. Jesus, called Jeshua, begins to understand his messianic destiny through encounters with a fictional prophet.
Monday, 18 March 1918: evening. In the British trenches facing Saint-Quentin, Captain Hardy converses with Lieutenant Osborne, an older man and public school master, who has come to relieve him. Hardy jokes about the behaviour of Captain Stanhope, who has turned to alcohol to cope with the stress that the war has caused him. While Hardy jokes, Osborne defends Stanhope and describes him as "the best company commander we've got". Private Mason, a servant cook, often forgets about ingredients and key parts of the food that he prepares for the officers. He is really part of the infantry but the company has let him be a part-time cook. Second Lieutenant Trotter is a rotund officer commissioned from the ranks who likes his food; he cannot stand the war and counts down each hour that he serves in the front line by drawing circles onto a piece of paper and then colouring them in. Second Lieutenant James "Jimmy" Raleigh is a young and naive officer who joins the company. Raleigh knew Stanhope from school, where Stanhope was skipper at rugby; Raleigh refers to Stanhope as Dennis. He also has a sister whom Stanhope is dating. Raleigh admits that he requested to be sent to Stanhope's company. Osborne hints to Raleigh that Stanhope will not be the same person he knew from school, as the experiences of war have changed him; however, Raleigh does not seem to understand. Stanhope is angry that Raleigh has been allowed to join him and describes the boy as a hero-worshipper. As Stanhope is in a relationship with Raleigh's sister Madge, he is concerned that Raleigh will write home and inform his sister of Stanhope's drinking. Stanhope tells Osborne that he will censor Raleigh's letters so this will not happen; Osborne does not approve. Stanhope has a keen sense of duty and feels that he must continue to serve rather than take leave to which he is entitled. He criticises another soldier, Second Lieutenant Hibbert, whom he thinks is faking neuralgia in the eye so that he can be sent home instead of continuing fighting. Osborne puts a tired and somewhat drunk Stanhope to bed. Stanhope, as well as the other officers, refers to Osborne as "Uncle". Tuesday, 19 March 1918: morning. Trotter and Mason converse about the bacon rashers which the company has to eat. Trotter talks about how the start of spring makes him feel youthful; he also talks about the hollyhocks which he has planted. These conversations are a way of escaping the trenches and the reality of the war. Osborne and Raleigh discuss how slowly time passes at the front, and the fact that both of them played rugby before the war and that Osborne was a schoolmaster before he signed up to fight. While Raleigh appears interested, Osborne points out that it is of little use now. Osborne describes the madness of war when describing how German soldiers allowed the British to rescue a wounded soldier in no man's land, while the next day the two sides shelled each other heavily. He describes the war as "silly". Stanhope announces that the barbed wire around the trenches needs to be mended. Information gathered from a captured German indicates that an enemy attack is planned to begin on Thursday morning, only two days away. Stanhope confiscates a letter from Raleigh, insisting on his right to censor it. Stanhope is in a relationship with Raleigh's sister and is worried that, in the letter, Raleigh will reveal Stanhope's growing alcoholism. Full of self-loathing, Stanhope accedes to Osborne's offer to read the letter for him. The letter is, in fact, full of praise for Stanhope. The scene ends with Stanhope quietly demurring from Osborne's suggestion to re-seal the envelope. Tuesday, 19 March 1918: afternoon. In a meeting with the Sergeant Major it is announced that the attack is taking place on Thursday. Stanhope and the Sergeant-Major discuss battle plans. The Colonel relays orders that the General wants a raid to take place on the German trench prior to the attack, "a surprise daylight raid", all previous raids having been made under cover of darkness, and that they want to be informed of the outcome by 7 p.m. Stanhope states that such a plan is absurd, and that the General and his staff merely want this so their dinner will not be delayed. The Colonel agrees with Stanhope but says that orders are orders, and they must be obeyed. Later, it is stated that in a similar raid, after the British artillery bombardment, the Germans had tied red rag to the gaps in the barbed wire so that their soldiers knew exactly where to train their machine guns. It is decided that Osborne and Raleigh will be the officers to go on the raid, despite the fact that Raleigh has only recently entered the war. Hibbert complains to Stanhope about the neuralgia he states he has been suffering from. Stanhope replies: "it would be better to die from the pain, than from being shot for desertion". Hibbert maintains that he does have neuralgia and the right to leave the battlefield to seek treatment, but when Stanhope threatens to shoot him if he goes, Hibbert breaks down crying. He says "Go on then, shoot!", suggesting that he would rather die than stay on the battlefield. The two soldiers admit to each other that they feel exactly the same way, and are struggling to cope with the stresses that the war is putting on them. Stanhope comforts Hibbert by saying they can go on duty together. Osborne reads aloud to Trotter from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; another attempt to escape from the realities of the war. The scene ends with the idealistic Raleigh, who is untouched by the war, stating that it is "frightfully exciting" that he has been picked for the raid. Wednesday, 20 March 1918: afternoon. There is confirmation that the raid is still going ahead. The Colonel states that a German soldier needs to be captured so that intelligence can be extracted from him. Osborne admits to Stanhope that he knows he is probably not coming back, and asks Stanhope to look after his most cherished possessions and send them to his wife if he does not return after the raid. In the minutes before going over the top, Raleigh and Osborne talk about home – the New Forest and the town of Lyndhurst – to pass the time. Smoke-bombs are fired, the soldiers move towards the German trench, and a young German soldier is captured. However, Stanhope finds out that Osborne has been killed although Raleigh has survived. Stanhope sarcastically states, "How awfully nice – if the Brigadier's pleased", when the Colonel's first concern is whether information has been gathered, not whether all the soldiers have returned safely. Six of ten other ranks have been killed. Wednesday, 20 March 1918: night. Trotter, Stanhope, and Hibbert drink and talk about women. They all appear to be enjoying themselves until Hibbert is annoyed when Stanhope tells him to go to bed, and he tells Stanhope to go to bed instead, then Stanhope suddenly becomes angry and begins to shout at Hibbert, and tells him to clear off and get out. Stanhope also becomes angry at Raleigh, who did not eat with the officers that night but preferred to eat with his men. Stanhope is offended by this, and Raleigh eventually admits that he feels he cannot eat while he thinks that Osborne is dead, and his body is in no man's land. Stanhope is angry because Raleigh had seemed to imply that Stanhope did not care about Osborne's death because Stanhope was eating and drinking. Stanhope yells at Raleigh that he drinks to cope with the fact that Osborne died, to forget. Stanhope asks to be left alone and angrily tells Raleigh to leave. Thursday, 21 March 1918: towards dawn. The German attack on the British trenches approaches, and the Sergeant Major tells Stanhope they should expect heavy losses. When it arrives, Hibbert is reluctant to get out of bed and into the trenches. A message is relayed to Stanhope telling him that Raleigh has been injured by a shell and that his spine is damaged, meaning he cannot move his legs. Stanhope orders that Raleigh be brought into his dugout. He comforts Raleigh while Raleigh lies in bed. Raleigh says that he is cold and that it is becoming dark; Stanhope moves the candle to the bed and goes deeper into the dugout to fetch a blanket, but, by the time he returns, Raleigh has died. The shells continue to explode in the background. Stanhope receives a message that he is needed. He gets up to leave and, after he has exited, a mortar hits the dugout causing it to collapse and entomb Raleigh's corpse. <!--SEE TALK PAGE
A labourer violently quarrels with his employer over a woman. The melodrama became known for subversive social criticism and was often banned.
Judas is a play in three acts co-authored by Walter Ferris and Basil Rathbone. It premiered on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre on January 24, 1929. It had a short run of only 12 performances. It was staged by Richard Boleslavsky and starred Rathbone as Judas Iscariot. Boleslavsky also designed the costumes; although they were made by the Helene Pons Studio. The show was produced by William A. Brady and Dwight Deere Wiman. Some of the others in the cast included Robert Barrat as Joseph of Arimathea, William Challee as John the Apostle, Charles Halton as Matthew the Apostle and Akiba, William Courtleigh as Simon Iscariot and Caiaphas, Dorothy Cumming as Naomi, and Jennie Eustace as Rebekah among others. Brooks Atkinson stated in his review in The New York Times, that it was "such a play as actors love and skeptics deplore... For the actor it is an opportunity to cast off the shackles of realistic drama and to revel in attitudinizing and posturing under the protection of a sacred theme."
After a near-death experience, an attorney tries to change his life but discovers he is not headed for heaven.
Hebbel transforms the biblical political story into a psychological tragedy. Judith believes her beauty makes her husband Manasses impotent; in Holofernes’s tent, repressed desire and sexual violence precede her beheading of him, while her struggle against prescribed womanhood remains constrained by it.
When an invading Assyrian army threatens her community, Judith is chosen to appeal to its general, Holofernes. After deception frustrates her mission, she enters his tent and kills him to save her people.
In Barker's retelling of the Judith and Holofernes story, Judith discovers strong feelings for the general she is expected to kill, complicating the meaning of her sacrifice.
Vietnam veteran Graham discovers that his wife Karen has left him for economist Neville, whose own wife is pregnant. Williamson's commissioned drama grew from an early storyline titled Return from Vietnam and was substantially revised during development.
Two former university friends, Nina and Lorna, reunite in a café after many years. The play shifts from their conversation to a Borneo jungle climax, with the comedy exploring motherhood and the relationship between Western humanity and the planet.
Julia: or, The Italian Lover is a 1787 tragedy by the Irish writer Robert Jephson. It premiered at Drury Lane with a cast featuring John Philip Kemble as Mentevole, John Palmer as Marcellus, Robert Bensley as Durazzo, James Aickin as Manoa, John Whitfield as Camillo, John Hayman Packer as Duke of Genoa, Priscilla Kemble as Olympia, Charlotte Tidswell as Nerina and Sarah Siddons as Julia.
Julian is an 1823 historical tragedy by the British writer Mary Russell Mitford. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 15 March 1823. The original cast included William Macready as Julian, Maria Foote as Alphonso, King of Sicily, George John Bennett as Duke of Melfi, William Abbot as Count D'Alba, Daniel Egerton as Leanti, William Chapman as Calvi, Thomas Comer as Bertone and Maria Lacy as Annabel. Mitford wrote the play during the delays over the staging of her previous work Foscari which finally premiered in 1826. It is influenced by the 1820 rebellion on Sicily and its defeat and repression by Bourbon forces.
Julian and Agnes is an 1801 Gothic tragedy by the British writer William Sotheby. Best known as a poet he wrote several tragedies, but this was his only play to be performed in London's West End. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 25 April 1801. The original cast included John Philip Kemble as Jullian, Sarah Siddons as Agnes, Richard Wroughton as Provost, John Hayman Packer as Prior, William Barrymore as Confesser, Charles Holland as Infirmier, Walter Maddocks as Steward, William Powell as Francis and Anne Biggs as Ellen.
Juliana; Or, The Princess Of Poland is a 1671 tragedy by the English writer John Crowne. It was originally staged by the Duke's Company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London. The original cast included Mary Betterton as Juliana, Thomas Betterton as Ladislaus, Henry Harris as Cardinal, John Young as Demetrius, William Smith as Sharnofsky, Samuel Sandford as Cassonofsky, Henry Norris as Colimsky, Edward Angel as Landlord, Matthew Medbourne as Theodore, John Crosby as Alexey, Jane Long as Paulina and Anne Shadwell as Joanna.
As Caesar's power grows, Cassius persuades Brutus to join a conspiracy to kill him. Antony turns public opinion against the assassins, sparking civil war; at Philippi, Cassius and then Brutus die, and Antony honors Brutus as the noblest Roman.
In this Sturm und Drang tragedy, the princes Julius and Guido of Taranto compete for the love of Blanca, a commoner. The brothers' opposing temperaments—Julius's melancholy and Guido's frustrated drive—shape their conflict.
A family of martial-arts experts faces an incongruous suitor and two burglars who break into their home; the escalating comic confrontation unfolds through acrobatics, martial arts and slapstick.
In an alternate Britain governed by Radical Liberals after a Moon landing, philosopher George Moore struggles to define good and moral value while his wife Dorothy is involved in a murder mystery; the play satirizes academic philosophy through a gymnastics display.
At fifty, Hilary is struggling with an unfulfilling marriage and a volatile relationship with her teenage daughter Tilly. Her attempts to manage Tilly’s sex life draw two troubled families together, while an unexpected attraction and a pregnancy force her to question her ideals and her understanding of motherhood.
At the center of June Moon is Fred Stevens, a young aspiring lyricist who journeys from Schenectady to New York City, where he hopes to make a name for himself in the world of song publishing and night clubs. On the train, he meets dental assistant Edna Baker, and the two embark upon a friendship that evolves into love for her and fondness for him. While struggling to become a Tin Pan Alley notable, Fred takes a shine to his composer partner Paul's glamorous, gold-digging sister-in-law Eileen. The two men sell a song to a music publisher and it develops into a hit. Ultimately, revelations about Eileen's true character help return Fred to his senses and Edna, whom he realizes he truly loves.
Junius Brutus is a 1734 tragedy by the British writer William Duncombe. It was one of a number of plays based on the life of the Roman Republican Lucius Junius Brutus. The original Drury Lane cast included John Mills as Junius Brutus, Edward Berry as Valeius Publicola, William Milward as Titus, William Mills as Caelius, Theophilus Cibber as Messala, Richard Winstone as Silvus and Mary Heron as Lucia and Hannah Pritchard as Hortensia.
In 1985, financier Robert Merkin promotes the idea that debt is an asset and attempts a takeover of an iconic American manufacturing company. The deal triggers a financial conflict among executives, workers, lawyers and journalists.
Set in a Dublin tenement during the Irish Civil War, the play follows the Boyle family after they hear of a supposed inheritance. Captain Jack's spending, a failed romance and the inheritance's collapse deepen the family's hardship; Juno ultimately leaves with Mary, while Johnny is taken away and killed.
A doctor falls in love with a fellow physician who plans to become a medical missionary.
A devised piece created in the aftermath of the 2001 Oldham race riots, commissioned by Peshkar Productions and made with local performers.
A comic children's reworking of Macbeth frames the tragedy as a scene rehearsed by Andy, Lisa, and Danny, who are drawn into the play through a magic potion. Macbeth's prophecies, murders, and downfall unfold amid playful anachronisms and farcical inventions.
Larry Kramer's sharply political play attacks the Reagan administration and New York City Mayor Ed Koch for what Kramer saw as their hypocrisy and inaction in response to the AIDS epidemic.
John Emerson marries Mary Ashby for appearances but leaves her in a country home while continuing an affair with Mrs. Lathrop. Years later, he returns to his wife; after the women confront one another, Mary refuses to accept him until he recognizes love’s importance.
Clerk William Falder alters a cheque while trying to help Ruth Honeywill escape her abusive marriage. After conviction and imprisonment, he returns to a society that offers him little chance to rebuild his life, and the play ends in his death.
A Finnish play about jaegers undergoing military training in Germany to prepare for Finland's War of Independence.
In an aristocratic Transylvanian country house, a young count’s encounter with a maid’s fiancé sparks a scandal; the count’s uncle resolves the household entanglements by marrying the young man’s intended bride, while the count turns to a widowed guest.
K2 is a one-act two-man play. It centers on mountain climbers Harold and Taylor, who find themselves trapped above sea level on a ledge on the side of K2, the second-highest mountain in the world.
In a solo performance, Tony Miyambo plays Red Peter, an ape whose perspective is used to examine alienation, freedom, xenophobia and identity in post-apartheid South Africa.
In a Yorkshire suburban home, Kafka enthusiast Sydney and his wife Linda receive visits from the long-dead Franz Kafka and Max Brod. The play explores fame and reputation as Kafka’s desire for anonymity and conflict with his father emerge.
A 'country modern' Australian tragedy loosely inspired by the biblical story of Cain and Abel and a Russell Drysdale painting. Its central conflict concerns Kain discovering that he does have a conscience.
Lynn and Hans find themselves mysteriously unable to separate. An unknown visitor, Kalldewey, arrives and the couple undergo a peculiar form of therapy.
During the Pandavas’ forest exile, Draupadi asks Bhima to bring her fragrant flowers from the Gandhamadana region. On the journey, Bhima meets his elder brother Hanuman, who tests his strength, reveals himself and directs him toward the flowers.
During the Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia, two generals dispute control of Kalat, which is ultimately conquered by the Alans.
Two couples argue over whether the men should join the Japanese occupation's Defenders of the Homeland. Their partners call them cowards for refusing, while the men secretly register and fear their wives' reactions. The women ultimately approve their departure for training, despite their parents' alarm.
Two urban Indigenous sisters, Mikaya and Kilawna, travel with their new friend Edith, a lawless trickster, to Kamloopa, the West Coast's largest pow wow. Along the way they reconnect with their ancestors, culture and one another.
The first play in C. N. Sreekantan Nair's dramatic trilogy based on the Ramayana, inspired by Valmiki's Uttara Kanda.
At a road gate, Benkei and Yoshitsune disguise themselves as priests seeking donations. Benkei improvises a reading from a blank subscription scroll, then beats Yoshitsune to protect their disguise. Togashi sees through the ruse but lets them pass; he later drinks with Benkei and asks him to dance, giving Yoshitsune time to escape.
A songwriter recalls his turbulent teenage relationship with Athena, who appears in and out of his imagination as he tries to compose a tribute to her. The flashback mystery turns on her sudden disappearance and his discovery that she has died in New York.
When King Jaychandra is killed by his rival, his wife and her protectors are left vulnerable to the conqueror’s son. Tarala betrays Kanta by breaking a necklace that signals her husband’s death; believing Sursen dead, Kanta enters his funeral pyre, and he follows her. Tarala then kills the prince and herself in remorse. The tragedy adapts a historical royal conflict with invented characters and dramatic twists.
A social satire about the practice of bride price among Telugu Brahmins. The play centers on the unscrupulous Gireesam and the morally perceptive Madhuravani, and condemns the arrangement of young girls' marriages to older men for cash.
Ace, a popular East London teenager waiting for a date, recounts the fairy tales told by a deceased parent. The stories reveal how loss shaped Ace’s new popularity and expose its emptiness.
Imagining Karl Marx's visit to Mumbai, the one-man play follows him through Kalbadevi with a local guide, where temples, street poverty, and commercial life prompt reflections on capitalism. Marx also recounts his life and work, using humorous audience exchanges to make his ideas accessible.
A one-person biographical play assembles brief, nonchronological episodes and quotations from Boris Karloff's life. It traces William Henry Pratt's unlikely path to success as an actor, using the Frankenstein monster reaching toward light as a metaphor for human striving and self-realization.
A couple’s love and conflict between duty and affection recur through lives in ancient Egypt, Greece and Renaissance Italy. In wartime London, a soul doctor uses past-life regression to help the wife understand the couple’s repeated separation and resolve to travel to Egypt.
A love story re-enacted through four existences, structured in a prologue, epilogue and three acts.
As the Kurukshetra war approaches, Kunti reveals to Karna that he is her firstborn and asks him to join the Pandavas. Torn between his birth family and his debt to Duryodhana, Karna refuses to abandon his friend. He promises Kunti that he will spare her sons except Arjuna.
In a remote Karoo village, Thozama kills a moose that has appeared inexplicably in the landscape, and the play follows the events that result. It combines magical realism and African storytelling to address the breach of children’s innocence amid violence.
On the eve of battle, Karna tells Shalya how Parashurama cursed him after learning he had concealed his identity. Indra, disguised as a Brahmin, asks for Karna’s armor and earrings; Karna gives them up and sets out toward battle with Arjuna.
Loosely based on Kaspar Hauser, the play presents a near-speechless young man being taught language and social norms. It examines how speech and conformity can shape, constrain, and negate individual identity.
The one-act play follows Sadasivan, an impoverished writer who cannot collect payment for his work. As his landlord, hotel owner, publisher and others exploit or dismiss him, he continues writing; eviction and the loss of his pen leave him to disappear into the darkness.
During the inflation crisis, the struggling Knie tightrope troupe travels from town to town. Katharina dreams of leaving circus life and accepts work on farmer Rothacker's estate, but when she returns to tell her father she will marry him, Karl Knie mistakes her visit for a return to the troupe and dies before learning the truth. Katharina then breaks her engagement and takes charge of the family circus.
Queen Ketevan of Georgia dies for her Christian faith; she is loved by Shah Abbas of Persia.
Katie Roche, raised as an illegitimate child without education, works as a domestic servant in the home of Amelia Gregg. She accepts Amelia's brother Stanislaus's proposal, though she has been seeing Michael, and tries to conform to the role of a gifted man's wife; her efforts leave her trapped in an unfulfilling marriage.
Exiled prince Kalyanavarman and Princess Kirtimati fall in love while his minister organizes a coup against the usurper Chandasena; the prince returns to reclaim Magadha and marry Kirtimati. The Sanskrit drama follows their intertwined courtship and restoration.
At a London dinner, Countess Elena’s fascination with actor Edmund Kean is exposed amid gossip about his affairs and reputation. Kean is also implicated in heiress Anna Damby’s flight from a marriage of convenience, drawing Elena, her husband, and the Prince of Wales into scandal and intrigue.
Goldfields adventurer Frank Keane returns to Sydney to reunite with Tess Morton, only to be entangled in his friend Harold Ross's murder and a false accusation. The melodrama follows the case through city settings and the Sydney Cup, where Keane's horse is targeted by the villainous Harris.
Christine Keeler becomes caught between Stephen Ward’s influence and relationships with a British minister and a Soviet diplomat. The play recounts the Profumo affair from her perspective.
Keely, pregnant after rape, is held captive by an extremist anti-abortion cult to stop her from ending the pregnancy. Du, a member of the cult, guards her.
N. Richard Nash's American stage adaptation of Bill Naughton's Spring and Port Wine, retitled Keep It in the Family and relocated to the United States.
Widower Dr. Raafat wants to marry Esmat but believes he must first marry off his three daughters. When his youngest daughter discovers his plan, she and her sisters disrupt his attempts to control their lives and choose their husbands.
A lost play combines two London scandals: a young suitor keeps a wealthy widow drunk and sleepless until he tricks her into marriage and robs her, while a young boy murders his mother, confesses and is hanged.
A stage adaptation of Earl Derr Biggers’s Charlie Chan mystery novel Keeper of the Keys, written by Valentine Davies.
Kenilworth is an 1821 historical play by the British writer Alfred Bunn. A melodrama, based on the novel of the same title by Walter Scott, it premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 8 March 1821. A separate adaptation of the novel by Thomas Dibdin appeared at the Surrey Theatre the same year. The original Covent Garden cast included John Vandenhoff as the Earl of Leicester, William Abbot as Varney, Henry Erskine Johnston as Sir Walter Raleigh, Charles Connor as Tresilian, Thomas Comer as Michael Lambourne, Charles Farley as Antony Foster, Harriet Faucit as Queen Elizabeth and Mary Vining as Amy Robsart (Countess of Leicester).
Five people in a dive bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan contemplate their life ten years after John F. Kennedy's assassination.
In rural Skidmore, Missouri, Ken Rex McElroy terrorizes the farming community through cattle rustling, arson and assault while repeatedly evading conviction by threatening witnesses and exploiting legal loopholes. The thriller dramatizes the events surrounding his 1981 killing.
Kensington Gardens is a 1719 comedy play by the Irish actor John Leigh. It is also known as Kensington Gardens, or, The Pretenders. It follows the attempts of several suitors to woo a wealthy rich widow, and the serious of complications that ensue. Leigh himself played the role of Lord George Belmour, with Lacy Ryan as Colonel Lovely, George Pack as Sir Vanity Halfwit, William Bullock as Sir Politick Noodle, James Spiller as Captain Hackit, Christopher Bullock as Bardach, John Harper as Grogram John Egleton as Varnish and Elizabeth Spiller as Melissa. The production at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre lasted for estimated seven performances. The play is dedicated to Lord Brooke, a patron of the theatre.
A deserter of the Spanish Civil War played by Paul Muni redeems himself in death by defending the family of a true war hero against some Mexican bandits on the tiny Florida island of Key Largo.
The poet and philosopher Omar Khayyam finds love with Sevda, but their happiness is broken when she is poisoned. His grief turns into a challenge to human cruelty, as love becomes the foundation of his resistance to oppression.
In a remote church, a Christian monk and his student encounter the caravan of captives from Karbala and its soldiers; a discovered slate draws them into danger as the events of Ashura are recounted.
In a desert, art dealer Hobart Struther's trip to understand himself is interrupted when his horse dies. He kicks it, then struggles to bury it while reflecting on his life, wealth, marriage, and search for authenticity.
The play recounts boxer Bobby Cassidy's biggest fight and his struggle with alcoholism. After losing to Jorge Ahumada on the undercard of the second Ali–Frazier bout, Cassidy turns that career loss into a personal victory by giving up alcohol.
Frances Stevenson narrates this contemporary stage adaptation, which reframes Davie Balfour and Alan Breck Stewart’s relationship as a romance. The cast performs modern songs live as part of the adventure.
On the day Grete must marry, her beloved tailor Johan returns without stockings and cannot wed. He steals Mads’s stockings, is scolded, and takes his life; the others follow, until Mercury restores everyone in an epilogue. The play parodies tragic conventions through this trivial comic chain of events.
A contemporary play invokes ancient Greek revenge killings and brutal deities to examine how violence lies at the heart of Western civilization and how modern killers can appear charming.
An eco-terrorist group takes politicians and journalists hostage in Parliament House, demanding immediate climate action. Environment Minister Gwen Malkin and her press adviser face the crisis as the play's meta-theatrical framing incorporates the controversy surrounding its own title and production.
Gangster Andrew McPherson tries to frame his former associate, Johnny Glendenning, as an informer. Two of McPherson's underlings hide in an Ayrshire farmhouse with a kidnapped investigative reporter, where their plan goes violently awry; a flashback reveals the gangland feud behind the killings and one kidnapper's wish to escape that world.
Drug dealer Chris and his father Ansel hire police detective and hitman Joe Cooper to kill Chris's mother. Unable to pay upfront, they offer Chris's innocent sister Dottie as collateral.
In a one-act monologue, California prisoner Mazon waits in an execution chamber for the electric chair and considers the future he will not have.
Mr. Kim (Appa) owns and runs his own business, Kim’s Convenience, in Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood, with his wife Mrs. Kim (Umma). Mr. Kim hopes the store will provide a future for his daughter, Janet, who he hopes will take over the store from him when he retires; however, Janet has no interest in running the store and wishes to have a career as a photographer. Regent Park is being gentrified with new condos and developments and the potential that a Wal-Mart will open up and destroy Mr. Kim's business. Realtor Mr. Lee offers to purchase the store and property. The Kims' son, Jung, ran away from home when he was 16 after Appa had hit him and he was hospitalized for a few days. Everything seemed to go back to normal after Jung was released, until one day when Appa went to get money from the safe and found it—and Jung's room—empty. Since then, Appa hasn't spoken to Jung, though Umma maintains surreptitious contact with Jung by meeting him at church. It is not until the prodigal son returns and reconciles with his father that the future of Kim's Convenience is assured.
Kimberly, a teenager whose rare disease makes her age rapidly, tries to navigate family turmoil and a friendship with classmate Jeff. When her aunt draws the family into check fraud, Kimberly and Jeff take the money to the Wild Safari park, as the adults’ betrayals and Kimberly’s deteriorating health strain the family.
Kind Lady is a play written by Edward Chodorov and first performed on stage in 1935 (on April 23). It was based in part on a short story called The Silver Mask by Hugh Walpole. It was produced frequently on the summer theater circuit. The play has been adapted for film twice by MGM: as the December 1935 film Kind Lady and the 1951 film Kind Lady.
A small misunderstanding and a white lie grow into a full-length, funny romantic comedy in a New York drawing room.
In November 1938, after nights of violence against Jews across Germany and Austria, the British government introduced a programme called the Kindertransport (children's transport), which gave Jewish children—and only children—safe passage to the UK. Spared the horrors of the death camps, the Jewish children were uprooted, separated from their parents and transported to a different culture where they faced, not the unmitigated horror of the death camps, but a very human mixture of kindness, indifference, occasional exploitation, and the relationships between the ordinary people faced with helpless children. Eva Schlesinger, daughter of Helga and Werner, is sent away to temporarily live with a foster carer in Manchester, England, until her parents find work and move to England too. She lives with Lil, a woman who has two other children (Nora and Margaret) and is married to Jack. Lil allows Eva to smoke when she meets her which shows how Lil is not a proper guardian for Eva at first. Eva and Lil fall out as Eva skips her English lessons to go and ask round rich houses if they will give her parents jobs; Lil thinks this makes her seem desperate. She is unhappy and misses her mother. Eva and Lil both eventually become at peace with one another and get on well; Eva is shown as gradually losing her Jewish roots. One day Helga arrives when Eva is in her late teens and Eva tells Helga that Lil and Jack have adopted her and she has been naturalised as English, and her name is now Evelyn. Helga is offended and upset that Evelyn will not travel to New York with her to stay with family. Helga tells Evelyn her father is dead. They have an argument and Helga leaves, which is then followed by an imaginary vicious, angry argument between Helga and Evelyn in which Evelyn gets out all of her hatred for Helga, and she proclaims that Helga IS the Ratcatcher, a character constantly present in the play. At the same time in the present, Evelyn's daughter Faith is uncovering her mother's secret past and they have an argument, which eventually comes to rest. All of this takes place in the attic of Evelyn's house, which supposedly represents Evelyn's psyche.
After a coup, General Basha Bash trades his military uniform for royal robes and crowns himself King Baabu, ruling through an absurd and oppressive regime that satirizes dictatorship and political power.
King Charles I is a 1737 tragedy by the British writer William Havard. Written as an imitation of the style of Shakespeare's history plays, it focuses on the imprisonment of Charles I following his defeat in the Civil War and execution by the English Republic. It was a major success and anticipated later works by portraying Charles as a devoted family man who is undone by the scheming of Oliver Cromwell and his allies. It premiered at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre with a cast that included Henry Giffard as King Charles, William Giffard as Ireton, William Hamilton as the Duke of Gloucester, William Havard as Bishop Juxton, Thomas Wright as Oliver Cromwell, Benjamin Johnson as Fairfax and Anna Marcella Giffard as Queen Henrietta Maria.
Charles and his family gather following the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Charles, as the new king, then holds his first weekly audience with the prime minister. They discuss a new bill for statutory regulation of the press, which has passed the House of Commons and the House of Lords and awaits only Charles' royal assent to become law. Charles is concerned that the law restricts freedom of the press too much, and would allow governments to censor the news and prevent legitimate uncovering of abuse of power by the government. He asks the prime minister for alterations to the bill, but the prime minister refuses. The two men spar, as the leader of the Opposition arrives for a weekly meeting with Charles, an innovation the new king has introduced. The leader of the Opposition expresses his own doubts on the bill, but he sees little alternative but for Charles to sign. In parallel, Prince Harry has begun a relationship with Jess Edwards, a republican. Both Charles and Prince William have seen the ghost of Diana, Princess of Wales, promising each man that he will become "the greatest king of all". One of his first actions is to refuse to give royal assent to the press regulation bill. The prime minister holds a crisis meeting with the leader of the Opposition and then goes alone to try to convince Charles to sign, but Charles continues to refuse. The prime minister then threatens to pass a new law bypassing the royal assent and then pass the press law, but Charles then dissolves Parliament before the prime minister can bring either of these plans into effect. Protests begin across the country and especially in London. Charles increases the army guard at Buckingham Palace, offers his protection to Jess (whom the press have made the centre of a sex scandal), and agrees to Harry's wish to become a commoner. The duchess of Cambridge (Prince William's wife Catherine) proposes a solution: William will serve as a mediator between Parliament and his father. William announces this plan at a press conference without his father's knowledge or consent. Seeing this as a betrayal, Charles reacts angrily. Ultimately, Charles is forced to abdicate in favour of William, who plans to sign the press bill and restore the status quo between king and Parliament. The play concludes with Harry's rejection of Jess, and William and Catherine's coronation as king and queen consort.
King Edgar and Alfreda is a 1677 tragedy by the English writer Edward Ravenscroft. It was first staged by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It is based on the life of the early English King Edwgar and his wife Alfreda. The original cast included Michael Mohun as Edgar, Cardell Goodman as Ethelwold, Nicholas Burt as Ruthin, Thomas Clark as Aldernold, John Wiltshire as Oswold, Philip Griffin as Durzo, Frances Maria Knight as The Queen and Elizabeth Boutell as Matilda.
A friendship between an Iraqi musician and a North American actor unfolds alongside the ancient story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Live Arabic jazz connects the epic with Ahmed Moneka's experiences of exile, artistic ambition, and building a new life.
A usurper becomes king after murdering his predecessor and imprisons the predecessor's daughter while planning her death. His son falls in love with her, as others resist or enable the tyrant's oppressive rule.
King Hedley II is the ninth play in August Wilson’s ten-play cycle that, decade by decade, examines African American life in the United States during the twentieth century. Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1985, it tells the story of an ex-con in Pittsburgh trying to rebuild his life. The play has been described as one of Wilson's darkest, telling the tale of a man trying to save $10,000 by selling stolen refrigerators so that he can buy a video store, as well as revisiting stories of other characters initially presented in Seven Guitars. The play is set in The Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Hedley’s wish, now that he has returned to Pittsburgh from prison, is to support himself by selling refrigerators and to start a family. Set during the Reagan Administration, the play comments critically on the supply-side economics theories of the day, examining whether their stated aim of providing trickle-down benefits to all Americans truly improved the lot of urban African Americans. Characters King Hedley II Tonya, King Hedley II's wife Ruby, King Hedley II's mother Elmore, a southern hustler (and former boyfriend of Ruby) Mister, friend Stool Pigeon, a wise man and a prophet King Hedley II draws "on characters established in Seven Guitars, King Hedley II shows the shadows of the past reaching into the present." Some of the characters presented earlier include King Hedley II, "the spiritual son of King Hedley from Seven Guitars and Stool Pigeon, a "sixty-five year old harmonica player...now a newspaper-collecting history carrier". The character of Ruby was a "vivacious young newcomer to Pittsburgh" in Seven Guitars but in King Hedley II is "...overcome with worry and regret...". Mister is Red Carter's son.
Matt, a Cleveland bartender with Cavaliers tickets, meets Shawn, a writer who wants to buy them for LeBron James's first Cavaliers season. Across four encounters from 2003 to 2016, their friendship rises and falls alongside James's career and Cleveland's championship drought.
A Protestant morality play portrays King John as a virtuous defender of English church rites against Rome. Allegorical figures join historical characters as John is assassinated by Sedition and Dissimulation and defended by Verity.
In a Caroline historical tragedy, King John pursues Matilda, daughter of the rebellious baron Fitzwater, while struggling against his barons and the papal legate. Matilda is repeatedly captured and rescued before John orders her death; her martyrdom finally brings the king to remorse and reconciliation.
After dividing his kingdom between the daughters who flatter him, King Lear rejects Cordelia, the only daughter who speaks honestly. His decision sets off a chain of betrayal and conflict that leaves Lear and his family devastated.
David Williamson reworks Shakespeare’s King Lear into contemporary, accessible English while retaining the original structure and philosophy.
An anonymous Elizabethan play about the ancient British king Leir and his three daughters. Unlike Shakespeare's later version, Leir survives and is restored to his kingship at the end.
At the height of his power, Bohemian king Ottokar alienates allies through pride and betrayal, loses lands and the imperial crown, and turns to war against Rudolf of Habsburg. After his former wife’s death, Ottokar recognizes his failures but is killed in battle; Rudolf restores order and secures the Austrian and Styrian lands.
A verse drama about Iolanthe, the blind daughter of King René, kept in a secluded garden and unaware that she is a princess. When Tristan arrives to marry her, he falls in love and helps reveal her blindness; a Moorish physician cures her, and the concealed identities and engagement are resolved.
After Victor Amadeus II abdicates in favor of his son Charles Emmanuel III, Charles refuses to believe that his father intends to reclaim the crown. Victor eventually demands it back; Charles's loyalty leads to a final reconciliation before Victor's death.
A stage adaptation of Susan Cooper’s novel about Nat Field, a young actor transported from 1999 to Shakespeare’s original Globe Theatre in 1599.
A stage adaptation of H. G. Wells’s novel about a draper’s apprentice whose unexpected inheritance brings him into a different social world.
Hajj, a beggar in Baghdad, escapes a bandit, becomes Emir, and attracts the Wazir’s wife; his story concludes with his daughter’s marriage to the Caliph.
A performance of a Syrian love story is interrupted by discoveries that challenge the actors’ understanding of the text. What first appears to be melodrama becomes an inquiry into translation, war, and cultural misunderstanding.
Three Navy war heroes on a morale-building vacation in San Francisco are expected to give speeches at shipyard plants by an officer overseeing their public-relations tour. The men instead seek entertainment, moving between the St. Mark Hotel and a naval hospital.
Two teenage girls become interested in boys, and the girls' parents are making more problems rather than solving them.
Set in a Buenos Aires prison cell in 1976, the play follows revolutionary Valentin Arregui Paz and his cellmate Luis Alberto Molina as their relationship develops; Molina appears to have been planted to uncover the secrets of Valentin’s Marxist group.
Frontier hero Kit Redding’s wife and daughter are kidnapped, and years pass before he meets the renamed villain again. Kit foils the man’s attempt to cheat him at poker aboard a river steamer, learns that the villain killed his wife, then pursues and kills him and is reunited with his daughter.
A Muslim girl challenges gender rules in her family as she seeks to call the azaan like her father. Her arguments about food, education and religious authority culminate in her defying her father to perform at a school play.
After two couples meet at an unsuccessful party, they drink, swap partners and exchange keys. A rich aunt’s visit, an awkward family lunch and the arrival of a cuckolded husband compound the misunderstandings before the farce ends with order restored.
Knave or Not? is a 1798 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Holcroft. The original Drury Lane cast included John Palmer as Monsrose, Richard Wroughton as Sir Guy Taunton, Richard Suett as Sir Job Ferment, Ralph Wewitzer as Mr Taunton, William Barrymore as Oliver, John Bannister as Jonas, Thomas Hollingsworth as Mr Quake, Jane Pope as Lady Ferment and Dorothea Jordan as Susan.
In a remote cabin, two elderly recluses whose opposing sides of one spirit have split into Abe the romantic and Cohn the realist encounter a magician and Joan of Arc; her call to join a pilgrimage to Heaven before a coming holocaust forces the men to reconsider belief and change.
Know Your Own Mind is a 1777 comedy play by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 22 February 1777. The original Covent Garden cast included William Thomas Lewis as Millamour, Charles Lee Lewes as Dashwould, Richard Wroughton as Malvil, Francis Aickin as Bygrove, Cockran Joseph Booth as Captain Bygrave, James Fearon as Sir John Millamour, John Whitfield as Sir Harry Lovewith, Ralph Wewitzer as Charles, Servant of Millamour, Isabella Mattocks as Lady Bell, Mary Dayes as Lady Jane and Elizabeth Hartley as Miss Neville. The Irish premiere was at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 13 August 1778. It was acted nineteen times at Covent Garden and in 1789 was revived at Drury Lane, with Dorothea Jordan in the cast, and remained a standard work well into the nineteenth century.
Raymond Williams's dramatic play uses fictional characters to examine events parallel to Joseph Stalin's life, with Joseph becoming Koba and Jordan representing Lenin. Its dialogue considers whether Koba strengthened or weakened the movement.
A domestic comedy about an affair abruptly turns into a courtroom inquiry after actress Kamini kills a man in the audience. The troupe’s tangled relationships and the invented figure of Shekhar Khosla emerge as the characters’ testimony reveals how the murder was manipulated.
Showing 2,809–2,928 of 8,284 shows
Load more shows