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Le Mariage de mademoiselle Beulemans

Play · 1910

In Brussels, brewer Ferdinand Beulemans's daughter Suzanne is engaged to Séraphin Meulemeester, son of a competing brewer, for the business advantage of a dowry. Suzanne loves Albert Delpierre, a young French brewing intern, and learns that Séraphin has a child with another woman. She ends the engagement and urges Séraphin to acknowledge his responsibilities; the rival brewers then compete to become honorary president of their society. Suzanne and Albert help secure the position for her father.

Le Père

Play · 2012

André, a once proud old man, is showing the first signs of mental degeneration. His daughter Anne, who takes him in at her apartment where the play takes place, seeks only to help and protect him, but the progression of his illness becomes inexorable. Both angry and distraught, he gradually loses his mind and reverts to childhood under her clouded gaze. Through stagecraft, the production draws the viewer into the twists and turns of a diseased mind: the actors' roles swap and become interchangeable, furniture changes from one scene to the next, and the dialogue repeats itself. The viewer is brought inside the father's head, hence the misunderstandings and the feeling of constantly being caught between truth and fiction, nightmare and reality. As the father decays, the setting expands and the space empties, leaving him with his solitude, his own nothingness and his impending end.

Lean Harvest

Play · 1931

Lean Harvest is a 1931 play by the British writer Ronald Jeans. It portrays a married couple in the years after the First World War, with the New Statesman review concluding that the moral of the play was "too much money and too little money are equally dangerous to married happiness". Its original run at St Martin's Theatre in London's West End ran for 123 performances between 7 June and 21 August 1931. It starred Leslie Banks, who also directed, as well as Diana Wynyard, Nigel Bruce, Douglas Jefferies, E. Vivian Reynolds, Joan Swinstead and Allan Wade. It was produced by Raymond Massey. It then transferred to the Forrest Theatre on Broadway, where it ran for 31 performances from 13 October 1931 with Banks and Bruce reprising their roles.

Leave Her to Heaven

Play · 1940

Leave Her to Heaven is a 1940 play by the British writer John Van Druten. Actress Ruth Chatterton made her first appearance on Broadway in 15 years. She co-starred with Edmond O'Brien. It premiered at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway on 27 February 1940. Set in England, it was based on a true story about a woman who took her older husband's chauffeur as a lover, only for the younger man to kill her husband. It is unrelated to the film of the same title, which is based on a 1944 novel by Ben Ames Williams.

Leave It to Psmith

Play · 1930

The first scene is set in the Oak Gallery in Blandings Castle, in the morning. At the castle is the Earl of Middlewick, his butler Bellows, his youngest son Freddie, and his secretary Baxter. Freddie's stepmother, Lady Middlewick, has inherited a diamond necklace (to the chagrin of second cousin Ethelberta). Freddie and Phyllis Jackson want to get married but her father will not approve unless Freddie either works for his jam business or invests five thousand pounds in the business. Freddie prefers the latter. He has inherited five thousand pounds, but Lady Middlewick must sign any cheques drawn by Freddie against his legacy, and she disapproves of the investment. Freddie and Phyllis see an advertisement offering Psmith's services for any job whatsoever. Freddie wants to hire Psmith to steal the diamond necklace and arranges a meeting. Middlewick goes to London to hire Eve Halliday to catalogue the castle's library, and to bring poets Ralston McTodd and Aileen Peavey to Blandings at Lady Middlewick's command. The second scene is set outside the Greek Park Tube Station. Cynthia, wife of Ralston McTodd, chats with a lift man and tells her friend Eve that Ralston, who is temperamental, has left her once again to go write poetry somewhere. It rains and Eve has no umbrella. Psmith takes Walderwick's umbrella from the nearby Morpheus Club and gives it to her. Psmith likes Eve and offers to steal the necklace for Freddie for free, to be near Eve at Blandings. Eddie Cootes also tries to trick Psmith out of money but fails. The third scene is set later in the Morpheus Club. Eve talks with club waitress Miss Rumbelow, sees Psmith again, and returns the umbrella. Psmith shows Walderwick where his lost umbrella is and Walderwick thanks him. Psmith tells Freddie his plan: they will steal Lady Middlewick's necklace, then she will sign Freddie's cheque to buy her a new one, but he will actually return her stolen necklace to her. Lord Middlewick annoys McTodd, and McTodd leaves while Middlewick is out. When Middlewick returns, Psmith pretends to be McTodd, which Middlewick believes because he has lost his glasses. Middlewick tells Eve that Psmith is Ralston McTodd. The second act is set in the Oak Gallery in Blandings Castle, in the following evening. There is a gramophone playing, and Freddie, Phyllis, Waldwerick, and Agatha dance. Lord and Lady Middlewick, Ethelberta, Baxter, and Psmith enter, and everyone settles down to drink coffee. Lady Middlewick is wearing her diamond necklace and shows it off to Ethelberta. Lady Middlewick announces that Miss Peavey and Mr McTodd are going to read their poetry for them. Aileen Peavey enters and talks poetically about fairies. Lord Chipstead, Walderwick's father and Lady Middlewick's cousin, also joins the party. Miss Peavey and Psmith (as McTodd) sign their names in Baxter's autograph book. When Eve privately talks to Psmith about his treatment of his supposed wife Cynthia, Psmith improvises and convinces her that Cynthia is wrong about him. Baxter shows Freddie and Phyllis that Psmith's signature is wrong. Baxter suspects Psmith is an imposter intent on stealing the necklace. Freddie and Phyllis discuss this with Psmith. Cootes appears again, pretending to be Ralston McTodd and hoping to steal the necklace, but Psmith stops him and lets him go. Cootes and Peavey recognize each other as they are both confidence tricksters and former partners. They realize Psmith is an imposter, and since Cootes has a gun, they get him to agree to introduce Cootes to the household. Psmith introduces Cootes to Bellows as his valet, and gets his gun by pretending Cootes was carrying it for him. Miss Peavey and Cootes plan to turn off the lights and take Lady Middlewick's necklace. They enact their plan and Cootes hides the necklace in a flower-pot. Eve takes it and hides it elsewhere, and then Psmith acquires it. The third act takes place the next morning, in a keeper's cottage at Blandings where Psmith is staying. Eve spoke on the telephone with Cynthia and realized that Psmith is not McTodd. She tells Freddie. Freddie tells her he already knows and had asked Psmith to steal the necklace. Lady Middlewick has signed Freddie's cheque, ostensibly for buying a new necklace. He gave the cheque to Phyllis to give to her father and now needs the stolen necklace. Eve thinks Psmith never intended to give it to Freddie. They look through Psmith's things for the necklace. Psmith appears and is disappointed in Freddie. He still has Cootes's revolver and locks Freddie behind a staircase door. He tells Eve that he agreed to steal the necklace for free, not to take the necklace himself but to be near Eve. She asks him to prove it by giving her Lady Middlewick's necklace and he complies. Miss Peavey appears with Cootes, who is holding a revolver and also grabs the one Psmith took. They take the necklace and decide to get married. Psmith manages to take the guns when Cootes is distracted by Freddie shouting, and Cootes gives him the necklace. Miss Peavey and Cootes leave without the necklace but plan to marry anyway. After Mr and Mrs McTodd arrive, Baxter and Lord Middlewick question Psmith about his identity. Psmith claims he was invited by Freddie to help guard the necklace, which Freddie corroborates. Psmith tells them Miss Peavey was a thief and Freddie recovered the necklace. Lady Middlewick thanks Freddie. Baxter is suspicious of Psmith but is ignored and resigns. Lord Middlewick hires Psmith as his new secretary. Psmith and Eve plan to get married. He again takes Walderwick's umbrella and they walk out under the umbrella.

Lend Me a Tenor

Play · 1985

The play takes place in 1934, in a hotel suite in Cleveland, Ohio. The two-room set has a sitting room with a sofa and chairs at right and a bedroom at left. A center "stage wall" divides the two rooms, with a door leading from one room to the other. (Throughout the play, the audience can see what's happening in both rooms at the same time.) As Scene I of the play opens, Henry Saunders, general manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Tito Merelli, a world-famous Italian opera tenor, known as "Il Stupendo" to his many fans. Merelli is coming to Cleveland to sing the lead role in a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Otello. It's the biggest event in the Cleveland Opera's history. A sellout crowd and the members of the Cleveland Opera Guild will be at the opera house that evening to see the great Merelli. Saunders' harried assistant, Max, is also in the hotel suite. Saunders has charged Max with seeing to Merelli's needs, and with getting Merelli to the opera house in time for the performance. Also there is Maggie Saunders, Henry's daughter and Max's sometime girlfriend. Maggie is a fan of Tito Merelli, and hopes to meet him. Tito finally arrives at the hotel suite, accompanied by his hot-tempered Italian wife, Maria, who is jealous because Tito flirts with other women. When she finds Maggie hiding in the bedroom closet, trying to get Tito's autograph, Maria angrily assumes that Maggie is Tito's secret lover. Maria writes Tito a "Dear John" letter, and leaves the hotel. In the sitting room, Max gives Tito a tranquilizer-laced drink, trying to calm him down before the performance. (Unbeknownst to either of them, Tito accidentally takes a double-dose of tranquilizers.) When he learns that Max is an aspiring opera singer, Tito kindly gives Max a singing lesson, teaching him to "loosen up" and sing with more confidence. Tito and Max sing a duet together ("Dio, che nell'alma infondere" from Verdi's Don Carlos). When Tito returns to the bedroom, he finds Maria's note. Horrified that his wife has left him, Tito goes into a fit of passion and tries to "kill himself" with various non-lethal objects (e.g. trying to stab himself with a wine bottle). Max manages to calm Tito down, and takes the singer into the bedroom, where Tito lies down on the bed for a rest. Much later (Scene II), Max is unable to wake Tito from his nap. Max finds an empty medicine bottle and Maria's "Dear John" letter, which is written in such a way ("By the time you read this, I will be gone.") that Max mistakenly thinks Tito has committed suicide. When Saunders arrives, Max tearfully tells him that Tito is dead. Saunders is furious. The opera performance will have to be cancelled, and the audience will demand their money back. It will be a disaster for the Cleveland opera, and for Saunders himself. However, Saunders comes up with a plan. Since no one else knows that Tito is dead, Max will step into the Othello role and pretend to be Tito. Wearing Tito's costume and makeup, Max will star in the opera performance. The audience will never know that it is not Tito Merelli, and they can announce Tito's death tomorrow morning. Max reluctantly agrees to the plan. He goes into the bathroom to change, and later returns, dressed as Othello, in a costume, wig, and blackface makeup. As the curtain falls on Act One, Saunders and Max leave for the performance, just as Tito wakes up in the bedroom. As the second act opens, Saunders and Max return to the hotel suite. Max's performance as Othello was a huge success, and no one suspected that he was not Tito. Then Saunders gets a phone call, telling him that the police are downstairs in the lobby. They are looking for "a lunatic dressed as Othello, who thinks he's Tito Merelli." During Max's performance, the "lunatic" tried to force his way into the opera house, hit a policeman who tried to stop him, and ran away. Saunders tells Max to quickly change out of his Othello costume and makeup, while he goes downstairs to handle the police. Max returns to the bedroom, but is shocked and horrified to find Tito is missing from the bed. Still wearing his Othello costume, Max leaves the hotel suite and runs to find Saunders. A few seconds later, Tito Merelli returns to the hotel suite, also dressed as Othello, in a costume, wig, and blackface makeup. Frantic and on the run from the police, Tito is even more confused when other characters in the play show up to congratulate him on his "magnificent performance" as Othello. For the rest of the play, Max and Tito—who are identical in their Othello costumes and makeup—are repeatedly mistaken for each other, as they alternately run in and out of the hotel suite. Max is mistaken for Tito, and Tito is mistaken for Max by Saunders. Also, Tito and Max both find themselves being romantically pursued by Maggie Saunders, and by Diana, the Cleveland Opera's sexy and ambitious soprano. Eventually, Diana seduces Tito in the bedroom, while Maggie simultaneously seduces Max (who she thinks is Tito) in the living room. At the end of the play, things are sorted out. Maria returns to the hotel and makes up with the bewildered Tito, while Max manages to step into the bathroom long enough to change out of his Othello costume and wig, and emerge as himself. Tito and Maria leave together, while Saunders accompanies Diana to a downstairs reception. Maggie realizes that not only was Max the "Tito" that she had sex with, he was also the "Tito" who sang so passionately in tonight's opera performance. As the play closes, Max and Maggie share a kiss.

Leopoldstadt

Play · 2020

Leopoldstadt frames the narrative of a Jewish family in Vienna over a period of some 50 years. The main set is the drawing room of a wealthy family. There are five acts occurring in the years 1899, 1900, 1924, 1938 and 1955. 1899: the family gathers for Christmas, discussing ideas ranging from Theodore Herzl's Zionism to Jewish and Viennese arts and culture. Family members have integrated well with Viennese society, and enjoy their rights and civil liberties. Hanna asks Gretl to chaperone her on a date with a non-Jewish cavalry officer, Fritz. Hermann’s nephew, Pauli, expresses an interest in becoming a soldier. 1900: Gretl and Fritz strike up an affair, which Gretl eventually ends. Hermann gains knowledge of this, but ultimately dismisses Gretl's infidelity. The family gather for Passover Seder, celebrating the birth of Hermann’s niece, Nellie. 1924: Jacob, the son of Hermann and Gretl, fought in World War I alongside Pauli. Pauli was killed in battle; Jacob survived but lost an eye and has one useless arm. The family gather for a bris ceremony. This act explores the impacts of the Great War and the rise of Bolshevism. Fearing for the worst, Hermann meets with a banker to discuss transferring the family business to Jacob. 1938: the year of Anschluss. The family are gathered, with the company of a British journalist who is engaged to one of the girls in the family. The family discuss escape plans, including visas to England. The Nazis enter the property, harassing the family and seizing their belongings. The family's home is requisitioned by the Nazis and the family must leave to be transported the following day. Hermann is forced to sign the family business away to the Nazis, but Jacob retains legal ownership. It is revealed that Jacob is the legal son of Gretl and Fritz; Hermann planned and acknowledged the affair so that Jacob would not face antisemitism since he would be legally recorded as a gentile. 1955: the survivors of the Holocaust gather in the family home. Only three family members survived: Leo, who successfully gained a British visa and assimilated into British culture; Rosa, who moved to New York before the Holocaust; and Nathan, who survived Auschwitz. Leo has no memory of his life in Vienna as a Jew; the family painfully recollect their memories and acknowledge their murdered family members.

Les Blancs

Play · 1970

A white American journalist, Charlie Morris, arrives at the mission – a remote and very rustic Protestant medical missionary outpost in Africa. He meets the idealistic and slightly naive young Dr. Marta Gotterling and the cynical much older Dr. Willy DeKoven. He also meets a wise and kindly old now-blind Norwegian woman, Madame Neilsen, the wife of Reverend Torvald Neilsen, who is currently away performing baptisms and a funeral across the river. The Neilsens have been at the mission for 40 years, and Madame Neilsen knows and loves the Africans and understands their traditions – but tells Charlie that for many years now "the trouble" has distanced the Africans from the Neilsens. Major George Rice appears, dragging a young African man by a noose a young African man and possible terrorist he refers to as "it", and informs Charlie of the ongoing conflict between the Colonial Reserve and terrorist members of the African resistance. After leaving the mission, the Major shoots the young man off-stage. Charlie and Dr. DeKoven discuss Amos Kumalo, the leader of the non-violent independence movement, who has been in Europe negotiating and has returned to the country. Tshembe Matoseh, a former villager who has become a world-travelled businessman with a white wife and biracial son, returns from his home in London to the village only one day too late to see his dying father, Old Abioseh. Tshembe tells his much younger, biracial half-brother Eric, whom he hasn't seen in seven years, of his family in England, and they discuss the struggle for independence. Their oldest brother Abioseh Matoseh returns to the village from a Catholic educational institution, St Cyprian's, wearing clerical garb, and reveals that he is in the process of being ordained as a priest. Tshembe rejects Abioseh's capitulation to Roman Catholicism, and Abioseh rejects the traditional African funeral ceremony being held for their father, creating a conflict of cultures between the two brothers. Charlie is attempting to convince Dr. Gotterling to join him for a walk when Major Rice arrives and tells them of a peaceful white family nearby that has just been murdered by terrorists. Tshembe arrives to renew his friendship with Madame Neilsen, but Major Rice calls him a "kaffir" before he identifies himself, and afterwards searches him for the tattoo sign of the terrorist group. He continues to belittle Tshembe, calling him "boy", and asking him why "you educated chaps" don't "talk sense" to the terrorists. In a conversation full of tension, Charlie expresses to Tshembe a desire to transcend ingrained race relations and to deeply understand and possibly publicize the Africans and their struggle, but Tshembe points up Charlie's unspoken paternalism, his unconscious internalized superiority, and his and other whites' need to find salvation or fulfillment at Africa's expense. Tshembe confronts his confused, directionless, and misguided biracial teenage half-brother Eric about wearing makeup given to him by Dr. DeKoven and "turning into a white woman", and about his excessive drinking. Tshembe wants to take Eric to live with him in London, but Abioseh wants him to go to the boarding school at St Cyprian's. Tshembe learns that Peter (who goes by his birth name Ntali in the village), the African longtime head servant at the medical mission, is part of the terrorist group. He also learns that his own father, the now-deceased Old Abioseh, had started the resistance movement several years previously. Peter, along with a militant villager named Ngago, try to recruit Tshembe to the terrorist group, but he tells Peter that Kumalo has returned to the country for negotiations and that he will go to Kumalo and deliver the people's messages to him, instead. Peter believes that strategy to be ineffectual and says the terrorists are determined to rule by whatever means necessary. Tshembe is distraught and reminds himself, "I have renounced all spears!" Charlie questions Dr. Gotterling about Reverend Neilsen, trying to explore his motives in coming to Africa to found a mission, but she idolizes the reverend, and rejects the notion that his mission exploited the villagers in any way or took advantage of the deprivation in the area. She also tells Charlie that the Africans "haven't earned the right to criticize yet" about the way they are treated by white settlers. Major Rice appears at the mission, saying that "this colony has always depended on the sacredness of a white life", and that because of the terrorist groups and because Kumalo has been arrested and killed, he is assuming full command at the mission. He states full-scale military operations, including internment camps for all African males and relocation of all African females and children, will be implemented. Troops will be quartered at the mission. Tshembe arrives at the mission, and is told Kumalo is dead. Charlie again attempts to engage Tshembe, but in another heated exchange he tells Charlie he is tired of words and tries to explain to him that nothing can come of their talking. Charlie wants Tshembe, as an educated and successful African expat businessman, to speak to the West on behalf of Africa, but Tshembe explains that for generations, lip service by white colonizers, governments, and apparent sympathizers have yielded no results but only the continued exploitation, oppression, mutilation, and murder of Africans. He says innumerable non-violent negotiations and protests have accomplished nothing. In his mind Tshembe sees The Woman (a non-speaking, symbolic role), a symbol of the urge he feels to rejoin his African roots by way of the resistance, and murmurs, "She has come for me now", but when internally impelled to choose sides he shouts in anguish, "I am just one man!" When Eric expresses his desire to join the terrorists, Abioseh reminds him he is half-white. Eric accidentally reveals to him that Peter is part of the terrorist group, which Abioseh condemns. When Tshembe appears Abioseh appeals to him as an upright, educated African like himself to wait till "the terror" has passed or is suppressed so that the two of them and others like them can step in afterwards and be peaceful leaders. Tshembe calls Abioseh an Uncle Tom and a Judas, but Abioseh is determined to report Peter to Major Rice, even though Peter was a village elder who helped raise the two brothers. Dr. DeKoven tells Charlie that the charitable medical work done at the unmodernized, unelectrified mission actually enables colonialism because keeping the villages and tribes uneducated and poor promotes subservience, white paternalism, and colonialism. He recounts that Reverend Neilsen had poured scorn on the villagers' proposal and petition for proportionate native representation in the legislature, which they had planned to take to the government in the capital. After that the villagers stopped coming to the mission except for medical needs. After their petitions went unheard in the capital and in Europe, the resistance movement was born. The natives stopped paying taxes, and the colonial government sent in soldiers, which then led to the terrorist groups. Tshembe goes to the mission to warn Peter that his cover has been blown, but Major Rice and Abioseh arrive first. The Major announces that Reverend Neilsen has been killed in a terrorist raid and that he has called in fresh troops, helicopters, jets, and mechanized units for a new coordinated military offensive. He calls for Peter and, after humiliating him by making him grovel and praise white rule, he shoots and kills him when upon being confronted he admits to cutting the flare system at the mission compound. Speaking to Charlie, Major Rice calls the country "my country" and exults over "our beautiful hills", concluding, "We wish the blacks no ill, Mr. Morris. But they are our hills." After he leaves, Dr. DeKoven tells Charlie that Major Rice is Eric's father, having raped Tshembe's and Abioseh's mother Aquah, who died in childbirth; he adds, "they say, from shame". Ngago calls the Kwi people together and describes the three centuries of murders, massacres, rapes, land grabs, oppression, and imprisonment committed by white colonizers. He calls on the men to kill and drive out the invaders. As the country erupts in chaos, the whites are told to evacuate from the mission within 24 hours. As Charlie and the doctors leave, Dr. Gotterling and Madame Neilsen each separately tell Charlie to write the truth of what he has seen and knows. Madame Neilsen tells Tshembe that, at 68, she is too old to leave and that Africa is her home and her final resting place. She reveals that Reverend Neilsen unfortunately believed that God intended that the races must remain separate, and that he wanted Aquah's unborn biracial child (Eric) to die and Aquah with it. Tshembe tells her he doesn't know what to do, regarding the terrorist movement. She tells him that Africa needs warriors and that colonialism will go on unchecked if not stopped. When they part, Tshembe kills his brother Abioseh and cries out in anguish. Madame Neilsen sits quietly by her husband's casket inside the mission that night, and blows out her candle, sitting in the dark. As villagers enter the compound, Eric sets fire to the mission.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Play · 1985

Les Liaisons Dangereuses is a 1985 play by Christopher Hampton adapted from the 1782 novel of the same name by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. The play was first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company and opened at The Other Place in Stratford-upon-Avon on 24 September 1985 starring Lindsay Duncan, Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson, Lesley Manville, and Fiona Shaw. It made its Broadway debut in 1987, with Duncan and Rickman reprising their roles. The play has since been revived several times on Broadway and the West End. The play was adapted into the 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Les Pavés du Ciel

Play · 1953

(Taken from the Broadway version); Shots are heard by the audience before the curtain rises. When the stage is revealed, Henri appears to be dead with his wife Lucile Miremont, in a striking white satin gown, holding a gun over the corpse. Lucille targeted Henri for cheating on her. Henri surprisingly springs to life, as the bullets were blanks. A strange absurd comedy ensues, including Lucile reloading her weapon with real bullets, shooting Henri a second time, and resulting in Henri transforming into a grandfather clock. A further plot point involves Lucile Nicole unsuccessfully trying to seduce Pierre, Henri's married son. In the end Lucille awakes to discover the events were all a nightmare.

Lettice and Lovage

Play · 1987

Lettice and Lovage is set in England. The action takes place in three primary locations: the Grand Hall of Fustian House, Wiltshire, England; Miss Schoen's office at the Preservation Trust, Architrave Place, London; and Miss Douffet's basement apartment, Earls Court, London. This synopsis delineates the action of the production seen by American audiences in 1990. Lettice Douffet is showing a group of tourists around Fustian House, an old, dreary, and (as the name suggests) fusty sixteenth-century hall. The rain-drenched tourists are clearly bored and miserable. Lettice is reciting a rehearsed monologue pointing out the not-very-interesting history of the hall. As the tourists leave in a kind of stupor, Lettice feels dejected. The scene shifts to several days later at the same spot. Lettice is again reciting her boring monologue, but suddenly she is filled with inspiration and begins improvising a wildly untrue (yet entertaining) story about the staircase in the hall. The tourists are jolted from their reveries and thoroughly enraptured by her tale. Some days later, Lettice is once again telling the "history" of the hall, only her tale has become even more fanciful and grandiose. She is filled with confidence and the (larger) audience of excited tourists hangs on her every word. Lettice is challenged by a disagreeable fellow who demands to see her references for the story. She successfully averts his questions, much to the enjoyment of the rest of the crowd. The next scene reveals Lettice telling an even larger version of the now completely ridiculous yet salacious story to salivating tourists. She is this time interrupted by Lotte Schoen, who dismisses the rest of the crowd, insisting she must speak to Lettice alone. Lotte reveals she works for Preservation Trust, which owns Fustian House. She tells Lettice she must report to the Trust the next day to have her position reviewed. The next afternoon Lettice is shown in to Lotte's office. She defends her embellishment of the facts by stating that the House's architecture and history is too dull. Lettice says she lives her life by a code her mother taught her: "Enlarge! Enliven! Enlighten!". Lotte chafes at the discovery that Lettice's mother was an actress and sits dumbfounded at Lettice's assertions of her mother's colorful past and its influence on her. Lotte tells Lettice that she has twenty-two letters of complaint about her false recitations at Fustian House. She fires Lettice, who despairs and wonders what a woman of her age can do. She leaves the Trust, but not before telling Lotte a story about Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary had dressed herself in a red dress the day of her execution to defy her accusers. As she tells the story, Lettice drops her cloak to reveal a red nightdress. It is ten weeks later. Lettice is in her basement flat with her cat, Felina. The apartment is adorned with theatrical posters, furniture, props, and relics. Lotte Schoen unexpectedly arrives at the flat and is dismayed by the sight of the cat, saying she has an aversion to them. Lotte then produces a letter of reference she has written for Lettice to obtain a new position giving tours on boats on the Thames. Lettice is very moved by her gesture and apologizes for behaving rudely. She insists they have a celebratory drink together. They spend a long scene drinking and talking, where they begin to find similarities in their very different personalities—notably, a disgust with modern English architecture and all things "mere". Inebriated, Lotte begins telling of a man with whom she was once in love, who aspired to be a terrorist by blowing up modern buildings in London to oppose the destruction of historical architecture. Lotte divulges he and she had a secret alliance called E.N.D.—Eyesore Negation Detachment. She says she ran out on her end of the bargain and did not plant a bomb intended to blow up a wing of the Shell Building. Her betrayal of the agreement ruined the relationship and, consequently, her life. Lettice listens with much sympathy. Lotte invites her to dinner and tells her it is her Mary, Queen of Scots story that really prompted her to come. Lettice tells her the rest of the story—how Queen Mary also wore a wig to her execution, prompting the executioner to grab her wig and not her head after it was detached. Lotte reveals that she is wearing a wig and requests Lettice to take it off, in an act of solidarity. Six months later, Lettice is being interviewed in her home by a lawyer, who says she is accused of a "peculiarly unpleasant crime". We learn through a series of questions and answers that Lotte and Lettice had become fast friends and taken to enacting famous historical trials and executions in Lettice's flat. It becomes clear that, during one of these theatrical displays, Lotte was inadvertently injured and that the lawyer is at Lettice's home to inform her of an indictment against her. Lotte again shows up unexpectedly. The lawyer insists on hearing the whole story, claiming Lettice's defense relies upon it. Lotte insists it cannot be spoken at a trial. As Lettice continues her story (acting it out along the way and embellishing it with stories of Lotte's now rather theatrical behavior), Lotte becomes more and more agitated. We learn Lettice's cat startled Lotte in the midst of their performance, causing her to become injured. The lawyer tells them both that they must testify to this to get the case against Lettice thrown out. Lotte says, if the information gets out, it will ruin her life and career. Lotte claims Lettice tricked her into the acting games and suggests her theatricality is one big act. She cruelly insults Lettice and walks out. Lettice stops her with a heartfelt speech about how the technological modern age is leaving her behind. Lotte storms back in, outraged that Lettice is "giving up". They make up and decide to re-invent E.N.D., only without bombs. They plan to give tours at the "fifty ugliest new buildings in London", using Lotte's architectural knowledge and Lettice's flair for the dramatic (and propensity for lying). The play ends with the two women toasting the audience.

Libel!

Play · 1934

Sir Mark Loddon, a war hero and Member of Parliament, is suing a newspaper for libel. The paper claims that he is an impostor, a fellow soldier and friend of Loddon from the war who happened to resemble the original Loddon. The play is set in the courtroom as the trial for the lawsuit takes place. Loddon takes the stand as the first witness. He recounts being taken prisoner during the war, then escaping a few years later. After the war he married his pre-war fiancée, Enid, and was elected to the House of Commons. However, he says he has no recollection of events from before he was taken prisoner, a condition he attributes to shell shock. On cross-examination, defence lawyer Thomas Foxley accuses Loddon of being Frank Wenley, a soldier who escaped with Loddon and had strikingly similar features. Another soldier from the escape, Patrick Buckenham, testifies that Loddon and Wenley looked so much alike that they could have been twins. He believes Wenley killed the real Loddon. Loddon's attorney elicits testimony that Buckenham is being paid a stipend by the newspaper and had previously attempted to blackmail Loddon. Dr. Emile Flordon testifies to treating a severely beaten patient who was wearing a jacket from Loddon's brigade. The patient has recovered physically, but his injuries have left him mentally incapacitated. This man could be Wenley, or he could be Loddon. Foxley calls Enid Loddon to the stand, and she testifies that she no longer believes her husband is the real Mark Loddon. Just as it seems Loddon will lose his case, he has a sudden memory and asks to take the stand again. Loddon explains that the injured man was a German soldier that he encountered while escaping. He beat the man and switched clothing to aid the escape. He cuts open the lining of the jacket that Flordon had brought from his patient. Loddon pulls out a photograph of Enid from before the war, saying it was a gift from her before he left. The defence accepts this demonstration as proof of Loddon's identity. He wins his case and reunites with his wife.

Liberation

Play · 2025

Liberation is a 2025 American memory play by Bess Wohl. Developed by the Roundabout Theatre Company, it explores second-wave feminism, memory, and the complexities of social change across generations. The play premiered off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre in February 2025, directed by Whitney White, and transferred to Broadway in October 2025 at the James Earl Jones Theatre. The production won the 2026 Tony Award for Best Play. On May 4, 2026, it was announced that Bess Wohl won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Liberation.

Liberty Hall

Play · 1892

Liberty Hall is a comedy-drama play by the British writer R. C. Carton which premiered in London on 3 December 1892, at the St James's Theatre. It ran for 192 performances, until 20 May 1893. The cast was: Mr Owen – George Alexander William Todman – Edward Righton Hon Gerald Harringay – Ben Webster Mr Pedrick – Nutcombe Gould J. Briginshaw – H. H. Vincent Robert Binks – Richard Saker Luscombe – Vernon Sansbury Mr Hickson – Alfred Holles Miss Hickson – Ailsa Craig Crafer – Fanny Coleman Amy Chilworth – Maude Millett Blanche Chilworth – Marion Terry Source: The Era. The play was revived at the St James's for a single matinée performance in March 1894 and 16 performances in November 1895.

Life

Play · 1800

Life is an 1800 comedy play by the British writer Frederick Reynolds. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 1 November 1800. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 20 January 1801. The original Covent Garden cast included William Thomas Lewis as Sir Harry Torpid, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Paul Primitive, John Fawcett as Lackbrain, John Emery as Crafty, Charles Farley as Jack Clifford, Charles Murray as Marchmont, Frances Chapman as Mrs Belford, Catherine St Ledger as Mrs Decoy and Harriet Siddons as Rosa Marchmont.

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