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Love in a Forest

Play · 1723

Love in a Forest is a 1723 comedy play by Charles Johnson. It is a substantial reworking of Shakespeare's As You Like It cutting out characters and passages, while borrowing from other Shakespeare plays amongst other things. The original Drury Lane cast included Charles Williams as Duke Frederick, Barton Booth as Alberto, Colley Cibber as Jacques, John Corey as Amiens, John Thurmond as Oliver, Robert Wilks as Orlando, John Roberts as Roberto, John Mills as Adam, Theophilus Cibber as Le Beau, William Mills as Charles, Hester Santlow as Rosalind, Sarah Thurmond as Celia, William Penkethman as Pyramus, Henry Norris as Wall and Joe Miller as Thisbe.

Love in a Riddle

Play · 1729

Love in a Riddle is a 1729 ballad opera by the British actor-manager Colley Cibber. It was part of a boom in ballad operas inspired by the enormous success of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera the previous year. The original Drury Lane cast included John Mills as Arcas, John Harper as Aegon, Charles Williams as Amyntas, Sarah Thurmond as Iphis, Colley Cibber as Philautus, Benjamin Griffin as Corydon, James Oates as Mopsus, Joe Miller as Cimon, Jane Cibber as Ianthe and Kitty Clive as Phillida. The prologue was spoken by Robert Wilks.

Love in a Wood

Play · 1671

Love in a Wood; Or, St James's Park is a 1671 comedy play by the English writer William Wycherley. His debut play, it was first staged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane by the King's Company. The original cast included Charles Hart as Ranger, Richard Bell as Vincent, Edward Kynaston as Valentine, John Lacy as Alderman Gripe, William Wintershall as Sir Simon Addleplot, Michael Mohun as Dapperwit, Elizabeth Boutell as Christina, Elizabeth Cox as Lydia, Mary Knep as Lady Flippant, Katherine Corey as Mrs Joyner and Elizabeth James as Isabel. The published version of the following year was dedicated to the Duchess of Cleveland, mistress of Charles II.

Love in the Dark

Play · 1675

Love In The Dark; Or, The Man of Bus'ness is a 1675 comedy play by the English writer Francis Fane. It was first staged by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. The epilogue was written by the Earl of Rochester, and may also have contributed some of the more libertine lines to the play. It is set in Venice. The original Drury Lane cast included Edward Lydall as Loredano, Nicholas Burt as Cardinal Colonna, William Cartwright as Hircanio, Philip Griffin as Grimani, William Wintershall as Cornanti, John Lacy as Intrigo, Edward Kynaston as Count Sforza, Michael Mohun as Tribultio, Joseph Haines as Visconti, Martin Powell as Proveditor, Elizabeth James as Aurana and Elizabeth Boutell as Bellinganna.

Love! Valour! Compassion!

Play · 1994

The setting is at a lakeside summer vacation house in Dutchess County, two hours north of New York City where eight gay friends spend the three major holiday weekends of one summer together for Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. The house belongs to Gregory, a successful Broadway choreographer now approaching middle age, who fears he is losing his creativity; and his twenty-something lover, Bobby, a legal assistant who is blind. Each of the guests at their house is connected to Gregory's work in one way or another – Arthur and longtime partner Perry are business consultants; John Jeckyll, a sour Englishman, is a dance accompanist; die-hard musical theater fanatic Buzz Hauser is a costume designer and the most stereotypically gay man in the group. Only John's summer lover, Ramon, and John's twin brother James are outside the circle of friends. But Ramon is outgoing and eventually makes a place for himself in the group, and James is such a gentle soul that he is quickly welcomed.

Love's Sacrifice

Play · 1842

Love's Sacrifice is an 1842 play by the British writer George William Lovell. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 12 September 1842. The original cast included John Vandenhoff as Matthew Elmore, Walter Lacy as St. Lo, Alfred Wigan as Morluc, William Payne as Du Viray, Drinkwater Meadows as Jean Ruse, Charlotte Vandenhoff as Margaret, Harriette Deborah Lacy as Herminie de Vermont. It opened at the Bowery Theatre in New York the following year. It was well known in America by the 1850s.

Love, Loss, and What I Wore

Play · 2008

A character called "Gingy" acts as the narrator. The Los Angeles Times spent a full paragraph on a vignette about two high school prom dresses. The junior prom dress was a conservative powder blue gown to wear with a nerdy date. The senior prom dress was a sexy black mini dress that was befitting of her more desirable date. The dresses presented an identity crisis to one character: "Here's the thing – I've never really known for sure which of those two people I am – the girl who almost doesn't get asked to the prom at all or the girl who gets to go with the really cute guy. Every time I thought I knew which one I was, I turned out to be the other. Which is one reason I think I got married, to, like, end the confusion." The New York Times presented three stories that it felt were particularly emotional: the first about a woman who removed miniskirts from her college wardrobe after being raped, but continued wearing her favorite boots; another about wedding attire anxieties; and the third about the choice of adorning a newly reconstructed breast with a tattoo. The same article also noted a humorous ode to black as a part of a wardrobe or in fact as a wardrobe, as one character notes: "Sometimes I buy something that isn't black, and I put it on and I am so sorry." Other stories include recollections about the dress purchased for the date with a guy who subsequently married someone else; the foibles of spandex bras that result in a look known as the monoboob; issues involving toe cleavage; the Juicy Couture tracksuit that is a prominent staple of California wardrobes; wardrobe choice on the wrong day of the month; and the story about an incarcerated lover and the strategic hole in a certain pair of pants.

Lovers' Vows

Play · 1798

Act I: The play opens with Agatha being ejected from an inn when her money runs out. Too proud to beg, she is desperate. Frederick enters, sees her, and offers her money although it will mean he cannot pay for his own breakfast. She recognizes him as her son, absent for five years as a soldier. He has returned in order to find his birth certificate, which he needs in order to find employment. Distraught, Agatha tells him that there is no certificate; she was seduced at the age of seventeen by Baron Wildenhaim with a promise of marriage. Despite the resulting pregnancy, the Baron broke his promise and married another, wealthier woman. Agatha, turned out of her home, struggled to make ends meet and raise her son alone. Frederick is dismayed, and he arranges for his destitute mother to stay with some charitable cottagers. Act II: Frederick leaves, intending to beg for money. Not knowing her relationship to him, the cottagers tell Agatha of the recent history of Baron Wildenhaim, now widowed and with a daughter. She faints. Meanwhile, reluctant to force her inclination as his own was forced, the Baron tries to determine whether or not his daughter, Amelia, loves the affected and foppish Count Cassel. It becomes clear to the audience that she instead loves Anhalt, a poor clergyman, and he her. It also becomes clear that the Baron regrets the misdeeds of his youth and has long sought, fruitlessly, to make amends. Act III: Frederick, desperate as his begging has been unsuccessful, attempts to rob the Baron and the Count as they go hunting, not knowing who they are. He is arrested. Anhalt speaks to Amelia about matrimony, at the Baron's request, but she in turn confesses her love for him and forces his own confession. They are interrupted by Verdun, a versifying butler, with the news of Frederick's attack on the Baron. The Baron enters and Amelia pleads for the life of the unknown young man, but the Baron is adamant on the grounds that an example must be made. Act IV: Amelia takes Frederick food and he discovers who it was that he had threatened. He asks to meet the Baron privately. Amelia reveals to her father what she has learned from Verdun about the Count's sexual immorality. The Baron confronts the Count; he replies that he is a man of the world, and reminds the Baron that many men have behaved likewise. Confused and embarrassed, the Baron dismisses him. Amelia re-enters and reveals her love for Anhalt. They are interrupted by Anhalt, who tells the Baron that Frederick is in the next room and wants a private interview. Frederick reveals their relationship to the Baron, and then leaves. The Baron is much affected. Act V: Anhalt goes to Agatha at the cottage and explains some circumstances which mitigate the Baron's prior conduct. Frederick, and then Anhalt, insist to the Baron that he must marry Agatha. After some agitation due to the social difference between them, he agrees, and grateful to Anhalt for his advice, agrees also to let him marry Amelia, despite his poverty. Agatha enters the room and all are reconciled.

Loyalties

Play · 1922

The play is an exposé of antisemitism in English upper-class society in the 1920s. It is set in Meldon Court, a country house near Newmarket, the home of Sir Charles and Lady Adela Winsor. One of their guests, Ferdinand de Levis, has had £1000 stolen from his room, and he charges another of the guests, Captain Ronald Dancy, with the theft. However, de Levis is Jewish and Dancy is a war hero. Despite evidence that Dancy may be guilty, de Levis is threatened with social ostracism by the members of the gentleman's club to which he belongs. He is suspended from the club and in turn resigns. When Mabel, Dancy's wife, pleads with de Levis, as a gentleman, to withdraw the charge, he replies "I'm not a gentleman - I'm a damned Jew!" echoing what Dancy has previously called him. Dancy, under pressure from the members of his club and from his wife, agrees to bring court proceedings against de Levis. The trial begins, but the case ends prematurely when the culprit is discovered. During the play several characters admit that they don't like Jews, while at the same time phrasing their opinions in ways that seek to avoid a charge of prejudice. Early on, Charles Winsor says "I like Jews. That’s not against him—rather the contrary these days. But he pushes himself." A friend of Mabel's, Margaret Orme, says, "I know lots of splendid Jews,... but when it comes to the point—! They all stick together; why shouldn't we? It's in the blood." And when Lady Adela tells Margaret that she is proud of her Jewish great grandmother, Margaret says "Inoculated." A well-to-do grocer, Gilman, says, "I don’t like—well, not to put too fine a point upon it—’Ebrews. They work harder; they’re more sober; they’re honest; and they’re everywhere. I’ve nothing against them, but the fact is—they get on so." Gilman has come to give evidence in the case because he thinks that it will help Dancy against de Levis. Few of the characters come out well.

Lucius

Play · 1717

Lucius or Lucius, the First Christian King of Britain is a 1717 tragedy by the British writer Delarivier Manley. It is based on the life of Lucius of Britain, the second century ruler of Britain traditionally considered to have introduced Christianity to Britain. It was Manley's final play to be staged. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 11 May 1717 with a cast that included John Thurmond as Honorius, Lacy Ryan as Vortimer, Barton Booth as Lucius, John Mills as Arminius, John Bowman as Prince of Cambria, Anne Oldfield as Rosalinda and Christiana Horton as Emmelin.

Lucius Junius Brutus

Play · 1680

Lucius Junius Brutus; Father of his Country is a Restoration tragedy play by Nathaniel Lee from 1680. It depicts the life of Roman statesman Lucius Junius Brutus. It was first staged at the Dorset Garden Theatre by the Duke's Company. The original cast included Thomas Betterton as Lucius Junius Brutus, William Smith as Titus, Joseph Williams as Tiberius, John Wiltshire as Collatinus, Thomas Gillow as Valerius, Henry Norris as Horatius, William Fieldhouse and Thomas Percival as Fecilian Priests, James Nokes as Vindicius, Thomas Jevon as Fabritius, Mary Slingsby as Sempronia, Mary Betterton as Lucretia and Elizabeth Barry as Teraminta. It was published the following year by Jacob Tonson, and dedicated to the Earl of Dorset.

Lucky Guy

Play · 2013

Act I Mike McAlary, from 1985 to 1993, bounds from one New York City newsroom to another as he achieves career success, covering such stories as the tainted Tylenol case and the Buddy Boys of the 7-7 scandal. His salary increases as he ascends from being a cub reporter to star crime reporter to star columnist. In 1993, McAlary's suffers a near-fatal auto accident that leaves him physically impaired. Act II McAlary recovers from the accident and writes two defining stories of his career: the Jane Doe rape case, during which he is sued for libel after his column questions the truthfulness of the victim, and the Abner Louima story, for which he wins the Pulitzer. Eight months after he publishes the Louima story, on Christmas Day 1998, he succumbs to cancer at age 41.

Lucrece

Play · 1932

Lucrece is a play in six scenes by Thornton Wilder with incidental music by Deems Taylor. Wilder adapted André Obey's French play Le Viol De Lucrece into English, and Taylor composed the shows music. Obey's play was in turn based on William Shakespeare's poem The Rape of Lucrece about the Roman noblewoman Lucretia. Katharine Cornell and her husband Guthrie McClintic produced the work. It premiered at the Hanna Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio on November 29, 1932. It then played at the Teck Theatre in Buffalo before transferring to Broadway where it opened at the Belasco Theatre on December 20, 1932. Katharine Cornell portrayed the title role, and Robert Loraine and Blanche Yurka portrayed narrators reminiscent of a Greek chorus. Others in the cast included Brian Aherne as Tarquin, Charles Waldron as Brutus, Joyce Carey as Emilia, Pedro de Cordoba as Collatine, Brenda Forbes as Marina, and George Macready as both Valerius and a soldier.

Luke the Labourer

Play · 1826

The play's action takes place in an agricultural Yorkshire setting. Clara Wakefield receives financial help from farmhand Charles to free her father, Farmer Wakefield, from debtor’s jail. Luke, the titular character, is Farmer Wakefield's former employee whom he previously mistreated for being drunken, and has experienced extreme poverty resulting in the death of his wife. He has somehow saved enough money to lend to Farmer Wakefield, whose failing business cannot pay the debt. Clara frees her father, and he returns home to Clara and her mother. The local Squire, enlisting Luke's service, attempts to kidnap Clara, but she is saved by sailor Philip’s intervention. Philip is welcomed into the Wakefield household, where he reveals that he knew the family’s lost son, and is given Farmer Wakefield’s bed for the night. Luke, thinking that Philip is Wakefield, breaks in and tries to shoot him as revenge, but ends up being killed. In the chaos that ensues, an old local 'gypsy' reveals that he witnessed Wakefield's missing son being stolen and sold to a sailboat by Luke, and identifies Philip as the lost son.

Luther

Play · 1961

Act 1 Scene 1 – The Convent of the Augustinian Order of Eremites at Erfurt, 1505 Luther is accepted into St. Augustine's Monastery in Erfurt. His father, Hans, expresses scepticism and scorn for excessive religion. Luther displays anguished guilt at what he believes to be his own imperfections and sins. Scene 2 – The same. A year later Luther is preparing to conduct his first Mass as a priest. Another friar, Brother Weinand, tries to persuade him not to exaggerate his own wickedness, and gently dismisses Luther's anxiety as "a few imaginary sins". Luther, is tormented mentally by guilt and physically by constipation. Scene 3 – Two hours later In the refectory of the monastery after the celebration of Mass, Luther's father is a guest. He has most reluctantly accepted his son's monastic vocation but has nevertheless made a generous donation to the monastery's funds. He drinks too much at luncheon and his comments make clear his disappointment that his intellectually brilliant son has confined himself to a religious order. Act 2 Scene 1 – The Market Place, Jüterbog. 1517 Johann Tetzel, described by Osborne as "an ecclesiastical huckster", addresses a crowd of local people, persuading them to part with their money in exchange for papal indulgences (originally a remission of penance in exchange for a pious donation, but by 1517 represented by such as Tetzel as complete absolution for all sins). Scene 2 – The Eremite Cloister, Wittenberg. 1517 The Vicar General of the Augustinian Order, Johann von Staupitz, has sent for Luther. Staupitz respects and admires the young friar, and has much sympathy for Luther's scorn of relics and outrage at indulgences. He counsels Luther to be moderate in his public criticisms. Scene 3 – The steps of the Castle Church, Wittenberg. Eve of All Saints. 1517 Luther preaches a sermon scorning scholarly sophistication and insisting that faith alone is the key to salvation. He then nails to the church door his 95 theses against indulgences, issued as a challenge to Tetzel or anyone else to engage him in theological debate. Scene 4 – The Fugger Palace, Augsburg. October 1518 Cardinal Cajetan, the Papal Legate to Germany, has sent for Luther. The latter's views are by now seen by the Church as verging on heresy, and Cajetan tries, in vain, to persuade Luther to retract. Cajetan warns that Luther's views, if pursued, will cause the break-up of Christendom. Scene 5 – A hunting lodge, Magliana, Italy. 1519 Pope Leo X dictates a decree ordaining that unless Luther recants his views, he will be a heretic and will be excommunicated. Scene 6 – The Elster Gate, Wittenberg. 1520 Luther has by now broken completely from the Roman Catholic Church. He preaches a sermon denouncing the Pope. He burns the papal decree of excommunication and prays for God's support. Act 3 Scene 1 – The Diet of Worms. 1521 Luther engages in theological debate with Johann von Eck, who represents orthodoxy against Luther's revolutionary preachings. Luther demands that his opponents should refute his arguments by showing that the Bible contradicts them. He rejects the authority of the Pope and of church councils. Scene 2 – Wittenberg. 1525 A knight, who has until this point merely announced to the audience the time and place of each scene, now has a long speech commenting on the civil disorder that has erupted in the wake of Luther's religious revolution. He engages Luther in conversation, and it emerges that Luther is hostile to the peasant uprising. The knight is deeply disillusioned. Luther prepares to marry an ex-nun. Scene 3 – The Eremite Cloister, Wittenberg. 1530. Luther and his wife are living in the former monastery. Staupitz, now an old man, visits them, and looks round the building nostalgically. Luther expresses regret at turning Staupitz's world upside down. He is stung when he believes Staupitz disapproves of his siding with the princes against the peasants during the uprisings. Staupitz counsels moderation, as he had done in 1517. He leaves, and Luther muses aloud while cradling his baby son in his arms.

M'Lady

Play · 1921

M'Lady is a 1921 play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. It is a drama about a woman who tries to raise her daughter in high society, only for her husband to return from Broadmoor where he has been serving a sentence for killing a police officer. It was panned by theatre critics. It ran for twenty three performances at the Playhouse Theatre in the West End. The original cast included Frederick Leister, Frederick Worlock and Henrietta Watson. In 1930 Wallace adapted the play into a novel The Lady of Ascot.

M. Butterfly

Play · 1988

The first act introduces the main character, René Gallimard, a civil servant attached to the French embassy in China. In a prison, Gallimard is serving a sentence for treason. Through a series of flashbacks and imagined conversations, Gallimard tells an audience his story about a woman that he loved and lost. He falls in love with a beautiful Chinese opera singer, Song Liling. Gallimard is unaware that all female roles in traditional Beijing opera were actually played by men, as women were banned from the stage. The first act ends with Gallimard returning to France in shame and living alone after he asks his wife, Helga, for a divorce, admitting to her that he's had a mistress. It is revealed in act 2 that Song had been acting as a spy for the Chinese government, and she is actually a man who has disguised himself as a woman to seduce Gallimard and extract information from him. They stay together for 20 years until the truth is revealed, and Gallimard is convicted of treason and imprisoned. Unable to face the fact that his "perfect woman" is a man, he retreats deep within himself and his memories. The action of the play is depicted as his disordered, distorted recollection of the events surrounding their affair. In act three, Song reveals himself to the audience as a man, without makeup and dressed in men's clothing. Gallimard claims he only loved the idea of Butterfly, never Song himself. Gallimard throws Song and his clothing off the stage, but holds onto Butterfly's kimono. In scene three, the setting returns to Gallimard's prison cell, as he puts on makeup and Butterfly's wig and kimono. Then he stabs himself, committing suicide just as Butterfly does in the opera. For the Julie Taymor–directed revival in 2017, Hwang revisited the text to incorporate further information that had emerged about the Boursicot case, and address intersectional identities. Taymor and Hwang wanted their new approach to consider “present public discussion and awareness of nonbinary genders, the growth of China as a superpower, and details about the true story... which were not available to Hwang when he wrote the first version.” Changes include: Song Liling initially presents as male to Gallimard, only to claim to be physically female but made to dress up as a man by her parents. Hwang noted in an interview that the surprise reveal that Song Liling is actually a man no longer carried the shock value it did in 1988, especially after The Crying Game used the same tactic only a few years later. Another said it “was neither a critical nor a popular success…[but] an important, timely, and productive reconsideration of the play and its story in light of new acceptances of gender fluidity and the changing balance of power between Asia and the West.” Regarding the long-debated questions of Song and Gallimard's intimate relations, another reviewer said “Song’s defiant explanation to an over-curious French judge struck me as Hwang wanting to put an end to the prying once and for all.”

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Play · 1984

In a Chicago recording studio in 1927, Ma Rainey's band players Cutler, Toledo, Slow Drag, and Levee gather to record a new album of her songs. As they wait for her to arrive they tell stories, joke, philosophize, and argue. Tension is apparent between the young hot-headed trumpeter Levee who dreams of having his own band, and veterans Cutler, Slow Drag, and Toledo who all desire to stay true to Ma Rainey. By the time Ma Rainey arrives with entourage in tow, recording has fallen badly behind schedule, enraging producers Sturdyvant and Irvin. Ma's insistence that her stuttering nephew Sylvester speak the title song's introduction wreaks further havoc. As the band waits for various technical problems to be solved, Levee and Cutler come to blows. Levee is then simultaneously fired by Ma for his uncompromising behavior and rejected by producer Sturdyvant when he tries to get his own record deal. In a rage, Levee fatally stabs Toledo, destroying any possibility of a future for himself.

Macadam and Eve

Play · 1950

Macadam and Eve is a comedy play by the British writer Roger MacDougall. Adam arrives in modern Scotland still looking for his Eve. It premiered at the Q Theatre near Kew Bridge in London before transferring to the Aldwych Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 55 performances between 12 March and 28 April 1951. The original West End cast included John Gregson, John Laurie, Richard Pearson, Sheila Latimer, Beatrice Varley and Patricia Dickson. In 1956 it was adapted for an episode of the ITV Play of the Week.

Madam Fickle

Play · 1676

Madam Fickle; Or, The Witty False One is a 1676 comedy play by the English writer Thomas D'Urfey. It was first staged at the Dorset Garden Theatre by the Duke's Company. The original cast included Thomas Betterton as Lord Bellamore, William Smith as Manley, Samuel Sandford as Sir Arthur Oldlove, Matthew Medbourne as Captain Tilbury, Anthony Leigh as Zechiel, James Nokes as Toby, Cave Underhill as Old Jollyman, Thomas Jevon as Harry, John Richards as Flaile, Henry Norris as Dorrel, Mary Lee as Madam Fickle, Elizabeth Barry as Constantia and Anne Shadwell as Arbella. The published version of the play was dedicated to the Duke of Ormonde.

Madhyamavyayoga

Play · 700 est

In the forest where the Pandavas are in exile, Ghatotkacha captures a Brahmin family for his mother Hidimba, who wants a human meal. Each family member volunteers to die in the others’ place, until the priest’s middle son goes to fetch water. When Ghatotkacha calls for the “middle one,” Bhima mistakes the call for himself and arrives. The ensuing dispute and wrestling match reveal that Ghatotkacha is Bhima’s son; Hidimba recognizes her husband, and both families part in peace.

Mahomet the Imposter

Play · 1744

Mahomet the Imposter is a 1744 tragedy by the British writer James Miller. His final play, it was inspired by the 1736 French work Mahomet by Voltaire. It was Miller's only tragedy, as his other works were sentimental comedies. The title is sometimes spelt as Mahomet the Impostor. The original Drury Lane cast included David Garrick as Zaphna, Dennis Delane as Mahomet, Henry Giffard as Alcanor, Richard Winstone as Pharon and Anna Marcella Giffard as Palmira.

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