Sight Unseen
Sight Unseen is a play by Donald Margulies. The play premiered at South Coast Repertory in 1991, and then was produced Off-Broadway in 1992 and on Broadway in 2004.
Plays
8284 shows
Clear filtersSignificant Other
In present-day New York, four friends in their late twenties search for relationships as their lives change. Jordan pines for a partner while the women in his close-knit circle pair off, forcing him to confront the life he hoped to have and the changes beyond his control.
Sigurd Slembe
This three-play cycle follows Sigurd, a 12th-century claimant to the Norwegian throne: he discovers his royal parentage and leaves for the Crusades, returns to Caithness and Orkney where his ambition brings disaster, then comes home to seek recognition, raises a revolt, and dies in defeat.
Sigurd's First Flight
In 1122, the young Sigurd prays to learn who his father is. His mother reveals he is the illegitimate son of King Magnus Barefoot; Sigurd vows to claim his right to the throne and leaves to join the Crusades.
Sigurd's Homecoming
In 1136, Sigurd returns to Stavanger seeking recognition from his half-brother, King Harald Gille. After nobles imprison him and plot his death, Sigurd escapes, kills Harald, and raises a revolt; before his defeat and death in 1139, he bids farewell to his mother.
Sigurd's Second Flight
Five years after leaving Norway, Sigurd serves Harald, Earl of Caithness, and loves Harald’s niece Audhild. Sigurd’s ambition for power brings bloody disaster to the noble families, and he decides to leave on another Crusade.
Silence
A three-character one-act play that uses both spoken language and pauses to suggest an underlying, withheld communication. Pinter describes speech as a means of covering a deeper silence, leaving the characters’ relationships and unspoken meanings to resonate beneath their words.
Silence
Set in Canterbury and Cumbria in a reimagined Dark Ages England, the play follows Silence, Lord of Cumbria, a woman living in disguise, alongside a priest, a king, a Norman princess and her household. Buffini draws on medieval history while engaging concerns of the new millennium.
Silent Disco
Two teenagers, one Aboriginal, attend a Sydney public school.
Silver Birch House
The play follows a peasant family in the Anatolian mountains through the turbulent decades of the 1960s and 1970s in modern Turkish history.
Silver Lining
Five elderly residents of a Gravesend retirement home face the threat of flooding.
Silver Wedding
Sir Robert and Lady Lydia Marlowe have spent many years abroad in the diplomatic service. On the morning of their twenty fifth wedding anniversary she announces that they should go their own separate ways. Her present for the wedding is a series of love letters he had written to different women throughout his career, each of whom she befriended.
Silvertown
Marija and Salih’s love story unfolds against the Srebrenica tragedy, as they become victims of the war’s circumstances. The bilingual play seeks to tell a personal story without reducing its subject to political generalities.
Simpatico
Three young associates rig a horse race and blackmail an official. Twenty years later, the scheme resurfaces as one of them tries to recover the original blackmail material from his former partners.
Simple Spymen
Two street musicians are mistakenly appointed as bodyguards for a scientist carrying a supposedly vital invention. They blunder through disguises and spy threats in Dover, while incompetent army officers and MI5 agents compound the confusion until the invention proves to be a carpet shampoo.
Sin and Sorrow Are Common to All
A tragic incident exposes conflict between petty tradespeople and the nobility, contrasting the upright Krasnov with the weak-willed nobleman Babayev.
Sing Me No Lullaby
At a Christmas reunion, former Illinois college friends confront the consequences of their 1930s political beliefs. A brilliant mathematician who once supported Soviet Russia has become dispossessed and is shut out of jobs, housing and social life because of his associations.
Single Spies
Single Spies is a 1988 double bill written by the English playwright Alan Bennett. It consists of An Englishman Abroad and A Question of Attribution, the former an adaptation of a television play the author had written for the BBC in 1983. Both plays depict members of the Cambridge spy ring and touch on their moral, political and aesthetic beliefs: the first shows Guy Burgess in exile in Moscow in 1958, seven years after absconding from Britain. The second focuses on Sir Anthony Blunt while he still holds high office in the Royal Household although known to the security services as a former Soviet agent. The title comes from a speech in Hamlet: ‘When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.’ The double bill was presented at the National Theatre in December 1988, and transferred to the Queen's Theatre in the West End in February 1989.
Sink the Belgrano!
Steven Berkoff’s verse satire dramatizes Margaret Thatcher’s decision to torpedo the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano during the 1982 Falklands War, using parodic figures representing British political and military leaders, sailors and farmers.
Sir Anthony Love
Sir Anthony Love; Or, The Rambling Lady is a 1690 comedy play by the Irish writer Thomas Southerne. It was originally staged by the United Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane with a cast that included Susanna Mountfort in a breeches role as Sir Anthony Love, William Mountfort as Valentine, Joseph Williams as Ilford, William Bowen as Sir Gentle Golding, Anthony Leigh as An Abbe, John Hodgson as Count Canaile, Samuel Sandford as Count Verole, George Bright as Waitwell, Colley Cibber as Servant to Sir Gentle, Charlotte Butler as Floriante, Anne Bracegirdle as Charlote and Frances Maria Knight as Volante. The play's incidental music was composed by Henry Purcell.
Sir Barnaby Whigg
Sir Barnaby Whigg; Or, No Wit Like A Womans is a 1681 comedy play by the English writer Thomas D'Urfey. It was first staged by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. A song for the play was composed by Henry Purcell. The original cast included Thomas Clark as Wilding, Cardell Goodman as Townly, Philip Griffin as Porpuss, Martin Powell as Whigg, John Coysh as Swift, Carey Perin as Benedick, Mary Corbett as Gratiana, Sarah Cooke as Livia and Susanna Percival as Winifred. The published version was dedicated to the politician Lord Berkeley.
Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes
Clamydes sets out to kill a dragon to win Juliana, while her brother Clyomon takes his place at knighting and embarks on his own adventures. Clyomon falls for the princess Neronis, who disguises herself as a boy; after magical dangers, mistaken identities and a rivalry between the knights, the two men reconcile and both couples plan to marry.
Sir Courtly Nice
Sir Courtly Nice: Or, It Cannot Be is a 1685 comedy play by the English writer John Crowne. Rehearsals by the United Company were underway when the death of Charles II in February led to the closure of all theatres as a mark of respect. The play was eventually staged on 9 May at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It is the tradition of the Restoration Comedy. A popular hit, it became a stock part of the repertoire for more than a century, with Colley Cibber and Anne Oldfield appearing in a celebrated 1709 revival. The original cast included William Mountfort as Sir Courtly, Cave Underhill as Hothead, Thomas Gillow as Testimony, William Mountfort as Lord Beaugard, Philip Griffin as Surly, Anthony Leigh as Sir Nicholas Callico and Elizabeth Barry as Leonora. Crowne made an attempt to balance the politics of the time by creating a Hothead, a hardline Tory character to balance out the Puritan Whig zealot Testimony but the play still revealed the author's underlying support for the Tory position. The published version was dedicated to the Duke of Ormonde.
Sir Giles Goosecap, Knight
The melancholic poet-lover Clarence is helped by Lord Momford to recognize his bond with Countess Eugenia. Around them, humours-comedy figures include the Francophile Captain Foulweather and waggish servants.
Sir Harry Wildair
Sir Harry Wildair is a 1701 comic play by the Irish writer George Farquhar. It is a sequel to the 1699 hit The Constant Couple, portraying the further adventures of the most popular character from the earlier play. The original Drury Lane cast included Robert Wilks as Sir Harry Wildair, John Mills as Colonel Standard, Benjamin Johnson as Captain Fireball, Colley Cibber as Marquis, William Pinkethman as Clincher, Henry Norris as Dicky, Henry Fairbank as Shark, Thomas Simpson as Lord Bellamy, Susanna Verbruggen as Lady Lurewell, Jane Rogers as Angelica and Jane Lucas as Parly. Farquhar, an Irish Protestant from Derry, dedicated the play to William of Orange.
Sir John Oldcastle
The play portrays Oldcastle as a religious but politically loyal dissenter who remains faithful to the Crown and Henry V. The Bishop of Rochester and his summoner pursue Oldcastle and his wife, while conspirators remain separate from him; the Oldcastles evade imprisonment, ending the extant play on a temporary positive note. The planned second part, which would have depicted Oldcastle's execution, is lost.
Sir Martin Mar-all, or The Feign’d Innocence
To impress his mistress Millicent, foolish Sir Martin pretends to play the lute, miming and strumming silently while another character secretly supplies the music. His continuing performance after the concealed player stops exposes the fraud in this Restoration comedy.
Sir Patient Fancy
Young Lucia marries the hypochondriacal Sir Patient Fancy because she and her lover Charles Wittmore are poor. Lucia and Wittmore carry on an affair under Sir Patient's nose, then reveal their relationship; Lucia, now in control of his money, looks forward to life with Wittmore.
Sir Solomon Single
Sir Salomon; Or, The Cautious Coxcomb is a 1670 comedy play by the English writer John Caryll. It has often been staged under the title Sir Solomon Single. It was first performed by the Duke's Company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London. It is part of the tradition of Restoration comedy. The original cast included Thomas Betterton as Sir Solomon, Henry Harris as Peregrine Woodland, William Smith as Single, Samuel Sandford as Wary, Cave Underhill as Timothy and Mary Betterton as Julia.
Sir Thomas More
The play follows Thomas More through his response to the 1517 Ill May Day riots, his service as Lord Chancellor, his refusal to sign the king's articles, and his execution. It dramatizes law, obedience, and conscience while altering or expanding historical events.
Sir Thomas Overbury
Sir Thomas Overbury is a 1723 tragedy by the British writer Richard Savage. It is based on the life of Thomas Overbury an associate of the Jacobean royal favourite Robert Carr whose apparent murder while incarcerated in the Tower of London provoked a trial and major scandal. Savage played the title role himself when it was staged at the Drury Lane Theatre. Other cast members included Roger Bridgewater as the Earl of Northampton, Theophilus Cibber as the Earl of Somerset and a Mrs. Bret as Isabella. Aaron Hill produced and revised the text of the play. It was published in October 1723. Historian Richard Holmes said the work is "clumsy, sub-Shakespearean, historical melodrama". (Whether any historical play from that period is not "sub-Shakespearean" is, of course, debatable.) Before his death, Savage completed a new version of Sir Thomas Overbury. In his Life of Mr Richard Savage (1744) Samuel Johnson described this version of the play as preserving only "a few lines" of the original, as having "a total alteration of the plan"—with "new incidents, and introduc[ing] new characters; so that it was a new tragedy". This revised version of Sir Thomas Overbury was first produced and published in 1777.
Sir Thomas Wyatt
After Edward VI’s death, Northumberland secures the throne for Lady Jane Grey, while Thomas Wyatt urges Mary to assert her claim. When Mary becomes queen and accepts a Spanish marriage, Wyatt rebels from Kent; the uprising fails, and Wyatt, Jane and Guildford Dudley are executed.
Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh is a 1719 tragedy by the British writer George Sewell. It is based on the downfall of Walter Raleigh a successful courtier and sailor in the reign of Elizabeth I who was executed in the reign of her successor James I. It was originally staged at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, one of the two patent theatres operating in London. The original cast featured James Quin as Walter Raleigh, Lacy Ryan as Howard, John Leigh as Young Raleigh, John Corey as Salisbury, Christopher Bullock as Gundamor, Thomas Smith as Sir Julius Caesar, John Egleton as Carew, John Ogden as Wade, Anna Maria Seymour as Lady Raleigh and Jane Rogers as Olympia.
Siren
Liz is hired to seduce local councillor Billy Nottle, who is suspected of taking bribes from developers.
Siri
A Tulu drama based on the Epic of Siri, covering the first part of the story through the death of Siri.
Sirocco
At a hotel in northern Italy, bored Englishwoman Lucy meets Sirio, a local painter, while her husband plans to leave for business. After falling in love with Sirio, she separates from her husband; when Sirio later leaves to help his mother, Lucy declares herself free but is uncertain about what comes next.
Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You
At a Christmas lecture, a nun named Sister Mary Ignatius explains to the audience the basic tenets of Catholicism. She is assisted by her favorite student, seven-year-old Thomas. From time to time, she asks him catechism questions and gives him a cookie for every right answer. Her speech is interrupted when four of her former students Gary Sullivan, Diane Symonds, Philomena Rostovich, and Aloysius Benheim enter dressed as Saint Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and two halves of a camel. The four remind Sister that she had asked them to come perform the pageant they had performed when they were students in her class. After the pageant, it becomes apparent that the four have strayed from Mary Ignatious's teaching: Diane has had two abortions (the first one from a rape at age 18); Philomena is an unwed mother; Aloysius is an alcoholic who beats his wife and contemplates suicide; Gary is gay. They reveal that they were never asked to come in and merely wanted Mary Ignatius, because they each have a reason for hating her: Aloysius was refused bathroom privileges frequently and now has bladder problems; Philomena was hit for being a poor student; Gary is there on behalf of his boyfriend Jeff; and Diane had believed Mary Ignatius's teachings until her mother died of breast cancer and she was raped the same day. Diane reveals that she has brought a gun to kill Sister, something the other three were not aware of. Sister grabs a gun from behind her lectern and shoots Diane in self-defense. She also shoots Gary, proclaiming that she has sent him to heaven, as he'd been to confession earlier that day. She then points the gun at Aloysius, who needs to go to the bathroom, before handing it to Thomas so she can take a nap. The play ends with Thomas pointing the gun at Aloysius while explaining the perfections of God, Diane and Gary's dead bodies on the floor, and Sister asleep.
Sisterly Feelings
Sisters Abigail and Dorcas compete for the attention of Simon, their brother’s fiancée’s brother. A coin toss and a later decision by the actors determine which sister ultimately ends up with him.
Sisters
Ann and Evelina share a modest life in turn-of-the-century New York. The arrival of a clockmaker unsettles their close relationship, testing the sacrifices and expectations that have held the sisters together.
Sita Banbas
An Urdu stage dramatization based on the Ramayana and centered on Sita.
Sive
In rural County Kerry, poverty and greed lead relatives to arrange orphaned Sive's marriage to an elderly wealthy man against her wishes and separate her from her suitor; the tragedy ends with Sive's death by drowning.
Siwan
The play concerns Joan, illegitimate daughter of King John of England, and her marriage to Llywelyn the Great. At their royal home in Abergwyngregyn in 1230, William de Braose is discovered with Siwan in Llywelyn's bedchamber and is hanged for adultery. The drama also treats reconciliation, forgiveness and marital harmony.
Six Characters in Search of an Author
Six unfinished fictional characters interrupt a theatre company's rehearsal and ask its director to stage their story. As actors attempt to reproduce their scenes, arguments over truth and performance intensify, and the family's story ends with a child's drowning and a boy's suicide, leaving the director unsure whether the events were real.
Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks
Lily Harrison is a self-described "tight-arsed old biddy" As the lessons continue, an improbable friendship develops out of their shared testiness and solitude.
Six Degrees of Separation
A young black man named Paul shows up at the home of art dealer Flan Kittredge and his wife Louisa, known simply as "Ouisa", who live overlooking Central Park in New York City. Paul has a minor stab wound from an attempted mugging, and says he is a friend of their children at Harvard University. The Kittredges are trying to get the money to buy a painting by Paul Cézanne, and now have this wounded stranger in their home. Paul claims he is in New York to meet his father, Sidney Poitier, who is directing a film version of the Broadway musical Cats. Paul continues to charm them with his story, though in reality, it is all a lie: Paul is no Harvard student and obtained details on the Kittredges from a male student he had seduced. Eventually Paul uses their home for an encounter with a hustler, but is caught red-handed. The police are called, but Paul escapes. Soon after, Paul starts up another con against a sensitive young man named Rick and his live-in girlfriend, Elizabeth. The naive young couple are new to the big city having just moved to New York from Utah and, based on Paul's con, invite him to live with them until he gets everything sorted out with his wealthy father—who Paul tells them is Flan Kittredge. The trio become good friends, with Paul spinning a tale of being estranged from his racist father, but still, the girlfriend tells Rick not to lend Paul any money. One night Paul takes Rick out on the town and seduces him in order to get the money. Later that night, Rick tells Elizabeth that Paul is gone, that he has all their money, and that he and Paul had sex. In a fit of fury, she cruelly suggests that Rick's father had always questioned his son's sexuality. Soon afterwards Rick commits suicide. In desperation, Paul calls the Kittredges for assistance. Partly due to strained relations with her children, Ouisa finds herself feeling emotionally attached to Paul, hoping to be able to help him in some way despite the fact that he has victimized them. Over a protracted and laborious phone call, he agrees to give himself up to the police; however, during the arrest, he and the couple are separated. Despite their efforts—Ouisa's more than Flan's—his fate is unresolved, except for a possibly tragic end. Towards the end of the play, in a climactic moment of reflection, she delivers the play's most famous monologue:
Sixty-Six Books
A theatrical set of 66 short plays, each responding to a book of the Protestant Bible, commissioned for the Bush Theatre’s reopening and the King James Version’s 400th anniversary.
Siyavush
A legendary-historical tragedy about young Siyavush, raised in heroic traditions and committed to fairness. He seeks truth in Iran and Turan, but dies understanding that justice can be found only through struggle against despotism.
Sizwe Banzi Is Dead
The play opens in the photography studio of a man named Styles. The studio is located in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. After reading a newspaper article on an automobile plant, Styles tells a humorous story to the audience about an incident that occurred when he worked at the Ford Motor Company. Styles continues to read the paper and talks about his photography studio. His musings are interrupted when a customer, Sizwe Banzi, arrives. He asks to have his picture taken, but when Styles asks him for his deposit and name, Sizwe hesitates, then says his name is Robert Zwelinzima. Styles asks Sizwe what he will do with the photo, and Sizwe tells him he will send it to his wife. When the picture is taken, the moment is frozen into what the photograph will look like. It comes to life and Sizwe dictates the letter to his wife that will accompany the photo. In the letter, Sizwe tells his wife that Sizwe Banzi is dead. He writes that when he arrived in Port Elizabeth from their home in King William’s Town, he stayed with a friend named Zola who tried to help Sizwe find a job. His employment search was unsuccessful; as a result, he was told by the authorities that he must leave in three days. Sizwe went to stay with Zola’s friend, Buntu. The play returns to the present time. Staying at Buntu’s house, Sizwe tells Buntu about his problems — unless a miracle happens, he will have to leave town in three days. Buntu is sympathetic to the problem and suggests he work in the mines in King William’s Town. Sizwe rejects the idea as too dangerous. Buntu decides to take him out for a treat at Sky’s place, a local bar. The focus switches back to Sizwe as he continues to compose the letter to his wife. He describes his experiences at Sky’s shebeen, where he was served alcohol by a woman in a respectful manner. The scene shifts to the outside of Sky’s after Sizwe and Buntu have been drinking. Buntu decides that he needs to get home to go to work tomorrow. He goes into an alley to relieve himself and finds a dead man there. Sizwe wants to report the body to the police. Buntu rejects the idea, but he retrieves the dead man’s identity book to find his address. Buntu finds that the man, named Robert Zwelinzima, has a work-seeker’s permit — the very thing that Sizwe needs to stay in town. They take the book. At Buntu’s house, Buntu switches the photographs in the books. He proposes that they burn Sizwe’s book — effectively making him dead — and have Sizwe adopt the dead man’s identity so he can stay in Port Elizabeth. Sizwe is unsure about the plan; in particular, he worries about his wife and children. Buntu contends that they can remarry. After much discussion, Sizwe agrees to the switch. Sizwe finishes dictating the letter to his wife. In it, he tells her that Buntu is helping him get a lodger’s permit. The scene shifts back to Styles’ photography studio; Sizwe is getting his picture taken.
Skeleton Crew
Set in Detroit in 2008, the play follows the workers of an automotive factory, known as the skeleton crew, led by Faye, currently experiencing homelessness. As a longtime employee and union representative who has spent 29 years on the line, she currently works alongside Dez and Shanita. When factory supervisor Reggie reveals that the factory is set to close, Faye must choose between protecting her own stability and standing in solidarity with her fellow workers.
Skin
An older woman’s relationship with a young surfer is opposed by her sister, placing the woman between desire, confusion and betrayal.
Skipper Next to God
In 1938, Captain Joris Kuiper takes 146 Jewish refugees aboard his Dutch merchant ship. As ports refuse them entry and his crew grows desperate, Kuiper rejects smuggling them ashore and devises a plan to scuttle the ship during a yacht regatta so rescuers must take them in as distressed mariners.
Skirgaila
Regent Skirgaila struggles to hold Lithuania's lands amid conflict with Poland and the Teutonic Order and pressure to Christianize. He forcibly marries Ona Duonutė to retain Lida, while the monk-knight Keller's attempted escape ends in sacrifice and Skirgaila's moral decline.
Skup
Marin Držić's Croatian adaptation of Plautus's Aulularia, retitled Skup and set in Dubrovnik.
Sky without Birds
At a railway settlement on the Nullarbor Plain, the arrival of a Jewish immigrant leads to his falling in love with a married woman.
Skylight
East London school teacher Kyra Hollis is visited by Edward Sergeant and, later on the same night, his father Tom Sergeant. Kyra had been living with the Sergeant family years earlier but left after her affair with Tom was discovered by Tom's wife, who has since died. Edward now accuses Kyra of having left him as well, as he saw her as a big sister, and he demands to know why she left his life. Shortly thereafter, Tom, a wealthy restaurateur, with real-life references to Terence Conran, appears unheralded and for no apparent reason. Kyra's less-than-glamorous lifestyle leads him to poke fun at her to the point of insult, accusing her of self-punishment. After Kyra cooks a spaghetti dinner (which the actress cooks on stage), the talk turns to their relationship. It becomes clear that their chances to be rekindled rest on whether one of them can change preconceived notions of the other.
Skyscraper
In Chicago, a group of people try to save an historic skyscraper from demolition; their lives converge on its rooftop amid memory, fantasy and a deepening mystery.
Slag
The three teachers at an isolated girls’ school vow to abstain from sex in protest against male dominance and abuse. Their competing motives and interpretations of the pledge create new power struggles, distract them from teaching, and leave the school without pupils.
Slappers and Slapheads
In Liverpool nightclub The Palace, characters arrive expecting a night of fun and flirtation, but each has a different reason for being there. Their stories shift from comedy toward pathos, with problems resolved through a series of short vignettes.
Slaughter City
At a modern slaughterhouse where work grows more dangerous as pay and benefits shrink, workers encounter Cod, a strange man urging them to act. The two-act drama moves nonlinearly through time as labor pressures disrupt relationships and Cod's conflict with the Sausage Man threatens the group.
Slave Play
At McGregor Plantation, a southern cotton plantation in pre-Civil War Virginia, the song "Work" by Rihanna plays in the overseer cottage. Kaneisha, a slave, begins to twerk to the song when Jim, a white slave owner, walks in holding a whip. Jim is repeatedly uncomfortable when Kaneisha calls him "Master," but berates her for not cleaning the room better and throws a cantaloupe on the ground and tells Kaneisha to eat it. As Kaneisha eats the cantaloupe, she begins to dance again, which confuses and arouses Jim. When she asks to be called a "nasty, lazy negress," he instead proceeds to perform cunnilingus. Phillip replies that he is unsure. Gary has Dustin lick Gary's boot clean; this causes Gary to orgasm. He starts crying and cannot be comforted by Dustin. They are on Day Four of the therapy, which focuses on fantasy play. Dustin begins by noting that Gary came, which he could not do before, but Gary counters that Dustin was uncomfortable in making his whiteness hyper-visible. Alana enjoyed the release of the fantasy and asks Phillip if he enjoyed it too, noting that he got an erection when he had trouble before. Jim begins to initiate foreplay and the music rises while Kaneisha continues that the relationship went downhill three years ago, when she stopped feeling sexual pleasure because she began to see him as foreign and frightening. She saw Jim's whiteness and power, and that he also has "the virus", because though he is not American, he benefits from being white while being unaware of the privilege that whiteness gives him. She says that Antebellum Sexual Performance Therapy and the fantasy play gave her a sense of peace because she feels the elders watching her again; the elders do not care that she is with "a demon / who thinks he’s a saint", but simply want the two of them to know he is a demon.
Slaves in Algiers, or A Struggle for Freedom
In Algiers, American captives and their allies plan escapes from the dey's palace and the household of Ben Hassan. Rebecca resists pressure to become his wife, while Olivia offers herself to spare the others; a slave uprising ultimately frees the prisoners, and Frederic rejects replacing one form of enslavement with another.
Slavic Orpheus
A theatrical reinterpretation of the Orpheus myth that combines geopolitical themes, Slavic ritual, and science-fiction elements.
Slavs!
The action begins in Moscow in March 1985 as Mikhail Gorbachev succeeds Konstantin Chernenko as general secretary of the Communist Party. Katherina is a feisty lesbian security guard at a Soviet archive facility that holds the brains of the USSR's late leaders. After getting her the job at the facility, Popolitipov (Jones), an apparatchik, attempts to woo her. Unfortunately for Popolitipov, she has already fallen for the oncologist Bonfila (Schulz), a descendant of one of the fathers of the revolution. Serge is a Bolshevik whose obsession with the future has deadly results. Vodya is a young girl that is dying from nuclear waste poisoning. She appears as both an apparition during a man's inebriated state and again in 1992 in Siberia but this time alive and mute. It is there in Siberia where Katherina and Bonfila confront the fallout and human misery caused by nuclear waste.
Sleep No More
In a London boarding house for theatrical performers, a Romanian ventriloquist and student of black magic leaves his doll to his wife; after a series of accidents, she suspects the doll is responsible.
Sleep No More
An immersive retelling of Macbeth unfolds through a cinematic film-noir world. Audiences move through the performance environment and follow the action at their own pace, encountering Shakespeare’s tragedy through physical storytelling rather than a conventional seated production.
Sleuth
The play is set in the Wiltshire manor house of Andrew Wyke, an immensely successful mystery writer. Wyke's home reflects his obsession with the inventions and deceptions of fiction and his fascination with games and game-playing. He lures his wife's lover Milo Tindle to the house and persuades him to stage a robbery of her jewellery. This proposal sets off a chain of events that leaves the audience trying to decipher where Wyke's imagination ends and reality begins. Shaffer said the play was partially inspired by one of his friends, composer Stephen Sondheim, whose intense interest in game-playing is mirrored by the character of Wyke, and by mystery writer John Dickson Carr, whose stories featured complex plots and seemingly "impossible" crimes.
Sliver of a Full Moon
The play interweaves survivors’ accounts of domestic violence on Native lands with a dramatized campaign to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. It follows Department of Justice employee Terri Henry and reservation police officer Dennis as jurisdictional limits obstruct protection for survivors and advocates work to secure federal legislation.
Slow Train to Izmir
The play dramatizes the Dorak affair, following archaeologist James Mellaart after allegations that he stole or fabricated a valuable collection of Neolithic artifacts. It focuses on Turkish press efforts to recover the treasure and expose alleged corruption in Western archaeology.
Sly Fox
Sly Fox is a comedic play by Larry Gelbart, based on Ben Jonson's Volpone (The Fox), updating the setting from Renaissance Venice to 19th century San Francisco, and changing the tone from satire to farce. The play revolves around the character of the very wealthy Foxwell J. Sly, and his indentured servant Simon Able. Sly has the town duped into believing that he is dying, and four citizens vie for his inheritance. Jethro Crouch is willing to will away his son’s inheritance to Sly on the promise that he receives Sly’s money after Sly has died; Abner Truckle solicits his wife to Sly under the impression that it will sway Sly to name him as his heir; Lawyer Craven defends the dignity of Sly in court after the Captain discovers him molesting Mrs. Truckle, for the same promise of riches; Merrilee Fancy, the most popular harlot in the bay town, finds herself in the family way and hopes to marry Sly for his wealth. None of them realize the trick, and even Able, Sly’s closest confidant and student, is unable to outfox the master of deception. It premiered on Broadway December 14, 1976 at the Broadhurst Theatre. Directed by Arthur Penn, the play featured George C. Scott, Bob Dishy, Hector Elizondo, Jack Gilford, Gretchen Wyler, and Sandra Seacat. Scott was succeeded by Robert Preston. According to his biography at tcm.com, Jackie Gleason was touring in the lead role of Sly Fox in 1978 when he suffered a heart attack and had to permanently leave the show, undergoing a triple bypass. The play was revived on April 1, 2004 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, again directed by Arthur Penn, featuring Richard Dreyfuss, Bob Dishy, Eric Stoltz, René Auberjonois, Professor Irwin Corey, Elizabeth Berkley, Rachel York, Peter Scolari, and Bronson Pinchot.
Small Craft Warnings
A motley group gathers in a seedy Southern California coastal bar: a troubled beautician and her lover, an alcoholic doctor, a short-order cook, the bartender, a washed-up screenwriter and a young traveler. Their individual confessional monologues form a kaleidoscopic portrait without a single dramatic arc.
Small Engine Repair
Three former high-school friends gather after hours at Frank's remote repair shop for reasons only Frank seems to know. When Chad, a connected college athlete, arrives, the meeting ignites a long-simmering animosity.
Small Island
Hortense seeks a new life beyond rural Jamaica, Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer, and Queenie wants to escape her Lincolnshire roots; their intertwined stories connect Jamaica and Britain against the history of empire, migration and racism.
Small Miracle
Small Miracle is a 1934 play by Norman Krasna, presented on Broadway with Joseph Calleia in the featured role. Directed by George Abbott with a single setting designed by Boris Aronson, the three-act melodrama opened September 26, 1934, at the John Golden Theatre, New York. It continued at the 48th Street Theatre November 11, 1934 – January 5, 1935. On February 7, 1935, the play began a run at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, with Calleia, Joseph King and Robert Middlemass reprising their Broadway roles. It was Krasna's second play, written in the evenings while he was working as a Columbia Pictures contract writer during the day. He adapted the play for the Paramount Pictures film Four Hours to Kill! (1935).
Small Mouth Sounds
Small Mouth Sounds is a dramatic absurdist stage play written by American playwright Bess Wohl. The play tells the story of six adults who run away from their hectic inner city life to a silent retreat in upstate New York. They then have to make peace with the silence of their own minds while trying to find ways to connect without words. The play is unique in that there is very little dialogue and requires the actors to express their emotions and feelings physically rather than verbally.
Smilin' Through
Smilin' Through is a 1919 play by Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin, written under a pseudonym, Allan Langdon Martin. Cowl also starred in the play in a double role and co-directed it with Priestly Morrison. Smilin' Through was produced by The Selwyns and opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway on December 30, 1919. It included in the cast Orme Caldara as Kenneth and Jeremiah Wayne, Henry Stephenson as John Carteret and Ethelbert D. Hales as Dr. Owen Harding. Scenic design was by Joseph Urban. The play was a popular hit and ran for 175 performances. It also played for a long run on the road, and was one of Jane Cowl's greatest commercial successes. The story is a sentimental romantic tale of a young Irish woman, Kathleen Dungannon. Her romantic attachment to Kenneth Wayne is opposed by her adopted father John Carteret, who bears the painful memory of his thwarted love for her aunt, Moonyean Clare. Moonyean visits John as a ghost. The roles of Kathleen and Moonyean were both played by Jane Cowl. The popular story was first filmed in 1922 by First National Pictures, and was later remade twice by MGM, in 1932 and 1941. In 1932, it was also made into an unsuccessful Broadway operetta, Through the Years, with music by Vincent Youmans. The title song of the operetta, however, became a hit. Smilin' Through is also the title of a 1919 ballad with lyrics and music by Arthur A. Penn. The creation of the song and play were independent but intertwined. According to Isidore Witmark in his history of the Witmark and Sons publishing house, Cowl's play was partially rewritten after the song was published, based upon the imagery of the lyrics. Both the title and the music of the song were incorporated into the play when it was completed and produced.
Smith
After years farming in Rhodesia, Thomas Freeman returns to his sister Rose's fashionable London home intending to find a wife. He discovers the parlourmaid Smith has more merit than the idle social set; after rejecting unsuitable matches, they agree to marry.
Smoke
At a BDSM party in a New York apartment, college student Julie and aspiring artist John form a connection that develops into a disturbing struggle over power, consent, and sexual assault. Davies gives Julie a voice and survival that differ from Strindberg's Julie.
Smoky Cell
Smoky Cell is a thriller play by the British writer Edgar Wallace first staged in 1930. In America a group of detectives hunt down a notorious racketeer. It ran for 103 performances at Wyndham's Theatre in the West End from 16 December 1930 to 14 March 1931. The original cast included Finlay Currie, Percy Parsons, Charles Farrell, Harold Huth, Roy Emerton and James Carew, and was directed by Carol Reed. It marked Canadian actor Alexander Knox's London stage debut. It was an inspired by a visit Wallace had recently made to the United States, which also led him to write his even more successful play On the Spot the same year. In 1935, following Wallace's death, his former assistant Robert Curtis wrote a novel of the same title based on the play.
Snake in the Grass
After returning to the family home, Annabel meets Alice, the former nurse to her late father, who claims her sister Miriam hastened his death and demands money. As the sisters confront their past and Alice’s blackmail, staged hauntings and a murder scheme turn the garden into the setting for a dark family thriller.
Snapshot
A theatrical anthology of short scenes and monologues inspired by Lee Friedlander's photograph of tourists at Mount Rushmore. The playwrights approach the monument from comic to tragic angles, probing patriotism, democracy, and the stories that frame a historical image.
Snow Angel
During a record blizzard in a Vermont town, fifteen teenagers search for Eva, a mysterious girl who emerges from a snowbank. Through journal entries and encounters, their conflicting stories turn the search into a mystery that helps outcast Frida find acceptance.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
A stage adaptation of the Brothers Grimm stories, centered on Princess Snow White and featuring Queen Brangomar, Prince Florimond, and the seven dwarfs.
So Let Five Years Pass
A young man waits five years to marry his absent fiancée, rejecting a typist’s love. When his fiancée chooses another man and the typist asks him to wait again, his search for love unfolds through dreamlike encounters with time and death.
So Long Boulder City
In drag as Mia Dolan, performer Fowlie presents her character's account of childhood in Boulder City, failed theater studies, and attempts to build an acting career in Los Angeles, ending with a solo dance after her boyfriend fails to appear.
So This Is London
A wealthy American shoe manufacturer who dislikes the English arrives in London and discovers that his son plans to marry the daughter of British aristocrats.
So This Is My Family - Mr. Green Part 2
Three years after Visiting Mr. Green, Ross has become the elderly widower’s close friend and helps care for him with his nurse boyfriend. Their routine is disrupted by the arrival of Mr. Green’s granddaughter.
Social Creatures
A handful of survivors in an abandoned building face a zombie apocalypse.
Social Security
Manhattan gallery owners Barbara and David take in her eccentric mother after her sister leaves to help their daughter. The couple introduce her to nonagenarian artist Maurice Koenig, who offers to paint her portrait and brings unexpected happiness to her later life.
Society
An illiterate millionaire tries to introduce his son into London society, while society works to repel the newcomer. Set in Victorian literary and theatrical bohemia, the comedy drama uses realistic dialogue, behavior and domestic detail to expose social pretensions.
Socrates
In a satirical account of Socrates' trial, the philosopher is framed by the priest Anitus and a small group of corrupt Athenian officials. Voltaire portrays Socrates as a moral monotheist persecuted by religious authority, with his wife Xantippe and adopted children among the characters.
Socrates on Trial
A three-act drama follows Socrates from a comic portrayal of his influence on Strepsiades and his son, through his trial for impiety and corrupting youth, to his refusal to escape before execution. Audience members may serve as jurors and vote.
Sodom and Gomorrah
An angel declares that Sodom will be destroyed unless its people can demonstrate one example of true love. Lia and Jean are put forward as the best evidence, but their fidelity erodes; divine judgment condemns the cities and humanity for failing to prove that a happy couple exists.
Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery
In a five-act satirical closet drama, King Bolloxinion authorizes sodomy in Sodom, and erotic disorder spreads through the court. The Queen dies of venereal disease; as demons and fire appear, the King resolves to retire and die with his favorite, Pockenello.
Solaris
Kris Kelvin arrives at a space station cut off from Earth, where an unfamiliar planet is bringing memories to life. The crew confronts figures from their past, including Kelvin’s dead lover, while trying to understand the intelligence beneath them.
Soldiers: An Obituary for Geneva
The play alleges that Winston Churchill condoned the 1943 death of Polish prime minister Władysław Sikorski in order to appease Stalin, and also examines Churchill’s support for the bombing of German cities.
Solomon the Wise
Solomon Kaus, a Jewish inventor in seventeenth-century Paris, succeeds in building a water-powered machine but becomes the target of intrigues. He is driven insane and dies after his invention brings him before Cardinal Richelieu and into imprisonment.
Some Girl(s)
Before his wedding, a man known as Guy visits four former girlfriends whom he mistreated, revisiting their relationships and the harm he caused.
Some Kind of Love Story
Private detective Tom visits Angela, a sex worker he believes can expose the truth behind a wrongful conviction. Their former intimacy and her shifting identities complicate his search for evidence.
Some Men
Interwoven stories spanning eight decades portray gay men in the United States, framed by a contemporary gay wedding. Episodes move among a 1932 Harlem nightclub, the 1969 Stonewall uprising, an AIDS hospital, an internet chat room and a piano bar.
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
Betty tries to tell Frank she is pregnant, but he is distracted by the prospect of fame as a magician. As guests arrive for dinner, crossed messages and DIY mishaps turn their home into a scene of escalating confusion.
Some Things You Need to Know Before the World Ends (A Final Evening with the Illuminati)
During an evening church service, Reverend Eddie and his assistant Brother Lawrence address the audience as their congregation. The comedy mixes conspiracy theories, vaudeville humor, pop culture, and absurd events.
Somebody Knows
Somebody Knows is a 1932 mystery play by the British writer John Van Druten about an entertainer who is accused of strangling a prostitute. Following a court case there is not enough evidence to convict him, leaving the audience unsure of his actual guilt. It was staged at St Martin's Theatre in the West End, running for 43 performances between 12 May and 18 June 1932. The cast included Frank Lawton, Lawrence Hanray, Enid Stamp-Taylor and Cathleen Nesbitt. It was comparatively unsuccessful at a time when many of Van Druten's work's were enjoying commercial success. He attributed this to the fact that audiences expected a standard whodunnit while he was interested in developing a character study.
Someone Else
A long-married couple struggles with the distance between who they are and who they hoped to become. Encounters beyond their familiar relationship bring questions of intimacy, identity, and change into focus.
Someone Is Going to Come
A couple visits the remote seaside house they bought to be alone together. The previous owner appears and seeks a closer relationship with the woman, prompting jealousy and latent paranoia in her partner; the house retains signs of its former inhabitants.
Someone Waiting
Someone Waiting is a 1953 thriller play by the British writer Emlyn Williams. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool before transferring to the Globe Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 156 performances between 25 November 1953 and 10 April 1954. The cast included Williams himself as well as Gabrielle Brune, Adrianne Allen, Gladys Henson, Campbell Cotts and John Stratton. It appeared at the John Golden Theatre on Broadway in February 1956 with Leo G. Carroll, Jessie Royce Landis and Norah Howard in the cast, but this lasted for only 15 shows. In 1957 it was adapted into the film Time Without Pity directed by Joseph Losey. In 1965 the play was staged by the Edinburgh Gateway Company, directed by Victor Carin.
Someone Who'll Watch Over Me
Someone Who'll Watch over Me is a play written by Irish dramatist Frank McGuinness. The play focuses on the trials and tribulations of an Irishman, an Englishman and an American (Edward, Michael, and Adam) who are kidnapped and held hostage by unseen Arabs in Lebanon. As the three men strive for survival they also strive to overcome their personal and nationalistic differences. Related to this is each individual's own attempt to maintain sanity under the watchful eye of both captors and supposed comrades. At times the dramatic dialogue reaches a level of Beckettian absurdity, as even the audience is unable to draw a distinction between the characters' insanity and humour. We are made witness and accomplice to a humour based on something apparently ghastly, the loss of rationality.
Someone at the Door
A three-act comedy thriller turns on double-crosses, stolen jewels and murders both staged and real. Concealed hiding places and sliding panels keep characters entangled in escalating threats and deception.
Something About a Soldier
The play is based on a 1957 novel by Mark Harris and deals with the experiences of an idealistic young soldier in a Georgia-based Army training camp during World War II and the Army captain who, by hospitalizing him, saves him from the war.
Something Cloudy, Something Clear
Set on the Provincetown wharfs, the autobiographical drama follows young playwright August as he grapples with unrequited love for another man.
Something Different
A blocked playwright believes he can write only with his mother present. He asks his wife to impersonate her, then auditions and hires another woman to take the role.
Son of Man (stage version)
A theatrical retelling of the last days of Jesus, depicting him as a vulnerable, self-doubting man confronting his nature and impending execution.
Sonata
Three single, successful working women in Mumbai share a life of solidarity and freedom, but decades after aligning themselves with the women's movement they withdraw into private lives and embrace conventional marriage and family roles.
Song of the Grasshopper
The two-act play takes place at the house of Aristobulo "Aris" Rivas on the outskirts of Madrid. Aris is separated from his wife and has a few children from assorted women, plus a pet crocodile in his bathroom. He has no money, and has invested his last few coins in a raffle ticket. Despite this all, he still believes it'll all work out.
Sons and Soldiers
Warned that childbirth may kill her, a young woman imagines the lives of two sons she might raise. Their childhood, love affairs and eventual involvement in war confront her with both the joys and losses that motherhood could bring.
Sons of Cain
Three female investigative reporters examine the New South Wales Labor government of the 1980s in Williamson’s satirical comedy.
Sons of the Prophet
Brothers Joseph Douaihy (29 years old) and Charles Douaihy (18 years old), who live in a run-down area of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, are left alone after their father dies of a heart attack two weeks after a car accident. That accident was caused by a prank by the local football star, Vin, who is sent to a juvenile detention center as punishment. Their family has emigrated from Lebanon and is distantly related to Kahlil Gibran. The brothers are forced to not only take care of themselves but care for their aging uncle, Bill. Joseph, who has mysterious pains, goes to work for Gloria, a book-packager, to get health insurance. Gloria tries to convince Joseph to write a book about his family, thinking this will return her to success in the publishing world. Joseph, who is gay, starts a romance with a reporter named Timothy. The play ends at Vin's trial which is reported on by Timothy. The Douaihy family has chosen to not try to stop Vin from playing football. Which is followed by Vin’s apology and him reciting Gibran’s Prayer to Saint Rafka. The court goes into recess and Timothy asks for photos from the family, where he is then lambasted by Joseph for trying to exploit them. An open mic portion begins and Gloria unexpectedly appears giving an emotional speech empathizing with the Douahiy family, and saying she feels as if she was a part of their family. Gloria then asks Joseph to drive her home in which she yells “Take a fucking taxi!” at her. A video of Joseph yelling at Gloria then goes viral leading to Gloria securing a book deal. The play uses the device of projections with "a title inspired by the chapter headings in Gibran’s The Prophet."
Sophonisba
A Restoration verse tragedy based on the story of the Carthaginian noblewoman Sophonisba.
Sophonisba
Sophonisba is a 1730 verse drama tragedy by the British writer James Thomson. The play is written in blank verse. It is based on the story of the Carthaginian noblewoman Sophonisba who committed suicide rather than be paraded in a Roman triumph at the end of the Second Punic War. The story has been made into a number of plays including Nathaniel Lee's restoration tragedy Sophonisba and Voltaire's later Sophonisbe. The original Drury Lane cast included Robert Wilks as Masinissa, John Mills as Syphax, Charles Williams as Scipio, John Roberts as Narva, Roger Bridgewater as Laelius and Anne Oldfield as Sophonisba.
Sophonisbe
During the Second Punic War, Sophonisbe, married to King Syphax of Numidia, is sought by her former fiancé Massinissa after he defeats and kills Syphax. Scipio orders her sent to Rome; Massinissa responds by killing Sophonisbe and then himself.
Sorrows and Rejoicings
After poet Dawid Olivier's funeral in a South African town, his wife Allison and former servant and lover Marta recall their shared past. Their daughter Rebecca, whom Dawid hoped to reconcile with before his death, is left with unresolved anger and grief.
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