The Bride of Messina
A tragedy set in Sicily where paganism and Christianity meet. Schiller combines elements of ancient Greek tragedy with modern theatre.
Plays
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Clear filtersThe Brig
The play depicts a typical day inside a U.S. Marine Corps brig, following the rigid routines and treatment of imprisoned Marines. It draws on Kenneth H. Brown’s own experience of spending 30 days in a brig while serving in Japan.
The Brighton Twins
A farce about twins born in Brighton who are separated at birth and do not meet again for several decades.
The British Party System
A satirical mini-drama in two conversations: William III and the Earl of Sunderland devise party politics to control Parliament, then twenty-five years later Walpole and the younger Sunderland debate the balance of power between the king and the Lords.
The Briton
The Briton is a 1722 tragedy by the British writer Ambrose Philips. The play is set in pre-Roman Celtic Britain. Performed at Drury Lane the original cast included Barton Booth as Vanoc, Robert Wilks as Ivor, John Thurmond as Didius, John Bowman as Ebranc, John Mills as Valens, Charles Williams as Alan, William Mills as Idwall, John Roberts as Messenger, Mary Porter as Cartismande and Hester Santlow as Gwendolen.
The Broken Heart
In Sparta, general Ithocles forces his sister Penthea to abandon her intended marriage to Orgilus and marry the jealous, tyrannical Bassanes. After Ithocles relents and seeks to marry Calantha, Orgilus murders him; Calantha dances through news of the deaths of her father, Penthea, and Ithocles, then condemns Orgilus and dies of a broken heart.
The Broken Jug
Judge Adam presides over a trial to determine who broke a jug in the room of Eve, a young woman, while concealing that he himself was there the night it happened. His attempted influence over the witnesses and a trail leading back to his house expose his guilt; Ruprecht and Eve reconcile.
The Broken Jug (John Banville adaptation)
In famine-stricken Ballybog in August 1846, a corrupt judge presides over a case that threatens to expose his own misconduct. Those seeking justice confront a legal system more concerned with protecting its reputation than the people before it.
The Broken Wing
This synopsis is compiled from contemporaneous newspaper reviews and the novelization published in The Brooklyn Daily Times. The dialogue is sprinkled with the term "greaser", which the Mexican characters use in reference to themselves when speaking English. Act I (Scene 1:Living room of Farley's home in Mexico. Late afternoon.) Inez Villera has grown into a beautiful young woman, attracting young men in the area of Luther Farley's hacienda. Farley has raised the girl from infancy. He taught Inez to know the Bible and to love cleanliness. This has spoiled her for the local swains, who regard soap as effeminate. However, Captain Santos decides Inez is worth the sacrifice, so he bathes and brushes his teeth regularly to win her. But Inez is aware of Santos' predilection for "little loves" and violence. Santos presses Inez to marry him in Farley's presence. Knowing her foster father will suffer if she refuses outright, Inez excuses herself. She and Quechita decide Inez should stall in hopes of another suitor appearing. Inez tells Santos she will answer him in thirty days, as a storm is heard in the distance. Quechita excitedly tells Inez the storm will bring her a gringo lover. (Blackout) (Scene 2:The sky over Farley's home, amidst an electrical storm.) Far overhead, Philip and Jerry in a Curtiss JN-4 have lost their bearings in the storm; driving rain and hail destroy the support for their left wing. They spiral down but Philip is able to flatten their dive just above the treetops. (Blackout) (Scene 3: Same as Scene 1) The plane crashes into the adobe home of Farley. Jerry is ejected from the plane's second seat and lies crippled on Farley's floor. Philip, unconscious at first, is still in the cockpit. Jerry's voice rouses him for a short while, but silence falls as Jerry dies. Santos' soldier Marco lifts Philip out of the cockpit, then rifles his pockets. Inez finds a dog, Babe Sundance, in the cargo area behind the pilot's seat. (Curtain) Act II (The patio of Farley's home. Next morning.) Inez has tended Philip all night. Aside from Jerry and the plane, he can remember nothing of his former life. Farley says he may recover his memory from some unexpected source. Inez is convinced God has sent him to be her husband. Santos has had his men free the aircraft from the house and move it to the broad patio. Farley and Santos are both alarmed at the devotion Inez shows the wounded aviator. General Aquilar arrives with Basilio and attempts to relieve Santos of command. But Santos is unbudging, knowing the general is escaping from his own troubles. They allow Farley to persuade them to make peace for now, but agree privately that they must have a shootout later. Santos has his men fetch Sylvester Cross, who protests at being arrested, but soon reaches an agreement. From Philip's platinum cigarette case they deduce his name. The General tries to seize both Philip and the plane, but meets his end offstage in a pistol duel with Santos. Inez and Santos quarrel over Philip, but Cross returns to say the aviator is from a wealthy family. Santos sends Cross to New York to get a $100,000 ransom; Cross may keep any amount over that. No longer annoyed with Philip, Santos sets Basilio, who has transferred allegiance, to take over tending him from Inez. (Curtain) Act III (Same as Act II. One month later, in afternoon.) Santos has left to mend political fences with Mexico City. Santos' men had started repairing the airplane, reattaching the wings and replacing the ruined propeller with a spare found in the fuselage. As Farley healed, he found his fingers remembered better than his mind how the parts of the plane were supposed to be attached. Inez discouraged this work, fearing he would fly away and not return, but Farley encouraged it, saying it would help him heal. Basilio, under orders from Santos, watches over Philip, smothering him with tender care and making it difficult for Inez to be alone with him. Basilio sings a tender serenade, Adelai, as he works with Farley and Philip on the plane, trying to soften Quechita's heart. The song of the whippoorwills disturbs Philip; the three-note sequence stirs something in his mind. Basilio relaxes his vigilance, allowing Inez and Philip to escape the hacienda briefly. Santos is upset with Basilio when he finds the couple gone, but they soon return. Santos tells them Cross is coming. He shows Philip the cigarette case, allowing him to see the name. Philip understands now he is a prisoner held for ransom. (Curtain) Act IV (Same as Act III. Later that day.) Cross returns with Cecelia, whom he introduces as Mrs. Marvin. Philip is suspicious of both Cross and her. Santos eyes Cecelia's jewelry, until Inez appears. Inez announces that she and Philip were married by the padre that afternoon. Farley explains the marriage cannot be valid, as Philip is already wed. When Inez understands Cecelia means to take Philip away, she draws a stiletto but is stopped from stabbing her rival by Santos. After much argument, she finally goes to her room at Farley's order. Again the whippoorwills sing, and Philip finds an echo in the opening notes of Over There; his memory comes flooding back, and he starts towards Cecelia, but stops short. Cecelia says it will be much better if she and Philip fly back, so he goes to start the plane. Santos gets Cross aside and asks about the ransom. Cross explains the jewels are worth much more than $100,000. Cecelia gives Santos the jewels in return for Philip. Inez, now reconciled to losing Philip, makes her peace with Cecelia, who hands her a note. Philip then secretly instructs Inez to fetch the dog, and to climb into the airplane with it. The plane takes off, puzzling Farley and Santos, since Cecelia is leaving with Cross in his old Ford. Not knowing Inez is in the plane, they are startled when her slipper comes tumbling down from the sky. Inside it is a note saying the jewels are fake, and signed "Cecelia Lane, US Secret Service". Santos laments what is an honest greaser to do in the face of such gringo perfidy. (Curtain)
The Brome play of Abraham and Isaac
In this Middle English mystery play, Abraham prepares to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command. An angel stops him at the last moment, and a doctor delivers an epilogue urging obedience to God.
The Bronx is Next
In a near-future Harlem uprising, Charles and fellow revolutionaries prepare to burn their tenements after residents evacuate. When they find a white police officer visiting his Black mistress, they stage a role reversal that exposes his treatment of Black residents before the buildings are set alight.
The Brother
The Brothers is a 1769 comedy play by Richard Cumberland. The play was Cumberland's breakthrough work. Its complicated plot involved a villain with a virtuous young brother and was set partly in Cornwall. He dedicated the play to the prime minister of the United Kingdom the Duke of Grafton. Two years later Cumberland went on to write his most successful work The West Indian. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 2 December 1769. The original cast included Richard Yates as Sir Benjamin Dove, Henry Woodward as Captain Ironsides, John Quick as Skiff, Thomas Hull as Old Goodwin, Robert Bensley as Philip, John Dunstall as Jonathan, James Perry as Francis, Jane Green as Lady Dove, Mary Ann Yates as Sophia, Mary Bulkley as Violetta and Isabella Mattocks as Lucy Waters. The Irish premiere took place at the Capel Street Theatre on 7 May 1770.
The Brother/Sister Plays
This triptych links three plays set across decades in the Louisiana bayou: Oya sacrifices a running scholarship to care for her mother and later struggles with infertility and love; the brothers Ogun and Oshoosi face prison and escape; and Elegba's son Marcus explores his identity and sexuality as a hurricane approaches.
The Brothers
Fernando and Francisco love Felisarda and Jacinta, but Jacinta’s father Don Carlos prefers wealthy suitors. The brothers exchange the appearances of their affections to outmaneuver him. As disguises, feigned death, and a substitution at the wedding complicate the courtships, both brothers eventually marry the women they love, with their father’s blessing.
The Brothers
The Brothers is a tragedy by the British writer Edward Young. Written in 1728, the play was about to be staged and was in rehearsals when Young was appointed chaplain to George II and withdrew it in case his playwrighting might offend the King. It was not performed until 1753, when David Garrick produced it at the Drury Lane Theatre. The cast included Garrick as Demetrius, Henry Mossop as Perseus, Edward Berry as Philip, Richard Winstone as Posthumius, George Anne Bellamy as Erixine, Jane Green as the Attendant and Thomas Mozeen as Curtius. The epilogue was by Kitty Clive.
The Browning Version
Andrew Crocker-Harris is a classics teacher at an English boys' school. After eighteen years of teaching there, today is his last day before moving on to a position at another school. The students speculate on why he is leaving, but do not much care since despite being academically brilliant, he is generally despised as being strict, stern and humourless. They have nicknamed him "The Crock". Even the school administrators treat him poorly regardless of his long tenure. Millie Crocker-Harris, his wife, is younger and vivacious and quite different from her husband. She no longer loves him but instead loves Frank Hunter, another teacher, yet despite having an affair with him she knows that he is not in love with her. On this last day, one student named Taplow, who does not hate Crocker-Harris but feels sorry for him, gives him a small going-away gift – a copy of the translation by Robert Browning of Aeschylus's ancient play Agamemnon. The gift brings about a series of actions which make Crocker-Harris reflect on his past, contemplate his future, and evaluate how he is going to finish his tenure at the school.
The Buffet
In an authoritarian state, a playwright seeks to stage his work before a theatre manager who demands changes, while a waiter serves as the manager’s instrument of force. The three figures embody power, resistance and coercion.
The Burgher's Tale
A commedia dell'arte troupe in Edinburgh is interrupted by a corrupt city burgher who condemns its performance as subversive. A self-appointed noble patron then commissions the actors to expose the burgher's hypocrisy in a new play, while a subplot follows a poor educated girl taken on as a maid in a brothel.
The Burghers of Calais
A linguistically dense play with emotive monologues, marked by Nietzschean ideas and the Expressionist call for individuals to transcend mediocrity through extraordinary action.
The Burglar and the Lady
The Burglar and the Lady is a 1905 play written by Langdon McCormick that features the characters Sherlock Holmes and A. J. Raffles, which were originally created by other authors. The play was a commercial success, and a film adaptation was made in 1914.
The Burial Mound
On the coast of Normandy, Viking chieftain Gandalf seeks revenge for his father's death. His love for Blanka and her Christian ideal of forgiveness challenge his oath, until an unexpected family revelation removes the need for vengeance.
The Burial at Thebes
After Creon forbids burial of Polyneices, Antigone argues that divine law requires it and performs the rites despite her sister's warning. Creon seals her in a tomb; after Tiresias warns him, Creon relents too late. Antigone, Haemon and Creon's wife die by suicide, leaving Creon isolated.
The Burning
During the reign of James VI of Scotland, a power struggle between the king and his cousin, the Earl of Bothwell, exposes the brutality of religious and political persecution. The drama also addresses witchcraft and superstition amid a contest between authority and anarchy.
The Burning Glass
Scientist Christopher Terriford discovers a way to harness solar energy that could also destroy distant targets. He withholds the formula from the government, dividing it between a bank and his wife’s memory; after he is kidnapped, his wife and associate attempt to recreate it, while the associate’s guilt, fear and love for her lead him to suicide.
The Bus Stop
A group of strangers wait at a rural bus stop as buses repeatedly pass without stopping. As time stretches from hours into years, each reveals a reason for going to the city and confronts the cost of waiting; the stranded group eventually sets out on foot. The play combines absurdist action and inaction with polyphonic dialogue and actors who step outside their characters.
The Bush King (Alfred Dampier version)
Dampier’s rewrite moves the bushranger drama entirely to Australia and changes the hero to Edgar, son of a wealthy station owner, who becomes Captain Midnight. The play ends with Edgar marrying Thelma, leaving Elsa alone.
The Bush King (W. J. Lincoln version)
Young English officer Roger Dalmore leaves after an argument with his father and emigrates to Australia, where he is accused of murdering and robbing him. He escapes into the bush and becomes leader of a band of bushrangers as Captain Dart; amid romantic rivalry and a cousin’s criminal schemes, Dart exposes the cousin’s crimes.
The Bushrangers
Set in 1820s Tasmania, the melodrama follows escaped convicts, one of whom becomes a bushranger. The play combines an adventure story with observation of colonial life and the pressures facing settlers.
The Bushrangers; or Norwood Vale
A group of bushrangers plans an attack on settler Norwood’s bush home. Norwood is saved by his daughter Marian’s lover, Frederick Seymour, whom Norwood had previously rejected, and by Murrahwa, an Aboriginal man.
The Busie Body
Scene 1. The play opens in St James's Park. Charles and Sir George Airy meet. Charles complains of his father's stinginess, and the way his foster-sister Miranda acts like his 'mother-in-law'. Sir George Airy is in love with two women: Miranda herself, and a mysterious 'incognita' who regularly meets him in disguise. Marplot arrives. He begs Charles, his foster-brother, to introduce him to Sir George. They discuss several of Marplot's foolish escapades. Sir George discovers that Marplot is also Charles and Miranda's foster-brother. Charles tries to have a private conversation with Sir George, but Sir George leaves to meet Sir Francis. These exchanges pique Marplot's curiosity. Whisper arrives, and tells Charles that Isabinda cannot meet him in the Park, but invites him to a clandestine rendezvous at her house when Sir Jealous is due to be out. They all exit. Meanwhile, Miranda arrives in a sedan chair. She meets Patch, the servant of her friend Isabinda, Charles's lover. They discuss Isabinda's impending marriage to Seignior Diego Babinetto, a man she has never met. As they are talking, Sir George re-enters with Sir Francis Gripe, Miranda's guardian. It is revealed that Miranda herself is George's 'incognita'. She overhears Sir George and Sir Francis come to an arrangement: Sir George will pay Sir Francis 100 guineas for one hour's conversation with Miranda, with Sir Francis at the other end of the room. After Sir Francis leaves, Miranda and Sir George have a witty conversation about love and marriage. Scene 1. At Sir Francis Gripe's house, Sir Francis and Miranda, his ward, discuss the arrangement with Sir George. Miranda pretends to have contempt for Sir George, and says she will marry Sir Francis tomorrow if only he will give her control of her estate. Sir Francis says he will settle the estate on her after their wedding. Miranda tells Sir Francis her plan for Sir George's visit: she will refuse to speak to him, no matter what he says. Sir Francis is delighted, believing that Miranda is slighting Sir George out of loyalty to him. In reality, she wishes to sound out Sir George, and conceal that she is his 'incognita'. Charles enters, and begs Sir Francis for money. Miranda leaves, and Sir Francis berates his son for his extravagance. Charles denies he is a spendthrift, observing that his miserly father doesn't give him any money to waste. He also points out that he is entitled to his dead uncle's estate, which Sir Francis refuses to relinquish. Marplot enters, begging £100 from Sir Francis (his guardian). Charles leaves, and Marplot runs off to try and follow him. Sir George enters, then Miranda. The famous 'dumb scene' ensues. Sir George tries to address Miranda, but she refuses to speak. He tells her to speak using sign-language, but she deliberately uses the wrong signs. He then impersonates her, pretending to answer his questions on her behalf. As she does not speak, he fails to realise that Miranda is the same person as his 'incognita'. Miranda leaves, and Sir Francis laughs at Sir George for thinking that Miranda would be interested in him. Scene 2. At Sir Jealous Traffick's house, Sir Jealous is berating his daughter Isabinda for standing out on the balcony. He praises the more modest customs of Spain, where ladies are veiled and don't display themselves in public. Patch, Isabinda's servant, pretends to agree with him. Isabinda puts up a spirited defence of English customs. Sir Jealous and Isabinda leave, and Whisper enters. Whisper is the servant of Charles, Isabinda's secret lover, and tells Patch that Charles is on the way to meet Isabinda secretly. Sir Jealous re-enters, and Whisper tries to cover by claiming he has entered the house in search of a lap-dog. Scene 3. At Charles's lodging, Marplot gives Charles the £100. Charles promises to pay him back, as Sir George enters, greatly disappointed by his conversation with Miranda. Marplot insists there must have been a 'trick' in the case, and offers to bring 'intelligence' from her to Sir George. Sir George engages him to do so. Scene 1. Charles waits anxiously outside Sir Jealous's house. Patch invites him in. Marplot sees everything, and decides to stay and watch what happens. Scene 2. Inside, Charles and Isabinda declare their love for one another. Patch rushes in—Sir Jealous has returned! Charles escapes to the balcony. Scene 3. Outside the house, Sir Jealous is accosted by Marplot, who foolishly reveals that an 'honest gentleman' (i.e. Charles) has entered the house. Sir Jealous is furious, beats Marplot, and rushes inside. Charles drops down from the balcony, and Marplot tells him what has happened. Charles rushes off in a rage. Marplot decides to go and see Miranda. Sir Jealous comes out of the house again, with his servants. Isabinda and Patch follow shortly after, and Sir Jealous berates Isabinda. Patch again pretends to be on Sir Jealous's side. Sir Jealous heads off to try and catch the intruder with his servants. Isabinda and Patch wonder who it was that betrayed Charles's presence in the house. Scene 4. Sir Francis and Miranda laugh about the 'dumb scene' with Sir George. Marplot enters, and criticises Sir Francis for duping Sir George, whom he describes as his 'friend'. Miranda sees an opening. She tells Sir Francis that Sir George has been loitering by the garden gate, hoping to see her, and instructs Marplot to tell Sir George that she is devoted to Sir Francis, and will have the men fire on Sir George if he is ever seen at the garden gate again. In an aside, she reveals her true motives: Sir George has in fact never loitered by the gate, but she hopes he will take the hint and come to her. Sir Francis is convinced by Miranda's act. Believing she will marry him tomorrow, he agrees to sign a document giving his consent for her to marry, thus freeing her from the conditions of her father's will. Scene 5. In a tavern, Sir George and Charles bewail their complicated love lives. Marplot enters with Miranda's message. Catching on, Sir George decides to go to the garden-gate tonight. Marplot suspects something, and decides to secretly follow him there. Scene 1. Outside Sir Jealous Traffick's house, Whisper gives Patch a letter for Isabinda from Charles, which is written in code. Charles is on the way to meet Isabinda. Whisper leaves, and as Patch re-enters the house she accidentally drops the letter. Sir Jealous arrives, happy with the news that Seignior Diego Babinetto has arrived in London to marry Isabinda. He is less happy when he finds the letter Patch has dropped, and storms inside. Scene 2. Inside, Patch and Isabinda confer, and Patch realises she has dropped the letter. Sir Jealous enters in a rage, accusing Isabinda of keeping up a secret correspondence, and demanding that she decipher the strange code. But Patch pretends the letter is actually a 'charm for the toothache' that she bought from a local wise woman. Isabinda desperately plays for time, knowing that Charles will arrive any minute. She takes the opportunity of the letter to berate her father for suspecting her. He tells her the Seignior has arrived and will wed her tomorrow. She plays a tune on the spinet, while Charles enters the house through the balcony and opens the door from Isabinda's room. Seeing Sir Jealous is there, he retreats, but not before Sir Jealous sees him. Seeing the truth, he dismisses Patch from her post, and tells Isabinda he will move her into the back of the house, where there is no balcony. Scene 3. Outside, Sir Jealous sends Patch away. He goes back inside, and Charles enters. He comforts Patch, saying he will look after her now she has been fired, and they hatch a plan together: Charles will impersonate Seignior Diego Babinetto, and marry Isabinda in his stead tomorrow. Scene 4. Sir George arrives at the garden gate of Sir Francis's house, and is admitted by Scentwell, Miranda's servant. Scene 5. Sir George and Miranda meet and declare their love for one another. Now that Miranda has secured written consent from Sir Francis, they plan to elope and marry immediately. Sir Francis returns unexpectedly with Marplot, and Sir George hides behind the chimney-board. Sir Francis is eating an orange, and tries to throw the peel behind the chimney-board, so Miranda pretends she is keeping a pet monkey there. Marplot begs to see the monkey, but Miranda protests and Sir Francis prevents it. Sir Francis decides to leave on his errand, and leaves with Miranda and the others, leaving only Marplot behind. Marplot lifts the chimney-board, and discovers Sir George. Marplot tells him to flee through a certain door, and to smash some china on the way out. Sir Francis, Miranda and Scentwell re-enter, and Marplot claims that the monkey escaped. Sir Francis finally leaves, Sir George emerges again, and Patch enters with news that Charles has a scheme, and needs Sir George's help. They all leave together. Scene 1. In Sir Francis's house, Miranda, Patch and Scentwell discuss Miranda's new condition: she has just married Sir George. She orders Scentwell to pack her things so she can leave the house before Sir Francis returns. Unexpectedly, he returns. To get him out of the house, Miranda and Patch tell him about Isabinda's impending nuptials, which he agrees to go and witness with them. Scene 2. In Sir Jealous's house, Charles arrives in his Spanish disguise. Sir George pretends to be 'Mr Meanwell', his English agent. They persuade Sir Jealous that Charles is the real Seignior Diego. Isabinda protests that she does not wish to marry this stranger against her will, but when Sir Jealous steps away, she is told by Sir George that this 'Seignior Diego' is actually her lover Charles. They all go into the next room to perform the wedding. Scene 3. Outside Sir Jealous's house, Marplot is hunting for Charles. He knows that Charles is in a Spanish costume, and when he discovers that a man in Spanish clothes has entered Sir Jealous's house, he demands admission. Scene 4.
The Business of Murder
Stone, a humourless and dour man, invites Dee, a television playwright, over to his flat on the premise of discussing a script. Once there, she is surprised when Superintendent Hallett, the man with whom she is having an affair, also arrives for an entirely different reason. But nothing is as it seems and as the plot twists and turns, the motive of their host Stone gradually becomes clear. They are all, it would seem, in the same business... The Business of Murder.
The Butter and Egg Man
A 1920s slang term popularized by Texas Guinan,—someone wealthy and unwary. A souvenir booklet for the original production of The Butter and Egg Man devoted an entire page to the various claims of origin for the phrase. Peter Jones is a young man who arrives on Broadway from Chillicothe, Ohio, hoping to invest $20,000 in a play and turn a profit sufficient to buy a local hotel back home. He is conned by Joe Lehman and Jack McClure into backing their play with a 49-percent stake. The play opens out-of-town in Syracuse and bombs. Lehman and McClure want out, and Jones buys them out, and revamps the play into a huge hit. Jones then sells back to them at a huge profit after learning of claims that the play was stolen, and returns home to get his hotel. Kaufman's comedy may be seen as a precursor to Mel Brooks' The Producers.
The Butterflies
The Butterflies is an American play. It was featured on Broadway in 1894 and starred Maude Adams. Olive May was also in the cast.
The Butterfly Mouse
A young goatherd fears women. A priest whose affair with a young woman her mother wants stopped arranges for the goatherd to marry her so he can continue the affair. Instead, the young couple fall in love.
The Butterfly's Evil Spell
An injured butterfly is stranded among other insects, where a cockroach falls in love with her; she eventually flies away. The symbolist play explores frustrated love and the imminence of death.
The Cabal of Hypocrites
Bulgakov casts Molière as an artist crushed by censorship and political-religious pressure under Louis XIV, using the suppression of his work to evoke the oppression of writers under dictatorship.
The Cabinet Minister
A cabinet minister spends far beyond his means and accumulates massive debts.
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
A Navy court-martial tries Lieutenant Stephen Maryk for relieving Captain Queeg during a typhoon. Through testimony and cross-examination, the witnesses' accounts reveal disputed judgments about Queeg's fitness, Maryk's actions, and the influence of fellow officer Tom Keefer.
The Cake Man
The play opens with a missionary giving an Aboriginal woman a Bible after a soldier has shot her husband. It then follows Sweet William, his wife Ruby, and their children living on a mission in contemporary Sydney. Their son Pumpkinhead has lost respect for his father, while the mythical Cake Man, sent with gifts of love for Aboriginal children but unable to see them, embodies Ruby’s hope in Christian love.
The Calendar
The Calendar is a 1929 play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. It is a crime thriller set in the world of horse racing world, the sport being among Wallace's interests. The protagonist is a financially struggling racehorse owner with a shady reputation. It premiered at the Palace Theatre in Manchester before transferring to Wyndham's Theatre in the West End. It was revived for a 42 performance run at the Lyceum Theatre the following year. That year Wallace also adapted it into a novel.
The Camp
The Camp: A Musical Entertainment is a 1778 play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, with assistance from John Burgoyne and David Garrick. The set designs were by Philip James de Loutherbourg. The play gently satirised the preparations of the British to organise home defences during the American War of Independence when an invasion of the British Isles by France, and later Spain, seemed imminent. It focuses on Coxheath Camp,, a military camp placed near Coxheath in Southern England. It premiered on 15 October 1778 at the Drury Lane Theatre. The play was produced at a time when a genuine sense of crisis swept the country following France's entry into the war which culminated in the failed Armada of 1779. Because of his death while working on the play, Garrick is sometimes said to be the only casualty of the French invasion. The play proved to be a hit. It was the most performed work at the Drury Lane Theatre during the 1778-1779 season, comfortably beating School for Scandal.
The Camp
In an Argentine concentration camp disguised as a corporation, new accountant Martin encounters Frank, who wears a Gestapo uniform, and Emma, who imagines her prison smock as a ball gown; after Martin leaves with her, an Official and nurses arrive at his home to brand him.
The Campaign
The Campaign: or, Love in the East Indies is a 1784 comedy play with songs by the Irish writer Robert Jephson. It premiered at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin in 1784, before transferring to Covent Garden where it first appeared in May 1785. The original London cast included John Quick as General Howitzer, John Edwin as Gregory, John Henry Johnstone as Captain Farquhar, Ralph Wewitzer as Squad, William Cubitt as Ensign Flag, Margaret Kennedy as Saib, Sarah Maria Wilson as Susan and Elizabeth Bannister as Miss Lucy Seymour. In 1787 John O'Keeffe adapted the work into a two-act afterpiece Love and War.
The Campaigners
The Campaigners; Or, The Pleasant Adventures At Brussels is a 1698 comedy play by the English writer Thomas D'Urfey. It was first staged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane by Christopher Rich's Company. The original Drury Lane cast included Thomas Simpson as Don Leon, Benjamin Johnson as The Sieur Bondevelt, John Mills as Colonel Darange, Tobias Thomas as Kinglove, William Pinkethman as Min Heer Tomas, Colley Cibber as Marqui Bertran, William Bullock as Mascarillo, Frances Maria Knight as Angellica, Susanna Verbruggen as Madam la Marquise, Mary Powell as Anniky and Mary Kent as Gusset.
The Canterbury Guests
The Canterbury Guests; or, A Bargain Broken is a 1694 comedy play by the English writer Edward Ravenscroft. It was the only new work performed by the United Company that autumn, amidst tensions that eventually led to a split. The original cast included Cave Underhill as Sir Barnaby Buffler, William Bowen as Justice Greedy, John Verbruggen as Lovell, George Powell as Carless, Thomas Dogget as Dash, William Pinkethman as Jack Sawce, Thomas Kent as Toby, George Bright as Durzo, Jane Rogers as Jacinta, Susanna Verbruggen as Hillaria, Abigail Lawson as Mrs Dazie, Frances Maria Knight as Arabella and Mary Kent as Mrs Breeder. The incidental music was composed by Henry Purcell.
The Capricious Lovers
The Capricious Lovers is a 1725 comedy play by the British writer Gabriel Odingsells. The play revolves around a vain militia colonel. The original cast at Lincoln's Inn Fields included John Hippisley as Colonel Mockyouth, Thomas Walker as Beaumine, Lacy Ryan as Galliard, William Bullock as Roger, James Spiller as Trusty, Elizabeth Younger as Graciana, Anne Parker as Mrs Fading, Jane Rogers as Mrs Mincemode and Jane Egleton as Frizle.
The Captain
Jacomo, a misogynist, is reformed and won by Frank, while Julio and Angelo pursue the widow Lelia. The comedy also plays with audience expectations through an abrupt marriage between Julio and Frank's friend Clora.
The Captain of Köpenick
In the militarized German Empire, an unemployed former shoemaker, Wilhelm Voigt, obtains a captain’s uniform and uses its authority to recruit soldiers and seize Köpenick’s town hall and treasury while trying to secure a passport.
The Captive
Irène is a lesbian tortured by her love for Madame d'Aiguines, but pretending engagement to Jacques. Though Irène attempts to leave Mme. d'Aiguines and marry Jacques, she returns to the relationship, saying that it is "a prison to which I must return captive, despite myself". Mme. d'Aiguines is not seen in the play, but leaves behind nosegays of violets for Irène, as a symbol of her love.
The Captives
The Captives is a 1724 tragedy by the British writer John Gay. The action takes place in the ancient Median Empire, following the fashion in many tragedies of the era to have oriental settings. It concerns a plot against the King, which involves his wife and two royal Persian captives. It was staged at the Drury Lane Theatre and starred the leading actors Robert Wilks as Phraortes, Anne Oldfield as Captive, Barton Booth as Sophernes, John Mills as Hydarnes, Mary Porter as Astarbe, Charles Williams as Araxes and Roger Bridgewater as Orbasius. It enjoyed a solid run of seven performances, but the rival Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre put on a series of popular hits such as The Recruiting Officer, The Drummer and The Double Dealer against it. George, Prince of Wales and his wife Princess Caroline attended a performance of the play.
The Cardinal
The Duchess seeks to marry Alvarez despite a political match arranged by the Cardinal. After Columbo kills Alvarez, Hernando pursues revenge and ultimately exposes the Cardinal's attempted assault on the Duchess, ending in a fatal confrontation.
The Cardinal
The Cardinal is a 1901 historical play by the British writer Louis N. Parker. It is set in Renaissance Italy at the height of the power of the Medici Dynasty. It originally premiered at the Theatre Royal, Montreal before transferring to the Garden Theatre on Broadway. It then enjoyed a run of 106 performances at St James' Theatre in London's West End between 31 August and 5 December 1903. The original London cast included E.S. Willard, Frederick Volpe, Harry Lonsdale, Alice Lonnon, Joseph Farjeon and Helen Ferrers.
The Cardinals’ Collation
During supper in the Vatican, three cardinals—Portuguese, French, and Spanish—reminisce in monologues about their first loves.
The Careless Husband
The Carless Husband is a comedy play by the English writer Colley Cibber. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 7 December 1704. The original cast featured Cibber as Lord Foppington, George Powell as Lord Morelove, Robert Wilks as Sir Charles Easy, Anne Oldfield as Lady Betty Modish, Frances Maria Knight as Lady Easy, Henrietta Moore as Lady Graveairs and Jane Lucas as Mrs Edging. It has been described as Cibber's most successful play, and provided a vehicle for his popular foppish Lord Foppington personae.
The Careless Lovers
The Careless Lovers follows the tyrannical London Alderman Mr. Muchworth, who is determined to block his daughter Jacinta from marrying her true love, Lovell. Instead, he plans to force her into a highly profitable arranged marriage with Lord De Boastado, an insufferably pompous and easily fooled nobleman. Muchworth is also tasked with managing his cynical, fiercely independent niece, Hillaria. Rather than helping her cousin, Hillaria is locked in a savage, rapid-fire war of wits with a fellow libertine named Careless; both loudly despise the traditional concept of marriage and spend their time trading insults. To stop the forced wedding, Jacinta, Lovell, and their highly proactive servants launch a series of chaotic, retaliatory scams to utterly ruin Lord De Boastado’s reputation. In the play's most famous farcical highlight, they hire two heavily pregnant tavern wenches to ambush De Boastado in public. The women scream and aggressively claim that the fop is the father of their unborn children, thoroughly embarrassing him in front of the Alderman. Meanwhile, the clever maidservant Beatrice decides to look out for her own financial future; she puts on an elaborate aristocratic disguise, seduces the clueless De Boastado, and successfully tricks him into legally marrying her instead of Jacinta. With De Boastado accidentally married to a maid and his social ambitions completely shattered, Muchworth has no choice but to capitulate and allow Jacinta and Lovell to wed. The final comedic victory belongs to the sub-plot: realizing they are intellectual and rakish equals, Careless and Hillaria finally agree to marry. However, they do so with a radically subversive twist, explicitly vowing that they will completely disregard traditional marital fidelity and remain "careless lovers" who are free to sleep with other people
The Careless Shepherdess
A pastoral tragicomedy in which a threatened duel between shepherds is averted when the shepherdesses threaten to fight it themselves; a banished shepherd turned outlaw leads satyrs in carrying off the characters.
The Caretaker
Aston invites homeless Davies to stay in his cluttered West London flat and offers him the caretaker job. Davies complains, evades questions about his identity and tries to play Aston and his brother Mick against each other. After Aston recounts his damaging institutional treatment, he orders Davies to leave; Mick backs his brother, and Davies's final plea fails.
The Carmelite
The Carmelite is a 1784 tragedy by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Drury Lane Theatre on 2 December 1784. The play's hero Saint-Valori disguises himself as a Carmelite. The original cast included Sarah Siddons as Matilda, William Smith as Saint Valori, John Palmer as Lord Hildebrand, John Philip Kemble as Montgomeri, James Aickin as Lord De Courci, John Hayman Packer as Gyfford, John Phillimore as Fitzallan and John Fawcett as Raymond. The play enjoyed some success, and was later staged at a theatre in Belfast where Wolfe Tone saw it in 1791.
The Carnival
In a Spanish romantic comedy, Don Ferdinando falls for Elvira, his friend Alvaredo’s beloved, despite being betrothed to Beatrice. He leaves to resolve his feelings, but Beatrice follows disguised as a man; Ferdinando ultimately returns to his betrothed, and Elvira and Alvaredo marry.
The Case is Altered
This comedy combines two plots adapted from Plautus: Count Ferneze’s persecuted slave is revealed as his long-lost son, while the miser Jaques’ supposed daughter Rachel is at the center of a second intrigue. Their stories form an Elizabethan mixture of romance and comedy of humours.
The Case of Lady Camber
When former music-hall star Lady Camber dies in mysterious circumstances, her young nurse Esther Yorke is suspected of killing her so she can marry Lord Camber.
The Case of the Crushed Petunias
Dorothy Simple feels trapped in a prim, proper Massachusetts shop. A tall man from LIFE Inc. visits after trampling her petunias and offers her poetry and seeds that help her break from her dreary life.
The Castle Spectre
The Castle Spectre is a 1797 dramatic romance in five acts by Matthew "Monk" Lewis. It is a Gothic drama set in medieval Conwy, Wales.
The Castle of Montval
The Castle of Montval is a tragedy by the British writer Thomas Sedgwick Whalley. It was first published in 1781, but was not staged in London's West End until 23 April 1799 when it appeared at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane where it succeeded The East Indian by Matthew Lewis. The Drury Lane cast included Sarah Siddons as Countess of Montval, John Philip Kemble as the Old Count, James Aickin as Count of Colmar, Charles Holland as Count of Montval, Charles Kemble as Marquis of Vaublane, William Barrymore as Lapont, John Hayman Packer as Blaise, Jane Powell as Matilda and Elizabeth Heard as Teresa. It was part of the tend of Gothic plays popular during the era.
The Castle of Perseverance
The morality play follows Mankind from birth to death as he turns from virtue to sin, repents and is protected in a castle by the virtues. World, Flesh and the Devil attack; Death strikes Mankind, and God ultimately pardons his soul.
The Castle: A Triumph
After seven years in the Crusades, Stucley returns to find a matriarchal society in England. He tries to restore patriarchy and Christianity, commissioning a castle and a new sect, while conflict grows between the men and women of the land.
The Castro Complex
The Castro Complex is a 1970 play written by Mel Arrighi. It opened on Broadway on November 18, 1970, and closed on November 22, 1970.
The Cat and the Canary
The story concerns the death and inheritance of old Cyrus West, a rich eccentric. He decrees that his will be read 20 years after his death, at which point his relatives converge at his old family home, now a spooky old haunted mansion. The will reads that his most distant relative still bearing the name of West be sole heir, provided they are legally sane. The rest of the night spent in the house calls into question the sanity of Annabelle West, a fragile young woman who is legally Cyrus West's heir.
The Cat in the Hat
On a rainy afternoon, the Cat in his red-and-white-striped hat visits Sally and her brother. The children join his mischievous games and tricks, turning the quiet day into an adventure before their mother returns to see what has happened.
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
In a postwar frame story, two communes dispute who should control abandoned farmland. A singer presents a parable about Grusha, a peasant girl who rescues and raises a governor’s abandoned child; a judge later uses a chalk-circle test to decide who should keep him.
The Cave
Across three acts set in the same cave—from the Neolithic period through medieval times to a near future—a family encounters a young girl who challenges its beliefs. The play connects persecution of dissenters with the role of imagination and art, as a boy who becomes an artist and a brother drawn to invention respond differently to authority and social conformity.
The Cave Dwellers
The Cave Dwellers is a dramatic stage play written by American playwright William Saroyan. The play premiered on Broadway at the Bijou Theatre in 1957. The play follows a group of people who are homeless residing inside an abandoned theatre, until a demolition crew shows up.
The Cave at Machpelah
In this verse drama, Ishmael and Isaac arrange to bury Abraham, exploring the intertwined origins of Arab and Jewish peoples, humanity's relationship with God, and faith.
The Cenci
In Rome, Beatrice Cenci and her family endure the tyrannical Count Francesco Cenci. After he abuses Beatrice and blocks appeals for help, she joins a plot to kill him; the conspirators are tried and sentenced, and Beatrice walks to her execution.
The Cenci
Artaud's adaptation of Shelley's tragedy foregrounds cruelty, violence, incest, revenge, and familial murder. It replaces extended reflection with abrupt transitions and sensory action, using sound and stage effects to make the Cenci family's violence palpable.
The Chair Plays
Edward Bond’s trilogy comprises Have I None, The Under Room, and Chair, dramatizing a dystopian, totalitarian society.
The Chairs
An elderly couple summon guests to hear the Old Man's message for humanity, but the guests are invisible. As they fill the stage with chairs and address the absent audience, the Old Man and Old Woman leap to their deaths; the Orator arrives but can only make unintelligible sounds and leave a garbled message.
The Chalk Cycle
Claire Conceison’s play reworks the original Yuan Chalk Circle drama and Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle alongside the custody case of Anna Mae He.
The Chalk Garden
Imperious Mrs St Maugham cares for her troubled granddaughter Laurel, who has been setting fires. She hires Miss Madrigal, an enigmatic governess and expert gardener with no references; the Judge's visit reveals that Madrigal was imprisoned for murder, while her past is gradually uncovered.
The Champion of Paribanou
Young prince Ahmed is drawn into an epic quest against his childhood friend Murganah, who has sold her soul to the devil-like Schaibar.
The Chances
In Bologna, Don John takes in a mysterious baby and Don Frederick shelters Costantia, who is fleeing danger. When the child's parentage and the lovers' precontract emerge, misunderstandings among the two friends, the Duke and Costantia's brother lead to suspicion and confusion before the parties reunite.
The Changeling
In Alicante, Beatrice-Joanna recruits De Flores to murder her unwanted fiancé so that she can marry Alsemero; the crime entangles them in a tragic cycle of coercion and deceit. A parallel comic plot follows impostors and inmates in a madhouse.
The Changing Room
At the play's core is a semi-pro Northern England rugby league team. During the week, its members are peaceable men toiling away at mindless, working class jobs. On Saturday, they prepare for gory combat on the playing field. The changing room is where they perform their pre-game initiation rites, strip down, loosen muscles, and get into their uniforms. After the match they return, often broken, muddy, and bloody, regretting their loss or giddy with victory in the communal shower. There is little in the way of plot, but Storey engages his audience with his ability to dissect his characters' hurts, hopes, desires, and fighting instincts.
The Chaos of the Ghost Cat of Arima
In a courtly world threatened by jealousy and murder, a monstrous cat protects Otaki, a maid who once saved it, and later avenges her death by attacking those responsible. Its rampage spreads through the Arima clan until warriors climb a watchtower and kill it.
The Chapel Perilous
An Expressionist, picaresque portrait of Sally Banner, moving from schoolgirl to poet as she searches for love and freedom while confronting authority figures and unsatisfactory lovers. A chorus, songs, poems, rapid shifts of scene and recurring figures dramatize her successive roles across the 1940s to 1970s.
The Chaplet of Pan
On May Day, Pan leaves a magical chaplet in Prince Ugolino’s garden. Its influence renews love and revelry among the mortals who wear it, while the bored prince sets schemes against the people who irritate him.
The Chapter of Accidents
The Chapter of Accidents is a 1780 comedy play by Sophia Lee. It was inspired by the play by Le Père de famille by Denis Diderot. The prologue was written by George Colman the Elder. It premiered at the Haymarket in London on 5 August 1780. The original cast included John Palmer as Woodville, Robert Bensley as Lord Glenmore, Richard Wilson as Governor Harcourt, Charles Bannister as Captain Harcourt, Francis Aickin as Grey, John Edwin as Jacob, Sarah Maria Wilson as Bridget and Elizabeth Farren as Cecelia.
The Charm
Unhappily married Kirrie seeks help from Pyee, a travelling dealer in charms. A herb reverses the couple’s roles and makes Jem experience Kirrie’s unreasonable demands; a second charm restores their affection.
The Cheats of Scapin
The Cheats of Scapin is a 1676 comedy play by the English writer Thomas Otway. It is an adaptation of the French play Scapin the Schemer by Molière. It premiered at the Dorset Garden Theatre performed by the Duke's Company as an afterpiece to Otway's new tragedy Titus and Berenice. The original cast included Anthony Leigh as Scapin, Samuel Sandford as Thrifty, James Nokes as Gripe, Henry Norris as Octavian, Thomas Percival as Leander, John Richards as Shift, Elizabeth Barry as Lucia and Anne Shadwell as Clara.
The Cherry Orchard
Indebted landowner Lyubov Ranevskaya returns to her family estate, where Lopakhin proposes cutting down the celebrated cherry orchard and developing the land to pay the mortgage. Ranevskaya and her brother Gayev fail to act, and Lopakhin buys the estate at auction. As the family departs, the elderly servant Firs is accidentally left behind in the empty house while axes are heard cutting the orchard.
The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil
A political history of economic change in the Scottish Highlands, from the Highland Clearances through the contemporary North Sea oil boom. The touring company combines narration, songs, sketches, filmed reconstructions and interviews to connect land evictions, sheep farming, emigration and oil-industry exploitation.
The Chickencoop Chinaman
Chinese American filmmaker Tam Lum travels to Pittsburgh to make a documentary about Black boxer Ovaltine and visit the boxer’s supposed father. Staying with his Japanese American childhood friend Kenji, Tam encounters a family crisis and reassesses the stories and heroes that shaped his identity. Fantasy sequences include Tam meeting the Lone Ranger.
The Chief
Set in 1976 in his Three Rivers Stadium office, Art Rooney speaks to the audience while preparing for dinner and reminisces about his youth and founding the Steelers; the play ends with footage of the Immaculate Reception.
The Child Dreams
A mother and her son flee oppression and search for refuge in a world of violence and indifference. Their journey becomes a four-part theatrical fable about death, compassion and the need for safety.
The Child Murderess
Evchen, a young bourgeois woman, is raped and impregnated by an aristocratic officer who abandons her after falsely promising marriage. Ashamed and desperate, she kills her newborn child; Wagner's social tragedy condemns the class and gender conditions surrounding her situation.
The Child of Nature
The Child of Nature is a 1788 comedy play by the English writer Elizabeth Inchbald, adapted from a French work by the Countess de Genlis. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 28 November 1788. The original cast included Thomas Ryder as Duke Murcia, William Farren as Marquis Almanza, William Thomas Lewis as Count Valantia, James Fearon as Seville, William Macready the Elder as Granada, Francis Aickin as Peasant, Isabella Mattocks as Marchioness Mérida and Ann Brunton Merry as Amanthis. The Dublin premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre on 13 February 1789.
The Children
The Children is a play written by Lucy Kirkwood which premiered in London in 2016 and then on Broadway in 2017.
The Children in the Wood
The Children in the Wood is a 1793 two-act musical play with a libretto by English playwright Thomas Morton and music by Samuel Arnold. It was derived from the children's story Babes in the Wood, and was very popular into the early 19th century. The play debuted at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on October 1, 1793. The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure called it "one of the most interesting trifles that has been lately exhibited." "The subject is the old legendary tale of the Babes of the Wood; and though the author has necessarily departed from the anecdote in the ballad, by saving the infants, he has imparted much tenderness and simplicity to the fable, and in the gayer scenes thrown much cheerfulness into his characters." The review also praised the performance of actor John Bannister.
The Children's Hour
At a girls' boarding school, student Mary Tilford invents a story that headmistresses Karen Wright and Martha Dobie are lovers to avoid returning to school. The accusation drives away students and parents, ruins the women's school and court case, and strains their relationships. After the lie is exposed, Martha's feelings for Karen and the community's damage culminate in tragedy.
The Chiltern Hundreds
Set during the 1945 general election, Tony, son of the Earl of Lister, loses his family’s long-held seat to Labour candidate Cleghorn. When Cleghorn enters the Lords, Tony’s American fiancée secretly backs the family butler Beecham as Conservative candidate; amid changing party loyalties and broken engagements, Beecham wins the seat and later returns to service after applying for the Chiltern Hundreds.
The Chimera
The Chimera is a 1721 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Odell. The original Lincoln's Inn Fields cast included Anthony Boheme as Lord Gracebubble, William Bullock as Selfroth, Christopher Bullock as Ninnyhammer, George Pack as Teartext and Anna Maria Seymour as Lady Meanwell.
The Chinese Bungalow
The Chinese Bungalow is a 1925 play by Marion Osmond and James Corbet, based on Osmond's 1923 novel; it is a three-act melodrama set in the Far East. It was adapted for film in 1926, in 1930, and again in 1940.
The Chinese Lady
Brought to the United States in 1834, Afong Moy is exhibited to paying audiences as a curiosity. Across decades, her changing perspective exposes the limits of the role others have assigned her.
The Chinese Must Go: A Farce in Four Acts
In 1870s California, the Blaine family argues with Chinese workers over wages and labor. Their son Frank disguises himself to trick a Chinese businessman who has acquired a wife, in a farce that uses racial caricature to dramatize anti-Chinese politics.
The Chip Woman’s Fortune
In a poor family’s home, Liza worries that debt will force her husband to evict Aunt Nancy, a ‘chip woman’ who keeps savings hidden for her son. When Jim returns from jail and gives part of Nancy’s savings to the family, he helps Silas repay his debts and reunites with his mother.
The Chocolate Frog
In a prison cell, two seasoned inmates explain the code of honour and eye-for-an-eye justice to a new first offender. When an infraction brings one of the men before an inmate tribunal, the play exposes the violence and rigid hierarchy sustained by prison life.
The Choleric Man
The Choleric Man is a 1774 comedy play by the British author Richard Cumberland. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 10 December 1774. The original cast included Thomas King as Andrew Nightshade, James Aickin as Manlove, John Hayman Packer as Stapleton, Samuel Reddish as Charles Manlove, Thomas Weston as Jack Nightshade, Robert Baddeley as Dibble, John Moody as Gregory, Francis Godolphin Waldron as Frampton. Roger Wright as Frederick, Elizabeth Hopkins as Mrs Stapleton, Frances Abington as Laetitia and Jane Pope as Lucy. The play's Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 14 April 1777. It also appeared later at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.
The Christian
The 1898 version follows Anglican priest John Storm and music-hall singer Glory Quayle, whom he urges to leave her career. In a Soho slum parish, Storm resists corrupt efforts to buy the church; scandal and mob violence threaten him, but Glory clears his name and joins his work among the poor.
The Christian Brothers
A one-man drama about a teacher at a Christian Brothers school, drawing on Ron Blair's own experience as a student at the Lewisham school in Sydney.
The Christian Hero
The Christian Hero is a 1735 tragedy by the British writer George Lillo. It is based on the life of Skanderbeg who led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth century. Two years earlier William Havard had written Scanderbeg, another work based on his life. The original Drury Lane cast included William Milward as Scanderbeg, James Quin as Amurath, William Mills as Mahomet, Edward Berry as Osmyn, Sarah Thurmond as Hellena, John Mills as Aranthes, Richard Winstone as Paulinus and Theophilus Cibber as Amasie.
The Christmas Market
Three Caribbean migrant workers experience their first Canadian winter. Working through the holiday season, they seek friendship, comfort, and a sense of belonging far from home.
The Christmas Party
Jeronimus, a grumpy old man, refuses to host a Christmas party because he considers the custom tasteless and inappropriate. His sister cannot persuade him, but a master shoemaker's appeal to natural law eventually changes his mind.
The Christmas Princess
In a modern fairy tale blending European and Japanese folklore, a spoiled princess disguises herself as a maid to escape an arranged Christmas wedding. A witch sends her to find three magical gifts, while a bumbling prince mistakes the maid for the princess and the court jester struggles to make the king laugh.
The Christmas Truce
A historical drama based on the real Christmas truce during the First World War.
The Church
In a loosely autobiographical satire, Dr. Bardamu moves through colonial Africa, New York’s entertainment industry, the League of Nations headquarters in Geneva, and a small clinic outside Paris; the play criticizes colonialism and the League.
The Churchill Play
In a dystopian England under authoritarian rule, inmates of an internment camp named for Winston Churchill stage a play in which soldiers guard Churchill’s catafalque before he rises from the dead.
The Circle
A young married woman considers leaving her husband for another man and seeks advice from an older couple who eloped thirty years earlier. Their romantic history proves less idealized than she imagined, while the older generation becomes entangled in the younger couple's decision.
The Citizen
Philpot, a wealthy skinflint, has bargained with Sir Jasper Wilding, a fox hunter, for his son Young Philpot, a buck and wastrel, to marry Maria Wilding, and for his daughter Sally to marry Wilding's son, for settlements and twenty thousand pounds paid to Sir Jasper. Young Philpot has lost a fortune, but borrows money from his father and embarks on an insurance fraud involving shipwrecked goods. Maria plans to marry Beaufort, who loves her. As Young Philpot tries to propose, she convinces him she is half-witted, and he spurns her. In the second act, Philpot senior is visiting Corinna, a lady of loose virtue, but hides under the table when his son calls upon her. He overhears as Young Philpot tells her how he has cajoled the money out of his father. Maria's brother surprises them, and old Philpot is also discovered, to their mutual shame. In the final scene Sir Jasper with a lawyer obtains Philpot's signature to the agreements, but meanwhile Maria, an educated girl, shows her strong character to Young Philpot and he again refuses to propose. Having signed away his rights old Philpot offers to marry her, but the lawyer reveals himself as Beaufort, and explains that he has swapped the deeds, so that Philpot has unwittingly signed his agreement for Maria to marry Beaufort.
The Citizen Turned Gentleman
The story centers on Mr. Jorden, a prosperous but deeply naive London draper who is utterly obsessed with shedding his middle-class roots to become an aristocratic gentleman. To achieve this, he foolishly hires a small army of expensive, bickering tutors in music, dance, fencing, and philosophy. They happily drain his bank account while privately mocking his complete lack of rhythm, coordination, and intellect. Jorden’s desperate vanity makes him an easy target for a bankrupt courtier named Dorant, who extravagantly flatters the merchant to borrow massive sums of money. Dorant promises to use the cash to woo a wealthy widow on Jorden's behalf, but secretly pockets the money and courts the lady for himself. The plot takes a farcical turn when Jorden’s daughter, Lucia, wants to marry Cleverwit, a witty young man of humble status. Because Jorden refuses to let his daughter marry anyone below the rank of nobility, Cleverwit and his servant launch a wild, low-budget hoax. Cleverwit disguises himself as the wealthy son of the Grand Signior of Turkey. He dazzles the starstruck Jorden by "ennobling" him in an absurd, entirely fake, grand backyard ceremony, complete with a chorus of chanting, fake Turkish paladins, bestowing upon the ecstatic merchant the completely fictional, nonsensical title of "Mamamouchi". Totally blinded by his ridiculous new "aristocratic" status, Jorden eagerly grants the fake Turkish prince his daughter’s hand in marriage, completely unaware that he has been swindled by his own family.
The City Bride
The City Bride; Or, The Merry Cuckold is a 1696 comedy play by the English writer Joseph Harris. It premiered at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, staged by Thomas Betterton's company. The plot was inspired by John Fletcher's A Cure for a Cuckold. The original Lincoln's Inn Fields cast included John Bowman as Bonvile, John Thurmond as Friendly, George Bright as Justice Merryman, Samuel Bailey as Mr Spruce, John Freeman as Compasse, Elizabeth Bowman as Arabella, Elizabeth Boutell as Clara and Abigail Lawson as Nurse.
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