The Cryptogram
On the night before a boy's camping trip with his father, adult silences and a cryptic message unsettle his understanding of his family.
Plays
8284 shows
Clear filtersThe Cup Winner
Blackmailer Stephen Warland destroys Richard Avenal's domestic happiness and enters his horse, Old Stocking, in a race against Avenal's Kitchener. The stage show toured Australia, including a Brisbane production featuring real horses racing on stage.
The Cure at Troy
A verse reworking of the Philoctetes myth set near the end of the Trojan War. Abandoned on Lemnos because of a wound, the archer Philoctetes is approached by Odysseus and Neoptolemus, who need his bow to fulfil the prophecy that Troy cannot be taken without it.
The Cure for Love
The Cure for Love is a comedy play by the British writer Walter Greenwood which premiered in 1945. Its West End run lasted for 219 performances at the Westminster Theatre between July 1945 and January 1946. Amongst the cast were Robert Donat, Renée Asherson (later replaced by Rene Ray), Charles Victor, Marjorie Rhodes and Joan White. The play portrays the return of an easy-going soldier to his Lancashire hometown after the Second World War. He falls in love with a young woman boarding at his mother's house, but struggles to break away from his faithless and calculating fiancée who intends to hold him to their engagement.
The Curfew
The Curfew is a historical tragedy by the British writer John Tobin which was first published in 1807, three years after the author's death. It was staged by Richard Brinsley Sheridan at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London premiering on 19 February 1807. The cast included William Barrymore as Hugh de Tracy, John Bannister as Robert, Henry Siddons as Bertrand, William Penley as Walter, Robert William Elliston as Fitzharding, Edmund John Eyre as Philip, Jane Powell as Matilda and Maria Duncan as Florence. It appeared at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 1 April the same year. It is set during the Norman era.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The play involves a significant reworking of the source material. Rather than present the story in the first-person narrative as the original novel did, the play is presented as a reading of Boone's own writing, read aloud in segments by his teacher. Set in Swindon and London, the story concerns 15-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone, a mathematical genius with an autism spectrum disorder, although his condition is never specified in the play. The titular curious incident is the mystery surrounding the death of Wellington, his neighbour Mrs. Shears' poodle, after Christopher finds the dog speared with a garden fork. While trying to discover who killed Wellington, he encounters resistance from many neighbours, but mostly from his widowed father, Ed. Christopher argues to himself that many rules are made to be broken, so he continues to search for an answer. During his investigation, Christopher happens across letters from his mother, Judy, dated after her alleged death. Ed admits that Judy is alive and living in London with their neighbour with whom she had an affair; he had fabricated the story about her dying from a heart attack two years prior. He also admits that he killed Wellington in a fit of fury after an argument with Mrs. Shears. Distraught and fearing for his life, Christopher heads to London to find and live with his mother, traveling by himself for the first time in his life. He finds the journey overstimulating and stressful, but eventually succeeds and is welcomed by his mother. His ambitions lead him back to Swindon, where he wants to sit an A Level mathematics exam. Christopher achieves the best possible result and gradually reconciles with his father. In a short scene after the curtain call, Christopher reappears to brilliantly solve his "favourite question" from the mathematics exam.
The Curious Savage
After her wealthy husband’s death, Ethel Savage hides her fortune to fund ordinary people’s dreams. Her greedy stepchildren have her committed to a sanatorium, where she befriends residents whose kindness and loyalty expose the cruelty of the supposedly respectable outsiders.
The Custom of the Country
Zenocia marries Arnoldo against the advice of her father and flees the Italian governor Clodio, who claims a traditional sexual right over her. Separated during their escape, the couple face further coercion and intrigue in Lisbon before Clodio renounces his claim; a subplot follows Arnoldo's brother Rutilio through a duel, arrest, and marriage.
The Cut
In a dystopian society, Paul administers a mysterious operation that removes desire or personality. His reluctance, secret government work and strained family life culminate in imprisonment after a new government bans the procedure.
The Cutter of Coleman Street
The Cutter of Coleman Street is a comedy play by the English writer Abraham Cowley. It premiered at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre on 16 December 1661, performed by the Duke's Company. Cowley had originally written it in 1658 during the English Commonwealth era. The title refers to Coleman Street in the City of London. The Royalist Cowley inserted lines mocking the recent republican government of England, including Thomas Harrison who had been executed for regicide the previous year. Although it was released during the Restoration period, along with The Committee its debt to earlier traditions mean that it is not a full Restoration comedy in the style that would flourish after George Etherege's The Comical Revenge in 1664. The original cast included Thomas Betterton as Colonel Jolly, Henry Harris as Young Trueman, Thomas Lovell as Old Trueman, Cave Underhill as Cutter, Samuel Sandford as Captain Worme, James Nokes as Puny, Mary Betterton as Aurelia, Anne Gibbs as Lucia and Jane Long as Laughing Jane.
The Czar of Muscovy
An impostor claiming to be the dead Czar Demetrius takes the throne and marries Marina, while threatening her and Zarrianna. As nobles expose his identity and resist his tyranny, an uprising frees the women, kills Demetrius, and reunites the couples.
The Da Vinci Code
After the Louvre curator is found murdered, symbologist Robert Langdon is drawn into the investigation and becomes a suspect. With cryptologist Sophie Neveu, he races to clear his name and decipher a trail of codes before a buried historical secret is lost.
The Damask Cheek
In 1909, a charming but repressed English spinster is sent to live with her aunt in America in hopes of finding a husband. She is secretly in love with her second cousin, who mistakes her confidences for devotion while pursuing a young actress; a second romance and domestic upheavals further complicate the household.
The Damoiselle
Landowner Sir Humphrey Dryground and usurer Vermine arrange a marriage to settle financial troubles, while both their families pursue unwanted matches and schemes. In disguise, Dryground opens a London ordinary and stages a raffle to restore the ruined Brookall’s fortune; interwoven deceptions eventually reveal the lovers’ identities and unite the families.
The Dance and the Railroad
Set in the mid-19th-century American West, the play depicts a strike in a Chinese railroad labor camp.
The Dance of Death
A satirical verse-and-prose extravaganza portrays the 'death inside' the middle classes through a silent dancer who seeks survival in escapism, nationalism, idealism, and hedonism before Karl Marx declares him dead.
The Dance of Death I
On an isolated island, artillery captain Edgar and his wife Alice, a former actress, struggle through a vicious marriage. When Alice’s cousin Kurt visits, the pair form an alliance against Edgar, while their conflict exposes the family’s bitter history and custody grievances.
The Dance of Death II
After Edgar’s near-fatal collapse, Alice describes the lasting effects of his illness. Edgar’s ruthless financial dealings cause Kurt to lose money, while their children Judith and Allan seek happiness together amid the cycle of hostility between the older generation.
The Dance: The History of American Minstrelsy
Two characters, presented as stock minstrel clowns, perform a historical minstrel production that traces American minstrelsy and invites comparison between its past and continuing perceptions.
The Dancers
The Dancers is a 1923 play by Gerald du Maurier and Viola Tree, written under the pen name Hubert Parsons. It ran for 349 performances at Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End, starring du Maurier himself alongside Tallulah Bankhead in her London debut. The cast also included Nigel Bruce, Jack Hobbs, William Fay and Lilian Braithwaite. It subsequently transferred to the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway, where it lasted for 133 performances. The New York production starred Richard Bennett, with Pat Somerset.
The Danton Case
A historical drama about the conflict between French Revolution leaders Maximilien Robespierre and Georges Danton in the period leading up to Danton’s execution.
The Dark Is Light Enough
A verse play set during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, formally a comedy but subtitled A Winter Comedy to signal its tragic qualities.
The Dark Lady of the Sonnets
Shakespeare arrives at Whitehall hoping to meet his lover, the Dark Lady, but instead encounters Queen Elizabeth I. After the Queen forgives his audacity, he urges her to establish a National Theatre so he can write for more discerning audiences.
The Dark Tower
In this drawing-room murder mystery, a devious killer uses disguises to commit an apparently perfect crime.
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
In a small Oklahoma town in the early 1920s, Cora Flood considers leaving her traveling-salesman husband after suspecting an affair, while their children face their own troubles and Rubin returns after losing his job.
The Darker Face of the Earth
On an antebellum South Carolina plantation, Amalia’s infant son Augustus is sold into slavery and later returns as an educated, rebellious young man. Unaware that Amalia is his mother, he becomes her lover while joining a planned slave revolt; a prophecy and the truth of his birth lead to tragedy.
The Daughter
It is set on the coast of Cornwall where 'wreckers' stereotypically rob the corpses of those washed ashore in shipwrecks and steal remaining cargo. The heroine is horrified to discover her father is involved in these activities, particularly when his accomplices falsely accuses him of murdering one of the victims of shipwreck. The play typifies the Whiggish representation of wreckers in the mid-nineteenth century and the moral panic over the cultural practice of 'wrecking'.
The Daughter of Iorio
Mila, a young woman outcast from her community, loves a shepherd who is being married off to someone he does not love. D'Annunzio tells their tragedy in verse shaped by Abruzzo dialect, proverbs and traditional rhymes.
The Daughter-in-Law
In a Nottinghamshire mining town, coal miner Luther Gascoigne and his new wife Minnie struggle with his dependence on his mother and the revelation that he fathered a child shortly before their marriage, as a miners’ strike unfolds around them.
The Day Emily Married
A newlywed couple, Emily and Richard Murray, move into the house of her parents. Emily had divorced her first husband. She soon finds herself caught between her seemingly-ideal husband and her family. Her parents, Lyd and Lee Davis, are loving but also controlling. Lee plans on selling his own farm and some property, to help Richard set up a business.
The Day It All Went South
A woman in her sixties plans a family dinner and party to mark her husband’s retirement. Over a turbulent week, those preparations unravel, forcing her to reconsider her marriage, motherhood, mortality and desires for her own life.
The Day Room
In an absurdist psychiatric hospital, the boundaries between patients and staff gradually blur. The first act's day room becomes a motel room in the second, where a former patient appears as a human television.
The Day of the Triffids
In 1951 London, a cosmic event blinds most people while dangerous, mobile triffid plants threaten the survivors. A sighted man faces the predatory plants and a collapsing human society.
The Days and Nights of BeeBee Fenstermaker
The Days and Nights of BeeBee Fenstermaker is an American play by William Snyder. The work premiered Off-Broadway at the Sheridan Square Playhouse on September 17, 1962, closing on June 9, 1963 after 304 performances. The production was directed by Ulu Grosbard and used set and lighting designs by Robin Wagner. The production starred Rose Gregorio as Beebee, Ann Wedgeworth as Nettie-Jo Repult, Mary Farrell as Melinda, Kate Harrington as Virginia, Virgilia Chew as Betty, Monroe Arnold as Interviewer, Stanley Beck as Ed Busby, and Robert Duvall as Bob Smith. Garnering critical praise, the play was later adapted by Snyder into two television films, one in English for British ATV drama with Patricia Neal as BeeBee, and one in German for German television with Loni von Friedl in the title role.
The Days of Yore
The Days of Yore is a British historical play by Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Covent Garden Theatre on 13 January 1796. The original cast included James Middleton as Alfred, King of England, George Davies Harley as Oddune, Earl of Devonshire, Alexander Pope as Voltimar, Elizabeth Clendining as Lothaire, James Thompson as Mollo, Willam Macready as Sibald, William Claremont as Ebert, Thomas Hull as Roger De Malvern and Elizabeth Pope as Adela. The work is set in the Anglo-Saxon era. The work was possibly influenced by Horace Walpole's gothic novel The Mysterious Mother. It ran for five performances.
The Days of the Commune
Rather than follow an individual hero, the play presents the Paris Commune through a composite community, shifting among people in Montmartre and the city council as Thiers and Bismarck engineer its defeat.
The Days of the Turbins
In Kyiv during the upheavals of 1918–19, the Turbin family faces the collapse of the regimes around them, violence and betrayal. Alexey and Nikolai remain loyal to the White movement while Elena’s husband flees; amid uncertainty, the family gathers to celebrate New Year.
The Deacon's Awakening
Martha defends her daughter's presence at a meeting supporting passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to her husband David and his associate Sol.
The Dead Guy
Television producer Gina Yaweth recruits Eldon Phelps for a reality show that gives him a week and a million dollars to spend before viewers choose how he must die on live television. As his deadline approaches and the audience grows attached to him, a final vote makes Gina the target of the show’s demand.
The Dead Wait
A young South African athlete conscripted into the Angolan Civil War returns home and struggles to own up to a crime he committed during the conflict. The partly autobiographical play follows his attempt to reckon with his actions.
The Death of Bessie Smith
In a segregated Memphis hospital, Black and white staff discuss Bessie Smith after her fatal car crash, while Bernie and Jack speak with each other and with the offstage singer. The play’s premise reflects a myth: Smith was not refused admission to a white hospital.
The Death of Cleopatra
Shawqi retells Cleopatra’s final days in Alexandria. After her withdrawal contributes to defeat at Actium, she and Mark Antony briefly celebrate a victory before Octavian’s forces destroy Antony’s army. Misled into believing Cleopatra is dead, Antony kills himself; Cleopatra then takes her own life.
The Death of Empedocles
An unfinished drama about the final days of the Greek philosopher Empedocles, who according to legend threw himself into Mount Etna. In the first act he leaves Agrigentum; the second is set at Etna.
The Death of Ivan the Terrible
Tolstoy’s blank-verse historical drama portrays Ivan IV’s final year, as the tsar considers relinquishing rule after killing his son and then returns to the burden of governing. The court’s boyars debate his authority, while Boris Godunov’s influence grows and conflicts involving Shuisky and Belsky unfold. The action is set in 1584 but draws together events that took place in 1581.
The Death of Little Ibsen
A puppet play about the life of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
The Death of Pompey
Corneille's tragedy concerns the death of Pompey the Great and the aftermath for Cornelia. Caesar releases Cornelia, though she acknowledges his nobility and generosity, and warns him that she will continue seeking his death.
The Death of Tintagiles
The Queen has killed most of Tintagiles's family. His sisters Ygraine and Bellangère try to protect him, but the Queen's servants seize him; Ygraine reaches the castle door as he cries for help but cannot open it before the Queen murders him.
The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World
In a symbolic hole representing erased Black history, biblical, historical, and stereotyped Black figures recur in a fragmented, non-linear performance. The title character, Black Man With Watermelon, dies repeatedly as the play explores the loss and recovery of African American historical memory.
The Debauchee, or the Credulous Cuckold
A Restoration adaptation of Brome’s comedy of sexual intrigue, following George Careless’s overlapping affairs and deceptions; Behn’s version expands the bedroom scene in which the play’s schemes are exposed.
The Deceived Ones
A Renaissance comedy of intrigue that uses stock characters from Roman comedies by Plautus and Terence, types later associated with commedia dell'arte.
The Deceiver Deceived
Venetian senator Melito Bondi pretends to be blind to avoid the cost of becoming President of Dalmatia, but must maintain the deception as his family exploits it. Widow Lady Temptyouth helps Bondi's wife Olivia and daughter Ariana meet their lovers and seeks a wealthy husband for Lucinda, the illegitimate girl she raised. Bondi considers poisoning Olivia, then relents and permits Ariana to marry the penniless Fidelio.
The December Man (L’Homme de Décembre)
After surviving the École Polytechnique massacre, a young man struggles with guilt and fear. His parents try to help as the family’s private life is transformed by the long aftermath of public violence.
The Decision
Four agitators return from a mission to organize workers in China and ask a central committee to judge their killing of a young comrade. Their reenactment shows how the comrade’s undisciplined actions endangered the movement; he agrees to die rather than expose it, and the committee approves their decision.
The Deep Blue Sea
Taking place over the course of one day, the play begins with the discovery of Hester Collyer in her flat by her neighbours, after Hester has failed in an attempt to take her own life by gassing herself. In flashback, sometime before, Hester left her husband, Sir William Collyer, a respectable High Court judge, for Freddie Page, a semi-alcoholic former RAF pilot. Their relationship was physical and passionate, but his ardour eventually cooled, leaving her emotionally stranded and desperate. Initially unemployed, Freddie eventually takes a post in South America. The aftershocks of her attempted suicide unravel even the remnants of this relationship. By the end of the day, Hester is brought to a hard decision to live, partly through the intercession of another resident of the tenement house, Mr. Miller, an ex-doctor who has been struck off the register for an undisclosed reason. These two outcasts find a curious kinship.
The Deep Purple
A gang uses Doris Moore as an unwitting lure in a badger game targeting wealthy William Lake. Kate Fallon, a reformed thief, protects Doris; Lake and train robber Gordon Laylock expose the gang, and the scheme ends with Harry Leland's death and the others' escape from their criminal pasts.
The Deep Throat Sex Scandal
The Deep Throat Sex Scandal is an American play by David Bertolino. It follows the life and career of Harry Reems as he enters the pornography industry, eventually filming Deep Throat opposite Linda Lovelace, and its resultant infamy and obscenity trial in Memphis, Tennessee. The play originally was produced Off-Broadway at the 45 Bleecker Street theatre. Previews began September 17, 2010 with Malcolm Madera as Reems and Lori Gardner as Lovelace for director Jerry Douglas. Bertolino also served as producer. Additional cast members include Graham Stuart Allen, Frank Blocker, Stephen Hope, John-Charles Kelly, Rita Rehn and Zach Wegner. Production Stage Manager: Ernie Fimbres, Assistant Stage Manager: Jeremy Neal, Set Design: Josh Iacovelli, Wardrobe: Jeffrey Wallach, Lighting Design: Graham Kindred, Sound Design: Phillip Rudy. It opened October 10, 2010, and abruptly closed two days later following a dispute with the venue's landlord.
The Deer Park
Adapted by Norman Mailer from his novel, the play follows aspiring writer Sergius O’Shaughnessy, a discharged Air Force pilot who enters the orbit of Hollywood figures at a desert resort. As O’Shaughnessy and blacklisted director Charles Eitel pursue new lives and work, studio power, ambition and tangled relationships shape their choices.
The Delinquent
The Delinquent is an 1805 comedy play by the British writer Frederick Reynolds. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 14 November 1805. The original cast included John Philip Kemble as The Delinquent, John Brunton as Sir Edward Specious, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Major Tornado, John Fawcett as Old Doric, William Thomas Lewis as Young Doric, William Claremont as Dorville, John Waddy as Landlord, John Liston as Old Nicholas, John Emery as Tom Tackle, George Davies Harley as Waiter, Nannette Johnston as Olivia and Maria Gibbs as Mrs. Aubrey.
The Demi-Virgin
The story centers on the character Gloria Graham, a silent film actress who had previously been married to fellow actor Wally Deane. After he received a late-night call on their wedding night from a former girlfriend, Gloria stormed out and went to Reno, Nevada to obtain a divorce. The brevity of the union leads gossip columnists to speculate about whether the marriage was consummated. They label Gloria the "demi-virgin". The first act opens with a group of actresses, including Cora Montague and Betty Wilson, filming a scene for a movie and gossiping about the failed marriage. Betty's aunt Zeffie comes to the studio with a magazine article about how the couple has been forced to reunite to complete the movie, for which they were contracted before their break-up. When they arrive for filming, Gloria claims Sir Gerald Sydney has proposed to her. In an act of jealousy, Wally lies and says he is engaged to Betty. Betty is actually interested in another actor, Chicky Belden, although her aunt disapproves of him. The first act culminates with Gloria and Wally being required to film a love scene together. The second act takes place a week later, when the movie's cast are attending a decadent party at Gloria's house. Wally and Chicky have conspired to use the phony engagement of Betty and Wally to win Zeffie's approval of the real relationship between Betty and Chicky. They think she will find Wally so unacceptable that Chicky will seem good in comparison. Meanwhile, Gloria also wants to prove Wally is an unfit match for Betty, by seducing him to prove that he is unfaithful. She lures Wally to her bedroom suite on the pretense of renewing their relationship, without intending to follow through. She plans to tease him until Zeffie finds them there, but he is prepared for her plan and will not accept any delay; the act ends with him telling her that she must fulfill her "marriage debt" to him. The third act continues in Gloria's bedroom suite. In the play's most controversial scene, a group of actresses enter the room while Wally hides in another room of the suite. One of them, Dot Madison, is down to her last two items of clothing when Wally returns to the room. The actresses leave, and Wally says he is going to get his bag so he has it the next morning. While he is out of the room, Zeffie enters. Gloria asks Zeffie to hide in the bed, so when Wally returns she will see his advances firsthand. In a final plot twist, when Wally returns he has a telegram from his lawyer revealing that the Reno divorce is not valid. Gloria and Wally reconcile, and Zeffie gives her approval to the relationship between Betty and Chicky.
The Department
Set in a university, the play follows political intrigue within an academic department. Williamson based it on his experience as a lecturer at Swinburne Tech.
The Dependent
The Dependent is a 1795 comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 20 October 1795. The original cast included Thomas King as Lord Leverington, Richard Suett as Sir Clement Canteser, John Philip Kemble as Edmund D'Alincourt, James Aickin as Carrington, John Bannister as Gabriel Wrinkle, George Wathen as Isaac, John Phillimore as Thomas, Walter Maddocks as Harry, Jane Pope as Mrs Margaret and Elizabeth Farren as Jane.
The Descent of Liberty
A masque written in prison imagines a country released from an Enchanter’s curse: shepherds hear a herald of change, the Enchanter is defeated, and Liberty, Peace, the Allied nations, Spring, and the arts help renew the land and free the prisoners. The work recasts the masque’s courtly tradition around pastoral imagery and common people.
The Deserted Daughter
The Deserted Daughter is a 1795 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Holcroft. The original Covent Garden cast included William Thomas Lewis as Cheveril, John Quick as Item, Alexander Pope as Mr Mordent, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Donald, George Davies Harley as Lennox, John Bernard as Grime, James Middleton as Clement, Isabella Mattocks as Mrs Sarsnet and Jane Pope as Lady Anne.
The Deserving Favourite
In a courtly tragicomedy, Lysander and Clarinda love one another, but Clarinda is also pursued by the king's powerful favourite. Intrigue and mistaken beliefs lead to duels, flight, and a threatened execution before revelations of their family identities resolve the competing loyalties.
The Designated Mourner
In an unnamed Western country under political repression, Jack narrates fragments of memory about his father-in-law Howard, a poet, and his wife Judy. As the regime's violence escalates, Howard and Judy are killed, leaving Jack as the sole survivor of their literary circle.
The Desperate Hours
Deputy Sheriff Jesse Bard relieves his night-shift colleague Tom Winston, only to discover three convicts have escaped overnight from the federal penitentiary at Terre Haute, and Tom has left it up to the FBI and state police. Jesse had arrested convict Glenn Griffin, and figures he'll head to Indianapolis to meet up with his girl friend Helen Laski and to get revenge on Jesse. While Jesse co-ordinates the search with Lt. Carl Fredericks of the state police and FBI special agent Harry Carson, the Hillard family is just starting their day at home. Dan Hillard drives himself and his daughter Cindy to work, while his wife Eleanor sends son Ralphie off to school on his bike. Alone now, Eleanor answers a doorbell to find a stranger asking for directions. Its Glenn Griffin, who produces a gun when Eleanor is distracted by Hank Griffin coming in through an unlocked back entrance. Robish also now appears, and the three hold Eleanor hostage in her own house all day. One by one the other Hillards are captured as they return home. The FBI has located Helen Laski in Pittsburgh and informs Jesse Bard she is driving towards Indianapolis. Glenn Griffin is expecting her to arrive at midnight with the getaway money, but she doesn't show up. Law enforcement has also lost track of her. The next morning Glenn makes a decision: he'll let Cindy and Dan go to work as usual, while holding Eleanor and the outspoken Ralphie at home as hostages. The Hillard family's battle of wits with the convicts seesaws back and forth, while unexpected visitors and phone calls threaten to upset the delicate equilibrium between captors and hostages. The local trash collector, Claude Patterson, who notices the convicts' stolen car in the Hillards garage, is taken away by Robish, who murders him. Meanwhile, attorney Chuck Wright has become suspicious of Cindy's evasive replies and contacts the police. Alert at last to the convicts hideout, law officers try to eavesdrop on what's going on in the Hillard house from a neighbor's attic. Eventually, a combination of the family's efforts and the police vigil pay off, with Hank Griffin deciding to bolt. His departure lets Dan Hillard get the drop on Glen Griffin with an empty gun, tricking him into leaving the house to go outside where the police are waiting.
The Destiny of Me
The Destiny of Me is a 1992 American play by Larry Kramer. The play follows Ned Weeks, a character from Kramer's 1985 play The Normal Heart. The play premiered off-Broadway in 1992, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The Destruction of Troy
Ulysses devises a plan to steal the statue of Minerva that has provided Troy security throughout the war. To do this, the Greeks bribe a Trojan soldier, Antenor, for access to the temple wherein Minerva is located. Afterwards, Ulysses is praised by his fellow generals and soldiers. Angered because he feels he has gotten no credit for his help in physically stealing the statue, Achilles refuses to continue participating in the war. Both the Greeks and the Trojans agree to a three-day truce before a round of one-on-one duels. On the day of the duels, Cassandra warns her brothers, Hector and Troilus, that they will be killed in battle, but both dismiss her warnings. After Hector kills Patroclus, a Greek soldier, Achilles swears revenge but is restrained. Soon afterwards, the Greeks invade the Trojan camps. In the process, Achilles, who has now resumed fighting, kills Hector offstage. As he is rejoicing, he catches sight of Polyxena, Hector's sister, whom he falls in love with at first sight. Priam, King of Troy, arranges a marriage between the two as a way of securing peace. Meanwhile, Ulysses and his fellow princes and generals devise a plan to overtake Troy: the Greeks will deliver a giant wooden horse to the Trojans as a supposed wedding gift, but in reality, it is a device used to hide Greek soldiers who will then exit the interior of the horse and destroy Troy. On the day of the wedding, Paris vows revenge against Achilles for killing Hector, which he achieves when he murders Achilles by shooting his ankle with an arrow. At the moment Achilles is killed, Ulysses's plans come to fruition. Andromache burns to death offstage.
The Devil
Painter János and Jolán, the married wife of his friend László, confront a love they buried years earlier when Jolán comes to János for a portrait. As János is being steered toward marriage with Elza, the Devil enters their circle and manipulates their desires, jealousy and fear of scandal.
The Devil
During World War I, the idealistic Arif is appalled by occupation, violence, crime, and betrayal. The Devil exposes how people sell their souls for wealth; as Arif falls under this influence, he murders his wife and brother and becomes greedy, abandoning his hopes for a freer, more humane world.
The Devil Is an Ass
Satan reluctantly sends the inept devil Pug to tempt Londoners, assigning him to the foolish Fitzdottrel, who is already eager to meet a devil and find buried treasure. A network of confidence men schemes to take Fitzdottrel's fortune, while his virtuous wife gains control of the estate and the would-be swindlers are ultimately exposed.
The Devil and the Good Lord
During the German Peasants' War, warlord Goetz tests the possibility of goodness, changing from a vicious war criminal toward noble deeds; during the siege of Worms, he chooses not to massacre the town's citizens.
The Devil of a Wife
Jobson, a weaver, routinely abuses his kind wife, Nell. Jobson attends a raucous party run by Sir Richard Lovemore, but the proceedings are disrupted by Lovemore's peevish and controlling wife, Lady Lovemore, who considers such events sinful now that she has come under the influence of a preacher who frequents the Lovemores' house. Sir Richard's servants devise a scheme to pretend to be demons in order to scare the preacher (who is staying with the Lovemores) and are successful in their endeavors. Meanwhile, after being rudely addressed by Lady Lovemore, a doctor resolves to cast a spell that makes Lady Lovemore appear to the world as Nell, and Nell as Lady Lovemore. The next morning the women wake up in the beds of the other's spouse. The doctor decides to rescind the spell; by that point Lady Lovemore's treatment of Jobson has taught him to appreciate his wife, and Jobson's behavior towards Lady Lovemore has made her attitude gentler.
The Devil to Pay
Sayers's stage treatment of the Faust legend seeks a human interpretation of a supernatural story.
The Devil with Boobs
An incorruptible magistrate investigates a cathedral arson, prompting powerful citizens to discredit him with the help of devils. A devil meant to possess him mistakenly enters his elderly housekeeper, transforming her into a striking woman; the magistrate is drawn into scandal, tried and acquitted, then condemned to galley slavery in a later trial.
The Devil's Charter
In a tragedy about Pope Alexander VI, Roderigo bargains with the Devil for papal power. The pope and his children commit murders and political crimes; the Devil ultimately reveals that the contract expires earlier than Alexander believed and claims him for Hell.
The Devil's Disciple
The setting is in the Fall of 1777, during the Saratoga Campaign. Richard (Dick) Dudgeon is an outcast from his family in colonial Websterbridge, New Hampshire. He returns their hatred with scorn. After the death of his father, Dick returns to his childhood home to hear the reading of his father's will, much to his family's dismay. Anthony Anderson, the local minister, treats him with courtesy despite Dick's self-proclaimed apostasy, but Dick's "wickedness" appalls Anderson's wife Judith. To everyone's surprise, it is revealed that Dick's father secretly changed his will just before he died, leaving the bulk of his estate to Dick. Dick promptly evicts his mother from her home, but also invites his cousin Essie (the illegitimate daughter of Dick's never-do-well uncle Peter), orphaned by the hanging of her father as a rebel by the British, to stay as long as she wants. At the end of the Act, Dick proclaims himself also a rebel against the British and scorns his family as cowards when they flee his home. He warns Anderson that the approaching army hanged his uncle in error, believing him to be a man of highest respect, unaware of his ill repute, and that Anderson will be the example set in Websterbridge. While visiting Anderson's home at the Reverend's invitation, Dick is left alone with Judith while Anderson is called out to Mrs. Dudgeon's deathbed. Perceiving Judith's distaste for him, Dick attempts to leave, but Judith insists he stay until Anderson returns. While they are waiting, British soldiers enter Anderson's home and arrest Dick, mistaking him for Anderson. Dick allows them to take him away without revealing his actual identity. He swears Judith to secrecy lest her husband give the secret away and expose himself to arrest. Anderson returns and finds his wife in a state of great agitation. He demands to know if Dick has harmed her. Breaking her promise to Dick, Judith reveals that soldiers came to arrest Anderson but Dick went in his place. Anderson is stunned. He grabs all his money and a gun and quickly rides away, ignoring Judith's appeals. Judith believes her husband to be a coward, while Dick, whom she despised, is a hero. Dick is being held for court martial at the local British Army headquarters. Judith visits Dick and asks to be present at his trial. He allows it as long as she promises not to speak up. The proceedings are run by the charming British General Burgoyne. After some back and forth, where, among other things, Dick makes treasonous statements, it is decided the prisoner will be hanged at noon. Judith can no longer hold her tongue and tells the court Dick is not her husband, but this makes no difference—the sentence will still be carried out. The action moves to the gallows at the Websterbridge market place, where Dick is soon to be hanged. He is saved at the last second, however, by Anderson, now the commander of a militia that has won the day.
The Devils
The Devils is a play, commissioned by Sir Peter Hall for the Royal Shakespeare Company and written by British dramatist John Whiting, based on Aldous Huxley's 1952 book, The Devils of Loudun.
The Devil’s Law Case
In Naples, merchant Romelio tries to control his sister Jolenta’s marriage and fortune while a political conspiracy and his own losses unravel. After he attempts to pass off another man’s child as Jolenta’s, their mother Leonora challenges his legitimacy in court; hidden identities and a duel expose the schemes, and the judge resolves the tangled cases.
The Diary of Anne Frank
The Diary of Anne Frank is a stage adaptation of the posthumously published 1947 book The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. It premiered on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in 1955. Its script also primarily formed the basis of the Academy Award-winning 1959 film adaptation.
The Diary of Anne Frank
Eight people hide from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic while Anne Frank records their daily tensions, hopes and fears. Wendy Kesselman’s adaptation incorporates additional diary writings and survivor accounts into Goodrich and Hackett’s dramatization.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Fifteen-year-old Minnie Goetze navigates expulsion, a chaotic home, drug use and a sexual relationship with her mother's boyfriend as she comes of age in 1970s San Francisco. Her diary and drawings express a bright, self-reflective teenager’s experience of loneliness and abuse.
The Dice House
Psychiatrist Dr Drabble blackmails recently cured patient Matthew into kidnapping his wife from the Dice House, where a rival doctor has taught her to make every decision by dice roll. The plan recedes behind comic episodes among the residents, but the conflict returns as a single roll determines the doctors’ fates.
The Different Widows
The Different Widows is a 1703 comedy by the British writer Mary Pix. It premiered at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London. The original cast included George Powell as Sir James Belmont, John Corey as Careless, George Pack as Sir Anthony Loveman, Francis Leigh as Dandle, Barton Booth as Valentine, Elinor Leigh as Widow Bellmont, Mary Porter as Lady Loveman, Elizabeth Willis as Lady Courtall and Lucretia Bradshaw as Mariana.
The Digby Conversion of Saint Paul
In three stations, Saul sets out to suppress Christians, is struck blind by a divine visitation on the road to Damascus, and is healed and baptized by Ananias. Back in Jerusalem, he preaches against the Seven Deadly Sins and escapes an order to kill him; the play ends with a hymn inviting the audience to sing.
The Dilemma of a Ghost
Ato Yawson returns to Ghana from abroad with his African American wife, Eulalie, whose new family and home unsettle her relationship with her cultural past. Their marriage brings tensions over childbearing, fidelity, family, and the encounter between Western and African traditions.
The Dining Room
The play is a comedy of manners, set in a single dining room where 18 scenes from different households overlap and intertwine. Presumably, each story is focused around a different family during different time periods who has in their possession the same dining room furniture set, manufactured in 1898. The stories are about White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) families. Some scenes are about the furniture itself and the emotional attachment to it, while other scenes simply flesh out the culture of the WASPs. Overall, it tells the story of the dying and relatively short-lived culture of upper-middle class Americans, and the transition into a much more efficient society with less emphasis on tradition and more emphasis on progress. Some characters are made fun of, as is the culture itself, but there is also a genuine longing for the sense of stability, comfort and togetherness that the culture provides. From the back of the playbook: The play is set in the dining room of a typical well-to-do household, the place where the family assembled daily for breakfast and dinner and for any and all special occasions. The action is a mosaic of interrelated scenes—some funny, some touching, some rueful—which, taken together, create an in-depth portrait of a vanishing species: the upper-middle-class WASP. The actors change roles, personalities and ages with virtuoso skill as they portray a wide variety of characters, from little boys to stern grandfathers, and from giggling teenage girls to Irish housemaids. Each vignette introduces a new set of people and events; a father lectures his son on grammar and politics; a boy returns from boarding school to discover his mother's infidelity; a senile grandmother doesn't recognize her own sons at Thanksgiving dinner; a daughter, her marriage a shambles, pleads futilely to return home, etc. Dovetailing swiftly and smoothly, the varied scenes coalesce, ultimately, into a theatrical experience of exceptional range, compassionate humor and abundant humanity.
The Dinner Party
Six guests arrive separately for a dinner in Paris and discover they are three divorced couples. As they piece together why they were invited, the evening shifts from farce to a serious discussion of their past marriages and relationships.
The Dippers
London lawyer Henry Talboyes is stranded at a small railway station. He accepts a lift to a nearby country house whose nouveau riche owner, Lord Mellingham, is hosting an elaborate party that evening. Talboyes is mistaken for one half of the professional dancing couple hired for the occasion, the eponymous Dippers, as the wife has turned up but the husband was delayed en route. The only person capable of untangling the mess is Talboyes's fiancee, the young widow Mrs Tavistock, who is providentially present at Mellingham Hall.
The Director
Peter, a demanding director with few professional prospects, uses his janitorial job at a rehearsal studio to stage acting exercises after hours. He manipulates a group of actors through increasingly demented experiences that spiral out of control.
The Disappointment
The Disappointment; Or, The Mother In Fashion is a 1684 comedy play by the Irish writer Thomas Southerne. It was first performed by the United Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The prologue was written by John Dryden. The original cast included Thomas Betterton as Alphonso, William Smith as Lorenzo, John Wiltshire as Alberto, Anthony Leigh as Rogero, Sarah Cooke as Erminia, Susanna Percival as Juliana, Frances Maria Knight as Angelline, Katherine Corey as Her Supposed Mother and Elinor Leigh as Clara.
The Disbanded Officer
The Disbanded Officer; Or, The Baroness of Bruschal is a 1786 comedy play by James Johnstone, inspired by the 1763 German play Minna von Barnhelm by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 24 July 1786. The original London cast included John Palmer as Colonel Holberg, John Bannister as Paul Warmans, Robert Baddeley as Katzenbuckel, William Parsons as Rohf, Charles Farley as Boy, Elizabeth Farren as Baroness of Bruschal, Mary Bulkley as Lisetta and Elizabeth Inchbald as Lady in Mourning. The Irish premiere took place at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin on 15 February 1787. Johnstone dedicated the publisher version to Queen Charlotte.
The Disbanded Officer; Or, The Baroness of Bruchsal
A proud Prussian officer refuses to marry a wealthy heiress while his own fortunes are in decline. Determined to win him, the Baroness of Bruchsal pretends to be poor, turning his sense of honour into an obstacle that she hopes to overcome through deception.
The Discovery
The Discovery: A Comedy in Five Acts is a comedy by Frances Sheridan. The play premiered on 5 February 1763, at the Drury Lane Theatre, London. The actors being David Garrick as Sir Anthony Branville, Frances' husband Thomas Sheridan as Lord Medway, William O'Brien as Sir Harry Flutter, Charles Holland as Colonel Medway, Mrs. Hannah Pritchard as Lady Medway, Mary Ann Yates as Mrs Knightly, and Jane Pope as Lady Flutter. Garrick agreed that Thomas Sheridan should play the lead role and be paid with two night's profits. Aldous Huxley controversially rewrote the play and provided a new ending, for a Chatto and Windus edition in 1924.
The Disenchanted
Once-celebrated novelist Manley Halliday and his wife Jere have fallen into debt and alcoholism. Halliday accepts a lucrative Hollywood screenplay job, collaborating with a younger writer who is indifferent to his former literary reputation, while Jere recovers in a New York sanitarium.
The Disobedient Child
A young man insists on marrying despite his father's objections and finds his married life unhappy. The comic morality interlude argues for strict parental discipline and closes with a song to Queen Elizabeth.
The Dissembled Wanton
The Dissembled Wanton is a 1726 comedy play by the British writer Leonard Welsted. The original Lincoln's Inn Fields cast included James Quin as Lord Severne, Lacy Ryan as Colonel Severne, Thomas Walker as Beaufort, William Bullock as Toby, John Hippisley as Wormwood, Jane Rogers as Emilia, Elizabeth Younger as Sir Harry Truelove and Jane Egleton as Lettice.
The Distaff Side
The Distaff Side is a 1933 comedy play by the British writer John Van Druten. It premiered at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh before beginning a 102-performance run at the Apollo Theatre in London between 5 September and 2 December 1933. It was produced by Gilbert Miller. The original cast included Sybil Thorndike, Martita Hunt, Clifford Evans, Edgar Norfolk and Viola Keats. Its New York run began in September 1934 and lasted for 177 performances at the Booth Theatre.
The Diver
Yumi Yamanaka is accused of murdering her lover’s two children. During psychiatric sessions she drifts in and out of reality, assuming characters from The Tale of Genji and the Noh play Ama while a prosecutor and police chief try to establish her guilt.
The Divine Mrs S
A dramatization of Sarah Siddons's life, focusing on the premiere of De Monfort and her portrayal of Lady Macbeth.
The Diviners
In Depression-era Zion, Indiana, former preacher C.C. Showers befriends Buddy Layman, a boy who senses water but fears it after his mother drowned saving him. Their bond draws the town toward rebuilding its church, but a misunderstanding at the river ends in Buddy’s death and leaves the community to reckon with its loss.
The Doating Lovers
The Doating Lovers: Or, the Libertine Tam'd is a 1715 comedy play by the Irish writer Newburgh Hamilton. The original cast included John Leigh as Gaylove, William Bullock as Sir Butterfly Ayrewould, Christopher Bullock as Sr Timothy Twiddle, Theophilus Keene as Colonel Winfield, Benjamin Griffin as Choleric, George Pack as Decoy, Francis Leigh as Thump, Mary Kent as Lady Youthful, Sarah Thurmond as Cosmelia and Letitia Cross as Clarinda.
The Dock Brief
A barrister and his criminal client anchor a two-hander built around the Dock Brief custom; the play explores the lawyer’s dependence on the people he defends.
The Doctor
The play follows Professor Ruth Wolff, the Founding Director of the Elizabeth Institute, who refuses to let a Catholic priest into the operating room where a girl is dying from a botched self-administered abortion. After a recording of the physical altercation with the priest goes viral on the internet, Ruth begins to receive severe backlash from some of the hospital staff, the girl’s father, a network of social media users, and eventually, a TV panel of social activist groups. Each of the panellists question Ruth’s intention for prohibiting the priest’s entrance, who is later revealed to be a Black man, and criticize her refusal to identify with labels. The Doctor explores themes of identity, race, privilege, religion, mental health, and sexuality. In the original production, nontraditional casting methods were employed, such as color-conscious casting, to manipulate the audience’s expectations and internal biases towards identity groups.
The Doctor's Dilemma
A doctor with limited capacity for a new tuberculosis treatment must choose between a selfless medical colleague and a gifted but unscrupulous artist. The doctor's attraction to the artist's wife complicates his judgment, and his choice leaves him questioning his motives.
The Dog Beneath the Skin
Alan Norman searches for Sir Francis Crewe, the missing heir of Honeypot Hall, on a satiric journey through Europe and England. A large dog accompanies him and proves to be the heir in disguise. The ending differs between the printed text and Auden’s revised stage version: the former has Francis leave to join a revolutionary movement, while the latter ends with his death.
The Dog Problem
Teresa’s vague accusation involving a man and his dog sets her brother and his associates in search of retribution. Misunderstandings and misplaced passions lead the pursuit toward deadly consequences.
The Dog in the Manger
Countess Diana rejects her aristocratic suitors and falls for her secretary Teodoro, who is already her maid's lover. Unwilling either to let them marry or to marry him herself, Diana embodies the proverb of a dog that neither eats from the manger nor lets others eat.
The Doldrum
The Doldrum is a 1796 comedy play by the Irish writer John O'Keeffe. A farce, it premiered as an afterpiece at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 23 April 1796. The original cast included Joseph Shepherd Munden as Sir Marmaduke, John Quick as Septimus, James Middleton as Captain Septimus, William Macready as Flam, Thomas Knight as Gyp, Samuel Simmons as Looby, Elizabeth Mansell as Emeline and Isabella Mattocks as Mrs. Auburne. The play's prologue made reference to Vortigern and Rowena, a forged play supposedly by Shakespeare, that had recently been staged at the rival Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 11 July 1796.
The Domestic Crusaders
The play takes place over the course of one day, in an upper-middle-class suburban family home of a Muslim-American family of Pakistani origins. Six members of a Pakistani-American Muslim family, spanning three generations, reunite at the family home to celebrate the youngest son's 21st birthday. Each individual family member, or "domestic crusader", attempts to assert his or her individual definition of self and destiny in the face of collective family and societal constraints, fears and misunderstandings.
The Doom of Devorgoil
A ruined Scottish baron's family faces a prophecy that a murdered ancestor's ghost will return on the fiftieth anniversary of his death. A rising lake threatens to overwhelm the castle unless a treasure chamber is opened; the ghost reveals the key, allowing the family to escape the doom and recover its fortune.
The Double Dealer
Maskwell, who pretends to be Mellefont’s friend, conspires with Lady Touchwood to break Mellefont’s engagement to Cynthia and marry her himself. Their scheme turns the family against Mellefont, but Lady Touchwood exposes Maskwell’s treachery and Lord Touchwood stops his final attempt to carry off Cynthia.
The Double Deceit
The Double Deceit is a 1735 comedy play by the British writer William Popple. The original Covent Garden cast included John Hippisley as Sir William Courtlove, Thomas Walker as Young Courtlove, Adam Hallam as Gayliffe, Thomas Chapman as Jerry, Lacy Ryan as Bellair, Elizabeth Buchanan as Violetta, Elizabeth Vincent as Fanny and Christiana Horton as Harriet.
The Double Deception
The Double Deception is a 1779 comedy play by the British writer Elizabeth Richardson. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 28 April 1779, and was her only play. The original cast included James William Dodd as Flippant, William Parsons as Welford, James Aickin as Fairgrove, Robert Baddeley as Rudely, Francis Godolphin Waldron as Robin, John Palmer as Sir Henry Varnish, Elizabeth Farren as Louisa Freemore, Elizabeth Hopkins as Lady Varnish, Priscilla Brereton as Sophia Welford, Jane Pope as Kitty.
The Double Distress
The play takes place amidst conflict between the Persians and the Medes. Leamira is the daughter of the Persian king, Darius. Her father commands her to marry Tygranes (Prince of the Medes), but she loves the Persian general Cleomedon. At the end of the play, it is revealed that Cleomedon is actually the son of Astyages, King of the Medes. Leamira and Cleomedon are therefore free to marry.
The Double Event
A racing melodrama centered on Richard Marston and the Melbourne Cup. Its action builds to a staged recreation of the famous race, using a large field of horses as the climactic spectacle.
The Double Gallant
The Double Gallant, or the Sick Lady's Cure is a 1707 comedy play by the British writer Colley Cibber. It was originally performed on 1 November 1707 at the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket with a cast that included Benjamin Johnson as Sir Solomon, Barton Booth as Clerimont, Robert Wilks as Careless, Colley Cibber as Atall, William Bowen as Captain Strut, Henry Norris as Sir Squabble Splithair, George Pack as Saunter, William Bullock as Old Wilful, Richard Cross as Sir Harry Atall, Anne Oldfield as Lady Dainty, Letitia Cross as Lady Sadlife, Jane Rogers as Clarinda, Lucretia Bradshaw as Sylvia and Margaret Saunders as Wishwell.
The Double Marriage
In Naples, Virolet joins a revolt against tyrant Ferrant but is captured and compelled to marry pirate chief Sesse’s daughter Martia to gain release. Returning to his wife Juliana, he rejects Martia while remaining faithful to Juliana; the resulting vendettas end in revolt, mistaken identity, and the deaths of Virolet, Juliana, and Martia.
The Double Mistake
The Double Mistake is a 1766 comedy play by the British writer Elizabeth Griffith. It was her most successful play along with The School for Rakes. The original Covent Garden cast included David Ross as Lord Belmont, William Smith as Sir Charles Somerville, Thomas Hull as Elder Freeman, Isabella Mattocks as Emily and Maria Macklin as Lady Mary, Mary Bulkley as Lady Louisa and John Cushing as Servant.
The Doubtful Heir
In Murcia, Olivia is engaged to Leonario when Ferdinand claims the throne as her rightful cousin. Ferdinand’s page is actually his fiancée Rosania in disguise; Olivia falls for the claimant and marries him, but the relationship unravels when he tries to escape with Rosania. A last-minute revelation establishes Ferdinand’s royal birth, and he and Rosania triumph after Leonario’s army is exposed as an ally.
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