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Clear filtersThe 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 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.
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.
A dramatization of Sarah Siddons's life, focusing on the premiere of De Monfort and her portrayal of Lady Macbeth.
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: 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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 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 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 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.
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, 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.
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 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.
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.
The Doughgirls is a three-act play written by Joseph Fields. Producer Max Gordon staged it on Broadway, where it debuted at the Lyceum Theatre on December 30, 1942. The play is a comedy about three unmarried women sharing a room in an overcrowded hotel in Washington, D.C. during World War II. The Broadway production was a hit that ran for 671 performances and closed on July 29, 1944. It was adapted as a film of the same name in 1944.
The eccentric Mr Latimer intercepts eloping couples bound for Dover and keeps them in his house for a week so they can test their compatibility. Two couples discover each other's irritating habits and abandon their plans; the men instead leave together for Cannes, as another eloping couple arrives.
A two-part Elizabethan stage romance recasts the Robin Hood legend by identifying Robin as the Earl of Huntingdon. The first part moves toward comic reconciliation, while the second takes a more tragic direction.
Dr. Richmond advocates treating homosexuality, while Judge Kingsbury sees gay men as criminals. Richmond's son-in-law Rolly, secretly in love with his business associate Allen, uses his marriage to Clair as cover. After a drag-ball shooting, David confesses to killing Rolly; the judge suppresses the truth to avoid a public scandal.
A lost historical drama about Garifuna chief Joseph Chatoyer (Satuye) and the 1795 revolt against British rule on St. Vincent.
The Dramatist: Or, Stop Him who Can! is a 1789 comedy play by the British writer Frederick Reynolds. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 15 May 1789. The original cast included John Quick as Lord Scratch, Joseph George Holman as Harry Neville, William Blanchard as Floriville, William Macready as Willoughby, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Ennui, James Thompson as Peter, William Thomas Lewis as Vapid, Ann Brunton as Louisa Courtney, Lydia Webb as Lady Waitfor't and Mary Wells as Marianne.
In Bath, the playwright Vapid treats the romantic intrigues around him as material for a comedy. A misdirected assignation draws him into Lady Waitfor’t’s schemes, while his pursuit of her niece Marianne keeps colliding with his eagerness to observe and record a good theatrical situation.
In 1972, young Toronto actor Miles visits two bachelor farmers, Morgan and Angus, to research a collective theatre piece about farm life. His questions unsettle the story Morgan has used to protect Angus, whose wartime brain injury erased his memory; telling the truth through the new play begins to restore it.
The Wallitch family navigates everyday life in Western Australia over six months. The play sustains an elegiac tone for a tribal past and a people once in physical and spiritual harmony with their world.
A court historian and a British Oriental scholar frame the final days and historical moments of Tipu Sultan’s life. Karnad uses four dreams recorded by Tipu, including visions of victory over the British, to recast the ruler through an alternative, humane perspective.
The Dresser is a 1980 West End and Broadway play by Ronald Harwood, which tells the story of an aging actor's personal assistant, who struggles to keep his charge's life together. Harwood based the play on his experiences as dresser to English Shakespearean actor-manager Sir Donald Wolfit, who is the model for the character "Sir" in the play.
Molly Johnson, heavily pregnant and living in a remote Snowy Mountains homestead while her husband works away as a drover, encounters Yadaka, an Aboriginal man fleeing colonial authorities. Events over several days change both their lives.
An injured drover, Briglow Hill, is left to die on the track because the parched cattle must be driven onward to a distant waterhole.
In and around the fictional Temple Pictures, two mirrored narratives follow couples whose tragic love stories unfold through overlapping scenes. Audiences roam a vast Hollywood studio installation as dance and acting carry the intertwined stories.
At an early-1920s university, Professor White resents a promising student and hides the student's love letter to his fiancée. He humiliates the young couple by forcing the student to read it aloud, driving the woman away; when the Dean exposes his cruelty, White regrets his actions and resigns.
The Druid's Rest is a 1943 comedy play by the British writer Emlyn Williams. Set in his native Wales it was based on memories of village life there. It takes place entirely in The Druid's Rest a bar in a small community who mistakenly believe the man they are sheltering in their village, and need to with the Eisteddfod, is a murderer. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool before transferring to St Martin's Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 180 performances between 26 January 1944 and 17 June 1944. The cast included Richard Burton (later replaced by Stanley Baker), Lyn Evans, Roddy Hughes, Michael Shepley, Gladys Henson and Nuna Davey. The play marked the stage debuts of both Burton and Baker.
Lady Truman is apparently widowed when she receives word that her husband Sir George has been killed in battle during the recent war. As she is now the wealthy owner of an estate she is pursued by two suitors, but concerningly the house is disturbed at night by repeated sounds of ghostly drumming. After the drumming has scared off the two suitors Mr. Tinsel and Mr. Fantome it is revealed to be the work of Sir George, still very much alive.
Lawyer Cribbs schemes to sell the cottage of Mrs. Wilson and her daughter Mary, but Edward Middleton's marriage to Mary thwarts him. Cribbs then exploits Edward's drinking, driving him from his family; with help from his foster brother William and philanthropist Rencelaw, Edward returns, and Cribbs is exposed and arrested.
The Duchess de la Vallière is an 1837 historical play by the British writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It is based on the life of Louise de La Vallière, a French aristocrat and mistress of Louis XIV in the seventeenth century. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 4 January 1837. The original cast included Helena Faucit as Louise de la Vallière, William Macready as the Marquis Alphonso de Bragelone, John Vandenhoff as Louis XIV, William Farren as the Duke of Lauzun, John Langford Pritchard as the Count de Grammont, William Harries Tilbury as Bertrand and Sarah West as Madame la Vallière. It benefited from the more liberal licensing regime of Charles Kemble, who passed it without a protest. It was not a success, running for eight nights, and being attacked in the press for immorality. It appeared at the Park Theatre in New York on 13 May of the same year, where the title role was played by Ellen Kean.
Bandit Lorenzo Gallardo falls in love with Reyes, Duchess of Benameji. Their passion crosses social boundaries and leads toward a deadly confrontation.
The widowed Duchess secretly marries her steward Antonio despite her brothers’ objections. Their spying and violent efforts to control her lead to the deaths of the Duchess, her children and many members of the court, while the brothers’ own intrigue ends in catastrophe.
Guido Ferranti learns that his father was betrayed and executed by the Duke of Padua, and is urged to avenge him. He falls in love with the Duke's wife, Beatrice; after she kills the Duke, Guido takes the blame, and their story ends in prison with both lovers dead.
The play is set in May 2009, one year before the General Election, Gordon Brown's Labour government is unpopular. Robert Houston is a Labour backbencher seeking to defect to the Conservatives to keep his seat, when the expenses scandal hits the papers the day before his interview with Sir Norman Cavendish to complete the switch. Houston is in trouble and so is his staff (his wife Felicity, his son Seb and his Russian housekeeper Ludmilla) What follows is a comedy of errors as Houston and his family try to cover their expenses claims including a massage chair, a glittered toilet seat, hanging baskets and an ornamental duck house.
Two elderly men meet on a park bench and discuss the ducks in a nearby lake. Their speculative conversation about ducks unfolds into reflections on leadership, purpose, friendship, law and death.
The Duellist is a 1773 comedy play by the British writer William Kenrick. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 20 November 1773. The original Covent Garden cast included Henry Woodward as General Gantlet, William 'Gentleman' Smith as Captain Boothby, Edward Shuter as Sir Solomon Bauble, John Quick as Serjant Nonplus, William Thomas Lewis as Counsellor Witmore, Richard Wroughton as Lord Lovemore, John Cushing as Mactotum and Jane Green as Lady Bauble.
Imprisoned during the French Wars of Religion, a duke feigns blindness while plotting escape with his increasingly irrational servant. When a former friend serving the enemy offers a daring plan, the duke must judge his loyalty and the danger posed by his companion.
A Restoration tragedy that recasts the French court's conflict with the Guise faction as an allegory of the English court's struggle with Shaftesbury and Monmouth.
Duke Ludovico Sforza’s obsessive devotion to Marcelia turns to suspicion after his friend Francisco manipulates events to avenge an old grievance. Sforza kills his innocent wife, then Francisco disguises her corpse to appear alive and poisons Sforza with the cosmetics as he kisses her.
In Parma, Duke Farnese seeks to dismiss his faithful wife Euphemia and make Ardelia his mistress, while his heir Leontio plots against him and hopes to claim the Duchess. Misunderstandings, attempted murder and mistaken identity lead to the Duke's reconciliation with Euphemia and the marriage of Ardelia and Bentivolio.
After the King of Cyprus conquers Sicily, knight Philocles wins the decisive duel and falls in love with Mariana. She asks him to remain silent for a year to prove his devotion, and his vow nearly leads to her execution. Mariana later exposes her brother the Duke of Epire’s plot against the King and helps save Philocles and the Queen. A comic subplot follows orator Prate, whose wife’s affair with Lord Alphonso and neglect of his clients are exposed before the King.
Two hit men, Ben and Gus, wait in a basement for an assignment. Strange food orders arrive through a dumb waiter, and their uneasy conversation reveals a hierarchy of power; after Gus leaves and the target approaches, he returns stripped of his jacket, tie, and gun, leaving Ben facing him in silence.
The Dupe is a 1763 comedy play by the Irish writer Frances Sheridan. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 10 December 1763. The original cast included Richard Yates as Sir John Woodall, William Havard as Friendly, John Hayman Packer as Wellford, Thomas King as Sharply and Hannah Pritchard as Mrs Etherdown, Kitty Clive as Mrs Friendly. It was one of only two new mainpieces debuting at Drury Lane that year along with a clutch of afterpieces. Sheridan, the mother of the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, was best known for her novel Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph but had enjoyed success with the play The Discovery earlier in the year.
Freevill leaves the courtesan Franceschina to marry Beatrice and introduces her to his friend Malheureux. Humiliated, Franceschina persuades Malheureux to kill Freevill; Freevill stages his own disappearance to cure his friend’s passion, and Franceschina is punished.
In Madrid, Euphemia is promised to a foppish Dutchman who has yet to arrive, but falls for Alonzo, already engaged to another woman. When the real Dutchman and an impostor appear, mistaken identities and comic confusion give the couples time to marry.
On her wedding day, Leah is possessed by the spirit of Khanan, the poor scholar she loved, after he dies upon learning that her father has arranged another marriage. A rabbinical court investigates their fathers' broken vow, and an exorcism frees Leah, but she ultimately joins Khanan in death.
A young woman is possessed by the spirit of her dead beloved. Broken promises between their families bring religious authorities and supernatural forces into a struggle over love, obligation, and the boundary between life and death.
In a barber shop, a survivor of the Athenian defeat in Sicily brings news of the disaster to a barber who is initially silent. The play is loosely based on Thucydides’ account of the 413 BCE expedition.
Hardy's epic drama in three parts, nineteen acts and more than 130 scenes follows the Napoleonic Wars from 1805 through Waterloo in 1815. It interweaves historical leaders and battles with ordinary lives and a metaphysical chorus that observes events.
Debbie and Jack's daughter disappears. The play leaves its setting largely undefined and moves between surreal hyper-reality and naturalism across time, reflecting the couple's state of mind.
On the eve of the Large Hadron Collider's activation, a scientist and a journalist meet in Geneva; the play connects particle physics with intimate human relationships.
The East Indian is a 1799 comedy play by the British writer Matthew Lewis. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 22 April 1799. It was partly inspired by characters from Frances Burney's Cecilia while the playbill advertised it as being inspired by the 1790 play Die Indianer in England by August von Kotzebue. The original Drury Lane cast included Robert Palmer as Lord Listless, William Barrymore as Modish, John Philip Kemble as Rivers, Charles Kemble as Beauchamp, James Aickin as Walsingham, Ralph Wewitzer as Friponeau, Thomas Hollingsworth as Squeez'em, John Bannister as Frank, Jane Powell as Mrs. Ormond, Dorothea Jordan as Zorayda and Charlotte Tidswell as Mrs. Blaball. Lewis had written the play several years earlier, and it was published in 1800 by John Bell.
Sir Frances finds out that he is in love with Eleanor and decided to marry her after several unfortunate dates Eleanor accept his proposal.
Through songs, montages, and tableaux, the play tells the story of a young Indigenous woman in the city and connects her plight to the violence of white culture.
Two volunteers in a clinical drug trial fall in love and question whether their feelings arise from instinct or the drug’s effect on dopamine, disrupting the study.
The play revolves around a dysfunctional family consisting of single mother Beatrice and her two daughters, Ruth and Tillie, who try to cope with their abysmal status in life. The play is a lyrical drama, reminiscent of Tennessee Williams' style. Shy Matilda Hunsdorfer, nicknamed Tillie, prepares an experiment involving marigolds raised from seeds exposed to radioactivity for her science fair. She is, however, constantly thwarted by her self-centered and abusive mother, Beatrice, and by her extroverted yet unstable sister Ruth, who submits to her mother's will. Over the course of the play, Beatrice constantly tries to stamp out any opportunities Tillie has of succeeding, due to Beatrice's own lack of success in life. As the play progresses, the paths of the three characters diverge: Ruth has a nervous collapse while attempting to stand up to Beatrice, who, driven to the verge of insanity by her deep-seated enmity, impulsively kills the girls' pet rabbit, and wallows in her own perceived insignificance. Tillie meanwhile (much like her project's deformed yet beautiful, hardy marigolds) wins the science fair through sheer perseverance.
Returning to a war-torn city, Sindbad finds his wounded friend Nofal dying. Nofal urges him to seek a fabled golden jug of joy on Sarandib; Sindbad sets out with his sailors and resists calls to turn their search and hardship against one another.
Macedonio Guerra is a professional wrestler at THE Wrestling. Despite being the superior wrestler Mace is delegated to playing the heel to the champion, Chad Deity. Everett K Olson, CEO of THE Wrestling, capitalizes on racial stereotypes to win support from the audience. Tired of being “the guy who loses to make the winners look good, Mace recruits Vigneshwar Paduar (VP) to THE Wrestling. Unable to fit the racially ambiguous VP into his show, Olson initially refuses. But with the help of Chad Deity, Olson brings VP on as The Fundamentalist, with Mace playing his partner, Che Chavez Castro. The pair, billed as anti-American extremists, quickly become fan favorite villains. Act One ends with The Fundamentalist calling out Chad Deity on stage. VP watches the fight from his home in bed. He is happy to see Macedonio Guerra on stage, not Che Chavez Castro. In the final moments of the play, Mace is powerbombed by Chad Deity. Prompting his girlfriend to ask “Why are they rooting for the bad guy?”
French nobleman Lewis and his neighbor Brisac plan to marry Angellina to Brisac’s younger son Eustace and redirect the family inheritance away from the scholarly elder brother Charles. Charles falls in love with Angellina and refuses to give up his birthright; after the families’ plans collapse, a childless uncle offers Eustace his own estate, allowing Charles and Angellina to marry.
Retired Lord Claverton's respected public image is challenged when people from his past return, bringing back memories of a youthful crime and a thwarted love affair. With his daughter Monica's support, he confesses the truth and seeks spiritual reconciliation.
The Eldest Son is a 1912 play by the British writer John Galsworthy. Although first written in 1909, it was until three years later that a version was produced. It ran for 47 performances at the Kingsway Theatre in London's West End between 23 November 1912 and 10 January 1913. The cast included Robert Rendel, Claude King, Moffat Johnston, Irene Rooke and Cathleen Nesbitt.
A surrealist prose farce presented as a play within a play; Brecht later suggested it be performed as a foyer interlude and subtitled it “The provability of any and every contention.”
The Elephant Man opens with Frederick Treves, an up-and-coming surgeon, meeting his new employer Francis Carr-Gomm, the administrator of the London Hospital. Ross, the manager of a freak show, invites a crowd on Whitechapel Road to come view John Merrick, the Elephant Man. Treves happens upon the freak show and is intrigued by Merrick's disorder. He insists that he must study Merrick further; Ross agrees, for a fee. Ross then gives a lecture on Merrick's anatomy, making Merrick stand on display while Treves describes his condition to the audience. The freak show travels to Brussels after being driven out of London by the police. Merrick tries to converse with three freak show "pinheads", or people suffering from microcephaly and mental retardation. The "pinheads" go onstage to sing "We Are the Queens of the Congo", but the police will not allow Merrick to perform, because they consider his condition "indecent". Ross decides that Merrick is more trouble than he is worth, steals his savings, and sends him back to London. When Merrick arrives in London, his appearance incites a crowd to riot. The train's conductor and a policeman are able to fetch Treves to calm the situation. Treves takes Merrick to the London Hospital and interviews a woman, Nurse Sandwich, for the position of Merrick's caretaker. Sandwich assures Treves that she has cared for lepers in Africa and is quite prepared for anything. However, when she sees Merrick taking a bath, she bolts from the room and refuses to take the job. Bishop How visits Merrick and declares him a "true Christian in the rough". He tells Treves he would like to educate Merrick in religion. Carr-Gomm argues with Bishop How about the importance of science versus the importance of religion. Carr-Gomm announces that, due to a letter he had printed in The Times, the people of London have donated enough money to allow Merrick to live at the hospital for life. Treves tells Gomm that he is glad Merrick now has a place where he can stay without being stared at, and is determined that Merrick should lead a normal life. When two attendants, Will and Snork, are caught peeking into Merrick's room, Will is fired and Snork is given a severe warning. Treves believes that it is important to enforce these rules, but Merrick worries what will happen to Will and his family. Merrick grew up in the workhouses, and wishes that no one had to suffer that fate. Treves says that it is just the way things are. John Merrick has a visitor by the name of Madge Kendal, an actress who came across Carr-Gomm's section in the newspaper. When Mrs. Kendal meets Merrick, she requires all of her self-control in order to disguise her horror at Merrick’s appearance. After several minutes of strained conversation, Merrick mentions he is reading Romeo and Juliet, and Mrs. Kendal shares her experience in the role of Juliet. Merrick amazes Mrs. Kendal with his thoughtful and sensitive views on Romeo and the nature of love. Mrs. Kendal says that she will bring some of her friends to meet Merrick, then shakes his hand and tells him how truly pleased she is to meet him. Merrick dissolves into tears as Treves tells Mrs. Kendal that it is the first time a woman has ever shaken his hand. Mrs. Kendal's high society friends visit Merrick and bring him gifts while he builds a model of St. Phillip's church with his one good hand. He tells Mrs. Kendal that St. Phillip’s Church is an imitation of grace, and his model is therefore an imitation of an imitation. When Treves comments that all of humanity is a mere illusion of heaven, Merrick says that God should have used both hands. Merrick's new friends—Bishop How, Gomm, the Duchess, Princess Alexandra, Treves, and Mrs. Kendal—all comment upon how, in different ways, they see themselves reflected in him. However, Treves notes that even though Merrick has become popular, his condition is worsening with time. Merrick tells Mrs. Kendal that he needs a mistress and suggests that he would like her to do that for him. Mrs. Kendal listens compassionately, but she tells Merrick that it is unlikely that he will ever have a mistress. Merrick admits that he has never even seen a naked woman. Mrs. Kendal is flattered by his show of trust in her, and she realizes that she has come to trust him. She undresses and allows him to see her naked body. Treves enters and is shocked, sending Mrs. Kendal away. Ross comes to the hospital to ask Merrick to rejoin the freak show. Ross's health has drastically worsened, and he tells Merrick that without help he is doomed to a painful death. He tries to convince Merrick to charge the society members who visit him. Merrick refuses to help Ross, finally standing up to him after suffering years of abuse at his hands. Ross makes one final pathetic plea to Merrick, who refuses him, saying that's just the way things are. Merrick asks Treves what he believes about God and heaven. Then he confronts Treves, criticizing what he did to Mrs. Kendal and the rigid standards by which he judges everybody. Treves realizes that he has been too harsh with Merrick and tells him that although he will write to Mrs. Kendal, he does not believe she will return. After Merrick leaves the room, Treves says that it is because he does not want her to see Merrick die. Treves has a nightmare that he has been put on display while Merrick delivers a lecture about his terrifying normality, his rigidity, and the acts of cruelty he can commit upon others "for their own good". Carr-Gomm and Treves discuss Merrick's impending death. Treves displays frustration at the fact that the more normal Merrick pretends to be, the worse his condition becomes. He confronts Bishop How, telling him that he believes Merrick’s faith is merely another attempt to emulate others. It comes out that the real source of his frustrations is the chaos of the world around him, with his patients seemingly doing everything they can to shorten their own lives. No matter how hard he tries he cannot help them, just as he cannot help Merrick. He finally begs for the bishop to help him. Merrick finishes his model of the church. As usual, he goes to sleep while sitting, a posture which he must adopt due to the weight of his head. As he sleeps he sees visions of the pinheads, now singing that they are the Queens of the Cosmos. They lay him down to sleep normally, and he dies. Snork discovers his body and runs out screaming that the Elephant Man is dead. In the final scene, Carr-Gomm reads a letter he has written to The Times, outlining Merrick’s stay at the hospital, his death and his plans for the remaining funds donated for Merrick's care. When he asks Treves if he has anything else to add, a distressed Treves says he does not and leaves. As Carr-Gomm finishes the letter Treves rushes back in, saying that he’s thought of something. Carr-Gomm tells the doctor that it is too late: it is done.
An independent psychiatrist investigates a patient's possible role in his supervising doctor's disappearance. The patient draws him into a psychological game about a traumatic childhood, a distant father, his mother's death and his hospitalization.
The Eleventh Commandment is a 1921 play by Brandon Fleming. It premiered at the Playhouse Theatre, Cardiff before transferring to the Royalty Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 32 performances between 16 January and 11 February 1922. The original West End cast included Henry Stoker, Edmund Breon, Dawson Millward and Viola Tree.
A single performer plays Robert O’Brien, an outwardly respectable elocution tutor who begins by describing his students while dressing onstage. His account reveals his transvestitism and obsession with a beautiful young student, Benjamin Franklin, before disclosing that he is confined in a mental institution.
Lovely’s search for love and self-understanding moves through personal memories and representations of Black women’s sexuality. Her story intersects with Sarah Baartman’s as she questions inherited images and seeks a different relationship with herself.
Accountant Filipp Stepanovich and cashier Vanechka accidentally embezzle a small sum and become entangled in further crimes and adventures. As they spend the money and travel from place to place, their comic and dramatic predicaments finally force them to return home and report themselves to the criminal investigation office.
A historical play depicting the Council of Nicaea, where the Nicene Creed was formed.
Brutus Jones, a former Pullman porter who has made himself emperor of a West Indian island, flees a brewing rebellion through the jungle. As he encounters visions of episodes from his past, fear and guilt overtake him, and the rebels kill him with the silver bullet he believed was the only weapon that could harm him.
A single continuous scene unfolds at night in the living room of the Boyce family mansion while patriarch Beauchamp lies dying upstairs. His three sons and their wives gather below.
Massinger dramatizes Emperor Theodosius II, his sister and regent Pulcheria, and his wife Eudocia amid rumors that she has been unfaithful with courtier Paulinus. In the tragicomedy's resolution, Theodosius disguises himself as clergy and hears Eudocia's confession, which persuades him she is innocent.
Dr. Baliardo believes that the moon is inhabited, and that he will be able to spy on its king through his telescope. His obsession leads him to neglect his daughter Elaria and his niece Bellemante. Don Cinthio and Don Charmante form a plan to marry Elaria and Bellemante, as well as to cure Baliardo's obsession. They masquerade as the Emperor of the Moon and his brother, the Prince of Thunderland. The gullible Baliardo receives these otherworldly suitors, and so the stage is set for the grand finale: a masque-like pageant that the schemers perform in an abandoned building. There, Baliardo is greeted by (allegedly) the Emperor of the Moon's court and the entire zodiac.
In Helmand Province, British corporal Gary Harris and Afghan soldier Hafizullah guard Zia, an injured prisoner suspected of a rocket attack. Zia claims he is a British citizen from Newham who was kidnapped while visiting family abroad. As Gary and Captain Simon Mannock await medical care and an Afghan army handover, the men must decide what to do while Zia's story and responsibility remain unresolved.
In 1887, Indian ayah Rani Das travels to London with her employers and falls in love with sailor Hari, but is abandoned at the docks. As she seeks a life in Britain, she encounters exploitation and finds allies, eventually working for Indian nationalist Dadabhai Naoroji. Meanwhile, Queen Victoria’s relationship with Abdul Karim illuminates the unequal ties between Britain and India.
The play follows the villainous Laula's efforts to place her lover, Grimalhaz, on the Moroccan throne.
The Enchanted is a 1950 English adaptation by Maurice Valency of the play Intermezzo written in 1933 by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux.
Maimed veteran Oliver and plain village girl Laura marry after finding companionship in an old cottage. They believe a change has made them physically beautiful, but when their visitors see no transformation, they learn that love has changed how they see one another. A dream sequence imagines the wedding Oliver and Laura might have shared before the war.
A Munich marionette play that marks the first appearance of the puppet character Kasper, later central to German-speaking Kaspertheater traditions.
The End of Longing is a dark comedy play written by Matthew Perry. The play, which marked Perry's playwriting debut, made its West End and world premiere at the Playhouse Theatre in February 2016. The play made its United States debut Off-Broadway in May 2017 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.
In rural Ireland, Darry and his wife Lizzie argue over whose work is harder and exchange household and farm duties for a day. Darry’s inept attempts at housework turn the kitchen into a wreck while Lizzie completes his outdoor task.
In a fictional 1930s seaside town, a twelve-year-old boy watches unemployed neighbors attempt a riot, changing how he sees them and the local policeman. He then befriends Firpo, a mentally challenged young man who dreams of running in the Olympics; when Firpo’s beach race ends disastrously and he is institutionalized, the boy confronts the world’s injustices and the end of childhood innocence.
Frank and Walker are each convinced the other is following him. Their attempts to run away from one another repeatedly bring them to the same places.
The English Frier; Or, The Town Sparks, sometimes spelt as The English Friar, is a 1690 comedy play by the English writer John Crowne. It was originally staged by the United Company most likely at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, although it may have appeared at the Dorset Garden Theatre, the other venue of the company. Written in context of the recent Glorious Revolution, it attacks Catholic priests who meddle in English politics, undermining the constitution. The original cast included Anthony Leigh as Lord Stately, Edward Kynaston as Lord Wiseman, George Powell as Bellamour, John Bowman as Father Finical, Joseph Williams as Young Ranter, Cave Underhill as Old Ranter, George Bright as Dullman, William Bowen as Coachman, Samuel Sandford as Sir Thomas Credulous, Anne Bracegirdle as Julia, Charlotte Butler as Airy, Elinor Leigh as Lady Pinchgut and Elizabeth Boutell as Lady Credulous.
In London, two families’ children pursue love and revenge while usurer Quicksands hides his new bride Millicent in Moorish disguise. Intrigues, mistaken identities, and a failed revenge plot ultimately reunite the young couples and expose the play’s mock marriage.
The English Princess; Or, The Death Of Richard The Third is a 1667 tragedy by the English writer John Caryll. It is set around the downfall of Richard III. It was performed at Lincoln's Inn Fields by the Duke's Company. Although the full cast is unknown it included Thomas Betterton as Richard III, Henry Harris as Duke of Richmond and William Smith as Sir William Stanley. In his diary Samuel Pepys described it as a "a most sad, melancholy play, and pretty good; but nothing eminent in it, as some tragedys are" At the end of the show actress Moll Davis came on stage to dance a jig and announcer the next day's performance.
This five-act tragicomedy links two household plots: the returning Young Geraldine and Wincott's wife pledge a future together, while servant Reignald schemes to conceal Young Lionell's drunken excesses from his returning merchant father.
Archie Rice, a failing music-hall performer, lives amid his family's tensions as his father Billy recalls an earlier era, his daughter Jean returns, and wartime news of Archie's son Mick turns their hopes to grief. Archie clings to performance while Britain's fading imperial confidence echoes through the family's decline.
A royal welcome at Althorp blends classical and English folklore: a satyr converses with Queen Mab, fairies and elves appear, and the Fairy Queen presents Anne of Denmark with a jewel. A comic figure called Nobody introduces a morris dance.
Commissioned for the opening of the New Exchange, Ben Jonson's masque welcomes King James and Queen Anne to a new world of commercial wonders. A Key Keeper introduces the venue, a Shop Boy catalogs its goods, and a shop's Master celebrates the commodities he has acquired and his desire for wealth.
At Theobalds House, the personified Hours of Law, Justice and Peace welcome James I and Christian IV. The porch display included speeches in English and Latin and epigrams addressed to both kings; the Hours wore crowns bearing a sun-dial, clock and hour-glass.
At a 1960s holiday camp, respectable campers turn against the rigid, moralizing manager Erpingham. The farce is loosely based on Euripides' The Bacchae.
Enslaved spouses Melinda and Glen flee after Dr. Gaines threatens Glen and his wife attempts to force Melinda to drink poison; after escaping torture and pursuit, the couple follow the North Star toward Canada, where a northern ally helps them reach a ferry to freedom.
Shortly after the Romans destroy Jerusalem and the Second Temple, a stranger arrives in a nearby town searching for a child born at the moment of the Temple’s fall, whom he believes is the Messiah. The townspeople reject him until a woman fleeing Jerusalem says her newborn was born at that same hour; then the child vanishes in a whirlwind.
Pursued by the Furies for killing his mother, Orestes appeals to Athena in Athens. She establishes a trial before citizens of the Areopagus; when the votes tie, Athena acquits Orestes. She persuades the Furies to accept a new role as protective forces in the city, ending the cycle of private vengeance in favor of judgment through law.
Set in ancient Antioch, the play has Simon Peter ask John, Mark, Matthew and Luke to write accounts of Jesus's life. It reimagines New Testament figures and events: Peter is violent and accused of killing Jesus, Mary Magdalene is portrayed in a sexualized scene, and Peter kills the apostles at the Last Supper.
A theological comedy on the theme of marriage.
Conscript Quizz West leaves his hometown girlfriend and family for the Philippines. As American troops face overwhelming odds there, dreams let him ask his mother and Janet whether he and his friends should sacrifice themselves to cover the retreat or escape by boat.
Indebted Sir Walter Peregrine becomes a captain, leaving his wife vulnerable to Lord Fitzavarice's attempted seduction. Her steadfastness reforms Fitzavarice, but a mistaken assumption leads the two men to a duel before they become friends. A comic subplot follows Jacinta's rival suitors and her paranoid uncle.
A rich merchant and a working-class porter cross the fictional Yahi Desert on an oil-deal journey. The merchant grows fearful and brutal, then mistakenly shoots the porter, who was offering him water; a court acquits the merchant, exposing the unequal logic of class power.
Two actors, a man and a woman who had an affair that ended two years earlier, use improvisational acting exercises to hurt one another. One exercise turns on the woman’s revelation that she had an abortion.
The work combines first-person narrative with legal records to tell the stories of six former death row inmates: Delbert Tibbs, Kerry Max Cook, Gary Gauger, David Keaton, Robert Earl Hayes and Sunny Jacobs, and their paths to freedom. Tibbs, Cook, Gauger, Keaton, and Hayes were legally exonerated, while Jacobs took an Alford plea to a lesser charge and was freed on time served. In 2004, Hayes pleaded guilty to murdering a woman in New York in 1987. In 2022, DNA testing also proved his guilt of the murder in the woman in Florida, albeit he cannot be retried in that case as a result of double jeopardy. The production is performed as an anthology by 10 actors seated behind music stands. Their accounts of the freed convicts emphasize their lives after being sentenced to death, including much of the legal proceedings that gained their exoneration.
The Exorcist is a play by John Pielmeier based on the novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and is part of The Exorcist franchise. The story revolves around a young girl, Regan MacNeil, who is possessed by a demonic spirit. Her mother, Chris, seeks out the church to perform an exorcism.
The show takes place in London in 1879 and depicts Phyllida Spotte-Hume's attempt to become the first female member of the titular club of elite explorers. As evidence of her exploring prowess, she presents a blue-skinned native man (who she has given the name Luigi), brought back from a lost city she has discovered. The club's president, botanist Lucius Fretway, who harbors a secret love for Phyllida, advocates for her admission, but other members stand in opposition, including the misogynistic "archeo-theologist" Professor Sloane. At one point, the action is interrupted by the entrance of member Harry Percy, who announces he has returned from a successful expedition to the "East Pole".
On a Washington talk show, host Dick Hedgerow interviews counterterrorism expert Norm Krieger about the danger of extremism. Their shifting definitions and contradictions expose how both men advocate manipulation and unquestioning belief while warning against extremist thought.
The Fabulous Invalid is a 1938 stage play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart following the oscillating fortunes of a fictitious Broadway theater, the Alexandria, in the period between 1900 and 1930. The play's title has since entered the vernacular as a synonym for the theater.
Jeffrey Hatcher reworked the earlier play to cover a century in the history of Boston’s Cutler Majestic Theatre, with two performers appearing as ghosts of the theatre.
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