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Clear filtersIn Sardinia, Emilius and Louisa have secretly married, provoking Emilius's foster-sister Appamia, who loves him. She tries to destroy their trust and ultimately tricks Emilius into poisoning Louisa; when her plot is exposed, he kills himself and Louisa dies.
In Egypt in 48 BCE, Caesar encounters Cleopatra while her brother Ptolemy holds her from power. The play centers on Roman officer Septimius, who betrays and murders Pompey; Caesar ultimately deposes Ptolemy and gives Cleopatra the Egyptian crown.
The Family Legend is an 1810 historical tragedy by the Scottish writer Joanna Baillie. The idea of dramatising what was an old Highland tale was suggested to Baillie by her friend the sculptor Anne Seymour Damer, granddaughter of John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll. The play premiered at the Theatre Royal in Edinburgh on 29 January 1810 and ran for thirteen consecutive nights. The Edinburgh cast included Henry Siddons, his wife Harriet Siddons and Daniel Terry. Its Edinburgh staging was due largely to the lobbying of Walter Scott on its behalf. On 29 May 1815 it debuted in London's West End at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane with a cast that featured George Bartley as the Earl of Argyle, Alexander Rae as John of Lorne, James William Wallack as Maclean, Samuel Penley as Sir Hubert de Grey, John Powell as Loctorish Mrs Bartley as Helen and Susan Boyce as Rosa. It revolves around the historic rivalry of the Campbells and the Macleans.
The Family Party is a 1789 comedy play by the British writer George Colman the Younger. A two-act farce, it premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 11 July 1789. The original Haymarket cast included Robert Baddeley as Old Spriggins, William Davies as Captain Rampart, Robert Palmer as Pinch, John Bannister as Sir Toby Twaddle, Elizabeth Heard as Laura and Lydia Webb as Mrs Malmsley.
At a birthday gathering at Wishwood, Harry returns after eight years haunted by the belief that he caused his wife's death at sea. His aunt reveals the family's buried history and encourages him to leave, while the household's Greek-chorus-like relatives and Harry's pursuit by the Furies frame his movement from guilt toward a spiritual vocation.
The Hellers are a middle-class family that love one another, but often become quarrelsome due to being constrained to share a small apartment. Their eldest daughter, Louise, has taken a job just to get away from her family a few hours each day. When the play opens, the Hellers take their meals in the parlor as their dining room is being redone by painters. The parents, Emma and Joe, worry over the two older children: Emma is sure Louise will never have a boyfriend or get married, while Joe frets over Willie's lack of ambition for either school or work. Each champions the child whom the other worries about. Meanwhile, little Annabelle makes desultory classic noises on the upright piano when driven to it, but sings Red Hot Mama when freed. At dinner, Louise startles everyone by announcing that Charles Grant is coming to call. She met him at a party a few weeks earlier and they plan to go boating on Sunday. Charles proves a personable lad, and Emma tries to make Louise seem a "catch" by inflating the family's economic status. When the couple are left alone, Charles proposes to Louise, who accepts, but wants the engagement to remain a secret from her family for now. When Charles comes to collect Louise on Sunday morning, he is made aware of the inflated expectations for modern brides through the chatter of Miss Callahan. Emma again paints a rosy picture of Louise's many (fictional) suitors and the family circumstances. When Louise appears, Charles tells her he feels his salary is inadequate to support her. Louise flies into a rage at her family, denigrating them in front of Charles. She breaks off the engagement—the first her family has heard of it—and exits, as does Charles. A few hours later, Louise informs her parents she is leaving. Before she does, Willie notices Charles sitting on the front stoop. Joe sends Willie down with a tale to get Charles back up to the apartment. Joe also phones Mrs. Grant, who arrives with Herbert in tow. Herbert is told to go play with Annabelle, but demurs until Willie marches him out of the parlor. The three adults then open up about their aspirations for the young couple, who are reconciled, with Emma and Louise apologising to each other.
Gerardine disguises himself as a wealthy widow’s fiancé to recover his mortgaged estate and marry Maria, while Glister’s and Purge’s households are entangled in affairs, failed seductions and a satirical portrayal of the supposedly lascivious Family of Love. Gerardine stages a mock trial that forces Glister to consent to the marriage.
The play ranges across Edward I's return from crusade, his struggle with Llywelyn in Wales, and John Balliol's revolt in Scotland. It combines political conflict and dynastic episodes with Robin Hood-style ballad characters and comic scenes.
Act I (The living room of the Fair home on Long Island. A morning in May 1919.) Sylvia and Alan discuss their mother's home coming after four years away. Alan telephones Peggy, and Sylvia guesses they are engaged. Nora brings in E. Dudley Gillette, who has a contract for public lectures for their mother. Alan takes a dislike to him, but Sylvia is startled by his obvious interest in her. Alan sends Gillette away, keeping the contract which he means to destroy. Neighbor Angy Brice brings some violets for their mother's welcome. Sylvia is delighted; Angy has been her friend since her mother went away. Alan, however, is cold to her, knowing her interest in their wealthy father. She is still there when Jeffrey brings in Nancy, having met her at the dock. Nancy is delighted at how Sylvia has grown, but puzzled by Angy's presence. She is amused by Jeffrey's discomfiture, but is distracted by the arrival of her old ambulance unit, five women who served with her in France. Alan warns Jeffrey and Sylvia that Nancy will soon experience boredom with peace time life, as he did when demobilized. (Curtain) Act II (Same as Act I. An afternoon in June.) Nancy's old coterie is once again visiting. Though they have abandoned uniforms, their reminisces and attention feed Nancy's thirst for a cause to fight. Sylvia has at last begun to sense Angy's attentions to her father, and their friendship cools, while Alan openly spars with the widow, who maintains her composure. Alan finally tells his father about Peggy, who has come to tea. Jeffrey has a conversation with Peggy, and approves of her, despite her being a middle-class suffragist. But Jeffrey is aghast that Alan has not yet spoken of her to Nancy. Before Alan can do so, Gillette hustles Nancy and her crew off to be photographed. He is still pressing her to sign a contract for a speaking tour. Angy lures Jeffrey outside where she subtly feeds his resentment about Nancy's distance from her family. Gillette flirts with Sylvia, who is unused to male attention, though she is perceptive enough to realize he is pumping her for information about Nancy's intentions. When Nancy returns, she is terribly hurt to learn of her son's engagement. Peggy leaves to avoid a scene. Jeffrey tries to forbid Nancy from going on tour, but she defies him by signing Gillette's contract. (Curtain) Act III (The New York apartment of Jeffrey Fair. An evening in October, just after 9pm.) From exposition between Alan and Jeffrey we learn that Nancy has just returned from a three month speaking tour, but is planning to attend a banquet that night. Sylvia accompanied Nancy for a month, but then came back to New York. Jeffrey took the apartment in New York so she could have some company. Alan and Peggy are married and living in an apartment, so Sylvia is unsupervised by family, for Angy Brice has come to town and is monopolizing Jeffrey. Nancy now comes in to ask if Sylvia has returned; she also tells Alan to bring Peggy sometime, as she wants to make her peace with her. Alan is delighted, and rushes off to Peggy's office. Sylvia arrives home, and her mother is appalled at her daughter's appearance. She wears mascara, lipstick and rouge, and sports the clothes and hat of a chorus girl. Indeed, she has been consorting with chorus girls introduced to her by Gillette, who is taking her to dinner. Nancy is surprised to learn of Gillette's liberality in squiring Sylvia about town. She cuddles Sylvia on her lap, wipes away the makeup and then sends her to her room. When Gillette arrives for Sylvia, Nancy confronts him with demands for the lecture tour money he owes her and to stop seeing Sylvia. Gillette agrees, but instead of saying goodbye to Sylvia, convinces her to run away with him by telling her of Jeffrey's affair with Angy. Nancy and Jeffrey blame each other for Sylvia's neglect. When Jeffrey admits to having paid off Angy to end their affair, Nancy asks for a divorce. But Alan and Peggy rush in, having seen Sylvia and Gillette leave together in a taxi. Nancy is aghast, but Alan phones Tom Gibbs to set the police on Gillette. (Curtain) Act IV (Same as Act III. Two hours later.) Peggy tries to comfort Nancy, while Jeffrey and Alan are out with the police. When Jeffrey returns, he tells Nancy that Gillette wants to marry Sylvia to stop Nancy prosecuting him for fraud. Alan returns with Sylvia; the police had caught up with her and Gillette at the train station. Sylvia is angry and hurt with her family for ignoring her. She asks, "Why drag me back here when no one wants me?" Her emotional breakdown is followed by Peggy's recounting of Gillette's prior links with charity fraud. Nancy and Jeffrey reconcile with each other and Sylvia. When Peggy asks where Gillette is, Alan replies, "In an ambulance" while showing his fists. (Curtain)
At Tintagel, Queen Iseult and King Mark return from separate sea voyages. Tristram, disguised as a harper, meets her; Mark kills him, Iseult kills Mark with the same dagger and then dies by suicide, while Iseult the Whitehanded leaves. Merlin frames the action in prologue and epilogue.
The play follows Prince Henry from youthful robbery and tavern disorder through his reconciliation with Henry IV and accession to the throne. As Henry V, he prepares to invade France, wins at Agincourt, and woos Princess Katherine.
A fan passes from hand to hand, linking the characters in a lively comedy of misunderstandings and social encounters.
In Siena, bachelor Marquis Octavio’s Bower of Fancies is mistaken for a harem, though the three young women are his wards. A suitor’s schemes and the women’s tests of virtue drive the main plot; a spendthrift husband who sold his wife, a barber’s marriage and a separate pair of lovers add interlocking comic and romantic complications.
The Far Country is a 2022 American play by Lloyd Suh. The play follows an unlikely family's immigration from Taishan, Guangdong to the San Francisco Bay Area in the wake of the Chinese Exclusion Act during the early 20th century. The Far Country was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
After their mother's death, Philippe struggles with a widening divide from his younger brother André while pursuing his doctorate on Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. His fascination with the Soviet-American space race and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence leads him to prepare a video message for a possible audience beyond Earth.
This dance-theatre adaptation follows the comic dispute over a missing skull-bowl: drunken Kapalika mendicants Satyasoma and Devasoma accuse a Buddhist monk before a Pasupata intervenes and a madman returns the bowl, recovered from a dog. The 2003 version was edited to highlight Bharatanatyam.
In a village ruled by landowner Don Augusto, farmer Juan resists increased rents and defends the villagers while pursuing the owner's daughter Isabel. Encarnación, who loves Juan, is also harassed by Don Augusto; when Juan rejects Isabel's offer of money and the villagers refuse to revolt, Don Augusto and rival Alonso conspire against him. Encarnación finally confesses her love, but Alonso kills Juan, leaving her to lament.
The play concerns a farmer who has returned from the coronation of George III in London. Farmer John regales his family with stories of the sights of London, including the famous Cock Lane ghost fraud. The apparent ghost was known to answer questions by "scratching and knocking once for 'yes', twice for 'no'". The farmer then teases his wife by saying that the ghost knocked twice when he asked about her fidelity.
After his wife dies, a farmer goes through an elaborate attempt to persuade one of his various female neighbours to marry him without realising that the ideal woman is already working as his housekeeper.
Aaron Sorkin's drama about Philo Farnsworth's development of electronic television and his conflict with RCA president David Sarnoff, whose competing claim becomes a dispute over who invented the technology.
The Faro Table is a comedy play by the British writer John Tobin. Written in the late 1790s, it was initially agreed to be staged by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, who then pulled out of the arrangement. Possibly this was because the character Lady Nightshade was too obviously based on Lady Sarah Archer, one of the Faro Ladies. It drew inspiration from Sheridan's The School for Scandal, particularly the character of Sir Oliver, who is here renamed Barton Around the time Tobin died of tuberculosis, he enjoyed great success with The Honey Moon, leading to greater demand for his unstaged works. It was published posthumously by John Murray and finally premiered in the West End at Drury Lane on 5 November 1816. A prologue was written by Thomas Love Peacock, while the cast included William Dowton as Barton, James William Wallack as Sedgemore, John Pritt Harley as Hint, William Oxberry as Sapling, Sarah Harlowe as Lady Nightshade and Maria Rebecca Davison as Lady Wellgrove.
Two foundlings separately ask the Lord Chancellor to arrange their lives: Horace seeks a job and a motherly wife, while Anastasia demands a weak-willed husband; they recognize each other as kindred and embrace.
A sentimental comedy, it follows the adventures of Augusta Aubrey after she leaves her ward's house and is nearly seduced by the villainous Lord Abberville.
In a dilapidated East End flat, thirty-year-old Cougar Glass obsessively pretends to be nineteen and hosts birthday parties to lure young people he has befriended. When fifteen-year-old Foxtrot arrives with his pregnant seventeen-year-old girlfriend Sherbet, she sees through Cougar and takes control of the gathering.
A 12-part play of portraits presenting stories about love, family, sexuality, religion, bullying and other experiences of teenage life. Its largely wordless, symbolic form uses music and animated illustrations to evoke teenage insecurities, rebellion, acceptance and the path to adulthood.
Vera Cartwright, a sophisticated Manhattan society woman, must choose between her boorish husband, a theatrical producer, and a young playwright who admires her.
In ancient Greece, a man, Ammon, is upset that his adopted sister, Hesione, whom he is in love with, is going to marry a soldier, Omphales. Ammon decides to blackmail a priest, Zimon, who is officiating the wedding of Omphales and Hesione, into delivering a bad omen that will prevent the two from marrying one another. Tryphon, Hesione's father, believes Zimon's falsehood, and refuses to let his daughter wed Omphales. Omphales leaves the city and conjures up an army of soldiers to overtake Tryphon, but is, along with his allies, defeated and killed. As a result, Hesione, who has been in a state of madness since Omphales's departure, dies. A guilty Ammon bemoans his actions.
Queen Fredigond secretly exterminates the family of Chrotilda, whose brother Lamot was wrongly blamed for the rape of her daughter. Disguised as the eunuch Castrato, Chrotilda manipulates the royal family into further murders and tortures, but the plot is exposed and the play ends with the royal heirs and Chrotilda facing death.
The Fatal Discovery is a 1769 tragedy by the British writer John Home. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. The original cast included Spranger Barry as Ronan, Samuel Reddish as Orellan, Francis Aickin as Connan, John Palmer as Durstan, Thomas Jefferson as Kathul, James Aickin as Euran and Ann Street Barry as Rivine.
After Charalois’s father dies in debtor’s prison, Charalois takes his place to secure a proper burial. He marries Beaumelle, whose affair with Novall Junior ends in violence, a mock trial, and a series of deaths.
The Fatal Falsehood is a 1779 verse drama tragedy by the British writer Hannah More. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 7 May 1779. The original cast included Matthew Clarke as Earl Guilford, William Thomas Lewis as Rivers, his son, Richard Wroughton as Orlando, a young Italian Count, Francis Aickin as Bertrand, Elizabeth Younge as Emmelina and Elizabeth Hartley as Julia. The prologue was written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Like all of More's plays, the dramatis personae is very small, with only six named roles. As with all of her "serious" tragedies, only the prologues and epilogues are in rhyming couplets, while the entire action is written in blank verse. Once more, More undermines her own work in the prologue, spoken by Mr. Hull:Nor does she emulate the loftier strains Which high heroic Tragedy maintains: Nor conquests she, nor wars, nor triumphs sings, Nor with rash hand o'erturns the thrones of kings [...] The scenes of private life our author shows, A simple story of domestic woes [...]
The Fatal Jealousy (also written as The Fatal Jealousie) is a 1672 tragedy by the English writer Henry Nevil Payne. It was staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre with a cast that included William Smith as Don Antonio, Matthew Medbourne as Don Gerardo, John Crosby as Don Sebastian, Samuel Sandford as Jasper, John Young as Don Francisco, Henry Norris as Servant, James Nokes as Nurse, Anne Shadwell as Caelia, Mary Betterton as Eugenia, Margaret Osborne as Flora.
The Fatal Legacy is a 1723 tragedy by the British writer Jane Robe. It was inspired by Jean Racine's 1664 play La Thébaïde. It concerns the children of Oedipus in Ancient Thebes. The original Lincoln's Inn Fields cast included Anthony Boheme as Eteocles, Lacy Ryan as Polynices, James Quin as Creon, Thomas Walker as Phocias, Thomas Smith as Alcander, John Egleton as Attalus, Anna Maria Seymour as Jocasta and Jane Rogers as Antigona. The prologue was written by Charles Beckingham.
The Fatal Marriage; Or, The Innocent Adultery is a 1694 tragicomedy by the Anglo-Irish writer Thomas Southerne. It was part of the tradition of She-tragedy which flourished at the time. Incidental music for the work was composed by Henry Purcell. It was originally performed by the United Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane featuring a cast that included Edward Kynaston as Count Baldwin, Joseph Williams as Biron, George Powell as Carlos, Thomas Betterton as Villeroy, John Verbruggen as Frederick, Thomas Doggett as Fernando, William Bowen as Jaqueline, Cave Underhill as Sampson, Joseph Harris as Bellford, John Freeman as Pedro, Elizabeth Barry as Isabella, Frances Maria Knight as Julia, Anne Bracegirdle as Villeria and Elinor Leigh as Nurse. A popular hit it was revived numerous times with many leading actresses playing the part of Isabella. In 1758 David Garrick adapted it for his play Isabella which became a signature role for Sarah Siddons.
The Fatal Retirement is a 1739 tragedy by the writer Anthony Brown. In his published version of the work, Brown complained about the last minute withdrawal of star actor James Quin from the play and the generally poor performance of the rest of the cast which he blamed for its public failure. The original Drury Lane cast included William Mills as Artamon, William Milward as Lanertes, Edward Berry as Ceron, Anna Marcella Giffard as Semandra, Elizabeth Butler as Sabia and Elizabeth Mills as Leonora.
A young widowed duchess secretly marries her household steward on the morning the action opens, despite her two powerful Spanish brothers' insistence that she remain unmarried. Theobald reshapes Webster's tragedy around this secret marriage and gives the adapted drama a different, ultimately conciliatory resolution.
The Fatal Vision is a 1716 tragedy by the British writer Aaron Hill. It is also known as The Fatal Vision: Or, the Fall of Siam. It is set at the Chinese imperial court in an unspecified time, and features the Chinese Emperor, his wife and two sons plus a captive princess from Siam. Hill funded the production using his own money. It ran for seven nights at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre.
The Fate of Capua is a 1700 tragedy by the writer Thomas Southerne. In Ancient Capua the rival Roman and Cartheginian factions vie for influence. The original cast included John Hodgson as Pacuvius Calavius, Thomas Betterton as Virginius, John Bowman as Magius, John Verbruggen as Junius and Elizabeth Barry as Favonia. The prologue was written by Charles Boyle.
The Fate of Sparta is a 1788 tragedy by the British writer Hannah Cowley. It is also known by the longer title The Fate of Sparta, or, The Rival Kings. The original Drury Lane cast included John Philip Kemble as Cleombrotus, Robert Bensley as Leonidas, William Barrymore as Amphares, John Whitfield as Nicrates, Matthew Williames as Mezentius, Richard Staunton as Corex, John Phillimore as Sarpedon, Richard Wilson as Priest and Sarah Siddons as Cherolice.
Captain Adolf and his wife Laura clash over the future and education of their daughter Bertha. Laura persuades others that Adolf is mentally ill, leading to his confinement; he suffers a stroke and dies as Laura reclaims Bertha.
Told from Nathuram Godse's perspective, the play follows Gandhi's future assassin and examines the political and social changes surrounding Indian independence and the mythology built around its historical figures.
As the Racket marriage sours, each spouse tries to provoke the other’s jealousy, while the scheming Ranter pursues Caroline. Colonel Duncan misreads an encounter and intervenes; Ranter’s deceptions and the return of Duncan’s long-lost son ultimately resolve the romantic and family confusions.
Nick Yarris is a death row inmate who, at the start of the play, has been incarcerated in the Huntingdon State Prison for sixteen years. When he meets Jacki, a volunteer with the Western Pennsylvania Coalition Against the Death Penalty, he begins to strike up a friendship with her, in part because he is one of the few inmates who does not harass her when she enters the prison. The two gradually bond over their shared love of literature: having spent most of his days in isolation, Nick has become a voracious reader in order to fill the time. As their relationship grows stronger, Nick regales Jacki with anecdotes from his life, ranging from his misadventures with childhood friends to his 30-day escape to Florida from the custody of county sheriffs, while en route from the Pennsylvania prison to a court hearing. Neither she nor the audience can be sure how many of his stories are true. Nick eventually confides in Jacki that he was wrongfully convicted, a situation that occurred after he erroneously accused a childhood acquaintance of committing the rape and murder of Linda Mae Craig, in an attempt to lighten lesser charges he acquired after a heated encounter with a police officer. Jacki commits to helping Nick overturn his conviction; eventually, the two fall in love. Over the course of several years, the couple attempts to prove Nick's innocence with the emerging technology of DNA profiling, though these efforts are repeatedly thwarted due to the mishandling of evidence. Jacki even marries Nick, thinking he will soon be free. Eventually, however, she decides to leave him, having come to the conclusion that his appeals are hopeless. After this, Nick pens a letter to the assigned judge requesting his execution, but instead his lawyer informs him that new DNA testing has finally exonerated him. In the wake of this news, Nick takes a long shower, which causes him to reflect on the sexual assault he experienced at nine years old, an incident whose traumatic after-effects he believes set him on the tragic path his life took. Once released, Nick delivers a monologue extolling the small pleasures in life and remembering his childhood dog.
At a feast celebrating Bengt and Margit's anniversary, Margit regrets her marriage and hopes to reunite with outlawed Gudmund. Her sister Signe and Gudmund love one another, while the sheriff Knut seeks Signe's hand. A planned poisoning is narrowly avoided, Bengt is killed in the ensuing conflict, and the king restores Gudmund's standing.
Two sisters flee to Rome and pose as courtesans to escape unwanted futures: Marcella loves Fillamour, while Cornelia is destined for a convent. A tangle of disguises, mistaken identities and Octavio’s revenge ends with the sisters’ marriages and Laura Lucretia’s unexpected engagement to her intended husband.
The Female Advocates is a 1713 comedy play by the British writer William Taverner. The longer title is The Female Advocates: or, the Frantic Stock-jobber. The original Drury Lane cast featured William Bullock as Sir Charles Transfer, Henry Norris as Sir Feeble Dotard, Barton Booth as Captain Stanworth, John Mills as Heartly, John Bowman as Friendly, George Pack as Bite, James Spiller as Smart, Mary Porter as Mrs Freelove, Margaret Bicknell as Olivia, Elizabeth Spiller as Brush, Susanna Mountfort as Charlotte.
The Female Fortune Teller is a 1726 comedy play by the British writer Charles Johnson. It is a reworking of Edward Ravenscroft's 1683 restoration comedy Dame Dobson. The original cast featured James Quin as Spring, Lacy Ryan as Ringwood, Thomas Walker as Sir Charles Mirmont, John Hippisley as Owen Apwigeon, Jane Egleton as Mrs Joiner, Henrietta Morgan as Frances, Anne Parker as Astrea and Elizabeth Younger as Scuttle.
The Female Prelate; Being The History Of The Life And Death Of Pope Joan is a 1680 tragedy by the English writer Elkanah Settle. It was first performed by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. The original cast members are unknown. It is also known by the shorter title Pope Joan. It is based on the legendary Pope Joan. It was produced at the height of the Popish Plot scare, when attempts were being made to exclude the Catholic heir James, Duke of York from the throne. Consequently, it is written from an anti-Catholic viewpoint. Settle dedicated a 1681 published version to the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Whig leader.
The Female Virtuosos is a 1693 comedy play by the English writer Thomas Wright. It is based on the 1672 play Les Femmes Savantes by the French writer Molière about two young sisters who try and get out of a marriage arrangement with a foppish idiot so they can marry the men they love. It was staged by the United Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London. The cast included Cave Underhill as Sir Maurice Meanwell, George Bright as Sir Timothy Witless, John Bowman as Sir Maggot Jingle, George Powell as Clerimont, John Hodgson as Meanwell, Joseph Haines as Bully, Frances Maria Knight as Mrs Leigh Lovewitt, Anne Bracegirdle as Mariana, Susanna Mountfort as Catchat, Elinor Leigh as Lady Meanwell and Jane Rogers as Lucy. Thomas Doggett wrote and performed the prologue. Incidental music was provided by Henry Purcell. It was revived in 1721 by the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre to run against Colley Cibber's The Refusal, a new adaptation of Molière's original play.
Margot Mason is a feminist writer suffering from writer's block; she can not meet the deadlines for her next book. Molly Rivers, a deranged former student of Margot's, arrives unexpectedly at her country home with a gun and handcuffs Mason to her desk. Molly blames Margot for warping her mother's mind with her hit book The Cerebral Vagina. Following Margot's advice, Molly's mother gave Molly away as a baby so that she wouldn't be enslaved by motherhood and then killed herself. Molly has had herself sterilized to preserve her creativity, only to be told by Margot that she has no talent. Margot's daughter Tess arrives, exhausted from her house full of children. Margot has accused Tess of throwing her life away to embrace the role of housewife. Tess agrees that her mother should be shot. Tess's sensitive stockbroker husband, Bryan also arrives to debate the virtues of Margot's best-sellers, her inconsistent philosophy, and her inability to "mother". Even a macho taxi driver (Frank) and Margot's flamboyantly gay publisher (Theo) comment on her feminist failings.
The play is set in a farmhouse in County Armagh, Northern Ireland in 1981. It is harvest day in 1981 and a multi-generational Irish Catholic farming family consisting of Quinn, Mary, and their seven children share their rural home with Uncle Pat, Aunt Mary, Aunt Pat, Quinn's sister-in-law Caitlin, and her son Oisin. Caitlin's husband 'disappeared' in 1971 and his remains have been uncovered at a politically sensitive time for the Republican Movement.
A bank manager prepares tributes to celebrate his branch’s fifth anniversary, but his plans unravel when his wife returns from a visit and a frantic woman arrives seeking a job for her husband.
Vielgeschrey, a merchant surrounded by constant bustle, believes himself far busier than he is; his compulsive activity leads to a tragicomic fate.
Bull McCabe believes he has earned a claim to a field he has cultivated for five years. When its owner puts it up for auction, the McCabes intimidate local bidders, but William Dee returns from England with competing plans for the land. The confrontation ends in Dee’s death and a cover-up.
From 1929 through the 1950s, a farming family watches its beautiful Western Australian property degrade through overgrazing and salinity. Owner Tom Barrow’s effort to restore the land conflicts with the ambition of Italian immigrant farmer Rome Bodera, while their children Louie and Gabe carry the family story forward.
Luka joins Alcoholics Anonymous and asks James to become his sponsor. As the two men work through confession and recovery, their relationship becomes a struggle over belief, power and the limits of trust.
The Fine Lady's Airs is a 1708 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Baker. The original Drury Lane cast included John Mills as Sir Harry Sprightly, Robert Wilks as Brigadier Blenheim, Colley Cibber as Nicknack, Benjamin Johnson as Major Bramble, William Bullock as Master Totty, William Pinkethman as Knapsack, Henry Norris as Shrimp, George Pack as Orangewoman, Anne Oldfield as Lady Rodomont, Mary Porter as Lady Tossup, Lucretia Bradshaw and Margaret Saunders as Mrs Flimsy.
Biedermann, a businessman who believes he could never be fooled by arsonists, lets two apparent hawkers stay in his attic. As they stock it with petrol and prepare to burn his house, he helps them and refuses to acknowledge the danger; the play ends with the couple at the gates of Hell.
A verse drama about Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition to Antarctica, presented through a commentator-style form that treats the expedition as a heroic, mythic subject.
An anti-alcohol morality play based on Tolstoy's short story Promoting a Devil, subtitled How the Imp Earned a Crust.
In a top-security prison, a psychiatrist interviewing a fictional convicted terrorist becomes drawn into psychological games that expose the prisoner's racism and homophobia, challenging the audience's own beliefs. The two-hander examines how hatred and violence reproduce themselves.
The First Gentleman is a 1945 historical play by the British writer Norman Ginsbury. It portrays the relationship between the future George IV, his daughter Princess Charlotte of Wales and her husband Leopold. It is set during the Regency era and features many other prominent figures of the time. It takes place between 1814 and 1819, set primarily at Carlton House and Brighton Pavilion. Its West End run lasted for 553 performances between 18 July 1945 and 16 November 1946, originally at the New Theatre before transferring to the Savoy. The cast included Robert Morley as Prince George, Wendy Hiller as Charlotte, Philip Friend as Leopold, Amy Frank as Caroline of Brunswick and Robert Beaumont as William, Prince of Orange. The music was by Herbert Griffiths.
A young Englishwoman marries an Australian wine-grower and moves to his family home in South Australia. Disliking country life, she prepares to leave, but discovers the diary of the first Joanna, who built the house in colonial times, and reconsiders her understanding of the family’s past.
A young Jesus discovers that he can perform miracles. When other children refuse to play with him, he breathes life into clay birds; he is also tempted to turn bullies into pillars of stone.
After his second wife leaves him for another man, a husband returns to his first wife, whom he recognizes as his true love.
A dramatization of backstage tensions among George Bernard Shaw, Mrs Patrick Campbell and Herbert Beerbohm Tree during Pygmalion’s first British production, including the controversy over the line ‘not bloody likely’; it draws mainly on letters, diaries and newspaper reports.
A three-act comedy centered on the first year of married life.
Larry Darrant confesses to his lawyer brother Keith that he killed the violent man who threatened Wanda, the woman he loves. Keith’s attempt to protect his brother and the family’s reputation puts his professional duty and personal loyalties in conflict.
Two Nigerian brothers revisit the events that fractured their family after they and their siblings encountered a prophet while fishing in a forbidden river. His prediction turns their childhood adventure into fear and suspicion.
After a dead tanner leaves his widow and son Charlie near poverty, Charlie earns money through a male brothel serving wealthy clients. Detectives uncover protection reaching into the police and royal family, but a cover-up and betrayal endanger Charlie and his mother as Queen Victoria's reign closes.
At a worn movie theater near Worcester, Massachusetts, three underpaid ushers clean the floors, work the projector and talk through the small routines and frustrations of their lives. Their halting conversations gradually expose their loneliness and the ways they try to connect.
In Sartre's retelling of the Electra myth, Orestes and Electra confront the guilt-ridden people of Argos and avenge Agamemnon by killing Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Orestes rejects Zeus's demand for repentance and leaves the city, asserting human freedom and responsibility.
Brecht’s revised Lehrstück retells Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight while repudiating the aviator’s historical politics. The revision removes Lindbergh’s name and changes the first-person identification to an impersonal one.
Matriarch Enid Pollack, who once aspired to be a dancer in George White's Scandals, spends her days hounding neighbors with telephone business schemes in order to support the family. Her philandering husband Max is a gambler, furtively planning his escape from his marriage. Stuttering teenaged son Paul is a frail, bright, shy boy who tries to perfect magic tricks — including a floating light bulb illusion — in his bedroom. When talent agent Jerry Wexler arrives at the house, seemingly to audition Paul, Enid seizes the opportunity for Paul to shine in the spotlight that eluded her, only to have her hopes dashed when she realizes Wexler is more interested in wooing her than signing her son as a client.
In a small coastal town, June performs a daily striptease that leaves the men in tears. The arrival of a stranger disrupts the ritual, uncovering the forces of desire and obligation that hold the community together.
An English father dreams of leaving his insurance job to run an apple orchard, while his wife wants him to abandon those plans. Their two children face problems of their own as the couple’s marriage strains.
The Flowering Peach is a 1954 dramatic play by American playwright Clifford Odets with music by Alan Hovhaness. The plot is a modern take on the Bible stories of Noah and Noah's Ark. It was the last original play by Odets produced in his lifetime. The play was revived in 1994. While rarely produced in stock and regional theatres, a musical version titled Two by Two was produced on Broadway in 1970 by Richard Rodgers, Martin Charnin and Peter Stone. It starred Danny Kaye and ran for a year on Broadway.
After a breakdown, American businessman Grover Bemis retreats to rural southern Mexico, where a corrupt fascist general targets the village. When its idealistic leader is arrested as a communist, Bemis impersonates the local patron saint, restores the power supply, and helps save the village from dictatorship.
The Flying Fool is a 1929 thriller play by the British writer Arnold Ridley and Bernard Merivale. It enjoyed a successful run in the West End.
The play follows poet John Clare from his rural East Anglian roots through literary success in London to his final years in an asylum, against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution.
A long-married couple, Harriet and George, shop for twin beds. George objects to the change and finds common ground with Jill, a much younger shopper who shares his view.
A king forces Erminia to marry Alcippus, though she loves Philander, who is in turn connected to Alcippus and Galatea; disguises, mistaken identities and a threatened duel complicate the royal command.
The Force of Ridicule is a 1796 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Holcroft. The original Drury Lane cast included John Palmer, William Barrymore, Richard Suett, Robert Palmer, Charles Kemble, John Bannister, Maria Theresa Kemble and Elizabeth Farren. According to James Boaden, the play was "perdurably damned” after its opening night and never performed again. The manuscript of the play was never published and its sources were only hinted at in Biographica Dramatica, where it was mentioned that it was believed to have been derived from French. The failure of the play was seen as so great, Holcroft did not attempt any further playwriting for another two years.
Shy Englishman Charlie Baker pretends not to understand English at a Georgia fishing lodge, where guests reveal their secrets around him. When a local white supremacist plots to seize the lodge for the Klan, Charlie uses the ruse to help the owner and her guests defeat the plan and find confidence.
Ostrovsky's play developed from a planned family comedy into a sharper satire, with Neschastlivtsev growing from a marginal figure into its central character.
In a Volyn forest, woodland spirit Mavka falls in love with Lukash, a young man who plans to build a home there with his uncle. As domestic demands pull Lukash away from the forest and its spirits, Mavka's love survives betrayal and a transformation that leaves her voice in a willow flute.
A blank-verse and prose stage treatment of the Robin Hood legend in four acts, tracing the bond, flight and crowning of Maid Marian before the conclusion. The text contains songs and dances, with a nine-movement incidental score.
A court masque envisions a unified British kingdom under a wise king while satirizing Rosicrucians. Johphiel, a spirit, debates Merefool, a melancholic student, before English poets and folkloric figures join mythological sea gods in the masque and anti-masque.
An impoverished French aristocrat marries an Australian heiress, then seeks annulment when her fortune disappears. When their child is born, his attempted reconciliation comes too late; he engineers a duel so his friend can marry and care for Diana.
The Fortune Hunters; Or, Two Fools Well Met is 1689 comedy play by James Carlile. It was originally staged by the United Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. The original Drury Lane cast included Anthony Leigh as Sir William Wealthy, Edward Kynaston as Tom Wealthy, William Mountfort as Young Wealthy, James Nokes as Spruce, John Bowman as Littlegad, Elinor Leigh as The Lady Sly, Charlotte Butler as Sophia, Susanna Mountfort as Maria and Frances Maria Knight as Mrs Spruce. The work remained popular into the eighteenth century. It was revived at the Queen's Theatre, Haymarket in 1707 with a cast featuring William Bullock, John Mills, Robert Wilks, George Pack, Henry Norris, Lucretia Bradshaw, Margaret Bicknell and Anne Oldfield. This led to further stagings at the Haymarket in 1708 and 1709, followed by Drury Lane in 1711 and Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1717 and 1728.
A reconstructed burlesque of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, the production cast women in all the principal male roles and as the forty thieves.
This pantomime burlesque retells Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves through four scenes—at Ali Baba’s house, in the wood, back at his house and in the cave—followed by a transformation and a harlequinade.
Former cavalry general Traugott von Beeskow plots to destroy the manuscript of his former comrade Ago, who has returned from Russian imprisonment with new political ideas and still loves Traugott’s daughter Ursula. Ursula’s father drives her to betray Ago, but she instead burns the manuscript and embraces him; Traugott shoots them both.
The Foundling is a 1748 comedy by the British writer Edward Moore. The original Drury Lane cast included David Garrick as Young Belmont, Spranger Barry as Sir Charles Raymond, Charles Macklin as Faddle, William Havard as Colonel Raymond, Richard Yates as Sir Roger Belmont, Peg Woffington as Rosetta and Susannah Cibber as Fidelia.
Florian is abandoned in the woods as a small child and grows up living on his own resources. It is only at the conclusion of the story that he is revealed to be of aristocratic birth.
Architect Howard Roark pursues an uncompromising modernist vision against colleagues who favor established styles. After Roark agrees to help Peter Keating with a housing project and their agreement is broken, he demolishes the building and faces trial; Dominique Francon leaves Gail Wynand to join him.
A stream-of-consciousness play by Pablo Picasso, written in French; critics have questioned whether it was intended for staging or only for reading.
In Heywood’s interlude, a palmer, pardoner, apothecary and pedlar compete to tell the greatest lie, with the pedlar judging their claims.
Four brothers, reduced to apprentices after their father's dispossession, join a crusade, become separated, and eventually reunite in Jerusalem, where they receive crowns and marriages.
The Fourposter is a play written by Jan de Hartog. The two-character story spans 35 years, from 1890 to 1925, as it focuses on the trials and tribulations, laughters and sorrows, and hopes and disappointments experienced by Agnes and Michael throughout their marriage. The set consists solely of their bedroom, dominated by the large, fourposter bed in the centre of the room. Among the couple's milestones are the consummation of their marriage, the birth of their first child, Michael's success as a writer, his extramarital affair, their daughter's wedding, and their preparations to move to smaller quarters and pass their home on to another newlywed couple. After a pre-London tour, it opened in the West End in 1950. A Broadway production followed in 1951, and the play has been adapted for film, television and musical theatre.
Peggy redecorates her living room like a stage, with everything facing a blank wall that represents the audience. Her husband Roger and their friends are drawn into theatrical conventions and try to restore their ordinary domestic life.
The Fourth Wall is a mystery play by the British writer A.A. Milne. It was first staged at the Haymarket Theatre in 1928. Under the name, The Perfect Alibi, it was produced at the Charles Hopkins Theatre on Broadway from November 1928 through July 1929.
A farce set at a private country club, built around mistaken identities, slamming doors and romantic entanglements among its stuffy members.
Cui Jianyun, a scholar's wife, and Cao Yuhua fall in love. After Cui secretly marries Cao in men's clothing, the women are separated; Cui arranges to have Cao's father marry her to the scholar as a second wife, and they eventually reunite as co-wives.
A spinster from Ohio arrives in New York before a trip to Europe and discovers that her niece has joined a group of hippies, drawing her into their world.
In 1970 Derry, three civil-rights marchers fleeing tear gas mistakenly take shelter in the mayor’s Guildhall parlour. Their presence is treated as an occupation; they discuss their lives while waiting for the violence to pass, then are shot by soldiers as they try to surrender. A tribunal reconstructs their deaths through fictionalized testimony and acquits the soldiers, turning the play’s parallel scenes into an indictment of the violence and its official account.
The Freedom of the Seas is a 1918 British comedy play by Walter Hackett. A downtrodden London clerk joins the Royal Navy during the First World War. Given command of a tramp steamer he rises to the occasion and thwarts the plans of a German spy. It appeared at the Royalty Theatre before transferring to the Theatre Royal, Haymarket where the cast included Dennis Eadie, Billie Carleton, Tom Reynolds, Marion Lorne, Randle Ayrton, Sydney Valentine and James Carew.
The French Conjuror is a comedy play by the English writer Thomas Porter. It was first staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London in June 1677. The original cast included Thomas Jevon as Avarito, John Crosby as Claudio, Thomas Gillow as Dorido, Henry Norris as Horatio, Thomas Percival as Truro, Anthony Leigh as Monsieur, John Richards as Audacio, Elizabeth Barry as Clorinia, Margaret Hughes as Leonora and Elinor Leigh as Scintilla.
The French Libertine is an 1826 historical play by the British-based American writer John Howard Payne. Written under the title Richelieu the play originally focused on the life of the eighteenth century French aristocrat and libertine the Duke of Richelieu, a relation of the seventeenth century statesman Cardinal Richelieu. It was partly inspired by the 1796 work La Jeunesse de Richelieu by Alexandre Duval. Issues with the censor George Colman led to many changes, done by Charles Kemble who played the lead, and Richelieu was altered into the fictional Duke de Rougemont. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 11 February 1826. The cast included Charles Kemble as the Duke de Rougemont, James Prescott Warde as Dubois, Tyrone Power as Lamotte, John Cooper as Dorival, Louisa Chatterley as Countess de Fleury and Julia Glover as Jeanette.
The French Mistress is a comedy play by the British entertainer Sonnie Hale under the pen name Robert Munro about the arrival of a new young French teacher at a traditional public school. It premiered at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Cardiff in May 1955. Four years later it enjoyed a West End run of 185 performances, first at the Adelphi Theatre before transferring to the Prince's Theatre. The cast included Hugh Wakefield and Richard Bird.
A pantomimic military drama reflecting the French occupation of Algiers. Its heroine, Mathilde de Grammont, assumes the identities of Pierre Graziot, a lancer cadet, and Omar Almorid, an Arab boy.
A group of friends from working-class backgrounds have built a successful chain of interior-design shops, but feel their work has failed to reach the people they hoped to serve. As they gather around Esther, who is dying of leukaemia, they reassess their ideals, achievements and mortality.
The Frog is a 1936 thriller play written by Ian Hay, and based on the novel The Fellowship of the Frog by Edgar Wallace. It ran for 481 performances at the Princes Theatre in London's West End between 11 April 1936 and 5 June 1937. The cast included Gordon Harker, Jack Hawkins, Frank Pettingell, Hugh Burden and Herbert Lomas. In 1937 a film version The Frog was made, with Gordon Harker and Jack Hawkins reprising their roles.
Mamet retells the traditional tale of a haughty prince transformed into a frog, who can return to human form only if someone willingly kisses him.
Dionysus descends to the underworld with his slave Xanthias to bring Euripides back to Athens. At Pluto's palace he judges a contest between Euripides and Aeschylus over the greatest tragic poet, then chooses Aeschylus to return and advise the city during the Peloponnesian War.
The play's single set is the dingy press room of Chicago's Criminal Courts Building, overlooking the gallows behind the Cook County Jail. Reporters from most of the city's newspapers are passing the time with poker and pungent wisecracks about the news of the day. Soon they will witness the hanging of Earl Williams, a white man and supposed Communist revolutionary convicted of killing a black policeman. Hildy Johnson, cocky star reporter for the Examiner, is late. He appears only to say goodbye; he is quitting to get a respectable job and be married. Suddenly the reporters hear that Earl Williams has escaped from the jail. All but Hildy stampede out for more information. As Hildy tries to decide how to react, Williams comes in through the window. He tells Hildy he is no revolutionary, and that he shot the police officer by accident. The reporter realizes this bewildered, harmless little man was railroaded—just to help the crooked mayor and sheriff pick up enough black votes to win re-election. It is the story of a lifetime. Hildy helps Williams hide inside a roll-top desk. His daunting challenge now is to get Williams out of the building to a safe place for an interview before rival reporters or trigger-happy policemen discover him. Hildy has no choice but to ask for help from Walter Burns, managing editor of the Examiner—a devious tyrant who would do just about anything to keep Hildy with the newspaper.
This western triptych follows brothers journeying west under a blood-moon omen, a trapped man forced to choose between ease and justice as a railroad approaches, and an outlaw confronting the lawman pursuing him.
A contemporary urban drama about street life outside Camden Town tube station in London.
A group of retirees live at a hotel in Miami, Florida.
An allegorical Arctic drama responds to the loss of Franklin’s expedition and the controversy over reports of its fate.
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