The House of Sleeping Beauties
A fictionalized portrait imagines how Japanese novelist Yasunari Kawabata might have come to write his novella The House of the Sleeping Beauties.
Plays
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Clear filtersThe House of Yes
Marty Pascal and his fiancée Lesly return to his family's home in McLean, Virginia for Thanksgiving. He is received by his mother, younger brother Anthony, and twin sister "Jackie-O", who adopted her nickname and manner of dress as a result of her obsession with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The news of Marty's sudden relationship and engagement shocks the family and destabilizes Jackie-O, who has recently been released from a psychiatric hospital. As the play progresses, it transpires that Marty and Jackie-O are involved in an incestuous relationship; their father left the family the day of John F. Kennedy's assassination, and as teenagers Jackie-O and Marty would re-enact the assassination as a form of ritualistic foreplay. The play concludes with Marty and Jackie-O again re-enacting the assassination, though Jackie-O intentionally uses a gun loaded with real bullets instead of the previously used blank cartridges, killing Marty.
The How and the Why
Two women biologists meet for the first time: an older scientist known for her work on the grandmother hypothesis and a younger researcher proposing a new explanation for menstruation. Their scientific exchange intersects with the personal lives of women in science.
The Hue and Cry After Cupid
A court masque celebrating the marriage of Lord Haddington and Lady Elizabeth Radclyffe. Twelve courtiers appear as the Zodiac signs; Cupid, Venus and other mythic figures feature as the Sphinx's prison opens to reveal a silver sphere and the masquers perform four dances.
The Human Touch
The Human Touch is a play by Dudley Leslie and J. Lee Thompson. After premiering at the Liverpool Playhouse in May 1948, it later had a West End run of 113 performances at the Savoy Theatre between February and June 1949. The cast included Alec Guinness, John Gregson, John Laurie, Milton Rosmer, Kynaston Reeves, Sophie Stewart and Adrienne Corri. Guinness starred as a doctor who pioneers the use of chloroform as an anaesthetic during operations, but meets with huge resistance from established medical figures. Variety called it "an interesting study". A TV version with James Donald was shot at Elstree in 1952. On April 15, 1956, a televised adaptation was shown on Front Row Center on CBS.
The Human Voice
Alone onstage in Paris, a woman speaks by telephone with her departing lover, who is to marry another woman the next day; the monologue exposes her despair and the strain of communication.
The Humans
The entire play takes place during a single evening in a sparsely furnished, somewhat shabby basement duplex apartment in New York City’s Chinatown. Brigid Blake, a young aspiring composer, and her boyfriend Richard Saad, who is completing his social work degree, have just moved in together and are hosting Thanksgiving dinner for Brigid’s family. The guests are Brigid’s working-class, Irish-American parents, Erik and Deirdre Blake, her sister Aimee, a Philadelphia lawyer suffering from ulcerative colitis and a recent breakup with her girlfriend, and Fiona “Momo” Blake, Brigid’s grandmother, who suffers from severe dementia. Momo frequently mumbles incoherently throughout the evening, requiring constant care and attention. As the family settles in, old patterns of conversation, teasing, and tension quickly reemerge. Erik and Deirdre disapprove of Brigid living with Richard before marriage and are skeptical of her career ambitions. Deirdre, who works an unglamorous office job, also expresses resentment about how she feels mocked for her lack of sophistication. Erik, meanwhile, is distracted and uneasy the whole night, increasingly frayed and preoccupied. Richard, whose family is wealthy, tries to make polite conversation but feels somewhat alienated from the Blakes’ dynamic. He mentions that he’s about to inherit a trust fund when he turns forty, suggesting a different kind of future stability that Brigid’s parents can’t guarantee. Brigid resents her parents for not supporting her financially after grad school. Deirdre feels increasingly marginalized and left out of her daughters’ lives. Underlying all of this is Erik’s growing anxiety. Eventually, he reveals the real reason for his unease: he has been fired from his job as a janitor at a Catholic school after an incident that, while not fully detailed, involved inappropriate behavior — possibly being caught sleeping overnight at the school. Compounding the situation, Erik and Deirdre had invested heavily in a lake house in Scranton for retirement, but they were forced to sell it at a loss after Erik’s firing. Now they are facing serious financial insecurity. Meanwhile, Momo has a sudden, violent outburst, needing to be restrained and comforted. The family members scramble to soothe her, exposing their vulnerabilities and their love for her despite everything. The play also carries an almost horror-movie-like atmosphere: strange thumps are heard from the apartment above, lights flicker and buzz, mysterious stains appear on the ceiling, and the apartment feels unsettlingly dark and oppressive. These eerie details create a haunting metaphor for the emotional and existential dread the family is experiencing. In the final moments, after the family leaves and Richard goes downstairs to do laundry, Erik, left alone in the darkening apartment, becomes overwhelmed by fear and grief. Terrified and paralyzed by his failures, the loss of security, and the disintegration of his life as he knew it, Erik collapses emotionally as the lights go out completely.
The Humorous Courtier
When the Duke of Parma disappears from the Duchess of Mantua’s court, she says she will choose a husband from among her courtiers. The men compete for her favor through flattery and absurd schemes, while the newcomer Giotto and her attendant Laura guide the confusion. The Duchess eventually mocks her would-be suitors and reveals that Giotto is the Duke in disguise.
The Humorous Lieutenant
After Alexander the Great’s death, Prince Demetrius falls in love with Celia, who is revealed to be King Seleucus’s daughter Enanthe. The comic lieutenant fights fiercely in battle but spends ordinary life as a hypochondriac.
The Humorous Magistrate
Justice of the Peace Thrifty abuses his office while his daughter Constance courts Christopher Spruce. Their romance is paired with comic subplots and satire of judicial corruption, ineptitude, and the political and social disorder of the period.
The Humour of the Age
The Humour of the Age is a 1701 comedy play by the English writer Thomas Baker. It was staged at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane.
The Humours of Oxford
The Humours of Oxford is a 1730 comedy play by the British writer James Miller. It was Miller's debut play, inspired by his time at Wadham College, and proved popular. The plot is set around Oxford University and portrays the academics as overindulging in port wine. William Hogarth designed the frontispiece of the published version of the play. The original cast included John Mills as Colonel Truelove, Robert Wilks as Gainlove, Roger Bridgewater as Shamwell, John Harper as Haughty, Benjamin Griffin as Conundrum, Colley Cibber as Appeall, William Mills as Vice Chancellor, James Oates as Dash, Henry Norris as Timothy, John Roberts as Old Appeall and Mary Porter as Lady Science, Anne Oldfield as Clarinda and, Kitty Clive as Kitty, Hester Santlow as Victoria. The published version of the play was dedicated to the diplomat and politician Lord Chesterfield.
The Hunchback
The Hunchback is an 1832 comedy play by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. Knowles wrote it in the wake of the disastrous reception of his previous comedy The Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green in 1828. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London's West End on 5 April 1832. The cast included Sheridan Knowles himself as Master Walter, Fanny Kemble as Julia, Hariette Taylor as Helen, Charles Kemble as Sir Thomas Clifford, Benjamin Wrench as Lord Tinsel, William Abbot as Modus, Drinkwater Meadows as Fathom and William Payne as Stephen. It was Fanny Kemble's last performance in England before embarking on a tour of the United States with her father, where she married and retired from the stage. The Hunchback was staged on Broadway at the Garrick Theatre in 1902 with a cast led by Eben Plympton as Master Walter, Viola Allen as Julia, Adelaide Prince as Helen, Aubrey Boucicault as Sir Thomas Clifford, J. Harry Benrimo as Lord Tinsel, Jameson Lee Finney as Modus, and C. Leslie Allen as Fathom.
The Hunger Games: On Stage
In dystopian Panem, Katniss Everdeen competes in a televised battle royale. The adaptation adds original scenes and gives names to some characters unnamed in the source novel.
The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea
In a post-apocalyptic future, a revolution has divided North America into racial territories and driven homosexuals from conservative regimes. Exiled in the borderlands, Medea lives with her son and girlfriend Luna; when her husband Jasón seeks to take their son back to Aztlán, Medea confronts questions of motherhood, heritage, and belonging.
The Hunt
In a small Danish town, a popular schoolteacher going through a divorce is falsely accused of sexual abuse, and the community turns against him.
The Hunted
After Ezra's death, Orin returns from the war and Lavinia tells him of Christine's affair with Brant. Lavinia and Orin follow Christine to Brant's ship, where Orin shoots Brant. When they tell Christine, she goes into Ezra's study and kills herself.
The Hyacinth Macaw
Raymond and Dora’s family life is disrupted by a mysterious visitor who tells Raymond that he is a duplicate and must be replaced.
The Hypochondriac
Nikolai Durnopechin, a wealthy hypochondriac, believes he is dying just as his former sweetheart Nadya returns seeking marriage. His opportunistic relatives flatter him and maneuver for an inheritance, while his imagined illness and their schemes fuel the comedy.
The Hypocrite
The Hypocrite is a 1768 comic play by the Irish writer Isaac Bickerstaffe. It is a reworking of the 1717 play The Non-Juror by Colley Cibber, itself inspired by Molière's Tartuffe. The original play had derived much of its humour from the politics of the era, and revolved around the intrigues of Doctor Wolf, a nonjuring clergyman with strong ties to the underground Jacobite movement. Bickerstaffe altered the role to that of Doctor Cantwell, a hypocritical Methodist. The first Drury Lane cast included Thomas King as Doctor Cantwell, John Hayman Packer as Sir John Lambert, Samuel Reddish as Darnley, Samuel Cautherley as Charles, Thomas Weston as Mawworm, Mary Bradshaw as Old Lady Lambert, Ann Street Barry as Lady Lambert and Frances Abington as Charlotte. It premiered in Bickerstaffe's native Dublin in 1772, and was revived in London on several occasions. A 1814 revival featured William Dowton, Benjamin Wrench and William Oxberry amongst others.
The Iceman Cometh
The Iceman Cometh is set in New York in 1912 in Harry Hope's downmarket Greenwich Village saloon and rooming house. The patrons, twelve men and three prostitutes, are dead-end alcoholics who spend every possible moment seeking oblivion in one another's company and trying to con or wheedle free drinks from Harry and the bartenders. They drift purposelessly from day to day, coming fully alive only during the semi-annual visits of salesman Theodore "Hickey" Hickman. When Hickey finishes a tour of his business territory, which is apparently a wide expanse of the East Coast, he typically turns up at the saloon and starts the party. As the play opens, the regulars are expecting Hickey to arrive in time for Harry's birthday party. The first act introduces the various characters as they bicker among themselves, showing how drunk and delusional they are, all the while awaiting Hickey. Joe Mott insists that he will soon re-open his gambling casino. The English Cecil "The Captain" Lewis and South African Boer Piet "The General" Wetjoen, who fought each other during the Boer War, are now good friends, and both insist that they'll soon return to their nations of origin. Harry Hope has not left the bar since his wife Bess's death 20 years ago. He promises that he'll walk around the neighborhood on his birthday, which is the next day. Pat McGloin says he hopes to be reinstated into the police force, but is waiting for the right moment. Ed Mosher prides himself on his ability to give incorrect change, but he kept too much of his illegitimate profits to himself and was fired from the circus; he says he will get his job back someday. Hugo Kalmar, a former anarchist, is drunk and passed out for most of the play; when he is conscious, he pesters the other patrons to buy him a drink. Chuck Morello says that he will marry Cora tomorrow. Larry Slade is a former syndicalist-anarchist who looks pityingly on the rest. Don Parritt is the son of a former anarchist who shows up early in the play to talk about his mother (Larry's ex-girlfriend) to Larry; specifically her arrest due to her involvement in the anarchist movement. When Hickey finally arrives, his changed behavior throws the characters into turmoil. With as much charisma as ever, he insists that he sees life clearly now as never before because he no longer drinks. Hickey wants the characters to cast away their delusions and accept that their heavy drinking and inaction mean that their hopes will never be fulfilled. He takes on this task with a near-maniacal fervor. How he goes about his mission, how the other characters respond, and their efforts to find out what has wrought this change in him, take over four hours to resolve. During and after Harry's birthday party, most seem to have been affected by Hickey's ramblings. Larry who says he's done with active participation in life and is content to be a spectator "in the grandstand" pretends to be unaffected, but when Don reveals he was the informant responsible for the arrest of his own mother (Larry's former girlfriend), Larry angrily insists he doesn't want to hear it. Willie the former lawyer proposes that he'll represent McGloin in his appeal to get his old police job back as a way to brush up his own lawyering skills before he tries to get back his old job with the district attorney, and Rocky admits he is a pimp, not a bartender. Most of the men Hickey talked with do go out into the world—dressed up, hopeful of turning their lives around—but they fail to make any progress. Eventually, they return and are jolted by a sudden revelation. Hickey, who had earlier told the other characters first that his wife had died and then that she was shot and then that she was murdered, admits that he is the one who killed her. The police arrive, called by Hickey himself, to arrest Hickey. Hickey tries to explain his murder of the woman he loved so deeply in a long dramatic monologue, saying that he did it out of love for her. He relates that his father was a preacher in the backwoods of Indiana. Evidently he was both charismatic and persuasive, and it was his inheriting these traits which led Hickey to become a salesman. An angry kid trapped in a small town, Hickey had no use for anyone but his sweetheart, Evelyn. Evelyn's family forbade her to associate with Hickey, but she ignored them. After Hickey left to become a salesman, he promised he would marry Evelyn as soon as he was able. He became a successful salesman, then sent for her and the two were very happy until Hickey became increasingly guilty following his wife's constant forgiveness of his infidelities and drinking. He then recounts how he murdered her to free her from the pain of his persistent philandering and drinking because she loved him too much to live apart from him. But, in retelling the murder, he laughs and tells Evelyn, "Well, you know what you can do with that pipe dream now, don't you?" In realizing he said this, Hickey breaks down completely. He says that he must have been insane and that people need their empty dreams to keep existing. The others are now relieved that what Hickey had been telling them all throughout the play, which had made them all face the truth about themselves, was just the ravings of a lunatic, and so they could now safely resume believing their old "pipe dreams" and excuses about themselves and resume drinking and their old lives hanging out in Harry Hope's bar. They reaffirm their solidarity with Hickey and pledge to testify to his insanity at his murder trial, despite Hickey's desire for a death sentence. He no longer wishes to live now that he has no illusions about life. They return to their empty promises and pipe dreams except for Parritt, who runs to his room and jumps off the fire escape, unable to live with the knowledge of what he has done to his mother after discarding the last of his lies about his action and motivation for it. He first claims that he did it due to patriotism and then for money, but finally admits he did it because he hated his mother, who was so obsessed with her own freedom of action that she became self-centered and alternately ignored or dominated him. Despite witnessing the young man's fatal leap, and acknowledging the futility of his own situation, as Larry says at the end, "Be God, there's no hope! I'll never be a success in the grandstand— or anywhere else! Life is too much for me! I'll be a weak fool looking with pity at the two sides of everything till the day I die!"
The Ik
Adapted from ethnologist Colin Turnbull's account, the play depicts the disintegration of the Ik community after government restrictions on hunting and gathering and forced resettlement. As hunger and social structures collapse, an ethnologist watches the community's struggle and the limits of outside intervention.
The Illusion
A contrite father asks the sorcerer Alcandre for news of his estranged son. Alcandre conjures three episodes from the son's life, each in a shifting world with altered names and loyalties, before the father learns the truth.
The Imaginary Cuckold
Célie loses a miniature portrait of her beloved Lélie, setting off a chain of jealous misunderstandings: Sganarelle and his wife each suspect the other of infidelity, while Célie and Lélie misread the others’ relationships. The confusion ends when it is revealed that Célie’s intended husband has secretly married someone else.
The Imaginary Invalid
Argan, a hypochondriac, plans to marry his daughter Angélique to a doctor's son so he can secure medical care. His maid Toinette and brother Béralde expose the schemes of Argan's second wife and help the lovers outwit his plans, while Molière satirizes medical quackery.
The Immoralist
A gay archaeologist marries partly in hope of curbing his homosexual instincts. He is unable to consummate the marriage so the pair travel from Normandy to Algeria for a honeymoon, hoping that will kindle some romance. The husband is seduced by their Arab houseboy, but this allows him to sleep with his wife, who falls pregnant.
The Immortal Hour
In a mythic world, the dark figure Dalua influences the desires that drive mortal king Eochaidh’s fateful pursuit of faery princess Etain; Dalua ultimately touches the king, causing his death.
The Imperial Captives
The Imperial Captives is a 1720 tragedy by the British writer John Mottley. The original cast included James Quin as Genseric, Lacy Ryan as Thrasimond, Anthony Boheme as Aspar, John Egleton as Honoric, Richard Diggs as Narbal, Anna Maria Seymour as Eudosia and Jane Rogers as Sophronia. The prologue was written by Charles Beckingham and the epilogue by Christopher Bullock.
The Impertinent Lovers
The Impertinent Lovers: or, A Coquet at her Wit's End is a 1723 comedy play by the British writer Francis Hawling. It was submitted to Sir Richard Steele and three gentlemen as patentees and sold by J. Roberts in Warwick Lane, A. Dodd at the Peacock without Temple Bar, and the booksellers of London and Westminster. The original Drury Lane cast included Thomas Chapman as Meanwell, William Wilks as Freelove, Theophilus Cibber as Pert, John Harper as Blunt, Elizabeth Willis as Abigail. The play is set in Greenwich.
The Importance of Being Oscar
A one-person performance interweaves excerpts from Oscar Wilde’s plays and other writings with biographical episodes from his life, presenting Wilde as an Irish literary figure.
The Impossible Years
Teaching psychiatrist Jonathan Kingsley and his wife struggle with the romantic lives of their two teenage daughters. When the older daughter becomes sexually active, her impressionable younger sister begins to imitate her.
The Impostors
The Impostors is a comedy play by Richard Cumberland. It was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in January 1789. The plot closely resembled that of The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar. The original Drury Lane Cast included John Palmer as Lord Janus, Robert Baddeley as Sir Solomon Sapient, James Aickin as Captain George Sapient, William Barrymore as Sir Charles Freemantle, Richard Suett as Oliver and Richard Wroughton as Polycarp, Jane Pope as Mrs Dorothy and Dorothea Jordan as Eleanor.
The Imposture
Flaviano plots to prevent Fioretta’s marriage to Prince Leonato by disguising his former mistress Juliana as Fioretta, but the real princess escapes and appears at Leonato’s court. The deception is eventually exposed, while a subplot about a cowardly son and two suitors leads to another marriage.
The Improper Duchess
The Improper Duchess is a 1931 comedy play by the Irish-born writer James Fagan. It premiered at the Empire Theatre in Southampton before transferring to the Globe Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 348 performances between 22 January and 21 November 1931. It starred Yvonne Arnaud in the title role. The cast also included Frank Cellier, Hartley Power, John Laurie, Annie Esmond and Julie Suedo.
The Imprudent Young Couple
The Imprudent Young Couple is a play written by Henry Guy Carleton. It premiered on Broadway in 1895 and was produced by Charles Frohman. It starred Maude Adams and John Drew, Jr., and featured Arthur Byron. The production marked the Broadway debut of Drew's niece, Ethel Barrymore.
The Inca of Perusalem
Ermyntrude, an impoverished millionaire’s widow working as a lady’s maid, impersonates a princess to meet the Inca of Perusalem. The Inca is revealed as Kaiser Wilhelm II, who proposes marriage, while Ermyntrude mocks his war and refuses his advances.
The Incomparable Max
The Incomparable Max is a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. It is based on the stories "Enoch Soames" and "A.V. Laider" in Seven Men by Max Beerbohm. Enoch Soames is a minor poet who makes a pact with the devil to spend a few hours in the library of the British Museum one hundred years in the future to learn how history will regard him. There he finds the only mention of his name is in a short story written by Max Beerbohm. A.V. Laider is a palmist who foretells the death of four people riding on a train - or does he? The play had its premiere at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia in 1969. The Broadway production, directed by Gerald Freedman, began the first of ten previews on October 9, 1971 at the Royale Theatre. It opened on October 19 and closed on November 6 after 23 performances. The cast included Richard Kiley in the dual roles of Soames and Laider and Clive Revill as Beerbohm. Constance Carpenter and Fionnula Flanagan appeared in supporting roles. The creative team included costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge and lighting designer Martin Aronstein. T.E. Kalem of Time observed, "The work is a glue job rather than an organic entity. The authors... awkwardly mixed Beerbohm in as a character among his own creations. In passages that are almost unrelated asides, they have Max as drama critic quoting himself on plays, players and playgoers. These comments lack the pithy bite of aphorisms, and as out-of-context fragments, they lose much of the slyly inflected wit that is one of the special pleasures of reading Beerbohm... The deeper problem lies with Max himself, who was too much the fastidious dandy, too much the meticulous stylist, to serve as a vehicle for the broad, boisterous traffic of the stage."
The Inconstant
The Inconstant, or the Way to Win Him is a 1702 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar. It was a reworking of the Jacobean comedy The Wild Goose Chase by John Fletcher. A success, the play was revived a number of times during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Despite its popularity, the play was later criticised for its similarities to Fletcher's earlier work with Leigh Hunt commenting it was "neither more or less Fletcher's play, with the poetry taken out".
The Increased Difficulty of Concentration
In this metaphysical farce, academic Hummel juggles lovers and philosophy while confronting questions from a strange machine called Pazuk and trying to make sense of his life.
The Indecent Exposure of Anthony East
Set in a large industrial firm, the play follows a corporate executive who writes romantic fiction and hates his fellow workers; paranoia and trade unions shape its conflict.
The Independent Patriot
The Independent Patriot is a 1737 comedy play by Francis Lynch. The play mocks the European tourism of the British elite while on the Grand Tour. The work is dedicated to Lord Burlington, known for his support for Palladian architecture, by suggesting he had more usefully used his time abroad. It was produced at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre by Henry Giffard's company which had recently moved there from Goodman's Fields Theatre.
The Indian Emperour
During the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Montezuma and Cortés face conflicts between love and duty. Montezuma refuses to save his kingdom for personal reasons, while Cortés obeys his king despite misgivings; Montezuma is tortured by the Spaniards and dies by suicide.
The Indian Queen
At the courts of Peru and Mexico, general Montezuma loves the Peruvian princess Orazia while the usurping Mexican queen Zempoalla also desires him and threatens her captives with sacrifice. Competing loyalties, court ambitions and succession claims culminate in revolt and the restoration of the legitimate Mexican line.
The Indian Wants the Bronx
Gupta, newly arrived from India to visit his son, waits for a bus to the Bronx. Two young punks, Joey and Murph, tease him; their taunts escalate into rage and violence.
The Infernal Machine
The Voice recounts the prophecy and events leading to Oedipus's marriage to his mother. Across four acts, the ghost of Laius fails to warn the soldiers, the Sphinx reveals the answer to her riddle, and Oedipus and Jocasta marry. News of Oedipus's adoption exposes his parentage; Jocasta dies by suicide and Oedipus blinds himself.
The Inheritance
The Inheritance is a play by Matthew López, inspired by the 1910 novel Howards End by E. M. Forster. The play premiered in London at the Young Vic in March 2018, before transferring to Broadway in November 2019.
The Injured Lovers
The Injured Lovers; Or, The Ambitious Father is a 1688 tragedy by the English writer William Mountfort. It was premiered by the United Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The original cast included Thomas Betterton as Rheusanes, Joseph Williams as King of Sicily, Philip Griffin as Ghinotto, William Mountfort as Dorenalus, Samuel Sandford as Old Colonel, Cave Underhill as Soldier, Thomas Jevon as Soldier, Elizabeth Barry as Princess Oryala and Anne Bracegirdle as Antelina.
The Innkeeper's Daughter
The Innkeeper's Daughter is an 1817 stage melodrama by the British writer George Soane. It was loosely based on the ballad Mary the Maid of the Inn by Robert Southey. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 7 April 1817. The original cast included Henry Gattie as Frankland, James William Wallack as Richard, Thomas Cooke as Hans Ketzler, Frances Maria Kelly as Mary and Sarah Harlowe as Marian. The music was composed by Thomas Simpson Cooke. Its Irish debut was at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 19 January 1818.
The Innocent
Autobiographical play about Tom McGrath’s psychedelic drug and heroin use in the 1960s counterculture. Its idealistic intellectual protagonist Joe Maguire, a jazz-playing underground newspaper editor, is drawn into heroin use and becomes addicted.
The Innocent Eye Test
At a Tuscan hotel, an art sale becomes entangled with a deal involving weapons-grade plutonium. A trusting Canadian dealer struggles to untangle the resulting confusion as false identities, competing agendas, and misplaced money fuel a farce.
The Innocent Mistress
Sir Charles, trapped in an unconsummated marriage to the supposedly widowed Lady Beauclair, falls for Marianne, who is hiding from a forced marriage and refuses to become his mistress. When Lady Beauclair's first husband returns, the marriage proves invalid, clearing the way for Charles and Marianne to marry; other courtships and deceptions unfold around them.
The Innocent Party
The Innocent Party is a 1938 comedy play by the British writers H.M. Harwood and Laurence Kirk. A woman has to decide whether she is needed more by her husband or her lover. It premiered at the Opera House, Manchester before transferring to the St James's Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 52 performances between 27 January and 12 March 1938. The original London cast included Basil Radford, Cecil Parker, Elizabeth Allan, Mary Ellis and Jack Lambert.
The Innocents
The Innocents is a play written by William Archibald that premiered on Broadway in 1950 and was revived in 1976. The play is based on the 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.
The Inquisitor
The Inquisitor is a 1798 play by the British writer Thomas Holcroft. It was inspired by the 1775 play Diego und Leonore by Johann August Unzer. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 23 June 1798. The original cast included James Aickin as The Patriarch, Henry Erskine Johnston as Alberto, William Barrymore as Francisco, Charles Kemble as Fernando, Robert Palmer as Lelio, Thomas Caulfield as Alguazil, Maria Theresa Kemble as Leonora, Elizabeth Heard as Violante and Sarah Harlowe as Licia.
The Insatiate Countess
In Venice, Countess Isabella quickly marries Roberto after her husband’s death, then pursues Massino and Gnaica and arranges Massino’s murder; she is condemned and receives Roberto’s forgiveness at the scaffold. In a comic subplot, two quarrelling husbands are tricked by their wives into sleeping with their own spouses while believing they have seduced each other’s wives, and are released when the deception is revealed.
The Inspector
The Inspector is a play by William Ranney Wilson. It opened at Broadway's Park Theatre on November 13, 1890. It closed on December 6, 1890. It starred Frazer Coulter in the title role.
The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow
Jennifer Marcus, a 22-year-old Chinese-born genius with obsessive-compulsive disorder and agoraphobia, wants to meet her biological mother but is afraid to leave her house. She builds a robotic replica of herself to travel across the world.
The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures
In the summer of 2007, retired longshoreman Gus Marcantonio feels defeated by the modern world. His sister, who has been living with him, gathers his three children and their partners, former partners, and companions for a family reunion in the family’s Brooklyn brownstone.
The Intergalactic Nemesis (Book One: Target Earth)
Reporter Molly Sloan and her assistant investigate an informant’s murder and uncover an alien threat that carries them into a war beyond Earth. Projected comic panels accompany three actors voicing the characters, live sound effects and piano music.
The Interlude at the Playhouse
Actor-manager Edwin Goldsmith nervously prepares to address the audience at a new theatre’s opening. His wife appeals for their patience while he delivers an interminable speech about the building and the company, then leaves irritated when the band interrupts him.
The Interlude of the Student and the Girl
In the surviving scenes, a student woos Molly, who rejects him; he then asks Mother Eloise to serve as a go-between, but she denies that she would involve herself in such affairs.
The International
The International is a play by the American playwright John Howard Lawson. It was first produced by the New Playwrights' Theatre in New York, opening on January 12 1928. Lawson directed this production, while John Dos Passos designed the sets, Edward A. Ziman composed its music, Don Oscar Becque choreographed the dances, and Helen Johnson designed the costumes.
The Intimate Strangers
The humor revolves around the complicated family relationship, which is only partially revealed during the course of the play, and the competition between Isabel and Florence. William Ames was on a vacation when he was stranded at an isolated station north of Utica, New York, by a storm that washed out a bridge and communication lines. Also stranded is Isabel Stuart. Though they noticed each other on the train, they didn't speak until marooned at the station. When the play begins, they had been at the station for ten hours, with their only company the station master's brother-in-law, who has since departed. Act I (Interior of a railway station in upstate New York. A night in April.) The Station Master enters the darkened station to find Ames sleeping on a bench. Through exposition, it appears Ames and Isabel, who is sitting on a trunk on the platform, haven't spoken for hours. Isabel shared her lunch with Ames, but the Station Master confirms there is no prospect of further food, nor any information on when the railway will resume operation. During their isolation Ames had told Isabel of his dislike for flighty young women. The more experienced Isabel found it easy to lead Ames on by feigning an older age, and eventually Ames confesses an attraction for her. But Florence arrives in a burst of energy; she had Johnnie drive her forty miles at night to pick up Isabel at the station. Naturally, she fixates on Ames, who despite his aversion to flappers, finds her fascinating. The foursome depart the station for Isabel's home. (Curtain) Act II (Living room of Isabel's farm home, the next morning.) Aunt Ellen questions Henry about everyone's whereabouts. Florence comes in from an early morning horseback ride, while Mattie announces Johnnie. Florence tries to get Ames to stay another day with a fake telegram scheme, while Isabel gives Johnnie some pointers on women. Florence maneuvers Ames into changing her slippers for tennis shoes, then leaves to play tennis with Johnnie. Isabel uses the break to buffalo Ames by showing him a lot of old family daguerrotypes and implying she knew the folks in them personally. Florence later asks Ames to put the slippers back on her. She then seizes Ames and makes him dance to music from a vocalion. But Johnnie has gotten wise, and when Isabel feigns a lame foot, he pointedly puts slippers on her feet. The scene ends as Florence whirls Ames, amazed that both he and Johnnie are so concerned about Isabel. (Curtain) Act III (Same, late afternoon to early evening.) Mattie pretends to search for the family bible for Aunt Ellen, but Isabel had given her instructions not to find it. Mattie also wipes off the year on an inscription dedicating a cabinet to Isabel on her 15th birthday. Isabel enters and spars with Aunt Ellen over the missing bible, which has all of their birthdates in it. The latter leaves after being told another bible is upstairs. Ames wanders in from searching, having been primed by Mattie about the missing bible, but not where it can be found. Mattie also obligingly leaves ajar the cabinet door with the inscription inside. Isabel resumes her limp upon Ames' entrance, eventually drawing his attention to the antique cabinet, which she claims was new when given to her. Aunt Ellen plays a waltz on the piano, to which Johnnie and Isabel dance. When Ames comes in, he sweeps Isabel away from Johnnie, as Ellen continues playing. Ames accuses Isabel of mocking him, but she points to the family bible which she had brought into the room. It is open to the page that discloses her father married his second wife at age 65, after which Isabel was born. They are joined in the waltz by Johnnie and Florence, as Ames mutters to Isabel, "You infant". (Curtain)
The Invader of His Country
The Invader of His Country, or The Fatal Resentment is a 1719 tragedy by the British writer John Dennis. It is based on Coriolanus by William Shakespeare, portraying the life of the Roman general Gaius Marcius Coriolanus. Written in the wake of the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion, it was intended by the Whig Dennis as a patriotic defence of the Hanoverian Succession by drawing parallels with Coriolanus's shift from loyal commander to rebel leader to the contemporary situation. Originally scheduled to be staged in late 1718, it was delayed for almost a year partly due to a desire not to compete with a run of Shakespeare's Coriolanus at the rival Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. When it finally opened it lasted just three nights and was not a success. The leading role of Coriolanus was played by Barton Booth with John Mills, Thomas Walker, John Corey, William Wilks and Mary Porter also in the cast. Dennis was furious with what he considered the mishandling of the play by the managers of the Drury Lane Theatre. When he published it shortly afterwards he dedicated it to the Lord Chamberlain the Duke of Newcastle who was also critical of the leadership at Drury Lane, which had supported the opposition Whigs against the Stanhope government, Dennis also made reference to both the 1717 Swedish Jacobite plot and the 1719 Rebellion in Scotland, and suggested a "conspiracy" to prevent his play's performance.
The Invention
Seven South African men attempt to devise a foolproof method of identifying race.
The Invention of Love
At the river Styx, the dead A. E. Housman recalls his life, including his studies at Oxford, his lifelong unrequited love for Moses Jackson, and his development as a Latin textual scholar. The older Housman comments on and sometimes addresses the younger characters.
The Investigation: Oratorio in 11 Cantos
A courtroom drama drawn from the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, arranged in eleven cantos that trace victims' accounts from arrival at Auschwitz through the camp's killing process. Anonymous witnesses' testimony is set against the denials of named defendants, and the action ends before verdicts are announced.
The Invisible Circus
Young, idealistic scriptwriter Brad McGee enters commercial radio and meets its staff, including jaded writer Mark Cornell. The play satirizes radio people through the clashes between their idealism, career ambitions, and workplace routines.
The Invisible Hand
Kidnapped in Pakistan by militants seeking funds for local interests, American banker Nick Bright uses his knowledge of futures trading to raise his ransom. His lessons draw him and his captors into a struggle over money, loyalty and power.
The Irish Masque at Court
For the Somerset wedding celebrations, Irish dancers travel to court to perform. They dance in Irish mantles, a footman speaks in an Irish accent, and a bard sings before the dancers reveal masque attire provided by King James and continue as his subjects.
The Irish Widow
An elderly man falls in love with his nephew's fiancée, the young Irish widow Brady. Using his control over his nephew's inheritance, he tries to end their relationship, setting off a chain of events.
The Irishman in London
The Irishman in London is a 1792 comedy play by the Irish writer and actor William Macready the Elder. A farce, it premiered as an afterpiece at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on the 21 April 1792. The original cast included George Davies Harley as Captain Seymour, Macready as Colloony, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Frost, John Henry Johnstone as Murtoch Delany, John Fawcett as Edward, Thomas Blanchard as Cymon, Isabella Mattocks as Louisa and Charlotte Chapman as Caroline. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 19 July 1792.
The Iron Chest
The Iron Chest is a melodrama. The villain is Sir Edward Mortimer, a head-keeper of the New Forest, who has been acquitted on a charge of murder some years previously. The secret of his guilt is learnt by Wilford, the hero, who is consequently hounded by Mortimer and is accused of robbery. In an old iron chest the documentary evidence of Mortimer's guilt is discovered.
The Iron Duchess
The Iron Duchess is a 1957 comedy play by the British writer William Douglas Home. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Brighton before transferring to the Fortune Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 83 performances from the 14 March to 25 June 1957. The London cast featured Richard Pearson, Ronald Squire, Olaf Pooley, David Hutcheson, William Mervyn, Geoffrey Lumsden, Gladys Henson, Athene Seyler, Jane Downs and Rosamund Greenwood.
The Island
John and Winston share a prison cell on an unnamed Island. After another day of hard labour and having been forced to run while shackled and then beaten, they return to their cell. They tend each other's wounds, share memories of times at the beach and rehearse for the prisoner-performed concert which is imminent. They are going to perform a scene from an abridged version of Antigone by Sophocles. John will play Creon and Winston will play Antigone. When he sees himself in his costume, Winston tries to pull out of playing a female role, fearing he will be humiliated. John is called to the governor's office. He returns with news that his appeal was successful and his ten-year sentence has been commuted to three years: he will be free in three months. Winston is happy for him. As they imagine what leaving prison and returning home will be like, Winston begins to unravel. He doubts why he ever made a stand against the regime, why he even exists. Having said it, he experiences a catharsis, and accepts that he must endure. The final scene is their performance of Antigone. After John-as-Creon sentences Winston-as-Antigone to be walled up in a cave for having defied him and done her duty towards her dead brother, Winston pulls off Antigone's wig and yells "Gods of Our Fathers! My Land! My Home! Time waits no longer. I go now to my living death, because I honored those things to which honour belongs". The final image is of John and Winston, chained together once more, running hard as the siren wails.
The Island Princess
Portuguese adventurer Armusia rescues the captured King of Tidore and claims Princess Quisara's promised hand. Their courtship is tested by rivalry, political intrigue, and religious demands as the Governor of Ternate turns the court against the Europeans; Quisara ultimately converts and marries Armusia.
The Isle of Dogs
A lost satirical comedy performed at the Swan Theatre in 1597 and rapidly suppressed by authorities for allegedly seditious and slanderous matter. Its surviving historical record does not establish the precise targets or plot.
The Isle of Gulls
A political satire models England and Scotland through Arcadian and Lacedemonian characters. Its ruler wastes public funds, keeps corrupt advisers and raises unworthy favorites, leaving the state in disorder.
The Italian Husband
The Italian Husband is a 1697 tragedy by the English writer Edward Ravenscroft. It was first staged by Thomas Betterton's company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London. The original cast included John Verbruggen as Frederico, Elizabeth Bowman as Alouisia, John Hodgson as Alfonso, John Thurmond as Rodrigo, Marmaduke Watson as Fidalbo and John Bowman as Haynes.
The Italian Straw Hat
On his wedding day, Fadinard's horse eats the straw hat of a married former lover. To prevent her jealous husband from discovering her tryst, she demands an identical replacement; Fadinard's search is followed by the wedding party through Paris until his uncle produces the matching hat.
The Ivory Door
In a fictional kingdom, young King Perivale and his betrothed pass through a feared ivory door and return to find themselves branded as demons; their account that the passage is ordinary threatens the people’s cherished belief in the legend.
The Jazz Singer
Jakie Rabinowitz, the son of Jewish immigrants, has launched a career as a jazz singer, performing in blackface under the name Jack Robin. His father, a cantor for an Orthodox synagogue on the East Side of Manhattan, disapproves of Jack's choices. In the first act, Jack visits on his father's 60th birthday. They argue, and Jack is thrown out. In the second act, Jack is preparing for his Broadway debut, which he expects to be a breakthrough for his career. Jack learns that father is seriously ill, but he first refuses to leave his rehearsals. In the third act, Jack visits his parents' home before his show, but his father has been taken to a hospital, where he dies. Rather than returning to the show, Jack goes to the synagogue to take his father's place for the Yom Kippur services.
The Jealous Wife
Mrs. Oakly intercepts a letter and mistakes a family elopement for her husband’s affair, while Harriet Russet resists the coercive Lord Trinket and seeks to marry Charles Oakly. The Major helps Mr. Oakly stand up to his jealous wife as the two plots resolve in reconciliation and marriage.
The Jest
A historical drama of violent rivalry in Florence during the rule of Lorenzo the Magnificent, adapted from Sem Benelli's play The Jester's Supper.
The Jester's Supper
A historical comedy of violent, cruel rivalry in Renaissance Florence during the rule of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
The Jesuit
Set in seventeenth-century Scotland, Donald Campbell's play follows Catholic priest John Ogilvie, smuggled into Protestant territory, and his imprisonment and conflict with Archbishop Spottiswoode. It also examines the reactions of the soldiers guarding him.
The Jew
Charles, a young clerk employed in the counting house of the merchant Sir Stephen Bertram is fired because his sister Eliza is romantically involved with Sir Stephen's son, Frederick (who is also Charles's best friend). Unknown to both Sir Stephen and Charles, Frederick and Eliza have already been secretly married. To help his now unemployed friend financially, Frederick seeks to borrow money from a Jewish moneylender named Sheva, who Frederick assumes is a merciless and stingy miser. Sheva is actually a very kind man and a sympathetic listener. When he realises that Charles is the son of "Don Carlos", a soldier who once rescued him from an angry mob in Cádiz, Spain, he decides to give Frederick the money to help his friend, and secretly invests money in Eliza's name to demonstrate to Sir Stephen that Eliza is a worthy wife for his son. Charles, however, is stubbornly proud and, when he learns that Frederick has secretly married his sister, he challenges his friend to a duel. Their sword fight ends quickly when Charles receives a minor cut on his wrist and, after the truth about Sheva's generous gift is revealed, everything ends happily.
The Jew of Malta
After Malta’s governor confiscates Jewish wealth to pay the Turks, merchant Barabas pursues revenge through deception and murder. His schemes shift between alliances with the Turks and Christians, until the former governor betrays him and he falls into his own trap.
The Jewess of Toledo
A tragedy based on the love affair between King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Rahel la Fermosa, a Jewish woman.
The Jews
A German-language play advocating religious tolerance and expressing sympathy for Jewish people.
The Jews' Tragedy
A Caroline historical drama about Jewish society and its defeat by the Roman forces of Vespasian and Titus, using an unusually full cast of Jewish characters rather than focusing on one or two individuals.
The Jollies
At Billy Jollie’s seventh birthday party, a magic trick goes wrong, making Billy 25 years older and his mother, Jilly, 25 years younger; his sister Polly is at the center of the children’s story.
The Journalists
Professor Oldendorf, editor of the Union newspaper, hopes to marry Ida, the daughter of retired Colonel Berg, but Berg distrusts journalists. Rival editor Blumenberg and landowner Senden manipulate the colonel into running against Oldendorf, while Bolz and Kämpe court influential elector Piepenbrink. Oldendorf wins the election; Adelheid exposes Senden's scheme and buys the Union for Bolz, whom she agrees to marry. Berg reconciles with Oldendorf, allowing him to marry Ida.
The Jubilee
A theatrical pageant with music, adapted from Garrick’s Shakespeare Pageant originally planned for the 1769 Shakespeare Jubilee at Stratford-upon-Avon.
The Judas Kiss
In London in 1895, Bosie persuades Oscar Wilde to sue Bosie's father, exposing Wilde to criminal prosecution; though he can flee, Bosie insists he stay. In Naples in 1897, after Wilde's imprisonment and exile, Wilde reunites with the selfish Bosie.
The Judith of Shimoda
After the United States threatens to bombard Shimoda in 1854, Japanese officials ask geisha Okichi to serve the American consul to protect the city. Celebrated as a patriot, Okichi later faces the collapse of her marriage, public abuse, and poverty. Brecht and Wuolijoki's adaptation frames her story through interludes in which international guests discuss its political meaning.
The Judy Monologues
A multimedia verbatim-theatre piece built from Judy Garland's recorded voice tapes for an autobiography she never completed. The original staging used three male performers and vintage Garland film clips as a tribute to her influence on gay audiences.
The Jungle
The play follows the lives of characters living in the Calais Jungle migrant camp.
The Just Assassins
In pre-revolutionary Russia, a group of Socialist Revolutionary terrorists plan to assassinate Grand Duke Sergei. Kaliayev aborts his first attempt when the Grand Duke's children are present, then carries out the assassination and faces imprisonment and execution.
The Just Vengeance
A downed airman's spirit returns to his home in Lichfield, where he learns the meaning of atonement, undergoes religious conversion and enters heaven.
The K of D, an Urban Legend
In an Ohio town during a hot August, teenager Charlotte stops speaking after her twin brother Jamie is killed by a reckless driver; she may have acquired a dangerous gift from his dying kiss. One performer portrays sixteen characters.
The Kabeiroi
Aeschylus's lost tragedy appears to have shown Jason and the Argonauts arriving on Lemnos and undergoing initiation into the Kabeiroi mystery cult.
The Kaffir Diamond
The Kaffir Diamond is an 1888 play. It had its New York City debut at the former Broadway Theatre on September 11, 1888. Though the audience provided "unbounded applause" on opening night, reviews of the play were negative, and it played unsuccessfully for only five weeks, concluding on October 13, 1888. The play was intended as a starring vehicle for Louis Aldrich. Edward J. Swartz, a Philadelphia newspaperman with the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph wrote the play, and David Belasco worked on revising it and assisted in getting the play staged.
The Kelly Gang; or the Career of the Outlaw, Ned Kelly, the Iron-clad Bushranger of Australia
An Australian melodrama about Ned Kelly and his gang defying the government. It builds toward their last stand at Glenrowan, with sensational outlaw episodes and a theatrical variety scene at the Glenrowan Hotel.
The Kentucky Cycle
The Kentucky Cycle is a series of nine one-act plays by Robert Schenkkan that explores American mythology, particularly the mythology of the West, through the intertwined histories of three fictional families struggling over a portion of land in the Cumberland Plateau. The play won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The Killer
Berenger discovers an ideal radiant city, then learns that a killer drowns people in a pool after luring them with an offer to see a picture of the colonel. After Dany is murdered, Berenger tracks down the killer and tries to dissuade him, eventually concluding that there is no hope.
The Killing of Sister George
The Killing of Sister George is a 1964 play by Frank Marcus that was later adapted into a 1968 film directed by Robert Aldrich.
The King James Bible Play
A contemporary theatre company explores the men who translated the King James Bible and the choices involved in translation.
The King Who Wouldn't
A thinly veiled satire on contemporary royalty, the comedy was considered unlikely to be staged when it appeared.
The King of Friday's Men
The story is set in 1787, in Ireland, where a young woman, Una Brehony, is rescued by an aged man, Bartley Dowd, from an Anglo-Irish landlord, Caesar French, who sought her "for the first night" before she was marry her future husband, which was disturbing and frightful. Dowd, although an elderly man, is capable of fighting with the shillelagh or wooden walking stick in the process of rescuing her. The story has twist and turns as Brehony has actually used Dowd to rescue the man she actually loves, her future husband. The play brings up the issue of claims that feudal lords had Droit du seigneur or lus primae noctis (right to the first night) from serfs in medieval Europe. Dowd beings to see himself a servant of the Christian messiah, one of the men of "The King of Friday's Men". An ancient prayer in Ireland refers to Jesus as "The King of Friday" due to his death on Good Friday.
The King of the Road
A bushranger melodrama drawing on episodes from Ben Hall’s, Frank Gardiner’s and their gangs’ careers, culminating in Hall’s death.
The King's Entertainment at Welbeck
A court masque for Charles I at Welbeck opens with personified Passions and Affections singing, then presents a dialogue between a schoolmaster and herald followed by a quintain display. A gentleman concludes by praising the King.
The King's Rival
While attending the theatre Charles II takes a fancy to one of the actresses, Frances Stewart, and pursues her. However, she is in love with the Duke of Richmond, leading to an awkward rejection. However, Nell Gwyn manages to resolve matters, leading to a happy ending.
The King's Speech
The King's Speech is a 2012 play written by David Seidler and based on the 2010 Academy Award-winning film of the same name. The play was staged at the Wyndham's Theatre on London's West End and opened on 27 March 2012 and closed on 12 May 2012.
The Kings of the Kilburn High Road
Five Irish men in their late forties or early fifties gather in a Kilburn pub for an informal wake for the sixth of their generation to die. They had emigrated to London in the early 1970s expecting to return home successful, but after decades of manual labour and drinking only one established a successful business.
The Kitchen
The staff of a café kitchen work through a busy morning.
The Kite Runner
Amir, a well-off boy in 1970s Kabul, betrays his friend Hassan during a violent attack. Years later, settled in America, Amir is called back toward Taliban-controlled Kabul by the possibility of making amends.
The Knight of Malta
On Malta, Mountferrat, a knight who has abandoned his vows, plots against Oriana after she rejects him. Forged accusations and a staged death lead to combat and attempted abduction; Miranda and Gomera expose the schemes, Oriana survives, and Mountferrat is expelled while the lovers are reunited.
The Knight of the Burning Pestle
A Citizen and his Wife interrupt a performance of The London Merchant and demand a chivalric play featuring their apprentice Rafe as a Grocer Errant. His comic adventures alternate with the interrupted play’s story of apprentice Jasper and Luce, who outwit her father’s preferred suitor and win permission to marry.
The Knights
A sausage seller challenges the demagogue Cleon for the favor of Demos, a personification of the Athenian people. After competing in boasts, political claims, and acts of flattery, the seller wins and restores Demos to his former glory.
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