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Clear filtersEugenia, the Duke’s illegitimate daughter, is offered formal recognition at court in exchange for her father’s support against a rumored republican conspiracy. Political conspirators abduct her and force her toward exile; after failed attempts to secure protection, she accepts the Advocate’s proposal and chooses to remain in her homeland.
The Natural Son is a comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Drury Lane Theatre in London in December 1784. The play is notable for the return of the popular character Major O'Flaherty from Cumberland's 1771 play The West Indian. The original Drury Lane cast included Thomas King as Jack Hustings, William Parsons as Dumps, Robert Bensley as Ruefull, John Moody as Major O'Flaherty, Sophia Baddeley as Sir Jeffrey Latimer, James Wrighten as David, John Palmer as Blushenly, Jane Pope as Miss Phoebe Latimer, Charlotte Tidswell as Penelope and Elizabeth Farren as Lady Paragon.
Two agents of God use a suburban New Jersey family to explain the universe’s nature and purpose. Eleanor, an unhappy housewife mistreated by her family and others, endures escalating trials that test the religious doctrine that she should accept her suffering.
The Naughty Wife, originally titled Losing Eloise, is a farce in 3 acts by Fred Jackson. It was adapted into the 1919 silent film Let's Elope.
A murder mystery set in a seedy Baltimore burlesque house run by a retired stripper, written as a vehicle for Divine.
Architect Willum feels indebted to Rick Steadman, the Vietnam veteran who once saved his life, and cannot refuse when Rick arrives as an intrusive houseguest. Willum’s friends try to make the unbearable guest leave, only to reveal that he is an actor recruited to teach Willum to stand up for himself and pursue Tansy.
In a near-future virtual reality network, Detective Morris investigates The Hideaway, where users enact forbidden fantasies; her interrogation of its creator raises questions about attachment and ethical responsibility in virtual and physical worlds.
After merchant Matchill disowns his spendthrift half-brother Strigood, Strigood recruits Matchill’s apprentice Cash and the merchant’s displaced daughter Gabriella into a sham academy teaching fashionable accomplishments. The scheme entangles two families in mistaken identities, attempted exploitation and cross-generational marriage plots before their children’s true identities are revealed and couples are properly matched.
At the Light Heart inn, Lord Lovel's description of love wins Lady Frampul's affection. A mock court of love and mistaken identities bring secret romances and a series of revelations: the adopted son Franck is a woman, Lady Frampul's lost sister, and the innkeeper is their father in disguise.
The New Peerage is a 1787 comedy play by the British writer Harriet Lee. The original cast included Thomas King as Mr Vandercrap, John Bannister as Lord Melville, Richard Suett as Sir John Lovelace, John Hayman Packer as Medley, John Phillimore as Allen, Richard Wroughton as Charles, Anna Maria Crouch as Miss Harley and Elizabeth Farren as Lady Charlotte Courteney. The prologue was written by Richard Cumberland.
A new tenant directs two movers as they bring furniture into his room without end. The accumulating furniture becomes an overwhelming stage image, while the caretaker speaks with the tenant.
After Maud leaves him, Jeffery Rollestone becomes a vagabond and later reunites with his old school friend Gerard. Though he and Maud still love each other, Jeffery tries to help Gerard marry her for the family’s financial security. A stolen love letter and mistaken assumptions complicate their sacrifice before Jeffery and Maud are reunited.
At Worms, Siegfried agrees to win Brunhild for King Gunther in exchange for marrying Gunther's sister Kriemhild. When the pact is broken, Hagen murders Siegfried, and Kriemhild pursues revenge against Hagen, Gunther and the Nibelungs.
Three plays follow May and Raleigh, a young Kentucky couple whose relationship develops from their 1940 meeting through marriage and family life in 1950s Florida.
At the Duke of Genoa’s court, the hypersensitive Shamont becomes jealous of his brother and is insulted by the Duke, while the Duke’s volatile cousin has seduced a young woman without marrying her. A plan involving her disguise as Cupid, a swordfight, and Shamont’s return drives the intertwined comic plots toward reconciliation and marriage.
The Nigger is a play by American playwright Edward Sheldon (1886–1946). It explores the relationship between blacks and whites in the melodrama of a politician faced with a sudden, personal dilemma. The play was first performed on Broadway in New York City at the New Theatre on December 4, 1909. The play was adapted to a novel, and a film adaptation, directed by Edgar Lewis and starring William Farnum, was made in 1915. Because the title was controversial, the film was released in some markets as The Governor or The New Governor.
A white professor risks his life for social justice, then is schooled by Freckles and Creampuff, two African Americans.
In a cluttered Dublin bedsit, fifty-something Tommy scrapes by with his friend Doc and his uncle Maurice. After Tommy rescues Aimee, a young sex worker, from a street beating, she stays in the house and forms tentative bonds with its men; her ex-boyfriend Kenneth soon arrives looking for her.
Across linked autobiographical stories, a gay performer recalls coming of age, desire, and the AIDS crisis: seeing The Normal Heart at 22 sparks his activism, while a later vigil honors those lost and imagines a future of open queer life.
A celebrated embalmer returns to her hometown after her mother’s death and reunites with her three brothers. An unexpected bequest reopens the family’s memories of a night involving her childhood neighbour Logan and the secret that has shaped their lives.
In a non-linear portrait of Thoreau's early life, he refuses a poll tax tied to the Mexican-American War and lands in jail, where he meets Bailey, a man falsely accused of arson. The play also recalls Thoreau's teaching, his brother's death, and his efforts to live by his beliefs in civil disobedience and nonconformity.
To escape a marriage imposed on her, Maria pretends to be dead after being caught with her lover. A thief and his disguised apprentice accidentally steal her coffin, while the apprentice’s frightening tricks expose the greedy Justice Algrip’s past, undo the marriage and restore the other characters’ fortunes.
After the September 11 attacks and American intervention in Afghanistan, an Afghan widow tries to reopen her husband's school.
Tour guide and defrocked Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon brings a group of women to a hotel in coastal Mexico, where he is drawn into a fraught relationship with the hotelkeeper Maxine and the traveling artist Hannah Jelkes. Hannah and Shannon form the play's central human bond amid emotional turmoil and the hotel guests' conflicts.
Leona will date men for only ninety days. She chooses Danny without knowing he is a private investigator hired to investigate her mother, Judith.
The Ninth Man is a 1931 thriller play in three acts by Frederick Jackson. A crime drama, the plot focuses on a gang of opium dealers in New York City.
Maggie runs an outback pub with her hapless husband, but begins a romance with travelling commercial salesman Joe.
A French gentleman, Mount-Marine, is fooled by his sensible wife and friends into believing that the king promotes him rapidly from knight to duke, while his wealth collapses just as quickly. Meanwhile, Chatillion imagines himself a claimant to the French throne and believes himself surrounded by dangers.
After the Spanish king repudiates Onaelia and their son to marry Paulina, the soldier Balthazar tries to make him restore Onaelia. Court factions plot against her and the child, but the conspiracies unravel at a wedding banquet, where the king dies and leaves the crown to Sebastian.
The Nobleman is a 1736 comedy play by Elizabeth Cooper. It premiered at the Haymarket Theatre, and is also known by the longer title The Nobleman, or, The Family Quarrel.
The Non-Juror is a 1717 comedy play by the British writer Colley Cibber. It is inspired by Molière's 1664 work Tartuffe. The original Drury Lane Theatre cast featured John Mills as Sir John Woodvil, Barton Booth as Colonel Woodvil, Robert Wilks as Hearty, Cibber himself as Doctor Wolf, Thomas Walker as Charles, Mary Porter as Lady Woodvil and Anne Oldfield as Maria. Produced three years after the Hanoverian Succession and two after the outbreak of the 1715 Rebellion, the play was sharply critical of Jacobites and their Tory allies. It mockingly exaggerated the position of those who refused to swear allegiance to George I. Cibber himself played the title role of Doctor Wolf, a nonjuring Church of England clergyman who claims that "a Protestant Church can never be secure, till it has a Popish Prince to defend it". The play was a hit, and George I himself commended Cibber with a reward of two hundred pounds. The anti-Catholic tone of the work offended Alexander Pope, himself a nonjuring Catholic, who lamented "the great success of so damn'd a play". It contributed to the growing rivalry between the two writers. The prologue by Nicholas Rowe contained jibes against Catholics currently buying up property in Urbino, the Italian residence of the Jacobite pretender James III. When it was published in 1718, Cibber dedicated the play to King George. In 1768 a rewritten version The Hypocrite by Isaac Bickerstaffe appeared at Drury Lane. This removed many of the political caricatures of Cibber's play which had by now lost their relevance in the changed context, and the principal character was changed to be a Methodist.
Act I (Governor Bancroft's official residence, evening) Nickie Elkins has been condemned for the murder of bootlegger Buck Gordon. He offered no defense or explanation for his action, even to his attorney Bill Chase. Chase, with the assistance of Stella Bancroft who is strangely moved by the young man's plight, persuades the Governor to see Elkins. Chase hopes the youthful appearance of his client will move the Governor to pardon him. Craig escorts Warden Hughes and Elkins into the Governor's office. There Chase recounts the boy's background: no known parents, raised by criminals including Buck Gordon, he'd recently gotten a bank clerk's position. Stella tries to encourage the boy to talk, but he merely asks her not to worry about him. He covertly hands her a sealed letter. To the others, Elkins doesn't deny the killing, but will only say "the man was no good". Warden Hughes then returns Elkins to the nearby state prison. Act II (The Back Stall Night Club, two months earlier, evening. This flashback is only for the audience, there is no suggestion characters from Act I are aware of it.) The bootlegging gang operates out of the night club. Elkins is seen associating there with other members of the gang, such as Buck Gordon and Come-On Conley. Phyllis is at the night club with Mrs. Anderson. Elkins knows her, and they have a mutual interest in each other. The night club's chorus girls do a dance number. Dot is in love with Elkins, but accepts that he only feels friendship for her. Elkins sneaks Phyllis into the back office where they confess their love and kiss. Dot warns them that Buck is coming and escorts Phyllis back to Mrs. Anderson. Elkins tells Buck he's leaving the gang. Buck becomes enraged; he reveals to Elkins that he is his father. His mother is a woman whose politically well-connected husband will have to help him beat an indictment or he'll make the old liaison public. Elkins draws his gun and shoots Buck dead. Act III (Same place and time as Act I) The Governor has still not made up his mind about Elkins' fate. As the Governor ponders his decision, a telephone call is made to the state prison, cancelling the execution by order of the Governor. The Governor is puzzled, and so is the audience, for the playwright never explains what happened. Craig then lets Dot into the office, where she pleads to be allowed Elkins' body, since he has no relatives. The Governor discerns her love and tells her Elkins is still alive. He arranges for Dot to see him. Hughes brings Elkins back to the Governor's office, where Stella hands him back his envelope, still sealed. They depart and the Governor asks his wife for something to eat. (Curtain)
During the early AIDS epidemic in New York, activist Ned Weeks tries to organize a response while the illness remains poorly understood and public attention is limited. His confrontational style clashes with cautious fellow activists, and the group expels him. As his lover Felix becomes ill and dies, Ned's estrangement from his brother Ben begins to heal.
An authored trilogy follows the same six characters through one weekend in three parts of a house: Table Manners in the dining room, Living Together in the living room, and Round and Round the Garden outdoors. Annie's hoped-for weekend with her sister's husband Norman becomes a farcical gathering involving family and neighbors.
The Northern Heiress is a 1716 comedy by the Irish-born writer Mary Davys. Its fuller title is The Northern Heiress, or, The Humours of York. The play satirizes the contemporary marriage market. It was dedicated to Princess Anne, daughter of George, Prince of Wales. Because of this it has been inferred that Davys was a strong Whig supporter of the Hanoverian Succession. However, the dedication may have been the attempt of a struggling author to try to secure patronage in the wake of the recent Jacobite rebellion. The original cast featured John Leigh as Gamont, Christopher Bullock as Welby, William Bullock as Sir Loobily Joddrell, Sarah Thurmond as Isabella, Jane Rogers as Louisa, Mary Kent as Lady Cardivant and Frances Maria Knight as Lady Ample.
Sir Philip Luckless mistakenly believes a letter from the northern Constance is from his former lover and marries wealthy widow Audrey Fitchow. Intrigue, disguises and a wedding masque expose the confusion and lead to a divorce, the proper match between Luckless and Constance, and comic pairings for the other characters.
The Note of Hand, or Trip to Newmarket is a 1774 comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. A farce it was the final play performed by David Garrick at the Drury Lane Theatre in London before his retirement. The Irish premiere took place at the Capel Street Theatre in Dublin on 10 March 1774. The original London cast included John Palmer as Revell, Samuel Cautherley as Rivers, Thomas Jefferson as Elder Rivers, John Moody as O'Connor MacCormuck, William Palmer as Francis, James William Dodd as Sapling, James Wrighten as Putty and Susan Greville as Mrs Cheveley. It is set against the backdrop of Newmarket Racecourse. The play mocked some of the leading Whig politicians of the era such as Charles Fox and the Duke of Devonshire. This may have been the cause of Cumberland's dispute with Richard Brinsley Sheridan who was a Whig. Sheridan went on to create a comedy character Sir Fretful Plagiary closely based on Cumberland in the 1779 play The Critic.
An aspiring writer presents his new play at his uncle’s country estate and faces his actress mother’s contempt. His love for Nina is frustrated as she becomes drawn to the established writer Trigorin.
Agnes, a 33-year-old widow, is staying in Venice with Lucas, to whom she is not married, though the servants and her friend Gertrude have assumed so. Lucas was a rising young Conservative politician who abandoned his wife and career for Agnes. They met when she was sent to Italy to nurse him through a bout of malaria contracted in Rome. She had been married unhappily, and after her husband died became a prominent radical lecturer, and then a nurse to earn a living. Lucas was also unhappy in his marriage and they fell in love. Now they (or at least she) envision a future of writing passionate essays against marriage, lecturing and campaigning. His relatives do not accept his decision. His uncle, the Duke, comes to Venice to "arrange" matters. He suggests a sham reconciliation between Lucas and his wife, and for Agnes, "The suburban villa, the little garden, a couple of discreet servants—everything à la mode." Agnes sneers at this, of course, but is horrified to discover that Lucas actually considers it. She reluctantly agrees. Gertrude, though shocked by Agnes' open "immorality", has come to appreciate her philosophy. She now urges Agnes to reject this hypocritical arrangement, and instead to come with her and Amos to their home in Yorkshire. Amos also appeals to her, urging her to pray for guidance. Agnes agrees to go with them. Lucas now rejects the Duke's proposal, and the Duke asks Gertrude and Amos to stop interfering. Sybil Lucas now appears. She confronts Agnes, and bizarrely asks her to return to Lucas and get him to return to London. She despises Lucas, but she loved him once, and doesn't want to see him "utterly wasted". She implies that her apparent reconciliation with Lucas would relieve her of a great humiliation, even though he made her as miserable as Agnes' husband did her. Agnes breaks down and agrees. However, Gertrude intervenes, fearing that this path will corrupt and destroy Agnes. Sybil breaks down and repudiates the deal. Lucas makes a last effort to join with Agnes, and resume their "free love" life, but Agnes has had enough; she thought she was a leader, a moral example, who would show the world "how men and woman may live independent and noble lives without rule, guidance or sacrament", but she proved weak and corruptible. She feels that she cannot sit in judgment of Sybil any longer; she will go with Amos and Gertrude; and she urges Lucas to learn to pray.
In Venice, two young couples seek to escape arranged marriages. Fabritio’s search for Victoria intersects with the courtesan Novella’s disguise, while Flavia and Francisco plot to elope; servants and senators’ schemes culminate in a maze of mistaken identities and the couples’ reunions.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a 2019 play based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman and adapted for the stage by Joel Horwood.
The Octette Bridge Club is a play by P.J. Barry. Set in Providence, Rhode Island, it focuses on eight sisters of Irish descent who meet on alternate Friday evenings to play bridge and gossip. The first act, which opens with the women posing for a photograph for the Sunday rotogravure section of the local newspaper, takes place in October 1934, and the second act is set just prior to Halloween ten years later. Ann Conroy, married to a man who drinks too much, is a no-nonsense schoolteacher who hosts the bridge nights. Martha McDermitt, the widowed eldest sister, is known for her sense of responsibility and stern personality. Mary Margaret Donovan is a spinster who lives with younger sister Alice Monahan and her husband Walter, who have no children. In the second act, Mary Margaret uses a wheelchair and has a slight speech impediment due to a stroke. Nora Hiller is an easy-going woman devoted to her husband Lawrence and their children. Connie Emerson is always quick with a wisecrack. Lil Carmody is a free spirit who plays piano, and Betsy Bailey is the youngest, a melancholy married woman with two children who is struggling to find her own identity. The play premiered at the Humana Festival of New American Plays, an annual event presented by the Actors Theatre of Louisville, in 1984. The Broadway production, directed by Tom Moore, opened at the Music Box Theatre on March 5, 1985 following eight previews and closed after 24 performances. The cast included Elizabeth Huddle as Ann, Anne Pitoniak as Martha, Bette Henritze as Mary Margaret, Lois De Banzie as Alice, Elizabeth Franz as Nora, Nancy Marchand as Connie, Peggy Cass as Lil, and Gisela Caldwell as Betsy. In his review for The New York Times, Frank Rich observed, "This synthetic play... has not so much been written as mechanically mapped out according to an open-and-shut formula. The exposition of each character's one or two stereotypical traits is accomplished by the photographer's rapid-fire journalistic questions in the opening scene; then the author slowly rolls out the skeleton in each sister's closet. Complexities of emotion and dramatic structure are neatly avoided by keeping all the menfolk offstage... Although the evening runs less than two hours, most of it is padding designed to space out the delayed plot revelations. There is plenty of gratuitous nostalgia... as well as an extremely tedious intrafamily talent contest performed after intermission." Pitoniak and Marchand were nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play but lost to Judith Ivey in Hurlyburly. John Lee Beatty was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design but lost to Heidi Ettinger for Big River. Carrie Robbins was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design but lost to Alexander Reid for Much Ado About Nothing.
On a Louisiana plantation facing foreclosure, George Peyton loves Zoe, his enslaved mixed-race cousin, but law and slavery prevent their marriage. Debt-holder McClosky seeks to own Zoe and murders a young enslaved boy; photographic evidence exposes him. After McClosky’s escape and death, Zoe takes poison, unable to imagine a life with George.
The Odd Couple is a play by Neil Simon. Following its premiere on Broadway in 1965, the characters were revived in a successful 1968 film and 1970s television series, as well as several other derivative works and spin-offs. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates: the neat, uptight Felix Ungar and the slovenly, easygoing Oscar Madison. Simon adapted the play in 1985 to feature a pair of female roommates (Florence Ungar and Olive Madison) in The Female Odd Couple. An updated version of the 1965 show appeared in 2002 with the title Oscar and Felix: A New Look at the Odd Couple.
A merchant and his apprentice advertise dubious ointments to three women named Mary seeking balm for Jesus. The merchant stages a mock resurrection for Abraham’s son in exchange for payment, while quarrels erupt among the merchant, his wife, and the assistant.
Heartwell, a misanthropic bachelor, falls for Silvia without knowing she was Vainlove’s mistress and agrees to marry her. Bellmour, disguised as a parson, makes the marriage a pretence while pursuing Laetitia; meanwhile the foolish Sir Joseph Wittol is truly married to Silvia under a mistaken belief about her identity.
Hilary, a former English spy living in exile in Russia, receives visits from two English couples who discuss England, friendship, art, and his life in Russia. One visitor tries to persuade him to return, and a prisoner exchange enables his departure.
Father Martin tries to manipulate Jourdain into seducing his own daughter Isabel, who intends to marry Young Laroon. Others exploit Jourdain's guilt through disguises, while Isabel recognizes Martin's intentions and sets a trap to expose him.
In a prison cell, an experienced inmate uses intoxicating prison brew to seduce a newcomer, while an older prisoner tries to protect the young man.
This trilogy of dramatic pieces explores political conflict and violence in American history: Endecott and the Red Cross depicts a Puritan leader confronting the royalist settlement at Merrymount; My Kinsman, Major Molineux follows two youths seeking their British cousin in revolutionary Boston; Benito Cereno recounts an American captain’s discovery that enslaved people have taken control of a Spanish ship.
Between rural New Hampshire and New York City, family ties are tested when sons leave home and fall into drinking. Repentance and reunion offer a way back to the security of home.
Mrs. Dowey pretends to her fellow charwomen that she has a son serving in the army, using a name she saw in a newspaper. When Private Kenneth Dowey returns on leave, his lack of family and her invented motherhood draw the lonely soldier and charwoman into a tender bond.
In Epire, a duke imposes a law sentencing men over eighty and women over sixty to death. The law exposes greed and virtue in two families: one son welcomes his inheritance, while another fakes his father's death to save him. The trial reveals the law as a test of character and the supposed victims alive.
The play as published has a program facsimile from the premiere that shows a different timeline from later programs, though the time intervals between scenes are the same. Charlotte stops them and sends them home. Bridget takes Tina away for her supper, while Charlotte offers Jennie Meade work in the day-nursery since she has been dismissed from her position. Dr. Lanskell arrives, bringing Mrs. Mingott, just arrived from Paris. Delia, James, and Joseph arrive as well. Mrs. Mingott asks to see Charlotte's waifs, but only Tina remains. Tina is shy, responding only to Delia, which alarms Charlotte. After the others leave, Joseph tries to persuade Charlotte to leave running the day-nursery to someone else. He is afraid for her health, remembering she spent a year in the South to recoup from illness. Act II Later that same evening in the drawing room at Delia Ralston's home, Charlotte tells Delia the wedding is off because Joseph wants to separate her from the day-nursery. She confesses that Clementina is her own daughter. Delia is sympathetic until she learns that Clem Spender is the father. Charlotte pleads for her help, but Delia says she will do what she thinks best. She sends Charlotte away, then joins Dr. Lanskell, Mrs. Mingott, James, and Joseph. She tells them that Charlotte cannot marry Joseph because her illness has returned. Joseph is distraught, but James persuades him it is for the best. When the others leave, Dr. Lanskell confronts Delia with her lie. She says she'll adopt Tina, but the doctor persuades her not to separate Charlotte and Tina. Instead, Delia will convince her husband to buy a house for Chatty and Tina to live together. Act III The first scene occurs in 1853, again at the Ralston drawing-room. James Ralston died twelve years previously, so Charlotte and Tina now live with Delia, whose own daughter Dee is married to John Halsey. Delia, Dee, Tina, John, and Lanning Halsey are singing in the parlor (off-stage). Dr. Lanskell sits with Charlotte, who complains Delia is spoiling Tina. Tina still has no idea that Charlotte is her real mother, which is how Charlotte wants it. When the others join them in the drawing-room (on stage), Charlotte scolds Tina for being late to a party, but Tina and Lanning poke fun at her severity. The second scene opens later that evening, with just Delia and Charlotte. Charlotte confronts her cousin over the romance between Tina and Lanning, which Delia is encouraging. The two women argue forcefully over the past and what's best for Tina. Delia finally begins to comprehend Charlotte's true concern for her daughter. The final scene occurs in June 1854, the night before Tina's marriage to Lanning Halsey. Delia tells Tina, that after the ceremony, be sure to kiss Charlotte the last of all, before she enters the carriage to depart for her honeymoon. Tina is startled at the request; she seems to be wondering about her old maid Aunt Chatty. But she promises Delia to do so as the play ends.
A philosophical drama opposing humanism to the joy of tormenting.
The Old Man is a 1931 mystery play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. Its original production was staged at Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End for a ninety performance run. It is set entirely in the "Coat of Arms" tavern where a mysterious old man lurks in the background, reputedly an escapee from a lunatic asylum. The original cast included Alfred Drayton, Jack Melford, Harold Warrender and Finlay Currie.
The company of storytellers perform "Song from the Stone" to greet the audience. Matheson, the play's narrator, offers to the audience the tale of why the Moon changes shape: there once was an Old Man whose job it was to fill the moon with liquid light. He lived a peaceful life with his wife, but they had lived so long they forgot why they needed to fill the moon. One day, the Old Woman hears a mysterious melody she associates with their forgotten past, and runs away to find its source. The Old Man chases after her ("The Rain Will Fall"). Learning she is heading west in a boat, the Old Man fails to charter a boat: the shop owner gives him the hat of his clerk Mickey, despite Mickey's protests that the hat belonged to his grandfather. The Old Man manages to board a warship when he is mistaken for the legendary First Naval Lieutenant Pericles Llewellyn McWallander by the ship's quartermaster Llewellyn, due to the hat ("The Sailor's Anthem"). However, the ship is actually headed south for war. He soon notices that, due to abandoning his duty, the moon is continuing to lose its light. Matheson, who is also the ship's first mate, tells the crew the tale of Pericles Llewellyn McWallander, claiming he sailed west in search of a mysterious city at the end of the world, and was last seen at the port of Malefria, before his crew allegedly mutinied and threw him overboard. Continuing his charade, the Old Man proposes the crew follow him to the infamous city, but they are interrupted when a rebel ship attacks, and their captain is killed in the skirmish ("The Rain Will Fall (Reprise)"). Facing either certain death in war or returning home to be charged with desertion, the Old Man proposes a third option: they head west in search of the city. At first lying about what is there, the Old Man is struck by a strange memory and tells them that the city is filled with light. He rallies the crew and they sail westward ("Sail for Love"), but encounter several obstacles that cause the crew to lose faith in him, and grow concerned at the fact the moon is continuing to lose its light. Matheson privately reveals to the Old Man he knows he is lying and warns him not to take his crew for granted like McWallander. At the port of Malefria, the Old Man encounters two men who recognize his hat, revealing they were part of McWallander's mutinous crew. He learns they recently met his wife, who has continued west. The Old Man forces the crew to re-board the ship, and ends up sailing them straight through a field of volcanoes, severely damaging the ship and leading the ship's cook to flee ("Sail for Love (Reprise)"). The crew finally confront the Old Man, and Matheson finally reveals he is not McWallander, having himself served as McWallander's cabin boy as a child. Just as the crew is ready to throw the Old Man overboard, the moon finally loses all of its light and a sudden storm destroys the ship, sending everyone into the sea. As the Old Man sinks ("Just Like the Sea") he is swallowed by a giant fish. Awakening in its stomach, he encounters a strange man named Perry, who claims to have been swallowed by the fish a long time ago and has given up hope of rescue ("Prison Fish Interlude #1"). Perry reveals he ended up in the fish while he was on a quest to find the city of the light, only to be thrown overboard by his crew ("Prison Fish Interlude #2"). The Old Man finally realizes they can tear the fish apart from the inside by pulling at two ends of a particular bone, something he learned from his wife. Perry initially refuses to help, revealing to the stunned Old Man he is actually a ghost, and he has nothing to go home to. Realizing Perry is the real Pericles Llewellyn McWallander, the Old Man reveals he got his hat from Perry's grandson Mickey, and convinces Perry there are people still out there waiting for him. Perry elects to help the Old Man, but knowing he cannot really return home, he gives the Old Man the hat and instructs him to bring it back to his grandson ("Prison Fish Interlude #3"). After destroying the fish, the Old Man awakens alone on a deserted island. He encounters a dog―which once belonged to Mabelu, a member of the ship's crew. With the dog's help, the Old Man builds a raft that they use to sail away. The water around them dissolves into vapor, until they are left in a desert ("I Crash"). Continuing on but lacking drinking water, the Old Man passes out after drinking the moisture from a psychedelic weed. He and the dog are picked up in a hot air balloon flown by Solomon and Bartley Montgolfier, two scientists studying the change in weather since the moon ran out of light. They encounter the rest of the Old Man's former crew and pick them up, but the added weight causes the balloon to spin out of control. The Old Man leaps out in order to save weight. He lands in what he realizes is the city of the light, unearthed due to the disappearance of the ocean, and his memories of the past finally come back: he was once a resident of the city, which tapped into a well spring of liquid light. But the residents' use of the light brought on a massive thunderstorm, flooding the city. The Old Man saved a bucket of light but was nearly swept away himself, saved at the last second by a young woman. The two decided to keep it safe by hanging it in the sky from a lantern, which became the moon, and was able to calm the storm. The two decided to go exploring the world after saving the light, only to notice there was a leak in the lantern, and so they elected to stay so the Old Man could keep refilling it. The Old Man climbs the cliffs with a bucket of liquid light and refills the moon ("Bremen"). Realizing he has gone so far around the world he has made it back home, he goes to his house to find his wife waiting for him, and the two decide to go exploring as they pledged to years ago. Before they leave, the Old Man reunites with Llewellyn, who reveals the entire crew made it home safely as well. The Old Man convinces Llewellyn to take up his old duty of refilling the moon, but assures him it is alright for the moon to not always be full. He also gives Llewellyn the hat, telling him to return it to Mickey, before boarding a boat with the Old Woman and sailing off to parts unknown.
The play opens on the garden of Villa I Tatti near Florence. The famous art critic Bernard Berenson, referred to as ‘BB’, is fearful of the rising power of Mussolini, who he refers to as ‘the Duck’, and increasingly anxious about the state of his finances. His wife, Mary, is in poor health while he continues having an affair with his secretary, Nicky. Duveen's assistant Fowles arrives to deliver a copy of a painting, and to tell Berenson that Duveen would like him to reconsider his attribution of a painting, The Adoration of the Shepherds. Berenson has already declared it to be by Titian, but Duveen would like him to change his mind and attribute it to Giorgione, and so increase its value considerably. Duveen is keen to sell the painting to the art collector, Mellon. Other art critics have already decided it is a Giorgione, but Berenson, whose reputation is pre-eminent, refuses to change his mind. Fowles leaves. Later that evening Duveen arrives, unannounced, to convince Berenson to change his mind in person. From there the intense and turbulent nature of their long working relationship unfolds.
The Old Mode and the New is a 1703 comedy play by the English writer Thomas d'Urfey. The original Drury Lane cast included Benjamin Johnson as Sir Fumbler Oldmode, Robert Wilks as Frederick, John Mills as William Queenlove, William Bowen as Monsieur de Pistole, Colley Cibber as Tom Pistole, William Pinkethman as Misterious Maggothead, Richard Cross as Major Bombard, William Bullock as Abram, Henrietta Moore as Lady Oldmode, Frances Maria Knight as Probleme and Anne Oldfield as Lucia. The play was dedicated to Duke of Richmond, a son of Charles II.
In three linked playlets, middle-aged Bobby Gould returns to Chicago and revisits old relationships: two school friends argue over their shared past, siblings confront the effects of their parents’ divorce, and Bobby reconnects with a former love while his marriage falters.
Retired garage owner Clem Hawley laments Prohibition but rallies to help his family when his son Clemmie embezzles money and loses Matilda’s stock investment. Clem confronts the corrupt banker Webster and helps restore the family’s finances while keeping his son’s wrongdoing from them.
Two elderly Dubliners, Gorman and Cream, meet in the street and struggle to sustain a conversation as they dispute details of their pasts, family histories, and a changing world. Street noise repeatedly interrupts them, and Gorman's barrel organ closes the play.
Three young men lost in the woods take shelter with a blacksmith and his wife, whose fairy tale comes to life as a play within the play. Peele turns romantic and fairy-tale conventions into an ironic, fantastical comic romance.
Colonel Kinkaid, a wheelchair-bound veteran, resists plans to celebrate him as his military academy’s oldest living graduate. His son hopes to turn the occasion into publicity and a property deal, bringing their conflicting values into open confrontation.
On Anzac Day, Hughie and his girlfriend Jan plan to document the drinking for their university newspaper. Hughie refuses to attend the dawn service with his ex-serviceman father, Alf, then watches the march on television, torn between anger at the display and love for his father.
After her 17-year-old son is injured in the Tel Aviv gay-centre shooting, a Modern Orthodox mother learns that he is gay and pressures him to undergo conversion therapy, while his father accepts him.
Fran, who lives just off the Las Vegas Strip, takes home Joe, who is a near compulsive gambler, and they decided to live together, no strings attached. He finds out that she is waiting for Thomas to return. Fran has a decision to make, does she stay and leave with Joe or leave with Thomas?
A dramatic episode includes a woman fighting with an unbalanced woman and then committing suicide in a club; the work began as a vaudeville sketch before being reworked into a three-act drama.
A husband persuades his suicidal wife that an open marriage is politically correct, then pursues younger women. When she decides to live independently and falls for another man, her husband becomes suicidal instead.
Aurelio, visiting Urbino, is mistaken for the banished Borgia and lets the confusion continue. He falls for Cornelia, Borgia’s sister, while Ursini also seeks her and the Duchess becomes enamored of Aurelio. A balcony scene of mistaken identities and overheard conversation deepens the confusion until Cornelia admits the deception; further mix-ups resolve in the Duchess marrying the Duke of Ferrara and Cornelia marrying Ursini, while Aurelio leaves.
The Orchard Walls is a play by the British writer R.F. Delderfield. A drama, it examines the relationship between the daughter of wealthy parents and the car mechanic with whom she falls in love and attempts to elope with. It was first staged at Aldershot in October 1953 and later moved to the St Martin's Theatre in London.
In four surviving fragments, official Barsukov pursues his dream of receiving the Order of Vladimir. His ambition leads through a morning of official business, an inheritance lawsuit, servants' quarters, and another fragment; a reported lost scene has him mistake himself for the decoration.
As Antonin Scalia interviews and hires Cat, a liberal law-school graduate, as his clerk, their clashes over law and politics gradually give way to mutual understanding. Personal crises challenge their assumptions about one another and their differing views.
The Orphan of China is a 1759 tragedy by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy, based on the traditional Chinese play The Orphan of Zhao with the setting moved forwards from the twelfth to the seventeenth century. Although his work, written from 1756, was on a similar topic to Voltaire's play L'Orphelin de la Chine, Murphy asserted that he had written his before he became aware of Voltaire's adaptation. Substantial rewrites took place, including with assistance from Horace Walpole and William Whitehead before Garrick was satisfied and ready to stage it. The original Drury Lane cast included David Garrick as Zamti, Henry Mossop as Etan, Charles Holland as Hamet, Astley Bransby as Octar, William Havard as Timurkan and Mary Ann Yates as Mandane. In his preface to the play Murphy criticised Voltaire for adding a romance to his version to play. The play was met with "great applause" and ran for nine performances in total and was revived a number of times over the next two decades.
James Fenton adapts the Zhao family revenge tragedy for the stage, in an RSC production that includes four additional songs written by Fenton.
At Acasto's country home, twin brothers Castalio and Polydore both love their ward Monimia. Polydore gains access to Monimia's chamber by using Castalio's wedding-night signal, setting off a chain of mistaken identity, a fatal duel, and the deaths of all three.
Horton Foote’s theatrical cycle comprises three plays, each made of three one-act plays, following Horace Robedaux from 1902 through 1928 and the Depression’s beginning. Across three generations of Texas families, the cycle traces his childhood, marriage and family life.
Juliana is fifty two years old and a brilliant drug-company scientist. She is giving a speech to a neurological convention. As she speaks we cut away to scenes with her doctor, phone calls from her estranged daughter, and arguments with her husband who may or may not be divorcing her. Through it all she constantly refers to "the other place", a cottage on Cape Cod that the family once owned, and a place where Juliana feels she may reunite with her missing daughter and find some peace of mind. Juliana becomes argumentative with everyone around her and appears increasingly confused. The phone calls from the missing daughter may be a delusion. Juliana believes that she has a brain tumor and says that her mother and other relatives all died of brain tumors at an early age. Eventually Juliana actually visits the other place and encounters the current owner whom she mistakenly believes to be her daughter. The woman is initially hostile and has problems of her own. But soon the two women find mutual comfort as Juliana's husband arrives to take her home. In a poignant closing monologue she finally confronts what is really going on.
Set on a deliberately non-existent 'other shore,' the experimental play turns the Buddhist image of reaching enlightenment into an unrealized pursuit. It can be staged in many kinds of spaces, with actors among the audience or the audience among the actors.
Bulgarian emigrants in Wallachia live in poverty while seeking the means to fight for Bulgaria's liberation from Ottoman rule.
In medieval Iceland, Gunlöd loves Gunnar, a Christian who returns from the Crusades and asks her to leave for Sweden. Her pagan father Thorfinn returns during a storm, learns that she is Christian, and is then told he has been banished for theft and murder. He fights his accusers, dies of his wounds, and in his final moments accepts Christianity and blesses Gunlöd and Gunnar’s union.
At an abandoned life-saving station in Provincetown, Mrs. Patrick and Allie Mayo have withdrawn from the world after painful losses. When rescuers bring a drowned man to the place, their repeated rescue work prompts Allie to try to save Mrs. Patrick from her chosen isolation.
The Outsider is a play by the British writer Dorothy Brandon. It portrays the struggle of an unorthodox medical practitioner to gain acceptance by the medical establishment. It was subsequently revised to show the unconventional triumphing over the conventional, whereas the play had originally had the opposite ending. It premiered at the Pleasure Gardens Theatre in Folkestone in April 1923, before transferring to the St James's Theatre for a West End run lasting for 107 performances between May and September the same year. The cast included Leslie Faber, Charles Kenyon and Isobel Elsom. A New York run in 1924 played at the 49th Street Theatre, produced by William Harris Jr. The cast included Lionel Atwill as Anton, Katharine Cornell as Lalage, Fernanda Eliscu as Madame Klost, Whitford Kane as Frederick and Pat Somerset as Basil. It has had a number of revivals. In 1931 a run at London's Apollo Theatre lasted for 66 performances. The cast featured Harold Huth in the title role along with Annie Esmond and Sebastian Shaw. Isobel Elsom reprised her role from the original production.
A clerk’s life revolves around the acquisition and loss of a new coat. Without spoken dialogue, movement and music depict a rigid social world in which a small gain in status can be abruptly taken away.
A Black girl dreams of establishing her heritage and imagines seeking permission to bury her father in Westminster Cathedral. Historical figures challenge the possibility of her claiming that lineage as she recounts that her white father was a family employer and her mother his cook.
A satire, the work depicts a naive student of Oxford University travelling south to London where he becomes mixed up with shady company, only to be rescued by a fellow undergraduate from Oxford.
A five-hour civic spectacle commemorating St. Louis's 150th anniversary combines a pageant surveying three centuries of local history with an allegorical masque presenting a symbolic sweep through the city's history.
A theatrical pageant presenting the Italian Renaissance, written and produced at the Chicago Art Institute.
In a Belfast hotel, a suicidal photographer in one room and a professional hitman in the adjoining room disrupt each other’s plans, leading to an uneasy partnership.
A biographical drama about J. M. W. Turner, focusing on the painter’s life and relationships, including those with his model Jenny Cole, his mother Mary Marshall, and his mistress Sarah Danby.
At an enchanted palace where visitors must speak the truth, a king, queen, princess, prince and courtiers expose their hidden desires and jealousies. The revelations unsettle planned marriages and teach the characters to speak and act from the heart.
On the Provincetown wharfs, young playwright Don struggles with unrequited love for another man. The autobiographical drama draws on Williams’s relationship with Kip Kiernan, while Williams later described Don as unlike Kiernan in life.
Socialite Chloe uses charm and wit as she navigates Washington politics, her past, her marriage and an uncertain future.
A new play derived from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, moving Shakespeare’s characters into a contemporary German city.
A series of allegorical dialogues depicts bees debating their actions, births, wars and courtships. Under Prorex, the Master Bee, complaints are made against the humble-bee, wasp, drone and other offenders; Oberon later distributes justice.
At the court of Charles VIII, Bellisant rejects the moral strictures of her guardian while various courtiers pursue adulterous schemes. The king convenes a Parliament of Love to hear the lovers’ grievances; a threatened duel, a staged death, and a bed trick expose the characters’ conduct and lead to pardons and reconciliations.
The Parricide (also spelt The Parracide) is a 1736 tragedy written by the Irish writer James Sterling. The original Goodman's Fields Theatre cast included Benjamin Johnson as Altamar, William Havard as Montesini, Henry Giffard as Mirzabdi, Henry Woodward as Issouf, Anna Marcella Giffard as Beleyda and Sarah Hamilton as Amanthe.
The Captain and his lover Mrs Wanton scheme to punish the Parson for abandoning his old friends after gaining a church benefice. They trick him into marrying Wanton and humiliate him, while the Captain and other companions manipulate two widows and their suitors into further marriages. The comedy satirizes sexual and religious hypocrisy through bawdy verbal wit.
Set in Kilburn, the play examines mental illness and its effects on family dynamics, with disturbing suggestions of an incestuous relationship between Ettie and her father Richard.
The Party Spirit is a 1954 British comedy play by Peter Jones and John Jowett. It premiered at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool before transferring to the Piccadilly Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 131 performances from 23 September 1954 and 15 January 1955. Starring Robertson Hare and Ralph Lynn, the cast also included Roger Maxwell, Frank Thornton and Vera Pearce.
A mysterious stranger takes a room at a shabby Bloomsbury boarding-house and quietly challenges its residents’ selfishness, deceit and bullying. His influence rekindles their better selves, changing their relationships and the atmosphere of the house before he leaves to help others.
A Paschal mystery play depicting the Passion of Christ and the Resurrection, staged at Valenciennes.
Paddy Chayefsky's play dramatizes the life of Josef Stalin, set in Russia from 1917 to 1924 and placing Stalin and Lenin among its central figures.
Ben, the teenage son of a Sydney bookmaker, would rather play football than practice piano. His mother believes he is a genius and enters him in an eisteddfod.
In the first part, the farmer Milesio’s love for the nymph Siringa ends in his suicide; two other farmers mistake one another for dead. In the second, Ruzante exploits the confusion to obtain food and a remedy for his father, then returns in time to share a lamb sacrificed at Pan’s altar.
After a woman is injured in a fall from her balcony, her relatives gather at her hospital bed while investigators seek to understand what happened.
The Patrician's Daughter is an 1842 tragedy by the British writer John Westland Marston. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 10 December 1842. The original cast included William Macready as Mordaunt, Samuel Phelps as the Earl of Lynterne, Edward William Elton as Heartwell, George John Bennett as Lister, Charles Selby as Lord Chatterly, Morris Barnett as Sir Archer Taunton, John Ryder as Physician, George Yarnold as Solicitor, Mary Warner as Lady Lydia Lynterne and Helena Faucit as Lady Mabel Lynterne.
The Patriot, or, The Italian Conspiracy is a 1702 tragedy by the English writer Charles Gildon. Based on the life of Cosimo de' Medici but also inspired by Nathaniel Lee's 1680 work Lucius Junius Brutus set during the Roman Republic. The original Drury Lane cast included John Mills as Cosimo De Medici, Benjamin Husband as Lorenzo, Thomas Simpson as Uberto, Thomas Kent as Donato, Philip Griffin as Rimini, Jane Rogers as Teraminta and Mary Kent as Honoria. The prologue was by John Dennis and the epilogue by George Farquhar. Incidental music was composed by Daniel Purcell.
Returning from France, Thomas Jefferson hopes to spend time with his daughters at Monticello, but George Washington asks him to become Secretary of State amid political opposition and fears of rising monarchist strength. Jefferson reluctantly accepts and soon confronts rival Alexander Hamilton in the period before the 1800 election.
The Paymaster is an American military melodrama by, and originally starring, Duncan B. Harrison. Adams had briefly been cast in the part of the heroine in an earlier part of the play's run, but was re-cast as in a minor role as a maidservant,.
On a peach farm, a desperate brother and sister arrive looking for harvest work, stirring strong feelings, dangerous decisions, and conflict between a protective mother and her teenage daughter. Celia's daughter Zoe longs for more independence after years sheltered from the world.
In Puppetland, Pee-wee spends a day with his friends, gives his magical wish to Miss Yvonne, then learns that Jambi can still grant his wish to fly. The stage show parodies low-budget children's television and includes songs, puppets, and audience participation.
A psychiatrist, Charles (Chris Bauer), has his career and life become derailed after he refuses to testify on behalf of a former patient who had become clinically violent and unstable, resulting in the deaths of multiple people following a tragic breakdown of his mental complications. The patient then claims that Charles will not testify in court or to the police because the patient is openly part of the LGBT community. Further, the patient claims that Charles has recently gone through a religious conversion in his own personal identity which has resulted in a fully prejudiced reassessment of the gay community as a whole. Charles claims that the basis of these accusations are false and due to a misunderstanding. The misunderstanding resulted from an innocent mistyping of the title of an article that Charles wrote years ago about homosexuality where the title was "Homosexuality as an Adaptation," though the published version was released by the editor as the mistyped "Homosexuality as an Aberration." The resulting recriminations put Charles's entire career at risk and threaten to end his practice permanently.
The Perfect Cure is a 1913 comedy play by the British writer Stanley Houghton. A father is cured of his selfish habits by a charming widow. His final play, premiering several months before his death, it was not a success unlike other recent hits Hindle Wakes and The Younger Generation. It ran for four performances at the Apollo Theatre in London's West End before being withdrawn. Houghton was present on opening night. The original cast included Cathleen Nesbitt and Charles Hawtrey.It was produced by Henry Lowenfeld.
An academic working on a PhD and his wife hire a Danish student to babysit their children, setting the play's domestic and academic tensions in motion.
The Perfidious Brother is a 1716 tragedy by the British writer Lewis Theobald. A dispute rose of the authorship of the play when a watchmaker and aspiring playwright Henry Meystayer claimed that Theobald had stolen it from him. Meystayer published his own version of the play presenting it as the work of the "original author". Theobald was later to be involved in a much more controversial dispute in 1727 when he presented Double Falsehood as being based on a lost work of William Shakespeare. The original Lincoln's Inn Fields cast included John Corey as Gonsalvo, Theophilus Keene as Sebastian, Thomas Smith as Roderick, John Leigh as Beaufort, Jane Rogers as Luciana and Jane Bullock as Selinda.
The Performers is a comedy play written by David West Read and directed by Evan Cabnet. It premiered on Broadway on November 14, 2012.
At the Venetian Carnival, rake Count Bassino is married to Placentia but loves Aurelia, who believes he is free to marry her. Placentia disguises herself to warn Aurelia, but the confrontation ends with all three mortally wounded. In the comic subplot, maid Lucy maneuvers her employer and mistress into silence about their affairs.
Through verbatim accounts of passengers, railway staff, and government figures, the play traces Britain's railway privatization and the consequences of mismanagement, including bereavement and injury from major crashes.
The Perplexed Couple is a 1715 comedy play by the Irish writer Charles Molloy. The original Lincoln's Inn Fields cast included George Pack as Sir Anthony Thinwit, William Bullock as Morecraft, Benjamin Griffin as Sterling, John Leigh as Octavio, James Spiller as Crispin, Letitia Cross as Leonora, Frances Maria Knight as Lady Thinwit and Elizabeth Spiller as Isbel.
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