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Clear filtersEddie, an Elvis Presley fan who is depressed and planning suicide, waits at a Witbank street corner where he remembers his youth and a terrifying incident. Hearing Elvis on the radio revives him; he realizes Elvis once saved his life and finds hope for the future.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes is a play written by J. E. Harold Terry and Arthur Rose and originally starring Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes. The play premiered at Princes Theatre on October 9, 1923. Based on the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the play incorporated aspects of four stories: "The Adventure of the Empty House", "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton", "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax", and "The Red-Headed League". Actor Eille Norwood had previously portrayed Holmes in the Stoll film series from 1921 to 1923.
Djabal returns to an oppressed Druse community intent on avenging his murdered family and leading his people back to Lebanon. To unite them he has encouraged the belief that he is the divine Hakeem. As the revolt approaches, his desire for liberation conflicts with his awareness that he has won their faith through deception.
The Return of the Soldier is a 1928 play by the British writer John Van Druten. It is an adaptation of Rebecca West's 1918 novel of the same title about a shell shocked officer returning from the First World War with amnesia who is no longer in love with his wife. It was staged at the Playhouse Theatre in the West End, running for 46 performances. The cast included Cyril Raymond, Aubrey Mather, Eliot Makeham, Mary Clare and Grizelda Hervey.
Corina, a courtesan drawn into a relationship with Wellman, turns toward revenge while resisting the control of Mrs Dunwell, the older bawd who encouraged her involvement. Their conflict adds a darker account of sexual exploitation to the comedy of courtship and deception.
The Revenge is a 1721 tragedy by the British writer Edward Young, set in a mostly undefined region of 16th-century Africa under Spanish rule. It concerns the character of Zanga, an African prince who becomes cruel after his experiences in slavery. Although initially it did not enjoy the same success as his previous play Busiris, King of Egypt, it later became a much-revived work during the eighteenth century particularly popular because of the Othello-like role of the Moorish character Zanga. John Philip Kemble revived the work briefly in 1798 before Edmund Kean in 1815 did so with great success and it became part of his repertoire. The original Drury Lane cast included Barton Booth as Don Alonzo, Robert Wilks as Don Carlos, John Thurmond as Don Alverez, John Mills as Zanga, Mary Porter as Leonora and Christiana Horton as Isabella. The work was dedicated to Young's patron the Duke of Wharton. The character of Zanga was portrayed by the African-American actor Ira Aldridge in 1848, and received favourable reviews, although critics were less kind to the play itself. For example, the Era said that "As Zanga he is exceedingly fine, looking the character of the Moor to perfection and acting it with great power and correctness. For the tragedy itself we have little regard."
Two neighboring castle owners, Cześnik and Rejent, feud over a dividing wall while their children, Klara and Wacław, secretly love each other. After rival marriage plans and comic confrontations, the young couple marry, and the older men reconcile.
After Bussy’s death, his brother Clermont follows the Duke of Guise and embraces Christian Stoicism. Tamyra urges him to avenge Bussy by killing her husband Montsurry; when Guise is assassinated and Clermont hesitates, Bussy’s ghost tells him divine justice requires Montsurry’s punishment, which Clermont finally carries out before taking his own life.
The plot focuses on two disparate characters. Henry Bell is a 42-year-old executive, divorced and recently fired from his job, and Karen Knightly is 25 years old, wealthy, very eccentric, and recently abandoned by her lover Anthony Staxton-Billing, who opted to return to his wife Imogen. Both are intent on committing suicide by leaping from the Albert Bridge in London. When neither succeeds, they strike a bargain whereby each agrees to exact revenge on behalf of the other. Karen finds employment at Lembridge Tennit, the conglomerate for which Henry worked, and in short order two of her bosses meet violent deaths and a third has a nervous breakdown. Henry, meanwhile, is finding it difficult to keep his end of the bargain, since he has fallen in love with Imogen. Instead of planning her demise, he begins an affair with the beguiling woman. After accidentally killing her husband, Henry finds himself torn between marrying her and fulfilling his promise to Karen by disposing of her. In the end, love prevails, and a thwarted Karen hurls herself into the Thames.
Vindice seeks revenge on the Duke for poisoning his fiancée and uses disguise to expose corruption at court. He engineers the Duke’s death with a poisoned skull, then joins his brother in killing the newly installed Duke and his supporters. After Vindice confesses their crimes, Lord Antonio condemns the brothers to execution.
The Revolution of Sweden is a 1706 tragedy by the British writer Catharine Cockburn. The original Haymarket cast included Barton Booth as Gustavus, Thomas Betterton as Arwide, John Corey as Erici, Benjamin Husband as Viceroy, John Bowman as Archbishop and Elizabeth Barry as Constanta.
Seven women on the fictional Wasaychigan Hill reserve hope to attend the world's biggest bingo and raise money for the trip. Their journey brings family rivalries, painful histories and illness into the open; Marie-Adele dies at the bingo, while the others return home with life mostly unchanged.
The Richmond Heiress is a 1693 comedy play by the English writer Thomas D'Urfey. It was staged by the United Company at the Drury Lane Theatre. The original cast included John Freeman as Charles Romance, George Bright as Sir Quibble Quere, George Powell as Tom Romance, Samuel Sandford as Doctor Guaiacum, Joseph Williams as Frederick, John Bowman as Rice ap Shinken, Cave Underhill as Dick Stockjobb, John Hodgson as Hotspur, Thomas Doggett as Quickwit, William Bowen as Cummington, Anne Bracegirdle as Fulvia, Elizabeth Barry as Sophronia, Frances Maria Knight as Madame Squeamish, Elizabeth Bowman as Mrs Stockjobb and Elinor Leigh as Marmalette. Henry Purcell composed incidental music for the play.
After a car crash, bigamist insurance agent Lyman Felt faces his two wives at his hospital bedside and defends the parallel family lives he has kept in New York and Elmira. Flashbacks reveal tensions and compromises within both households as each character confronts hypocrisy.
The Right Honourable Gentleman is a dramatization of the rather complicated real-life Crawford scandal of Victorian England. Sir Charles Dilke, an important Liberal member of Parliament, is seen as a possible successor to Gladstone as Prime Minister. The circumstances leading to his destruction, his private affairs as contrasted with those of the Empire, form the crux of the play. The play introduce Dilke in his finest hour, an obvious choice for the new cabinet. But a certain Mr. Crawford sues his wife for divorce, naming Sir Charles as an involved party, based on his wife's confession that she had been having an affair with Sir Charles for some time. Mrs. Crawford provides dates and facts and is quite credible, while Sir Charles offers avowals of complete innocence, not just publicly but solemnly sworn to in private to his fiancee. And in fact Mrs. Crawford is lying, and instead is madly in love and carrying on with a certain Captain Foster, which may have been a reason for inventing her charges against the unfortunate Sir Charles. But Sir Charles had been conducting a long-term affair with Mrs. Crawford's mother, which, when it comes out, destroys his reputation and career.
A stage expansion of Bryan Wade’s radio comedy about a reluctant groom reconsidering his choices on his wedding day.
The Rimers of Eldritch is a play by Lanford Wilson. The play is set in the mid-20th century in Eldritch, Missouri, a decaying Bible Belt town that once was a prosperous coal mining community. The plot focuses on the murder of the aging local hermit, Skelly Mannor, by a woman, Nelly Windrod, who mistakenly thought he was committing rape when he was actually trying to prevent a rape from occurring.
The first half reconstructs how the 2011 England riots spread through accounts from rioters, police officers, onlookers, and residents, including a man whose home was burned. The second half uses interviews with politicians, police, teachers, community leaders, and others to examine the causes and consequences.
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is a 1992 play written by English dramatist Jim Cartwright.
A preserved body known as Lindow Man or Pete Marsh is found in 1984; one act recounts his life in Roman Britain, and the next has him discovered and briefly revived in 2000. The play contrasts Celtic nature religion, Christian belief and genetic engineering in the human search for immortality.
A policeman guarding a quay in search of an escaped prisoner keeps company with a ballad singer. The singer is the very man the police are hunting.
After betraying his employer for profit, Gorge Mastromas becomes a successful businessman. He manipulates and marries Louisa by fabricating a history of abuse, publishes the lie as a memoir, and kills his brother when he threatens to expose him.
Businessman Gaetano Proclo takes refuge from his homicidal mobster brother-in-law in a Manhattan gay bathhouse, where he encounters eccentric patrons and performer Googie Gomez. His wife arrives and misreads the situation, compounding the farcical misunderstandings.
The Rival Fools is a 1709 comedy play by the British writer Colley Cibber. It drew inspiration from the earlier play Wit at Several Weapons. Despite Cibber's previous record of turning out hits, it was not a great success. The original Drury Lane cast featured William Pinkethman as Sir Oliver Outwit, Robert Wilks as Young Outwit, Barton Booth as Cunningham, William Bullock as Sir Gregory Goose, Colley Cibber as Samuel Simpson, George Pack as Sir Threadbare, Theophilus Keene as Priscian, Anne Oldfield as Lucinda, Mary Porter as Mirabel and Elizabeth Willis as Governess.
The Rival Ladies is a 1664 tragicomedy by the English writer John Dryden. It was originally performed by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal then in Brydges Street. Dryden dedicated the published version to the Irish politician and playwright the Earl of Orrery.
The Rival Modes is a 1727 comedy play by the British writer James Moore Smythe. The original Drury Lane cast included Colley Cibber as the Earl of Late Airs, Theophilus Cibber as Lord Toupet, John Harper as Sir Oliver Bruin, Robert Wilks as Ballamine, John Mills as Sagely, Henry Norris as Henry, Joe Miller as George, Anne Oldfield as Amoret, Mary Porter as Melissa and Christiana Horton as Clary.
The Rival Queens, or the Death of Alexander the Great is a Restoration tragedy written by Nathaniel Lee. Regarded as one of his best tragedies, the play revolves around Alexander the Great and his two wives, Roxana and Statira, whose competition for his affections ends in tragedy. The play was largely influenced by French dramatist La Calprenède's historic romance Cassandre.
The Rival Sisters: or, The Violence of Love is a 1695 tragedy by the English writer Robert Gould. Gould's previous attempt to have a tragedy Innocence Distress'd staged by the United Company was blocked and by the time his second work was performed he had given up writing.
Ariadne has sacrificed everything to save Theseus for love, but he turns to her sister Phaedra. When the two leave together, Ariadne’s devotion gives way to despair and she takes her own life.
The Rival Widows, or the Fair Libertine is a 1735 comedy play by the British writer Elizabeth Cooper. The plot is a re-gendered mashup of two popular eighteenth-century genres: the libertine comedy (in the tradition of William Wycherley and George Farquhar) and the comedy of sentiment (man-of-feeling plays in the tradition of Colley Cibber and Sir Richard Steele). The beautiful and brilliant libertine widow Lady Bellair battles the hypocritical friend and rival Lady Lurcher for the attentions of man of feeling Freelove. Bellair loves Freelove, but is exasperated by his rhetoric of feeling and his lack of interest in using witty exchanges or clever plotting to try to seduce her and win her love. In response, she creates various strategems to essentially manipulate him into tricking her into agreeing never to love him, knowing that she will desperately want anything that is forbidden to her. Her character is well summarized early in the play with her own comment that "my pleasures are my principles" and Freelove's summary of her character: "she has wit enough to supply the present dearth of it on the stage, and good nature to make that wit agreeable, even at court. In short, she's gay without levity, libertine without scandal, generous without design, and well-bred without affectation" (1.6). Her comments on marriage convey her recognition that power is at the core of all pleasure for a libertine: "why would you exchange all these pretty things for a husband? Men only buy their slaves, but women their masters: --and I hate fetters, though of gold... I had rather have twenty lovers, than be troubled with another [husband] for all that; there's some joy in having the man you doat on for your slave, but none for your Lord; I can now dispose of my frowns and smiles like an absolute Princess, to whom I please; can humble, exalt, undo, create again, to keep my subjects in obedience and exercise my power... Tis always my way to strip Nature stark naked and view her without the disguise of custom and Hypocrisy--I think freely and speak openly, and the same honest frankness that obliges me to speak what I think, will oblige me to think what is right" (2.2). Young Modern provides a point of comic ridiculousness as would-be rival for Lady Bellair's affections and victim of her witty performances of power. When Young Modern seeks to seduce Bellair, she replies that she cannot risk her reputation: if she is to agree to sleep with him, he must change the world's opinion of him from extravagant libertine of the old Restoration model to a puritan-style man of religious respectability. While Young Modern believes he is terribly witty and edgy in his role playing, he is rendered ridiculous in his failures, most clearly in his not-quite-correct clothing choices and in the fact that when he purchases the "godly library" that Lady Bellair demands, every book is wrong. At the end of the play, Young Modern is about to be disowned by his uncle Modern for being so ridiculous and failing to live up to his principles, but he is saved by Lady Bellair, who explains her game. The elder Modern so admires her libertine cleverness that he offers her all of Young Modern's inheritance, of which she accepts only the coach, silver, and furniture that the elder Modern ordered for himself at the start of the play. At the end of the play, Lady Bellair agrees to marry Freelove, reveals Lady Lurcher's moral hypocrisy, and—following the tradition of fifth-act reformations in later libertine comedies—makes a moral statement in the last hundred words of the play, in response to the generosity of Modern's gift: "These are the only actions I can envy, and such as I only would be rich and great to imitate-- Pleasure, I have ever thought to be the chiefest good, but that pleasure is to be found no where, but in obeying reason and virtue" (5.11). She reframes the site of pleasure while remaining committed to its pursuit. Tiffany Potter summarizes the play's reflections on Bellair's mediation of libertinism, sentiment, and gender: "The relative social liberty of widowhood allows Bellair to recreate herself not as a mere extension of a man, nor just as a woman appropriating the privilege of masculinity, but as a model for a revised eighteenth-century femininity that others might emulate... Both libertinism and sensibility win in this play, but only when they are genuine, original and passionate, and in this balance Cooper's Rival Widows looks outside rigid binaries to locate a femininity that integrates the competing value systems of eighteenth-century culture without sacrificing the individual woman's good-natured privilege, intelligence, or passion" (20). In addition to In a parallel plot that runs through the play, Young Modern's uncle Modern and Freelove's father Sir William Freelove debate the relationships among wealth, morality and gentlemanliness, with Modern arguing for intergenerational fiscal generosity and large allowances as long as a man "spends it like a gentleman" including "taverns, horses, gaming, women, any thing in reason... except avarice, cowardice and hypocrisy, I can forgive him anything" (1.1). Freelove argues for parsimony as a strategy for raising a good man, leaving the younger Freelove unable to marry for love because of financial constraint. These two characters speak in conflicting languages of economy in a way that reflects several contemporary debates, and with the presence in the play of an extended scene among several merchants and creditors, Rival Widows offers a site of useful reflection on the challenge for members of various economic ranks in navigating the evolving relationships among birth, wealth, and status. The original Covent Garden cast included John Hippisley as Sir William Freelove, Roger Bridgewater as Modern, Lacy Ryan as Freelove, Thomas Chapman as Young Modern, Anne Hallam as Lady Lurcher and Christiana Horton as Lady Bellair.
In Arcadia, Theocles and Philander become rivals for Heraclia’s affection. Their competition tests desire and virtue in a comedy that reshapes the setting, characters and action of The Two Noble Kinsmen.
The play is set in 18th-century Bath, a fashionable spa town. The plot is about two young lovers, Lydia and Jack. Lydia, who is addicted to popular novels, wants a purely romantic love affair. To court her, Jack pretends to be "Ensign Beverley", a poor junior army officer. Lydia is enthralled with the idea of eloping with a penniless soldier in spite of the objections of her guardian, Mrs Malaprop, a moralistic widow. Mrs Malaprop is the chief comic figure of the play, thanks to her continual misuse of words that sound like the words she intends to use, but mean something different (the term malapropism, current from the early 19th century was coined in reference to the character). Lydia has two other suitors, Bob Acres (a somewhat buffoonish country gentleman) and Sir Lucius O'Trigger, an impoverished and combative Irish baronet. Sir Lucius pays Lucy to carry love notes between him and Lydia (who uses the name "Delia"), but Lucy is deceiving him: "Delia" is in fact Mrs Malaprop. As the play opens, Sir Anthony arrives suddenly in Bath. He has arranged a marriage for Jack but Jack demurs, saying he is in love already. They quarrel violently but Jack soon learns through the gossip of Lucy and Fag that the marriage arranged by Sir Anthony is, in fact, with Lydia. He makes a great show of submission to his father, and is presented to Lydia with Mrs Malaprop's blessing. Jack confides to Lydia that he is only posing as Sir Anthony's son. She annoys Mrs Malaprop by loudly professing her eternal devotion to "Beverley" while rejecting "Jack Absolute". Jack's friend Faulkland is in love with Julia but he suffers from jealous suspicion; he constantly frets about her fidelity. Faulkland and Julia quarrel foolishly, making elaborate and high-flown speeches about true love that satirise the romantic dramas of the period. Bob Acres tells Sir Lucius that another man ("Beverley") is courting the lady of Acres's choice (Lydia, though Sir Lucius does not know this). Sir Lucius immediately declares that Acres must challenge "Beverley" to a duel and kill him. Acres goes along, and writes out a challenge note – despite his rather less belligerent inclinations and the misgivings of his servant, David. Sir Lucius leaves, Jack arrives and Acres tells him of his intent. Jack agrees to deliver the note to "Beverley" but declines to be Acres's second. Mrs Malaprop again presents Jack to Lydia but this time with Sir Anthony present, exposing Jack's pose as "Beverley". Lydia is enraged by the puncturing of her romantic dreams and spurns Jack contemptuously. Sir Lucius has also learned of the proposed marriage of Jack and Lydia and determines to challenge Jack. He meets Jack, who, smarting from Lydia's rejection, agrees to fight him without even knowing the reason. They will meet at the same time as Acres is scheduled to fight "Beverley". At the duelling ground, Acres is reluctant to fight but Sir Lucius will have no shirking. Jack and Faulkland arrive. Acres learns that "Beverley" is actually his friend Jack and begs off from their duel. Jack is quite willing to fight Sir Lucius and they cross swords. David informs Mrs Malaprop, Lydia, Julia and Sir Anthony of the duel and they all rush off to stop it. Sir Lucius explains the cause of his challenge but Lydia denies any connection to him and admits her love for Jack. Mrs Malaprop announces that she is Delia but Sir Lucius recoils in horror, realising that he has been hoaxed. Sir Anthony consoles Mrs Malaprop, Julia is reconciled to Faulkland and Acres invites everyone to a party.
The River is a 1925 play by the British writer Patrick Hastings. It is set in West Africa, where two diamond hunters are in love with the same woman. It ran for 53 performances in the West End, initially at St James's Theatre before transferring to the Lyric Theatre. The cast included Owen Nares, Clifford Mollison, Jessie Winter, Helen Ferrers, and Leslie Faber.
In the Second World War a soldier is killed in the mistaken belief that he is a secret German agent.
The River Niger is a play by Joseph A. Walker, first performed by New York City's Negro Ensemble Company off-Broadway in 1972. The production made its Broadway debut with a transfer to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on March 27, 1973, for a run of 162 performances. Critically acclaimed, The River Niger won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1974, and was adapted into a film starring James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson in 1976.
At the roadside Aksident Store, drivers and assistants discuss their experiences, while the Professor tries to comfort the dead at collision scenes and Kotonu, a former driver, helps him salvage parts from wrecked cars. The Professor also sells palm wine, and unemployed drivers gather there for political security work.
Miss Helen, a South African widow, has made an overgrown sculpture garden as her dream vision of Mecca. Pastor Marius urges her to move into a seniors’ home, while Cape Town teacher Elsa arrives unexpectedly to support Helen’s artistic independence.
After Rome's defeat at Cannae, Fabius Maximus's restless wife Amytis enters Hannibal's camp and seduces him. Her questions about his hatred and pursuit of war persuade him to spare Rome, while he frees two slaves and returns Amytis to her husband.
The Road to Ruin is a 1792 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Holcroft. It premiered at Covent Garden in London with a cast that featured William Thomas Lewis as Goldfinch, John Quick as Mr Silky, Joseph George Holman as Harry Dornton, Richard Wilson as Mr Sulky, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Mr Dornton, George Davies Harley as Mr Milford, James Thompson as Sheriff's Officer, William Macready as Hosier, Ann Brunton Merry as Sophia, Sarah Harlowe as Jenny and Isabella Mattocks as Mrs Warren.
To win his father's consent to marry Mary Fitz-Allard, Sebastian pretends to pursue Moll Cutpurse, a notorious cross-dressing Londoner. Moll helps the couple outwit their fathers while defending herself against slander and thieves; in parallel, a gallant manipulates a shopkeeper's wife and husband for money.
After Franz deceives their father into disowning him, Karl joins a band of robbers in hopes of defending the weak. Franz schemes to take over the family and win Amalia, while Karl's violence and loyalty to the band ultimately prevent him from returning to her.
A group of bricklayers work to build a new church despite poor foundations, lack of money and hostile criticism. Interwoven pageant scenes recall episodes from church history, while a chorus connects the building project to contemporary religious concerns.
In imperial Rome, actor Paris’s performances expose the abuses of Emperor Domitian. Domitian’s fascination with the stage turns lethal when Paris becomes entangled with the emperor’s household and is killed during a staged scene; conspirators then assassinate the tyrant.
In a surreal, irrational world, Ivan struggles to lead a rational life amid apartment intruders and absurd encounters, including an argument with a taxi-ordering machine. The comedy uses this disorder to challenge state power.
The rightful Emperor of Rome, Valentius, is at war with his brother, Hostilius, who has usurped the throne. Valentius, believing himself to be the son of Macrinus, is clandestinely informed by Arsenius, a member of the opposing side, that he is, in actuality, his son, distressing him. The Emperor's wife, Fulvia, attempts to seduce Florus. When Fulvia fails, she resolves to take revenge by claiming that Florus forced himself upon her; Florus is promptly executed. Aurelia, Valentius's niece and Florus's former lover, has sworn Florus off (and actively facilitated his execution by claiming that he betrayed Valentius) after being told by her father that her lover killed her brother in battle. Upon discovering that her father lied to her in the hopes that she would cease to pursue Florus, she murders him. Afterwards, Sophonia, the Emperor's first wife- who, after being wrongfully accused of adultery, has been posing as the handmaid of Aurelia- commits suicide and leaves a note revealing her innocence as well as the fact Florus was her son, whom she, fearing that her own disgrace would endanger his life, passed off as Macrinus's child. After Valentius reads Sophonia's note, Macrinus explains that he had been asked by Arsenius. to rear his son as his own while he left to fight for Hostilius. While Macrinus complied with the Arsenius's wishes, the latter's child died. In order to protect Valentius's son, Macrinus let Arsenius believe that the child Macrinus was now raising was Arsenius's own son. Distressed by these revelations, Valentius commits suicide shortly thereafter.
The Roman Father is a 1750 tragedy by the British writer and future Poet Laureate William Whitehead. It is set during the reign of Tullus Hostilius, the legendary third King of Rome and his war with the neighbouring city of Alba Longa. The original Drury Lane cast featured David Garrick as Horatius, Spranger Barry as Publius Horatius, John Sowdon as Tullius Hostilius, Thomas King as Valerius, Sarah Ward as Valeria and Hannah Pritchard as Horatia. Incidental music was composed by William Boyce. It was met with "extravagant applause" and ran for twelve performances that season. It was revived frequently at both Drury Lane and Covent Garden.
The Roman Maid is a 1724 tragedy by the British writer Robert Hurst. It is set during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. The original cast included John Ogden as Dioclesian, Thomas Walker as Galerius Caesar, Charles Hulett as Carus, Anthony Boheme as Paulinus and Anne Parker as Camilla.
The Romance of David Garrick is a 1942 historical play by British writer Constance Cox. It ran for 35 performances at St James's Theatre in London's West End. Donald Wolfit both directed and starred as the eighteenth century actor David Garrick.
Told largely in rhymed couplets and using Filipino performance traditions, the play follows lovesick migrant farmworker Magno Rubio, who becomes entranced by a white woman in Arkansas who seeks to exploit him.
Howard Brenton's play links Roman invasion of Celtic Britain in 54 BCE, Britain in 515 CE and Ireland in 1980 to comment on imperialism and abuses of power, drawing a direct parallel between Roman conquest and the contemporary British presence in Northern Ireland.
A comedy of manners following Rosario, a 23-year-old heroine, with a sophisticated suitor and a thrice-married grandmother; the action spans one August evening to the next and examines women’s place in Spanish society.
A five-act melodrama built around jealousy between two half-brothers, one of them half Romani.
A comic afterpiece derived from Love in the City, centered on the earlier play's popular character Priscilla Tomboy, also known as Miss Prissy.
Rose tries to preserve the comfort and safety of her bedsit while discussing the weather with her silent husband Bert and evading the landlord's questions. A young couple arrive looking for a flat; then Riley, a blind man with a message from Rose's father, appears. Bert returns, attacks Riley and leaves Rose crying that she cannot see.
Sharon is recently divorced and lives in Iowa and invites Robyn, relocating from New York City, to be her roommate. As the two get to know each other better, secrets are revealed and they learn more about themselves in the process.
The Rope Dancers is a dramatic stage play written by American playwright Morton Wishengrad (1913–1963). The play premiered on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in 1957. The play was a critical and commercial success, and transferred to the Henry Miller Theatre beginning January 27, 1958 for an extended run. The play was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. The plays tells the story of Margaret and James Hyland, who have a daughter born with six fingers and suffers from Saint Vitus' dance.
The Rose Tattoo is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams in 1949 and 1950; after its Chicago premiere on December 29, 1950, he made further revisions to the play for its Broadway premiere on February 2, 1951, and its publication by New Directions the following month. A film adaptation was released in 1955. The Rose Tattoo tells the story of an Italian-American widow in Mississippi who has withdrawn from the world after her husband's death and expects her daughter to do the same. The setting is a place in proximity to Biloxi. Jacob Adler stated that the story is disconnected from the culture of the Southern United States as the plot "has almost no Southern connections".
The Rose Without a Thorn is a 1933 historical play by the British writer Clifford Bax. It portrays the courtship and marriage of Henry VIII and his fifth wife Catherine Howard. It ran in the West End for 128 performances, debuting at the Duke of York's Theatre before transferring to the Vaudeville Theatre. The cast was headed by Frank Vosper as Henry VIII and also included Joan Maude, Alastair Sim, Lawrence Hanray and Fabia Drake. In 1947 it was adapted by the BBC into a television film of the same title starring Arthur Young and Victoria Hopper as Henry and Catherine.
The Rose of Arragon is an 1842 tragedy by the Irish-born writer James Sheridan Knowles. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 4 June 1842. The cast included Ellen Kean as Olivia, Charles Kean as Alasco, Henry Howe as the King of Arragon, Samuel Phelps as Almargo and Frederick Vining as Velasquez. It was similar in style to Knowles' earlier work The Wife of Mantua. In 1849 William Creswick opened his actor-management of the Surrey Theatre by playing Alasco in a revival.
During the 1665–66 plague in Eyam, Reverend William Mompesson and former Puritan rector Thomas Stanley set aside their differences and persuade villagers to remain in quarantine. As deaths empty the village, the community sustains isolation until the outbreak ends without spreading to the county.
Set shortly before the Restoration, the play portrays members of the Committee of Safety as they plot against one another for power. Two aristocratic women fall for Royalist Cavaliers as the king's forces retake London, bringing imprisonment and romantic reunions.
During Carnival in Naples, Hellena, destined for a convent, pursues the naval captain Willmore, while Florinda tries to escape her brother's marriage plans and wed the English colonel Belville. Their entangled romantic and comic schemes culminate in marriages, as Willmore agrees to marry Hellena.
The Royal Convert is a 1707 tragedy by the British writer Nicholas Rowe. The play is set in England during the Saxon era featuring two brothers in a love triangle with a young Christian woman. It was staged at the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket enjoying a compartiviely successful run for the era of five consecutive nights, followed later by two request performances. Barton Booth played the role of Hengist, King of Kent with Robert Wilks as his brother Aribert. John Mills was Seofrid, Benjamin Husband was Offa, Theophilus Keene was Rodogune, Elizabeth Barry appeared as Rodogune and Anne Oldfield as Ethelinda. Many of the actors in the play had appeared in Rowe's previous tragedy Ulysses. Rowe dedicated the play to the Whig Junto member Lord Halifax. As with many of his works, the plot was in line with his Whig views and supported the prospect of a Hanoverian Succession rather than their rival Jacobites.
The exploits of the Barrymore-Drew family are parodied in this George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber comedy.
In Peter Shaffer's dramatization of Pizarro's conquest of Peru, young Martin joins an expedition driven by gold and Christian conversion. After the Spaniards massacre Incas and capture Atahualpa, Pizarro bargains for a room filled with gold and grows close to the Inca ruler. Despite Pizarro's change of faith, Atahualpa is executed; his promised rebirth does not occur, and Pizarro grieves.
In Naples, royal favorite Montalto seeks to marry Theodosia, the king’s sister, by breaking up her proposed match with the Duke of Florence and arranging for the duke to fall for Domitilla. His deceptions create a scandal around Theodosia, but the king’s apparent defense of Montalto becomes a trap that exposes the favorite’s crimes. A presumed murder victim, the secretary Riviero, is revealed alive, and Montalto’s death sentence is commuted to banishment.
The Royal Suppliants is a 1781 tragedy by John Delap. The original Drury Lane cast included William 'Gentleman' Smith as Acamas, John Bannister as Hyllus, James Aickin as Iolaus, William Farren as Alcander, John Hayman Packer as Thestor, Robert Palmer as Officer, Robert Bensley as Demophon, Ann Crawford as Dienira and Elizabeth Farren as Macaria. It was dedicated to Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston.
A Black heavyweight boxer pursues a championship bout against a white opponent in the Jim Crow era. As the contest approaches, his ambition collides with the consequences that a historic victory could carry for his family and community.
The Royalist is a 1682 comedy play by the English writer Thomas D'Urfey. It was staged at the Dorset Garden Theatre by the Duke's Company, shortly before the merger that created the United Company. It is set during the Commonwealth Era following the English Civil War. The original cast featured William Smith as Sir Charles Kinglove, Joseph Williams as Heartall, John Bowman as Broom, Anthony Leigh as Sir Oliver Oldcut, Thomas Jevon as Sir Paul Eitherside, Thomas Percival as Captain Jonas, Cave Underhill as Copyhold, George Bright as Slouch and Mary Betterton as Camilla.
Inspired by an iconic photograph of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, this play moves between the 1950s and 1970s and takes its conception from the story of nuclear spies.
In the sea-bound Maine community of Machias, townspeople confront the first naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War: the 1775 capture of the British ship Margaretta.
In a London bedsit, Joyce and Mike's uneasy life is disrupted by Wilson, a young man seeking revenge for his brother Frank's murder. Wilson goads Mike into jealousy and violence, and the couple's shocking indifference to Wilson's death is underscored by their grief over a dead goldfish.
After a newspaper editor backs an employee’s editorial supporting aid to the Soviet Union and is forced out, he joins the Navy, transfers from publicity to combat duty as a destroyer cook, survives a sinking, and leads a Pacific island garrison’s delaying action against Japanese forces.
The Rules of Charity focuses on a middle-aged man named Monty, and his daughter Loretta. Monty has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, and Loretta, a grown woman, cares for him. The play focuses around their relationship, the anger and resentment that lives within their connection, as well as the love between them. The play also focuses on how one navigates our world when one is an outsider, whether that is because of one's ability or disability, sexuality, religion, or social class. Structurally, The Rules of Charity is in a standard two-act dramatic structure with Act I taking place in the present day, and Act II taking place one year later. The play is also split up by named sections that divide up the action further, framed by a prologue and an epilogue. The play opens with Loretta at the end of her rope, in the apartment that she and her father share, having just slapped her father, knocking over his wheelchair. "Cruelty is a form of goodness", she tells him. Menacingly, but laced with the love that she has for her father, she tells him that she will only treat him with cruelty from that moment on. The next morning, Loretta and Monty are at home, things are normal again. LH, the superintendent of the building comes in with a bottle of scotch, celebrating his recent raise. Monty invites him to stay for dinner, and LH encourages Monty to try and leave his apartment in order to look for a job. Monty refuses, and it is revealed that Monty and LH are secret lovers. LH tells Monty that he has invited over the daughter of the building owner Paz, who is a documentary filmmaker. She wants to talk to Monty. Monty is unsure, but LH assures him that everything will be fine. Later that evening, Loretta meets a dull man named Horace by a street corner. They flirt and he asks her out on a date, which she refuses. The next morning, Paz arrives with LH at Monty and Loretta's apartment. Paz pitches her documentary to Monty - she wants to write about what she perceives as the enormous and dramatic struggle of disabled people. Monty is clearly far superior to her in intelligence, and does not take to her well. However, she offers him a large sum of money to be a part of her documentary, and so Monty promises LH that he will consider it. Monty and Loretta are left alone and share a brief moment of tenderness, it is also revealed that Loretta's mother, Monty's wife, is no longer living and that that day would have been her birthday. Loretta returns to the street corner to invite Horace over to her apartment for dinner. Initially he is nervous about going to dinner, and says that he usually works until late at the fish factory. She promises him that she will give her father pills to fall asleep so that he can come over without Monty bothering them. He accepts, and she kisses him. LH and Monty are alone, drinking in Loretta and Monty's apartment. They recount the tales of Greek Mythology that LH read about in books that Monty lent him. Monty describes to LH what the Apothetai was in ancient Greece - the place where disabled babies were left to die. LH is very moved, and asks Monty if he knew he was gay, even when he was married. Monty says that yes, he did. Loretta then enters and puts Monty to bed, giving him his pill that helps him sleep. Monty whispers to himself that he wants to go away with LH and let her live on her own, and in doing so, he throws himself from his bed and lands on the floor. Angry and exasperated, Loretta tells him that he can sleep on the floor. The following morning. Monty is sitting on the couch of his apartment while Paz prepares to begin shooting the documentary. LH and Loretta, one after the other, enter the apartment. They watch as Paz begins to interview Monty for the camera. Her questions offend Monty, as they obsess over what Paz determines to be the 'grotesque' aspect of Monty's disabled existence. She suggests that he ask her some questions in order to make them more comfortable around one another. When he is asking questions about her personal life, Paz reveals that she and LH are together. Monty did not know this and is blindsided. Unaware of Monty and LH's relationship, Paz continues to question Monty, pressing him on his sexuality and financial situation. Turning the questions once more back on her, Monty suggests to Paz that she make her film more about the overall concept of charity. He suggests that she structure her film around the origins of how disability caused societal isolation. She is disappointed, and when she once again asks to hear about his life story, he is enraged and asks her to leave his house. She does. Once Paz leaves, Monty tells LH that he wants them to be together. LH responds saying that he doesn't want to be with Monty, both because he doesn't want to be gay and because he doesn't want to have to take care of him. LH breaks it off between them, leaving Monty in the apartment alone. LH and Paz stand outside of the apartment building under a lamppost. LH has moved out of the building and is no longer the janitor there. He proposes marriage to Paz. She accepts. Back in the apartment, Loretta has fed Monty four of his pills to make him sleep while she and Horace have dinner. They talk about their families and Loretta admits, while Horace sleeps, that she both loves and hates her father. Monty groggily hears her say all of this. Loretta and Horace exit to her bedroom to make love. Monty takes the pill bottle from his bedside table and slowly eats every pill. One year after the events of Act I, Loretta and Horace, and Monty are back in the apartment. Loretta has developed a habit of pretending to be pregnant by sticking a balloon under her shirt, but she tells Horace that they can't afford a real baby. Later, on a street corner, Loretta, wearing the balloon as a fake pregnant belly, runs into Paz. Paz introduces herself by her real name, Joyce. She tells Loretta that she and LH (now known as Mr. Millicent) are married and are born-again Christians. Seemingly relieved to see Loretta, she asks if a publisher has published her father's journal. Loretta is surprised by this and answers that the journal is not published, that it is not even finished. Joyce offers Loretta money in exchange for her father's journal, for his story. Back at the apartment, Loretta tries to convince Monty to give her his journal for money. He refuses, especially refusing to give his journal to LH. LH is seen desperately trying to read, but since he can't without Monty, he despairs. At the apartment once again, Horace comes home very drunk after having gotten in a bar fight. Loretta approaches him and tells him that they are going to pretend to be a happily married, pregnant couple in order to sell her father's journal to Joyce. She tells him that after they do so, he is going to leave the apartment and never come back, calling him a cripple who has made her life even worse. Loretta and Horace set up dinner at the apartment, nervous that everything will go well for the dinner with LH (now Mr. Millicent) where they will try to sell Monty's journal. Mr. Millicent arrives at dinner, appearing much changed from the last time Loretta, Horace, and Monty saw him. Monty arrives as well, and begins grilling Mr. Millicent on his latest reading material. Mr. Millicent has trouble keeping up with Monty, which makes Monty smug. Angry, Mr. Millicent reveals that he has come to dinner to ask for the pages in Monty's journal in which he wrote about their romantic relationship, claiming that those stories are lies. Loretta begs for charity, for money in exchange for the journal. Mr. Millicent declares that they are unworthy of charity and refuses Monty's journal, violently flipping over Monty's wheelchair in the process. In response, Horace slits Mr. Millicent's throat, killing him. He apologizes profusely as Mr. Millicent dies, with Monty and Loretta looking on. Loretta and Monty sit on the floor, Loretta cradling Monty, who is hurt from his fall from his wheelchair. Horace has put Mr. Millicent's body in his car, and tells Loretta that he will drive away with it forever. He tells her to blame the murder all on him, and she agrees. Horace leaves, and Monty hands Loretta the last pages of his journal to read. She reads out loud the last passage from his journal, where he describes telling her, as a baby, that she will have to learn to swallow her pain. Monty dies in Loretta's arms. She smiles.
Leone, estranged from his wife Silia, responds to her affair by trying to empty himself of emotion. He manipulates her lover Guido into taking his place in a duel, where Guido is killed.
After the 13th Earl of Gurney dies in an autoerotic accident, his heir Jack inherits the title while in an asylum, believing himself to be Jesus. His relatives try to cure him and produce a sane heir so they can reclaim the estate. When Jack appears cured, he has instead become a violent figure who believes he is God and Jack the Ripper, murders his allies and claims his place in the House of Lords.
An anti-war satire about the financial interests and manipulation behind the starting of wars.
George Hargrave, who is home from college, is overjoyed to learn that Emily, the mysterious runaway whom his godfather, Mr. Drummond, has taken in, is the same young lady he fell in love with at a recent masquerade. Meanwhile, George's spirited cousin, Bella, helps George's sister, Harriet, and George's friend Sir Charles fall in love. George's designs are threatened when he learns that his father wants George to marry Lady Dinah, a pretentious older lady who is also very rich. When Emily's father arrives to take Emily back to London, George gives chase and snatches Emily back. Mr. Drummond saves the day by offering the young lovers some of his land so that they can have a fortune of their own.
In a Russian town under German occupation, civilians and Red Army soldiers face the invasion from different positions. A Russian emissary volunteers to mislead the Germans about an attack on a bridge, while the drama follows the sacrifices and divided loyalties of people resisting the occupation.
During the French Revolution, a fugitive count takes shelter with a Breton farmer and his granddaughter. His host’s lodger defends the republican cause, while their arguments over faith and the validity of a compromised priest’s sacraments foreshadow a crisis of conscience.
When Maurice Tabret, a disabled former soldier, is found dead, Nurse Wayland suspects murder and the household examines several explanations. After suspicion falls on Maurice's wife Stella, his mother reveals that she gave him an overdose to spare him the pain of discovering Stella's affair and pregnancy.
A debt dispute draws a British constable into the affairs of Muslim hawkers in Melbourne. One man appeals to British law, while his opponent demands that they settle the matter through an oath at their mosque.
At a feast in Sherwood Forest, the melancholy shepherd Æglamour mourns Earine, believed drowned. The witch Maudlin impersonates Marian, sows suspicion among Robin Hood and his guests, and keeps Earine captive in a tree while Puck and the huntsmen frustrate her schemes. Jonson left the play unfinished after Act III.
After a young woman, Julia, is orphaned following the Battle of Copenhagen she enjoys a series of adventures until settling down with her long-lost guardian Captain Sentamore. The play is set in Bath.
A miser mistakes Colonel Eudoro’s wish to take his ‘most precious treasure’ as a threat to his pig-shaped money coffer, while his resourceful household conspires to reunite Eudoro with his former love and arrange his marriage to Eurico’s daughter.
During the Blitz in 1940, Jewish Esther Brodsky and non-Jewish Jeff Smith fall in love despite their families’ opposition. Their families reconcile only after Jeff is killed in the war.
After being dismissed from a circus, Jewish strongman Harry takes refuge in a church and befriends Maudie, a girl seeking forgiveness. When fellow performer Francisco arrives, buried betrayals emerge, and the three confront guilt and loss before moving back into the world with a fragile sense of redemption.
At a beach sandbox, a wealthy couple leave Grandma to wait while a young man exercises nearby. As Grandma converses with him, the play’s direct address and stage cues expose the family’s neglect and reveal the young man as the angel of death.
An eleven-character dramatic mosaic about the experiences of Marines serving in Iraq, presenting the human impact of the war through firsthand perspectives.
A solo stage adaptation of David Sedaris’s humorous account of working as a Christmas elf at Macy’s Santaland in New York.
Inspired by the true story of Tony Briggs's mother and aunt, four Yorta Yorta women form a singing group and tour Vietnam during the war, while the play addresses Aboriginal rights with humor.
Set during the Renaissance and the age of the conquistadors, this long love story explores sin and redemption through divine and comic characters who speak as if in dialogue between Heaven and Earth.
The play takes place in seventeenth-century Massachusetts. It is in four acts. Years ago, Justice Gilead Merton deserted his mistress Goody Rickby after she gave birth to a son. The child later died because Goody was unable to obtain medical help for him. In the years following, Goody has learned witchcraft from Dickon, the Devil himself. To avenge herself on Merton, she and Dickon manufacture a scarecrow, bring it to life so that it resembles a human, and take him to Merton's house, with the intention of having the Scarecrow seduce Merton's niece, Rachel, away from her fiancé just before their wedding. The Scarecrow is introduced into society as Lord Ravensbane, with Dickon as his tutor. Ravensbane seems to enjoy smoking a corncob pipe, but the truth is that the pipe actually keeps him alive. Unfortunately for Goody and Dickon's sinister plan, the Scarecrow soon develops kind-hearted feelings of his own. His true identity is revealed at a party, when his reflection in the Mirror of Truth, which Rachel has bought from Goody, reveals a scarecrow, rather than a man. The other guests panic and flee, all except Rachel and her fiancé Richard Talbot, who are the only ones that return. The Scarecrow, horrified, and finally realizing the true meaning of his "mission", breaks his corncob pipe and collapses, only to momentarily revive and see in the mirror that his sacrifice for Rachel has transformed him into a real human being. With a look of wonder and happiness on his face, he falls back dead. When Talbot examines him and says, "He's dead", Rachel triumphantly, yet sadly, answers, "But - a man!" The curtain falls. The play's language is a sort of cross between seventeenth-century and what was considered modern English in 1908.
During the French Revolution, English aristocrat Sir Percy Blakeney secretly leads a league rescuing French nobles from execution. His wife Marguerite, pressured by the French envoy Chauvelin, discovers Percy's identity and follows him to France to warn him, where the couple reconciles after a rescue mission.
At a Manhattan party, aspiring actress Clea meets middle-aged actor Charlie and his friend Lewis. After dating Lewis, she begins an affair with Charlie, destabilizing his marriage to Stella; the relationships fracture in a comedy about sex, celebrity and show business.
The School for Arrogance is a 1791 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Holcroft. The original Covent Garden cast included William Thomas Lewis as Count Conolly Villars, John Henry Johnstone as MacDermot, Francis Aickin as Mr Dorimont, William Farren as Edmund, Richard Wilson as Sir Paul Peckham, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Sir Samuel Sheepy, James Thompson as Exempt, Charles Farley as Footmen, Mary Wells as Lucy and Isabella Mattocks as Lady Peckham.
The School for Coquettes is an 1831 comedy play by the British writer Catherine Gore, best known for her silver fork novels, for whom it was her theatrical debut. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 14 July 1831. The original cast included John Cooper as Lord Marston, William Farren as General Lumley, Frederick Vining as Frederick Lumley, Henry John Wallack as Howard, Benjamin Nottingham Webster as Ralph, Julia Glover as Lady Hampton and Harriette Taylor as Lady Honoria Howard. The play was a great success, running for 37 performances and being revived the following year.
The School for Friends is an 1805 comedy play by the British writer Marianne Chambers. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 10 December 1805. The Drury Lane cast featured Robert William Elliston as Lord Belmour, Richard Wroughton as Sir Felix Mordant, William Barrymore as Sir Edward Epworth, William Dowton as Mr. Hardy, Charles Mathews as Matthew Daw, Walter Maddocks as Landlord, Jane Pope as Lady Courtland, Dorothea Jordan as Mrs. Hamilton, Harriet Siddons as Miss Emily, Harriet Mellon as Lucy and Charlotte Tidswell as Sarah. The prologue was written by James Kenney. It appeared for 25 performances on its initial run.
The School for Guardians is a 1767 comedy play by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 10 January 1767. The original cast included John Walker as Sir Theodore Brumpton, Henry Woodward as Young Brumpton, William Smith as Bellford, Edward Shuter as Oldcastle, John Dunstall as Lovibond, Mary Wilford as Harriet and Ann Elliot as Mary Ann. In 1777 Thomas Hull adapted it into a comic opera Love finds the Way with music composed for the production by Thomas Arne.
Two brothers court the sisters in their care. The older Ariste treats Léonor as an equal and wins her affection, while controlling Sganarelle tries to govern Isabella's choice and is outmaneuvered as she pursues Valère.
The School for Lovers is a 1762 comedy play by the British writer William Whitehead. The original Drury Lane cast included David Garrick as Sir John Dorilant, John Palmer as Modely, William O'Brien as Belmour, Mary Ann Yates as Araminta, Kitty Clive as Lady Beverly and Susannah Maria Cibber as Celia.
The School for Prejudice is an 1801 comedy play by the English writer Thomas John Dibdin. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 3 January 1801. The original cast included Joseph Shepherd Munden as Old Liberal, William Thomas Lewis as Frank Liberal, John Fawcett as Ephraim, Charles Murray as Counsellor Friendly, Henry Erskine Johnston as Mildmay, John Emery as John Grouse, Charles Farley as Chevy Chase, Samuel Simmons as Parchment, George Davenport as Landlord, Frances Chapman as Mrs Howard, Harriet Siddons as Marian and Mary Ann Davenport as Miss Liberal. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 19 February 1802.
The School for Rakes is a 1769 comedy play by the British writer Elizabeth Griffith. It was inspired by the 1767 French play Eugénie by Pierre Beaumarchais. The original Drury Lane cast included Samuel Reddish as Frampton, Samuel Cautherley as Lord Eustace, Charles Holland as Sir William Evans, James William Dodd as Willis, Thomas King as Captain Lloyd, John Palmer as Colonel Evans, Robert Baddeley as Robert, Kitty Clive as Mrs Winifred and Sophia Baddeley as Harriet.
Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Snake discuss her various scandal-spreading plots. Snake asks why she is so involved in the affairs of Sir Peter Teazle, his ward Maria, and Charles and Joseph Surface, two young men under Sir Peter's informal guardianship, and why she has not yielded to the attentions of Joseph, who is highly respectable. Lady Sneerwell confides that Joseph desires Maria, who is an heiress, and that Maria desires Charles. Thus she and Joseph are plotting to alienate Maria from Charles by putting out rumours of an affair between Charles and Sir Peter's new young wife, Lady Teazle. Joseph arrives to confer with Lady Sneerwell. Maria herself then enters, fleeing the attentions of Sir Benjamin Backbite and his uncle, Crabtree. Mrs. Candour enters and ironically talks about how "tale-bearers are as bad as the tale-makers." Soon after that, Sir Benjamin and Crabtree also enter, bringing a good deal of gossip with them. One item is the imminent return of the Surface brothers' rich uncle Sir Oliver from the East Indies, where he has been for sixteen years; another is Charles' dire financial situation. Scene II: Sir Peter complains of Lady Teazle's spendthrift ways. Rowley, the former steward of the Surfaces' late father, arrives, and Sir Peter gives him an earful on the subject. He also complains that Maria has refused Joseph, whom he calls "a model for the young men of the age," and seems attached to Charles, whom he denounces as a profligate. Rowley defends Charles, and then announces that Sir Oliver has just arrived from the East Indies. Oliver has instructed them not to tell his nephews of his arrival so that he may "make some trial of their dispositions". Scene I: Sir Peter argues with his wife, Lady Teazle, refusing to be "ruined by [her] extravagance." He reminds her of her recent and far humbler country origins. Lady Teazle excuses herself by appealing to "the fashion", and departs to visit Lady Sneerwell. Despite their quarrel, Sir Peter still finds himself charmed by his wife even when she is arguing with him. Scene II: At Lady Sneerwell's, the scandal-mongers have great fun at the expense of friends not present. Lady Teazle and Maria arrive; Lady Teazle joins in, but Maria is disgusted. So is Sir Peter, when he arrives, and rather breaks up the party with his comments. He departs, the others retire to the next room, and Joseph seizes the opportunity to court Maria, who rejects him again. Lady Teazle returns and dismisses Maria, and it is revealed that Lady Teazle is seriously flirting with Joseph – who doesn't want her, but cannot afford to alienate her. Scene III: Sir Oliver calls on his old friend Sir Peter. He is amused by Sir Peter's marriage to a young wife. Their talk turns to the Surface brothers. Sir Peter praises Joseph's high morals but Sir Oliver suspects that he might be a hypocrite. Scene I: Rowley describes his plan for Sir Oliver to visit each of the brothers incognito to test their characters. Sir Oliver will disguise himself as their needy relative Mr. Stanley, and ask each for his help. Rowley also brings in the "friendly Jew" Moses, a moneylender who has tried to help Charles, to explain Charles' position. Moses mentions that he is to introduce Charles to yet another moneylender ("Mr. Premium") that very evening. Sir Oliver decides (at Sir Peter's suggestion) that with Moses' assistance, he will pose as Premium when visiting Charles while still intending to visit Joseph as Stanley. Sir Peter is left alone and when Maria enters, he tries to convince her to marry Joseph expressing him as a worthier match than Charles, whom she favours. When she is not persuaded, he threatens her with "the authority of a guardian". She goes, and Lady Teazle enters asking her husband for two hundred pounds. Sir Peter and Lady Teazle argue again, and conclude that they should separate. Scene II: Sir Oliver (as Mr. Premium) arrives with Moses at Charles' house. While they are waiting in the hall, Trip, the servant, tries to negotiate a loan on his own account from Moses. Sir Oliver concludes that "this is the temple of dissipation indeed!" Scene III: Charles and his raucous guests drink heavily and sing merry songs, as they prepare for a night of gambling. Charles raises a toast to Maria. Moses and "Premium" enter, and Sir Oliver is dismayed at the scene. Charles does not recognise his long-lost uncle. Charles frankly asks "Premium" for credit, noting that Sir Oliver (whom he believes is in India) will soon leave him a fortune. "Premium" discounts this possibility, noting that Sir Oliver could live many years, or disinherit his nephew. He asks if Charles has any valuables of his own to sell for immediate cash. Charles admits that he has sold the family silver and his late father's library, and offers to sell "Premium" the family portrait collection. "Premium" accepts, but Sir Oliver is silently outraged. Scene I: Charles goes on to sell all of the family portraits to "Premium", using the rolled-up family tree as a gavel. However, he refuses to sell the last portrait, which is of Sir Oliver, out of respect for his benefactor; Charles will not sell it even when "Premium" offers as much for it as for all the rest. Moved, Sir Oliver inwardly forgives Charles. Sir Oliver and Moses leave with Rowley entering shortly after, and Charles sends a hundred pounds of the proceeds for the relief of "Mr. Stanley", despite Rowley's objection. Scene II: Sir Oliver, reflecting on Charles's character with Moses, is met by Rowley, who has brought him the hundred pounds sent to "Stanley." Declaring "I’ll pay his debts, and his benevolence too", Sir Oliver plans to go meet his other nephew in the person of Stanley. Scene III: Joseph, anxiously awaiting a visit from Lady Teazle, is told by a servant that she has just left "her chair at the milliner's next door" and so has the servant draw a screen across the window (his reason: "my opposite neighbour is a maiden lady of so curious a temper"). On her entrance, Joseph forswears any interest in Maria, and flirts in earnest with Lady Teazle, perversely suggesting that she should make a "faux pas" for the benefit of her reputation. The servant returns to announce Sir Peter, and Lady Teazle hides in panic behind the screen. Sir Peter enters and tells Joseph that he suspects an affair between Charles and Lady Teazle (due to the rumours spread by Joseph and Lady Sneerwell). Joseph hypocritically professes confidence in Charles' and Lady Teazle's honour. Sir Peter confides his intention to give his wife a generous separate maintenance during his life and the bulk of his fortune on his demise. He also urges Joseph to pursue his suit with Maria (much to Joseph's annoyance, as Lady Teazle is listening behind the screen). Charles's arrival is announced. Sir Peter decides to hide, and have Joseph sound Charles out about his relationship with Lady Teazle. He starts behind the screen, but sees the corner of Lady Teazle's petticoat there already. Joseph "confesses" that he is not as virtuous as he seems: "a little French milliner, a silly rogue that plagues me" is hiding there to preserve her own reputation. Sir Peter then hides in the closet. Charles now enters and Joseph questions him about Lady Teazle. Charles disclaims any designs on her, noting that Joseph and the lady seem to be intimate. To stop Charles, Joseph whispers to him that Sir Peter is hiding in the closet, and Charles hauls him forth. Sir Peter tells Charles he now regrets his suspicions about him. Charles passes off his comments about Joseph and Lady Teazle as a joke. When Lady Sneerwell is announced, Joseph rushes out to stop her from coming up. Meanwhile, Sir Peter tells Charles about the "French milliner". Charles insists on having a look at her and flings down the screen as Joseph returns, discovering Lady Teazle. Charles, very amused, leaves the other three dumbstruck individuals. Joseph concocts an explanation for Sir Peter of why he and Lady Teazle are together. But she refuses to endorse it and admits that she came to pursue an affair with Joseph; however, having learned of Sir Peter's generosity, she has repented. She denounces Joseph and exits, and the enraged Sir Peter follows as Joseph continues trying to pretend innocence. Scene I: Sir Oliver (as Mr. Stanley) now visits Joseph. Joseph, like Charles, does not recognise his long-lost uncle. He greets "Stanley" with effusive professions of goodwill, but refuses to give "Stanley" any financial assistance, saying he has donated all his money to support Charles. "Stanley" suggests that Sir Oliver would help him if he were here, and that Joseph might pass on some of what Sir Oliver has given him. But Joseph tells "Stanley" that Sir Oliver is in fact very stingy, and has given him nothing except trinkets such as tea, shawls, birds and "Indian crackers". Furthermore, Joseph has lent a great deal to his brother, so that he has nothing left for "Stanley". Sir Oliver is enraged, as he knows both statements are flat lies – he sent Joseph 12,000 pounds from India. He stifles his anger, and departs amid further effusions. Rowley arrives with a letter for Joseph announcing that Sir Oliver has arrived in town. Scene II: At Sir Peter's house, Lady Sneerwell, Mrs. Candour, Sir Benjamin, and Crabtree exchange confused rumours about the Teazle affair. Sir Benjamin says Sir Peter was wounded in a swordfight with Joseph Surface, while Crabtree insists it was a pistol duel with Charles. When Sir Oliver enters, they take him for a doctor and demand news of the wounded man. At that moment Sir Peter arrives to prove the report wrong, and orders the scandalmongers out of his house, with Rowley entering shortly after at hearing Sir Peter's raised voice.
The School for Vanity is a 1783 comedy play by the British writer Samuel Jackson Pratt. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 29 January 1783. The original Drury Lane cast included Thomas King as Sir Hercules Caustic, John Palmer as Sighwell, James William Dodd as Lord Frolic, William Brereton as Valentine Onslow, Robert Baddeley as Secondhand, William Parsons as Alderman Ingot, Elizabeth Hopkins as Lady Blaze, Mary Bulkley as Widow Wherett and Elizabeth Farren as Ophelia Wyndham.
The School for Widows is a 1789 comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 8 May 1789. The original Covent Garden cast included William Thomas Lewis as Jack Marmoset, Thomas Ryder as Mr Wordly, John Quick as Sir Wilful Wayward, Alexander Pope as Frederick, Isabella Mattocks as Mrs Wordly, Sarah Wewitzer as Mrs Gayless and Frances Abington as Lady Charlotte Richmore. It was never published.
Arnolphe has raised his young ward Agnès in ignorance so she will be a compliant wife. His plan falters when she falls in love with Horace, and a revelation about Agnès’s family defeats Arnolphe’s attempts to control her future.
Set in 1592–93, Peter Whelan’s play follows Christopher Marlowe and his circle as they flirt with heresy and republican ideas under the watch of England’s political and religious authorities. Marlowe befriends the actor Tom Stone, who reveals himself as Shakespeare; as spies arrest Thomas Kyd and Marlowe is accused of blasphemy, the group’s escape plan ends in Marlowe’s death at Deptford.
The School of Reform is an 1805 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Morton. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 15 January 1805. The original cast included George Frederick Cooke as Lord Avondale, Joseph Shepherd Munden as General Tarragan, John Emery as Tyke, Charles Murray as Old Man, Charles Klanert as Peter, Maria Gibbs as Mrs St. Clair, Harriett Litchfield as Mrs Ferment and Mary Ann Davenport as Mrs Nicely. It was later staged at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin.
At a girls' boarding school, the feckless husband of its absent headmistress spends the money intended for household bills on a supper party, while pupils and a secretly married couple bring further complications. A fire leads to chaotic escapes and reconciliations.
In this Jacobean comedy, a woman wants her beloved to duel with and kill his closest friend, a dramatic premise the play shares with several contemporary works.
Michael, an actor in an amateur theatre society, dreams of directing Macbeth. As his wife and best friend take the leading roles, he wonders whether his determination to direct is causing the production's problems or whether the play's curse is at work.
At a Shakespeare festival in Bannockburn, Michigan, the play examines the superstition surrounding the curse attached to saying Macbeth in a theatre.
Set in the American West, this melodrama was built to feature showman W. F. Carver and his Wild America Troupe in a dramatic story. Its production included a large water tank, live ducks, canoe stunts, and horses.
In a stylized series of seventeen episodes set in an unspecified Arab land, an insurrection confronts a blundering colonial power. Saïd, a poor social outcast who betrays the rebels, links the non-narrative scenes. Movable screens serve as symbolic barriers and as visible stage properties, shifting the performance’s images of war and authority.
In a 1907 East Anglian village, a storm drowns a beloved local man. As two young lovers try to escape the constraints of their hierarchical community, draper Hatch is bullied by Mrs. Rafi and becomes convinced that aliens are invading after he refused to help rescue the drowning man's friend; he descends into madness.
A storm strands French pirate Albert, his love Aminta, and their crew on an island where they encounter Portuguese castaways. After the Portuguese escape in the French ship, hunger and conflict threaten the crew. Albert reaches a nearby island inhabited by Amazons, whose leader’s daughter falls in love with him; family reunions and new relationships ultimately reconcile the French and Portuguese groups.
After mutineers strand a ship’s captain and his family on a frozen sea, the ice breaks apart. The English melodrama adapts the French play La Prière des Naufragés.
On Christmas Eve in Dublin, alcoholic Sharky tries to stay sober while caring for his blind brother Richard. A poker game with their visitors turns into a supernatural contest for Sharky’s soul against Mr Lockhart, a figure from Sharky’s past.
At a country estate, the aspiring writer Konstantin stages an experimental play featuring Nina, whom he loves. Nina instead becomes involved with writer Trigorin; over two years her acting hopes falter and Trigorin abandons her, while Konstantin's despair culminates in suicide.
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