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The Voice of the Turtle

Play · 1943

The story begins on a Friday afternoon in early April as aspiring actress Sally Middleton has just finished moving into her new apartment in the East Sixties. Even though she has just left her home in Joplin, Missouri, for life in the big city, the married Broadway producer she has been seeing is quick to dump her when he begins to feel she is ruining their relationship by falling in love with him. Heartbroken, Sally confides her uncertainties in her friend Olive Lashbrooke, a promiscuous, worldly girl, questioning the practicality of the lessons in chastity she received as a child and wondering if she is alone in her passion, or if other women share these sensations. Unbeknownst to Sally, Olive has a date planned with Bill Page, a sergeant in the United States Army who happens to be on leave for the weekend, and she has arranged for him to meet her at Sally's new apartment. At the last minute, however, Olive is asked on a date by another man, and she decides to stand up Bill for what she considers to be the better offer. Bill, still bitter over a love affair gone wrong from five years past, finds himself yet again hurt by love, and to make matters worse he has no hotel reservation, nor is there a nearby friend with whom he can stay. Devoid of any alternative, the two strangers find themselves bound together in Sally's apartment for the weekend, where they are forced to confront their fears of fidelity and their ever-growing interest in each other.

The Volunteers

Play · 1692

The Volunteers is a 1692 comedy play by the English writer Thomas Shadwell. Shadwell completed the play shortly before his death and it was performed posthumously at the Drury Lane Theatre by the United Company. It is also known by the long title The Volunteers; or, The Stock-Jobbers. The original Drury Lane cast featured Anthony Leigh as Major General Blunt, Thomas Doggett as Colonel Hackett senior, George Powell as Colonel Hacket junior, John Hodgson as Welford, John Bowman as Sir Nicholas Dainty, William Bowen as Sir Timothy Kastril, John Verbruggen as Nickum, John Freeman as Dingboy, William Pinkethman as Stitchum, Frances Maria Knight as Teresia, Susanna Verbruggen as Eugenia, Jane Rogers as Winifred, Anne Bracegirdle as Clara and Elinor Leigh as Mrs Hackwell. Shadwell dedicated the published version of the play to Queen Mary. It was revived at Drury Lane in 1711.

The Walloons

Play · 1782

The Walloons is a comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London in April 1782. The original cast included John Henderson as Father Sullivan, Richard Wroughton as Montgomery, John Quick as Sir Solomon Dangle, Charles Lee Lewes as Davy Dangle, Francis Aickin as Daggerly, Matthew Clarke as Don Vincentio Drclincourt, John Edwin as Pat Carey, James Fearon as Bumboat, James Thompson as Tipple, Sarah Maria Wilson as Kitty Carrington, Ann Pitt as Mrs Partlet, Mrs Webb as Lady Dangle and Elizabeth Satchell as Agnes. The character of Father O'Sullivan was widely believed to be based on Father Thomas Hussey an Irish-born Priest with whom Cumberland conducted secret talks in an attempt to secure a peace agreement between Britain and Spain during the American War of Independence.

The Water Engine

Play · 1977

Charles Lang works at a menial job at a factory and lives with his blind sister Rita in an apartment in Chicago during the 1934 Century of Progress world's fair. He is also an amateur inventor, and the play centers around a machine he designs that can create electricity from distilled water. Seeking to patent his idea, he finds a lawyer, Morton Gross, in the phone book and shows him the machine, but Gross's motivations seem to differ from Lang's. Gross recruits another lawyer, Lawrence Oberman, and together they menace Lang and eventually his sister. It is heavily implied that the two of them serve the corporate establishment whose profits Lang's engine threatens. By the time Lang realizes he is being taken advantage of, the lawyers have him trapped. He attempts to contact a newspaper reporter, but Gross and Oberman hold his sister hostage to prevent him from telling his story. He then meets a barker at the World's Fair right before it closes for the night who tells him of a chain letter he has just received, which gives him an idea. The lawyers try to force Lang into giving them his plans, but he says he no longer has them; the audience finds out from a scene in the newspaper reporter's office that he and Rita have been killed. The play ends with Bernie, a young friend of the family who has previously shown mechanical aptitude, receiving the plans for the Water Engine in the mail.

The Watering Place

Play · 1969

The Watering Place is a play written by Lyle Kessler. His first full length, On February 17, 1969, Alan Schneider took over the role as director for The Watering Place. The opening was delayed until March 6. The play closed the first day it opened, but Kessler believed the reason for its lack of success on Broadway had more to do with other variables than the merit of the play itself. "....there were a lot of problems" Kessler said in an interview in 1990, "We'd had a change of directors, some of the casting wasn't right. And at the time, people didn't want to see anything about Vietnam." Kessler, who went on to write Orphans, won a Rockefeller Foundation grant for The Watering Place. The play has had segments published in a number of anthologies including Best Plays of 1969-1970 and Monologues--women: 50 speeches from the contemporary theatre, Volume 1 and memorabilia from the Broadway production are sold on eBay as collector's items. Langham said The Watering Place is one of the most significant plays about America he has ever read.

The Way Old Friends Do

Play · 2023

The play follows the ups and downs in the friendship of Peter and Edward, who were at school together in Birmingham in the 1980s. Edward came out to Peter as gay, and Peter as an ABBA fan. They find each other again after twenty years of estrangement and book a one-off gig at the local theatre as a drag ABBA tribute band. They decide to play Frida and Agnetha, and recruit wannabe actress Jodie and eccentric rehearsal pianist Mrs Campbell as Björn and Benny. Stage manager Sally is the final member of the team. Avid Australian fan, Christian, convinces them to pursue the idea, and they embark on a life on the road. However Christian's romantic involvement with Edward leads to the breakdown of his friendship with Peter.

The Way to Get Married

Play · 1796

The Way to Get Married is a 1796 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Morton. The play was frequently revived well into the nineteenth century. The original cast included William Thomas Lewis as Tangent, John Quick as Toby Allspice, John Henry Johnstone as McQuery, Alexander Pope as Captain Faulkener, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Caustic, John Fawcett as Dick Dashall, Charles Farley as Servant, Charles Holland as Solicitor, Isabella Mattocks as Clementina Allspice, Tryphosa Jane Wallis as Julia Faulkener and Mary Ann Davenport as Lady Sorel.

The Way to Keep Him

Play · 1760

The Way to Keep Him is a 1760 comedy play by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. Originally three-acts in length, it premiered at the Drury Lane Theatre in a double bill with Murphy's The Desert Island. Actor-manager David Garrick appeared in both productions. A great success, the following year it was extended to five acts, with music composed by Thomas Arne to accompany it. It had many revivals well into the nineteenth century. The original 1760 Drury Lane cast included Garrick as Lovemore, John Palmer as Sir Brilliant Fashion, Thomas King as William, Maria Macklin as Widow Bellmour, Mary Ann Yates as Mrs Lovemore, Mary Bradshaw as Mignionet and Kitty Clive as Muslin. Writer Henry Angelo recalls attending an earth-bathing lecture in the early 1790s, during which quack doctor James Graham began reciting "Ye fair married Dames..." from the play at the urging of bored onlookers.

The Wedding Day

Play · 1794

The Wedding Day is a comedy play by the English writer Elizabeth Inchbald. An afterpiece, it premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 1 November 1794. The original cast included William Barrymore as Lord Rakeland, Thomas King as Sir Adam Contest, John Hayman Packer as Mr Millden, Charles Kemble as Mr Contest, Charlotte Tidswell as Lady Autumn, Dorothea Jordan as Lady Contest, Elizabeth Hopkins as Mrs Hamford and Elizabeth Heard as Hannah. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 15 February 1797.

The Weir

Play · 1997

The play opens in a County Leitrim pub with Brendan, the publican, and Jack, a car mechanic and garage owner. These two begin to discuss their respective days and are soon joined by Jim. The three then discuss Valerie, a pretty young woman from Dublin who has just rented an old house in the area. Finbar, a businessman, arrives with Valerie, and the play revolves around reminiscences and banter. After a few drinks, the group begin telling stories with a supernatural slant, related to their own experience or those of others in the area, and which arise out of the popular preoccupations of Irish folklore: ghosts, fairies and mysterious happenings. After each man (except Brendan) has told a story, Valerie tells her own: the reason why she has left Dublin. Valerie's story is melancholy and undoubtedly true, with a ghostly twist which echoes the earlier tales, and shocks the men who become softer, kinder, and more real. There is the hint that the story may lead to salvation and, eventually, a happy ending for two of the characters. Finbar and Jim leave, and in the last part of the play, Jack's final monologue is a story of personal loss which, he comments, is at least not a ghostly tale but in some ways is nonetheless about a haunting. The building of a hydroelectric dam, or weir, on a local waterway many years before is mentioned early in the conversation.

The Welch Heiress

Play · 1795

Lord Melcourt is engaged to marry an heiress for the sake of her money and the naïve and romantic Miss Plinlimmon is puzzled by the fact that his behaviour does not live up to her expectations of the ideal lover. In fact he does not care for the girl's liveliness and eventually breaks off the engagement, whereupon his friend Mr Fashion takes his place. A farcical subplot involves Mr Phrensy, a writer who cannot make the world agree that he is a genius. Even the false news of his death in the papers does not lead to a revival of his reputation and he therefore plans to have a second item published, announcing that he died while visiting Melcourt for the wedding. Meanwhile he masquerades as a friend of Phrensy's, raising subscriptions for an edition of his collected works.

The Werewolf

Play · 1924

The Duchess of Capablanca thinks her castle is haunted by the spirit of the famous libertine Don Juan. Psychic investigator Eliphas Leone believes this spirit has possessed Paolo Moreira, a young, straight-laced professor at a nearby school, and uses Moreira's astral body to seduce women among the castle's household servants. Rumors about this motivate several young women to approach Moreira in the hope of being seduced. However, when the Duchess attempts to prove the possession by a rendezvous with Moreira, she finds that he is no libertine; instead she discovers that the culprit seducing the servants is her butler, Vincente.

The West Indian

Play · 1771

The West Indian is a play by Richard Cumberland first staged at the Drury Lane Theatre in 1771. A comedy, it depicts Belcour, a West Indian plantation owner, travelling to Britain. Belcour tries to overcome his father's lingering disapproval of him and marry his sweetheart Louisa. Its hero, who probably owes much to the suggestion of David Garrick, is a young scapegrace fresh from the tropics, "with rum and sugar enough belonging to him to make all the water in the Thames into punch", a libertine with generous instincts, which prevail in the end. The early example of the modern drama was favorably received. Boden translated it into German, and Goethe acted in it at the Weimar court. The play was a success running for 28 performances in its original run and was Cumberland's most popular comic work. One of the Drury Lane staff observed "the success which has attended the performances of The West Indian has exceeded that of any comedy within the memory of the oldest man living". The original Drury Lane cast included Francis Aickin as Stockwell, Thomas King as Belcour, John Hayman Packer as Captain Dudley, Samuel Cautherley as Charles Dudley, John Moody as Major O'Flaherty, James Aickin as Stukely, Robert Baddeley as Fulmer, William Parsons as Varland, Elizabeth Hopkins as Lady Rusport, Frances Abington as Charlotte Rusport, Sophia Baddeley as Louisa and Mary Bradshaw as Stockwell's Housekeeper. The play proved popular in North America and was staged in the West Indies, British North America and the United States. It was the first English-language play known to have been staged in Jersey (on 5 May 1792). It was staged at Yale on April 13, 1773 by an all-male cast, who were members of the Linonian literary society, which included Nathan Hale and David Bushnell. A popular character was the Irishman Major O'Flaherty, who reappeared in the 1785 play The Natural Son. The play was one of a number written by Cumberland that contained sympathetic depictions of colonists from the British Empire. On 17 April 1804, the play was performed at the Theatre Royal, York. It was attended by Jane Ewbank, who commented as follows in her diary: "Went to the Play, the West Indian; the part of Belcour would have been performed well by Melvin, had he been more the gentleman... " (York Courant, 16 April 1804).

The Whales of August

Play · 1980

The Whales of August is a play written by American playwright David Berry. The play is about two elderly sisters, both widows, who are living together in 1954 in a summer cottage in Maine. The older sister, Elizabeth "Libby" is being taken care of by her younger sister, Sarah. The sisters sit on their porch and watch the whales in the ocean and discuss the trials and tribulations of their lives. The play was adapted as a feature-film, and released in 1987.

The What D'Ye Call It

Play · 1715

The What D'Ye Call It is a 1715 farce by the British writer John Gay. It was written as a parody of tragic plays, with particular reference to Thomas Otway's Venice Preserv'd. It was originally performed as an afterpiece with Nicholas Rowe's tragedy Jane Shore at Drury Lane, the cast including Benjamin Johnson, Henry Norris, Richard Cross, James Quin and Elizabeth Younger and Margaret Bicknell. This was followed by a command performance the next night attended by George, Prince of Wales, possibly due to the influence of Gay's friend Henrietta Howard. A hit, by the end of the season it had been performed seventeen times. It was revived frequently during the eighteenth century and is Gay's second most performed work after The Beggar's Opera. It features a ballad "'Twas When the Seas Were Roaring" (also known as "The Meloncholy Nymph") to music written by George Frideric Handel which achieved popularity in its own right and was soon on sale as a song sheet. Gay and Handel collaborated subsequently on Acis and Galatea (1718).

The Wheel of Fortune

Play · 1795

Roderick Penruddock's rural cottage is the location for the first act. The scenes of other four acts are in London. The comic lawyer Timothy Weazel finds Roderick Penruddock, who has been living for twenty years in isolated misanthropy, embittered against Arabella and his enemy Woodville. Weazel informs Penruddock that he is the heir of the deceased Sir George Penruddock, a cousin of Roderick. This unexpected inheritance and Woodville's ruin at the gaming tables create a possibility. Roderick plots his revenge and searches for his enemy Woodville in London, where he encounters Henry Woodville. Arabella and his enemy Woodville's friend Sydenham make appeals to Penruddock. The appeals and his own pangs of conscience cause Penruddock to repent, turn to forgiveness, abandon his plans for revenge, and bestow a fortune upon Henry Woodville and Emily.

The White Devil

Play · 1612

Count Lodovico is banished from Rome for debauchery and murder; his friends, Gasparo and Antonelli promise to work for the repeal of his sentence. The Duke of Brachiano has conceived a violent passion for Vittoria Corombona, daughter of a noble but impoverished Venetian family, despite the fact they are both married to other people. Vittoria's brother Flamineo, employed as a secretary to Brachiano, has been scheming to bring his sister and the Duke together in the hope of advancing his career, much to the dismay of their mother, Cornelia. The plan is foiled by the arrival of Brachiano's wife Isabella, escorted by her brother and Cardinal Monticelso. They are both outraged by the rumours of Brachiano's infidelity and set out to make the affair public; before that happens Brachiano and Flamineo arrange to have Camillo (Vittoria's husband) and Isabella murdered. Vittoria is put on trial for the murder of her husband and although there is no real evidence against her, she is condemned by the Cardinal to imprisonment in a convent for penitent whores. Flamineo pretends madness to protect himself from awkward suggestions. The banished Count Lodovico is pardoned and returns to Rome; confessing he had been secretly in love with Isabella, he vows to avenge her death. Isabella's brother Francisco also plots revenge. He pens a love letter to Vittoria, intentionally allowing it to fall into the hands of Brachiano, in order to fuel his jealousy. Though at first his plan seems to work, Vittoria manages to convince Brachiano that she is faithful and the two elope. Cardinal Monticelso is elected Pope and as his first act he excommunicates Vittoria and Brachiano, who have fled Rome. Vittoria and Brachiano, now married, hold court in Padua. Three mysterious strangers have arrived to enter Brachiano's service. These are Francisco, disguised as Mulinassar (a Moor), Lodovico and Gasparo (disguised as Capuchin monks), all conspiring to avenge Isabella's death. They begin their revenge by poisoning Brachiano. As he is dying, Lodovico and Gasparo reveal themselves to him, strangling him when he tries to raise the alarm. Next, Zanche, Vittoria's Moorish maid, who has fallen in love with her supposed countryman Mulinassar, reveals to him the murders of Isabella and Camillo and Flamineo's part in them. Flamineo is banished from court for the murder of his brother Marcello by Brachiano's son Giovanni, the new Duke, and sensing that his crimes are catching up with him he goes to see Vittoria. He tries to persuade her and Zanche to a triple suicide by shooting him, then themselves. Vittoria and Zanche shoot Flamineo and, thinking him dead, exult in his death and their escape. Much to their surprise, Flamineo rises from the 'dead' and reveals to them the pistols were not loaded. As he tries to exact his own revenge on Vittoria, Lodovico and Gasparo enter and complete their revenge by killing all three. Giovanni and officers then arrive and the play ends with Giovanni learning of his uncle's participation in the bloody acts and arresting Lodovico and vowing that "All that have hands in this shall taste our justice" (5.6.297).

The White Horse Inn

Play · 1897

The White Horse Inn (or White Horse Inn) (German title: Im weißen Rößl) is a play by Oscar Blumenthal and Gustav Kadelburg. Set in the Salzkammergut region of Upper Austria, the farce humorously juxtaposes the lives and attitudes of urban tourists vacationing in the Northern Limestone Alps and the local inhabitants who reside near the White Horse Inn where the vacationers are staying. The work was popular both in Europe and in theaters serving the German-American community in the United States in the early 20th century. The White Horse Inn premiered in Berlin in 1897. Sydney Rosenfeld translated the work into English. His version of the play, titled At the White Horse Inn, was staged on Broadway at Wallack's Theatre in 1899. The New York cast including Amelia Bingham and Leo Ditrichstein. The play was the basis for Ralph Benatzky and Robert Stolz's 1930 operetta The White Horse Inn.

The White Liars

Play · 1967

The White Liars is a one-act play by Peter Shaffer, first performed in 1967 and originally titled White Lies. It is often performed with another of Shaffer's one-act plays, Black Comedy, to form the double-bill of The White Liars and Black Comedy. The White Liars revolves around Sophie Lemberg, an eccentric and disillusioned fortune teller (who imagines herself to be a baroness of the Holy Roman Empire) living in a decaying seaside resort, and the two young men—Tom, the lead singer in a rock band, and Frank, his business manager—who consult her. It soon becomes clear that their lives are much stranger than the fiction Sophie tries to create in her magic ball.

The White Sheep of the Family

Play · 1951

The White Sheep of the Family is a 1951 British comedy play by Lawrence du Garde Peach and Ian Hay. A criminal family are distressed when their son wants to go straight. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool before transferring to London's West End. It ran for 273 performances at the Piccadilly Theatre between 11 October 1951 and 7 June 1952. The cast included Jack Hulbert, Joyce Carey, Cyril Chamberlain, Derek Blomfield and Rona Anderson, making her West End debut.

The Widow of Malabar

Play · 1790

The Widow of Malabar is a 1790 tragedy by the British writer Mariana Starke. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 5 May 1790. The original cast included William Farren as Raymond, George Davies Harley as Chief Bramin, William Powell as Second Bramin, Joseph George Holman as Young Bramin, James Thompson as Narrain, Ann Brunton Merry as Indamora and Mrs Rock as Fatima. Starke's play is an adaptation of the French playwright Antoine-Marin Lemierre's La Veuve de Malabar (1770). Both Starke's drama and its source material center on a British officer who saves an Indian woman from committing suicide via widow-burning, but while both characters have a romantic relationship with one another Lemierre's play, in The Widow of Malabar, relations between the two are purely platonic.

The Widowed Wife

Play · 1767

The Widowed Wife is a 1767 comedy play by William Kenrick. It premiered at Drury Lane Theatre on 5 December 1767. It closely resembled the plot of Memoirs of a Magdalen a novel by Hugh Kelly. The play enjoyed a fairly successful run. The original Drury Lane cast included Samuel Reddish as Fred Melmoth, Thomas King as Syllogism, Charles Holland as General Melmoth, Francis Aickin as Colonel Camply, James Aickin as Lord Courtly, James William Dodd as Doctor Mineral, John Palmer as Furnival, Hannah Pritchard as Mrs Mildmay, Frances Abington as Narcissa, Mary Bradshaw as Susan and Kitty Clive as Sift.

The Wife

Play · 1833

The Wife: A Tale of Mantua (also known as The Wife of Mantua is an 1833 historical play by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 24 April 1833. The cast included Sheridan Knowles as Julian St. Pierre, Ellen Kean as Mariana, Charles Kean as Leonardo, James Prescott Warde as Ferrardo, George Bennett as Antonio, William Abbot as Lorenzo, Edwin Ransford as Hugo, Drinkwater Meadows as Bartolo and William Payne as Pietro. The epilogue was written by Charles Lamb. It is set in Mantua during the reign of the House of Gonzaga.

The Wife of Bath

Play · 1713

The Wife of Bath is a 1713 comedy play by the British writer John Gay. It was inspired by The Wife of Bath's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer. The play marked a conscious switch by Gay towards an apolitical and distant past, after his contemporary work The Mohocks had faced controversy and censorship the previous year. Robert Wilks, a celebrated actor and manager of the Drury Lane Theatre, appeared as Chaucer. The title role of the wife was played by Margaret Bicknell with Mary Porter as Myrtilla and the cast rounded out by William Bullock, Lacy Ryan, Christopher Bullock, William Pinkethman, Susanna Mountfort and Henry Norris. It had been expected to premiere in April 1713, but was delayed by the lengthy run of Joseph Addison's Cato which had been widely acclaimed. When it was finally able to be staged, it lasted for only two nights. However a publisher Bernard Lintot paid £25 for the copyright to the work, while Richard Steele had been enthusiastic after seeing it in rehearsals. The epilogue was likely to have been written by Gay's friend and fellow Tory Alexander Pope. On 19 January 1730 the play, substantially rewritten by Gay who was now celebrated for his The Beggar's Opera, opened at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. The cast featured John Hippisley and Jane Egleton, who has both appeared in The Beggar's Opera. Other cast members included Thomas Chapman, Anthony Boheme, William Milward, Charles Hulett and Elizabeth Younger. It ran for three nights and this time Lintot paid £75 for the copyright to print it for sale. However, the play was never revived.

The Wife's Relief

Play · 1711

The Wife's Relief, or, The Husband's Cure is a 1711 comedy play by the British writer Charles Johnson. The plot revolves around a virtuous wife who tries to mend her husband's rakish ways. The cast included Robert Wilks as Volatil, Colley Cibber as Riot, Anne Oldfield as Arabella, Barton Booth as Horatio, Thomas Doggett as Sir Tristram Cash, Lacy Ryan as Valentine, Henry Norris as Spitfire, Christopher Bullock as Hazard, Mary Willis as Teraminta and Jane Rogers as Cynthia. It lasted seven nights, considered a good run for a play at the time.

The Wife's Secret

Play · 1846

Although various aspects of the play differ between the 1846 and 1869 versions of the text, the general plot remains the same: Lady Eveline is hiding her brother, Lord Arden, in her house after he and his fellow Cavaliers are defeated in their attempt to overthrow the Commonwealth of England. While Lady Eveline posits that her husband, Sir Walter, though a Parliamentarian, will have mercy on her brother if he reveals himself, Lord Arden insists on remaining hidden, as he fears that Sir Walter will have him arrested if he discovers him. Sir Walter comes to suspect that Lady Eveline is keeping a lover hidden in the house, and threatens to kill him. Lady Eveline reveals the truth and Sir Walter, although sceptical at first, comes to believe her, and decides to protect Lord Arden. Jabez Sneed, a servant that has been stealing money from Lady Eveline, attempts to escape arrest and flee by boarding a ship- but his plot is discovered by Sir Walter, who plans to report him to the authorities.

The Will

Play · 1797

The Will is a 1797 comedy play by the British writer Frederick Reynolds. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 19 April 1797. The original cast included Thomas King as Sir Solomon Cynic, Richard Wroughton as Mandeville, John Bannister as Howard, Robert Palmer as Veritas, Richard Suett as Realize, Samuel Thomas Russell as Robert, John Hayman Packer as Old Copsley, Dorothea Jordan as Albina Mandeville, Charlotte Tidswell as Deborah, Ursula Booth as Mrs Rigid and Harriet Mellon as Cicely Copsley. The Irish premiere took place at Dublin's Crow Street Theatre on 16 December 1799.

The Will for the Deed

Play · 1804

The Will for the Deed is an 1804 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Dibdin. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 24 March 1804. The original cast included Joseph Shepherd Munden as Old Harebrain, William Thomas Lewis as Harry Harebreain, William Blanchard as Antimony, Samuel Simmons as Capias, John Fawcett as Motto, Charles Farley as Reference, John Emery as Acorn, William Chapman as Manly and Mary Ann Davenport as Mrs. Reference.

The Wisdom Tooth

Play · 1925

Act I (Scene 1: Men's Washroom at Porter & Company.) Charley banters with colleagues about his saving so much money and not marrying. He complains of an aching wisdom tooth, and gets a recommendation for a dentist from Sparrow. They all wonder why a bright pretty stenographer nicknamed the Duchess was dismissed suddenly. Charley vows to challenge their boss Mr. Porter about it, but goes quiet when he passes by, drawing his coworkers' derision. (Curtain) Act I (Scene 2: Waiting room of Dentist's office. Later that afternoon.) Charley arrives for his appointment to find four people ahead of him, two men and two women. All the magazines are taken so he goes to a bookshelf and pulls down a volume of fairy tales. The two men tease him about his choice of reading matter; Charley tries to justify it, while the two women smile at his discomfiture. He eventually gives up and leaves without seeing the dentist. (Curtain) Act I (Scene 3: By fireplace of Mrs. Poole's boarding house. That evening.) The various denizens of Mrs. Poole's make their entrances and exits. Sally and Charley sit out dinner because of his tooth. He has bought her a cribbage board, because she used to play it in college. Mrs. Poole is fond of Charley; he has lived there six years and never missed paying rent on time. Farraday discourages Sally from taking Charley seriously, because he lacks opinions of his own. He proceeds to demonstrate this by switching sides in an argument, and each time Charley goes along with Farraday's new opinion. Alone now, Sally tells Charley she likes him, but despairs of freeing the strong person she senses inside him. She calls him a "carbon-copy person" then leaves him in the room now lit only by the fire. He speaks into the fire, wishing his grandparents were there to convince others he was really someone to respect. He hears his long-dead grandma calling "Skeeter! Skeeter!" and answers "Here I am!" The double doors of the room open by themselves, filled with a blue light, as his grandparents enter wearing old-fashioned clothes. (Curtain) Act II (Scene 1: Same as Act I Scene 3. A moment later.) Charley greets his grandparents with relief, telling them he really needs their help. He, and other living people in this scene find nothing incongruous about their presence. The grandparents introduce Lalita, an immortal spirit; Charley and her remember each other from his boyhood. Charley explains the problem he is having with Sally. Summoned to the room by Charley, she is introduced to the grandparents and Lalita. The latter's attire is considered a bit outlandish, so Charley fetches Katie, while the grandparents tell Sally about Charley's deeds as a boy in Indiana, how he saved a horse from a barn fire and rescued a mule from a pit. Katie agrees to take Lalita to Sally's room for a change of dress. Farraday is called for by Sally to see the true Charlie, but he refuses to change his opinion of him. In a moment, he is proved right, when Mrs. Poole enters to scold Bemis about Lalita. She insists the spirit and the old folks leave her house, and Charlie does not stand up for them. At this, the grandparents and Lalita fail to recognize Charlie as Skeeter, the boy they used to know. They depart calling for him. Sally encourages Charly to go seek Skeeter too, to recapture his lost self. Charley starts out the door calling after his grandparents. (Curtain) Act II (Scene 2: Blackdrop with only Charley's face lit up.) Voices are heard, some from Charley's youth, others just fellow travelers on the mysterious road Lalita and his grandparents took. Charley tries to speak with the voices of his youth, reminding them of shared events. At mention of a circus, he recalls working to earn tickets for him and his grandparents. The circus voices and noises begin to predominate and music is heard. (Curtain) Act II (Scene 3: An old fashioned circus.) Charley finds himself under a big top, with circus performers and crew moving about. Grandpa and Grandma Bemis come in, happy that Charley, whom they once again recognize as Skeeter, provided tickets for them. Barnum and Bailey greet them and introduce the clowns and animal trainer. They spot Porky wriggling in under the canvas, but Barnum and Bailey allow him to enter. Charley sees Everett hauling water for the animals. Everett explains he took the job after his last sentence for drunkenness was done. Charley introduces Lalita as his girl, but Everett corrects him; your girl is my niece Mildred. She now appears, glad to have met up with Charley and delighted to meet Lalita. Porky challenges Mildred and Charley; he cannot see Lalita because he does not believe in fairies. The clowns join in the rough teasing, but all are put in their place when Skeeter appears. Though smaller than Porky, he forces him to back down and apologize. Charley implores Skeeter to help him recover his courage. Skeeter agrees to help Charley, for a little while. (Curtain) Act II (Scene 4: Mr. Porter's office) Skeeter takes Charley to the present time, but the haziness of light signals another fantasy scene. Sparrow brings accounts for Mr. Porter, who asks for Charley. Skeeter is ignored by Sparrow and Mr. Porter, who both welcome Charley. The latter immediately announces his resignation, explaining its the only way he can challenge his big boss about the dismissal of the Duchess. After some verbal skirmishing, Mr. Porter reveals the Duchess was habitually late for work, incompetent, and overly familiar. He then asks Charley to reconsider his resignation, and he agrees to stay. Skeeter says he is leaving now to return to Grandma and Grandpa. Charley wants him to stay and help bolster his courage, but Skeeter is adamant he is not going to babysit Charley. He will, however, be there if Charley really needs him. They shake hands and part, with Charley musing "Gee, I was a swell kid". (Curtain) Act III (Same as Act I Scene 3. Same evening, 10:30 pm.) Charley finds himself back in front of the fire at Mrs. Poole's. She brings in Sparrow, who has come to borrow some money for taking a young lady home by taxi cab. Kellog and Fry join them for a brief discussion about business and the French war debt. Charley gradually comes to self-realization as he listens to their opinions. When Faraday and his wife return from the cinema, Charley reminds them of his recommending the film. Despite the late hour, he telephones Porter at home and challenges him over the dismissed Duchess. Sally has come into the room and hears the call. Mr. Porter fires Charley over the phone for impudence. Charley tells Sally he does not care, he said what he meant to say. Sally is delighted, and signals her renewed interest in Charley by agreeing to teach him to play cribbage. (Curtain)

The Wise Man of the East

Play · 1799

The Wise Man of the East is a 1799 comedy play by the British writer Elizabeth Inchbald, inspired by an earlier German work by August von Kotzebue. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 30 November 1799 and was performed thirteen times that season. The original cast included Joseph Shepherd Munden as Ava Thoanoa, William Thomas Lewis as Claransforth, Charles Murray as Metland, Henry Erskine Johnston as Ensign Metland, Thomas Knight as Timothy Starch, John Waddy as Lawley, George Davenport as Bankwell, Charles Klanert as Waitby, Mary Ann Davenport as Lady Mary Diamond, Isabella Mattocks as Rachel Starch and Nannette Johnston as Ruth Starch.

The Wives Excuse

Play · 1691

The Wives Excuse also The Wives Excuse; Or, Cuckolds Make Themselves is a 1691 comedy play by the Anglo-Irish writer Thomas Southerne. The title is sometimes written more grammatically as The Wives' Excuse. It was originally staged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane by the United Company with a cast that included Thomas Betterton as Lovemore, Edward Kynaston as Wellvile, Joseph Williams as Wilding, John Bowman as Courtall, William Mountfort as Friendall, George Bright as Ruffle, Joseph Harris as Musick Master, Elizabeth Barry as Mrs Friendall, Anne Bracegirdle as Mrs Sightly, Susanna Mountfort as Mrs Wittwoud and Katherine Corey as Mrs Teazall.

The Woman Captain

Play · 1679

The Woman Captain; Or, The Usurer Turned Soldier is a 1679 comedy by the English writer Thomas Shadwell. It was originally staged by the Duke's Company at Dorset Garden Theatre in London. The original cast is unknown except for Elizabeth Barry who played the title role, and also read the epilogue. It is part of the tradition of Restoration Comedy that flourished during the era. It was revived in 1710 at Drury Lane featuring Lucretia Bradshaw and Henry Norris then again in 1716 and 1717 at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre with Sarah Thurmond starring.

The Woman in Room 13

Play · 1918

This synopsis has been compiled from contemporaneous newspaper and magazine reviews. Prologue (The Bruce home in Galveston, Texas.) John Bruce and his wife Laura quarrel, ending with him throwing her out of the house since she wants a divorce. (Curtain) Act I (A salon in the Ramsey's New York residence.) The ex-Laura Bush is now remarried to Paul Ramsey, who works for a bank. His boss is Dick Turner, a serial vamp who preys on married women. Turner has designs on Laura, so he sends Ramsey off to San Francisco to get him out of the way. But Ramsey is suspicious of his boss; he hires a detective to secretly watch over Laura. However, unknown to Ramsey, the detective is Laura's ex-husband, John Bruce, who seeks revenge on her. (Curtain) Act II (A Manhattan apartment hotel room, just under room 13.) John Bruce has wired the room above with a speaking tube that feeds a Dictaphone in this room, with a stenographer present to transcribe completed rolls. He summons Paul Ramsey to hear what he thinks is his wife meeting with Dick Turner. But Laura has been intercepted by Edna Crain, who sent her off while she met Dick Turner in Room 13. Enraged at his wife's supposed infidelity, Ramsey rushes out and a moment later a gunshot is heard, followed by Edna Crain coming down the fire escape wearing only a diaphanous negligee. (Curtain) Act III (Room 13 in the Manhattan apartment hotel.) Chief Carrigan takes charge of the investigation into Dick Turner's murder. The gun is found in the room and Paul is charged with homicide. Laura sacrifices her honor by insisting she was in the room with Dick Turner, to protect her husband by casting the killing as a crime passionel. (Curtain) Act IV (A corridor in the Criminal Courts Building. By darkening the corridor lighting and the use of a scrim curtain, this scene also displayed events happening in the court room.) John Bruce changes his testimony on the witness stand, identifying Edna Crain and not Laura as the woman in Room 13. The jury still acquits Paul, despite the mistaken identity. (Curtain)

The Woman in the Case

Play · 1905

Margaret has been married to Julian but three months when Julian is arrested for the murder of his best friend, Philip Long. It had previously been thought that Long had committed suicide, but his family refused to accept such a gruesome idea. Just prior to the arrest, newspaper reports told of the discovery of love letters from Julian to Claire Foster, whom Long was planning to marry. The implication is that Julian must have killed Long in a fit of jealousy. Julian, however, is known by all as a man of uncommon integrity. Margaret never questions his innocence; she decides to disguise herself as a member of the underclass in order to get to know Claire Forster (herself a member of the lower class) in an attempt at getting Claire to explain how she set Julian up. Margaret does this successfully; she gets Cliare drunk, and Claire then explains that her actions constitute an effort at getting even with Julian. Julian had ruined Claire's prospects for marriage by revealing to Long the baseness of his fiancée, after which Long, broken hearted, told Claire the wedding was off and proceeded to shoot himself. Julian is acquitted.

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