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Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights

Play · 1968

A Jewish civil rights worker, Seymour Levin, plagued by white guilt, he offers his services to a Black law student, Willie Nurse, as a slave as recompense for American slavery. Levin is more and more exploited by Nurse until Levin is chained to a radiator and Nurse's fiancée sexually assaults him. Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights is a three-act comedy play. It takes place at an apartment in Morningside Heights, Manhattan.

Castle in the Air

Play · 1949

Castle in the Air is a comedy play by the British writer Alan Melville, which was originally performed in 1949. It premiered at the Coventry Hippodrome on 20 September 1949 before transferring to London's West End where it ran for 292 performances between 7 December 1949 and 17 August 1950, initially at the Adelphi Theatre before moving to the Savoy. The original London cast featured Jack Buchanan, William Kendall, Ewan Roberts, Coral Browne and Irene Manning. It was directed by Roy Rich. In 1952 it was adapted into a British film of the same title directed by Henry Cass and starring David Tomlinson, Helen Cherry and Margaret Rutherford.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Play · 1955

A family in the American South is in crisis, especially the husband and wife, Brick and Margaret (usually called Maggie or "Maggie the Cat"), and the crisis unspools with Brick's family over the course of one evening's gathering at the family plantation in Mississippi. The party celebrates the birthday of patriarch Big Daddy Pollitt, "the Delta's biggest cotton-planter", and his return from the Ochsner Clinic with what he has been told is a clean bill of health. All family members (except Big Daddy and his wife, Big Mama) are aware of Big Daddy's true diagnosis: he is dying of cancer. His family has lied to Big Daddy and Big Mama to spare them pain on the patriarch's birthday, but throughout the course of the play, it becomes clear that the Pollitt family has long constructed a web of deceit for itself. Maggie, determined and beautiful, has escaped a childhood of poverty to marry into the wealthy Pollitts, but finds herself unfulfilled. The family is aware that Brick has not slept with Maggie for a long time, which has strained their marriage. Brick, an aging football hero, infuriates her by ignoring his brother Gooper's attempts to gain control of the family fortune. Brick's indifference and his drinking have escalated with the suicide of his football buddy Skipper. Maggie fears that Brick's malaise will ensure that Gooper and his wife, Mae, inherit Big Daddy's estate. Over the evening, each member of the family faces the issues they have bottled up inside. Big Daddy attempts a reconciliation with the alcoholic Brick. Both Big Daddy and Maggie separately confront Brick about the true nature of his close friendship with Skipper, which appears to be the source of Brick's sorrow and the cause of his alcoholism. Brick explains to Big Daddy that the friendship troubled Maggie, who jealously believed it had a romantic undercurrent, and says Skipper took Maggie to bed to prove her wrong but could not complete the act, raising inner doubts that made him "snap". Brick also reveals that, shortly before his suicide, Skipper confessed his attraction to Brick, but Brick rejected him. Disgusted by the family's mendacity, Brick tells Big Daddy that the report from the clinic about his condition was falsified for his sake. Big Daddy storms out of the room, leading the rest to drift inside. Maggie, Brick, Mae, Gooper, and Doc Baugh (the family's physician) decide to tell Big Mama the truth about her husband's illness, and she is devastated by the news. Gooper and Mae start to discuss the division of the Pollitt estate. Big Mama defends her husband from their proposals. Big Daddy reappears and makes known his plans to die peacefully. Attempting to secure Brick's inheritance, Maggie tells him she is pregnant. Gooper and Mae know this is a lie, but Big Mama and Big Daddy believe that Maggie "has life". When they are alone again, Maggie locks away the liquor and promises Brick that she will "make the lie true".

Catch Me If You Can

Play · 1965

Catch Me if You Can is a play by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert that is taken from a French play by Robert Thomas entitled Trap for a Lonely Man. The work premiered on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre on March 2, 1965 and closed after 111 performances on June 5, 1965. The production was directed by Vincent J. Donehue and starred Tom Bosley, Dan Dailey, Bethel Leslie, George Mathews, Patrick McVey, Eli Mintz, and Jo Tract. It was produced by the Samuel French Incorporation at The House of Plays.

Catherine Was Great

Play · 1944

Catherine Was Great is a 1944 play written by and starring Mae West. The play was a dramatisation of the life of the Russian monarch Catherine the Great. The play ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. It was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and used costumes by Tony Award winning designer Mary Percy Schenck. West had originally attempted to develop her script as a film in 1938 and 1939 before its appearance on Broadway. The development of West film may have been hampered by the success of Marlene Dietrich's 1934 film of Catherine the Great's life, The Scarlet Empress. The play opened at the Shubert Theatre on 2 August 1944. Previews had been held in Philadelphia. The premier Todd only sold tickets to purchasers of American war bonds, with the opening night of the play raising $4 million. West's biographer, Simon Louvish, described the play as West's opportunity to finally "prove herself a great dramatic actress". West surrounded herself with an "imperial guard" of tall, muscular young actors. West claimed to have received a psychic message from Catherine the Great "urging her to take the role seriously". West described her interpretation of Catherine's life as "a pre-incarnation of myself. A Slavic-Germanic Diamond Lil, just as low in vivid sexuality, but on a higher plane of authority". Ramona Curry in her book Too Much of a Good Thing: Mae West as Cultural Icon, contextualises West's performance as Catherine as part of her portrayals of historically powerful women and her persona of feminine strength and power. The critic Howard Barnes wrote that West "returned to Broadway last night, decked out like a battleship in a swimming pool" but also described the play as "incredibly boring and monotonous" and West's dramatic abilities as "more limited than ever". Louvish described West's performance as Catherine alienating her critics and audience with her "standard wide Brooklyn tones". The play was affected by a plagiarism suit; the writers George S. George and Vadim Uraneff sued West for plagiarism for $450,000, as did the writers Edwin K. O'Brien and Michael Karr who alleged that they supplied West with material on Catherine the Great in 1938. O'Brien and Karr's suit was resolved in 1948.

Cato, a Tragedy

Play · 1713

During the final years of Caesar's Civil War, the remnants of the Roman senate, led by Cato the Younger, have fled from Caesar's legions to Utica, Tunisia. In Cato's court are his twin sons Marcus and Portius, his daughter Marcia, the exiled Numidian prince Juba (an ally of Cato whose father, Scipio, Caesar killed in the battle of Thapsus), Juba's servant Syphax, and the senior senators Sempronius and Lucius. The play opens as Marcus and Portius praise their father's bravery and reassure one another that he will prevail over Caesar. The senator Sempronius arrives and pretends to agree with them but reveals to the audience that he resents Cato for refusing his requests to marry Marcia and plans to betray him to Caesar in exchange for Marcia's hand. Sempronius persuades Syphax to join his cause and urges him to persuade Juba to marshal the Numidian armies he has brought to Utica and overthrow Cato. Syphax goes to Juba and tries to turn him against Cato, but Juba rebuffs him and insists he will never betray Cato, who he says is like a second father to him. He declares that he is in love with Marcia and wants to seek Cato's favor to marry her. Syphax complains that Juba's idolatry of Cato and Marcia has blinded him to reasonable advice and leaves. Juba finds Marcia cavorting with her friend Lucia and flirts with her, but she scolds him for being distracted by romantic fantasies during a dire crisis. He apologizes and leaves to tend to his Numidian armies, resolving to try to win her over later. Lucia chides Marcia for spurning the advances of the rich and handsome prince and confesses that she herself is in love with Portius and that they are eloping. Marcia sympathizes with her but warns her that Marcus loves her as well, and his jealousy will drive the brothers apart forever if he finds out about Lucia and Portius' relationship. She beseeches Lucia to hold her tongue until the war is won, lest she create more chaos in Cato's house. In the senate chamber at Utica, Cato calls a meeting of the few remaining Roman senators and asks for a plan to defeat the rapidly-advancing Caesar. Sempronius calls for war, arguing that it is time for Rome to avenge the deaths of Scipio and others with fire and fury. Lucius pleads for peace and states that enough blood has been needlessly shed and that it is time for Rome to yield to Caesar. Cato states that both are half right but also half wrong and explains that the best course of action is neither too reckless nor too cowardly. He declares that he will continue to fight until Caesar reaches Utica and only then sue for peace. An envoy from Caesar's camp arrives and informs Cato that Caesar has agreed to spare his life if he surrenders Utica immediately. Cato retorts that he will be merciful enough to spare Caesar's life if he surrenders now and stands trial in the senate. He then sends the envoy away. Juba arrives and praises Cato's strong leadership, prompting Cato to express gratitude for Juba's loyalty. Cato promises to give Juba whatever he wants as repayment for his service when the war ends. Juba shyly asks to wed Marcia, but Cato is affronted by the notion of Marcia marrying a Numidian and storms off. Syphax arrives, and Juba laments that Cato will not consent for him to marry Marcia. Syphax once again urges Juba to marshal the Numidian armies and overthrow Cato, and suggests that once Cato is dead he can take Marcia as his prize. However, Juba vows that he will remain an honorable man and win Cato's favor fairly to marry Marcia. Syphax worries that he will never be able to persuade Juba to turn against Cato. Marcus, still unaware of Portius and Lucia's affair, comes to Portius and begs him to convince Lucia to wed him. Portius does not reveal his relationship with Lucia to Marcus. However, after the brothers' conversation Portius goes to Lucia and informs her how much grief Marcus is in because of his unrequited love for her. Saddened by this news, Lucia decides to end their affair before it brings any more misfortune to Cato's already-suffering family. Portius returns to Marcus and tells him that Lucia feels compassion for him but has sworn off romantic love and cannot be with him, and a heartbroken Marcus pledges that if Lucia will not be his, he will die fighting his father's enemies, rather than live without her. In the Senate, Sempronius grows tired of waiting for Syphax to turn Juba's allegiances, and raises his own mutinous legion to overthrow Cato. He sends them to arrest Cato, but when Cato is confronted, he makes an impassioned speech that moves them to release him. Sempronius realizes Cato cannot be deposed by troops so loyal to him and resolves to abandon his plot, abscond with Marcia, and leave Utica to join Caesar's legions. He dresses as Juba to gain entry to Marcia's apartments. However, Juba himself finds him first and, realizing his treachery, kills him. Marcia finds Sempronius' body and, believing it to be Juba's by his dress, confesses tearfully that she truly loved Juba all along and weeps for his death. Juba hears her soliloquy and reveals that he is still alive, and they embrace. Meanwhile, Syphax succeeds in marshaling the Numidian armies and attempts to depose Cato himself. However an anguished Marcus, no longer concerned whether he lives or dies, viciously attacks them to defend his father and slays Syphax before being slain himself. Cato learns of all this and condemns Sempronius and Syphax while praising Marcus' bravery. He declares that instead of mourning his son, everyone ought to mourn the fallen Roman Republic, which Marcus died to protect. He then announces that he intends to surrender Utica to Caesar. Waiting for Caesar's legions to arrive, Cato privately ponders whether or not to fall on his sword before they do. He laments that "the world was made for Caesar," and not for virtuous men. He kills himself, and as he dies, he is discovered by a shocked Marcia and Portius. With his dying breaths, Cato gives Marcia his blessing to marry Juba, who he declares is a Numidian with "a Roman soul." He also gives Portius his blessing to marry Lucia. Portius curses that they live in the kind of "guilty world" that takes the lives of honest people like Cato and leaves villains like Caesar victorious. He declares that the tragic story of Caesar's conquest will stand forever in history as a warning to all nations of the dire cost of civil war.

Caught Napping

Play · 1959

Caught Napping is a 1959 comedy play by the British writer Geoffrey Lumsden. It premiered at the Salisbury Playhouse, under its original title Gwendolyn before transferring to the Piccadilly Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 114 performances between 22 June and 28 August 1959. Lumsden himself starred in the play alongside a cast that included Graham Armitage, George Benson, Raymond Huntley, Leslie Randall, Winifred Shotter and Timothy West in his West End debut. Excerpts of the play were featured in a 1959 episode of the BBC television series Theatre Night which showcased current West End shows. In 1978 it was revived with a cast that included Arthur Lowe, Bill Pertwee, Fiona Fullerton and Edward Evans.

Cause Célèbre

Play · 1977

Cause Célèbre or A Woman of Principle is a 1975 radio play, and the final play by the English author Terence Rattigan. It was inspired by the trial of Alma Rattenbury and her teenage lover in 1935 for the murder of her third husband Francis Rattenbury and first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 27 October 1975. It was Rattigan's first radio play, and Alma was played by Diana Dors. Rattigan was then commissioned to rewrite it as a stage play, ready to be produced in Autumn 1976, but his terminal cancer and casting problems meant he was able to start work only in January 1977, alongside director Robin Midgley. This stage version premiered at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester in 1977 before its West End premiere on 4 July 1977 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, with Glynis Johns as Alma Rattenbury and Helen Lindsay as Edith Davenport. It received largely positive reviews. Rattigan discharged himself from hospital to attend the opening night. A 1987 television version of the stage play starred Helen Mirren as Alma and David Suchet as O'Connor. The stage play itself was revived at the Old Vic from March to June 2011 to mark Rattigan's centenary. The revival was directed by Thea Sharrock, with Alma played by Anne-Marie Duff and Edith Davenport by Niamh Cusack. Reviews were mainly very positive, with The Guardian calling it a "fine revival" of a play which "stands the test of time", though the London Evening Standard regretted that "this is not Rattigan at his most eloquently anguished." A new production of the radio play was aired by BBC Radio 4 on 25 June 2011, again directed by Sharrock with original music by Adrian Johnston.

Cavalcade

Play · 1931

It is nearly midnight. Robert and Jane Marryot are seeing in the New Year quietly together in their London house. Their happiness is clouded by the Boer War: Jane's brother is besieged in Mafeking, and Robert himself will shortly be going to South Africa. Robert and Jane invited their butler, Bridges, and his wife, Ellen, to join them. Bells, shouting, and sirens outside usher in the New Year, and Robert proposes a toast to 1900. Hearing her two boys stirring upstairs, Jane runs up to see after them, and her husband calls to her to bring them down to join the adults. A month later, a contingent of volunteers are leaving for the war. On the dockside Jane and Ellen are seeing off Robert and Bridges. As the men go aboard, Jane comforts Ellen, who is crying. A band strikes up "Soldiers of the Queen". The volunteers wave their farewells to the cheering crowd. The Marryot boys, Edward, aged twelve, and Joe, aged eight, are playing soldiers with a young friend, Edith Harris. She objects to being made to play "the Boers", and they begin to quarrel. The noise brings in their mothers. Joe throws a toy at Edith, and is sharply slapped by Jane, whose nerves are on edge with anxiety about her brother and her husband. Her state of mind is not helped by a barrel-organ outside, playing "Soldiers of the Queen" under the window. Margaret, Edith's mother, sends the organ-grinder away and proposes to take Jane to the theatre to take her mind off her worry. Jane and Margaret are in a stage-box, watching MirabeIle, the currently popular musical comedy. The plot is the usual froth, but the denouement is not reached: the theatre manager comes onstage to announce that Mafeking has been relieved. Joyous uproar breaks out; the audience claps and cheers and some begin to sing "Auld Lang Syne". The cook, Annie the parlourmaid, and Ellen's mother Mrs Snapper are preparing a special tea to greet Bridges on his return from the war. He comes in with Ellen, looking well, and kisses his little baby, Fanny. He tells them that he has bought a public house so that he and Ellen can work for themselves in future. The celebratory mood is dampened when Annie brings in a newspaper reporting that Queen Victoria is dying. This scene is all in mime. Robert and Jane are walking in Kensington Gardens with their children when they meet Margaret and Edith Harris. Everyone is in black, solemn and silent, following the Queen's death. On the balcony, Jane, Margaret, their children and the servants are watching Queen Victoria's funeral procession. Robert, who was awarded the Victoria Cross is walking in the procession, and Jane has some difficulty in making her boys suppress their excitement and pay due respect as the coffin passes. As the lights fade, Joe comments, "She must have been a very little lady ". Jane and Robert are attending a grand ball given by the Duchess of Churt. The Major-domo announces, "Sir Robert and Lady Marryot". Jane has brought her son Edward, now eighteen, to see Ellen in the flat above the public house. They have just finished tea, together with Flo and George, relations of the Bridges. Seven-year-old Fanny has been dancing to entertain them. Bridges enters, clearly drunk. Jane, dismayed, makes a tactful departure. Bridges starts to bully Fanny and is ejected from the room by George and Flo. After emerging from the pub, Bridges carries on up the road. He is knocked down and killed by a car. Edward Marryot is holding his twenty-first birthday party, with many smart young guests. Rose, an actress from the old Mirabelle production, proposes his health and sings the big waltz number from the show. A concert party of six "Uncles" is performing in a bandstand. Ellen and her family are there and Fanny wins a prize for a song and dance competition. They unexpectedly meet Margaret, Jane and Joe. Ellen tells them that she has kept on the pub since her husband's death and that Fanny is now at a dancing-school and determined to go on the stage. Edward has married Edith Harris, and they are on their honeymoon. They speculate blithely how long the initial bliss of marriage will last. As they walk off, she lifts her cloak from where it has been draped on the ship rail, revealing the name Titanic on a lifebelt. The lights fade into complete darkness; the orchestra plays "Nearer, My God, to Thee" very quietly. War has been declared. Robert and Joe are keen to join the army. Jane is horrified, and refuses to indulge in the jingoism she sees around her. Soldiers are seen endlessly marching. The orchestra plays songs of the First World War. Joe and Fanny – now a rising young actress – are dining in a West End restaurant. Joe is in army officer's uniform. He is on leave but is about to return to the Front. They discuss marriage, but she envisages opposition from his family, and bids him wait until he is back from the war for good. Jane sees Joe off at the railway station. Like many of the women on the platform she is distressed. Ellen visits Jane, having found out that Joe is emotionally involved with her daughter. The two mothers fall out: Ellen thinks Jane regards Fanny as beneath Joe socially. As Ellen is leaving, the maid brings in a telegram. Jane opens it and tells Ellen. "You needn't worry about Fanny and Joe any more, Ellen. He won't be able to come back at all, because he's dead." Surrounded by the frantic revelry of Armistice Night, Jane is walking, dazed, through Trafalgar Square. With tears streaming down her face, she cheers wildly and waves a rattle, while the band plays "Land of Hope and Glory ". Margaret and Jane, both now elderly, are sitting by the fire. Margaret leaves, after wishing a happy New Year to Jane and Robert, who has come in to drink a New Year toast with his wife. Jane drinks first to him and then to England: "The hope that one day this country of ours, which we love so much, will find dignity and greatness, and peace again". Robert, Jane, Margaret, Ellen, and the full company are in a night club. At the piano, Fanny sings "Twentieth Century Blues", and after the song everyone dances. The lights fade, and a chaotic succession of images representative of life in 1929 is spotlighted. When the noise and confusion reach a climax the stage suddenly fades into darkness and silence. At the back a Union Jack glows through the darkness. The scene ends with the lights coming up on the massed company singing "God Save the King".

Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words

Play · 2005

Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words was a one-hour comedy television special that premiered on December 5, 2005, on Bravo. The show featured comedians reading actual excerpts from celebrity autobiographies. The special was based on a live show written by Eugene Pack, which opened in Los Angeles, California in 1998. Excerpts were chosen because of their melodramatic and/or vacuous nature. Autobiographies which were connected, such as memoirs by former Hollywood couple Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson, were read together. Celebrities whose autobiographies were read included Burt Reynolds, Loni Anderson, members of 'N Sync, Madonna, Sylvester Stallone, Mr. T, Elizabeth Taylor, Kathie Lee Gifford, Ivana Trump, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Vanna White, Kenny Loggins, Tommy Lee and David Cassidy. Comedians included Bruce Vilanch, Jay Mohr, Cheryl Hines, Kevin Nealon, Doris Roberts, Fred Willard, Niecy Nash, Kel Mitchell, Laraine Newman and Andrea Martin. An off-Broadway production with a rotating cast featuring Matthew Broderick, Kristen Johnston, Rachel Dratch, Kristen Wiig, Sherri Shepherd, Richard Kind, Claudia Shear, Scott Adsit, Fred Armisen, Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson, Casey Wilson, Bobby Moynihan, Bob Balaban, Joy Behar, Richard Belzer, Craig Bierko, Bobby Cannavale, and Alan Cumming, among others, won the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience.

Ceremonies in Dark Old Men

Play · 1969

In 1950s Harlem, widower Russell Parker runs a failing barbershop while his daughter Adele supports the family and his sons Theo and Bobby are unemployed. Theo persuades Russell to join a bootlegging scheme with crime boss Blue Haven; as the business succeeds, Bobby turns to burglary and Russell steals from the profits to court a young woman. Their attempts to escape poverty unravel, while Russell retreats into memories of his vaudeville past.

Chariots of Fire

Play · 2012

Chariots of Fire is the inspirational true story of two great British athletes, outsiders who overcome prejudice and personal strife to compete in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell is a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God. Harold Abrahams is the son of an immigrant Lithuanian Jew who runs to overcome prejudice. The two young track athletes live for the purity and honour of running, and prevail in the face of enormous odds. The story begins in 1919, and climaxes in the heartbreaks and triumphs of the 1924 Paris Olympics.

Charles VIII of France

Play · 1671

Charles VIII of France also known by the longer title The History Of Charles The Eighth Of France; Or, The Invasion Of Naples Of The French is a 1671 tragedy by the English writer John Crowne. It is based on the reign of Charles VIII of France and particularly his Italian War of the 1490s. It was first performed at the Dorset Garden Theatre by the Duke's Company with a cast that included Thomas Betterton as Charles the Eighth, Matthew Medbourne as Alphonso, Henry Harris as Ferdinand, William Smith as Prince of Salerne, John Young as Ascanio, Samuel Sandford as Trivultio, Philip Cademan as Ghost, John Crosby as Lewis, Henry Norris as Mompensier, Mary Betterton as Isabella, Margaret Osborne as Cornelia, Elinor Dixon as Julia and Anne Shadwell as Irene.

Charles the First

Play · 1834

Charles the First is a historical tragedy by the British writer Mary Russell Mitford. It depicts the imprisonment and trial of Charles I before his execution in 1649 following his defeat in the English Civil Wars. It was first written in 1825 and originally intended to be performed at Covent Garden. Mitford wrote the play with the encouragement of William Macready and Charles Kemble, the two leading performers at Covent Garden. However, the politically controversial topic of regicide led to it being refused a licence by the Lord Chamberlain, the Duke of Montrose. It was not performed until 1834 at the Victoria Theatre south of the River Thames, a less prestigious venue than Covent Garden but not subject to the licensing system. It passed off without incident and was both a popular and critical success. It premiered on 2 July 1834. William Abbot, a co-manager of the Victoria, played the title role of Charles while Charles Selby was Lord Fairfax. Other performers were less well-known than the company at Covent Garden would have been. It was published the same year, and was dedicated to her friend and fellow playwright Thomas Talfourd.

Charles the Second

Play · 1824

Charles the Second is an 1824 historical comedy in two acts by the British-based American writer John Howard Payne. It is set at the court of Charles II in Restoration London, and features a series of adventures in the company of his friend Rochester. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 27 May 1824. The original cast included Charles Kemble as Charles II, John Duruset as Edward, John Fawcett as Captain Copp, Harriet Faucit as Lady Clara, Maria Tree as Mary. It was performed 14 times in its initial run. An afterpiece, the running time was roughly an hour and fifty minutes. It subsequently performed in the United States at the Park Theatre Olympic Theatre in New York.

Charley's Aunt

Play · 1892

Jack Chesney and Charley Wykeham are undergraduates at Oxford University in love with, respectively, Kitty Verdun and Amy Spettigue. Charley receives word that his aunt, Donna Lucia d'Alvadorez, a rich widow from Brazil whom he has never met, is coming to visit him. The boys invite Amy and Kitty to lunch to meet her, also intending to declare their love to the girls, who are being sent away to Scotland with Amy's uncle, Stephen Spettigue, who is also Kitty's guardian. They seek out another Oxford undergraduate, Lord Fancourt Babberley (known as "Babbs"), to distract Donna Lucia while they romance their girls. While they are out, Babbs breaks into Jack's room to steal all his champagne, but Jack and Charley intercept him and persuade him to stay for lunch. Babbs tells the boys about his own love, the daughter of an English officer called Delahay, whom he met in Monte Carlo, although he does not remember her name. Babbs also uses Jack's room to try on his costume for an amateur play in which he is taking part. Amy and Kitty arrive to meet Jack and Charley, but Donna Lucia has not arrived yet, and so the girls leave to go shopping until she shows up. Annoyed, Jack orders Charley to go to the railway station to wait for Donna Lucia. Jack soon receives an unexpected visit from his father, Sir Francis Chesney, a retired colonel who served in India. Sir Francis reveals that he has inherited debts that have wiped out the family's fortunes; instead of going into politics as he had intended, Jack will have to accept a position in Bengal. Horrified, Jack suggests that Sir Francis should marry Donna Lucia, a widow and a millionaire, in order to clear the family debts. Sir Francis is hesitant but agrees to meet Donna Lucia before he makes a decision. Charley receives a telegram saying that Donna Lucia will not be arriving for a few days. The boys panic: the girls are coming, and they won't stay without a chaperone. Fortunately Babbs's costume happens to be that of an old lady. Jack and Charley introduce Babbs as Charley's aunt. His strange appearance and unchanged voice (he had never acted before) do not raise any suspicions. Babbs annoys the boys by accepting kisses from Amy and Kitty; the boys respond to his flirtations with violence. Sir Francis soon enters to meet Donna Lucia. He takes one look at Babbs and tries to leave, but Jack retrieves him. Spettigue arrives, angered that Kitty and Amy are lunching with the boys without his permission. However, the penniless Spettigue soon learns that Charley's aunt is Donna Lucia D'Alvadorez, the celebrated millionaire. He decides to stay for lunch to attempt to woo "Donna Lucia". Outside Jack's rooms, in the grounds of St Olde's College, the boys are trying to get their girls alone so that they can confess their love. However, Babbs is in the way, charming the girls as Donna Lucia. Jack's father, Sir Francis, has decided to propose marriage to Donna Lucia, purely for money. Jack urgently corners Babbs and orders him to let his father down gently. Babbs does so, which Sir Francis finds to be a relief. Spettigue still wants to marry "Donna Lucia" for her money. Meanwhile, the real Donna Lucia, who turns out to be an attractive woman of middle age, arrives with her adopted niece, Miss Ela Delahay, an orphan. The money left to Ela by her father is enough to make her independent for life. Ela reveals that her father had won a lot of money at cards from Fancourt Babberley, for whom Ela still holds a great deal of affection. Donna Lucia recounts the story of a colonel named Frank who she once met more than twenty years ago, of whom she was similarly fond. However, he was too shy to propose, and he left for India before he could tell her how he felt. Sir Francis enters, Donna Lucia recognizes him, and the two rekindle their affection. However, before she can introduce herself, she discovers that someone is impersonating her. To investigate, she introduces herself as "Mrs Beverly-Smythe", a penniless widow. Jack and Charley finally make their declarations of love to their girls. However, they discover that they need Spettigue's consent to marry. The girls enlist Babbs to get the consent from the greedy Spettigue. Spettigue invites the entire party, including the real Donna Lucia and Ela, to his house, so that he can talk to "Donna Lucia" in private. Babbs, recognizing Ela as the girl he fell in love with in Monte Carlo, tries to escape, but he is caught by Spettigue. Babbs is upset by being in the same room as the girl he loves without being able to talk to her. Jack and Charley try to calm him down. Babbs spends time with the real Donna Lucia, Ela, Amy and Kitty, during which the real Donna Lucia embarrasses Babbs by showing how little he really knows about Donna Lucia. Ela takes a liking to the fake Donna Lucia, who sounds like the man she loves, and pours her heart out to Babbs, telling him of the anguish of losing her father and of the man who cared for him in his dying days, Lord Fancourt Babberley. She admits that she loves him and longs to see him again. Babbs tricks Spettigue into giving the letter of consent for the marriages of Charley to Amy and Jack to Kitty by accepting marriage to Spettigue. (Kitty's father's will specified that if she marries without Spettigue's consent, Spettigue would inherit all of the money.) Charley can no longer keep up the lie and admits that "Donna Lucia" is not really his aunt. Babbs, now dressed in a suit, confirms that he had been playing the part of Charley's aunt. As he is about to return to Spettigue the letter of consent, the real Donna Lucia reveals her identity and takes the letter, stating that it "is addressed to and has been delivered to Donna Lucia d'Alvadorez". Spettigue storms off, threatening to dispute the letter. Amy is upset at everyone for making a fool of her uncle. Donna Lucia reassures her and gives the girls the letter. Sir Francis and Donna Lucia are engaged (he made the proposal before he realized her identity); the young couples can marry; and Babbs confesses his feelings to Ela.

Cheap Living

Play · 1797

Cheap Living is a 1797 comedy play by the English writer Frederick Reynolds. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 21 October 1797. The original cast included Richard Suett as Old Woodland, Charles Kemble as Young Woodland, Robert Palmer as Scatter, Charles Bannister as Spunge, Dorothea Jordan as Sir Edward Bloomly, Jane Pope as Mrs. Scatter, Maria Theresa Kemble as Elinor Bloomly. The Irish premiere occurred on the 2 January 1799 at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin.

Cheating Cheaters

Play · 1916

Nan Carey becomes a member of a group of jewel thieves who pretend they are the wealthy Brockton family in order to gain the confidence of real high society families. While traveling, Nan (using the name Ruth Brockton) attracts the romantic attention of Tom Palmer, who turns out to be one of the Brocktons' neighbors. While attending a tea party thrown by the Palmers, the Brockton gang tricks the Palmers into inviting Nan to stay with them while the rest of the Brocktons are supposedly visiting Chicago. The Brocktons expect this ruse will allow them to steal the Palmers' jewelry. It is then revealed to the audience that the "Palmer family" is another group of thieves, who are planning to steal the Brocktons' jewelry while the Brocktons are out of town. Thinking the Brocktons have left, the Palmer gang slips into the Brockton mansion, but are captured by the Brocktons. Meanwhile, Nan has gone to the Palmer mansion to burglarize it. Upon her return, the two groups each realize the other is a criminal gang, and they decide to join forces. Their planning is interrupted by detectives from the Ferris Detective Agency, who capture the combined gangs on behalf of the insurance companies for their past victims. Nan is revealed to be Ruth Ferris, head of the agency, who has been working undercover posing as a thief. Because her love for Tom is real and not just part of her cover, she offers him the opportunity to confess and join her agency rather than be turned over to the police.

Chicken and Biscuits

Play · 2020

Chicken & Biscuits is a play by Douglas Lyons that made its Broadway debut in 2021 at the Circle in the Square Theatre. The comedy's planned four-month run was cut short due to the challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Lyons made his Broadway debut as a playwright ten years after he did so as an actor in The Book of Mormon. The Broadway production starred Norm Lewis and Michael Urie in the story of a New Haven pastor's funeral that was disrupted by family drama. Prior to its Broadway engagement, Chicken & Biscuits debuted at the Queens Theatre in the Park on February 28, 2020, and was the latter's first Broadway transfer.

Children! Children!

Play · 1972

The setting is the apartment of the Collins family in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of New York City, two hours before New Year's Eve. Philip and Evelyn Collins, parents of preteens Mark, Bobby and Susan, attend a new year's party with Dr. Yaeger and his wife Peg. The new babysitter Helen Giles, having just recovered from a nervous breakdown, is subjected to the children's devious and sadistic abuse, sexual passes, and a fall down the stairs. The returning parents believe the sitter is still mentally unsound, after which the parent's own viciousness is revealed to be the source of the children's behavior.

Chinglish

Play · 2011

An American businessman arrives in a bustling Chinese province looking to score a lucrative contract for his family's sign-making firm. He soon finds that the complexities of such a venture far outstrip the expected differences in language, customs and manners – and calls into questions even the most basic assumptions of human conduct. The U.S. and China are at a critical moment in history—each nation is deeply interested in, but knows very little about the other. Chinglish was born from the many visits I’ve made to China over the past five or six years to witness the exciting changes there. During one visit, I toured a new arts center where everything was first-rate—except for the ridiculously translated English signs. It was at that moment I thought of writing this play." -David Henry Hwang, Playwright

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