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Death and the Maiden

Play · 1991

Paulina Salas is a former political prisoner from an unnamed Latin American country who was raped by her captors, including a sadistic doctor whose face she never saw. During her torture, the doctor played Schubert's String Quartet No. 14, subtitled Death and the Maiden. Years later, after the repressive regime has fallen, Paulina lives in an isolated country house with her husband, Gerardo Escobar. When Gerardo returns home from a visit to the president, he gets a flat tire and is helped by a stranger named Dr. Miranda. Later that night, Dr. Miranda returns and Paulina recognizes his voice and mannerism as that of her rapist. She takes him captive in order to put him on trial and extract a confession from him. Gerardo acts as Dr. Miranda's lawyer and attempts to save his life, but after hearing the full story of Paulina's captivity, he formulates a confession with Dr. Miranda based on the specific details Paulina shared with him. Paulina records the entire confession and has Dr. Miranda sign it. She then sends Gerardo to get Dr. Miranda's car so he can go home. While they are alone for the last time, Paulina accuses Dr. Miranda of being unrepentant and guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. She shares that she purposely altered small details of her story when sharing it with Gerardo, and Dr. Miranda corrected those details in his own confession. Although Dr. Miranda denies this, Paulina is completely convinced of his guilt and prepares to execute him. The play then skips forward in time, and the audience sees Paulina and Gerardo attending a concert. It is never revealed whether Paulina ultimately killed Dr. Miranda. As the concert orchestra begins to play Schubert's Death and the Maiden, Paulina sees Dr. Miranda across the room cast in a "phantasmagoric" light, and the audience is left to wonder whether he is truly there or only in Paulina's mind.

Death on the Table

Play · 1938

Death on the Table is a 1938 thriller play by the writers Michael Pertwee and Guy Beauchamp. The plot revolves around American gangsters, Harley Street doctors and a murder that takes place on the operating table. It premiered at Richmond Theatre before transferring to the West End where it ran for 93 performances between 9 March and 7 May 1938, initially at the Strand Theatre then moving to the New Theatre. The original London cast included Kay Walsh, Peter Coke, Walter Fitzgerald, Hartley Power, Hugh McDermott, Bill Shine and Ellis Irving. Produced by Basil Dean, the sets were designed by the art director Edward Carrick. It was staged on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre under the alternative title Come Across, but lasted only 13 performances.

Deathtrap

Play · 1978

Act I, Scene 1 Sidney Bruhl, a previously successful playwright, has had a series of box office flops and is having trouble writing. Sidney mimics reading a play that he tells his wife, Myra, he has received from a student of his, Clifford Anderson. Sidney asserts that the student's play is a certain hit. Interspersed with reassurances that he is only kidding, he frightens Myra with suggestions that he may kill Clifford in order to steal the script. Sidney telephones Clifford to invite him over to give him suggestions on improving the play. Clifford's play is, like the actual play itself, entitled Deathtrap, and is also a one set, five character thriller. Scene 2 Sidney arrives back at his den, having picked up Clifford at the train station. After socializing briefly, Sidney determines that there are no other carbon copies or xeroxes of the play in existence and escalates the sense that he may kill Clifford. To Myra's horror, Sidney chokes the young man to death and drags him off to bury him. Scene 3 As Sidney returns from disposing of Clifford's body, psychic Helga ten Dorp comes to the Bruhl home to warn Sidney and Myra that she is having visions of terrible pain coming from the Bruhl home. Helga wanders around the house revealing visions that appear to be only partially correct. Sidney, relieved that Helga has not accurately envisioned the murder, reassures Myra to the point that she admits her own secret wish that Sidney was going to go through with the murder to steal the script. As Sidney and Myra are about to go to bed, Clifford, covered in mud, snatches Sidney from behind, and apparently beats Sidney to death. Myra, shocked and terrified, collapses and dies from a heart attack. Clifford confirms Myra's death and exclaims to Sidney that their plan has been successful: Clifford's murder had been staged to shock and kill Myra. Act II, Scene 1 Two weeks have elapsed, Clifford is working on his manuscript but Sidney continues to suffer from writer's block. Porter Milgrim, Sidney's attorney, throws suspicions on Clifford by alerting Sidney that he has seen Clifford locking his manuscript in his desk drawer. Sidney surreptitiously reads Clifford's manuscript and discovers that Clifford is writing a play called Deathtrap based directly on the plot that caused Myra's heart attack. Sidney confronts Clifford, who threatens to move out and write the play regardless of whether Sidney wants him to or not. Sidney agrees to help Clifford write his play. Scene 2 Helga comes again to warn Sidney that Clifford is going to attack him. Sidney tells Clifford that he has completed work on the second act but needs to see if what he has written will be believable. By "trying out" these bits, Sidney believes that he is laying the groundwork to make his intended murder of Clifford (to stop Clifford from actually writing the play about Myra's murder) look like self-defense. Clifford, however, is several steps ahead of Sidney. He has put blanks in Sidney's gun and now forces Sidney to handcuff himself to a chair. Sidney's attempt to kill Clifford has given Clifford the plot details he needs to complete his play. The handcuffs prove to be fake, and Sidney escapes and shoots Clifford with a crossbow. Sidney starts to telephone the police, but Clifford rises up behind him, pulls the arrow from his own body, and stabs Sidney. Both die. Scene 3 Helga and Porter return to Sidney's den. She envisions what has actually occurred and tells Porter. Both realize simultaneously that the story would make an excellent thriller and that the title Deathtrap is ideal, but immediately argue and threaten each other over whether they will share in the rewards their "one set, five character" play will undoubtedly reap.

Debtor and Creditor

Play · 1814

Debtor and Creditor is an 1814 comedy play by the British writer James Kenney. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London's West End on 20 April 1814. The original cast included Daniel Terry as Churlton, William Abbot as Etherington, William Blanchard as Average, John Liston as Gosling, John Emery as Sampson Miller, William Chapman as Hammond and Jane Powell as Mrs. Wallis. It marked the final performance on the London stage of Dorothea Jordan who played Barbara.

Delays and Blunders

Play · 1802

Delays and Blunders is an 1802 comedy play by the British writer Frederick Reynolds. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 30 October 1802. The original cast included Charles Murray as Sir Edward Delauny, Henry Siddons as Lieutenant St. Orme, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Sapling, William Thomas Lewis as Henry Sapling, John Fawcett as Paul Postpone, Samuel Simmons as Privilege, John Emery as Robert Grange, James Thompson as Farmer Nightshade, George Davenport as Sternly, George Davies Harley as Landlord, Isabella Mattocks as Mrs Sapling, Nannette Johnston as Honoria, Harriett Litchfield as Mrs. St Orme and Harriet Siddons as Lauretta.

Der Stellvertreter; The Representative (UK); The Deputy (US)

Play · 1963

The play opens with a discussion between Gerstein and the Papal Nuncio of Berlin over whether Pope Pius XII should have abrogated the Reichskonkordat to protest the actions of the Nazi government of Germany. Father Riccardo Fontana, the priest protagonist, and Gerstein meet for the first time. A number of German aristocrats, industrialists, and government officials (including Adolf Eichmann) spend an evening in an underground bowling alley. Despite the commonplace setting the scene is rather macabre: conversations alternate between lighthearted pleasantries and equally dismissive discussions of the treatment of Jews. An icy Catholic industrialist—played by the same actor as Pius—defends his use of slave labor. The final scene ends with Riccardo meeting Gerstein at his apartment; at the latter's urging, he agrees to trade clothes and documents with a Jew, Jacobson, Gerstein has been hiding in order to help him escape. Act II repeatedly attempts to drive home the point that Hitler feared Pius more than any of his contemporaries and that Pius's commercial interests preclude him from condemning Hitler. One of the Cardinals argues that the Nazis are the last bulwark that remains against Soviet domination of Europe. As the Jews are rounded up for deportations "under the Pope's windows," Riccardo declares "doing nothing is as bad as taking part [...] God can forgive a hangman for such work, but not a priest, not the Pope!" and a German officer comments that the Pope has given "friendly audiences to thousands of members of the German army". Riccardo first voices his idea to follow the example of Bernhard Lichtenberg and to follow the Jews to the death camps in the East, and possibly to share in their fate. Pius, with a "cold, smiling face," "aristocratic coldness," and an "icy glint" in his eyes voices his concerns about the Vatican's financial assets and the Allied bombing of factories in Italy. Pius verbally reiterates his commitment to help the Jews but states that he must keep silent "'ad maioram mala vitanda" (to avoid greater evil). When angrily questioned by Riccardo, Pius pontificates on the geopolitical importance of a strong Germany vis-a-vis the Soviet threat. Ultimately, Riccardo shames the Pope into dictating a statement for public release; however, its wording is so vague that all are confident it will be ignored by the Germans. Riccardo views this as akin to the Crusades, a sin that forever stains Mother Church, and feels called on to prove to God that the Church is indeed worthy of his trust: " 'If God once promised Abraham that he would not destroy Sodom if only ten just men dwelt in it...maybe...God will still forgive the Church if even only a few of its servants - like Lichtenberg - stand with the persecuted...The Pope's silence burdens the Church with a guilt for which we have to atone...Not Auschwitz is at stake now! The idea of the papacy must be preserved pure in eternity, even if it is briefly embodied by an Alexander VI, or a -'" Riccardo breaks off, but clearly he, and possibly Hochhuth, want to imply a comparison between the Borgia Pope (Alexander VI) and Pius XII. Riccardo dons the yellow star and joins deportees to die at Auschwitz, where the rest of the act takes place. He is confronted by the Doctor, who is otherwise not named but closely resembles Josef Mengele. The Doctor is a nihilist to whom "Auschwitz refutes creator, creation and the creature... cursed is he who creates life. I cremate life." He takes Riccardo under his protection, hoping that the church will help him escape the hangman after Germany loses the war. Gerstein appears at the camp in an unsanctioned attempt to rescue Riccardo. Unfortunately in the end they are found out, and Riccardo momentarily loses in faith and violates his vow not to take up arms in order to shoot the maleficent Doctor, but is himself gunned down before he can pull the trigger. Gerstein is taken into custody, and Riccardo follows in a long tradition of tragic figures by showing himself partly redeemed with his dying declaration, a whispered "'in hora mortis meae voca me'" (Latin, and modally ambiguous: one could read subjunctive :"in the hour of my death may He call unto me" or imperative "in the hour of my death, call unto me!" In either case, Riccardo does not die entirely confident of salvation, which would lessen his status as a tragic hero. The play ends with a quotation from German ambassador Weizsäcker: Since further action on the Jewish problem is probably not to be expected here in Rome, it may be assumed that this question, so troublesome to German-Vatican relations, has been disposed of.

Desert Rats

Play · 1945

Desert Rats is a 1945 play by the British writer Colin Morris. It revolves around a patrol of the British Eighth Army operating in the desert outside Tripoli during the North African Campaign. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Brighton before transferring to the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 44 performances between 26 April to 2 June 1945. The original West End cast included Richard Greene, Bill Owen, Kieron Moore, Ian Colin, Larry Noble, Manning Whiley and Michael Whittaker.

Detroit

Play · 2010

Mary and Ben live in an unnamed suburb near a midsize American city, but the city is never specified. Ben has just lost his job as a bank loan officer, and is starting a new job operating an Internet site to give help to people who are in debt. Mary and Ben are hosting their new neighbors, Sharon and Kenny, with a backyard barbecue. Sharon and Kenny live next door in a rented house which has no furniture. During the course of the play, the characters discuss suburban angst related to upward mobility, spousal relationships and economic anxiety.

Diff'rent

Play · 1921

Setting: The parlor of home on a side street of a seaport village in New England in 1890. Emma is engaged to an older man, a sea captain named Caleb. She discovers that he was briefly unfaithful while at sea and calls off the wedding. In the seaport village, the women tended to accept the promiscuity of the men who work at sea. Emma however, expected her future husband to be of different nature than the sailors in the village. Setting: The same location in 1920. 30 years go by, but the ageing sea captain still hopes that he can marry his former fiancé from 1890, Emma. Caleb's sister Harriet and her husband, Alfred, have raised their son Benny, who has now returned to the seaside from a tour of duty in World War I, where he had been stationed in France. Benny becomes good friends with Emma, who he sometimes calls Aunt Emma. On the stage, the audience sees that Benny is having various financial problems and has hatched a plan. However, the audience does not know what it is. Emma does not know that Benny was actually a grifter and charlatan. Caleb later arrives and notices how her home has changed. Emma explains that in the last two weeks, the "gloomy and old-timey" look of the house started to bother her so changed the style to "light and airy and young-looking". Caleb explains to Emma Benny's real character, his dishonesty and so on. Caleb also points out that he, however, has always been honest with her, especially after expressing regret for the unfortunate act. Emma declares that she is going to marry Benny. Caleb, clearly upset, tells Emma that he would rather pay Benny to cancel the wedding than see Emma suffer with a terrible mistake. Caleb tells Emma that he had always thought she was "diff'rent" than the rest of the people in the village. However, he now finds her the same as everyone else, but just more mentally ill. After Caleb leaves, Benny returns. Benny tells Emma that he will take the bribe from Caleb to not marry her. Benny was using Emma as if she were property that he could negotiate with. Emma is overwhelmed with shock of Benny explaining this to her. Emma later learns of Caleb's suicide, and she begins to exit, intending to join Caleb.

Dinner at Eight

Play · 1932

Dinner at Eight is a 1932 American play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. The plot deals with the Jordan family, who are planning a society dinner, and what they, as well as various friends and acquaintances—all of whom have their own problems and ambitions—do as they prepare for the event. The film adaptation Dinner at Eight followed, and Mentone Productions released a spoof, Supper at Six. Several revivals, a made-for-TV movie, and an opera followed.

Distressed Innocence

Play · 1690

Distress'd Innocence; Or, The Princess Of Persia is a 1690 tragedy by the English writer Elkanah Settle. It was first performed by the United Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. Incidental music was composed for the play by Henry Purcell. The original cast included John Bowman as Isdigerdes, William Mountfort as Hormidas, George Powell as Theodosius, John Hodgson as Audas, George Bright as Cleontes, Edward Kynaston as Otrantes, Samuel Sandford as Rugildas, John Freeman and John Verbruggen as Persian Magi, Elizabeth Barry as Orundana, Anne Bracegirdle as Cleomira and Katherine Corey as Doranthe.

Doctor Knock

Play · 1923

The ambitious Dr. Knock arrives in a rural village, Saint-Maurice, to step into Dr. Parpalaid's footsteps as the local physician. Unfortunately, most of the villagers are in good health. He therefore decides to make everybody believe they are actually far sicker than they actually are... The magazine Esperanto summarized the play in 1932 as being about an old-fashioned doctor and a very modern doctor, both tricking each other, with the modern doctor Knock winning.

Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?

Play · 1969

The story is a racially charged drama about teen drug addicts at a rehabilitation center, located on an island in a river bordering a large industrial city. An English teacher tries to make a difference in his students' lives. He encounters barriers in trying to do this—the same barriers created by the system that hinders the addicts' development and keeps them coming back. One addict, Bickham, is a tough white teenager who searched for his father and found him working in a seedy barber shop. Upon meeting his son, the barber shows him a dirty photograph. Contrasting Bickham is Conrad, an African-American addict. Conrad wants to recover and marry his love Linda. During the play, his character leaves the rehabilitation group to live with his sister, who is also an addict. Aside from the students, there are only four characters in the rehabilitation center – a teacher, a psychiatrist, a policeman, and the center's principal.

Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead

Play · 2004

CB and CB's sister have a funeral for their dog, who recently contracted rabies and was put down after killing "a little yellow bird" and nearly biting CB. The funeral ends in failure as they argue over who should say a prayer for him. After the funeral, CB approaches Van and asks him what happens to humans when they die. He answers that they get reincarnated. When CB asks Matt the same question, Beethoven walks by and Matt calls him a fag. At lunch, Marcy and Tricia tell their friends about an upcoming party at Marcy's house. Later on, CB goes to Beethoven's practice room to listen to his piano playing, but ends up monologuing over his dead dog. An irritated Beethoven tells CB about how he cannot go through his day without someone bullying him in some sort, including CB himself. CB claims that he never meant any harm, but Beethoven counters that people "messing around" with him is just a front for harassment and violence. CB makes a truce with Beethoven and invites him to the party to re-establish their friendship. They share a kiss. Beethoven arrives at the party to everyone's surprise. Matt insults Beethoven again, but CB comes to Beethoven's defense and kisses him, this time in front of everyone. After abruptly leaving the party with CB, Beethoven demands an explanation for what happened. CB explains he revealed his feelings not out of obligation to Beethoven, but because he truly wanted to do so. The morning after, Matt, Tricia, and Marcy all wake up together, half-naked and wondering what happened between them the night before. CB goes to visit Van's sister, who was institutionalized for setting the Little Red-Haired Girl's hair on fire. CB tells her the whole story, also revealing to her that he and Beethoven had sex after the party. A few days later, Matt, Tricia, Marcy, and Van eat lunch together and are all stunned at what happened at the party. Matt vows to make Beethoven pay for "fucking with [his] best friend's head." Meanwhile, CB and Beethoven argue over whether or not they should be in a relationship. CB leaves disappointed but hopeful for the future between them. Matt then enters and threatens Beethoven to stay away from CB. Beethoven refuses, calls him by his old nickname, Pig-Pen, and implies he knows Matt's "secret": that Matt has repressed homosexual feelings for CB. This angers Matt, who slams the piano top over Beethoven's hands, breaking them. During class later on, CB's friends take turns sharing fond memories of Beethoven, who had committed suicide (Matt, meanwhile, was suspended from school for a week). However, knowing they all bullied Beethoven, CB berates them for pretending that they actually cared about him. CB receives a letter from his pen pal. In the letter, he tells CB that he must keep strong, even in rough times. It also mentions a boy "who plays piano just like [CB's] friend" that moved in near the pen pal, that "he's had a tough life, but things are better for him, now," and that he found a dog who likes to sing along to the piano (like CB's dog did, alluding that Beethoven is now caring for CB's dog in the afterlife). The letter is signed "CS", an allusion to Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz.

Don Carlos, Prince of Spain

Play · 1676

Don Carlos, Prince of Spain is a 1676 tragedy by the English writer Thomas Otway. It portrays the relationship between Philip II of Spain and his son and heir Don Carlos. The play is based on the novel by Abbe de Saint-Réal. It was staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre. The cast featured Thomas Betterton as Philip II, William Smith as Don Carlos, Henry Harris as Don John, John Crosby as Marquis of Posa, Matthew Medbourne as Rui Gomez, Henry Norris as an Officer of the Guards, Mary Lee as the Queen of Spain, and Anne Shadwell as the Duchess of Eboli.

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