Böcker utgivna av Samuel French Ltd

To escape from the restraints of a suffocating relationship, Anna moves into a flat with a friend, Prue.  In the old attic room which she adopts as her study, Anna is presented with a ghostly series of women through the ages - women who, like Anna, have not conformed to the usual roles of wife and mother - a Victorian spinster, a nun, a nurse who worked with Florence Nightinglae during the Crimean War and a young wife who dies childless.|3 women, 2 men

Peter Graham, TV series hero, seeks refuge at the country rectory with his mild clerical Uncle Humphrey from all the females who continually chase after him, and in particular from Pixie Potter. Humphrey, horrified by the threatened loss of his housekeeper who has been dismissed by his formidable sister, advertises for a wife but absentmindedly omits the important word "marriage". These two occurrences resoundingly shatter the peace of the village.|5 women, 4 men

Lesser Mortals was first presented in the 2012 Arundel Festival Theatre Trail. Four women - all widows - sit in the communal silence of a Quaker Meeting; we hear their thoughts and join with their joys and troubles.

Storm in a Flower Vase is a fascinating and compelling new drama by Anton Burge, author of the hit play Bette and Joan. Set in London in the 1930s, the play explores the early careet of Constance Spry, founder of the celebrated business Floral Decorations that supplied floral arrangements to the upper ranks of society.

Short comedies Characters: Various males and females, extras In each of these masterpieces from the authors of Four Plays for Coarse Actors, sets collapse, actors fail to appear and props fall to pieces while the casts carry on, believing that the audience won't notice. Moby Dick is an ambitious attempt to reduce the epic novel to a series of quick fire scenes. The Cherry Sisters, a previously undiscovered Chekhov fragment, is a desperately sincere piece with a teary ending (spoiled by a faulty prop that necessitates a standing death). Last Call for Breakfast is an avant garde play shortened because an actor is in the wrong place during a black out. Henry the Tenth (Part Seven) is a rarely performed tragedy with battle scenes that would amaze the bard.

The curtain is about to go up on the Women's Guild variety and dramatic show when one of the leads loses her voice. This is the start of a series of calamities, not lessened by well meant but embarrassing offers of help. At the last moment all is well, and Clara even learns how to work the curtains.-10 women

"[A play] about the nineteenth century black American actor Ira Aldridge"--Page 4 of cover.

"In Jenny Schwartz's linguistic feast of a play, Rosemary and Evelyn met 'a hundred thousand years ago' in Central Park when their children were barely born. [This play] reunites the two women thirty-five years later on Madison Avenue, on a windy fall day. With their children now grown and the world changing rapidly before (what's left of) their eyes, each finds herself face to face with the terrors, joys, and surprises of life and time. This is a wildly original story about connection-- to our families, our memories, our moment in time"--Page 4 of cover.

How''s a queen to keep her head in the middle of a revolution? Marie Antoinette delights and inspires her French subjects with her three-foot tall wigs and extravagant haute couture. But times change and even the most fashionable queens go out of style. In the humorous and haunting Marie Antoinette, idle gossip turns more insidious as the country revolts, demanding liberté, égalité, fraternité!

This play explores the paradox of humour and despair to be found in the casual infliction of cruelty. It follows the homecoming of Olga Petrovna and her husband, Yeletsky, to her deceased parent's country manor which should be a happy affair for the house's resident penniless gentlemen, Kuzovkin.

Joan of Arc led an army to victory at seventeen. At eighteen, she engineered the coronation of a king. At nineteen, she went up against the Catholic church...and lost. Her trial lasted five months, and the testimony by witnesses was carefully transcribed by notaries. Twenty years after her death, a new trial was authorized, and again detailed records were kept. There was testimony by her childhood playmates, by her parents, by the women who slept with her, by the soldiers who s

Five members of a play selection committee have gathered in the green room to choose the plays for their Festival of Poorly-Written Plays. The artistic director begins with a review of the more common criteria for a bad play: blatant exposition and contrived names for the characters. He then suggests that they all go around the table and introduce themselves and say a little something about themselves - blatant exposition if ever there was. As he calls on Hedda, the literary manager, and Mrs.

A crime saga about the Santos Family Law Practice in El Paso of the 1980's, loosely based on the Chagra brothers' killing of Judge John Wood. Drugs, gambling, and trafficking fuel the law office of Santos & Santos, and the brothers are quick to incorporate the younger brother after the death of their father. He questions his relationship to his heritage as he sees his brothers so eagerly trying to live the life of the "American." When one of the brothers is tried fo

Northern Uganda on the eve of the millennium: The daughter of American missionaries and a local teenage girl steal into a darkened church to seal their love in a secret, makeshift wedding ceremony. But when the surrounding war zone encroaches on their fragile union, they cannot escape its reach. Confronting the religious and cultural roots of intolerance, Cardboard Piano explores violence and its aftermath, as well as the human capacity for hatred, forgiveness, and love.

In light of the police shootings of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and John Crawford III in Beavercreek, Ohio, among others, The New Black Fest commissioned seven emerging black playwrights to write 10-15 minute monologues that explore their feelings about the well-being of black in a culture of institutional profiling.

Twenty-five years ago, a motley group of friends met as kids at a summer camp where the head counselor secretly taught them that their disabilities could be "cured" through the power of prayer. Today, the group has gathered to mourn the untimely passing of one of its members. Over the course of the night, old wounds are uncovered, friendships are tested, and the truth surrounding their late friend becomes troublingly clear.

Jack is a former jeweller who made his living buying and selling diamonds via late-night TV ads. He lives in a rather luxurious, privately-owned retirement home along with his fellow residents: the visually challenged techno-wizard Rose, the artistically gifted but forgetful Flora, and the narcoleptic beauty Blanche. Unbeknownst to the four of them, however, the man to whom they've entrusted their life savings - a smooth-talking financial advisor named Barney Effward - has been arrested

Rod thinks the game is fixed. Momo's still learning the rules. Twee doesn't think winning is enough. JJ hates his hand. And why the hell is Henry still playing? Two families (and some guy named Henry) panic with hilarious and heartbreaking results when they realize their parents won't be around forever. Can anybody prepare for the inevitable moment when they're the ones left holding all the cards?

Walbeck, a thoroughly hated man who cheated hundreds of people out of their money, suddenly returns home from Joliet prison when his sentence is reduced. He is greeted by two people: his attorney, who informs him that Walbeck's wife has fled to California, taking his daughter with her, and a new maid, Bernice, the self-proclaimed "best cook in Chicago" recently hired to keep the home going. Bernice, it turns out, served time for murder, and the advice she gives Walbeck on how to deal with his future allows Wilder to explore the nature of pride. Decisions have to be made quickly when Walbeck learns that his daughter is still in Chicago and coming by to see him at any moment.

Shocked at her father's sudden death, Susan has rushed home from London where she is rehearsing a new play. As she and her mother, Margaret, return from arranging the funeral they are immediately at loggerheads - as ever. Even the arrival of kindly Aunt Lilian, Margaret's younger sister, can't melt Margaret's hard exterior. But as Susan privately recalls childhood memories, a shocking truth begins to emerge. Cleverly interspersing thirty years past with the present this is a family drama with reconciliation at its heart.3 women

The river upon which this play is based in the Parret. The river rises in Dorset and flows into Bridgwater Bay on the Somerset coast. It is 36 miles long and is tidal for a good deal of its length. For generations fishermen have trapped and netted salmon in the dangerous tidal waters that surge and flood across the Somerset flats. But advancing civilisation has polluted the river, the fish are dying and t here are now only three licensed fishermen left.1 woman, 2 men

Daisy has recently been employed as a waitress at an hotel restaurant and as a result Roland, a regular and rather particular customer, is getting more than he ordered. From polite conversation to an outright invasion of privacy, Daisy attends to Roland in her unique and inquisitive way.

Barry, 39 and recently divorced, sets off around the world on a trip of a lifetime in this comedy. His travelling companions are his parents, whose cheery optimism and parochial ways drive Barry to distraction. Paris, Turkey, Egypt, Hawaii and New York are among the many places they visit.

Years ago, Tom had an affair with Catherine who became pregnant and had an abortion - or so he thinks. Now he is married to Vie and their relationship is on the rocks because she cannot conceive and Tom is desperate to be a father. Enter Smokey, a nineteen-year-old runaway whose girlfriend is none other than Catherine's and Tom's daughter Belinda.2 women, 3 men

Between June and November 1902, the year of the Coronation of Edward VII, Bellingford Amateur Dramaticks Society is rehearsing A Midsummer Night's Dream. It has the usual range of different personalities - stalwart group members, young lads about town, daughters of local businessmen and also the wealthy diamond-trade man, a devotee of Henry Irving, who is underwriting the production. This man's murder, set against Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, the new craze of ping-pong and the invention of finger-printing broadens the plot and develops the characters. Commissioned to commemorate Sutton Amateur Dramatic Club centenary in 2002.12 women, 8 men

Amy cares for her Aunt Sylvia who has Alzheimer's. Amy is loyally devoted to her Aunt so finds herself seriously tested when she meets and falls in love with Gregory, an antiquarian bookseller. As she tries to deal with the situation, Amy begins to see that a different, happier life is possible.

An assorted group of travelers are staying at a Jerusalem hotel: Lady Westholme and her companion, a young English doctor and her French colleague, a debonair American and a pugnacious Lancashire man. Another guest, Mrs. Boynton, is a domineering American invalid with four stepchildren whose facade of devotion masks enough hatred to murder her as could the doctor whose affection for Raymond Boynton is being obstructed by the old lady. When Mrs. Boynton is found dead, all are suspects even though she was ill enough to die a natural death. Just when the tension becomes unbearable, the doctor discovers essential evidence about Mrs. Boynton''s devilish plan to possess and torment the children in death as in life.

Five teenage girls waiting for interviews with an employment service dream of the romantic, exciting jobs they would like-- derived from television series and films. The dreams are enacted by all the girls together. In each case there is a rude awakening. Finally, Beverly, the clearest sighted, brings them down to earth, forcing them to realize that their characters and abilities will fit them for only the drabbest of occupations.|5 women