Bøker utgitt av Samuel French Ltd

At a bar across from a falafel place, Max and Anna meet again, or is it for the first time? A funny and emotionally raw portrait of a couple struggling to hold on to one another without losing themselves, Fish Eye explodes the traditional chronology of romance and offers a modern take on the exhilaration of love - when nothing means everything and everything means nothing - and the entire world can shrink down to a single moment.

A freak storm knocks down all the trees in town and brings a prodigal daughter rushing home. But has she come for reconciliation? Or as an angel of vengeance? A comic new play about love, forgiveness and family struggling to operate in a relentlessly chaotic and violent world.

Do you have Seasonal Allergies? You might be experiencing the symptoms of them and not even know it. Seasonal Allergies tend to show themselves right around the holidays: do you feel a tickle in the back of your throat when you realize your vegetable dishes cooked faster than you thought, and now they're ready a full hour before the turkey will be out of the oven? Do your eyes water uncontrollably after you've nearly broken your back climbing into the attic to find the Christmas lights (and then

This is a full-length pantomime, entirely traditional with lots of humour and with its own original and delightful score by Eric Gilder which is available separately. The large number of both amateur and professional groups who present Crocker and Gilder pantomimes regularly every year is unmistakable proof of their success. | 2 women, 2 men, 11 women or men

"In Death Takes a Holiday, it's just after World War I and the loneliest of souls arrives at an Italian villa disguised as a handsome young Prince, and for the first time experiences the joys and heartbreaks of life. The show began as an Alberto Casella play from the 1920s that was made into a much-loved 1934 film. The original film was remade in 1998 as Meet Joe Black."--Page 4 of cover.

An exhuberant comedy which is yet a sad commentary on twentieth-century bureaucracy. The Hesseltines are living in property well overdue for demolition and they are looking forward to being re-housed in more beautiful and salutory surroundings. The crisis comes when they find that, far from a house with a little bit of garden, they are to live in a warrenous block of flats.|3 women, 6 men

Place of publication from publisher's website.

Full Length, Dramatic Comedy / 2m, 1f / 2 ints.Revived on Broadway in 2008, the original production starred Joe Mantegna, Ron Silver and Madonna in this hilarious satire of Hollywood, a culture as corrupt as the society it claims to reflect. Charlie Fox has a terrific vehicle for a currently hot client. Bringing the script to his friend Bobby Gould, the newly appointed Head of Production at a major studio, both see the work as their ticket to the Big Time. The star wants to do it; as they pre

Jay Spencer wants to leave his past behind him and start a new life. When he moves into his new flat his only wish is solitude, but the girl next door plagues him with her suicide threats, his current wife causes problems, his ex-wife insists on leading him to Jesus, and his secretary declares her undying passion. Jay's women pursue, attack, seduce and harass him and he only wants to be left alone or does he? Finally when he achieves his aim and has only himself for company, the thought is too much and he telephones the last female left his mother! This very funny and witty play has fast and well-timed comic action.| 4 women, 1 man

It is 1950 and revolution has swept a country and now reached a mission station which cares for children. A new Communist government has taken over and there has been persecution of Nuns and Priests throughout the province. The Mission has been cut off from the local village and the orphaned children have been removed. The British Consul, together with his wife Ruth visits the Mission, both have a deep-seated dislike of Germans because of their son's death in the Second World War. A letter arrives from Mei Cheng the governing General of the province addressed to Sister Magdalen. This elderly Nun looked after Mei Cheng when he was an orphaned boy many years previously and is the Generals Godmother. | 6 women, 3 men

Set in Russia shortly after the Revolution, Stephen Poliakoff's intriguing and moving play has an autobiographical background in that it is inspired by what happened to his own family in Russia. Produced first by the RSC at the Pit and later transferring to the Mermaid the play follows the material and spiritual adjustments the upper middle class Pesiakoff family has to make to their life when they are forced to live in a railway carriage for many years. Although ostensibly employed as Telephone Examiner, father spends his time and government money on trying to record sound on to film. With the death of Lenin, however, the research must be abandoned and the family is forced to flee.

ComedyCharacters: 9 male, 8 female Interior Set Always humorous, the play never loses sight of the fact that these youngsters are experiencing emotions which, though comic to an older eye, are new and wonderful and important to the young people. This is the brightly human story of what happens in the Hartman household when Midge, the youngest, affected by spring, finds herself in the throes of first love. This charming hoyden thinks nothing of starting whirlwinds to impress the young man of her choice - who happens unluckily to be in love wth Midge's older sister, Virginia. In a series of unexpected and delightful manipulations, Midge almost causes Virginia to lose the right boy and to be suspected as a thief; drops a bombshell into Mr. Hartman's business; disrupts brilliant brother Elliott's carefully (and comically) planned life; threatens her mother's social position - in short, threatens the well-being of all concerned, including her own lively companions. And at the end of the second act the world comes smashing down around an angered family and a bewildered Midge. But on the night of the Spring Prom - Midge's first formal dance - if she gets to go - Midge steps in again and sets matters straight in a heart-warming and funny fashion. And by the end of th play, the three Hartman youngsters have taken important steps toward maturity. A play for high schools which will delight those especially who demand literary excellence as well as strong audience appeal.

Comedy / 6m, 3f / Interior This play was an outstanding Broadway production of the 1934-35 season. Prefaces by John Anderson and Barrett H. Clark. This is one of the most gracious, witty and moving sophisticated comedies which Broadway has seen in some time. Though the author emphasizes his delightful theme rather than the matter of plot, the story itself is of the utmost theater value. This has to do with the very civilized attitude of a clever playwright approaching middle-age who not only dares fall in love with a younger woman, but stands aside for a time and even helps a young man take his place in the affections of the girl. In the end, however, the author shows with unmistakable persuasion that age itself has nothing to do with the problem. A thoroughly delightful and sophisticated play for advanced casts.

Full Length, ComedyCharacters: 2 male, 2 femaleInterior Set In her beach house in the Hamptons, celebrated writer Rose Stern stands at a crossroads: she hasn't written anything in years and money is getting short. Her former lover, literary lion Walsh McLaren, offers her-from beyond the grave-an opportunity to regain her celebrity and gross millions. It's not going to be easy and a "ghost" writer is required setting in motion another touching and unpredictable roma

Tammy Wynette - the woman behind the legend and the incredible songs that made her the First Lady of country music - leaps off the stage and into your heart. Through her eyes, the audience relives her journey from the cotton fields of Itawamba, Mississippi, to international superstar. With comic flare and dramatic impact, Stand by Your Man recounts triumphs and tragedies and explores Tammy's relationships with the five husbands she stood by. Among the twenty-six songs are "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," "'Til I Can Make It on My Own," and "Golden Ring."

The year is 1898 and the place is an over-sumptuous parlor in New York. Mrs. Mowbrey, a mature, wealthy woman with a history to bury, makes a plan--she'll befriend her estranged niece and fiancé, and their subsequent marriage will provide her own entre into respectable society. Or at least, that's what she tells the young couple. In Shakespeare and the Bible uncovers a mystery inside a melodrama inside a meeting. Mrs. Mowbrey invites her niece, Katy and her niece's fiancé Mr. Lubbock to her home separately and unbeknownst to each other. Mr. Lubbock arrives first, and is asked to become Mr. Mowbrey's attorney. Katy comes later, to meet this aunt who has fallen from her family's good graces for unknown reasons. With all three in the room, it becomes apparent that Mr. Lubbock and Mrs. Mowbrey share something that's not deemed proper for Katy to know. Yet Katy insists they tell her. When Mrs. Mowbrey leaves the room, insisting that they work things out among themselves, the mystery looms large. Katy discovers their secret and the true intent of Mrs. Mowbrey's agenda hangs in the balance: Did she intend to use her wealth to buy respectability and family relations? Or exact revenge?

In this hard-boiled comic mystery sequel to the ever-popular Murder at Cafe Noir, ex-private eye Rick Archer is now the confused manager of Cafe Noir on the island of Mustique. He is confronted with a corpse on the dock, a mysterious femme fatale, a French blackmailer, and a businessman who wants both the cafe and the woman. Rick is arrested after the blackmailer is murdered in his club. It is up to the audience to convince the magistrate that he is innocent. A tribute to Casablanca with many references to the classic movie, Noir Suspicions is guaranteed to delight audiences whether or not they are familiar with Murder at Cafe Noir.

A mother-daughter team of con-artists are putting the touch on the widows of military brass. Mrs. McCullem, housekeep for the wonderfully regal but now wheel chair-bound window of General Beattie, recognizes them in the drug store--having witnessed the two pull their game on her previous employer--and overhears them asking directions to the Beattie home! The play begins as she rushes back to warn Mrs. Beattie of the impending danger. Sure enough, the doorbell rings and our charlatans appear with quite a story. But instead of throwing them out or turning them over to the police, the widow Beattie allows the game to be played.

David Henry WilsonContents: Are You Normal, Mr. Norman?Black comedyCharacters:4 male, 2 female Interior Set In this bizarre comedy, a man goes to dentist's office with a toothache and finds himself in a Twilight Zone like nightmare.The Death Artist Short play, comedyCharacters: 2 male Exterior SetAfter making his fortune, a miser is visited by a man assigned to kill him.The EscapologistComedy Characters: 2 male, 1 female Interior Set A world renowned escapologist cajoles a man from Bethlehem into binding him in chains only to discover that he can't escape this time-- or can he?The Fourth PrisonerDrama Characters: 3 male, 3 extras. Interior Set This is a harrowing tale of deprivation and judgement set in a prison, where only death awaits beyond the cell door. If Yer Take a Short Cut, Yer Might Lose the WayComedyCharacters: 4 male, 1 female Interior Set Written in a wonderful Cockney accent, the absurdist comedy takes place in the Truthseekers' home where precious few signs are provided on the road to finding truth in the modern world. Wendlebury DayComedy Characters: 1 male Interior Set A 60 year old man looks back on his life, examining the good times and the bad with a strange mixture of fantasy and reality. He concludes that he has enjoyed it all.The WallDramaCharacters: 2 male, 1 female Exterior Set A young couple encounter a wall on which is written "Wall." They erase the word and write their own. The wall becomes a tabula rasa for modern man.

A person sits on a bench at the edge of an abyss. In the style of Theatre of the Absurd, this is simply done as a bench on the edge of the apron. Along comes a second person contemplating 'a heroic dive.' Their repartee, the meaning of where they really are and what they are really there for, draws out the humor and conflict of the edge. What is the abyss and what are these people doing here? Comic and terrifying concepts mix with these lives that are drawn to the edge, the confrontations here, and the concludion that life is precious after all.

Collection of Six One Act Plays including: Birdbath, Ferryboat, Halloween, Lunchtime, The Shirt, Times Square.

Portion of edition statements from introductory material.

Drama Characters: 2 male, 2 female Exterior Set This is a lovely play about the choices made by a woman and her daughter and their consequences. Jenny, a 38 year old pregnant career woman, returns to the home of her mother and step father whom she has not seen in twenty years. Ostensibly, she wants to know if she ever had German measles, but it soon becomes clear that her reasons for coming are more complex. She needs help from her mother of a sort which she is unprepared to give. "Beneath the spare, truthful writing lurks a vast subtext. . . . A fine piece of writing." Time Out. "Accurate, detailed, loving writing has created four real people, sensitive to the needs of others yet each, ultimately, with an instinct for self preservation." London Spectator.

Plotting abounds among the individuals in an animated deck of playing cards, as the greediest of the cards hatch a plan to steal the trophies and gate money from a stadium event.

With All My Love I Hate You is a tense play for two women. Julia is surprised to receive a visit from her one-time friend Clare ¿ and a little apprehensive too, because for some years she has been mistress to Jerry, Clare¿s husband, and has even borne him a son. Clare, in a pathetic state of misery following the death of her own small child and Jerry¿s hatred of her, seems just to want to talk to and be comforted by Julia, but as time passes it becomes clear that she is deliberately goading the other woman for some purpose of her own. What starts as a quiet and uncomfortable talk erupts into violence and tragedy, with an ironic twist at the end.|2 women

Tom, suffering from heart disease and aware that he does not have long to live, commissions Jan, an artist, to paint a picture that Tom can leave to his wife Brenda. From this simple premise Colin Crowther has created a many-layered, thoughtful play exploring illness, grief and the difficulties of caring for the dying, threaded with a lucid discussion of the redemptive power of art.|1 woman, 1 man, 2 women or men

Johnny sits on a high ledge writing a suicide note. The building's caretaker, a young policeman, a priest and others - including his mum, and girlfriend Eileen - visit Johnny on his ledge and the conversations they have with him satirically demonstrate various degrees of hypocrisy and callousness. Observant and funny.|3 women, 5 men