A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A Candle on the Table (Drama, 4 female) - Three elderly women meet at a lunch table on their first day in a home for senior citizens. A candle placed there by the matron awakens different memories in each. To the frivolous, friendly ex-actress Maribeth Garrity candles belong with champagne and flowers. To Miss Tolliver, a children's nursemaid, they speak of childhood poverty when candles gave the only light. To the aristocratic Mrs. Bramson, they mean the formal meals which only emphasized the emptiness of her life. The lunchtime conversation reveals some surprising aspects of the lives and personalities of the three women and culminates in a friendship and an affirmative decision. Sensitively drawn characters, gentle humor and a generous dash of truth. Top
A Meeting Of The Literary Society (Comedy, 1 male, 7 female) - Parody on ladies clubs (or any club, group, etc.). Top
A Narrow Bed (Drama, 2 male, 3 female) - The women are the last members of a rural commune founded in the 60's. One's husband was killed in Vietnam and she still clings to his memory. The other's wisecracking husband is hospitalized and dying. Both women find the courage to accept their "narrow bed" and get on with their lives. Top
Accent on Youth (Drama, 6 male, 3 female) - In his early fifties, Steven Gaye, famous for his comedies, has written the tragedy of an old man who loves a young girl. Although he is enthusiastic about it, he realizes that something is spurious in the construction. When he impulsively decides to abandon playwriting for good, and gives his young secretary notice, she takes her dismissal with ill grace. She blurts out that she is in love with him. As a man he is flattered and interested. But Steven has been a playwright too long not to have a detached interest in the problem of making life fit the theatre, and a large part of his interest in his secretary is the light she throws upon the problem of his play. He falls in love with her. Although she loves him, he is not without rivals. Top
Adrift in New York ... or Her First False Step (Melodrama, 9 male, 6 female) - Here's the best Gay Nineties melodrama we've seen, and the more seriously your actors play it, the more humorous your audience will find it! The show begins at the Old Homestead where "our Nell" is enticed by the villain to go to New York and sing a fine music hall. The second act is at a Bowery honky-tonk where she makes her New York debut. Then back at the Old Homestead, "our Nell," having endured many trials and tribulations, comes home after walking from the railroad station through a terrible storm. Top
Alibis (Mystery spoof, 4 male, 5 female) - When famous actress Primavera Donna throws a party and winds up dead, it's up to the guests to figure out who and how, and why the hired help is so annoying. As the storm outside rages and the body count mounts, the guests must contend with interruptions, shocking revelations, tacky special effects and the arrival of a mysterious visitor. Both the action and dialogue are fast-paced and the surprising conclusion leaves only one questions: Who gets the movie rights? The cast includes a stuffy butler, a social butterfly, a playboy, a dotty chemist, an aristocrat of dubious origin, a nun who has taken a vow of silence, a part-time detective, a very French maid and a mysterious stranger. A rapid-fire romp through the conventional drawing room mystery. Top
Alive and Kicking (Comedy, 2 male, 2 female) - When Gloria Nix's last child announces that he and his girlfriend have just gotten married, Gloria panics. She tries to sell the house out from under her easygoing husband, John, because she decides that her life is over and it would be more comfortable to die in a small apartment located near a funeral home. Countering Gloria's presentiments about death, John responds with humor at every turn. Top
Always Marry a Bachelor (Comedy, 7 female) - A personable young man (never appears on stage) has come to small hotel in the Midwest. The proprietress has three teenage daughters. Each girl is certain the young man is going to marry her and goes out of her way to impress him, dreaming of what her married life will be like. Each remains in the town she finds so dull is because she's there! The truth of the matter is the young man is already married and kept this a secret to see if he would like the community. Thanks to the girls, he's found the inhabitants charming and the town - just the place to raise a family. The pot boils over when the girls expect a proposal and instead meet the young man's bride. Top
Antic Spring (Comedy, 3 male, 3 female) - Placing emphasis on pantomime and character portrayal, it needs only six chairs-- to represent an open touring car. In the car are young people of high school age going on a picnic. There is Ginger, earnest and overbearingly sunny; Robert, the sensitive one, impressed only by poetry (or ants, as a hilarious final scene proves); Blossom, the exuberant and idiotic teenager; Sam and Gwendolyn, the lovers who live-- in thirty minutes-- a life of adolescent violence, ranging from rage to young soulful ness; and Elbert, the little brother who looks with noisy criticism on their actions and suffers their company only for the food likely to be served. The relations of these six are put to the trials and tribulations of a picnic. Top
Arsenic and Old Lace (Comedy, 11 male, 3 female) - We meet the charming and innocent ladies who populate their cellar with the remains of socially and religiously "acceptable" roomers; the antics of their brother who thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt; and the activities of the other brother - these require no further description or amplification here. Top
At The Basketball Game (Humorous reading, 1 female) -
The Audition is Over (Drama, 6 female) - On the bare stage of a summer theatre Emily Haven, this week's visiting star, is about to audition Nancy Russell, protégée of an old friend, now a professor and dramatic coach at a nearby college. The actress learns that the teacher and Nancy's mother fought over the girl's career and that the audition is to determine her future. Emily is resentful of this high handed arrangement, and in a tense scene exposes the selfishness of the two women who want to live their lives over again in the girl. Top
The Babies (Humorous reading, 1 male) - Top
Background Music (Comedy, 1 male, 5 female) -
Barefoot in the Park (Comedy, 4 male, 2 female) - After a six day honeymoon a spanking new lawyer, who has just won his first case 6 cents in damages, and his young bride, who is as pretty and addled as they come, move into the new, high rent apartment that she has chosen for them. But the difficulty is in order to enjoy the charming character of this apartment, one has to climb six wheezing flights. And the apartment is absolutely bare of furniture, the paint job came out all wrong, the skylight leaks snow, there isn't room for a double bed, and an outlandish gourmet who lives in a loft on the roof uses it and the window ledge as the only access to his padlocked premises. The situation is enough to break the heart and burst the lungs of any stylish young lawyer; and indeed it does one night. Performed in 1997 Top
The Beach (Drama, 3 male, 5 female) - Three couples in their thirties have for years shared beach houses and summer vacations along the New England coast. This year, Ben's wife has left him and the vacationing group is joined by Sara's widowed sister Elaine. The specter of divorce causes each remaining couple to examine their marriage. Sara chooses this moment to ask Tom to father the second child she has long wanted. Tom is troubled by Elaine's vitality and sexuality; she represents all he might gain if he left marriage and fatherhood behind. He does make a bold but finally unsatisfactory break from the group. Harry and Julia, whose embrace of ordinary life allows them to accept the loss of passion in their marriage, and Ben ultimately demonstrate the real potential for growth and renewal. Top
Benefit of A Doubt (Comedy, 2 male, 4 female) - The play quietly shows how easily we might trade in our own values for a franchised set of values. It is a contemporary tragedy, bending with twists of comedy arising out of natural situations. Mr. Clinton has drawn his characters with care, etching their personalities with compassion, insight, and most importantly, a sharp but gentle sense of humor. Top
The Birthday Present (Drama, 1 male, 2 female) - A woman tells a younger woman not to be afraid, then goes into another room. There's a man at the door, the ex-husband of the younger woman, and he's astonished to have been invited to see her again, for it has been several years since their divorce. It is her birthday. Without knowing it, he's also brought her another present, and that is the point of the play. As they fence cautiously, we begin to see that these two people might have made it together. As they begin to see this themselves, the excitement rises. Beginning to respond to each other's love, they are interrupted by the older woman, a psychiatrist who has arranged the encounter as part of the ex-wife's therapy. This brief last moment is a collision between mind and emotion. Performed in 1984 Top
Blazing Guns at Roaring Gulch or… The Perfumed Badge (Melodrama, 4 male, 5 female) - The play takes place in the lobby of the Roaring Gulch Hotel where the hero, Harry Heartstone, is found in hot pursuit of the villain, Snipe Vermin. Here the story takes an unusual turn because the villain and hero are twin brothers (played by the same actor). It is inevitable that the two should meet in a face-to-face gunfight which takes place in a most interesting manner in the closing minutes of the show. The play offers many other attractive character roles including Willie Lovelace, the lady sheriff of Roaring Gulch; the Widow Black, evil proprietress of the Roaring Gulch Hotel; Martha Muldoon, a stranded actress; and Bill Filbert, the nutty sidekick of Snipe Vermin. Top
Blithe Spirit (Farce, 2 male, 5 female) - The ingenious plot tells how novelist Charles Condomine invites into his placid country home an eccentric, breezy lady medium in order to learn the language of the occult. Little does Charles or his lovely second wife, Ruth, dream that the séance staged by the medium will summon back Charles' first wife, now "passed over" for seven years. But the lady from beyond, still handsome, still mischievous, appears and torments Charles by reminding him of their days and nights together. Only Charles can see a floating vase, handed to her out of thin air, finally convinces Ruth that Charles is not losing his mind that his first wife is indeed in the room. The first wife has a ghostly plot in mind. Top
Boeing-Boeing (Farce, 2 male, 4 female) - Parisian Lothario has a French, a German and an American fiancée, each a beautiful airline hostess with a two day layover in Paris. He keeps "one up, one down and one pending" and has the seventh day to rest until schedule changes bring schedule changes. Top
Bone-Chiller! (Mystery-Comedy, 5 male, 8 female) - Thirteen people gather on Friday the 13th at the Travers mansion in New York for the reading of Josiah's will which is a wall chart rendered in the form of a rebus (a part word, part drawing puzzle) that almost defies solution. Instead of designating an heir, it offers the estate to anyone who can solve the will! The lights keep going out and people keep getting murdered. The audience will have a ball trying to untangle the puzzle faster than the hapless characters. By the final act, revelations are exploding as surprise piles upon surprise and gasps alternate with howls of laughter. Top
Bull in a China Shop (Mystery-Comedy, 5 male, 7 female) - When a houseful of sweet, little old ladies discover that a handsome bachelor lives across the street, they are delighted. When they learn that he is none other than Detective Dennis O’Finn, of Homicide, they are faced with the problem of how to attract his attention. The answer is simplicity itself: a nice, genteel homicide with a cup of tea as the murder weapon. When a brash young woman reporter begins to suspect the truth, she becomes the next target. O’Finn is terribly embarrassed when at last he discovers that he himself is the motive for these madcap goings-on, and, in desperation, manages to solve the case. But the dear old ladies are too fond of him and in the end they turn the tables on him! Top
The Butler Did It (Mystery-Comedy, 5 male, 5 female) - Miss Maple, a dowager with a reputation for “clever” weekend parties, invites a group of detective writers to eerie Ravenswood Manor on Turkey Island where they are to impersonate their fictional characters. The hostess has arranged all sorts of amusing incidents: a mysterious voice on the radio, a menacing face at the window, a mad killer on the loose. Who is that body in the wine cellar anyway? Why do little figurines keep toppling from the mantle? Then a real murder takes place, and Miss Maple is outraged. She offers an immense reward to the “detective” who can bring the killer to justice. And what an assortment of zany would-be sleuths! When they’re not busy tripping over clues, they trip over each other! Top
Butterflies Are Free (Serious Comedy, 2 male, 2 female) - When you're a young bachelor in your own apartment for the first time, even if it's a cramped cold water flat, you know what exhilaration is. If a pretty actress moves into the next apartment, you've got an even better beginning. Don has it better yet: the actress has proposed friendship and the removal of the connecting door. Well into the play, the audience and the actress discover that Don is blind. He is escaping from an overprotective mother and trying to learn if he has the talent to become a song writer. When mother and the girl meet the two simply do not mix. Mother breaks up the relationship and the actress packs herself off to live with a director. When mother realizes how she has demoralized her son she wishes the other woman was back. Top
California Suite (Comedy, 5 male, 6 female) - It's a humorous confection divided into four parts. In Visitors from Chicago two couples are winding up a vacation they should not have shared. Forced to do things the other couple want to do they end up miserable and hating each other. Visitor from London concerns a British star on her way to the Academy Award ceremonies. She returns without an Oscar and with a husband whose homosexuality will be no comfort tonight. Visitor from Philadelphia concerns a wife who arrives at the hotel suite before her husband can get rid of the drunken hooker in his bed. It wasn't his idea in the first place. In The Visitor from New York, a magazine writer is visited by her ex husband before going home. Top
Caught in The Act (Farce, 7 male, 11 female) - Experience the mishaps and missed cues of playing director and actor from auditions to opening night. A riotous tribute to the gentle art of slapstick comedy. Top
Caught in the Villains Web or… More Sinned Against Than Sinning (Melodrama, 4 male, 6 female) - Felicity Fair, down trodden heroine, is a nurse sent to the Larkfield mansion to attend a hard hearted society matron who is pretending to be ill to force her son, Malvern, to marry the scheming Nella Hargrave. Malvern takes one look at Felicity and falls in love. When Malvern proposes he is unaware that villain Cyril Bothingwell is behind a screen listening. Felicity sadly informs Malvern that she can never marry. Five years ago she was in a train wreck and cannot remember a thing that happened prior to the wreck. She doesn't even know her real name. Cyril tells Felicity that she is his wife but Cyril's nefarious schemes are thwarted to the delight of all. Top
Cinderella's Glass Slipper (Musical, 5 male, 13 female) - Cinderella works hard in the home of her cruel stepmother. Her silly stepsisters, Brunhilda and Cleopatra, see themselves as beautiful and think the prince will marry them. Of course, the handsome prince spends most of the evening at a palace ball trying to escape from them! The story is age old, but you'll meet playful new characters in this fresh adaptation: a brave mouse, a hesitant cat and the amazing Pumpkinhead, who changes into a coach! Our Fairy Godmother has her hands full tutoring an apprentice but still makes time for Cinderella. As we know, she loses her glass slipper as she tries to run out before the clock strikes midnight. As the ladies of the kingdom try to fit into the crystal shoe, the prince finally finds the girl he is to marry. This well-known classic is filled with songs by Bill Francoeur that create their own magic, such as the prologue "Once Upon a Time," the stepsisters' "Ladies of Fashion" and Cinderella's "Dream of Tomorrow." Top
Claudia (Drama-Comedy, 3 male, 5 female) - Claudia is married to David, a promising young architect, and they live on a farm outside New York. They have made the place most attractive, and have recently hired a perfect couple with a "slight" past. Although Claudia is physically of age, she is mentally still a little girl, with an attachment to her mother which has prevented her full emergence into womanhood. Mrs. Brown is no more happy over this state of affairs than is David, and between them exists a complete understanding that life will not continue to grant her the consummate happiness and security that she enjoys. In the space of 24 hours, Claudia passes three important milestones. Top
Corpse! (Thriller-Comedy, 4 male, 1 female) - Think of SLEUTH crossed with DEATHTRAP crossed with a Feydeau and you'll have an idea of the wild and crazy, unpredictable hi-jinks in this hit play. Corpse! is set in London in 1936, and tells the story of twin brothers, one of whom plots to murder the other in the most unusual circumstances. Evelyn, an out of work actor, engages the genial Irishman Powell, with a shady past, to do away with his suave, sophisticated, moneyed twin. Their plotting in Evelyn's Aladdin's cave of a flat is punctuated by the visits of a delightfully theatrical landlady. As with most fool proof plans, things do not go as they should and people are not what they seem. Corpse! is not so much a whodunit as a whodunit to whom! Top
The Crucible (Drama, 11 male, 10 female) - The story focuses upon a young farmer, his wife, and a young servant-girl who maliciously causes the wife's arrest for witchcraft. The farmer brings the girl to court to admit the lie—and it is here that the monstrous course of bigotry and deceit is terrifyingly depicted. The farmer, instead of saving his wife, finds himself also accused of witchcraft and ultimately condemned with a host of others. Top
The Curious Savage (Comedy, 4 male, 7 female) - Mrs. Savage has been left ten million dollars by her husband and wants to make the best use of it, in spite of the efforts of her grown-up stepchildren to get their hands on it. These latter, knowing that the widow's wealth is now in negotiable securities, and seeing they cannot get hold of it, commit her to a "sanatorium" hoping to "bring her to her senses." But Mrs. Savage is determined to establish a fund to help others realize their hopes and dreams. In the sanatorium she meets various social misfits, men and women who just cannot adjust themselves to life, people who need the help Mrs. Savage can provide. In getting to know them, she realizes that she will find happiness with them and plans to spend the rest of her life as one of them. But when the doctor tells her there is no reason why she should remain, she hesitates to go out into a hard world where people seem ready to do anything for money. The self-seeking stepchildren are driven to distraction by their vain efforts to browbeat Mrs. Savage, but she preserves her equanimity and leads them on a merry chase. At last her friends conspire to get rid of her stepchildren, and through their simple belief in the justice of her cause, they enable Mrs. Savage to carry out her plans. The last scene, a farewell party, is a delightful fantasy where each "guest" in the sanatorium realizes at last some hopeless dream for something he was never able to realize. Top
D.K. Molar, The Devious Dentist or…There's Gold In Them Thar Teeth! (Melodrama, 2 male, 4 female) - The depraved dentist, D.K. Molar, and his noxious nurse, Nova Caine, have crafted a dastardly scam: after putting their patients to sleep with nitrous oxide, they remove the gold crowns and replace them with fakes made of fool's gold. The unsuspecting patients are none the wiser. That is until Dr. Molar's new receptionist, the lovely Flossy Dailey, starts chewing over some of the happenings in the office. With Phil de Tooth, an upstanding young dentist, she discovers Molar is prospecting for more than overbites. Molar, true to his calling, pulls a gun on them and threatens to drill anyone who tries to stop him. Brace yourself for the hilarious climax (which involves escaped laughing gas!). Top
Death By Dessert (Comedy, 6 male, 7 female, 5 extras) - It is dinnertime and you're invited to a meal so good, it's to die for! In New York's little Italy, the Donneducci family and the Duccedonni family have been feuding for a generation, while operating two competing Italian restaurants that share a common wall. At rise, the building's landlord is dead at center stage, and everyone is suspect - from the old-world Italian grandmother and mafia don grandfather to the passionate chefs and bumbling wait-staff. Flashing back in time, the story is told by its victim, who alternately narrates and participates in the action. As customers in the restaurant, the audience is served a delectable meal, but they don't just sit back and watch; each table must cast their vote for whodunit! Top
Detective Story (Drama, 24 male, 8
female (several non-speaking extras and several of the males can be
doubled): 20 total - Out of the welter of human misery, vice and
stupidity there emerges the tragic and moving case of a decent young
fellow who has stolen money from his employer. Though a woman who is in
love with him comes to his help and the employer is offered everything
that has been taken from him, the case has fallen into the hands of
McLeod, a hardworking detective whose experience in police work has
developed in him a mania for punishing all law breakers, whom he regards
as incorrigibles. Nothing will satisfy him but brutal punishment. He is
at work at the same time on a case involving an abortionist whose
attorney, failing to move him by other means, forces McLeod's wife to
confess to her husband that she had herself some years before made use
of the services of the abortionist in question. Since McLeod worships
his wife and finds in her the only happiness of his existence, his world
collapses about him. The climax comes when McLeod gets involved with
another prisoner who attempts to escape from the squad room with the aid
of a revolver taken from one of the detectives. Top
The Diary of Adam (Humorous reading, 1 male) -
Top
The Diary of Eve (Humorous reading, 1 female) - Top
Dogsbreath Devereaux, The Dastardly Doctor or… Nurses! Foiled Again! (Melodrama, 4 male, 6 female, 6 extras) - Dogsbreath Devereaux, M.D., plots to wed and do away with the wealthy widow Lotta Cash so he can inherit her fortune and her late husband's clinic. He enlists the aid of the nasty nurse, Hilda Hatchet, and promises to marry her once he disposes of Lotta. Problems arise with the insanely jealous Hilda catches Dogsbreath flirting with Wendy March, the heroine of our show. It seems only our hero, Dr. Phil Good, can save Wendy and the unsuspecting Lotta Cash from certain death. Top
Double Door (Drama, 7 male, 5 female) - Recounts a battle for power in an old New York family that culminates on the verge of murder. Top
Dumbbell People in a Barbell World (Drama, 7 male, 10 female) - This tender, humorous portrait of the world's underdogs is presented in three interconnected one acts: The Immovable Gordons, The Little Lady of Friday Night and The Man with the Tranquil Mind. Top
Dylan (Drama, 15 male, 13 female) - The play begins with his farewell to wife and Wales to tour the states, follows him to colleges, bars and bedrooms and finally to the ship that bore his body home, dead at 39. Top
Eat Your Heart Out (Comedy, 3 male, 2 female) - Charlie's an out of work actor currently working as a waiter. The scene is a series of hilarious encounters in Manhattan restaurants both elegant and shabby. By changing the tablecloths in the course of the action, the basic setting of three tables and six chairs becomes another place. The action's uninterrupted and the comedy never stops. The other performers play several parts; the girl desperately trying to eat snails and oysters to please her fiancé, the middle aged lovers so intent on each other they cannot order dinner; the rich, embittered astrologer; the timid man who never gets a waiter; the agents, directors, actors, and waiters. Top
Eh? (Comedy, 3 male, 2 female) - Top
Emily (Drama-Comedy, 8 male, 12 female) - Emily is a stockbroker who mixes it up with the boys and always comes out on top. She is as cynical and ruthless as any man in her position until she meets a caring, sensitive actor who doesn't fall for her manipulative ruses. This nice guy with no money sees the girl inside the ruthless yuppie who may or may not exist. Top
Everybody Loves Opal (Comedy, 5 male, 2 female) - Opal Kronkie, a middle-aged recluse, lives in a tumbledown mansion at the edge of the municipal dump. The general disarray of her establishment is aggravated by the fact that Opal collects things - anything that can be toted home in her little red wagon. Opal is also an optimist, for no matter how mean her lot - or her "friends" - Opal responds with unfailing kindness and an abiding faith in the goodness of human nature. Into her rather strange world comes Gloria, Bradford and Solomon, three purveyors of bogus perfume on the lam from the authorities. Opals' ménage is the perfect hideout - and Opal, herself, might be the remedy for their shattered finances. They decide that what she needs is plenty of insurance, a rapid demise and three beneficiaries. Top
Exit Who? (Farce, 3 male, 5 female) - Crane Hammond, suspense mystery writer, and her country hating secretary, Kate, rent the same house as before in Vermont only to find it is the exchange point where a missing microdot containing plans of military installations is to be picked up by a spy at midnight. One of our agents arrives to capture the spy but, when he suffers amnesia, it is left to Crane and Kate to find the spy and the microdot. The focal point of the set is two way closet which also opens into a library and the entrances, exits, and surprises in it take farce to a new height. Who is the spy? The very Vermont sheriff, Vernon Cookley, the society writer for the paper, the famous recluse who has come out of hiding to obtain rights to Crane's new book, the forgetful and distracting older neighbor, the rugged country cook, or the CIA agent himself? The finding of the microdot as well as the pinpointing of the spy is laced with Carmichael's witty dialogue and confused situations. The two female leads are supported by a cast of characters to make this a sure fire evening of hilarity.
Fallen Angels (Comedy, 4 male, 2 female) - The plot centers on Julia and Jane, best friends and both happily married these five years. But before their marriages, both had brief affairs with Maurice, French and a great charmer. Now Maurice is visiting London and has asked to see them both. Happily, the husbands are gone for a day of golf, and Julia and Jane nervously await Maurice's call. How they quarrel, make up, get high on champagne and quarrel again, what happens when Maurice finally arrives, very late, and the husbands return unexpectedly; these are some of the threads of the action. Another is provided by Saunders, Julia's new maid who has been absolutely everywhere and done absolutely everything. Top
The Fiendish Firebug Strikes Again or… There'll be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight (Melodrama, 7 male, 5 female, 1 female child age 12) - Villainous, greedy Neville Ashe buys the Uneeda Shirt Factory with intentions of burning it to the ground for insurance money. However, Mr. Ashe underestimates our hero, Fire Chief Pat O'Hara. Pat's station is across the street, and he and his dedicated fire fighters are ready to battle any inferno. While Neville's seductive partner in crime, Lulu Lamour, pumps Fred for information about the station, Neville attempts to lead astray the virtuous heroine seamstress, Mildred Smith. Mildred, of course, is the object of Fred's secret burning desire. As this side-splitting show reaches a blazing climax, you'll meet brave but girl-shy Fred Sparks, country bumpkin Clem Scoggins and the station's fearless Dalmatian, Smokey. Top
Fling! (Comedy, 3 male, 2 female) - A romantic comedy that takes a light hearted look at sex, love and marriage. Novelist Michael Stratton and his wife Kate seem to have a marriage embodying the old fashioned virtues of devotion and fidelity but staying in New York with their old friends Joe and Hilary it comes to light Michael and Hilary once spent the night together. It happened many years ago, but doesn't prevent Kate from going into a jealous rage and exiting stormily. Michael gets drunk and Hilary feeling if they're to take the blame they may as well play the game tries to repeat their youthful romantic interlude. The situation causes Michael and Kate to examine their marriage and to wonder whether they've been hypocritical in their outmoded standards of sexual behavior. Top
French Toast (Comedy, 2 male, 4 female) - Stoney is getting married and decides that he is the luckiest guy in the world. He has a good job, a wonderful girl, and a gracious future mother-in-law. Naturally, Stoney’s happy bubble is about to burst. On the eve of his wedding who should arrive but Nanette. Beautiful Nanette cries for joy when she sees Stoney and tells him that she will never leave him again. Stoney is dismayed, he’s never seen this girl before in his life! Stoney decides he must have had an attack of amnesia when Nancy, his future bride, and her mother knock on the door again. They forgot mother’s purse. Stoney is frantic. He shoves Nanette into hiding, but there’s more fun than you can imagine as Stoney tries to keep Nanette a secret while the others look for the handbag. Performed in 1984. Top
The Girls in 509 (Serious Comedy, 9 male, 3 female) - Two ladies are discovered in the back suite of a once fashionable hotel in New York that is being demolished. They have been there since 1932 when Hoover lost and they have vowed to remain secluded until a Republican is elected. The press and the National Chairmen of the Republican and Democratic parties descend upon the ladies, members of one of the country's oldest and richest families. The ladies defy both politicians and face eviction and disgrace. They retain their independence when wealth pours down upon them and they move in triumph to the Waldorf Astoria. Top
The Glass Menagerie (Drama, 2 male, 2 female) - Amanda Wingfield is a faded, tragic remnant of Southern gentility who lives in poverty in a dingy St. Louis apartment with her son, Tom, and her daughter, Laura. Amanda strives to give meaning and direction to her life and the lives of her children, though her methods are ineffective and irritating. Tom is driven nearly to distraction by his mother's nagging and seeks escape in alcohol and the unrealistic world of the movies. Laura also lives in her own illusions. She is crippled, and this defect, intensified by her mother's anxiety to see her married, has driven her more and more into herself. The crux of the action comes when Tom invites a young man of his acquaintance to take dinner with the family. Jim, the caller, is a nice ordinary fellow who is at once pounced upon by Amanda as a possible husband for Laura. In spite of her crude and obvious efforts to entrap the young man, he and Laura manage to get along very nicely, and momentarily Laura is lifted out of herself into a new world. But this crashes when, toward the end, Jim explains that he is already engaged. The world of illusion that Amanda and Laura have striven to create in order to make life bearable collapses about them. Tom, too, at the end of his tether, at last leaves home. Top
Grease (Musical, 9 male, 8 female) - This is the 1950's rock 'n' roll musical. Rydell High's spirited class of '59; gum chewing, hubcap stealing, hot rod loving boys with D.A.'s and their wise cracking girls in bobby sox and pedal pushers---capture the look and sound of the 1950s in a rollicking musical. While hip Danny Zuko and wholesome Sandy Dumbrowski resolve the problems of their mutual attraction, the gang sings and dances its way through such nostalgic scenes as the pajama party, the prom, the burger palace, and the drive-in movie. Songs recall the Buddy Holly hiccups, the Little Richard yodels and the Elvis Presley wiggles that made the music of the 50s a gas. Top
The Great Ice Cream Scheme or… Robin Baskins To The Rescue (Melodrama, 6 male, 5 female) - Everyone knows Pop Sicle's Ice Cream Parlor serves the best ice cream in town. Thanks to a secret recipe known only to him, his sister, Nana Peel, and his adopted son, Robin Baskins, Pop has the competition covered. When that cold-hearted villain, I.C. Custard, decides to steal Pop's recipe, things get a little sticky. Custard hires an accomplice, Parfait Deluxe, ex-chorus girl and total klutz. Despite her shortcomings, Parfait is instructed to entice the recipe from Robin. But Robin has given his heart--and lips--to Marsha Mellow, the sweet young waitress Nana has just hired. Top
The Hand That Cradles the Rock (Comedy, 2 male, 3 female) - When Ross Cameron's first novel sold, his wife Alex gave up interior design to become a mother. When his second novel is rejected, Alex returns to the working world and he stays home to watch the baby. Female assertiveness and a male's fears for his masculinity have never been funnier than in this popular summer stock and dinner theater comedy that plays the role reversal theme from every angle. Top
Hankerin' Hillbillies (Musical, 9 male, 17 female) - Pa Herford loves his five daughters, but there are days he wonders if he should have just raised puppies! All the girls up in the hills are suffering from what Pa calls "The Hankerin'," for they all want to get hitched-and "Any Ol' Man'll Do," as they sing in hillbilly harmony. The only exception is Charlemaine, who only loves her books. But everything changes when government man Marcus Slidell shows up to buy land from the Herfords. For Charlie, it's love at first sight. Marcus, on the other hand, is all business. Unfortunately, the land he wants to purchase is the same plot that the Herfords and the Guernseys have been feuding over for decades. While Marcus tries to figure out what to do, Charlie figures she has to find some way to catch Marcus's eye, so she has Widder Perkins, "The Black Widder," fix her up a love potion. Whooo-eee! After that, things really go crazy! The daffy Bickle Sisters think the Holler is about to be invaded, husband-hunting Herfords and Guernseys try to snare government men right and left and newspaper editors race to get the scoop on what's new with the feud. Top
The Happiest Millionaire (Comedy, 8 male, 7 female) - Anthony J. Drexel Biddle has a fine house in Philadelphia, a fortune of one million dollars and a great enthusiasm for lunacy. He collects alligators and prizefighters and rules his family by bluster. Among those he rules is his daughter Cordelia, who falls in love with a southern boy, Angier Duke. Mr. Biddle tries to take over and run this romance, and for the first time in his noisy career he meets with defeat. Mr. Biddle, who is an ardent amateur boxer, has no use for his prospective son-in-law because that man knows nothing about boxing - but when Angier suddenly turns to jiu-jitsu and throws a professional prizefighter, as well as Mr. Biddle, to the floor, Biddle's heart is won and he is resigned to losing his daughter. Top
Harriet (Drama, 14 Male, 11 female) - The play opens in Cincinnati upon the day Harriet Beecher Stowe returns from her honeymoon with her absent-minded professor husband and announces her intention of leading a completely selfish life, devoted to study and writing. No worries, no children, no outside distractions for Harriet. When we see her again she is the poverty-stricken, harassed mother of six mischievous children. In between washing, baking and babies, she has managed to scribble a few little stories but most of her strength is given to keeping her family clear of the lawlessness of the border town where anti-abolition riots are a common occurrence. The other Beechers demand that she take a definite stand against slavery and come out for abolition, but she refuses to take sides. Top
Harvey (Comedy, 6 Male, 6 female) - When Elwood Dowd start to introduce his imaginary friend, Harvey, a 6-1/2 foot rabbit, to guests at a society party, his sister, Veta, has seen as much of his eccentric behavior as she can tolerate. She decides to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her daughter, Myrtle Mae, and their family from future embarrassment. Problems arise, however, when Veta herself is mistakenly assumed to be on the verge of lunacy when she explains to doctors that years of living with Elwood's hallucination have caused her to see Harvey also! The doctors commit Veta instead of Elwood, but when the truth comes out, the search is on for Elwood and his invisible companion. Only at the end does Veta realize that maybe Harvey isn't so bad after all. Top
The Haunted Honeymoon (Mystery-Comedy, 7 male, 5 female) - Dan and Lisa Morgan are honeymooning in England, and they visit an ancient castle with their tour group. Suspicions run high when they suddenly find themselves trapped in the forbidding Egyptian room of the castle, and are greeted by a voice announcing that he is the reincarnation of Osiris, and that they have been chosen as sacrifices to the god, Thoth. Their abductor has provided food and sleeping accommodations, but the first order of business is to protect themselves from his mad scheme, which leads to a series of chilling events. It becomes evident that Osiris is one of them. The final outcome masks his true identity until the last possible moment, and will hold the audience breathless until the truth is known and the killer brought to justice. Top
Hedda Gabbler (Drama, 3 male, 4 female) - Ibsen's great social drama of a caged woman in the late nineteenth century explores her tormented desire for escape and her yearning for individual and spiritual freedom. Mr. Rudall's new translation makes Hedda Gabler beautifully speakable and playable for today's audiences. Top
Hospital (Comedy, 8 male, 17 female) - Chaos and laughter will delight you in this madcap look at life at Bedside Manor Hospital... the craziest place in town. Its chief resident believes a laugh a day will keep the doctor away. The staff is a lovable bunch of zanies, and the new interns are an eager lot, even if Dr. Huggems passes out at the mention of blood. Female volunteers, called Band Aides, spend their time watching their favorite TV program... "Of Human Bandage," while a film crew wanders through the halls making a documentary, "This Was Your Life." Top
How The Other Half Loves (Farce, 3 male, 3 female) - There are three couples in this play, the men all working for the same firm. One of the younger men is having an affair with the wife of the oldest, and when each returns home suspiciously late one night or early one morning they invent a story about having to spend some time smoothing domestic matters in the home of the third couple. Both living rooms are shown in the single set, and both share a common dining room which takes on a character of its own as it serves two dinners simultaneously on two different nights. Of course, the third couple have to show up to put the fat in the fire, but that complication only adds to the fun of this famous farce. Top
If Women Worked As Men Do (Comedy, 4 female) - Mrs. Carew and Mrs. Dowling are business partners. Miss Arnold is their stenographer and Miss Smith her substitute. On this morning little work is done but considerable conversation indulged in. The skit is a satire on the business man's excuse. "A hard day at the office," showing it's not always as hard as it might be, or as their wives think it is. Top
In Celebration (Drama, 5 male, 2 female) - Three utterly different sons have come to help their old-fashioned parents celebrate an anniversary of the marriage that produced them. The oldest, Andrew, has just thrown up his job as a lawyer to become a bad painter. The middle son, Colin, is a success. The youngest, Steven, is a teacher who has recently given up on the writing of his all-important novel. Top
The Irregular Verb to Love (Comedy, 4 male, 5 female) - Hedda Rankin, wife of a zoo official, returns home from a spell in prison to find her husband has not been faithful, her daughter will not marry the man she loves and her son, Andrew, has just returned from the continent with a Greek girl who cannot speak English. Hedda sets out to bring her household to its senses, but it is her husband who eventually puts things right while she takes the credit for it. Top
Jigsaws (Drama, 5 female) - As the play opens, a Christmas visit has been taking place, and the reunion is not exactly fulfilling the spirit of the season! As Alex recites slowly and calmly, "All women are my sisters, flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood, sacred, singular, unique…It's all so simple until I walk back through my own front door," we experience with these women the revelations of their past and present, their changing attitudes and circumstances, their independence from "what's expected," their coming to terms with one another, and ultimately their deepening appreciation and love for one another as adult mothers, daughters and sisters. This play, dealing with sensitive issues for mature audiences, is a fresh, bold and rewarding look at life. Top
June Groom (Comedy, 3 male, 6 female) - On the eve of Jordan's 30th birthday on July 1, three days after his marriage to Dinah, he tells his friend Marty he's sworn to Uncle Harvey to remain celibate until this birthday to receive a fortune. Jordan is trying to keep his vow even though Dinah wanted to be a June bride. In a few hours he'll turn 30, Harvey's check will arrive and everything will be fine. Well not quite, because Harvey arrives to deliver the check in person, along with Aunt Bella. A frantic Jordan passes his bewildered bride off as Marty's wife. Dinah's Aunt Iris, a nun, arrives with a wedding gift and thinks Dinah is living with two men. Then Marty's wife shows up. Harvey finds a wedding announcement Jordan has updated to July 1 and thinks Jordan is marrying Ginger. Top
The Jury Room (Drama, 5 male, 7 female) - Twelve jurors gather to decide the innocence or guilt of a young girl. Did she stab her uncle in cold blood? Eleven jurors say Yes — one, a student actress, says No. The jurors agree to her request to re-enact the crime right there. Props are brought in - including the actual murder weapon. The actress becomes the accused. The foreman takes the part of the murdered man, and as the re-enactment proceeds, some people begin to lose themselves in their parts. It’s a tense situation, for if the girl did not kill her uncle — who did? Could it even be one of the characters on stage? The verdict, the solution, and the climax of the play arrive together in a single, smashing conclusion! Top
Just Off Broadway (Comedy, 5 male, 4 female) - Lulu Haddock’s theatrical boarding house, just off Broadway, is the setting for this fast-moving and altogether delightful comedy by a master craftsman in this field. The boarders are a group of young hopefuls struggling to gain a foothold in show business. They include Dink Davis, a would-be magician with his big chance just ahead; Smiley Burke, an unappreciated comic; Bea Gladd, a television actress who dreams of being a great dramatic star; and others. Lulu Haddock was featured in the "Follies of 1929” and has dreamed that her daughter, Carol, will follow in her footsteps. Carol however, hates show business. She’s a shy little introvert who’d rather live with her private dreams than get out and meet the world. Top
Laffing Room Only (Farce, 5 male, 5 female) - Gloria Alexander is about to lose dilapidated Whispering Pines for back-taxes. She’d gladly sell the place, but there are no takers. Enter two state officials, with plans to make the hotel a base for a sting operation. They give out the word that the hotel will accept stolen goods, hoping to catch a number of petty criminals operating in the area. Soon the lobby is populated by a parade of cheerful weirdos like ultra-cool Rondo Muldoon, Irma the bag lady, jewel thieves, a bewildered society leader and frantic young lovers. They’re all fairly normal compared to the clever handyman, Putney, who dreams of being a recluse. One hilarious complication collides with another when each visitor turns out to have an unsuspected, reason for being at the hotel. Top
Laugh-In (Comedy, 19 male, 15 female) - This fast paced adaptation of the television show appeals to all tastes and ages. The script includes comedy material for the two masters of ceremonies, short sketches, sight gags, black outs, cameo commentary, variety acts and identifiable comedic caricatures. Top
The Little Match Girl (Drama, flexible cast of 6) - On New Year's Eve the Little Match Girl lights all her matches to keep warm. In the light of the burning matches, happy visions appear to her... a warm stove, a Christmas goose and finally, a Christmas tree. But they are only visions, and when the light from the last match is gone, the Little Match Girl lies frozen in the snow. This is a beautiful, yet sad story, ideal for any holiday program. Playbook comes complete with four enchanting songs: "A Light, A Light, O," "Song of the Stove," "Song of the Goose," and the "Christmas Tree Song." This moving story will add to any holiday program. Top
Little Miss Christie (Musical Mystery, 8 male, 14 female) - Strange things are happening at spooky Saltmarsh Manor, the old house next to Greystone Academy, a boarding school for teenagers. Aunt Martha and Aunt Helen have seen ghosts, heard the organ play with no one at the keys and been terrorized by everything from a hangman's noose to clanking chains. Madam Orloff, the psychic, says the spirit of August Grimm, also known as "Mad Monk," has returned. But what does he want? Obviously, it's a case for Christie Blake, the devoted fan of mystery writer, Agatha Christie. Christie involves the student body of Greystone Academy in these strange happenings. The chills and thrills end in a hair-raising séance that pits Christie against evil forces. Top
The Long Christmas Dinner (Comedy, 2 male, 5 female, 3 male & 2 female children) - The action of this play traverses ninety years and represents in accelerated motion ninety Christmas dinners in the Bayard home. The development of the countryside, the changes in customs and manners during this period of time, as well as the growth of the Bayard family and their accumulation of property, sums up vividly a wide aspect of American life. It is a serious play lightened with humor of character; it has a human, tender, moving quality both appealing and forceful. Top
Look Who's Laughing (Comedy, 4 male, 5 female) - Henry Crocker's family has long been in dread of his tantrums which are worse now due to business reverses. So when Jed Tracy visits the family, Henry's long suffering wife sees a chance for action. Jed is Henry's idol who saved his life in the war and was his officer. She gets Jed to bet Henry he can't go for a week without losing his temper. Of course, everything goes wrong that week---enough to make anyone blow his stack. Top
Lost Horizon (Drama, 7 male, 7 female) - Four travelers from a wrecked plane are brought to Shangri-La. An elderly Chinese tells them they're "expected." Conway is fascinated by the strange atmosphere of the place and by a lovely girl whom he finds there. In a moving scene, the High Lama reveals to Conway their secret—that people do not grow old in Shangri-La, which is dedicated to preserving the culture of the past until the storms of war outside shall have passed. An unusual play with a special meaning.
Lovers subtitled "Winners and Losers" (Drama, 2 male, 2 female) - Two commentators on either side of the stage speak without emotion about a seventeen-year-old girl and a boy a half year older who are on their way to study before examinations and, perhaps, talk about marriage. Dispassionately, as the power and beauty of this love scene develop, the commentators tell us that the young lovers will soon be in a fatal accident. In the magic of this masterpiece, we see the lovers not only in this moment but in all time, and we share in their triumph for they are, as the subtitle suggests, winners. Losers is about older lovers, and a critic call it an "up-roariously funny tragedy". Top
Luxury Cruise (Serious Comedy, 3 male, 6 female) - Each of the three acts tells the story of a different couple on a world cruise: two antiquated ladies on their first trip, a married couple who know the husband is about to die, and a flashy bride who won the trip and is determined to bring culture to her husband (who is only interested in testing his poker ability with his fellow passengers). One is comedy, one more serious and the third farce. Episodes are interwoven throughout. Top
M*A*S*H (Comedy, 15 male, 15 female) - This is a wild, free-flowing comedy that's easy to stage. M*A*S*H stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and joining it are two unpredictable mad caps, Hawkeye and Duke. They can't be dealt with casually, however, because they are also two of the best chest surgeons in South Korea. They decide to wage a campaign to get a young Korean to the United States and entered in a good school. Hawkeye has a scene with a woman psychiatrist who believes he's been trying to lobster-trap mermaids in a rice paddy! Radar O'Reilly, a soldier with incredible hearing, anticipates things before they happen. The proprietor of a painless dental clinic is cured of dark moods by the recreation of an old monster movie—and a monster! Top
Maid To Order (Farce, 3 male, 7 female) - Faith Martin is happily married to the football coach. A rally is scheduled for the eve of the big game. But it's the night that Julian, Faith's old friend, is to appear in a program of readings resulting in instant conflict between the Athletic and Speech departments. Faith finds herself in the middle when Miss Speare of Speech accuses her of "carrying on" with Julian. Also Faith's rich aunt who's never met her husband is arriving. If her aunt approves, all will be well. Then, in the middle of dinner preparations, Faith's maid quits. She gets Julian to masquerade as the new maid---then another maid appears---and another to everyone's amazement. Top
The Man of Small Miracles (Drama, 3 male, 3 female) - Lester Packard has reached the end of his lifeline; he's lonely and wants to die. His son tries to relieve Lester's depression by sending his wife to cook and clean for him. But Janet's bitterness toward her father-in-law only drives Lester from his house and out onto the streets. Here in the parking lot of the superette, Lester meets Elena Santucho, a woman older and wiser than himself, who scavenges in the grocery store dumpster. Like to food she redeems from the garbage, Elena salvages Lester by giving him another chance to be useful. Top
Marriage Is Murder (Comedy, 1 male, 1 female) - Ex spouses Paul and Polly Butler write murder mysteries together. They act out the crimes in Paul's apartment: poisoned chocolates and lethal martinis, alibis and fingerprints, bodies in a trunk and bodies all tied up, daggers, guns and even an axe all contribute to the hilarity. Nobody gets hurt, but their egos take some hits as they find that their marriage was mixed up with their work. There are many fast paced comic twists as they attempt to outdo and surprise each other and they learn that marriage like murder, is in the details. The final witty complication is a real murder which they and the audience should have seen coming. Top
The Mind with the Dirty Man (Comedy, 3 male, 4 female) - Small town leader Wayne Stone is the head of the local film review board. He and his prudish colleagues strive to keep smutty movies out of their small community. Hilarity ensues when Stone's underground film making son returns to take over the local movie house to exhibit his X-rated movies, his latest "The Shoe Fetish". This only starts the comedy: Wayne and his wife, Alma, next find out that only son, Clayton, plans to marry the porno queen star of the film right there in town in front of the movie house on opening night under the search lights. These and other events are jocularly resolved in an outrageous turnabout laugh packed ending that makes its point about the hypocrisy of conventional American mores. Top
Morning's at Seven (Drama, 4 male, 5 female) - Two of the Gibb sisters have lived next to one another most of their lives and each of the four sisters intimately knows the lives of the others. To Ida's house comes Myrtle, a spinster friend who's been about to marry Ida's son Homer for many years. But Homer can't break away from home long enough to pop the question. Myrtle, now at an age where she feels she'll have to take things into her own hands, finally makes him propose by telling him a secret. Top
Motley Tales (Folk Fairy Tales with Music) - This is a madcap musical adaptation of famous -- and not so famous -- fairy and folk tales written by an author who is abundantly clever and ingeniously funny. You will meet the ostentatious emperor who insists on having magical new clothing. There's the dumb kid who knows that he doesn't have to be smart or work hard, so long as he's lucky ... and his nagging mother who points out that he had better be very lucky. There's the handsome young lout who searches for three people who are more stupid than the family he hopes to marry into. There's the proud princess who won't marry any prince who isn't perfect and finds herself degraded to a kitchen maid and the wife of a humble minstrel. Top
The Mousetrap (Mystery, 5 male, 3 female) - A group of strangers are stranded in a boarding house during a snow storm, one of whom is a murderer. The suspects include the newly married couple who run the house, and the suspicions that are in their minds wreck their perfect marriage. Others are a spinster with a curious background, an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef, a retired Army major, a strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift, and a jurist who makes life miserable for everyone. Into their midst comes a policeman, traveling on skis. He no sooner arrives, than the jurist is killed. Two down, and one to go. To get to the rationale of the murderer's pattern, the policeman probes the background of everyone present, and rattles a lot of skeletons. Top
Move Over, Mrs. Markham (Comedy, 4 male, 5 female) - To Sylvie it's the "goose" that she learned from Alistair, but to Philip, Joanna Markham's husband, it's "a variety of geese," and fifteen years of marriage is just about undone along with everything else in this wild zany free for all. Everything from Philip's business deals with Bow Wow Books and Alistair's near escape from Joanna's chiding seduction to the naked G.P.O. girl and the specter of scandal is hilarious. A lot of bed-hopping occurs as Sylvie winds up taking Alistair on "walkies" and the amazing Mrs. Markham gets her man her husband! Top
Mr. Scrooge (Musical comedy, 14 male, 8 female) - Ebenezer Scrooge, who hates Christmas and is visited successively by three ghosts; the ghost of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future. They bring revelations to Scrooge, mainly about himself, and he's shocked into action that centers about the poor happy Cratchit family and their brave little cripple son Tiny Tim. The songs are varied and catchy. Top
My Son the Lawyer is Drowning (Comedy, 3 male, 3 female) - Miriam's birthday is quite an eventful day. Danny, the law student, comes to visit - and so does God! - who appears on the Isaccs' TV and instructs Alan to build an ark. But Alan and Miriam must keep this a secret from Danny and Rivka, Alan's mother. Alan gets to work on the ark, but progress is slow, so God moves in with the Isaacs and is introduced to Rivka and Danny as a houseguest. Meanwhile, a family of iguanodons has moved in next door (to organize the animals for the ark). Danny falls in love with one of them and, to Miriam's horror, plans to get married. Miriam and Alan are the only two humans to be allowed on the ark, but Miriam stows away Danny, and God himself protects Rivka, giving us an ending that is pure delight. Top
My Three Angels (Comedy, 7 male, 3 female) - The scene is French Guiana, a region where on Christmas day the temperature has graciously dropped to 104 degrees. Three convicts are employed as roofers by a family, whose roof is in desperate need of maintenance. On the way from France is an evil-minded cousin, to oust the father of the family from his business, and his cold-blooded nephew, who is jilting the father's daughter for an heiress. The three convicts—two of them murderers, the third a swindler— take the visitors on. All three have warm hearts and are passionate believers in true justice. Possessing every criminal art and penal grace, they set matters right and in doing so redeem themselves as real life angels to the grateful family. Top
Never Too Late (Comedy, 6 male, 3 female) - This Broadway hit is about a married man in his fifties who suddenly learns he's becoming a father again. His last child, a girl, was born 24 years ago and, considering the boob she married, he finds the prospect of another unthinkable. His daughter and son-in-law live with him; she gets up for breakfast at lunchtime and he is curiously addicted to solitaire. It's not only the impending birth that startles him; his previously meek little wife begins to lay down the law. There's to be a nursery, a new bath, and she's to have her own checking account. Such dour capitulation you'll never see again. Top
No Sex Please, We're British (Comedy, 7 male, 4 female) - A young bride who lives above a bank with her husband, who is the assistant manager, innocently sends a mail order off for some Scandinavian glassware. What comes is Scandinavian pornography. The plot revolves around what is to be done with the veritable floods of pornography, photographs, books, films and eventually girls that threaten to engulf this happy couple. The matter is considerably complicated by the man's mother, his boss, a visiting bank inspector, a police superintendent and a muddled friend who does everything wrong in his reluctant efforts to set everything right, all of which works up to a hilarious ending of closed or slamming doors. Top
Not With My Daughter (Comedy, 3 male, 3 female) - Will Gray suddenly has a problem when his 18 year old daughter appears at his swinging singles apartment door. Will and his neighbor, a velvet voiced radio DJ named Rip have a penchant for juggling girls like antacid tablets. Poor Will has a go-go girl in the living room with her motor running and a devoted young lady in the bed room. Rip has a girl in his apartment already when Will calls on him to entertain the go-go girl. Then Will's daughter appears to complicate matters further. Not only are explanations in order but daughter has problems of her own. How it all is resolved will leave the audience limp with laughter. Top
Nunsense (Musical Comedy, 5 female) - The show is a fund raiser put on by the Little Sisters of Hoboken to raise money to bury sisters accidentally poisoned by the convent cook, Sister Julia (Child of God). Top
O Men, Amen! (Comedy, 4 male, 9 female) - Years previously, Helen Lestrade, a bitter, disappointed-in-love but rich woman has founded a sorority offering scholarships to coeds who forego all contact with men during their college years. So what happens when Tony Cartwright, the handsomest man on campus, falls in love with one of the girls? She resists, but in vain. In a series of wild and frantic scenes, he manages to enter the house, disguised as a plumber, an exchange student from the Middle East, and finally, as the founder of the sorority, Helen Lestrade - just as the real Helen Lestrade appears! But Tony’s Uncle Jonathan puts in a lucky surprise appearance, and, fortunately, he’s none other than Helen’s old flame! Old love rescues young love, and ZZP will never by the same again! Top
The Odd Couple (Female Version) (Comedy, 2 male, 6 female) - This renown comedy begins with a group of the boys assembled for cards in the apartment of a divorced fellow, and if the mess is any indication, it's no wonder that his wife left him. Late to arrive is another fellow who, they learn, has just been separated from his wife. Since he is very meticulous and tense, they fear he might commit suicide, and so go about locking all the windows. When he arrives, he is scarcely allowed to go to the bathroom alone. As life would have it, the slob bachelor and the meticulous fellow decide to bunk together with hilarious results. The patterns of their own disastrous marriages begin to reappear in this arrangement; and so this too must end. Top
Oh, Fudge! (Comedy, 3 male, 4 female) - While taping a commercial in the Amazon jungle for a sneaker manufacturer, Danni Dawn is enveloped in a swarm of strange insects and finds she must eat chocolate fudge to stay alive and to keep her weight down! Sent to The Fairfax Clinic for Digestive Psychoses by her adoring physician, Danni meets a fudge adoring actress there to shed pounds for an upcoming movie. This star does everything in her power to catch Danni's neat o disease. Unsuspected side effects soon affect everybody on the premises: autocratic Augusta Fairfax, a hapless nurse, the gargantuan clinic attendant, and the movie star's eager beaver manager. In this rollicking farce for the entire family, the plot is deranged, the dialogue insane, and the pace breath taking. Top
Oklahoma! (Musical, )
Out of the Frying Pan (Comedy, 7 male, 5 female) - Three young men and three young women share an apartment in all innocence; they are would be stage folk and they are doing this for economic security. Their apartment is immediately above that of a Broadway producer who is about to cast a road company. They rehearse the play but how can they get him upstairs to see it? It happens that the producer is an amateur chef and, right in the middle of a culinary concoction, he runs out of flour. He comes upstairs to borrow a cup. At last the kids have him and they aren't going to let him go until he sees some evidence of their ability so they stage a murder. It is so realistic that police swarm into the scene with hilarious results. Top
Peril on the High Seas or… Let's Get Together and Do Launch (Melodrama, 5 male, 9 female) - Little does our heroine, the heiress Merry Ann Sweet, know that she is the intended victim of the villainous Snively Swine's kidnapping plot. With his partner, the slinky and exotic Aracnia Webb, Swine disguises himself as Sir Reginald Rottentot, a British nobleman, in order to gain the confidence of Merry and her flapper friends. But Merry falls for the handsome waiter, Cary De Mille. Must these two ships pass in the night? Not if Merry's flapper friends can help it! Meanwhile, Swine launches his scheme. It's up to the passengers - movie star Mary Pickaxe, gossip columnist Hedda Hooper, detective Willy Ketchum and more - to help Cary put the damper on Swine. Top
Period of Adjustment or High Point is Built on a Cavern (Serious Comedy, 4 male, 4 female) - One couple has just broken up after five years together. The other has not been able to come to terms in one day of wedlock. Both couples are living through a period of adjustment. The phrase is tinged with irony. The play examines the sources of the crisis. Ralph Bates, a former war hero, has in-law trouble. George Haverstick, a war buddy who unexpectedly visits him on Christmas Eve with his bride of a day, has the shakes; his difficulty seems to be a fear of impotence. The end is happy, as comedy The four go to bed—in the right combinations. In calling his play a "serious comedy," Mr. Williams puts his finger on its most unique aspect, for this is a work which combines a humorous viewpoint with deep-seated concern for a very real human situation. Top
Play on! (Comedy, 3 male, 7 female) - The story of a theater group trying desperately to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from a haughty authoress who keeps revising the script. Act I is a rehearsal of the dreadful show, Act II is the near disastrous dress rehearsal, and the final act is the actual performance in which anything that can go wrong does. When the authoress decides to give a speech on the state of the modern theatre during the curtain calls, the audience is treated to a madcap climax to a thoroughly hilarious romp. Even the sound effects reap their share of laughter. Top
Plaza Suite (Comedy, 7 male, 5 female) - A suburban couple take the suite while their house is being painted and it turns out to be the one in which they honeymooned 23 (maybe 24?) years before and was yesterday the anniversary, or is it today? This wry tale of marriage in tatters is followed by the exploits of a Hollywood producer who, after three marriages, is looking for fresh fields. He calls a childhood sweetheart, now a suburban housewife, for a little sexual diversion. Over the years she has idolized him from afar and is now more than the match he bargained for. The last couple is a mother and father fighting about the best way to get their daughter out of the bathroom and down to the ballroom where guests await her. Top
Please Hang Up (Comedy, 1 male, 2 female) - A bright young man, Tom, has met an attractive young woman, Judy, and has obtained her telephone number. He tries to call her for a date. Alas, he reaches her telephone answering machine and gets a recording. He makes a strong pitch but fails to leave his number for a return call. Judy is delighted to hear from him, albeit on tape. She tries to contact Tom through friends but is unsuccessful. She persists - and so does Tom! A courtship by answering machines ensues, interrupted by the attempts of Tom's ever concerned, meddling-but-well-meaning mother to reach Tom for a report on everything. When all appears lost, as if nothing will come of this ultramodern game of love except frustration, a surprisingly cooperative cupid comes through. Via answering machine! Top
The Pony Expresso or… The Villain Came to a Grinding Halt (Melodrama, 4 male, 7 female) - The Pony Expresso, a friendly establishment run by Star Bright and Aunt Dee Caff, is struggling. Their customers are buying their coffee at a lower price from the scheming Mo Cabana and Fifi Latte. But the citizens are falling ill to an unexplained fainting disease. Luckily, Buck Brawn, our handsome hero, bravely investigates the mysterious health dilemma. Things come to a boil when Mo and Fifi hear that Star and Dee are destined to become rich-the railroad plans to make the Pony Expresso the new train station! When Mo and Fifi devise a plan that almost destroys them, the beans are spilled. Justice prevails as love brews between Star and Buck, who decide to marry and rename the Pony Expresso to honor their relationship: Buckstar Coffee! Top
Quiet on the Set (Comedy, 3 male, 2 female) - This satire of TV soaps focuses on the off-camera lives of the characters. It skewers the clichéd situations, characters and dialogue of a typical TV daytime drama. There are two newcomers to the cast - Tamara, who is returning after a two-year absence to play Bridget, and Taylor, a serious actor and film star who is making his TV daytime drama debut as John. Tamara and Taylor are brother and sister in real life. Also on hand are Judith, Taylor's embittered ex-girlfriend who plays Barbara, and Bruce, an airhead whose major concern - apart from remembering his lines - is making sure his hair looks good. In one scene he jots his lines down on his hands - only to become hopelessly befuddled when his hands begin to sweat under the lights! Top
The Reluctant Debutant (Comedy, 3 male, 5 female) - Mother is doing a bit of matchmaking for her daughter before her debut. Father wishes they'd both forget the whole thing and save him the thousands of pounds. But Mother is one tracked on the point; and besides, she has to do a better job of matchmaking for her daughter than her friend does for hers. A knock kneed aristocrat flops all over himself proposing to the girl, but she has her heart set on a dashing man about town; so much so that even Father gets worried. But things turn out nicely when the dashing one comes into his own titled inheritance. Top
Rites (Comedy/Drama) - Rites is a collection of 3 one act plays and 3 monologues that intertwine with the rest of the plays. It is reproduced in its original form, uncensored and unedited. Several of the pieces contain expletives. If you feel that any of the material is not appropriate for your production, you have the playwrights' permission to delete any unacceptable word or phrase. It is felt that the work reflects an unwavering address to truth and realism as these young writers saw it to be. As with "Glimpses", Rites in all its parts, mirrors its times. Top
The Rivals (Comedy) Top
Same Time, Next Year (Comedy, 1 male, 1 female) - It follows a love affair between people who rendezvous once a year. Twenty five years of manners, morals and attitudes are hilariously mirrored by the lovers. Top
Seasons In The Sun (Musical, 3 male, 6 female) - Top
The Second Time Around (Comedy, 4 male, 4 female) - Senior citizens Samuel Jonas and Laura Curtis, a widower and a widow, strike up a love affair. When they announce plans to live together without marrying so they can keep social security benefits they'd otherwise lose, their children hit the ceiling even though they were never close to their deceased parent and their own marriages leave a lot to be desired. Sam's daughter is married to her ex analyst, a stuffy neurotic, and Laura's son has a wife who is paranoid about food additives and their sexual performance. All ends well for the elderly twosome, but not before the entire second generation is in nervous fits. Top
The Shadow Box (Drama, 5 male, 4 female) - Three terminal cancer patients dwell in separate cottages on a hospital's grounds. The play dramatizes their anxieties and their coming to grips with the finality of their condition a preordained future whose only imponderable is its exact length. The three are attended and visited by family and close friends. Top
Shakespeare Goes to Gravel Gulch or… The Villain Drove a Bard Bargain (Melodrama, 8 male, 14 female, 4 extras) - Ah, Shakespeare in the Old West?! The lovely Sunny Day arrives in the small town of Gravel Gulch with a troupe of actors determined to bring culture to the locals. Unfortunately, the troupe of actors, headed by the conceited and shady Noble Hart, is enough to make a playwright cry. Sunny Day falls for Texas Ranger Johnny Lasso, who's hot on the trail of a notorious crook masquerading under the name of Gentleman Dan, whose true identity is unknown. It's almost as if he was a master of disguise, like an actor, perhaps? Maybe the show isn't all that Noble Hart and his cohort, the Duchess, are trying to steal! The troupe's arrival thrills the townspeople except Abigail Pettigrew, the richest person in town. Top
The Shrike (Drama, 17 male, 5 female) - Jim Downs is brought to the psychiatric division of City Hospital after a suicide attempt. With the help of his estranged wife, who is with him night and day, he recovers. But this does not mean he is free to go home. His estranged wife conspires to keep Jim in the hospital until he renounces his girlfriend and agrees to go back with her. In the process, Jim is faced with well-meaning but inept institutional psychiatrists, who themselves have become victims of deadly routine. Through one test after another he is made to prove his sanity, until he almost loses it. Realizing the power of institutional law, Jim proceeds to give the "right answers," until he is finally released in the custody of his wife. Top
Shrunken Heads (Comedy, 3 male, 4 female) - Dr. Bob Hyde, a successful psychiatrist, just wants to have a quiet, peaceful weekend at his country estate, where he can commune with nature and relax in his Jacuzzi, far away from his patients. No such luck. In burst an assortment of crazed or just plain eccentric characters, from his neurotic to end all neurotics patient Dorothy Putney, to his daughter Caroline who is dropping out of her seventh college to go and live in a tent in Colorado and who has stopped by for moral support and money, to Caroline's mother and Hyde's ex wife Jennifer, a master of facetious wise cracks and particularly adept at draining Dr. Bob of alimony money. When Dorothy's husband Norman, shows up with a gun, things build and build to a hilarious climax. Top
The Solid Gold Cadillac (Comedy, 12 male, 6 female) - Top
Someone Save My Baby, Ruth! Or…Foil That Villain! (Melodrama, 5 male, 8 female) - When lovely young widow Penny Candy and her baby, Ruth, are taken in by her Aunt Praline, owner of The Sweet Shoppe candy store, little does Penny know both love and danger lie ahead. The villainous Sidney Swindle is determined to buy The Sweet Shoppe as part of his plan to sell the property to the city for America's first subway system. Should Praline refuse his offer, Sidney is prepared to do away with her and her heirs in order to obtain the land at public auction! With the help of his cohort, Ada Sourball, the villain sets his evil scheme in motion. The hilarious results include the kidnapping of Baby Ruth, an attempt to burn down The Sweet Shoppe and a wild chase through the audience with the good guys pelting the villains with candy. Top
Steel Magnolias (Comedy, 6 female) - Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle, the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town's rich curmudgeon, Ouiser; an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local M'Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby, is about to marry a "good ole boy." Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby risks and forfeits her life. The sudden realization of their mortality affects the others, but also draws on the underlying strength and love of each character. Top
The rest of the list is
For More Information Contact:
Knoxville Area Community Theatre
P.O. Box 396
Knoxville, IA 50138
Phone: 641-842-2182
E-mail:
info@k-act.org