BIRTHDAY SUITE was first produced at the Redgrave Theatre, Farnham in 1983. Subsequently there were two national tours and many provincial productions. It has also been produced in France, Germany, Scandinavia, Italy, Holland, Poland, South Africa, and the United States. The fast moving comedy takes place in two adjoining hotel bedrooms. Geoff Tippett tells his…
Shaw had two categories for his plays, those that were “pleasant
Should ethics be based on the ideals of Socrates or on the real situation one faces? The author of the play sees no reason why such a serious question should not be posed in an entertaining and theatrical manner. Henry Lowenthal, long-time professor of philosophy is looking forward to a semi-retirement position at the college…
There is a time in everyone’s life when you have to get serious, quit acting like a child and start acting like a grown-up. This would seem to be the message, if there is one, in Neil Simon’s autobiographical play COME BLOW YOUR HORN. Known later in Germany under three different titles (Leg doch endlich…
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…
Sister George is a famous character in a BBC soap opera series, a nurse who cycles about singing hymns, doing good deeds, and spreading cheer. Because of the struggle for ratings, and because there is gossip of notoriety in her personal life, the BBC decides to “kill her off” by having her involved in an…
The play is set in a duchy in France, but most of the action takes place in a location called the Forest of Arden..’ Frederick has usurped the Duchy and exiled his older brother, Duke Senior. The Duke’s daughter Rosalind has been permitted to remain at court because she is the closest friend and cousin…
TABLE MANNERS is part of a trilogy under the general heading THE NORMAN CONQUESTS, the other two plays being ROUND AND ROUND THE GARDEN and LIVING TOGETHER. The plays are not consecutive, but all occur during a single week-end and each takes place in a different part of the same house. Thus we are watching…
Peter O’Donnell was born in 1920 and sold his first story at the age of 16. Drunk with success, he sobered up when he failed to sell another for two years. On leaving school, he worked for a magazine publishing company producing comics. Convinced the work was beneath his dignity, he soon had this notion…
Neil Simon’s comedies have given pleasure to literally millions of theatergoers over the past three decades. Critics have ranked his plays anywhere from a “delightful evening