Newlyweds Robert and Olivia Chappell have recently bought a small hotel in a remote part of the Lake District, and at the end of their first autumn season they settle down with a drink in front of a warm fire. But their cosy evening is interrupted by the arrival of a charismatic young hiker seeking…
Ginny, after breaking up with her boss Philip, goes to his country home to get back some love letters. She tells her new boyfriend Greg that she is going to visit her parents. Greg secretly follows her, and for the rest of the afternoon there are two couples together in Philip’s garden. Greg believes that…
MASS APPEAL premiered off-Broadway in New York City and then moved to Broadway in 1981. Since then it has been performed around the world. It was made into a movie starring Jack Lemmon with the screenplay written by Bill C. Davis. The play was born from the author’s inner dilemma. As an artist, does one say…
Arthur and Leslie Reed have just given a party after moving into a high-class neighborhood in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. Ben, a man from the neighborhood, unexpectedly knocks on their door and invites himself in. He admires the expensive possessions the Reeds have and they are pleased that he is impressed. Unlike Arthur and…
THE WHIPPING MAN takes place over a period of three days in April, 1865. The American Civil War (1861—1865), which saw the northern states fighting against the southern states to end slavery and preserve the unity of the country, has just ended. The North has won the war, so all over the South the slaves…
Derek Benfield was a master at writing farces. Webster’s New Universal Dictionary defines the word “farce” as “a light humorous play in which the plot depends upon a skillfully exploited situation rather than upon the development of character.” In ANYONE FOR BREAKFAST? the characters differ enough to make them interesting, but the plot takes precedence over character…
Bernard Shaw had two categories for his plays, those that were “pleasant” and those that were “unpleasant”. CANDIDA he put among the pleasant ones, and it is easy to see why. A box office hit in its time (1904), this British classic continues to be one of Shaw’s most popular plays. It deals with a young poet,…
How far would you go for love? This is the focus of THRILL ME, which takes a new look at the legendary “thrill killers”, Leopold and Loeb, who committed what was called the crime of the century in Chicago in 1924. The court trial concluded that the two young men murdered their victim simply for…
How many insults can you hear before you stand up for the women you love? Tom, a young business executive, meets Helen, an intelligent, funny, but overweight librarian. They date and fall in love, but Helen`s plus-size causes trouble for Tom back in his office. His best friend and colleague, Carter, treats the relationship as…
In this fast moving British comedy Jim invites his super moral American boss and wife to dinner. Since the boss insists that his employees be married if they are living together, Jim asks his live-in girlfriend, Helen, to pose as his wife for the evening. The request infuriates Helen who has been waiting for ages…