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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
If you like screwball comedy with a message for today, then BIG BOYS by award-winning playwright Rich Orloff is something for you. Described as “Big Business meets the Marx Brothers’ Monkey Business”, the play starts out with what is worst in America’s corporate culture and stretches it to its most absurd and, at times, surreal. It is…
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is generally considered to be the finest comedy of its kind in the English language. Of all of Oscar Wilde’s plays, it is the most timeless and universal. There is certainly very little in the play one could call dated. With the substitution or elimination of just a handful of references,…
When Brian takes up jogging, his wife Hilary is overjoyed. But, instead of jogging, Brian is in fact spending a couple of hours with his girlfriend, Wendy, in his good friend George’s flat. This arrangement works wonderfully for some time; for, while Brian is with Wendy, George knows there is no danger of his being…
New York audiences gave this play standing ovations when it opened there in 1985. Described as a theatrical thrill ride, it has been an international success throughout the world and joined the prestigious group of American modern classics. Performed in the past by leading actors such as Albert Finney and Al Pacino, the play was…
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 DON’T LOSE THE PLACE! the characters differ enough to make them interesting, but the plot takes precedence over…