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,…
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…
How does physical beauty, or the lack of it, impact our lives? This is one of the questions that American playwright Neil LaBute raises in his provocative play REASONS TO BE PRETTY. He does this as he observes the lives of four young people who are stuck in jobs and relationships that are not working for…
Why do people make the wrong decisions in matters of love ? This is the life dilemma that prize-winning playwright Christopher Hampton focuses on in this intelligent, witty play about sexual manners and manipulation. Ann has tried to free herself from Dave by taking on a new lover, Patrick, while Dave is away in Iraq.…
How dThis touching, yet funny play is set in a Pennsylvania coal town. Single mom, Miriam Waslyk, works as a waitress, but it is her painting that matters most to her. She would like some male companionship, but, so far, her precocious daughter, Amanda (13), has driven away anyone that might come between her and…
“Love Is All Around” is the name of a feminist publishing house where Harriet Copeland is running a competition to find new romantic fiction written by women only. Leonard Loftus is trying to get his books published, but Harriet keeps sending his manuscripts back because they are the work of a man. When Leonard finally…
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (DIE KOMÖDIE DER IRRUNGEN) is usually considered to be one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays. Based on a work by the Roman comic playwright Plautus, it concerns two sets of identical twins that were separated shortly after birth. Years later the twins end up in the same town unaware of the others’ existence.…
“What do you do when you are not sure?” This is the question posed by this remarkable new play. The setting is a Catholic church and school in New York in 1964. Twelve-year-old Donald starts behaving strangely and is caught with alcohol on his breath. The principal of the school, Sister Aloysius, suspects that the…
Rosie’s so busy ‘saving the world’ and generally enjoying her cosy, comfortable life style that it comes as a major blow when 52 year old husband, Piers, dumps her for his young secretary Larissa. – So how will this ordinary middle-class housewife pick up the shattered pieces of her life… a passionate affair with Darren…
What’s to be done when grown children return home to live with their parents? George and Helene’s kids have finally left the nest. Now the middle-aged couple are alone together and have time to renew their romance that has suffered while raising the family. Or so they think. Within a week, all three sons come…
