Böcker i Acting Edition S.-serien

A sensitive, wryly humorous study of a middle-aged widow who finds the courage to break with the past. June keeps a diary in the form of private conversations with her late husband Sam, a national newspaper editor. Her stepdaughter, Pauline, determines to keep an eye on June. Likewise, Eric Grant, an ex-colleague of Sam's. But June strikes out on her own and befriends Duggie, who, like June, is lonely. June, however, discovers that Pauline, Eric and Duggie have their own hidden agenda.2 women, 2 men

"Suggested by the author's earlier play, Local affairs."

This play is presented as a 'clown show' in which most of the actors wear clown-style costumes, creating a kaleidoscope of impressions around the central character of Grace, representing all those people who are scorned in this world but who develop a resistance to such injustice. An intelligent and searching contemporary play of ideas, ideal for school groups and young people.Large flexible cast

On the 1st April, 1914, in the village of Burston, a group of children went on strike to protest at the unfair dismissal of their teachers, Kitty and Tom Higdon. The Burston Drum tells the story, in musical form, of the events leading up to this historic first school strike, and of Kitty's battle to provide a comprehensive and enjoyable education for all the village children and Tom's fight to organize the villagers into a more democratic rural community. With simple staging and a large cast (either all children or mixed children and adults) this musical offers the opportunity for an enjoyable and entertaining community or school production.11 women, 13 men

Who's Who takes place in the lounge of a Brighton hotel a place of faded elegance where the inevitable trio saw away playing sad and dated ballads. In the first act we follow the confusion that Mr. Black and Mr. White land themselves in as inextricable as the hotel itself in their efforts to cover up a clandestine weekend; a confusion which ends in no one knowing anyone else's identity and a hint that, even when things have more or less cleared up, it's likely to start all over again. In the second act the male leads discuss the previous events and Mr. White says that if positions and identities had been reversed the confusion would never have happened. 2 women, 2 men

Jane and Andrew's pleasant country house is accident prone. Six people have already died there in unfortunate and embarrassing accidents. When daughter Sally's young man Geoff arrives for the weekend unaware of the house's reputation, he mistakenly deduces from conversational confusion that the deaths were due to sinister circumstances.4 women, 4 men

A committee meets on a winter''s night to arrange the summer village fete. As protocol gives way to bickering and gossip, the personalities of those present emerge: busybody Ethel; Pauline, the vicar''s long-suffering wife; careworn Gloria; horsy Majorie who is very attentive to the shy new teacher, Angela; elderly Mavis and Sally, the brisk Army wife. Six months on, the cathartic events of the fete are related with humour and pathos, and the upbeat ending affirms the enduring value of village life.|7 women, 1 man

Gripping mystery drama.  An ordinary decent citizen is caught in a waking nightmare.  A West-End hit in 1950.|2 women, 5 men

A stage adaptation of the novels of E.F. Benson, and the war for social supremacy between Lucia and Miss Mapp in the small coastal town of Tilling. Hitherto, Tilling's doyenne has been Miss Mapp; so when Lucia rents Miss Mapp's house for the summer, the battle lines are drawn.

Four Riotous Routines edited by Michael Kilgarriff. The Molecatcher by Malcolm Sircom, is a brief (ten-minute) rousing sketch with music showing three yokels and their trials and tribulations with moles. Who Will Man the Lifeboat? devised by Michael Kilgarriff, is a six-minute sketch with music. The Tram-Track Tragedy by Patricia and Peter Ariss, is a twenty-five minute sketch in the best melodrama fashion, without music, but with the provision of a tram! The Master and the Maid by Michael Kilgarriff, is a six-minute sketch in the mode of the silent movies wherein a film of husband, wife, lover and maid is first shown ordinarily, then backwards and finally forwards at double speed! The script includes several pages of accompanying music.|Flexible casting

Hitting Town opens with Ralph, a student drop-out from Birmingham University, dropping in unexpectedly on his sister, Clare, in her Leicester bed-sit. Together they decide to "hit the town". But against a background of commercial radio, city-centre precincts, Wimpy Bars and dangerous practical jokes, the incestuous relationship that develops between them seems the only way of affirming their vitality...|2 women, 1 man

Drama / Characters: 17 Male, 3 Female Scenery: 5 interior SpacesIncriminating letters written by a young European prince to the English girl he betrayed are in the hands of the dead girl's sister. She is in the clutches of a nefarious man. All this and Moriarty and Dr. Watson too. "A prime evening of entertainment." N.Y. Daily News."Constant stage magic to delight the audience." Women's Wear Daily. "A theatrical triumph ... one of the jolliest treats of the season." Christian Sc

The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Operatic Society's Production of The Mikado - and the ladies outdo even themselves in this hilarious staging of the classic operetta.-Large flexible cast

"We all marry the wrong people" announces Edward Gray, looking at his three daughters and their unsuitable partners. But when his daughters change partners and then again - every combination is played out. The outcome being that none of them works any better than any of the others.

The delegates from many governments arrive in an atmosphere of suspect bonhomie. The two cleaners, backed by the troops and ordinary people, take over and announce a slight amendment to international law: in future a formal declaration of any war shall be by the public execution of all members of governments concerned.|8 women, 8 men

Meet George and Maggie Antrobus of Excelsior, New Jersey, a suburban, commuter-town couple (married for 5,000 years), who bear more than a casual resemblance to that first husband and wife, Adam and Eve: the two Antrobus children, Gladys (perfect in every way, of course) and Henry (who likes to throw rocks and was formerly known as Cain); and their garrulous maid, Sabina (the eternal seductress), who takes it upon herself to break out of character and interrupt the course of the drama at every o

FarceCharacters: 4 male, 6 female Interior Set Dr. Moulineaux has been out all night in a futile attempt to meet his mistress Suzanne. He tells his wife he has been with Bassinet who is near death, but in walks Bassinet. He decides it is no longer wise to have Suzanne pretend to be a patient and rents an apartment that formerly belonged to a dressmaker. He and Suzanne are discovered in this hide away by her husband, so the doctor poses as a dressmaker and is caught in a desp

ComedyCharacters: 1 male, 2 female Interior SetAn efficient suburban matron, chairing an evening meeting, finds that she has to cope with a strange, offstage intruder who claims he knows her. The meeting degenerates step by step into a wild party, even as the intruder becomes increasingly insistent and insulting to the leader. Ultimately, the lady finds herself confessing to the lure of a liaison with this representative from the under side of society, and by going off with him, she manages to appease whatever it is that tears groups apart.

The Fordyces are busily preparing for the wedding of their eldest daughter Jacky to Victor, son of Stephen Parker, with whom Henry Fordyce is planning a business merger. Then in walks a total stranger Mrs. Puffin who announces she saw in a vision that Jacky would not marry Victor. She then establishes her vision's accuracy by correctly predicting various hilarious domestic accidents.-5 women, 5 men

Fred sits next to a sign which reads "Stories told here today". The storyplayers arrive, followed by the ageing storytellers, who create the characters and plots for the storyplayers to act out. Reality and fiction mix in this play for young people which combines theatre, storytelling and music.

Based on the Dame of Sark's autobiography, the play follows the course of events on this Channel Island during the German occupation of 1940-45. It is a story of developing relationships and of the realization that war is an evil that falls hard on friend and enemy alike...-2 women, 7 men

Eliot's story of the reclusive miser who is transformed by a young girl is one of the most moving and memorable in Victorian literature. This adaptation captures the novel's thirty year sweep in a series of telling scenes, each displaying Eliot's gifts for humor, insight and simple beauty. The large cast can be trimmed to seven multiple roles and it is possible to keep costumes and props to a minimum.-8 women, 15 men

The action is based on the mythology surrounding the two Children's Crusades of 1212. A German boy, Nicholas, declares that God has commanded him to lead an army of children to Jerusalem to bring back the Cross. Thousands set off with him on the perilous journey. The mime sequences and the opportunities for improvisation make it an exciting experience for both the audience and the cast. The music is included in the text.8 girls, 13 boys

As the children walk in with their lighted candles, and the Storyteller takes us back to a small Russian village, the scene is set for this magical Christmas story. Papa Panov, the old shoemaker, now almost too blind to thread a needle, has a dream that Jesus will visit him on Christmas Day. All day he waits for him, but the only visitors he has are a tramp, a roadsweeper and a woman with a baby. Selflessly he gives them his coat, his money and his soup. As he falls asleep in the evening, tired, ridiculed and disappointed, he has another dream in which it appears that his special visitor did come after all... This adaptation of a story by Leo Tolstoy, narrated by a Storyteller and involving an unlimited cast of children, is a perfect play for Christmas.

A spoof on the country house murder mystery story. With a nominal setting and mimed props, the focus is mainly on the gallery of unusual characters which include a wheelchair-bound tranvestite, a madman, and an invisible professor.

For Pat, recently widowed, this year's charabanc trip to Whitby is tinged with sadness, but she is determined to enjoy herself. Phil and Edna provide entertainment with old-time dancing. Phil, too, is trying to enjoy herself, despite being trapped in a dead marriage, and during their first dance together he and Pat feel the unexpected spark of mutual attraction. Despite disapproval from others, they decide to seize this second chance and start a new life together.8 women, 4 men

The play takes place on an antique kitchen dresser. The Gingerbread Man, newly baked by the Big Ones, meets Salt, Pepper and Herr Von Cuckoo, who lives in the cuckoo-clock. He has a sore throat which is ruining his "cuckoos", thus threatening to land him in the dreaded dustbin. The Gingerbread Man's efforts to help Cuckoo's sore throat are hampered by the villainous scavenger Sleek the Mouse and by The Old Bag - an old tea-bag who lives in the tea pot on the top shelf.-2 women, 4 men

One set, two exits, one window. Living-cum-dining room. Poorly furnished.-4 women, 3 men

Each of the Groomkirbys has an idee fixe. Kirby is teaching his speak-your-weight machines the "Hallelujah Chorus"; his mother pays the neighbour to eat their left-overs; his aunt in her wheelchair is convinced she''s touring the Hebrides; his father is building the Old Bailey in the living-room. When this is complete the judge and jury move in with some bizarre results...|4 women, 10 men