Böcker i Acting Edition S.-serien

Mrs Weston, an elderly widow, has been robbed, or at least believes she has - the trouble is, she is so very forgetful. Rosemary a young policeman, investigates, helped by her jokey and somewhat ambiguous colleague, Derek.

Set in the library of a provincial newspaper where battle is joined between the forces of order and chaos, between arid organization in the person of the new library assistant, Leslie, and humane confusion in the person of Lucy, the much-loved resident librarian. Drawing on his experience as a journalist, Frayn draws his gallery of characters with the hilarious accuracy which can only come from first-hand experience. Winner of the Evening Standard's Best Comedy Award after a long run at the Hampstead Theatre and on London's West End in 1975. This edition features the author's revised version of the script presented at the Hampstead Theatre in 2009.

Seizing the opportunity, while her parents are out, Doreen decides to invite round Eric, her boyfriend. However, the evening is doomed to failure for all concerned: Doreen tries to calm Eric's passions while Mam and Dad overcome a ruined hair-do, the losing of all-important tickets and the car's flat battery only to find that they have the wrong night.2 women, 2 men

In this brilliantly drawn and succinct play with amusing, real characters, Robin is organizing the Muncaster Philanthropists' exercise bicycle ride in the shopping piazza. The members are gathered in the early hours, ostensibly to support each other, but feelings get out of hand. Robin argues with Wolf, slaps down deserted dog-tired Derek and blackmails Gerard into taking his turn. Meanwhile the security guard reports evil doings in the car park, a no go area after dark. The event falls apart after Clooney's dog attacks the do-gooders and only lumpen Krystel is left in the glow with shadowy figures surrounding her.-5 women, 6 men

The play charts the fortunes of a group of ATS girls from their arrival as a raw, awkward, ill-assortment of individuals to their passing-out parade as a 'perfectly drilled unit of faceless soldiers', following the shifts and tensions of their personal relationships, the comedy, drama and- in one case - eventual tragedy that occur during their period of training together. The action centres on the girls' barrack room, with small insets in adjacent places.3 women or men

Three women are waiting in a cellar. One is a captain in an organization pledged to bring freedom to the city, which is in the throes of a struggle for power; another is a witness; the third is an informer in the coming trial. A frightened girl is brought in and severely questioned regarding her alleged betrayal to the authorities of hidden stocks of ammunition. She is acquitted of betrayal but led away to be punished for fraternization. The proceedings have, however, uncovered the guilt of another woman present-the informer herself.5 women

The wise Sophia enters a starving village and declares she will feed everyone with her magical stone soup, thereby gradually encouraging the villagers to share their own hoarded goods for the benefit of the community. She is labelled a subversive by the autocratic government figure, General Mayhem, who attempts to nationalize the pot of soup and place it under government control. However, the play ends with the cast and audience alike dancing merrily.Large flexible cast

This delightful version of Aladdin and his Magic Lamp is told in time honored pantomine fashion with all the well loved characters and Aladdin himself and, of course, the well hated character of Abanazar, the evil magician, who provides plenty of opportunity for boos and hisses from the audience!2 women, 3 men, 5 women or men

When her husband Dermond plans to be away in Cork with his partner Fintan, Grainne decided to seize the opportunity of spending the night with an ex flame, now a TV personality. She also involves the partner's wife, Niamh, in the plot. Things begin to go wrong when Niamh's furiously jealous husband returns unexpectedly and finds her performing what seems to him to be an exceedingly compromising task. Matters are further complicated by the new manageress of the new motel turning out to be the spurned love of the TV personality.3 women, 4 men

Why sould Ron Corley MP, the Minister for the environment, be searching for the seaside bungalow of his ex-mistress Donna on a Friday afternoon in the summer? And where does the pizza boy fit in? All is explained in this farcical drama.

Contrite priests suddenly bestow Holy Orders on a wretched failure who was expelled from the seminary for lack of a true vocation. He is soon in Rome with his bishop to elect a new Pope. The stymied conclave elects the dedicated new priest: Hadrian VII. The new Pope decides to sell Vatican art treasures to finance feeding the world's poor. He smokes on the throne and entertains old friends like his landlady and new ones like a seminarian who is having a hard go of it until an assassin puts an end to Hadrian VII.2 women, 26 men

A two-act play in which young Penguin comes from Iceland to search for his mother and father.

A fairy tale in which a strange little man saves a miller's daughter from death by spinning straw into gold and demands her first born child in exchange. He will only allow her to keep her if she can discover his name.

The audience are taken back to Nursery-rhyme land for this lively pantomime of adventure, comedy and magic with all the traditional favourites: the good fairy, Georgie Porgie, Old King Cole, and his scatty Queen Mattiwilda, Dame Sprightly and her son Tom, who rescues the Princess from the naughty Knave of Hearts and his not-so-naughty villains Buckett and Spade.-Large flexible cast

Combines the traditional tale of Mother Goose with spirited songs and dances (to be chosen by the director). Plenty of opportunity for audience participation, led by irascible Billy, Mother Goose's son. Fun packed action centers on the wicked squire's bailiffs and Priscilla, the Magical Goose, instantly endears herself to all. And Fairy Harmony succeeds in helping good overcome evil and happiness prevails once more.-3 women, 1 man, 7 women or men

Paul Reakes' pantomimes include many original twists to the familiar stories, with plenty of audience participation. They can be staged as simply or as elaborately as desired. Choice of music is left to the director.Large flexible cast

John Garrard is a successful manufacturer who is driven by a compulsion to use and consume the world and the people around him. He is briefly intensely curious about everything he comes across, particularly other people's worlds: their religious beliefs, their sexual and artistic yearnings and their feelings about him. During one climactic night amid the hectic activities of a trade fair in Germany, it looks as if he will be forced to turn his sharp eyes upon himself and come face to face at last with silence and darkness.2 women, 11 men

When Brian takes up jogging, his wife Hilary is not surprised. She has often told him he should exercise more after all the business lunches he consumes. But when Brian is ostensibly running round the park, he is, in fact, spending a couple of hours with his girlfriend, Wendy, in his good friend George's flat. The arrangement works well for some time, for while Brian is visiting Wendy, helpful George knows that there is no danger of his own dalliance being discovered; for the object of his affection is Brian's wife, Hilary! It is all plain sailing until George's wife Jessica returns too soon from a business trip to America and puts the cat among the pigeons.-3 women, 2 men

Forming the first part of the David Hare Trilogy (which also comprises of Murmuring Judges and The Absence of War) Racing Demon focuses on the Church of England. A disparate body, the Church now finds itself attracting unwanted publicity, wracked by the dissension of its members on matters of doctrine and practice and at odds with the government. In this climate the Reverend Lionel Espy and his team of clergymen struggle to make sense of their mission in South London, as the arrival of a zealous young curate intensifies their personal and professional problems.3 women, 8 men

The television drama department is short of performing space. Director Guy's drama is shunted into a small room and he is beset with problems. The cast come to loggerheads but after a 'calming' break return to find their space double-booked by would-be contestants on an idiotic panel show. When the Head of Drama drops into the rehearsal the drama turns into a farce...12 women, 5 men

Absurdity, taken with seriousness and decorated with the ridiculous, and logic foundering in bizarre situations these are the farcical formulas well exploited in this play. George is getting into his fifties, his sexual virility nagging at him, one way or another. He is having an affair with twenty year old Jane. His wife, Clare, sensing that something of the kind is going on, fixes up a way of dealing with the situation. Jane has a boy friend, Nick. The quartet play out their charades in a double setting, the living room of George and Clare's home, and Jane's flatlet.|3 women, 3 men

Collaborators is a comedy about marriage set in a dingy, infested flat in Belsize Park in the late 1950s. Henry Winter, a struggling young barrister, is also struggling to cultivate his writing career. At the invitation of Sam Brown, an American film producer of somewhat hazy credentials, he starts work on a film strip about marriage.2 women, 2 men

An obsessive, psychopathic Scotland Yard detective and a likable but murderous master criminal square off in this fast moving psychological thriller.1 woman, 3 men

Phillipa James has plucked down and out Duncan McFee from London's Embankment and installed him in a luxury apartment, purely as a business arrangement based on Duncan's uncanny resemblance to her late husband Richard who unfortunately died just prior to his forty fifth birthday when he would inherit a million pounds.1 woman, 1 man

In the depressing atmosphere of the busmen's canteen, minor irritations become insurmountable problems. The inspector is twittering with nerves; buses are late, staff are missing and a number 642 has disappeared completely. The missing bus eventually reappears, Bert having catastrophically driven under a too low a bridge; now his bus is the first open-top double decker in the fleet.Large flexible cast

The story of a willowy little man who comes to an office for an interview. He has a long wait, and to kill time he shows the receptionist his photographic collection. Finally, the important man arrives and the little man is given his forms to fill out. Don't bother too much with the answers to the questions, he is told; just concentrate on the replies. The little man leaves, but returns shortly a changed man, and forthwith begins interviewing and lecturing the important man himself. A thought provoking, topsy turvy comedy.2 women, 2 men

Beryl Tidy, whose life is dominated by her elderly, irascible and demanding father, works at the library and finds that it is her only escape. She has a new boss at the library, Mr Gostilow, who has just moved to the North from London. When Beryl storms out of work after an uncharacteristic fit of temper and fails to return, Gostilow visits her to find out why. Despite the idiosyncratic and often hilarious comments from Beryl's father, Gostilow succeeds in showing her that she needs and is needed by the world outside. This is a touching and gently humorous portrait of a woman's life.1 woman, 2 men

Kate is paralyzed from the waist down following a horrific car accident four years earlier. Cutting herself off from all friends, she copes bravely in her remote European country cottage with daily help from her "treasure," Mrs. Ponsello. Now Mrs. Ponsello is to move and Kate faces a bleak future.3 women

In this rich and humorous portrayal of eighteenth-century rural life, Geoffrey Beevers remains true to George Eliot's original novel. Adam Bede, a young carpenter of integrity, loves Hetty Sorrel, a pretty and self-centred dairymaid, who herself dreams of Arthur Donnithorne, the young squire. Arthur cannot resist seducing her, and their passion has tragic consequences for the whole community.|3 women, 3 men

Lady Isabel is cunningly seduced by the villain into believing that the clandestine meetings of her husband and another woman are for romance rather than business. In despair, she abandons home and children, only to come back in later years disguised as a governess to her own children and to die in her husband's arms in heartbroken penitence and forgiveness.-5 women, 4 men