Bücher der Reihe Acting Edition S.

Francesca brings her lover, Henry, to her mother''s flat to announce their intention to get married. While waiting for Mrs Stokes, Francesca answers a mysterious phone call. From what he overhears, Henry concludes that Mrs Stokes is a member of the oldest profession. It is later revealed that Mrs Stokes deals in nothing more erotic than antique furniture.|2 women, 2 men

Philip and Rowena are terminally ill. Philip seeks a divorce from his bitter wife, Lilian. Rowena longs for the unity of her family. Together they find friendship, romance, consolation and an amazing capacity for fun. In their hospice, they share an imaginary holiday in Florence. An acceptance of death is coupled with an extraordinary devotion to life.|4 women, 3 men

For Dennis, cricket averages are everything. When the Statisticians'' Circle accepts Pat, its first female member, however, Dennis''s life takes a sharp turn. Contrary to Dennis''s assumptions, Pat excels in the craft. They plan a trip to the Caribbean but Dennis''s wife doesn''t know that Pat is female, so when they meet this highly original satire on male-female relations is set for an explosive ending.|2 women, 2 men

A bizarre tale which challenges the everyday concept of grief, making this a unique, yet poignant play. Marge and Butter are awaiting the arrival of their son, Weston, and his new wife. Butter is dying and Marge plans to have him stuffed and mounted in a drinks cabinet from MFI to counteract her foreseen loneliness.|2 women, 2 men

Bernard is fulfilling his dead father''s wishes to scatter his ashes over his favourite fell. After a trail of misunderstandings and clashes in the family''s relationships Bernard realizes the part his father has played and some sort of understanding is reached; Father, of course, has the last word.|3 women, 2 men

This is a full length pantomime, entirely traditional with lots of humour and with its own original and delightful score by Eric Gilder which is available separately. The large number of both amateur and professional groups who present Crocker and Gilder pantomimes regularly every year is unmistakable proof of their success. Vocal score on sale.|Large flexible cast

Forget-me-not Lane'' is a bittersweet play about fathers, families and nostalgia - about (in Nichol''s words) a youth which was bitter to live through but sweet to remember. It was first performed in 1971 at the Greenwich Theatre, London.|4 women, 5 men

Philip gives a small party for his fiancee Celia and a few friends. Afterwards Celia leaves with the others, while another young lady offers to help wash up, later revealing more intimate intentions. Celia discovers what happened and breaks things off, revealing that she spent the night of the party with another man. Philip then joins another couple for dinner, apparently deciding to re-enact the end of his deceased friend John''s original play, which had been responsible for John''s suicide.|3 women, 4 men

George Clarke is a civil servant, a respected member of the Establishment, once married, now on his own. He lives in a flat in a converted Hampstead house. The apartment above is inhabited by hippies, and their noise often disturbs his peace. One evening young Louise Hamilton arrives on his doorstep. She has had a row with young Davey in the "pad" upstairs. She is also very pregnant. The clash between the happy and the square types is at full strength when Louise suddenly starts labour pains.|2 women, 3 men

Dilys Parry, an inconsolable Crimean War widow, lives in Blestin, a village which has no children, sin''s no son''s, and worships no god since a disaster snatched away all its youth. She is gradually re-awakened to life once a Miracle boy''s influence begins to permeate her home and the village. A flashy showman turns up intending to exploit the boy but becomes his world-forsaking disciple. The boy restores a dead man to life but dies himself in agony.|4 women, 4 men

A very English modern play, reeking of real tragedy, real humour and real life. The Common Pursuit chronicles the erosion of the ambitions of a smug, elitist group of Cambridge frien''s. Stuart is editor of a literary magazine and the pursuit of excellence is shown to be economically a bad proposition in this world. The magazine collapses and the characters'' fates vary as the play proceeds. An ironic epilogue returns to the early days in Cambridge with the young people planning their futures.|1 woman, 5 men

Nigel Burke, aspiring playwright, has writer's block. When he is visited by the mysterious Potter, who knows of his interest in Byron and is given a goblet used by the poet, there are subtle changes in Nigel's confidence and manner, but then Byron himself appears!

This drama about a sensitive, driven, turbulent and mystical playwright uses a fictional play-within-a-play device to create the environment within which its director/subject - Strindburg - works out his relationships with his lovers and his cast.

This is a full length pantomime, entirely traditional with lots of humour and with its own original and delightful score by Eric Gilder which is available separately. The large number of both amateur and professional groups who present Crocker and Gilder pantomimes regularly every year is unmistakable proof of their success.|Large flexible cast

When two unexpected guests, Jane and Brian, drop in on Sheila and Andrew, a devoted middle-age couple, what ensues is a complicated and hilarious series of misunderstandings and mistaken identities as Sheila and Andrew begin to weave an elaborate web of lies and half-truths to hide their own possible infidelities.|3 women, 2 men

After a prison break, convict Jubilee, with two companions, takes over a small roadside café. The owners are temporarily absent; however, a special party of their friends is expected to lunch. After serving the visitors lunch, the gang tells them they are prisoners. The mutual reactions of ''respectables'' and ''villains'', the mounting tension of the situation, and instinctive groping towards some sort of understanding, form the basis of the events that follow.|7 women, 3 men

Often hilarious, with moments of pathos, Cards brings to life the vulgar, bouncy, leering characters of traditional seaside postcards painted by artist Donald McGill.|2 women, 2 men

Ruby''s boarding house is home to an odd mix of characters in this moving and well-observed play about four lonely people: Abe, the middle-aged divorcee, Chas, the Northerner forced to find work in the South, Fleur, put there by her social worker and Holly, struggling to save enough money to move out.|3 women, 2 men

The Writer types ''Curtain'', completing his first play: a rage against life... But when the script is enacted before his eyes it turns out to be a very funny piece. The hilarity must stop, the Writer commands, and so rewrites it as a funeral. But this, too, brought to life, becomes an hilarious comedy. The Writer vows he will re-cast!|13 women, 9 men

Four thespian enthusiasts find themselves in a dusty attic in Droitwich. Their guide explains that Shakespeare, aged ten, lived there. Then there emerges a Tudor-looking man, the ghost of Terry Shakespeare, embittered by his brother William''s literary thievery. To prove his point, he puts the visitors in a trance, making them perform scenes from the plays he has written.|4 women, 2 men

Margaret and Arthur, a retired couple, are preparing dinner for their neighbour, Albert, whose wife, Enid, left him abruptly two months ago. This light-hearted comedy takes a darker turn when Arthur, aware that Albert has an eye for Margaret, suggests their neighbour''s smelly bonfires could indicate Albert has done away with Enid...|1 woman, 2 men

Four English students gather for a picnic in Germany in 1938. Then Esther, a Jewess, appears, hunted by Karl of Hitler Youth. She is dragged away and thunderclouds form over what had previously been a fine day. A Narrator tells us of the fate of five of the party but we can only guess at Esther''s fate.|3 women, 3 men

The well-known fairies from A Midsummer Night''s Dream and Peter Pan are under continuous attack from the hazard of waste brought by humans. Unexpectedly they stumble on a copse which promises to be a safe haven and yet it seems all is not well. The fairies soon find themselves faced with the prospect of living their lives in public view. Can they escape before it is too late?|6 women or men

A sly, gentle dig at society''s conventions and preconceptions. John Brown arrives at a country nursing home with a case of money expecting hotel-style service. He''s a kind of dropout bound to puzzle a profession geared to treating the sick. He''s not physically ill and apparently not mentally so. He settles into the routine and cocoon-like security. Everyone speculates as to his identity.|4 women, 2 men

In this grim world of poverty there is little room for finer feelings. The tippers mistrust one another and each sex blames the other for the mess they are all in. The only escape from unendurable reality is football. Maybe with the birth of Annette''s baby, trust and affection will be born amongst them...|2 women, 3 men

Long Autumn, appropriately named, is a retirement home for theatricals in the autumn of their lives, where euphemism reigns supreme, together with a firm belief that elderly equals senile. Into their midst is flung Maisie May, a former music-hall star, too much of a burden for her strait-laced son and daughter-in-law, who do not find Maisie amusing. Initially the ever-cheerful, irrepressible Maisie copes with the rigours of Long Autumn in her own inimitable style, but she becomes increasingly depressed. Then one day a breezy impresario, Chris, arrives with big plans for Maisie...|4 women, 3 men

A fast-paced comedy about an amateur dramatic society gathering for the technical rehearsal of a play by their producer Gordon. Minus the set, director and stage crew, new-recruit Val frantically tries to improvise. Matters become increasingly frenetic with the arrival of Gordon''s dypsomaniac wife Ruth, and an assortment of people totally unconnected with the drama group!|4 women, 3 men

The Weerd sisters try to make ends meet through fortune-telling. When Lady M calls, Flora discovers she indeed has the gift of foresight, although she does not like what she sees. The sisters'' fortunes are turned. Lady M returns to learn more but this time the truth is held back.|5 women

Five women gather round a skip on a suburban street. Two of them, antiques dealers scavenging for saleable items, become embroiled in a dispute over a reproduction Victorian chamber-pot and a genuine Regency chair, their opponents being two genteel but quietly determined bag-ladies. Watched over by a tramp, the ladies fight to the (metaphorical) death in this warm and witty comedy.|5 women

In the summer of 1936, Jean, Barbara and Olive hope for some excitement as they holiday in South Devon. It is Barbara who first spots the mysterious woman who wants to remain incognito, and Jean who overhears ''Mrs Chisholm'' plotting a murder. Easy to stage and costume, this delightful play has a twist or two up its sleeve and a neat ending.|7 women