Bücher veröffentlicht von Samuel French Inc

Comedy / 3m, 4f, +1 extra / Interior SetMyra Witzer, a strong willed woman in her late thirties, is determined to get married at any cost and Leonard Shank, an unassuming man in his early forties is the guy she goes after and gets, much against his will. After several months of married life, Myra realizes that the chase excited her more than the capture and wants out. On the other hand, Leonard, who at the beginning wanted no part of the marriage to Myra, now wants to stay married to her more t

3m, 3f / Comedy / InteriorSara Hastings is an unmarried lawyer in her mid-thirties, much too busy to get involved in any romance. Her Aunt Martha has decided to take matters into her own hands and find her a husband. Unfortunately, Aunt Martha's method of doing it amounts to having the prospective groom bopped over the head and brought to Sara's apartment. Aunt Martha's choice is Brandon Cates, a young man who handles her finances. Although Brandon is already engaged to be married, this does no

5f, 3m / Drama / Interior Set A woman is found wandering in Chicago, her feet blistered and bloodied. Doctors at the hospital where she is taken immediately recognize this as a symptom of the "fugue" state of amnesia, where the victim is literally running away from an intolerable memory. A young psychiatrist is assigned to her case. Clinic's rules allow him twenty-one days ("three lousy weeks") to work with her. If there is no improvement, she will be sent to a long term care facility. He is run

Drama / 2m, 2f / Unit setIn Barrio Hollywood, a tense family drama, a young Mexican-American boxer dreams of fighting his way out of his family's economic plight in his barrio neighborhood. His sister, a passionate ballet folklórico dancer and dedicated cultural artist, dreams of owning her own dance studio to pass her Mexican traditions on to another generation. Their flamboyant mother dreams of taking her poker winnings and going on an extended vacation to the Canary Islands. The family

Comedy / 2m, 2f / InteriorTwo difficult, single people, Phyllis and Bradley, both trying to heal from their respective disappointing relationships, get their luggage mixed up at the airport. After a very disagreeable first encounter, the two decide to help each other get over their heartaches by forcing a friendship that eventually leads to the two discovering that while they may be too difficult for everyone else in the world, they are right for each other.

2m, 2fNovember, 1978. Wade Minnick, 16, is a slender, effeminate bookworm in suburban Miami. With his distracted mother out playing Bridge, and his pilot father away on a trip, Wade settles down in the family's showpiece living room to read A Passage To India. His volatile brother Chip, 17, takes off on a dubious errand, leaving Wade alone with Chip's foxy pothead girlfriend. "Freak" Tammy teaches "brain" Wade more about life and about himself than he could learn from a dozen novels. And wh

Comedic Drama / 5m,3f, / InteriorBored by his privileged, but mundane life, Henry Flemming sells his lucrative brokerage firm to become a detective. On his very first case, and to the horror of his wife, Karen, and his two crazy neighbors, Suzy and Stan, the Flemming living room begins to fill up with dead bodies. Karen is further annoyed when one of them turns out to be her father. Even though Henry keeps showing up at home every day more disheveled and beaten up, he couldn't be happier.

Drama / Comedy / 3f, flexible casting /Unit SetHAT TRICKS is an exciting compilation of six scenes and three monologues designed for performance by mature actresses. Covering a range of women's experiences in the second half of life, these nine pieces range from the purely comedic to those that combine humor with thoughtful and sometimes poignant explorations. This is a richly varied collection featuring a single intriguing commonality: Every scene or monologue includes the presence and compel

Fresh Brewed is a collection of eleven plays, all of which take place in a coffee bar, all of which use the same set of two small tables and four chairs, and all of which can be performed by two male and two female actors in various combinations from a monologue to two quartets. If all of the plays are performed in one evening, there should be no black outs between plays. Simply changing the composition of the cast can signal the audience of movement between plays. On the hand, each play is writ

Comedy / 1m, 1f / Simple SetCallback is a two character contemporary comedy, drama about the forty-year mostlyprofessional relationship between an actress and a director. They both go throughstruggles, heartbreaks, triumphs, and unexpected discoveries along the way. Theyare bound together on and off by many things, but what keeps them both going istheir overwhelming love of the theater.

4m, 2f / Drama / Unit SetWinner of the 2006 L. Arnold Weissberger AwardIt is three years since Lynne and Benjamin Montgomery's son, Ben, traveled to the Central American country of Cartuga in order to use his medical training to help the poor peasants. Soon after his arrival, Ben disappeared. In a country of civil strife, guerillas and mass executions by the army, that can mean only one thing -- he was killed. So when Bishop Melinda calls to invite the Montgomerys to take part in the historic Cartuga Truth and Reconciliation Commission, they fly down to Central America to find out what happened to their son.

Little Theatre / Comedy / 3m., 4f / 2 Interior, 1 ExteriorNew love and an old secret emerge in this richly drawn sentimental comedy by the author of Three Years from "Thirty". Three men approaching age thirty gather to attend a friend's wedding. One still adores an old love who is due to attend the wedding. His best friend arrives with his intended, both of them showing the stress of planning their own wedding. While the third member of the group finds a new romance, revelations about a one nig

Comedy Drama / 1m, 1f /Simple SetSean and Amy are your typical co-habitating, Catholic/Jewish, twentysomething couple living in Manhattan. They work hard, love each other and share common goals in life. Well, sort of. After nearly three years together, Amy wants to get married but Sean does not believe in the institution. The game is on!!! Tonight is the night when they will settle the marriage question once and for all. They will both bring their "A" game and the gloves will come off. Sean wil

Translated and adapted by Eric BentleyMusic by Arnold Black, William Bolcom, Lucas Mason, and Peter WinklerFlexible casting, 1m., 1f. or expanded to more actors as needed /Musical RevueA first draft of this entertainment was produced at The Ballroom in New York City in 1994, starring Alvin Epstein and directed by Isaiah Sheffer. Howard Kissel, Daily News, commented: "Bentley's pungent translations of Wedekind's lyrics have been set deftly by three composers, Arnold Black, William Bolcom and Peter Winkler... Tingle Tangle [as the work was then called] is well performed and invariably fascinating."For the Wedekind renaissance of the 21st century Eric Bentley has re-arranged the material and added to it. The piece now consists of two cabaret programs which could be performed together in one long evening or separately. The first program is framed by two Bentley ballads telling the stories of Spring's Awakening and The First Lulu, respectively. Within that frame is a varied series of Wedekind songs and spoken poems. The second program is framed by two Wedekind short stories, neither of them ever before presented on an American (or any other) stage. Within this second frame come poems and songs in which we meet another Wedekind, a wild poet who also had a tender, even elegiac side. The two-part show ends with a song by Eric Bentley and Arnold Black which celebrates, not Wedekind the rebel, but Wedekind the artist.

Comedy /6m, 7f (flexible casting if actors play multiple roles) / Simple SetsThis outrageous new comedy is told in five outrageously funny parts and it's all about young women and the various issues they confront today. It's part sit-com, part stand-up comedy and part sketch-comedy. This collection of vignettes parades a series of foxy, witty and anxious women who bear the expectations of the world like an itchy muffler. These girls are coffee-driven, sensitive, wired, misunderstood and fuming

3m, 2f / Comedy / InteriorStamp collecting is far more risky than you think. After their mother's death, two estranged half-sisters discover a book of rare stamps that may include the crown jewel for collectors. One sister tries to collect on the windfall, while the other resists for sentimental reasons. In this gripping tale, a seemingly simple sale becomes dangerous when three seedy, high-stakes collectors enter the sisters' world, willing to do anything to claim the rare find as their own.

Full Length / Musical Comedy / 4m, 3f / InteriorAn Interactive Musical Comedy Mystery Spoof of the famous HBO series. Meet the family that inspired it all, the Altos. It's Tony's funeral (Or is it?) and his wife Toffee has invited you to the wake. Chris wants you should check your weapons at the door (and if you don't have any, he's got extras!) Uncle Senior has a rigged dice game going and Tony's Ma is - well just nuts. Tony's shrink Dr. Malaise is giving free analysis and the Father isn't su

Full Length / Interactive Comedy / 3m, 2f / InteriorCONTEMPT OF COURT is a new non-mystery interactive comedy from the inventor of the interactive dinner theater. It's a typical night at Judge Judy's Peoples Night court where audience members become plaintiffs, defendants, witnesses and jury in some of the most outlandishly funny law suits ever to double cross the bench. This hilarious comedy send up of all those TV court shows proves that some people really have a Contempt of Court.

Full Length / Comedic Mystery / 4m, 3f / InteriorThe year is 1923 and audience members are passengers on board the HMS Victoria as it crosses the English Channel. The famous Inspector Clurrot has tracked down a homicidal mastermind hiding out on board. Meanwhile, the ship is the vessel of matrimony for the Contessa Follette and John D. Rothchild - a marriage encouraged through financial need and murderous greed. But not everything is as it seems, and it turns out that the English Channel isn't

Comedy / 6m, 5f / Int. This modern adaptation casts Tartuffe as a deposed televangelist who rooks Orgon and his family of their money and property and nearly compromises Orgon's wife. The action takes place in a religious television studio in Baton Rouge where the characters cavort to either prevent or aid Tartuffe in his machinations. Written in modern verse, Tartuffe: Born Again adheres closely to the structure and form of the original. Moliere's legendary comedic characters are delightfully

Full Length, Drama /1 m, 2 f / InteriorLives are about to collide. Julia, a successful television journalist, discovers a Manhattan apartment owned by her attorney husband, Jack that she was unaware existed. As Julia explores the apartment, her musing and pain are interrupted by the sudden appearance of Katie, a beautiful young woman who seems to know Jack a little too well. At first glance, the two women appear to have nothing in common save Julia's husband. As they face off in the apartment, secrets unfold revealing the burdens each has been carrying, and they learn they have more in common than either could have thought possible.Pied-à-Terre, or a second home, has a central theme about grieving, loss and survivor's guilt, where the passions of the soul come into conflict with the obligations of the mind and the needs of the heart.Not your usual love triangle.

6m, 4f / Comedy / InteriorTHE IDIOT BOX tells the story of six sitcom characters whose lives are shaken when reality crashes into their perfect world. As the artifice of their lives unravels, each character discovers powerful truths about race, love, sexuality and the America outside they never knew existed - resulting in a theatrical experience that, according to The Hollywood Reporter, "is a glittering absurdist farce...with a sinister undertow that takes hold early and never lets go."

COLLECTIVE DATING is a wacky collection of romantic comedies based on the world of dating. From cavemen to the Internet, from an uptight, upright dating service to one that knows no bounds, COLLECTIVE DATING is a wild ride of fun. The plays were written with ease of production in mind. They can be performed in any combination in one evening with a cast of four men and three women or with full casts for each play, allowing for large group performances such as schools or classrooms. Most of the pl

$38,000 For a Friendly Face is a heartfelt comedy set in a funeral home. An unpleasant woman dies and her two estranged daughters arrive at a small town funeral home for the celebration of life. Matt is new in the funeral home business and is trying his earnest best to provide a good service. The women of the the last supper committee are preparing food for the event. A young woman arrives with a total three flowers for the service. It becomes apparent that no one else is coming. Relationships disintegrate over the morning. $38,000 For a Friendly Face takes a humorous look at what matters most in relationships -- in families, in friendships, and in celebrations of life.

All Groups / Comedy / 3f, 2m or 36 m or f, or an all female cast / Unit Set The Metropolitan Museum of Art has come to life! A fast-paced series of comedic plays and monologues based on 50+ exhibits at The Metropolitan Museum Of Art in NYC. Paintings, sculptures, antiquities, & fertility gods emerge from their molds & frames. Mix in some artists, guards, critics, lovers, curators and one very special night and you have this new comedic hit. In fact, even the artwork speaks to the audience! Usin

Edited and adapted by David Birney / 3m., 3f., plus chorus 8 to 12 singers / Holiday Play with music /Simple Unit SetA Christmas celebration told in songs, stories, poems and tales by Dickens, Mark Twain, Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Shaw, Longfellow, St. Luke and many others collected with a host of traditional carols and holiday songs. This piece provides a perfect evening to warm hearts, stir memories and give laughter during the holiday season.

Drama / 2m, 2f / Simple sets When They Quiet Down, I Start - A monologue from the perspective of a dead suicide bomber who now collects the newly dead suicide bombers to bring them to the afterlife. Clarisse and Larmon - A husband and wife are left with only a picture of their son's foot after he is killed at war. The Rich Silk of It - Based on a true story of a young actress who was killed by her ex-fiancee after she broke up with him. Two actors morph into different characters, primarily pl

Drama /2w, 3m, 1 female voiceoverIn high school, Neely was deemed "Most Likely to Succeed," but at 19, she's still working at the Amoco station and taking care of her meth-addicted younger brother (their mom ran out on them in search of herself). Her best-friend is a small-time drug dealer (also 19) who's taking care of the baby he had with a girl who has gone off to college abandoning them both. Into this mess strolls a new cop, who takes an interest in Neely and starts to date her. A swift-mo

Drama / 3m. 3f.A near-drowning accident sends Phoebe into a tailspin as she turns away from her marriage and toward her rescuer. Science teacher Victor loses his job and meets an unusual girl all in one day. While Ronnie is deciding whether to tell her newly single roommate Sebastian how she really feels. Through a masterful web of intertwined storylines and relationships, LIZARDS ... tells the tale of six twentysomethings adapting to stress - and on the brink of change.Performance licensing a

OFF-OFF BROADWAY FESTIVAL PLAYS, 31st SERIES A collection of short plays selected by New York theatre critics, professionals, and the editorial staff of Samuel French, Inc. as the most important plays of the Thirty-first Off-Off Broadway Original Short Play Festival sponsored by Love Creek Productions.