Play of the Week
If I had a Euro for every time I've been asked: "Have you read any good plays lately?" or "I'm looking for an interesting play for my company to perform, any ideas?" or "I need a good three-hander play, do you know of any?"
So I've decided to read one play every week. I will blog weekly about that week's chosen script, relaying the relevant information to you the 'play-hunter'. Information such as: the setting, cast-size, synopsis, personal review and some useful links will be provided to help you decide whether this play is suitable for your theatre company/drama group. Time to dust off the bookshelves...
Play-script - No.18
Title: The End of the Beginning
(A Comedy in One Act)
Writer: Sean O'Casey
Setting: Country house.
Characters;
Darry Berrill about fifty-five; stocky, obstinate, with a pretty big belly. He is completely bald, except for a tuft of grey hair just above the forehead.
Barry Derrill Darry's neighbour. Same age as Darry. Thin, easy-going, big moustache, and is very near-sighted.
Lizzie Berrill Darry's wife. About forty-five. A good woman about the house, but that's about all.
This play was first producded by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 08 February 1937.
Play-script - No.17
Title: One Man, Two Guvnors
Writer: Richard Bean (based on The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni)
Setting: Brighton, April 1963.
This play was first performed at Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre on 17th May 2011.
Play-script - No.16
Title: Making Noise Quietly: Lost
Writer: Robert Holman
Setting: A terraced house in Redcar, Cleveland. June 1982.
This trilogy of plays was first performed at the Bush Theatre, London, on 26 June 1986.
Characters;
May Appleton a small, plumpish woman of sixty-one.
Geoffrey Church a tall, slender man of thirty-one.
Play-script - No.15
Title: I Licked A Slag's Deodorant
Writer: Jim Cartwright
Setting: A corner of London, 1996.
The play was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 27 November 1996.
Characters;
Man
Slag
Play-script - No.14
Title: Endgame
Writer: Samuel Beckett
Setting: The play is set in the room of a house with a bare interior.
The first performance in Great Britain of Endgame was given in French under its original title of Fin de Partie at the Royal Court Theatre, London, on 3rd April 1957.
Characters;
Hamm
Clov
Nagg
Nell
Play-script - No.13
Title: The Chairs
Writer: Eugene Ionesco
Setting: The play is set in a circular room with a precise number of doors and windows.
The Chairs was first produced by Sylvain Dhomme at the Theatre Lancry, 22 April 1952.
Characters;
The Old Man, ninety-five years old.
The Old Woman, ninety-four years old.
The Orator, forty-five to fifty years old.
Play-script - No.12
Title: A Taste of Honey
Writer: Shelagh Delaney
Setting: The play is set in Salford, Lancashire, today.
A Taste of Honey was first presented by Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal, Stratford, London, on 27 May 1958.
Characters;
Helen
Josephine, her daughter
Peter, her friend
The Boy
Geoffrey
Play-script - No.11
Title: Sparkleshark
Writer: Philip Ridley
Setting: The rooftop of a tower block in the East End of London.
Sparkleshark was first performed at the Royal National Theatre on 15 July 1997 by Youth Lyric Theatre, Belfast.
Characters;
Jake
Polly
Natasha
Carol
Russell
Buzz
Speed
Shane
Finn
Play-script - No.10
Title: Loot
Writer: Joe Orton
Setting: A room in McLeavy's house.
Loot was first performed at the Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre by the London Traverse Theatre Company on 29 September 1966.
Characters;
McLeavy
Fay
Hal
Dennis
Truscott
Meadows
Play-script - No.9
Title: The Good Thief
Writer: Conor McPherson
Setting: There is no prescribed setting.
The Good Thief was first performed under the title The Light of Jesus at the City Arts Centre, Dublin, on 18 April 1994 by Fly by Night Theatre Company.
Characters;
Anonymous (Irish Male)