Subject: Plays, Playscripts | Page #2
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The Inspector General Nikolai Gogol
Although it may read to modern audiences like a hilarious slapstick comedy, The Inspector-General is actually much more than that. Famed Russian writer Nikolai Gogol intended it to be a veiled but pointed satire of the ineptitude, corruption, and greed that exemplified the Russian bureaucracy in the nineteenth... read more »
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Cyrano de Bergerac Edmond Rostand
Since its premier in 1897, Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac has remained a classic of the world stage. With a heart as big as his nose, the poet-swordsman lends his words and wit to the handsome but tongue-tied Christian to win the hand of the fair Roxane. But, who does she truly love in the end? read more »
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Arms and the Man George Bernard Shaw
Arms and the Man was George Bernard Shaw's first commercially successful play. It is a comedy about idealized love versus true love. A young Serbian woman idealizes her war-hero fiance and thinks the Swiss soldier who begs her to hide him a terrible coward. After the war she reverses her opinions, though the tangle... read more »
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When We Dead Awaken Henrik Ibsen
Ibsen's last work concludes the series of autobiographical dramas begun with The Master Builder which deal with the aging rebel, despairing of life and racked with guilt, who experiences an ambiguous victory at the moment of death. Plays for Performance Series. read more »
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An Enemy of the People Henrik Ibsen
Dr. Stockmann attempts to expose a water pollution scandal in his home town which is about to establish itself as a spa. When his brother, the mayor, conspires with local politicians and the newspaper to suppress the story, Stockmann appeals to the public meeting - only to be shouted down and reviled as 'an enemy of... read more »
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The Lady from the Sea Henrik Ibsen
When the lighthouse keeper's daughter Ellida meets the widower Dr Wangel, she tries to put her long-lost first love far behind her and begin a new life as a wife and stepmother. But the tide is turning, an English ship is coming down the fjord, and the undercurrents threaten to drag a whole family beneath the... read more »
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The Master Builder Henrik Ibsen
One of the Norwegian playwright's most mysterious, symbolic, and lyrical dramas explores the life of architect Halvard Solness, once ruthlessly ambitious, but who, in his later years, not only feels threatened by the younger generation but also fears the decay of his own creativity. A tragic end for one of the most... read more »
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Ghosts Henrik Ibsen
In this drama Ibsen has touched issues that were severely sensitive. The characters drawn in detail are deeply embedded in the plot. The themes of infidelity, illegitimate children and incest have been touched upon that were taboo topics of the time. He proved his mettle as a brilliant and bold writer as he delves... read more »
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The Circle W. Somerset Maugham
The Circle is set in the fashionable drawing room of Aston-Adey, the Champion-Cheneys’ house in Dorset. Maugham's plot, which may be unfamiliar, contains two triangles, each of a husband, wife, and lover. The first of these includes Clive, a cuckolded husband, Lady Kitty, his ex-wife, and Lord Porteous, her second... read more »
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Hedda Gabler Henrik Ibsen
Despite premiering the next year to negative reviews, the play since been hailed as a classic work of realism, with the character Hedda being considered by some critics as one of the great dramatic roles; a female Hamlet. Gabler is actually the character's maiden name rather than her name by marriage (which is Hedda... read more »
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A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen
Ibsen's classic play about the struggle between independence and security still resonates with readers and audience members today. Often hailed as an early feminist work, the story of Nora and Torvald rises above simple gender issues to ask the bigger question: 'To what extent have we sacrificed our selves for the... read more »
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Mrs. Warren's Profession George Bernard Shaw
Middle-aged Mrs. Warren is a madam, proprietress of a string of successful brothels. Her daughter, Vivie, is a modern young woman, but not so modern that she's not shocked to discover the source of her mother's wealth. The clash of these two strong-willed, but culturally constrained Victorian women, is the spark... read more »
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Echoes of the War J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie wrote plays to promote support for the war to end all wars. Yet they are not plays about war, but rather about parents and the children they send off to war. Though intended to foster support for WWI, from today's vantage point they can just as easily be interpreted as anti-war. In this play, two old... read more »
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What Every Woman Knows J. M. Barrie
Married by special agreement to John Shand, Maggie Wylie proves to be a highly effective voice for her politician husband. One of the author's most realistic and important theatrical works — graced with flashes of sly humor and dramatic irony — entertainingly develops the theme that behind every successful man... read more »
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The Admirable Crichton J. M. Barrie
The English production of this play in 1902 starred Henry Irving. In 1903, the play was produced on Broadway by Charles Frohman, starring William Gillette. The story of the play concerns an aristocratic English family who revert to the state of Nature when shipwrecked on a desert island. While there, they are... read more »
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Quality Street J. M. Barrie
This four-act comedy is an adult fairy tale of sorts, brought to life by Barrie's charming imagination and ability to weave between reality and fantasy. Pheobe Throssel and Valentine Brown are a young couple separated by the Neopoleonic wars for ten years, only to find themselves the unfortunate victims of time and... read more »
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Belinda A. A. Milne
Plot: Three men are competing for a woman; a humorous play with many funny moments - an enjoyable play. read more »
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The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy of manners set in Victorian England. Algernon lives in London and says he has a sick friend in the country. He uses visits to his imaginary friend to get out of things. His best friend, Ernest, is also Jack and is doing the exact same thing. Misunderstandings abound in... read more »
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Up the Chimney Shepherd Knapp
One of a series of plays set at Christmas time intended for young boys and girls. It is intended, not only for acting, but also for reading. What sort of a Christmas play do the boys and girls like, and in what sort do we like to see them take part? It should be a play, surely, in which the dialogue is simple and... read more »
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Down the Chimney Shepherd Knapp
One of a series of plays set at Christmas time intended for young boys and girls. It is intended, not only for acting, but also for reading. What sort of a Christmas play do the boys and girls like, and in what sort do we like to see them take part? It should be a play, surely, in which the dialogue is simple and... read more »
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Man And Superman George Bernard Shaw
After the death of her father, Ann Whitefield becomes the joint ward of two men: the respectable Roebuck Ramsden and John Tanner, author of 'The Revolutionist's Handbook'. Believing marriage would prevent him from achieving his higher intellectual and political ambitions, Tanner is horrified to discover that Ann... read more »
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Pygmalion George Bernard Shaw
This play is based on the Greek myth of Pygmalion. It tells the story of Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics (based on phonetician Henry Sweet), who makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can successfully pass off a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, as a refined society lady by teaching her... read more »
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The Christmas Dinner Shepherd Knapp
The Christmas Dinner is an 18-page play about Christmas. It is intended, not only for acting, but also for reading. What sort of a Christmas play do the boys and girls like, and in what sort do we like to see them take part? It should be a play, surely, in which the dialogue is simple and natural, not stilted and... read more »
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Caesar and Cleopatra George Bernard Shaw
Set in Egypt, Caesar and Cleopatra, is a drama in which the 50-year-old Roman general meets the childish young Queen and exerts a fatherly influence on her. read more »
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