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.


 

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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.

 

 

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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.

 

 

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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

 

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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

 

 

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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.

 

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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

 

 

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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 

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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 

 

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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)

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More to follow...watch this space!