Books in the Acting Edition S. series

Charles Dickens' tale of Ebenezer Scrooge's transformation from embittered skinflint to generous benefactor has been dramatized by Mortimer. It retains Dickens' own ironic point of view through the use of the a chorus to propel the drama.

Daughter of the Left Hand centres around the household of Rex Hallam. Rex introduces Nicola, a young girl who, he states, is his daughter by a former mistress. Her arrival causes considerable consternation, and her reception, particularly by Rex's severe and spinsterish elder daughter, is anything but friendly. Shrewd, forthright and understandably resentful of her treatment, Nicola either indirectly by her mere presence, or later directly by her own actions brings disaster to the entire family, and her final surprise to the entire family does nothing to amend matters. - 7 women, 3 men

A farcical comedy set in 1910. Lucien arrives home in the early hours dressed as Louis XIV. His late arrival and enraptured account of the ball invites the wrath of Yvonne, his wife and it isn't long before the maid, suffering with flu, and the bumbling, elderly manservant are dragged into the argument.

This ingeniously constructed play is set in three separate flats over a bank holiday weekend. Shifting backwards and forwards in time it depicts a triangle of relationships: Michael, a homosexual, who is in love with his flatmate Andrew, who in turn is having an affair with Lesley, whose husband Tom seeks respite from their disintegrating marriage in the arms of Alison.

Five women are at the marriage bureau "Husbands Supplied" all looking for a husband. A dashing young man comes in and immediately the five women, the bureau's owner and her secretary make a play for him. But it turns out that he is already married to one of the seven women.| 7 women, 1 man

A pantomime script based around the "Sleeping Beauty" story. Princess Aurora suffers a curse from the evil Carabosse, and falls asleep for hundred years. With a kiss from Florizel, and a little help from the audience in solving a riddle, Carabosse is defeated and all ends happily.

The light-hearted and entertaining play concerns four elderly actresses passing their days in a Home for Retired Artistes. They bicker and banter, showing the different parts of thier profession. Only Dame Anthea's dresser, Gladys, keeps an observant distance, injecting pithy comments into the actresses' small talk. Needing a man for their projected Christmas play, they enlist the help of newcomer Arthur Pendragon. But it is the dapper Antony Redfern who devises an entertainment ideally suited to their personalities, whilst the redoubtable Gladys in installed as costume mistress, as usual!|5 women, 2 men

A comedy play by the British writer first staged in 1953. A successful hit, it ran in the West End for 370 performances. A stockbrocker tries to cope with the extravagant behaviour of his daughters.| 6 women, 6 men

Jack Hardacre comes home on leave after three years in the army to find Milly, a pretty Londoner, billeted with his mother. He is immediately attracted, but becomes increasingly wretched because he has been trapped into an engagement by Janey Jenkins. Janey, strongly supported by her mother, is determined to hold him to it. Jack must also contend with Milly's other admirer, Joe Truman. Half distracted, Jack asks beery old Mrs Dorbell for a cure for love. She tells him – get married. Finally, at the height of a furious argument with Joe, Janey and Mrs Jenkins, Jack abruptly announces that the child Milly is carrying is his.| 6 women, 5 men

This gentle play, told with warmth and tenderness focuses on Lily who has spent all her married life in the same two-up, two-down council house. Although widowed, her husband Joe is very real to her and Lily's life continues as though he were still alive. Lily's peace is shattered by a letter notifying her that her house is to be demolished and she rehoused. Lily flatly refuses to go, despite warning letters and entreaties from social worker Ann. If Lily goes her memories of Joe and their life together will be smothered in the rubble. Eventually, though, she bows to authority and the "big cats", but at least she has the chance – this time – of saying goodbye properly to Joe.| 2 women, 1 man 

These short plays weave together the pyschologically complex themes of jealousy, deceit and manipulation and throw together the most unlikey of couples: Bruce in Rialto, is an attractive ex-actor employed by elderly dying ladies to help make the most of their last days. In Mortmain, Diana, finds her dead husband's diary and all her previous assumptions about her marriage are threatened. Is Arabella Snelgrove in Dead End the perfect, upright and law-abiding citizen? A visit from an inpsector from the Department of Social Security throws suspicions on Arabella's honesty. All are tense, tantalizing, pyschological thrillers with the most unexpected twists.| 3 women, 3 men

Claire has separated from her husband Steve and is now living with her boyfriend Derek. Her daughter Libby tells Steve that Claire is short of money and is advertising for a lodger, so, while Claire is absent, Steve is given the room by the unspuspecting Derek. Steve's idea is to stay in the house for a month so that Claire can judge both men on their merits; old animosities quickly reat their head, however, and the play ends with Claire and Libby leaving the house, which Steve and Derek decide to share as bachelors. Witty, fast-moving and acutely observed, The Upstairs Cuckoo is a riotous farce with a very human heart. | 2 women, 2 men

This joyous musical encounters five very different couples and a single woman embarking on an exciting journey - the women are pregnant. To some this is a welcome suprise, to some a carefully planned event, to others a cause for worry and confusion.

An exhuberant comedy which is yet a sad commentary on twentieth-century bureaucracy. The Hesseltines are living in property well overdue for demolition and they are looking forward to being re-housed in more beautiful and salutory surroundings. The crisis comes when they find that, far from a house with a little bit of garden, they are to live in a warrenous block of flats.|3 women, 6 men

Jay Spencer wants to leave his past behind him and start a new life. When he moves into his new flat his only wish is solitude, but the girl next door plagues him with her suicide threats, his current wife causes problems, his ex-wife insists on leading him to Jesus, and his secretary declares her undying passion. Jay's women pursue, attack, seduce and harass him and he only wants to be left alone or does he? Finally when he achieves his aim and has only himself for company, the thought is too much and he telephones the last female left his mother! This very funny and witty play has fast and well-timed comic action.| 4 women, 1 man

Set in Russia shortly after the Revolution, Stephen Poliakoff's intriguing and moving play has an autobiographical background in that it is inspired by what happened to his own family in Russia. Produced first by the RSC at the Pit and later transferring to the Mermaid the play follows the material and spiritual adjustments the upper middle class Pesiakoff family has to make to their life when they are forced to live in a railway carriage for many years. Although ostensibly employed as Telephone Examiner, father spends his time and government money on trying to record sound on to film. With the death of Lenin, however, the research must be abandoned and the family is forced to flee.

Escaping torrential rain, six friends flee to a high-rise apartment and hear a terrifying announcement: one of them may be a serial killer possessed by the Devil. Then one meets a hideous death. The survivors embark on a desperate quest to find and destroy the fiend in their midst before more blood is spilled.|4 women, 3 men

Alex Conrad, an avid collector of detective novels, has devised a brilliant plan to cheat his ex-wife, Dinah, out of her share of the proceeds from his partner Tony's new invention: to stage Dinah's "accidental" murder of Tony. With his girlfriend Cathy there as a witness and a gun full of blanks, what could go wrong? Many twists and shocks follow before we come to the denouement of this ingenious thriller.

Three middle-aged couples are trapped in the suburban way of life bored with themselves, their spouses and their daily routine of job or family or household chores. They are six very ordinary people, but they are portrayed with sensitivity and sympathy. There's excitement and revelations, yet in the end they must return to their routine. What the author has achieved is a wry comment on present day society and presents his audiences with a mirror of themselves to delight and entertain. Middle Age Spread was produced in London's West End to great acclaim.

This celebrated English drama by the author of Butley and Otherwise Engaged is based on a famous murder case involving a lonely divorced woman who has married a man thirty years her senior. However, his age and increasing deafness make her lonelier than before, and in desperation she takes up with a young man who has been hired as a gardener. He falls for her and, in a moment of passion, kills her husband with a pair of garden shears.|2 women, 4 men

Maurice plans to eliminate his half-brother Colin, but Colin's unhappy wife is also prompted to murder him. When the body is found the question arises: who is responsible? Meanwhile, Maurice regards his neurotic wife, Janet, as an impediment to his plans and uses his hypnotic influence to compel her to kill herself. Fortunately for Janet, Colin's shady business activities had already attracted official attention as the play races towards a thrilling and unusual climax.| 5 women, 4 men

Returning home after a disastrous and abandoned visit to the theatre, hi-jacked by Gerry's lively mother, Mary, Gerry and Kate attempt to salvage the evening at a local restaurant - but it just makes a bad evening out into a worse one. Daughter Louise and her boyfriend Julian are key players in this comedy of marital mishap and mid-life crisis, as are Mary and her beau, Roy. However, the end of this amusing and highly perceptive play finds Gerry and Kate caught on the sofa for all the world themselves like mischievous teenagers.|3 women, 3 men

Max is an Austrian officer in the army and son of a highly placed general. His father wants him to marry a Countess but he has fallen in love with Vicki. Attending a party given in his honour, they are informed that war has broken out. Max writes a note to Vicki and goes off to war. Unfortunately the note is lost. Some time after the war, Max is just a shoe shop assistant while Vicki is now a famous singer. They meet and at first she snubs him but then falls in love with him again.

Complete with double-dyed villain and a radiantly pure hero and heroine, this melodrama takes the spellbound audiencefrom Lucre Hall, across the Atlantic to where there is gold in them thar hills, and back to Lucre Hall again. Sir Jasper, of theblack heart, is out to win Lady Lucre's fortune via the hand of the lovelly Ara be Ila; and Clarence, of the pure heart, is out tothwart him and also win Arabella. Through valleys of iniquity they all travel, the journey being enlivened by the wiles of thevoluptuous Fanny, who of course aids and abets Sir Jasper. Virtue is triumphant at the last and Clarence and Arabella areunited over the dead bodies of their enemies.

Rodion is medical head of a sanatorium where Lydia is a patient, suffering from arteriosclerosis. She is clearly no ordinary patient and the play follows with warmth and gentle humour the mutual growth of interest and liking to lasting affection between two lonely people.|1 woman, 1 man

Harry is a zealous traffic warden, whose eccentric hobbies of collecting stuffed birds and folk dancing cause great friction between him and his wife. Bad-tempered Gran''s constant criticism of Harry does not improve matters. Also Harry''s daughter, Ruby, is engaged to weedy Gerald who finds he has an allergy to the birds. However, Harry''s hobby seemingly pays off when he returns home with an owl which is stuffed with hundreds of pounds.But when Inspector Travis of the C.I.D. arrives, Harry discovers he has been freely spending stolen money...|3 women, 3 men

The Middle East.  In an attic room a group of terrorists hold a young girl, Naomi, and wait while the Government decides whether or not to pay the ransom.  The building is surrounded by troops and there can be no escape for the kidnappers – but still they hold their prisoner.  The tension between the two terrorists heightens and Brother Luis tries to intervene: inevitably, tragedy overtakes them.|2 women, 2 men

This ingenious play opens on two once successful crime-writing playwrights endeavouring to complete a block-buster to pay off their mounting debts - or are they? As the plot develops they realise their full potential - who better to accomplish the perfect murder than themselves? Forbes' nagging wife, Ann, is the perfect victim, especially as she is insured for £200,000. It all seems plausible enough until Forbes' partner mistakenly kills their secretary and a stage-struck detective appears on the scene. From here the play twists and turns so much that it is difficult to know who has been murdered and by whom. Eventually we learn the truth, but can Goodman convince the buffoon Inspector?