Books published by Samuel French Inc

Drama / Characters: 5m, 3fWinner! 2004 NEA "Access to Excellence Award", in collaboration with New Theatre, FL, Finalist! 2001 New American History Play PrizeThe story takes place in 1932, the last time Clarence Darrow pleads in a criminal court of law. Set in various places in Chicago and Hawaii, Darrow with his wife, Ruby, travels to Honolulu to defend a Pearl Harbor Naval Lieutenant accused of shooting a Hawaiian who allegedly led a gang rape on the Lieutenant's wife.

Drama / 6 fAt first, Hazelwood Jr. High is like any other middle school - cliques and crushes, dances and detention. But when a new girl unwittingly steps into a "love triangle," a revenge plot is hatched, and events spin out of control, escalating into a shocking and unimaginable climax. Based on a true story."Mr. Urbinati's script is based on court testimony and psychological and police reports. Even in the era of Jeffrey Dahlmer and Susan Smith, the story holds its own grotesquerie; you c

Comedy / 6m, 6f, a larger ensemble may be usedIn this fractured folk tale based on a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, Mazel and Shlimazel, the spirits of Good Luck and Bad Luck, make a bet to determine who is the more powerful. The terms: Mazel will take a hapless young man named Tam under her wing for one year, at the end of which Shlimazel will attempt to undo everything she's done in one second. That's the point at which Tam and the princess with whom he's fallen in love have to rely upon their own ingenuity to save the kingdom and keep Tam's neck out of the hangman's noose. Along the way, matters are complicated by a crafty prime minister, a superstitious nurse, and a lion on the loose!

"In Brave smiles ...another Lesbian tragedy, master satirists the Five Lesbian Brothers turn their merciless eyes on the history of lesbians in theater, film, and literature. From their dismal yet erotically charged beginnings at the orphanage under the grip of a sadistic headmistress, our five heroines cross continents and a century to face their absurdly tragic ends. Along the way, they experience alcoholism, suicide, loneliness, pill popping, blacklisting, and a malignant brain tumor. Students of the lesbian art of misery will recognize gleeful skewerings of The Well of Loneliness, The Group, Maedchen in Uniform, and The Children's Hour in this rollicking, hilarious, and smart multicharacter classic"--P. [4] of cover.

"Irreverent theater group the Five Lesbian Brothers get their greasy prints on a classic. 'Oedipus at Palm Springs' follows the dark adventure of two couples on a retreat to the desert resort town. While new parents Fran and Con try desperately to jump-start their sex life, May-December love bunnies Prin and Terri can't keep their hands off each other. What begins as a hilarious, boozey weekend takes a horrific turn after a secret is revealed. Two parts comedy with a shot of tragedy shaken over ice, Oedipus at Palm Springs is a brave examination of the messy guts of relationships."--P. [4] of cover.

"Something's rotten in Big Bone! Pretty Patty Johnson is thrilled to join the secretarial pool at the Cooney Lumber Mill under the iron-fisted leadership of sultry office manager Susan Curtis. But she soon begins to feel that all is not right-the enforced diet of Slim-Fast shakes, the strange clicking language between the girls, the monthly disappearance of a lumberjack. By the time Patty discovers murder is part of these office killers' skill set, it's too late to turn back! In the guise of satiric exploitation-horror, The Secretaries takes an unflinching look at the warping cultural expectations of femininity"--P. [4] of cover.

Music by Bob Johnston and Nancy WhiteBook by Jeff HochhauserLyrics by Nancy White, Bob Johnston and Jeff HochhauserBased on the novels Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island by L.M. MontgomeryBased on the sequel novels to Anne of Green Gables, this new Canadian musical continues the story of Anne Shirley's life. Set in the village of Avonlea and at Redmond College in Halifax, Anne and Gilbert follows Anne's journey to young adulthood and her romance with high school academic rival, Gilbert B

Dramatic Comedy / 2m, 2fWinner! 2007 Ted Schmitt Award for the world premiere of an Outstanding New Play - Los Angeles Drama Critics CircleWinner! 2008 Ovation Award for Best New PlayFrom award-winning writer Jane Anderson (The Baby Dance, Looking for Normal) comes this "magnetic work of theater" (The San Francisco Chronicle) filled with compassion, honesty and humor. Dinah and Bill, a devout, church-going couple from the Midwest are struggling to keep their lives intact after the loss o

Drama / Characters: 3m, 6fJune 1944. In England, Allied troops are massing for an invasion. On a small farm in Appalachia, a different kind of war is about to rage. Here, Walter and Grace share a home with four daughters: Rose, who struggles to understand why Stan - an immigrant coal miner and the love of her life - abruptly left to join the Polish Free Forces; Helga, who fears for her husband who's in the Army and - like Stan - assigned to a combat unit in England; Frieda, the family's advent

Comedy / Characters: 1m, 3f, 1 girlDusty and his animated friends hold a competition to find a model family based on letters written by children. The winning family will receive a visit from Dusty and will be filmed for an upcoming episode. Out of the 15,000 letters received, the producers pick Lizzie Goldberg-Jones and her family to be featured on the most popular animated PBS show in America. Her parents are exemplary role models - and they are two men. When word of that selection and the res

Comedy / Characters: 2m, 3fA pair of radical feminist ex-strippers scour the country on a murderous rampage against right-wing pro-lifers, blogging about their exploits in gruesome detail. Meanwhile, a scruffy screenwriter named Owen tries to bang out his magnum opus in a hotel room as his best friend Rodney ("The Rod") holds forth on rape and other manly enterprises. When Owen decides to incorporate the strippers into his screenplay, the boundaries of reality begin to blur, and only a visit f

"Based on the novel by Charles Dickens."

4m, 2f / Dramatic ComedySomething is not right. There is a secret humidity in the air in a town where the breezes have been on strike for two hundred years. Soledad thinks she is Alexis Carrington from Dynasty and feels itchy. Chaparro can't seem to scratch her itch anymore. Esteban might just be the man for the job. And Adela watches it all unfold as if it were a soap opera on TV. Maybe it is? Anything is possible in Fuente, an almost-real town, somewhere between where North America ends and South America begins.Fuente is a magically-real comedy set in a remote desert town about love, revenge, escape, and the perilous powers of Aquanet hairspray."The play, Fuente, is powerful, moving and original, which after a three-year development process and a Herrick Theatre Foundation Prize for New Play, is being given a smartly staged, well acted world premiere at Boyd's smaller venue in Sheffield. Cram has written a small-scale at once real and mythical epic about love, vengeance and one's sense of place. The language is earthy (this is NOT a family show!) and poetic. The characters and their stories are sad but also funny enough to have the audience burst out laughing. The Garcia Marquez-like magic is amusingly propelled by a bottle of Aqua Net hair spray." - CurtainUp.com

3m, 3f / DramaNatasha Lisenko is twenty-two years old. She's clever, creative, can describe the plot of every episode of "Battlestar Galactica," and hasn't left the house in five years. Her sister, Lena, is an energetic, popular, occasionally cruel high-school cheerleader-or was, the last time Natasha saw her. As Natasha works her way through delayed adolescence and a strangely evolving relationship with her tutor, her family works to move forward without a sister, without a daughter, and with

Seven Brief Plays About Women in DistressTo go through life as a woman is to be in distress most of the time, so these short plays alight on situations that are inherently distressing -- doctor visits, photo shoots, looking for the right dress and navigating around swimming pools. Since we're blessed with uncanny reserves of strength and imagination, we tend to emerge triumphant. One way or another these are comedies about transformation.Plays include: Appearances The Divine Fallacy Throu

Comedy / 1m, 2f / Simple SetEver since their school blew up, Moth and Belly have taken to stalking an illegal internet café in the hopes o/ f one day being allowed in. They take particular interest in Leather, a skittish older man doing research in the café.Leather is a self-proclaimed "freelance scholar" from a foreign land with a sketchy past and a sticky secret. Leather begins to fall head over heals in love with Moth... but what about Belly? This play explores the effects of rampant ca

All Groups / Comedy / 3f, 1m or up to 17f, 7m, or an all Female cast / Unit setThe story of Elvis Presley told through the eyes of 17 Women! Some Enthralled, some appalled, ALL OBSESSED! A fast paced series of 5 comedic plays and 3 monologues based on the life of Elvis Presley. From Tupelo Mississippi--where an 11 year-old Elvis wanted a BB Gun instead of a guitar--to the Steve Allen Show, from President Richard Nixon's office, to Andy Warhol's studio, from Cadillac Salesmen, to Graceland guar

John Clancy / 3m, 2fFatboy is a brutal comedy inspired by Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi. This satire on modern America's insatiable appetites--from gobbling up 72oz. steaks to small nations--is presented as a live-action Punch and Judy show. In this fast-moving, shocking, profane, dead-on, funhouse mirror reflection of the world today, the brutish allegory known as Fatboy, along with his monstrous wife, Queen Fudgie the First, stands trial for war crimes. Despite overwhelming evidence the court refus

Drama/ 2mA famous author comes face-to-face with America's most notorious terrorist. One has a story to write, the other has a story to tell. As the clock ticks on death row, a strange bond grows between the two men. Filled with clever sparring and raw emotion, this is a tuat drama that touches on the definitions of freedom and the need for love.The Daily Telegraph in London hailed Terre Haute as, "topical, transgressive and thrillingly dramatic.""White has captured the amusingly constrict

4m, 1f, with doubling / Thriller Dust is an edge-of-your-seat thriller. Martin is an executive with money and a paunch. Zeke, a gifted young man torn down by drugs, is an ex-con with street smarts and a minimum wage position. Early one morning, in the fitness center of the Essex House, a battle-of-wills begins over the most trivial of requests. As described in The New York Times review: "Verbal sparring turns angry, posturing leads to entrenched positions, and out of nothing - out of dust - a g

6 m, 1 boy (doubling possible)Originally performed by the award-winning Chicano/Latino performance troupe Culture ClashA hard working immigrant father wants better for his sons, twins named Water and Power. He wants them to be like Mr. Mullholand - deciding where the water flows in this desert pueblo. From the Mother Ditch in Chinatown, to the arroyos and ravines that would become Dodgers Stadium, L.A. re-invents herself faster than a Hollywood soundstage. History is cemented over and stars

Dramatic Comedy / 6fShowtime at First Baptist is the sequel to the hugely popular and widely produced First Baptist of Ivy Gap.First Baptist of Ivy Gap's 100th anniversary picnic was a smashing success, except for one little thing: the bolt of lightning that struck the church's steeple, igniting a fire that destroyed the sanctuary and so much more. In the wake of the disaster, key women of the church - led by Edith, the pastor's take-charge wife - gather in what's left (the fellowship hall)

Musical / 16m, 9f"The founding fathers got their own musical with 1776, so why not Abe?" - Playbill.comAbe is a new musical about the early life of Abraham Lincoln. The show explores his youth as a flatboat pilot on the Mississippi, his early love for Ann Rutledge, his troubled marriage to the difficult and mentally fragile Mary Todd, and his attempt to be a good father to his sons. The story follows Abe from his earliest attempts at self-improvement through the 1860 election which made him

A new collection of shorts from Don Nigro, including: GORGONS (2f ) Ruth and her rival Mildred are aging movie stars in the 1960s. They have in their time been goddesses of the screen, but now both are on the skids and desperate for work. Mildred is doing obscure theatre under spartan conditions when Ruth comes to her with a film script. It's a horror movie called Gorgons, about two insane and homicidal sisters. Both long to be famous again, so they agree to do the movie, with comical results.

Contents:Dutch InteriorsFrench GoldRat WivesRhiannonThe Rooky Wood

Musical Comedy / 6f (ages 28 - 50+)"They sing -- they dance -- they die!"A hotel ballroom, 1998, and six voluptuous B-movie "Scream Queens" revive their fading acting careers by presenting a musical revue for their fans at a science fiction and horror film convention. From young newbie to seasoned grand dame, the Queens strut their stuff in song and dance to prove "I Got All of the Talent I Need." For 90 minutes of hilarious musical mayhem, they take the audience into the world of no-budget

Comedy / 2m, 2f / Single Set In Skin Deep, a large, lovable, lonely-heart, named Maureen Mulligan, gives romance one last shot on a blind-date with sweet awkward Joseph Spinelli; she's learned to pepper her speech with jokes to hide insecurities about her weight and appearance, while he's almost dangerously forthright, saying everything that comes to his mind. They both know they're perfect for each other, and in time they come to admit it. They were set up on the date by Maureen's sister Sheil

Dramatic Comedy / 9m, 3f / InteriorIt's the 2007 NFL season and the Detroit Lions are on a winning streak - unfortunately out of work steelworker John Waite is not. With humor and humanity, playwright Vince Melocchi offers a glimpse into The Tenth Ward Club, where the patrons place their hopes on their team, and attempt to escape the creeping demise of their city and of their way of life."[Lions] is a drama that speaks directly to our country's current state of affairs, which is to say it's a play about unemployment, hardship and economic collapse. If that sounds like a depressing thematic lineup, the play itself is far from being a downer. 'Lions' takes an unsentimental look at a ravaged cross-section of present-day Detroit and tells a story of compassion in a cold climate....Melocchi's play is a smart, humanistic...observation of working-class survivalism." - Los Angeles Times"Lions is about hope...about the endurance of a middle class getting squeezed...finding life amid the lifeless" - Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press"...an all-around touching portrait of Middle America, a reminder that 'real Americans' need not be so reductively characterized as Joe the Plumber." - L.A. Weekly

Musical Comedy / Characters: 3 male, 2 femaleA Don't Hug Me County Fair is the summer sequel to the smash hit musical comedies Don't Hug Me and A Don't Hug Me Christmas Carol!It's summer time and the Bunyan County Fair is approaching, the biggest thing that's happened in Bunyan Bay since the winter carnival snowplow parade. This year the Bunyan County Fair means one thing to Gunner and Clara Johnson, owners of a little bar called The Bunyan; The Miss Walleye Queen Competition. Bernice, the pretty waitress, sees this as her big chance to win Miss Walleye Queen, to be discovered, and more important, to have her face carved in butter at the Minnesota State Fair. The stakes have never been higher in Bunyan Bay. The trouble begins when Gunner's wife, Clara, decides she also wants to win Miss Walleye Queen. Bigger trouble arrives when Gunner's estranged twin sister, Trigger, (played by Gunner) shows up to try to win the beauty pageant.Featuring 18 original songs including, "My Campfire is Burnin'," "I'm a Bunyan Woman," "If I Could Win Miss Walleye Queen," "Pontoon Ladies,", "I'm Just a Pretty Forest Ranger," and "Our Butter Face Queen."

Full Length, Drama / 2m, 3f, chorus / Simple set.This meditation on the horror of war set in 1990 brings the spirit of Euripides to a Serbian detention camp for Muslim women. Men are pitted against women, Christians against Muslims, and Croats against Serbs in a drama that bares the inner conflicts that result when society is governed by illogical ethnic hatreds. A hard boiled, devoutly Christian guard is torn by conflicting inner voices as he interrogates a prisoner and her mother about an ex