Books published by Samuel French Ltd

Full Length, Tragic comedy Characters: 4 male, 3 female Exterior Set The sixth in the author's decade by decade exploration of the black experience in America, two of which have won Pulitzer Prizes, Seven Guitars is part bawdy comedy, part dark elegy and part mystery. In the backyard of a Pittsburgh tenement in 1948, friends gather to mourn for a blues guitarist and singer who died just as his career was on the verge of taking off. The action that follows is

“There was a wild kid living in Burgess Woods. He had no famly and he had no pals and he didn’t know where he come from and he couldn’t talk. His wepons wer old kitchen nives and forks and an ax. He was savage. He was truly wild.”Blue Bake’s at home with his mum and his little sister, Jess. He’s writing a story. Not all that stuff about wizards and happy ever after – a real story about blood and guts and trouble, because that’s what life’s really like. At least it is for Blue, since his Dad died, and Hopper the bully started knocking him about. But Blue’s story takes on a life of its own, weird and dangerous and wild. The savage that he creates on the page and in his dreams comes to life in the real world, and seems set on bringing chaos and revenge. Can Blue keep his creation under control? Can the savage even bring Blue and his family a kind of peace?David Almond’s own adaptation of his acclaimed graphic novel created with Dave McKean and published in translation around the world.

ComedyCharacters: 10 male, 5 female, plus extrasScenery: Unit setBased on the hugely successful British television series that ran for seven seasons, this uproarious comedy relates the adventures of a hapless cafe owner, Rene, in occupied France. You can see all of your favorite TV characters in the flesh, including Rene''s tone-deaf wife Edith, Major-General von Klinkerhoffen and the Gestapo officer Herr Flick!He and his wife have stashed a priceless portrait stolen by the Nazis in a sausage in their cellar, where two British airmen are also hiding until the Resistance can repatriate them. Communications with London using the wireless that is disguised as a cockatoo add to the many embarrassments this intrepid proprietor endures in the company of his patrons. News that the Fuhrer is scheduled to visit the town inspires tricksters disguised as Hitler to frequent the cafe. Meanwhile Rene summons all the wit he can muster to save his cafe and his life.

Colin must be comforted in his grief over the death of his fiancee so his friends, who never met the girl, arrange a tea party for him. Understandably they are on edge wondering what to say, but there is more to their unease: Diane and Paul, John and Evelyn, and Marge and her husband are perpetually out of circulation with trivial illnesses are all kept together by a mixture of business and cross-marital emotional ties. By the time Colin arrives for tea, their tenseness contrasts dramatically with his air of cheerful relaxation. He is the only happy one among them and his happiness and insensitive analyses of their troubles causes each of them to break down.

Feydeau's hilarious farce Occupe-toi d'Amélie is here translated in a lively new version - seen at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, under the title She's in Your Hands! Marcel will inherit one million francs - on his wedding day. Unwilling to relinquish his bachelorhood, but in dire need of cash, he persuades Amélie, a cocotte, to act as his fiancee for benefit of his godfather. But events don't go according to plan!|5 women, 13 men

"Waiting for Godot" has become one of the most important and enigmatic plays of the past 50 years and a cornerstone of 20th-century drama. The story revolves around two seemingly homeless men waiting for someone--or something--named Godot. The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense, which has been interpreted as mankind's inexhaustible search for meaning.

The world's greatest physicist, Johann Wilhelm Mobius, is in a madhouse, haunted by recurring visions of King Solomon. He is kept company by two other equally deluded scientists: one who thinks he is Einstein, another who believes he is Newton. It soon becomes evident, however, that these three are not as harmlessly lunatic as they appear. Are they, in fact, really mad? Or are they playing some murderous game, with the world as the stake? For Mobius has uncovered the mystery of the universe--and therefore the key to its destruction--and Einstein and Newton are vying for this secret that would enable them to rule the earth.

Ireland, 2048. Edel and Liam have been married for 37 years. They live in a small, isolated farmhouse at the foot of a mountain. The world is ending and we meet them in their final hour of life before everything is wiped out entirely.Their children have grown up and moved away and now they live together, alone. They take drugs, say goodbye to old friends and former lovers, air old grievances, argue, bicker and ultimately, try to reconcile their relationship.They will do this until the end of time. Flanked by his fellow Goons and bolstered by the efforts of irrepressible sound assistant Janet, Spike takes a flourishing nosedive off the cliffs of respectability and mashes up his haunted past to create the comedy of the future. His war with Hitler may be over, but his war with Auntie Beeb - and ultimately himself - has just begun. Will Spike's dogged obsession with finding the funny elevate The Goons to soaring new heights, or will the whole thing come crashing down with the stroke of a potato peeler?

Three career girls who share an apartment make an agreement that one night a week two must clear out, leaving the third one free to cook dinner for her boyfriend. Maudie doesn't have a boyfriend, but pride prompts her to invent one. She borrows clothes from the male tenant upstairs to provide circumstantial evidence. The evidence proves too circumstantial for comfort, and the arrival of the wife from upstairs precipitates a crisis.

The story of the development of a humorless young Scotchman whose great political success is due entirely to his wife. A young and very earnest Scotch youth steals into the home of well-to-do people in order to get books to help him get on in the world. He is caught in the act and makes an agreement with the family whereby they are to support him until he gets his start. In return for this, he is to marry the very plain daughter of the family. He sticks to his promise, and the woman makes him a success. In the end he comes to realize the great charm and remarkable ability of the girl who has helped him.

In Darkest America contains the plays The Eclipse and Tone Clusters. The Eclipse: A middle aged professor lives with her ailing mother. The old lady, once a brilliant teacher, moves in and out of reality, has a fantasy Latin lover, and makes her daughter's life miserable. One night she whirls in a torrid dance with her lover while her daughter sleeps; death has released both from suffering. This haunting play by one of America's foremost authors was commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville for the Humana Festival and was subsequently produced Off Broadway. Tone Clusters: Frank and Emily are a nice couple with a house in a nice neighborhood. Why are they under so much strain? They are interviewed by an unseen interrogator and their story emerges: the body of a 14 year old girl was found in their basement and their son is charged with the murder. Do they share in the guilt? Could we find ourselves in their situation?

Joan has been hired to stabilize Jojomon, a yoga apparel giant, after its CEO is brought down by a fat-shaming scandal. But just as she finds her stride, more trouble surfaces and sales plummet. Joan comes up with a plan so risky that it could make or break the company and her career-and what it requires from her CFO, Raj, is far beyond the call of duty. This sharp comedy asks what it takes to find your own authenticity in a world determined to sell enlightenment.

Sanam Shah, a mathematician, and Ariel Spiegel, a biologist, are Ph.D. candidates and best friends working together to discover the cause of colony collapse disorder - the urgent, ecological crisis where bees are disappearing around the world in alarming numbers. Just as they are about to publish a career-defining new paper on the subject, calling for a ban on commercial pesticides, Sanam realizes that the numbers don't add up to support their conclusion. Should she look the other way for the sake of environmental action, or should she stand by her scientific principles, even if it means ceding ground to an ecological disaster, jeopardizing her career and losing her best friend?

When two middle-aged married couples take a weekend trip to celebrate a milestone birthday, they find themselves pondering elusive romance and contemplating what comes next. This unorthodox comedic love story proves that rejuvenation can be found at any age.

When Roger Kenton invites an important South American client to his country cottage for the weekend, it is with the idea of getting the client¿s signature on a contract by Sunday night. Things don¿t go according to plan, however. Roger¿s wife Vickie goes home to mother, which is awkward, since the client will only do business with a happy family man. Even more awkward, Vickie comes back again, just as Roger has succeeded in arranging a temporary ¿ and very glamorous ¿ replacement for her.|3 women, 5 men

Adrienne Barbeau (on the east coast) and Eva Longoria (on the west coast) have headed casts of this crazy, slapstick farce which takes pre-wedding jitters to nightmare proportions. In a posh New York hotel, just before Walter and Wendy are scheduled to say "I do," Walter's zipper becomes attached to his bride's sister's dress during a last-minute act of infidelity. Meanwhile, Wendy is having a fling with the best man. This finely-tuned exercise in physical comedy zips from one hilarious situation to the next as all try to hide their exploits and make it to the church on time.

Since the disappearance of her husband seveteen years before, Jane Mannion has lived a life of seclusion on the cornish coast with her children, David and Vanessa and a macabre old woman called Ellen. Suspected by local gossips of poisoning her husband (her mother was also a suspected poisoner) she shuns village society and extends a grudging welcome to her sons fiancee Maureen and her father. This last is a lawyer with a firm belief in hereditary, and he wants to make a through check of his future son-in-law's family history. When a body is found in a disused mine shaft on the moors he discovers more than he has bargained for...|4 women, 4 men

When these one-acts were produced Off Broadway in New York, they were hailed as plays that bend your perceptions of theatre. In One for the Money, a man walks in asking the audience for donations. What does he really want? Moroccan Travel Guide is a visceral show and tells of a journey that begins in a boat in a dark cave. In The Queen of the Parting Shot, a woman desperately searches for an old memory. A runner-up contestant in The Audition is asked to give his second-prize performance. In the

A truly Grand Guignol play, with rapacious servants, venomous Dobermans, meat hooks, and mutilations. In a gothic mansion in England lives a grande dame with three servants and, on this occasion, a small grandson whose parents are traveling abroad. Two men masquerading as telephone repairmen abduct the grandson for ransom, and the grandmother, in order to keep hidden certain family skeletons, readily pays. But then the bloody machinations begin, and before the grisly ending there are multiple disclosures, including the discovery of a Nazi death camp commandant.

When Millie, an elderly helper at Westway Rest Home, dies seemingly impoverished, the authorities refuse to pay funeral expenses. Eddie, Millie's friend, is enraged and alerts a journalist, Lisa. Millie is pushed into the limelight when she's found to have won a million pounds. Immediately two money-grabbing relatives appear, but Lisa finds Millie's illegitimate daughter, uncovering a heartbreaking story which finally vindicates Millie.|4 women, 2 men

This humor-filled tale of political corruption, ingratitude, and revenge concerns an idealistic young Washington attorney who persuades her former law professor, a man of lofty rhetoric, to run for Congress. Ideals shrivel in the Washington air as the professor is swept into an insider's circle that includes a leering, power-drunk senator and a slinky, Southern power broker. When the heroine is snubbed by the politically powerful at a fancy restaurant, her hurt feelings precipitate an all-out war. She promotes a sex scandal that unexpectedly makes her the darling of the religious right.

The story of the choice of Paris (set as a holiday camp competition complete with compère), the abduction of Helen, the Trojan War and the Wooden Horse, is told in modern jazz terms, but in this version no-one is hurt - except Achilles in the heel - and all ends happily!|21 women or men

Keen Teens is a unique and free educational theatre program run by the Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company. Keen Teens seeks to improve the quality of plays written for high school students by commissioning scripts from highly regarded playwrights and gives students the opportunity to work with professional artists in an Off-Broadway setting. This collection includes:Foreign Bodies(5m, 5f)Alphonse the bartender will always listen to your sob story as he pours you a drink. And everyone in his bar seems to have one. Mallory struggles with her all-consuming love for Trish. Everyone seems to be struggling with something. Until they aren't. All is not as it seems at this neighborhood watering hole.The Rebellious Rhymes of J Nice(8f)The whole school gathers to cheer on the epic rap battle between the challenger, J Nice, and the champion, Makeda. Both are MCs with mad skills rhyming for the Championship of the South Bronx. "There aren't really any rules but just don't take sh*t too far."Citizens United(1f, 16m or f)A comedy about the end of American democracy. Well, not the end, but a pretty drastic assault that came from within by five people who can't be voted out, five men who will keep that job till they quit or die. Though granted, one of them is already dead.

Lali and Beng are hostages. No one knows where they've been taken or if they're alive. Or, maybe their story has been broadcast to the world? A story about intimacy, surrender, and the will to live for someone else.

Poor Jefferson! He's only looking for a quiet place to make lamps from empty liquor bottles. Through an oversight, the two women - one a psychiatrist - haven't checked out of the hotel suite assigned to him. The psychiatrist, seeing the bottles and mistaking him for a man who phoned seeking help for the DTs, attempts to give him "the cure." Then a temperance lady shows up - and it's a riotous finale!

The three Holloway brothers have a real problem. Their string of casual restaurants is failing - the black sheep, youngest brother Rollie owes money to every bookie in town, and they need to sell the family beach house to recapitalize the business.

When her mother dies, Sara Crewe is sent from India, where she was born, to a private school in London. She is banished to the garret when news arrives of her fathers loss of fortune and his disappearance. With a creative imagination and spirited optimism, Sara survives to become an inspiration for girls and boys everywhere. Featuring musical underscoring and two songs, this is a perfect show for the entire family. It is ideal for holiday presentations. Originally produced by the New York State Theatre Institute.