Books published by Samuel French Ltd

"Based on the old folk story of 'Juan Darien' by Horacio Quiroja [i.e. Quiroga], relating the morlaistic [i.e. moralistic?] value of 'a life for a life' and the transformation it makes in the life of the avenger, the animal becomes a human and then reverts back to an animal by an act of revenge"--Page 4 of cover.

Cougar The Musical unleashes three divine but disillusioned women who develop a taste for hot, young men. They let their inner cougar roar and purr, finding self-love and empowerment in the process. The sexy, ferocious cast of three fabulous-over-forty women and one multi-talented boy toy sing and dance their way through a satiating range of original songs, from grinding blues, to doo-wop, to pop to "Julio," a romantic ballad, sung to a vibrator. Hilarious, soulful and heartwarming, Co

Allen and Michelle have been living together for eighteen months. It is the first real relationship for both of them. Michelle thinks they should marry; Allen isn't sure. His hesitancy drives her home to her parents for advice. Michelle's Father isn't aware that it is Allen's mother he has been seeing for the last six months and would now like to get rid of, nor does Michelle's mother know that it is Allen's father she has just spent the night with and would like to see more of. The pieces fall

JC Lee's probing play about a suspicious teenager addresses issues of privlege, race, and trust. When a teacher makes an alarming discovery about Luce, an all-star high school student, Luce's parents are forced to reckon with their idealized image of their son, adopted years ago from a war-torn African country. Told primarily from the perspective of the adults, Luce also raises questions about the roles that parents and teachers play in the lives of these teenage students.

Hampton has a problem. He is a vampire and tired of being invisible. Against the wishes of his family, he appears on television, contracts to write a book and heads up a movement to establish vampires as a recognized minority group in America. What follows is a public that wishes to exploit him, a government that wants to suppress him and a family that wants to disown him. Lurking in the background is Lord Evido, a.k.a. Earl. He is Hampton's worst fear: an old fashioned vampire who knows the dan

Jay, an up and coming reporter at The New York Times has dreams of becoming a famous journalist. But in a flash, they come crashing down when he becomes the center of a plagarism scandal. Gabe McKinley weaves a revealing and complex story about the collatoral damage of unchecked ambition and compounded lies. In this new play inspired by current events, truth becomes slippery and racial tensions reach a boiling point.

A fictionalized account of two black South African actors who have traveled to America to perform but are caught up in the world's boycott of their country's apartheid system.

An American entrepreneur has found the perfect Scottish island on which to build his new golf course. But as secrets - and bodies - are unearthed, the true nature of the island wreaks comic havoc.

Sword Against the Sea is an adaptation of William Butler Yeats' six one-act plays and some of his most stirring poems about the Celtic hero Cuchulain. Arranged in the chronological order of Cuchulain's life and drawing exclusively on Yeats' own magnificent poetry, this two-act play presents the hero's failed attempt as a young man to achieve eternal life at the Hawk's Well; his tragic slaying of his own son and the realization that drives him in despair to fight the sea; his wife Emer's noble sacrifice to save his life by renouncing her love; and Cuchulain's death and spiritual transcendence as an aged warrior. Like the original Yeats' Cuchulain plays themselves, this adaptation calls for collaborations among different kinds of artists in the creation of masks, the use of dance and the possibility of including instrumental and sung music. These Cuchulain plays and poems are compressed, simplified, and reshaped for a rich, uplifting evening of theater.

.".. a raucous, irreverent and unfiltered new musical comedy. Enter an America where the government is in your kitchen, sniffing for outlawed cigarettes! The extreme anti-smoking laws test the sanity of one suburban family. Pam is having an impossible time trying to quit. Her husband Ernie retreats to the basement to relive the rock star dreams of his youth, while their teenage son Jimmy only turns away from his videogames to explore his gangster rapper persona. Adding to the dysfunctional dynamic is anti-smoking fanatic Phyllis, the neighbor who can't keep her nose out of everyone else's business. "--Page 4 of cover.

The Amish Project is a fictional exploration of the Nickel Mines schoolhouse shooting in an Amish community and the path of forgiveness and compassion forged in its wake. Originally a solo show, The Amish Project has now been adapted for an ensemble.

SPAIN: Barbara, recently deserted by her husband of five years, discovers a Conquistador in her living room. Though she has had vivid fantasies about Spain, the Conquistador and his cruel and bloodthirsty approach to life were never part of them...until now. Through him and a maze of real and imaginary characters--including her best friend Diversion, a Mayan Ancient, and a very familiar guitar player--Barbara sorts through the leftovers and finds her Duende.SALTIMBANQUES: Before she died, Jam

Vanities: The Musical chronicles the life-affirming journey of three vivacious Texas teens from cheerleaders to sorority sisters to housewives to liberated women and beyond. This musical captures a snapshot-sharp portrait of the lives, loves, disappointments, and dreams of these young women growing up during the turbulent sixties and seventies and reconnecting in the late 1980s. With a tunefully evocative score by David Kirshenbaum (Summer of '42) and Jack Heifner's hilarious adaptation of his long-running Off-Broadway smash, Vanities: The Musical is a funny and poignant look at three best friends who discover that, through thirty years of rapidly changing times, the one thing they can rely on is each other.

"Premiered at the Public Theatre as part of the Summer Play Festival in June 2009."

Winner! 2011 Obie for Playwriting A New York Times Critic's Pick! Invasion! is a tornado of words, images and ideas, all centered around a magical name: Abulkasem. The play assaults our deepest prejudices about identity, race and language. At once hilarious, disturbing and poignant, this deeply subversive play deconstructs a threatening identity - the Arabic male - and forces us to confront our own cultural identity.

Characters: 6 male, 3 female Interior Robert Montgomery calls his Subject To Fits not an adaptation but "a response to Dostoyevsky's The Idiot, smacking of The Idiot, dreaming of The Idiot, but mostly taking off from where The Idiot drove it."Prince Myshkin, a pure soul just released from an epilepsy clinic, is thrown into the mad whirl of St. Petersburg society. His child-like honesty steals the hearts of two competing women: the aris

Characters: 5 male, 1 female Genre: Drama Unit Set Jeff is a Minneapolis sports anchor who hasn't had a drink in years - not a drop. When he hears that his 23 year-old daughter Margo's stutter has caused her to stop speaking altogether, he heads out into the bracing winter night to bring her a gift for her birthday. All he needs to do is find an all-night pet store. And convince someone to tell him where Margo lives. And maybe stop for a drink. Just one..."

Characters: 2 male, 2 female Int. Two jurors on a grisly murder trial become romantically involved. As the trial progresses, they realize they disagree adamantly on the verdict. Their story unfolds to a frightening climax while a couple in a different time frame occupies the same apartment and plays out a bizarre relationship also tied to the Stanway case. Here is a psychological thriller by the veteran playwright of Norman Is that You?, Murder at the Howard Johnson's

ComedyCharacters: 4 male, 1 female When New Jersey Gaffing Assistant Al Gurvis accidentally gets his new business cards swapped with those of real-estate agent Eileen Lee, he's mildly annoyed. Little does he know that this tiny mix up has sparked a chain reaction which will ultimately ruin his life. A comedy about waking up from the American Dream. A New York Times Critic's Pick! "Plenty of young writers hit on a good opening gimmick for a play but don't know where to go

Characters 1 male, 1 female Dramatic ComedyIn this play of letters, a young official in a college alumni off ce invites a celebrated but reclusive author to the thirty-fifth reunion of his class. When he declines, she charmingly prods him, and thereby begins a witty and revelatory correspondence that becomes part mystery, part memory, and part romance. Rich and revealing." - The New Yorker "Written beautifully as a series of letters, this warm and satisfying work follows in the footsteps of A.R. Gurney's Love Letters and deserves to become just as enduringly popular... Cahn serves up something of a bona fide thriller along with the genuinely wise psychological insights that lie at the heart of Roses in December, keeping us riveted until the final word has been read." -NYTheatre.com

Dramatic MusicalCharacters: 8 male, 5 femaleThis musical revolves around a boy named Lucius Sims. With his sea-green eyes more displaced than most people's and a nose deformed at birth, Lucius, or "Lizard" as he is called by his friends at the Leesville State School for Retarded Boys, looks and feels like a freak due to his reptilian features. So when Callahan, a shoe salesman from up North arrives and claims to be his father, Lizard takes a chance. Believing that his father is dead, he escapes from his miserable life at the reformatory and into the madcap world of Callahan's traveling theater troupe and their ragtag production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. His journey with the charismatic yet brooding Callahan is at the heart of this deeply affecting story as Lizard touches the lives of all that know him and in his search to find a real "home," Lizard just might find a world in which he can truly be accepted and set his spirit free. "Impressive...Every bit as sweeping and panoramic as anything on Broadway!" -Variety. "This production shines. It's a wistful coming-of-age odyssey with shades of Charles Dickens and Mark Twain." -Backstage West. "Outstanding! Very touching! This entire show is resplendent with heart, soul and captivating music." -ReviewPlays.com

Dramatic Comedy / Characters: 5m, 5f"Roy, is this a dream?A dream, a story, high school, insanity. It's hard to tell sometimes, isn't it?"A high school Homecoming dance in the south. In the bathroom Gretchen Black, the most popular girl in school, lights a cigarette and asks the mirror on the wall who's the fairest of them all. The mirror shows her a horrible witch instead of her own reflection. Gretchen puts the cigarette out in her armpit and the witch disappears. Moments later a mysteri

Characters: 2m, 3f / Historic/Docu DramaPassionate. Brilliant. Defiant. Tonight, 18th century scientific genius Emilie du Châtelet is back and determined to answer the question she died with: love or philosophy, head or heart? In this highly theatrical rediscovery of one of history's most intriguing women, Emilie defends her life and loves; and ends up with both a formula and a legacy that permeates history."Gunderson possesses an antic imagination that seeks to invent its own rules. As soo

Wings of Madness:Short Play, Southern DramaCharacters: 1 femaleInterior SetSet in a tacky funeral parlor on a highway outside New Orleans, a murdered beauty taunts the audience, exposing her bare unshrouded back, and explaining why she was murdered. Other imaginary characters--her husband and daughter--add an eerie quality to her already surreal tale.Turtle Soup: Short Play, Southern ComedyCharacters: 1 male, 1 female

>Short Play, Comedy Characters: 2 male, 2 femaleBare stage w/props.A Southern comedy about mature love found later in life, and the trouble and insight that such discoveries can bring. Though well-warned, Kitten, a runaway housewife, decides to travel with her Tulane professor, Beau, on a train trip through the Louisiana swamp. Their plans are upset when her son, Bunky, in an effort to punish her, shows up as a stowaway on the train. Kitten and Beau struggle through their disappointments, mourning the futility of their lives, while the hurricane brewing outside the train builds toward its inevitable whirlwind of destruction. Also available in A Louisiana Gentleman and other New Orleans Comedies.

Short Play, DramaCharacters: 1 maleOne exterior set or bare stageA young writer faces love, death, and the challenges of creating a joyful life. Setting: Rocky coast of Ireland in the 1930's.

Dramatic Comedy / 2m, 1f / Interior An eccentric widower, Mack has been a stay-at-home dad for twenty years, his daily existence revolving around his son Billy. Not only can't he let go, Mack's convinced he's more needed than ever. First up is pulling Billy from a dead-end copy shop job and enrollment in culinary school-after all, he was a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-off. Then Mack discovers that Billy, adopted from infancy, has contacted his birthmother, a Washington, DC secretary about to make a first trip to New York City. Panicky Mack spends a sleepless three days coaching his son, determined to impress Adela with Billy's upbringing-and their indestructible father-son bond. Over a snowy Easter weekend, these three square off. Confronting timid Adela, Billy's romanticized ideas about his identity are turned inside out, as Mack's deepest insecurities surface. Mack is convinced the woman will psychologically lay claim to the child she gave up two decades earlier. Yet for Adela, a lasting reconnection with the boy couldn't be further from her mind. With abundant humor, Easter Monday addresses what it means to be a parent, and to be parented, illuminating both the pain and joy in finally saying goodbye to childhood. "....An interesting examination of an unusual father-son relationship... The Sondheim lyrics 'stay a child while you can be a child' are embodied in Mack, the overprotective father. In his eagerness to keep his adopted son Billy with him, Mack has in essence tried to keep him a child. He creates a wonderful world of nostalgia that is very moving... Easter Monday holds our interest, and Corley has written some beautifully evocative lines ... " -Connie Meng, NPR Radio Character Descriptions: MACK: 55-ish; a radically sentimental, unapologetic Pollyanna; unselfconscious, devoid of vanity, he's alternately tender, prickly, impatient, cuddly, bullying, at times fiercely defensive and aggressively paternal. BILLY: Mack's son, 20; attractively boyish, yet preternaturally world-weary; gentle, introspective and cautious, he has developed a short fuse, and though desperate to avoid confrontation, he can turn combative. ADELA: Billy's birthmother; 35; unprepossessing, plain-spoken and intensely focused on whatever meager task is at hand; though decidedly meek, she's capable of standing up for the truth - and herself. Please contact Samuel French, Inc. (www.samuelfrench.com) for performance licensing inquiries.

Judges selected from the audience actually vote and determine the winner who, therefore, may be different at each performance. The show takes its shots not by mocking the pageant from the outside, but by being one. The six contestants compete for the title of Miss Glamouresse (Glamouresse being a cosmetics company). Miss Deep South, Miss West Coast, Miss Great Plains, Miss Bible Belt, Miss Industrial Northeast. and Miss Texas and compete in evening gowns, talent, swim-wear and spokemodeling, plus the finalists answer actual calls from the Glamouresse Beauty Crisis Hotline.

DramaCharacters: 4 male, 3 female Interior Set This poignant drama about a dysfunctional Jewish family in Massachusetts is structured as a memory play. Roddy Stern recalls what it was like growing up in a family dominated by his paranoid and pathologically jealous father, a truck driver who lurked outside his house instead of working to catch his wife with other men. A long suffering and abused saint, Roddy's mother raised two children in this difficult environment. Roddy's

Comedy / Characters: 5 male, 2 femaleScenery Requirements: Simple setPeter and Madeline have been friends since they were teenagers in Queens. They have Manhattan apartments and separate unsatisfactory sex lives. Though more loving than most couples and searching for partners, they are incompatible: he is gay. Maddi is overweight and drawn to men who treat her badly. He hides behind snappy retorts and skepticism. Maddie's alcoholic mother, Peter's father, lovers, pickups and friends with A