Books published by Samuel French Ltd

Her talent is legendary; her true story more electrifying than you'd ever imagine. She is Judy Garland. Adrienne Barbeau starred in this fictional backstage account of Judy's final concert appearance. With her wicked wit, Judy dishes the dirt on her MGM co-stars, her husbands, and more...taking us down the yellow brick road of her incredible life.

Amélie is an extraordinary young woman who lives quietly in the world but loudly in her mind. She covertly improvises small but surprising acts of kindness that bring joy and mayhem. But when a chance at love comes her way, Amélie realizes that to find happiness she'll have to risk everything and say what's in her heart. Be inspired by this imaginative dreamer who finds her voice, discovers the power of connection, and sees possibility around every corner.

The original version of The Quaker Girl was first produced at the Adelphi Theatre in 1910 where it ran for 536 performances and was subsequently played all over the world.

Anne and Mervyn, a seemingly well-settled middle-aged couple, are awaiting the arrival of Helen and David, a younger couple who were formerly their neighbors and close friends. Their reunion begins on a light and humorous note, but as the after-dinner talk grows more serious we become aware that the two couples had once engaged in an adulterous arrangement-and both have found it difficult to deal with the self-recriminations which this has created. Mervyn has begun to drink more than he should; Anne is coldly cynical; and Helen and David have turned to group therapy. But their problems still remain and, as the conversation becomes more revealing-and provocative-the underlying values of human existence are drawn into question.|2 women, 2 men

In this high-octane dramatic comedy laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and 90s pop culture, acclaimed young playwright Qui Nguyen offers a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within us all.

Here is a play about commitment and responsibility in love. Jack, an aspiring actor, is serious about his career but not about his girlfriend, Martha, an aspiring dancer. They drift along on a cloud of good times, until Martha gets pregnant. By the time Jack realizes he wants to make an emotional commitment to Martha and their child, she has had the baby and put it up for adoption. Martha becomes a self-sufficient contemporary woman; it is Jack who will hurt forever from the pain of eternal separation from his child.

Lovelorn millionaire Oliver Stratton can't recall the name and address of the only woman he'll ever love and decides to go to Tibet, leaving his fortune to nurse Peggy. This causes the entire household (no-good nephew Derek, his lover Sylvia, Oliver's noble son George, Oliver's lady lawyer, and even the butler and maid) to devise complex ways to get the will changed in their favor or get into the safe containing the estate's liquidated assets in cold cash. When a Tibetan lamasery recruiter comes to claim Oliver, Derek plots to convince Oliver that Peggy is addicted to drink and unworthy to inherit. He brings in anti-drink crusader Cora Van Beck to rehabilitate stone-sober Peggy. Plots, partnerships, betrayals, zany ploys, plus all sorts of devices are used in this screamingly funny show in which the secret killer prepares to bump Oliver off when the will gets rewritten the right way. A hilarious, audience-pleasing hit.

A mild, young reporter comes to interview the current motion picture goddess as she lounges for a massage. He encounters a high-powered agent who, for successive ten percents of the reporter's soul, arranges for the goddess to fall madly in love with him, and even wins an Oscar for him. But, in the third act, with little percent of his soul left, the writer manages to wrench free from both Hollywood and the goddess. Orson Bean played the original Broadway role as the ineffectual reporter, and garnered many laughs as he dodged the actress' husky boyfriend and tumbled upstairs from one success to another.

The spectacular new musical about discovering who you are and defining who you're meant to be.From Tony winners Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, creators of such Broadway classics as Ragtime and Once On This Island, this dazzling show transports its audience from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the euphoria of Paris in the 1920s, as a brave young woman sets out to discover the mystery of her past. Pursued by a ruthless Soviet officer determined to silence her, Anya enlists the aid of a dashing con man and a lovable ex-aristocrat. Together, they embark on an epic adventure to help her find home, love and family.

In this adaptation of the famous story the time scale has been altered so that the action is continuous. The story-teller's songs, which are included in the text, can be sung by the doctor or, the author suggests, could be played as Hans Andersen himself telling the story from a position outside the main acting area.|2 women, 6 men

A zany tale of a warmhearted girl who mistakes a telephone repairman for a burglar, tries to save him from his life of crime, and ends up having to pretend he's her husband - dismaying her strait-laced sister's evangelist fiancé. This play had critics and audiences cheering both at the Maryland and the Chicago premiere productions.

Jason Kingsley is treasurer of a billion-dollar patent medicine corporation that requires its officers to be married. Jason claims his wife has a rare disease that prevents her from entertaining or attending corporate functions. A cure is accidentally discovered in one of the company's patent medicines, and Jason's ecstatic boss is arriving any minute with the company doctor to administer the cure and then bask in the publicity. Jason, however, doesn't really have a wife, so he cons his fiancée Nicki into pretending to be invalid. Other imposters appear: Poopsie Magruder, who initially refused, shows up anyhow, and Vonga the Jungle Girl was pressed into service by the helpful housekeeper. The cure involves a two-inch needle in the armpit, and it develops that the disease is contagious, which only complicates the hilarity.

A husband and wife are caught in a complicated and perverse spiral of sexual fantasies that enable them to keep their marriage alive.

The retired Colonel, his niece Lesley, and his friend the Major - a retired army medical officer - are living, to all intents and purposes, a happy, quiet life together in the Colonel's country home. The play opens as they are having tea with a close friend of the Colonel's daughter, Diana, who died apparently from an overdose of drugs three years previously. The Colonel has not recovered from the shock and believes his daughter is away for a time. They are disturbed by the arrival of a stranger who is investigating Diana's death and the tranquillity begins to unravel.|3 women, 5 men

Here is a comedy of manners set in the first class smoking lounge of the Titanic on the night she took fifteen hundred people into the depths. It highlights the nobility of those who chose, for varying reasons, to remain on board. Ida Straus could not let her beloved husband of thirty-nine years die alone. To John Jacob Astor, the richest man in the world, the self-sacrifice was a matter of etiquette. Discrimination played a part for those like Thomas Kilgannon, an agricultural laborer from County Galway who was locked below in steerage with other immigrants until all of the lifeboats were full of first and second class passengers. Though some liberties are taken in bringing nine diverse personalities together on the night that most of them would perish, their individual stories are accurate and have long since become legends, if only to their own families.

A collection of short plays selected by New York theatre critics, professionals, and the editorial staff of Samuel French, Inc. as the most important plays of the 17th Annual Off Off Broadway Original Short Play Festival, sponsored by Love Creek Productions. This collection includes: Correct Address by Judd Silverman, Cowboys, Indians & Waitresses by Raymond King Shurtz, Homebound by Lyndall Callahan, The Road to Nineveh by Le Wilhelm, Your Life is a Feature Film by Alan Minieri

Kiss breaks open cultural barriers as a group of Western actors interpreting a Syrian play slowly realize the limits of their own understanding, and the suffocating effect of an oppressive, omnipresent regime.

Janet hosts an intimate gathering of friends in her London home to celebrate her political ascension. After her acerbic best friend and others arrive, some with dramatic news to share, an announcement by Janet's husband provokes a series of revelations. As the sophisticated soirée starts to unravel, a night that began with champagne soon ends with arguments, shouting, and a pointed gun.

If God Wanted Us to Fly He Would Have Given Us Wings! is a set of three one-act plays, all spoofing the airlines. Plays include Terminal Terror, On Hold at 30,000 Feet, and Identity Crisis.

The Hapgoods are a typical suburban family, neither rich nor poor. They are affectionate in their various ways, but Mrs Hapgood is too sentimentally possessive, a fact which the children find rather frustrating. As the children grow up, marry and move on, the family circle fragments.|4 women, 5 men

Silva Ring is a world-famous singer with a severe hang-up about her age. When a Swedish interviewer produces her true birth certificate, she resorts to increasingly desperate measures to prove him wrong. With help from her long-term housekeeper, Dolores, Silva pretends to be her own sister, Iris, a tough lady who can make tough decisions. Silva's lover, a footballer, her agent, and Dolores all suffer from the iron rule of Iris. Lola Wales, an old singer, is brought in to be an aunt, and a petty forger is persuaded to attempt to destroy Silva's files at the Family Record Center. After a wild climax during which Silva scores a goal at Wembley Stadium, she can no longer juggle all her lies and subterfuges, and she escapes by having a bogus nervous breakdown. A victim of fame and wealth, she wins in the end and emerges stronger than ever.

One of Manhattan's most established play festivals, the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival fosters the work of emerging writers, giving them the exposure of publication and representation.The festival resulting in this collection was held August 8-12, 2017 at the Classic Stage Company in New York City.From the initial pool of over 1000 submissions, the final thirty plays were chosen to be performed over a period of one week. A panel of judges comprised of celebrity playwrights, theatrical journalists, and artistic directors nominated one or more of each evening's plays as finalists. The final round was then held on the last day of the festival. Out of these plays, six winners (listed below) were chosen by Samuel French, Inc. to receive publication and licensing contracts: Sir. by Jahna Ferron-SmithWhat Happened at the Dolphin Show by Miranda Rose HallJack + Jill by Sarah Hammond and Emily Goldmanthis movie by Amanda KeatingBreakfast Scene by Eric MarlinSquare Footage by Jessica Moss

One of the most thrilling plays ever, this is a medley of mystery, farce and intrigue an especially fine example of the American mystery play and one of the outstanding dramatic successes of modern times. A writer goes to a mountain inn to plot. He gets more than he bargained for.

A collection of short plays selected by New York theatre critics, professionals, and the editorial staff of Samuel French, Inc. as the most important plays in the 13th Annual Off Off Broadway Original Short Play Festival, sponsored by Double Image Productions. The Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival fosters the work of early-career writers, giving them exposure through publication and representation. This collection includes: No Problem by Catherine Butterfield, A Grave Encounter

During a campaign in the Middle East, six men are lost in the Syrian desert, owing to the breakdown of their tank. They are Ben Joseph, the thoughtful Jewish sergeant; Donnington, a university man and a cynic; the Cockney, Elvin, an old soldier; Shaw, a solemn Yorkshireman; Hughes, an excitable Welshman; and young George, from a farm. A German plane spots them and sprays them with its machine-gun, wounding George, who has a premonition of death. As they sleep, the centuries roll back to 703 BC and we see the same men forming a caravan taking on different roles. We return to the present, the wounded George and a final reckoning.|6 men