Books published by Samuel French Ltd

At a dinner party in New Jersey, two couples discuss polyamory as brought up by the introduction of a new temp, Pip, in Jane's office. When they invite Pip and her two male partners, discussion turns to action and the exploration of unexplored desire turns animalistic, and then Jane's daughter sees it all. How to Transcend a Happy Marriage blurs the lines of monogamy and asks how deeply friends, lovers, and strangers connect.

"Is it now? I thought I had more time."These first words in Will Eno's play are spoken by Guy, a man who knows, like all of us, on some level, that he is about to die. The play questions why we are here and the journeys that everyone takes to eventually get to the same place. Eno challenges what is worth celebrating in life and what is worth treasuring in this moving and funny play.

Best-selling historical romance writer Carla Woods lives in a Gothic mansion and enjoys playing dangerous mind games with her secretaries. One dark and stormy night, a mysterious, dark, and handsome man shows up at her door. Could this simply be payback from a disgruntled employee, or could it be...love's destiny? A twisting, turning comedy-thriller, similar in style to Deathtrap and Sleuth, but with two very intelligent and charismatic female combatants - and one devastatingly handsome man.

Emily and Jenny, two fourteen-year-olds in suburban South Carolina in the eighties, are interested in exploring everything from junk food to sex. Their explorations lead them to two older men: Emily to Adam, a high school senior, and Jenny to Joseph, her father's twenty-eight-year-old friend from church. All the Fine Boys takes a hard look at the often painful and confusing transition into adulthood.

In 2001, the death of an unarmed black man at the hands of the police put the city of Cincinnati on edge, resulting in a five-day riot that set the citizens of the city against the police force. During the third day of the riots, the Anderson family, in a small apartment above their family-owned dry cleaners, prepare for dinner and the citywide curfew. Ella, the mother of the family, realizes her son, Felix, isn't home. Felix's twin sister, Felicia, who is obsessed with dinosaurs, reveals he has

A renowned psychologist, Charles, is asked to testify on behalf of one of his former patients who has committed a shooting. At first he is hesitant, and as his lawyer and his wife begin to tell him how he should handle the situation, Charles clings more fervently to his morals and his ethics. However, the tighter he clings, the more his reputation and career hang in the balance, especially as more truths are revealed about his relationship to his patient.

A very wealthy businessman buys a plane to carry his fiancée, a non-US citizen, into Canada. However, an unexpected landing of the plane prompts an investigation into the man's affairs based on his tax payment history. As his assistant tries to help him put things back together, secrets are revealed, and it is discovered the man is a powerful political insider who's been evading tax law. The investigation deepens and his future is even more at risk.

Bringing fierce guitar playing and swing to gospel music, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a legend in her time and a huge influence on Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, and Ray Charles. Marie and Rosetta chronicles her first rehearsal with a young protégée, Marie Knight, as they prepare to embark on a tour that would establish them as one of the great duos in musical history.

The police are tipped off that a murder is about to take place on the live TV show Project Design. Detective Carol-Ann Perkins wants a shot to catch the culprit and become a famous star. To do that, she not only has to overcome her own bumbling tendencies; she has to go undercover and compete against some of the top designers around. At the end of the first act audiences are polled to see who they think commited the crime, and with seven different endings, you'll never kno

Ana is a Korean American who travels to Seoul in 1975 to retrieve her recently deceased father's ashes. Luke is a young American soldier fighting in the jungles of Myanmar in 1944. Number Four is the name of a Korean comfort woman camping out on a bridge in Seoul in 1950, waiting for the return of the young American soldier who fathered her daughter. Three separate time periods collide in a small hotel room in Korea, mediated by a shape-shifting Jesus who first shows up as a bellboy. Among the D

In the wake of a local tragedy involving gun violence at a community college, single mother Elizabeth Miller and her withdrawn son, Bailey, try to jump-start their relationship across the breakfast table. But with berserker appliances, shifting astronomy, and the talkative new family dog's interruptions, Elizabeth might not be able to really "see" the person she needs to see most.

Maytag Virgin follows Alabama school teacher Lizzy Nash and her new neighbor, Jack Key, over the year following the tragic death of Lizzy's husband. The play explores the ideas of inertia and self-enlightenment, and the bridge between the two.

Eighteen-year-old Dontrell Jones the Third decides that it is his duty and destiny to venture into the Atlantic Ocean in search of an ancestor lost during the Middle Passage. But his family is not at all ready to abandon its prized son to the waters of a mysterious and haunting past. Blending poetry, humor, wordplay, and ritual, Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea is a present-day hero's quest exploring the lengths and depths we must go to redeem history's wrongs.

In August 1831, Nat Turner led a slave uprising that shook the conscience of the nation. Turner's startling account of his prophecy and the insurrection was recorded and published by attorney Thomas R. Gray. Nathan Alan Davis writes a timely new play that imagines Turner's final night in a jail cell in Jerusalem, Virginia, as he is revisited by Gray and they reckon with what has passed, and what the dawn will bring. Woven with vivid imagery and indelible lyricism, Nat Turner in Jerusalem examine

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 9-14, 2016 at the Classic Stage Company in New York City. From the initial pool of over 1400 submissions, the final thirty plays were chosen to be performed over a period of one week. A panel of judges comprised of celebrity playwright

The Behavior of Broadus is the incredible sort-of-true story of John Broadus Watson, father of behaviorism and modern advertising. He has the power to control your brain. Indeed, we suspect he's making you read this right now. This Mad Men-esque dark comedy puts the origins of our pop culture consumerist society under a satirical magnifying glass.

In the basement of a small evangelical church in southeastern Idaho, a group of young missionaries is preparing to go to the Middle East. One of them - a young man who has recently lost his father - has bought a one-way ticket. But his plans are complicated when his estranged sister returns home and makes it her mission to keep him there.

Six strangers, a lonely farmhouse, surrounded by brain-eating zombies - what could go wrong? Night of the Living Dead¿ Live is a fun and hilarious re-imagining of George A. Romero's legendary classic. Set in 1968 and presented in all black and white, it literally feels like the film has been brought to life and placed onstage. The play lovingly examines the movie itself, the period in which it was made, and the film's undying influence on the horror genre. More than just a re-creation of the s

Sisters Liz and Bernie couldn't be more different: Liz is a polite, southern stay-at-home mom; Bernie is a flailing actress smoking and swearing her way through New York City. But when Liz is suddenly widowed, she and her young daughter move in with Bernie to start again. While Bernie challenges all of Liz's assumptions about life, love, and raising a child, Liz goes out on a series of internet dates which eclipse the grief, fear, and gentility she's known for so long. Can Liz compel her own sto

Molly and Kevin are engaged. They have "normal" jobs. Kevin and Nate have known each other since they were kids. Nate used to be famous once. He just broke up with Lil, who does performance art, and she used to work with Molly, who wanted to be an actress a long time ago. These relationships come to a head when Kevin decides he no longer wants the regular life he convinced Molly to live with him. Friend Art asks how late is too late to give up on your dreams, when are you really a grown-up, and

Set in Nebraska in the '90s, Will, a bit of a social outcast, and Mike, the popular football player, figure out that there is more to life than what high school has taught them. Days after graduation they explore their relationship and begin to ask themselves where their lives begin. Based on the album by Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend is a pop/rock musical for everyone who's lived in a small town and feels for their first love.

When Lucia, a Mexican-born novelist, gets her first TV writing job, she feels a bit out of place on the white male-dominated set. Lucia quickly becomes friends with the only other Latino around, a janitor named Abel. As Abel shares his stories with Lucia, similar plots begin to find their way into the TV scripts that Lucia writes. Fade is a play about class and race within the Latinx community, as well as at large, and how status does not change who you are at your core..

Eraste is in love with Isabelle, but the only way her mother will let her marry him is if his uncle Geronte names him heir to his fortune, which the miserly old man is doubtful to do. It's up to the help of the two servants, Lisette and Crispin, to don disguises and scheme those around them to wed the young lovers, and even have a chance at love themselves. Loosely based on the eighteenth-century farce by Jean-François Regnard, Freyda Thomas gives even more life to this lesser-kn

Based on the 2001 Sundance Film Festival documentary, Southern Comfort follows the last year of Robert Eads, a transgender man in Georgia, as he is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. He surrounds himself with his chosen family, who are predominantly transgender, as they share monthly potluck meals. Like any family, they have their own trials and tribulations, but ultimately they all seek acceptence for who they are in their own skin.

Farce / Characters: 5 males, 3 females Scenery: InteriorHere is a wild farce with twists of fate, sight gags, mistaken identities and hilarious comic lines. Jon Trachtman and Leslie Arthur are out of work musicians who room together in New York City. To save money, Jon has been filing tax returns listing the pair as a married. The day of reckoning comes when the Internal Revenue Service informs the "couple" they're going to be investigated by a Mr. Spinner. Leslie masquerades as a housewif

Comedy / Characters: 8 male, 12 femaleScenery: InteriorA Broadway hit about a liberal Congresswoman who returns to her old school as an honorary visitor. Since her wartime experiences in Europe, she has devoted herself to the task of acquainting people with the horrors of war. That is why she has brought a documentary with her to be shown to the young graduates. The movie is considered harsh and improper by the trustees, so she has a fight on her hands. The conflict exposes the president a

Julia Dowling has an unexpected visitor who intends to escort her off to the afterlife. Infusing comedy into the classic Death Takes a Holiday, The Christmas Spirit is set in contemporary Long Island. Julia persuades Death to give her one more day to enjoy Christmas and invites him to be her guest at a festive party. The next day the house fills with bickering relatives, friends, the local priest…and Death, masquerading as a human, singing carols and dr

Passion. Loyalty. Salvation. Small time semi-pro football, the non-league. A world away from the wealth and the television cameras. A young player touched with brilliance arrives from nowhere. An ambitious manager determines to make him his own. And the old soul of the club still has dreams of glory. A haunting and humorous new play about the dying romance of the great English game - and the tender, savage love that powers it.

A handsome new tutor brings reckless, romantic desire to an eccentric household. Over three days one summer the young and the old will learn lessons in love: first love and forbidden love, maternal love and platonic love, ridiculous love and last love. The love left unsaid and the love which must out.Ivan Turgenev's passionate, moving comedy, A Month in the Country, has been a source of inspiration for films, a ballet and the plays of Chekhov.