Books published by Samuel French Ltd

Anne loved the time in her life when she prepared breakfast each morning for her two young children. Years later, spending hours alone, Anne convinces herself that her husband is having an affair. If only her son were to break-up with his girlfriend. He would return home and come down for breakfast. She would put on her new red dress and they would go out.The Mother premiered at the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal, Bath and transferred to the Tricycle Theatre, London. It was awarded the Moliere Award 2011 for Best Play and Best Actress.

Picking up eight years after the events of Blast Radius, Sovereign completes the story of a sister and a brother at mortal odds in a radically changed Earth. The alien race that has ruled the Earth has fallen to Ronnie''s rebellion, with the few remaining survivors on the run. The human race is slowly rebuilding all over the world. Ronnie is now the battle-scarred Governor of what used to be Florida, everyone''s hero and no one''s friend.Until one night, when Ronnie''s soldiers smuggle into

Picking up twelve years after the events of Advance Man, Blast Radius follows a sister and a brother at mortal odds in an Earth radically changed by an alien occupation. Ronnie leads a desperate human insurgency that might have finally found the weapon that will turn the tide - at a terrible cost. Abbie, who has allied himself with the conquering alien race, may have found a chilling solution that will end human resistance for good. Action-packed and emotionally charged, Blast Radius

Astronaut Bill Cooke returns from the first manned mission to Mars bearing secrets and illicit cargo. Now his wife and teenage children are all that stand between Bill and a shocking action that will alter now only their lives, but all of humanity.Advance Man is the first part of Mac Rogers'' science fiction epic The Honeycomb Trilogy, three standalone plays set in the same universe chronicling a primal conflict - at once intimate and global - that will redefine the nature of the

Ms. Thomas'' previous and similar rollicking version of Moliere''s Les Femmes Savantes delighted audiences off-Broadway in 1991, in a production starring Jean Stapleton as Philamente, a blossoming literary lady on the verge of coming into her own. It was re-imagined in 1993 at ACT in San Francisco, with many productions throughout the country since then. During the Salon movement of the 17th century, women, thirsty for knowledge and freedom, began to read, discuss and absorb all the learni

From the playwright who brought us Happy comes a whimsical comedy about love, aging, bad luck, and airport security. Sara's having a bad week. Really bad! The light bulbs in her apartment keep burning out; there's a leak in the roof; the aquarium is full of dead fish; the cat's gone AWOL, and her father -- who chased off her last beau -- is suspicious of Tom, their new neighbor, a TSA agent who just brought Sara home from the emergency room on New Year's Eve with a fractured fifth metatar

A reclusive fiction writer diagnosed with dementia must depend upon a troubled young caretaker to complete her autobiography. In a symbiotic battle of wills, they delve into the dark woods of the past, unearthing a tragedy that shatters their notions of language, loneliness and essential self."Though most plays depend on words, words are immutably the crux of Jennifer Haley''s West Coast premiere play. The telling of stories and memories, lies and truths, relies on our words. And like the b

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 5th - 10th at Playwrights Horizons on 42nd Street in New York City.From the initial pool of 1,385 submissions, the Final Thirty plays were chosen to be performed over a period of one week. A panel of judges comprised of celebrity pl

Uber-hip Brooklynites Pam and Dixon take great pride in their secular humanist approach to parenting. But when their 17-year-old daughter, Julie, decides to become a Christian, their laid-back, open-minded facade comes crashing down. Carly Mensch's Oblivion takes a wry look at Nietzsche, famed film critic Pauline Kael, and the nature of belief in the 21st century.

Award winning playwright, Meg Miroshnik transports her audience to Poor Prairie, the dusty, desolate town where fifteen-and-a-half-year-old Jean has been exiled as caretaker for her wild-child cousin, Almeda. It''s a grim, dangerous place to eke out an existence as a teenage girl-until a handsome man arrives with a past and a brand-new basketball in tow. As the town''s girls come together to form a team set on making it out of Poor Prairie, a murky committee of townspeople threatens to stamp out g

With pissed-off Pikachus, steam punk armies, stood-up Sailor Moons and roller-blading monsters on the prowl, it''s easy to get lost in the Inferno-esque anime convention where the fans, the otakus, and the geeks prowl. But to score a rare meeting with their comic book idol, teenage outcasts Dayna and Honey will take on obsessive magic players, Jedis and elfs, cosplayers and convention guards - through all nine flights of Ohio''s Dante''s Fire-Con. But when the dark nature of their quest breaks thro

As Juan José feverishly studies for his citizenship exam, his obsession to pass takes him on a fantastical odyssey through U.S. history guided by a handful of unsung citizens who made courageous choices in some of the country''s toughest times. American Night: The Ballad of Juan José is a provocative, irreverent, and hilarious mix of past and present, stereotype and truth.

Harking back to the original concept of Frankenstein, this version amplifies the films suspenseful horror and adds greater depth of character and motivation as well as a new and different love story. All of the eagerly anticipated elements are here: the stone walled laboratory, the crazed scientist, angry villagers, a swooning heroine, a fearful storm and the hideous yet pathetic, deadly creature with its confused mind and powerful, undisciplined body. The final confrontation between the doctor and the creature produces a startling surprise.

Here by popular demand is the sequel to Play on! The gang is joined by Phylliss song-writing nephew Monte when dire circumstances - their theatre in in peril - force them to do yet another show by Phyllis. The intrepid thepians know disaster will probably result: It may be tough to act on a sinking ship but can you sing as the waters rise!

The Middle East.  In an attic room a group of terrorists hold a young girl, Naomi, and wait while the Government decides whether or not to pay the ransom.  The building is surrounded by troops and there can be no escape for the kidnappers – but still they hold their prisoner.  The tension between the two terrorists heightens and Brother Luis tries to intervene: inevitably, tragedy overtakes them.|2 women, 2 men

A gang of young people, the late sleepers - self-styled vampires, dressed in black and scarlet with bright dyed hair - scrape a strange existence on the outskirts of a walled city. When two strangers, James and Elsa stumble on the Sleepers' hideout, they are intrigued by this all-singing, all-dancing gang.

Following critical acclaim for The Wipers Times, Ian Hislop and Nick Newman have once again taken inspiration from real lifeevents for their new play Trial by Laughter.William Hone, the forgotten hero of free speech, was a bookseller, publisher and satirist. In 1817, he stood trial for ‘impious blasphemy and seditious libel’. The only crime he had committed was to be funny. Worse than that he was funny by parodying religious texts. And worst of all, he was funny about the despotic government and the libidinous monarchy.A Watermill Theatre production.

Teenager Ronnie travels to the North to  nd a job and a new life. Ex-bouncer Stan, just out of prison, gives him a lift. But not to the North. Instead, he takes charge and speeds o the motorway to a deserted house on the moors. But Ronnie doesn’t get exactly what he was looking for when he  nds Stan: “Has more morals that Mary Poppins”. High Ridin’ is an unlikely comic love story of two men who don’t live likely lives.

Jeannie's father has turned her into a household drudge. She cooks and cleans and does the washing. She is not allowed to go to the cinema. Her father dies and with the money he left her she goes on holiday to Vienna. She meets Stanley an inventor of household appliances. Jeannie meets a Count and lavishes all her money on him. They become engaged but he leaves when he finds out that there is no more money. Jeannie gets a job as housekeeper in Glasgow. Stanley comes to visit her and persuades her to marry him -and she will have her own washing machine.|Large flexible cast

Maddie has something important to confess to her husband David, but he is not in the mood to listen. Maddie's desperate attempts to get his attention initially fail and when she finally gets through to him and makes her confession, David's reaction is both unexpected and extreme. It is not what Maddie had anticipated or hoped for and as David's response becomes increasingly more bizarre, what unfolds is an evening that neither of them had expected. This darkly comedic and beautifully observed study of infidelity probes a marriage in crisis with touching insight and wit.| 2 women, 2 men

When the pupils of St Winifred’s and St Albert’s arrive for a camping trip at the beautiful Dumsey Meadow, deep in the heart of the English countryside, they find themselves in a spot of bother – there has been a double booking and only one school may camp there.Whilst trying to decide which of them should stay, they become aware of some mysterious things happening around them: What is the peculiar smell in the air? Why is the Farmer always singing? Why do the cows and sheep appear to be laughing? Why did the Dumsey apple harvest fail for the first time in 300 years? And who is the hooded woman with the horrible cackle? With sleuth-like commitment the children attempt to find answers to these puzzling questions.Set in the 1930s with a cast of colourful characters, this is a musical play for mystery lovers everywhere with a flexible performing age range of 8 to adult.

Contains the following songs:It All Comes Back (Opening)Welcome to Our House on Maple AvenueCome to the Fun HomeChanging My MajorMapsRaincoat of LoveRing of KeysDays and DaysTelephone WireEdges of the WorldFlying Away (Finale)Bonus Song: Pony Girl

Song List includes: Beautiful, Candy Store, Fight for Me, Freeze Your Brain, Dead Girl Walking, Our Love is God, My Dead Gay Son, Seventeen, Lifeboat, Kindergarten Boyfriend, Meant to Be Yours, and Seventeen Reprise

Social, racial and sexual schisms render the once paradisiac island into a hotbed of discord and bloody violence. Pitcairn vividly explores the conflict between personal freedoms and public responsibilities. Pitcairn is Richard Bean’s brutal telling of the colonisation of the remote island of Pitcairn by Fletcher Christian and the Bounty mutineers. The play charts – with salty humour and growing horror – the spiralling descent of the colony from a new Eden of freedom and equality to a brutal dystopia.

A weekend in the country spins out of control when jealous wife Maureen makes a reckless accusation about her husband Ian and their old friend Ella. Ella''s husband Peter tries and fails to stop the domestic carnage in this fierce and funny story about the unexpected ease of betrayal and the fragility of marriage.

Sports agent Liz Rico has money and an elite client roster but a woman in a man''s industry has to fight to stay on top. She''s worked twice as hard to get where she is and wants to take over the agency that she''s helped build. Enter Freddie Luna, a high school basketball superstar with a troubled past. If Liz can keep this talented yet volatile young star in line, she just might end up making not only his career, but her own as well. But at what price?

Judge Jackie Justice rules over her reality television courtroom with an iron fist, presiding over a three-ring circus of America's most chaotic civil cases. But, when a drop in ratings brings her face to face with the liability of her own love life, the judge must learn to navigate the ludicrous laws of love in this over-the-top courtroom comedy.

Summerland tells the mysterious tale of William H. Mumler, a spirit photographer with a talent for capturing haunting images of the dead from the world beyond the veil - Summerland. Based on true events that didn''t exactly happen this way, Summerland is set in Mumler''s New York studio in 1869 at the height of the American Spiritualist movement. Summerland opens at the peak of Mumler''s career, just as his wildly successful studio trade comes under indictment for fraud. Chief Marshal Joseph Tooker

Samantha is lonely and confined to her bed. Layne is shy and too afraid of the world to journey into it. But when these two thirty-somethings connect through an online dating site, they fall for each other fast and hard. What could go wrong? Considering that they're both pretending to be someone else, the short answer is: everything. When people are free to project any version of themselves they wish, who knows where reality ends and fantasy begins? Our new, digital world is upended in Kingdom C

A young Mexican couple is trapped at a way station when they can''t pay off their debts to the American coyotes who smuggled them across the border.