Books published by Samuel French Ltd

A long-running success of the 1968/69 Off-Broadway season. Fast paced, powerful, touching and hilarious, this kaleidoscope of constantly shifting scenes, mood and images recreates the world of a great American woman and artist, Lorraine Hansberry. Uniquely and boldly, the play dramatically weaves through her life experiences and the times that shaped her. The actors slip ingeniously into and out of a variety of challenging roles spanning her life and experiences to the ultimate confrontation when cancer strikes her. Includes brilliantly high lighted scenes from her plays as well as letters, diaries, poems and personal reminiscences. A major statement of the American Black experience."An extraordinary achievement!...A whirl of probing, celebrating, hoping, laughing, despairing and moving on...so brilliantly and tenderly alive." - The New York Times"A milestone." - Time

Winner! TMA/Barclays Equity Award for Best Show for Children and Young People 2002. Tuesday 17 September 1940: two fifteen-year-old child evacuees, Bess Walder and Beth Cummings, are fast asleep on board a steam passage ship, The City of Benares, sailing away from World War Two torn Britain and relentless German bombing. Just before midnight they are violently awoken when the ship is hit by a German torpedo and starts to sink. Bess and Beth join the stampede to the lifeboats. Then begins their desperate battle to survive, clinging on to an upturned lifeboat for a night and a day, in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Out of ninety children on board The City of Benares, Bess and Beth were among only a few who survived. Based on an extraordinary true story, Lifeboat is a tale of courage in the face of overwhelming danger, lifelong friendship and the will to survive.

Adrian is about to introduce his fianc¿e Grace to his parents at a birthday party, but they are worried that Grace doesn't know about Adrian's alleged reputation. As more birthdays unfold, the truth about the suburban closet Lothario is revealed...

When Robert kicks his sister's beloved piggy bank, Trevor, out of the window he sets in motion a chain of events that results in the unexpected demise of a local fishmonger. Having developed a taste for blood and sick to death of sneering, imbecilic adults, Robert sets about becoming the real murderer he has always dreamed of being, all the while egged on by the newly-talking Trevor. Meanwhile, in the mind-numbingly boring offices of local paper The Kent Clarion, work experience student Philip Bottering wishes for something, anything to report on - preferably a juicy disaster. Based on the novel by Doctor Who's Tom Baker, this madly-hilarious, frenetic scream of a show, which includes shark-mauling beach-goers, burning vicars and even waltzing rats, is a multi-rolling masterpiece that tells the gloriously grisly tale of one scoundrel's attempt at infamy.

Nana is back! How did she end up making costumes for the hottest show in Las Vegas? Someone made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. If you liked Nana’s Naughty Knickers, you’ll love Nana Does Vegas!

Officer Marcus Moscowicz is a small town policeman with dreams of making it to detective. One fateful night, shots ring out at the surprise birthday party of Great American Novelist Arthur Whitney and the writer is killed...fatally. With the nearest detective an hour away, Marcus jumps at the chance to prove his sleuthing skills--with the help of his silent partner, Lou. But whodunit? Did Dahlia Whitney, Arthur's scene-stealing wife, give him a big finish? Is Barrette Lewis, the prima ballerina, the prime suspect? Did Dr. Griff, the overly-friendly psychiatrist, make a frenemy? Marcus has only a short amount of time to find the killer and make his name before the real detective arrives...and the ice cream melts! Murder For Two is the perfect blend of music, mayhem and murder! In this hilarious 90-minute show, 2 performers play 13 roles--not to mention the piano--in a witty and winking homage to old-fashioned murder mysteries. The New York Times calls it "INGENIOUS! A snazzy double-act that spins out a comic mystery animated by funny, deftly turned songs." You won't want to miss this killer musical comedy!

After receiving an invitation to his ex-fiancée’s wedding, Henry Mann and his roommate embark on a quest to find his soulmate, his perfect date."A great date musical for an audience that might not want the typical musical theater experience [...] any adult could relate to the heart of the show. It's a witty how-to for establishing lasting relationships." / Broadway World"A little gem!" /- Theater Pizazz"A sweet, lighthearted look at one millennial navigating the ups and downs of relationships through trial and error." / DC Metro Theater Arts

Wink follows unhappy housewife Sofie and her breadwinning husband, Gregor, who both seek weekly counseling from an unorthodox therapist, Doctor Frans. Their current topic of disagreement: the cat, Wink. When Wink goes missing, violent desires, domestic anarchy, and feline vengeance emerge, threatening the neatly ordered reality Sophie, Gregor, and Doctor Frans have constructed.

As Noura and her husband Tariq prepare to celebrate a traditional Christmas, she looks forward to welcoming a special guest—Maryam, a young Iraqi refugee. But the girl’s arrival opens wounds the family has tried to leave behind, forcing them to confront where they are, where they’ve been and who they have become.

Theo and Cecily want to be honest about their sexual histories, but what happens when telling the truth jeopardizes everything? A contemporary queer love story, Plot Points in Our Sexual Development explores gender, intimacy, and the dangers of revealing yourself to the person you love.

When you have a seat at a bar called The Nest, no conversation is off-limits, whether you’re speaking or eavesdropping. That is, until a stranger walks in with a lucrative proposition. Pulitzer Prize-finalist Theresa Rebeck’s plays “may make you laugh or shudder (or both),” according to American Theatre, and with its feisty humor and scorching dialogue, this explosive comedy holds a cracked mirror up to friendships, romantic relationships, and families.

A good-hearted heiress has become prey to the attentions of an amoral party boy. After he callowly seduces her aunt, making the older woman a figure of public ridicule, their romance is dead in the water. But his insistence on winning back the moneyed heroine fuels the summer’s gossip in the land of the one percent.

What happens when a brilliant lost soul comes to stay in his sister’s basement and refuses to leave? And if the menacing brother-in-law doesn’t approve? In a dog-eat-dog world, these siblings find a haven of sorts in an unfinished basement as they attempt to make sense of the past and negotiate how to move forward into the future.

The Lovers’ Landing Beach Hotel, a popular wedding destination, has acquired a certain mystique as the home of 'Sandy Toes & Salty Kisses’.  Recently  inheriting the hotel from her late father, Audrina Brown  quickly discovers that her Uncle Bubba, the hotel manager is running a variety of 'extra-curricular activities' (all illegal) on the property.  It’s a mystery - It’s a love story - It’s a new farce by the authors of Sex Please We’re Sixty.

Welcome to Colchester, a small town where everybody knows each other and the pace of life allows the pursuit of love to take up as much space as it needs. Our tour guide is Suzanne, the town photographer, who lets us peek into her neighbors’ lives to catch glimpses of romance in all its stages of development. A play about love, nostalgia, the seasons and how we learn to say goodbye.

Meet Diane, a permaculture gardener dripping with butch charm. She's got supernatural abilities owing to her true identity--the Greek god Dionysus--and she's returned to the modern world to gather mortal followers and restore the Earth to its natural state. Where better to begin than with four housewives in a suburban New Jersey cul-de-sac? In this Obie-winning comedy with a twist, Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeleine George pens a hilarious evisceration of the blind eye we all turn to climate change and the bacchanalian catharsis that awaits us, even in our own backyards.

Nanhee is a North Korean defector whose family was left behind in North Korea. Minsung is a South Korean goose father whose family has left him behind in South Korea. Nanhee and Minsung find each other on the internet. A story about modern aspirations and their betrayals, Wild Goose Dreams explores the miracle of quiet intimacy among the noise of the contemporary world.

The story of Joan of Arc's mother, a sensible, hard-working, God-fearing peasant woman whose faith is upended as she deals with the baffling journey of her odd and extraordinary daughter. This riveting play is an epic tale told through an unexpected and remarkable perspective.

An estranged bi-racial couple must confront their feelings about race and bias after their son is detained by the local police following a traffic stop incident. Their disparate histories and backgrounds inform their assumptions as they try to find out what happened to their son.

When Onegin, a dashing but jaded aristocrat from St. Petersburg, inherits his uncle’s estate in the country, his arrival sets hearts afire and stirs the embers of jealousy. Even the reclusive young Tatyana falls hopelessly under the spell of the aloof Onegin and professes her love for him. Will playing with lonely Russian hearts reap heartbreak or romance?

Sofia was recently hired as an empathy coach at a debt collection agency – and clearly, she has her work cut out for her. These employees can barely identify what an emotion is, much less practice deep, radical compassion for others. And while they painstakingly stumble towards enlightenment, someone keeps mugging Eva in the kitchen. An outrageous comedy about the absurdity – and the danger – of a world where some people’s feelings matter more than others’.