Books published by Samuel French Ltd

One set, two exits, one window. Living-cum-dining room. Poorly furnished.-4 women, 3 men

Kate, a prisoner sentenced for killing her very sick child, has been attacked and driven to attempt suicide. The prison authoritites discover that the attack was made by an inmate, Gow, who has a lesbian attachment to another prisoner, Valentine, and who is insanely jealous of Kate's innocent friendship with Valentine. The investigations also reveal that Kate's husband had killed the child and that Kate, herself innocent, is shielding the man she loves.10 women, 2 men

This poignant drama is an ideal festival play for three women of varying ages.

Christopher McCann longs to relive the magical world of boys adventure comics of his 70's youth, as an escape to the daily grind. He discovers the Christmas Annuals in his loft, filled with stories of sporting triumph against great odds! His favourite being Titch McCreavie, aka THE FLAME-HAIRED DYNAMO! - star player for Felsworth Rovers! As Christopher throws himself back into his boyhood fantasy he returns to the world of his 13-year-old self... to his parents, Grandad and his first love Fiona Garbutt... reality and fantasy collide as he revisits that Christmas of 1978, when his world changed...4 women, 8 men

A black comedy, the play explores the relationships between two "odd" couples thrown prematurely out of hospital care. Firstly, we see two men conduct fantasy interviews for jobs they will never get, then two women trying to "make plans" as urged to do by the hospital. They all meet when Oz throws a disastrous party with the four desperately attempting the niceties of social intercourse.2 women, 2 men

This riotous comic farce notched up a staggeringly successful sixteen-year run in the West End. Peter and Frances could reasonably expect to look forward to a calm, happy start to their married life together. Owing to an unfortunate mistake, however, they find themselves inundated with pornographic material from the "Scandinavian Import Company". Senior bank officials, Peter's snobbish mother, and a prim, respectable bank cashier become inextricably entangled in the rumbustious events that follow.-4 women, 6 men

"Developed at the Young Conservatory of American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California"--Page 4.

A rising star in the theatre community, Eliza Clark, brings us her innovative psychological thriller Recall. Lucy makes people uncomfortable. There's something about her eyes. There's something about the way her mother's boyfriends keep disappearing. And there's something about the government agents on her trail. Radically imaginative and achingly plain, Recall explores our need to feel connected, understood and loved. No matter the damage, no matter the cost. After receiving rave

"Work sucks, especially in the middle of a war zone. It's just another Saturday flipping burgers for three suburban teens, but when bombs start dropping and a bloodied stranger staggers in, these kids deal with the unknown the only way they know how-- by tying it up. It's World War III at your local burger joint. Eliza Clark's terrifying comedy ... builds suspense, rattles audiences, and poses questions about humanity in crisis"--Page 4 of cover.

Written for BBC School Radio by the author of Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine, this telling play visits a local radio station when its late night broadcast is interrupted by a gun toting escapee from police custody. The vandalism for which he was convicted was in reality a one man stand against the lies told by advertisers and DJs to sell products and promote a dream world.|6 men

New recruit Yossi, has just graduated form the Mossad training academy in Tel Aviv, the Midrasha, and is sent to Dublin on his first mission. In Dublin he is teamed up with veteran agent, and soon to be retired field agent, Jacob, who is on his last mission. As the minutes tick away and the target nears, Yossi discovers that a conscience is a luxury he can no longer afford.2 men

When Paula answers the doorbell, it is not her lover Mark but a stranger who claims to be her husband James' friend. The visitor seems to suggest they murder James. A death does occur: Mark - not James - dies in an automobile accident that soon is discovered to be murder. The ever increasing tangle of lies and suspicions soon involves Paula's step-daughter. Was Mark the intended victim? Accusations and unexpected revelations culminate in a surprising climax.|2 women, 3 men

"It's my birthday. All I wanted was a bottle of Claret and a couple of winners at Sandown". Instead, retired actress Margot Buchanan receives three separate visitors. Just as the inevitable fireworks kick off, Leo suffers a fatal heart attack. Then the kissogram shows up...

Presents the story of Joey, aka Birdman, an inquisitive, fostered teenager who left more questions than he ever asked. This play gives insight into adolescent awkwardness and the search for identity and belonging.

The play takes place on an antique kitchen dresser. The Gingerbread Man, newly baked by the Big Ones, meets Salt, Pepper and Herr Von Cuckoo, who lives in the cuckoo-clock. He has a sore throat which is ruining his "cuckoos", thus threatening to land him in the dreaded dustbin. The Gingerbread Man's efforts to help Cuckoo's sore throat are hampered by the villainous scavenger Sleek the Mouse and by The Old Bag - an old tea-bag who lives in the tea pot on the top shelf.-2 women, 4 men

Charlie Conrad is a celebrity. His talent? He hasn't got one; the nation took him to their hearts for very publicly being unable to do anything competently. On a fateful day Charlie has an encounter with Marsha, a children's entertainer otherwise known as Mr Chortles, and his marriage and his career go into freefall...

For Pat, recently widowed, this year's charabanc trip to Whitby is tinged with sadness, but she is determined to enjoy herself. Phil and Edna provide entertainment with old-time dancing. Phil, too, is trying to enjoy herself, despite being trapped in a dead marriage, and during their first dance together he and Pat feel the unexpected spark of mutual attraction. Despite disapproval from others, they decide to seize this second chance and start a new life together.8 women, 4 men

David and Annie are partners - an unmarried middle-class couple starting their life together in a house they have bought from a charismatic but shifty Australian, Ike. When they receive a mysterious visitor, Hewlett, Annie plays the cheerful hostess while David is immediately suspicious.

The action is based on the mythology surrounding the two Children's Crusades of 1212. A German boy, Nicholas, declares that God has commanded him to lead an army of children to Jerusalem to bring back the Cross. Thousands set off with him on the perilous journey. The mime sequences and the opportunities for improvisation make it an exciting experience for both the audience and the cast. The music is included in the text.8 girls, 13 boys

'Fickle thing, memory.' Malcolm discovers how true his words are when he takes his friend Clive to a singles' evening.

"Comedy / 4f / bare stage"--Page 4 of cover.

A play, adapted from the French play "Sexe Et Jalousie".

The Rodales seem like an ordinary family, but beneath the surface things are beginning to crack. Jill and Mal have lost the spark in their marriage, their son Sam resents his father and their daughter Chrissie has recently become a mum and is dealing with marriage issues of her own.

Hilary, Siobhan, Yvonne, Vicky and Maggie are attempting to walk 13 miles across London in record time in their decorated bras and posh new trainers, but the sixth member of their team doesn't seem to meet the physical criteria.

Tobias, struggling to pay tuition fees as he finishes his doctorate in moral philosophy, works as a chef in an unpopular tapas bar. His girlfriend, Casey, is a waitress and T-shirt entrepreneur manque who needs capital to realize her dreams. Monday is the deadest night of the week, but their luck looks about change when the enigmatic Leila walks into the bar which is situated just down the road from MI6...|2 women, 1 man

Period Ancient Greek Athens is in the grip of a futile, destructive war with Sparta and its men are fighting abroad, taken away from their wives and families for long periods at a time. The women of Athens have had enough.

Eliot's story of the reclusive miser who is transformed by a young girl is one of the most moving and memorable in Victorian literature. This adaptation captures the novel's thirty year sweep in a series of telling scenes, each displaying Eliot's gifts for humor, insight and simple beauty. The large cast can be trimmed to seven multiple roles and it is possible to keep costumes and props to a minimum.-8 women, 15 men

A Kyokushin Karate Coming of Age StoryJust another unassuming undergrad? Yes, but this one carries a terrible secret . . . one that's driven him through seven years of hellish karate training and study so that he might learn to bear its weight. Seven years have already taken Nathan Ligo to Japan, where he spent 600 days in the most rigorous, monastic karate program in the world, training under the watchful daily supervision of Masutatsu Oyama, Japan's most famous living karateka. But it's not until he suffers a crushing defeat in Japan, and returns home empty-handed, that he comes to understand that the combination of three treasured sources of his ongoing education just might hold the key to unlocking an awesome truth. The samurai-like do-or-die education he acquired from his karate teachers, the progressive liberal arts education he acquires at North Carolina's Davidson College, and the enlightened, open-eyed, and all-loving character education he received in the first decade of his life from his father: three sometimes violently warring components combine to show Nathan that he just might use the dark secret that he carries to enact a great good for the children of the future . . . that is, IF he's willing to make the necessary sacrifice. "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." -Theodore RooseveltThe Only American Student of the Legend Mas Oyama> At the time of Masutatsu Oyama's death in 1994, he was regarded by many as the world's greatest living karateka. His Kyokushin Karate had spread to 133 countries around the world and was reputed to have touched as many as twelve million students. Forty years earlier, the Korean-born "Mas" Oyama had, himself, become a virtual revolution in the world of Japanese karate, in that it was he who introduced stone- and therefore bone-breaking power to the highly stylized traditional forms of karate that had come to exist in Japan. Kyokushin Karate became known for its no-nonsense practicality, its fearsome physical power, and a theretofore unseen degree of spiritual strength conjured through a revival of Japan's do-or-die samurai personality. Once Kyokushin exploded to such incredible proportions, Mas Oyama took on only a very few students that were his own, that he himself guided, day by day, in an attempt to ensure that his teaching would endure. Uchi deshi literally means "live-in disciple;" it is the opposite of the kayoi deshi or "commuting student," who merely visits the dojo regularly for training. Mas Oyama's uchi deshi program was a one-thousand-day monastic karate program for his small group of personal students who lived in the Young Lions' Dormitory, a small building attached to his world headquarters dojo in Tokyo. In 1993, Nathan Ligo become the only American to hold a graduation certificate from this program, given to him by Mas Oyama in recognition of the 600 days he lived in the Young Lions' dormitory.