Books published by Samuel French Ltd

Theatre for Young AudiencesCharacters: 6 males, 4 females, 6 males or females, plus extras"To my way of thinking, there are no such things as strays; only those who have not yet found their homes."From the imaginative mind of award winning TYA author Chris Grabenstein comes a very funny, very touching new comedy filled with laughter, learning, and heart that's ideal for school groups and professional children's theatres.Curiosity Cat is the play-within-the-book from Grab

Musical ComedyCharacters: 4 males, 5 females, plus 2 males children, 2 female children"They come from several million miles away,But they are not on vacation, they are here to stay!"Several young campers and their adult counselors are stranded at a mountaintop wilderness retreat on the night of October 30th, 1938. When someone switches on the radio to Orson Welles' War Of The Worlds live broadcast, the night that panics America also becomes the night that panics Camp gitchiegoomie. Are little green men from Mars actually surrounding the mess hall, ready to make a mess of everyone inside? Can the feuding boys and girls work together to save themselves from the mysterious alien invasion? And why is that strange hairy, bug-eyed monster lurking in the bushes?This hilarious, family-friendly musical recreates the innocent fun and slapstick humor of the wise-cracking, high-spirited film comedies of the late 1930s, complete with spooky campfires, ghostly shadows, hair-raising Halloween surprises and the scariest radio play of all time that nearly fooled the entire nation. The lively, toe-tapping original songs are fondly reminiscent of the popular scores from the golden age of the Warner Brothers and MGM film musicals with plenty of high-kicking, energetic and imaginative choreography in the unforgettable styles of Busby Berkeley, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.This happiest-of-Halloween musical comedies is guaranteed fun for the entire family, from the youngest monster movie fan to the oldest senior who actually experienced that memorable night breathlessly cowered in front of the radio when the world was "invaded" by Little Green Men."Move over Annie.' There's a new musical in town. Watch out, Broadway. Little Green Men are headed your way." -Culver City Observer"A boisterous musical. The catchy, innovative music embellished with slapstickhumor makes for funny stuff. The whole family should see this charming play." -The Los Angeles Easy Reader"Fine for summer camps, high school drama departments or small community theatres. You may love it, especially if you like 'cute'." -The Daily Breeze "There's plenty of tricks and treats in store for everyone on a Halloween eve that no one will ever forget. It is one of those musical gems that is funny, delectable,a bit silly, and best of all, very family friendly. It's safe to know that musicals suchas this one still exist within the theatre world." -Linear Cycle Prods/Accessibility Live

Based on the Dame of Sark's autobiography, the play follows the course of events on this Channel Island during the German occupation of 1940-45. It is a story of developing relationships and of the realization that war is an evil that falls hard on friend and enemy alike...-2 women, 7 men

Richard works in advertising and lives in a ground floor flat in South West London with his wife Harriet. He never really got on with his mother and after her death his dad decides to pay them both a rare visit. Not thrilled with the idea of him coming to stay Richard is taken aback when his father arrives and discusses the contents of his mother''s will and it''s not what he wants to hear. Together with this and his father''s bad habits and womanising, tension mounts in the couple''s home, whilst his father decides to embrace his life as a merry widower.|4 women, 2 men

The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society Murder MysteryDavid McGillivray and Walter Zerlin JnrFull Length, ComedyRevised Version Characters: 1 male, 4 female 1 set Every drama group has experienced the horrors of what can go wrong on the night and the ladies of the F.A.H.E.T.G. Dramatic Society are no different, with the possible exception that almost everything that could happen does. The scenery collapses, cues are missed, lines forgotten, and the sound effects take on a strange note at times, as the ladies present their ambitious evening's entertainment with the cunning whodunit, "Murder At Checkmate Manor". And just in case the audience should get bored there's a Film and Fashion Show and Murder Mystery Quiz complete with Prize. The crunch comes in the denouement when the "murderer", about to be revealed, has to rush home to bandage up an injured daughter. But Mrs. Reece, doyenne of the group, rises above the slings and arrows of outrageous dramatics to save the situation and provide the final inventive twist.

Characters: 4 male, 2 female plus children''s chorus (optional)Scenery: Various setsWizzpopping wonder and fruit filled fun abound in this stage adaption of Roald Dahl''s greatest adventure story. James is a lonely young boy who is forced to work like a slave for the most revolting aunts in England. One day a mystical old man gives him a bag of magic. When he accidently spills it near the old peach tree, the most incredible things happen! "Pure fun for the whole family. A remarkable theatrical feat!"- Northampton Chronicle "Move heaven and earth to see this wonderful adaptation!"- Sunday Mercury "A first class show. If I were a child I''d scream for a ticket."- Birmingham Post

This adaptation of Thackeray's novel traces the lives of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley from the time when they were at school to their middle age. The play moves fluidly over a period of 30 years, the scenes remaining episodic and connected by the shifts in characters' fortunes and development.

A Dramatic Society is assembling on the stage of a church hall to rehearse a production of a mystery-thriller under its somewhat dictatorial director Philip Stephens. Events and strains within the company, however, more than equal those in the play they are to present. Philip''s wife is friendlier than is wise with a young man of the company, a "prowler" is in the neighbourhood and attacks one of the girls, an unpleasant caretaker tries a little blackmail and one of the women seems to know him from the past.|4 women, 4 men

Comic drama / Characters: 7 male, 4 or 5 femaleScenery: Various sets or unit setAfter showing dazzling promise in school but no success in Hollywood, director Dan Rittman suffered a breakdown and quit film making. Cameraman Neil Toomie, a hilarious, irreverent lapsed Catholic, shows up five years later with a horror film project he wants his friend to direct. Neil doesn't know that he has a brain tumor and limited time in which to rekindle the spark of old dreams. Dan doesn't realize how t

Royston Chatsworth is commissioned to film a sanitized documentary contrasting old-style mental health care with the improvement 1990s care-in-the-community has brought. But as Royston experiences a flashback into his own life, he makes a life-changing decision.

The delegates from many governments arrive in an atmosphere of suspect bonhomie. The two cleaners, backed by the troops and ordinary people, take over and announce a slight amendment to international law: in future a formal declaration of any war shall be by the public execution of all members of governments concerned.|8 women, 8 men

The eve-of-performance dress rehearsal of Henry''s send-up of a Victorian tragedy is running anything but smoothly as the cast constantly step out of character to bicker. Feuds simmer beneath the surface and the pretty heroine cannot remember her lines! However, when all seems lost, and the play likely to be cancelled, the cast rally like true troopers for "the show must go on"!|4 women, 2 men

A seedy lawyer has been waiting for years to make a grandstand defense. He is assigned to defend an innocuous little man accused of murdering his wife. The man cheerfully admits his guilt; he simply couldn''t stand his wife''s constant joking and laughing. The trial ends and the verdict is a foregone conclusion. The lawyer begs his client to let him appeal. Ironically the man is reprieved because of the ineptitude of his defense.|2 men

As night falls and fog descends on Monument House Hotel and Alternative Health Spa, Hecuba Tomb and her niece Drusilla receive a series of unexpected visitors. The uninvited guests are soon snooping around the secret passages of the creepy old mansion and asking too many questions for comfort. And one by one they fall victim to violent deaths.

Award winning playwright, Meg Miroshnik casts a spell with The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls. Once upon a time - in 2005 - a twenty-year-old girl named Annie returned to her native Russia to brush up on the language and lose her American accent. Underneath a glamorous Post-Soviet Moscow studded with dangerously high heels, designer bags, and luxe fur coats, she discovers an enchanted motherland teeming with evil stepmothers, wicked witches, and ravenous bears. Annie must learn how to b

Joe Taylor, a retired actor, moves into a prison-turned-elder-care facility shortly after the demise of Medicare and the election of Dick Cheney to President. There he discovers a community of lovable, irascible inmates hell-bent on bucking the dehumanizing system in which they have landed. Together, this band of aging misfits rediscovers purpose and dignity in the face of a system mightily stacked against them. A delightful comedy with bite from Katie Forgette, that dares to confront the issue

Dominique Morisseau, a rising star of the playwriting world and recipient of the 2014 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History takes the audience on a journey to 1967, in the city of Detroit. Motown music is getting the party started, and Chelle and her brother Lank are making ends meet by turning their basement into an after-hours joint. But when a mysterious woman finds her way into their lives, the siblings clash over much more than the family business. As their pent-up

Full Length, Comedy Charaters: 3 male, 3 female The play tells the story of John, an irascible Scotsman and an uptight English woman, Maude, both in their late 50s, who take on the journey of a lifetime. They are brought together when his ward marries her niece. Then, when the young couple decides to adopt a new born baby, the older couple has to travel 6,000 miles to California to pick up the child and bring her safely home to Scotland. The problem is, John and Maude desp

Comedy Characters: 1 male, 5 female Interior Doug Stone has set his play in 1968 during the heyday of Tupperware parties. Hostess Bonnie invites a group of neighbors over for a party. The guest list: perky, rich Jean, Jean's cranky and very pregnant sister Sinclair, ditzy-blonde Tracy Ann, and new neighbor Diane, who's made quite a career selling Tupperware, but at the expense of her marriage. The mix of personalities and the number of martinis consumed lead to a great deal of absurd

Includes two plays by Bruce Adam. In Mary Mary confusion reigns when Terry brings a (decidedly inebriated) new woman named Mary home to meet his mother -- also called Mary. And in When I Snap My Fingers Simon and Maria Moffat agree to undergo hypnosis as part of performer Sven Gali's act when a fire alarm sounds before Sven has had a chance to remove the effect of certain trigger words.-3 women, 3 men

Comic melodrama. Little Theatre. Characters: 3 male. 3 female. Interior set. Newly revised! This comic melodrama evokes the 1960's movie thrillers that featured such aging cinematic icons as Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner and Susan Hayward. Faded pop singer, Angela Andrews, is trapped in a corrosive marriage to film producer, Sol Sussman. In her attempt to find happiness with her younger lover, an out of work TV star, Angela murd

A stage adaptation of the novels of E.F. Benson, and the war for social supremacy between Lucia and Miss Mapp in the small coastal town of Tilling. Hitherto, Tilling's doyenne has been Miss Mapp; so when Lucia rents Miss Mapp's house for the summer, the battle lines are drawn.

In thirty years Grandmamma has not allowed any man to enter her house, forcing seclusion on Mamma and her twin girls. A young man comes into their lives and Grandmamma is made to face her repressed feelings of guilt and both twins are thwarted in their plan to elope with the young man. Mamma finally asserts herself, offering the twins new freedom and some sound advice.5 women

A committee meets on a winter''s night to arrange the summer village fete. As protocol gives way to bickering and gossip, the personalities of those present emerge: busybody Ethel; Pauline, the vicar''s long-suffering wife; careworn Gloria; horsy Majorie who is very attentive to the shy new teacher, Angela; elderly Mavis and Sally, the brisk Army wife. Six months on, the cathartic events of the fete are related with humour and pathos, and the upbeat ending affirms the enduring value of village life.|7 women, 1 man

Julie is an auxiliary nurse, working long hours for a low wage in a Nottingham hospital. She cares for the elderly and feels her own life is passing her by. Clubbing with the girls breaks the routine but Julie longs for some real excitment and a bit of spare cash.1 woman

In 1944, a black American GI is shot dead. In 1974 on the same Bristol street, an IRA bomb explodes. Both events have a powerful impact on teenage clubbers Sammy, Leo, Sasha, Rae, Holly and Gloria. They meet each week at The Dug Out: a place of escape and promise, where dreams are shared, secrets revealed, battles fought and identities forged. With a glorious soundtrack of ska, reggae, funk and 1940s black American jive, The Dug Out is an uplifting tale of young lives in 70s Britain, set against a classic love story of thirty years earlier.4 women, 4 men