n/a

n/a

n/a

-

-

-

Big Dog Publishing, FL, USA >>> , 2006

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Comedy, 30 min

One Act

6

4

2 flexible, opt. extras (With doubling 5 M, 3 F, 2 flexible)

-

Though The Barber of Seville is best known as a comic opera by Gioacchino Rossini (1816), the original play by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1775) is considered one of the greatest European comedies of the 18th century. Rodrigo is desperate to make Rosina his wife, but Rosina's father, Señor Bartholo, has arranged for Rosina to marry the very old, very wealthy, and very senile Count Almaviva in just one week. Since Rosina is opposed to marrying the Count, her father has forbid her to leave the house and has hired a professional chaperone to guard Rosina and keep away all would-be suitors. For a small fee, the clever Figaro, who just happens to be Señor Bartholo's barber, orchestrates a rendezvous between Rodrigo and Rosina. On the day Figaro is to shave Señor Bartholo, Figaro gives Rosina's music teacher a strong laxative and then arranges for Rodrigo to masquerade as Rosina's guitar teacher. This delightful easy-to-stage one-act adaptation contains the wit and gaiety of the original story and introduces a new character, the hilarious professional chaperone, Señora Delgato.

-

-

-

Big Dog Publishing, FL, USA >>> , 2005

-

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Victorian Melodrama

One Act

13

5

5 flexible, optional extras

Performance Time: Approximately 45-60 minutes

This adaptation combines two well-known classic novels of French Bohemian life-Henri Du Maurier's Tribly and Henri Murger's The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter, which inspired Puccini's opera La Bohème and the musical Rent. Both works have made lasting impressions on popular culture: Du Maurier's Trilby introduced "Svengali" into the English lexicon and Murger's The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter made the term "Bohemian" synonymous with "artist." This easy-to-produce one-act satirizes the carefree Bohemian lifestyle of 19th-century Paris. Three penniless British painters, who have questionable artistic talent, pass their time lounging about in cafés. One artist, Archey Pendelton, has fallen in love with the Scottish beauty Trilby O'Ferrall. But the humorous villain of the play, the German piano-playing chicken hypnotist, Svengali, has devised a plan to break up the happy couple and transform Trilby into a singing sensation.

-

-

-

Big Dog Publishing, FL, USA (2007-08) >>>

123

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Approx 75 mins

Satire

3

3

-

-

This play is adapted from the scandalous novel by Robert Hichens (1894), which satirizes fashionable London society and figures associated with the Aesthetic Movement, most notably Oscar Wilde. Mrs. Windsor invites a group of fellow Londoners to spend a week relaxing at her countryside estate. Among them are Esmé Amarinth and Lord Reginald Hastings, a couple of witty dandies who abhor bourgeois dictums and Victorian ideals of morality. Mrs. Windsor hopes to play matchmaker for her cousin Lady Locke, by introducing her to the clever, whimsical Lord Reginald Hastings. At first, Lady Locke finds Esmé and Lord Hastings' ideas original, amusing, and a study in contradictions. But as she becomes better acquainted with them, Lady Locke discovers the dandies to be as artificial as the dyed green carnations they wear in their lapels.

-

-

-

Big Dog Publishing, FL, USA (2007-08) >>>

100

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
(below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Approx 75-90 mins

Farce/Satire

6

7

24 flexible, opt. extras (Flexible cast. Doubling Possible)

-

This adaptation incorporates not only Lewis Carroll's two classic novels, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, but some of Carroll's poems and even his essay "The Two Clocks" to create a fresh show that will entertain audiences of all ages. Alice ventures down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, where she meets a host of ridiculous characters who at times appear even more lost than Alice. Carroll's gift for satire, parody, and word play is preserved in this smart, witty adaptation.