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A R Gurney

A R GURNEY

  (1930 - 2017)
Nationality:    USA
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, LLC  represented by Jonathan Lomma

A.R. Gurney (Born: 1 November 1930, Buffalo, New York, United States. Died: 13 June 2017, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States) . Amongst his plays are: The Grand Manner, Scenes from American Life, The Dining Room, The Middle Ages, The Cocktail Hour, Love Letters, Sylvia, Far East, Ancestral Voices, Big Bill Indian Blood, Crazy Mary, and Buffalo Gal. At The Flea he has premiered Heresy, Post Mortem, O Jerusalem, Screenplay, Mrs. Farnsworth, A Light Lunch and Office Hours. He has also written three novels, a few television scripts, several unproduced movies, and the librettos of two operas. Gurney is a member of the Theatre Hall of Fame and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has honorary degrees from Williams College and Buffalo State University, and taught literature at M.I.T. for many years.

Research:    Member of the Dramatists Guild of America (as at 2015)

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below is a list of A R Gurney's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Ancestral Voices         Another Antigone         Big Bill         Black Tie         Bridal Dinner, The         Buffalo Gal         Central Park West         Cheever Evening, A         Children         Cocktail Hour, The         Comeback, The         Crazy Mary         Darleene         David Show, The         Dining Room, The         Family Furniture         Far East         Fourth Wall, The         Golden Age, The         Golden Fleece, The         Grand Manner, The         Guest Lecturer, The         Heresey         Human Events         Indian Blood         Interview, The         Labor Day         Later Life         Let's Do It         Light Lunch, A         Love & Money         Love Course, The         Love In Buffalo         Love Letters         Middle Ages, The         Mrs Farnsworth         O Jerusalem         Office Hours         Old Boy, The         Old One-Two, The         Open Meeting, The         Overtime         Perfect Party, The         Post Mortem         Problem, The         Public Affairs         Rape Of Bunny Stuntz, The         Richard Cory         Scenes From American Life         Screen Play         Snow Ball, The         Strawberry Fields         Sweet Sue         Sylvia         Three People         Turn Of the Century         Wayside Motor Inn, The         What I Did Last Summer         White Walls         Who Killed Richard Cory?

Ancestral Voices

Ancestral Voices
If the family is the key theme of American Drama, a R Gurney's aNCeSTRaL VOICeS: a FaMILY STORY is a beautiful chamber work in that great tradition. the short play is staged as a concert work, with five performers sitting on chairs in front of music stands, where they've laid their scripts. the five are playing membersgrandfather, grandmother, father, mother, sonof a rich WaSP family in Buffalo NY between 1935 and 1942, with a brief coda from the 1960s. the son, Eddie, who goes from age eight to twelve, is our narrator, guide and point of view. . .. This lovely play unites the microcosm of family to the macrocosm of America at war. On Eddie's first date he brings his girl a paper `war-sage'. It's also about something in betweena city. It's an elegy for Buffalo, a once-glorious place whose fortunes are declining. the texture of life in Buffalo is heartbreakingly evoked in ways reminiscent of the Magnificent ambersons. . .. This is a magical play, not a mere exercise in uncritical nostalgia, but a nuanced reminiscence full of time and change and loss and suffering--as well as joy.
- Donald Lyons, New York Post

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing, Incorporated (Jun 2000)   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Another Antigone

Synopsis:
after many years of teaching the classics at a New england university, Henry Harper is not surprised by much - and particularly not by precocious students who want to re-write his beloved Greek masterpieces to reflect current socio-political concerns. So when a gifted young Jewish student, Judy Miller, announces that she intends to submit an updated, anti-nuclear version of aNTIGONe in place of the formal paper which he has assigned to her, Henry is adamant in his refUSAl. Unfortunately Judy (who needs the credit from his course to graduate) is as stubborn as her professor, and when she resolves to defy him and produce her play on campus, tensions begin to mount. Judy also lodges a complaint with the university grievance committee, which elicits a visit from the dean not only to plead with Henry to soften his stand, but also to warn him that accusations of anti-Semitism (however unfounded) have arisen.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Old Globe Theatre, San Diego     1986

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1988   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Big Bill

Big Bill
BIG BILL is A R Gurney's impressionistic, jumpy, jaunty biographical play about Bill Tilden, the first tennis superstar, who won zillions of titles in the '20s, maintaining at great cost his enforced status as an amateur until his death in 1953. Like many players then, Tilden came from money-in this case, a rich, old family in Philadelphia. He was an active, though closeted, homosexual, surrounding himself with young ballboys (with whom his relationships varied) and picking up young hustlers, which got him into repeated trouble with the law. . . In this short play, Gurney simply presents the story of a damaged but gifted man who never grew up, alongside the absurdities of L A law. On the whole, though, it makes for a lovely theatrical experience. - Donald Lyons, New York Post

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Williamstown Theatre Festival    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NY,    

Music:
-

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Genre:
Gay/Lesbian, of interest

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  several ball-boys

Further Reference:
-

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Black Tie

Synopsis:
Father of the groom Curtis simply wants to make a memorable toast. But before he is able to raise his glass, he must defend the time-honored ways of his past, including his attire. Cultures clash when a surprise guest is announced, threatening to throw convention out the window. Curtis finds that balancing the standards of his late Father and the needs of his future family may prove too messy for a black tie affair.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
59e59 theaters
59 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022     08 Feb 2011

Organisations:
Primary Stages

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, Inc (2011)   

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bridal Dinner, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
NOT AVAILABLE

1st Produced:
Cambridge, Massachusetts     1962

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Buffalo Gal

Buffalo Gal
TV Star returns home to do Chekhov

Notes:
It's Always A pleasure to watch A master craftsman At work. A.R. Gurney is such An Artist And for over 50 years he has been offering us well crafted plays At the rate of one every year or two. His latest, Buffalo Gal, is A reworking of one he wrote in 2001 for the Williamstown theatre Festival. He saw it staged Again in 2002 in Buffalo which is the play's setting At the Studio Arena. Now, reshaped for 2008, it finally Arrived in New York on August 5th, via Primary Stages. Why did it take eight years And three versions? Second thoughts About the structure (it was in two Acts, now it's in one, which required some tinkering), About the ending (the original endings were not satisfying to its Audiences, he's finally found one that pleases him), And commitments to other plays that kept popping out of him.
Richard Seff, DC theatre Scene

1st Produced:
Williamstown Theatre Festival     2001

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NY,    

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
COMEDY

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Central Park West

Synopsis:
I wrote the libretto for this opera, composed by Michael Torke, based on Moliere's School for Husbands, but brought up to date. The work was commissioned by the Milwaukee Skylight Theatre, but they released it when they no longer had the funds to produce it.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Glimmerglass Festival, Cooperstown, NY     2007

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
The libretto and Torke's score are available through Holab Music at www.billholabmusic.com   

Music:
-

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Genre:
libretto

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  chorus

Further Reference:
-

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Cheever Evening, A

Synopsis:
John Cheever, master chronicler of America's post-war angst and alienation, and how it affected a burgeoning suburban class, left a storehouse of Dramatic possibilities in his fiction, largely unexplored purely by dint of his chosen artistic medium: prose. In a CHeeVeR eVeNING, a.R. Gurney brings to light these possibilities through his mastery of stagecraft. adapting no less than seventeen of Cheever's most funny and moving of stories, Gurney probes the affairs of that set of people (White anglo-Saxon Protestants) who once felt in the majority but soon found themselves in the twilight of their power and at the mercy of a changing world. Seen through the lens of a.R. Gurney's Dramatic sensibility, Cheever's separate stories of a fragmented and lonely universe combine into a whole and resonant portrait-that of a culture which, while teetering on the brink of extinction, combats loss with humor, wit and feeling.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Playwrights Horizons, Off Broadway, NY     1994

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
Comedy/Drama Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  can be expanded

Further Reference:
-

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Children

Synopsis:
the action takes place in the summer home of a wealthy "WaSP" family on a resort island off the New england coast. In residence are a middle-aged but still attractive widow; her divorced daughter; and her prep school teacher son and his wife. their pleasant regimen is interrupted by two jarring events: the mother's announcement that she plans to marry an old family friend (which means that the house will then pass to her children); and the unexpected arrival of her younger son and his family. the younger son, "Pokey," has always been out of step with the rest of the family, and while he remains a shadowy offstage figure throughout, it is quickly evident not only that (for reasons of his own) he objects to his mother's remarriage and to the plans which his siblings have hatched for the house, but also that he can, and will, stop them. as the others lash back at Pokey much that has been repressed in them rises to the surface, and they are forced to painful (yet often funny) examinations of their own rather sterile lives. In the end, however, their resistance crumbles, and they are resigned again to things as they are and, most likely, will continue to be until the ways of the world truly change.

Notes:
suggested by the story "Goodbye, My Brother" by John Cheever

1st Produced:
Mermaid theatre, London     1974

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  3            Other:  silent role at end

Further Reference:
-

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Cocktail Hour, The

Synopsis:
the time is the mid '70s, the place a city in upstate New York. John, a playwright, returns to his family's house, bringing with him a new play which he has written about them. His purpose is to obtain their permission to proceed with production, but his wealthy, very proper parents are cautious from the outset. For them the theatre is personified by the gracious, comforting era of the Lunts and Ina Claire, and they are disturbed by the bluntness of modern plays. and there is also John's sister, Nina, to contend with, although her reservations have to do with the fact that John has given her character such a minor role. their confrontation takes place during the ritual of the cocktail hour, and as the martinis flow so do the recriminations and revelations, both funny and poignant. In the end it is evident that what John has written is closer to the truth than his family has heretofore been willing to admit, and that beneath their WaSP reserve his parents and siblings are as beset with uncertainties and frustrations as their presumed "inferiors." But while they seem shackled by the past, and tantalized by an alien future, the ties which bind them do prevail-surmounting disputes and disappointments and, with unfailing warmth and humor, converting pained resignation into cautious but hopeful anticipation.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Old Globe Theatre, San Diego     1988

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Comeback, The

Synopsis:
as outlined in the Boston Traveler: "While director Paul John austin, portraying a reporter later identified as Homer, waits for the story to 'jell,' it's like a gay party except for the brooding Telemachus, grousing like Hamlet at his mother's wedding feast. the 100 suitors of his mother, Penelope, have cocktails in the rumpus room, only antinous emerging now and again to goad the youth about his reading Kafka and Dostoyevsky all summer. then enters Penelope to send him to the cellar for a big barrel of wine and paper cups, to chide him about dreaming. and finally the return of Odysseus, or rather the 're-entry' since it represents a problem, this returning home. Mr. Gurney has a lot of fun superimposing sailing and skiing, cocktail parties and servant problems, such appurtenances to modern life as bongo boards and Madras dinner jackets. It's all fun, with an underlying but glancing blow at deeper thought." But a blow that is felt-as out of the biting wit comes a perceptive and telling commentary on the way people were, are and always will be.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Image Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts     1965

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1967   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Crazy Mary

Crazy Mary
In an attempt to account for the family inheritance, the scion of a wealthy Buffalo, NY clan and her willful, college-aged son visit their long lost cousin Mary. the catch: Mary is living in an asylum for the wealthy insane and has barely spoken in years, forcing mother and son to employ radical ends to get through.
nytheatre.com

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing, 2007   

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Darleene

Darleene
about primitive rituals

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
George Street Playhouse, New Jersey    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NY,    

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Short comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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David Show, The

David Show, The
The story of David, Bathsheba, et al. of Old Testament fame-- but the time's the present and the place is a TV studio where David's about to be crowned. Saul doesn't like giving up the crown; David balks at wedding Bathsheba before a video audience and David's got to prove himself against a giant-- and one named Goliath is produced to do the trick in this comic twist on history.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Tanglewood, Massachusetts     1966

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

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Genre:
Fantasy One act

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dining Room, The

Synopsis:
the play is set in the dining room of a typical well-to-do household, the place where the family assembled daily for breakfast and dinner and for any and all special occasions. the action is comprised of a mosaic of interrelated scenes-some funny, some touching, some rueful-which, taken together, create an in-depth portrait of a vanishing species: the upper-middle-class WaSP. the actors change roles, personalities and ages with virtuoso skill as they portray a wide variety of characters, from little boys to stern grandfathers, and from giggling teenage girls to Irish housemaids. each vignette introduces a new set of people and events; a Father lectures his son on grammar and politics; a boy returns from boarding school to discover his mother's infidelity; a senile grandmother doesn't recognize her own sons at Christmas dinner; a daughter, her marriage a shambles, pleads futilely to return home, etc. Dovetailing swiftly and smoothly, the varied scenes coalesce, ultimately, into a theatrical experience of exceptional range, compassionate humor and abundant humanity.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Playwrights Horizons, Off Broadway, NY     1982

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  playing 57 characters

Further Reference:
-

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Family Furniture

Synopsis:
Family Furniture is a coming of age tale about a family and one certain summer when everything shifts. Gurney gives us Buffalo, gin and tonics, tennis doubles with the Baldwins, vichyssoise and so much more in this heartfelt tale about parents and children. Jim Simpson, Artistic Director of The Flea says In Family Furniture, Gurney returns to home territory, writing about the manners and morals of the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant upper class with the warmth, humor and insight that have spanned his career.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Flea
41 White Street, New York, NY 10013     12 Nov 2013

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Far East

Far East
the hero of Far East is Sparky Watts, scion of a well-to-do Midwestern American family, a young naval officer stationed in Japan just after the close of the Korean War. Sparky is fresh and confident and eager: he is here to see the world and to have lots of interesting experiences: to find himself, he hopes, and as far away from his conventional, narrow-minded family as possible. Sparky is viewed with annoyance and then with avuncular bemusement by his commanding officer, a career military man named James anderson, a pioneer flyboy grounded after the death of his son. anderson's wife Julia also takes a very personal interest in handsome Sparky, especially when he reveals that he is in love with a Japanese woman, and that he intends to marry her. Julia is an old friend of one of Sparky's aunts, and her bitter, racist reaction to this news prompts her to inform Sparky's family of his wayward behavior. Running parallel to the story of Sparky's Michener-esque love affair is another, sadder one, also of betrayal, involving Sparky's roommate Bob. While preparing to take a week of vacation, Bob turns over custody of some classified documents to Sparky. Sparky discovers that some items are missing; Bob eventually admits that he is being blackmailed by a man who was his lover but has turned out to be a Communist spy. Sparky's naive honesty compels him to turn his friend in; effectively ending Bob's career, of course, but also prompting a crisis of conscience for himself that he never satisfactorily resolves. Near the end of Far east, Sparky and Bob reconcile and talk about their futures. Sparky speaks romantically of a life with his Japanese fiancee, away from the strictures of his youth and his family. Bob, meanwhile, is entirely uncertain of what lies ahead: rejected by the Navy and by his mother, he literally has nowhere to go, nothing to do. Sparky says he understands; Bob replies, quietly, that he cannot. But we know that Bob is going to flourish wherever he finally lands, because he also tells Sparky that he is not going to deny his
nytheatre.comtrue nature anymore: he will live as what he is, without fear or regret. and we fear, paradoxically, that Sparky is doomed to do so as well.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NY,    

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  plus 2 "stagehands" who can be either. Asian actors may be used

Further Reference:
-

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Fourth Wall, The

Synopsis:
Peggy has redecorated the living room and her husband, Roger, can't stand it. Peggy's usual exquisite taste was overcome by a mysterious lapse which caused her to redo the room as if it were a stage set. everything faces one wall, the "fourth wall," which she's left bare and which is really the audience. Unable to cope any further, and needing someone to talk to, Roger asks their old, dear friend, Julia, to fly up from New York. Julia agrees that something strange is going on, especially since everyone who enters the room begins to behave as if they were acting in a play, or even a musical when occasionally someone feels the urge to sing a Cole Porter song. Julia, affected by the room, suggests Roger call "976-NUTS" and have Peggy put away, which would allow the two of them to have the affair they've never before thought about. Roger can't do that and explains that he's got one hope left: Floyd, a local theatre professor. Roger asks Floyd to come over in hopes that he can "Doctor" Peggy's play and bring it to a close, thus allowing him and Peggy to resume their happily married life. But that doesn't work either as Floyd sees what's going on and is in complete agreement with Peggy. Peggy, following in St. Joan's footsteps at Floyd's urging, decides she must do what she must do and sets out to break the fourth wall in order to connect with her feelings. Roger rushes after her, leaving Julia and Floyd with a final Cole Porter tune.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Primary Stages, NY, Usa    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Golden Age, The

Synopsis:
the play takes place in a once elegant townhouse in Manhattan, the home of Isabel Hastings Hoyt, an aging but still charming recluse who had been a glittering figure in the literary salons of the 1920s. Now short of money, Mrs. Hoyt is concerned about the future of her granddaughter, Virginia, a twice-divorced near-alcoholic whom she hopes to see securely married before she herself, as she puts it, "kicks the bucket." In earlier years, Mrs. Hoyt was friend and confidante of many world figures, especially F. Scott Fitzgerald who, it is rumored, used her as the model of Daisy in the Great Gatsby. This fact leads Tom, an ambitious young academic, to seek her out. Tom believes that Mrs. Hoyt possesses an unpublished chapter from Gatsby which depicts passionate lovemaking between Gatsby and Daisy, a literary treasure which he is determined to procure no matter how devious the means. It is this obsession that sets up the increasingly complex and perilous relationship which develops between the three protagonists-a relationship that, inexorably, leads to the startling and ironic denouement of the play.

Notes:
story the Aspern Papers by Henry James

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1985   

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Golden Fleece, The

Golden Fleece, The
Betty and Bill tell the audience they are going to show them the golden fleece. To prove it is authentic, Jason and Medea are to deliver it. Bill knows Jason-- sailed with him during the war-- and Betty putters in pottery with Medea. A hitch develops. Jason is taking off with another doll, and Medea is doing a slow burn. Everyone remembers the impending tragedy, but no one envisioned it taking place here and now with hilarity.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles     1968

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

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Genre:
Fantasy One act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Grand Manner, The

Synopsis:
In 1948 playwright a.R. Gurney, then a young boarding school student, traveled to New York where he attended a performance of Shakespeare's antony and Cleopatra, going backstage afterwards to meet the production's star, the great stage actress Katharine Cornell, who was dubbed "the First Lady of the American Stage" by the legendary critic alexander Woollcott. a mix of remembrance and imagination, the Grand Manner is a love letter to this fabled actress and a heartfelt look back at the glorious heyday of the Broadway theater.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Lincoln Center Theater

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, Inc (2011)   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Drama comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Guest Lecturer, The

Guest Lecturer, The
about primitive rituals

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick NJ     1998

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NY,    

Music:
-

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Genre:
Short comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Heresey

Synopsis:
Set in the near future, Mary and Joseph have come to Homeland Security because their protesting son, Chris, has been taken into custody during the latest crackdown. they put their case before Pontius Pilate in this timely comedy that Simpson calls a sharp, funny, poke in the eye.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Flea
41 White Street, New York, NY 10013     29 Sep 2012

Organisations:
the Flea Theater

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, Inc (2013)   

Music:
-

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Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Human Events

Human Events
Remember All About Eve, the classic film in which older actress Margo Channing takes younger actress Eve Harrington under her wing, only to see her protege attempt to take over her life and her love? Back in 1977, A R Gurney. . .took that plot and reset it in academia for his novel Entertaining Strangers. Now he's adapted that book into HUMAN EVENTS. . .a witty and entertaining comedy of manners. Porter Platt is an associate professor at an esteemed Boston college. He meets Englishman Christopher Simpson, and is impressed by his Eton and Oxford education. Simpson wants a job at the school, and Platt does yeoman work to get him one. Soon, Simpson is rising in the department, while Platt is not. Simpson also takes a shine to Platt's wife, who's attracted to him as well. - Peter Filichia, The Star-Ledger

Notes:
Based on the novel "Entertaining Strangers" by A R Gurney

1st Produced:
George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick NJ     2001

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NY,    

Music:
-

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Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  several students

Further Reference:
-

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Indian Blood

Indian Blood
about family and coming-of-age. Young Eddie uses his Indian ancestry as a cause and an excuse for his adolescent attacks on the genteel world around him. Was it his ties to the Seneca tribe or his talent as a budding artist that caused his privileged world to turn upside down?
nytheatre.com

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Primary Stages

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NY,    

Music:
-

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Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  3            Other:  2 parts require doubling

Further Reference:
-

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Interview, The

Synopsis:
a young, deaf man has an admissions interview at a prestigious college. Ike Schambelan directs.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
part of More Of Our Parts: theatre Breaking Through Barriers presents six new plays About disability

1st Produced:
Clurman theatre
410 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036     21 Jun 2012

Organisations:
Theatre Breaking Through Barriers

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
short play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Labor Day

Synopsis:
John is an established older playwright recovering from a bout with cancer. His latest work, which he views as his best, if possibly his last, has gained the interest of a major regional theatre, the Shubert Organization, and a possible Hollywood star. Dennis, the bright young director to whom John has given the play, shows up on the Labor Day holiday at the writer's house in rural Connecticut to ask for essential changes. Dennis feels the play has been adversely affected by the playwright's illness, becoming too inverted and sentimental. John's family has gathered for the holiday, and when they find out the play is primarily about them, they also criticize the enterprise. It is soon obvious that the playwright-and aging father-doesn'treally know either his family or himself. LaBOR DaY reveals the age-old conflict between art and life and the hard labor it takes to reconcile the two. In the end, life wins, hands down.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Old Globe Theatre, San Diego     1998

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Later Life

Synopsis:
austin has spent his entire life convinced that something terrible is bound to happen to him. One night, at a party, overlooking Boston harbor, he has the pleasure of rekindling a romance begun almost thirty years ago with Ruth. Now a multiple divorcee, Ruth's personal life is in such turmoil that mutual friends look to austin as Ruth's last shot at normalcy. at the same time, these friends are hoping the wildly unpredictable Ruth will help loosen austin from the grip of years of depression and lifelessness. Comically, and sometimes painfully, these two people rediscover each other and themselves while a bevy of free-spirited other guests rally behind them and remind them of the infinite possibilities that life holds, should one only choose to pursue them

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Playwrights Horizons, Off Broadway, NY     1993

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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Genre:
Comedy Drama Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Let's Do It

Synopsis:
This has a screwball comedy plot which I devised as a vehicle for Cole Porter songs. It was produced in workshop at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, with John Tillinger directing. I based the story on the plot of the libretto from The Count of Luxemburg which was dictated to me over the telephone by the movie director Billy Wilder, who had decided not to make it into a film.

Notes:
music by Cole Porter

1st Produced:
Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT     1990

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
musical

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  extras

Further Reference:
-

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Light Lunch, A

Light Lunch, A
a post-Bush cautionary tale about the price paid for legacy. When a young lawyer from Texas invites a literary agent for lunch in a New York City restaurant, more than a production is on the table.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Plays (2009)   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Love & Money

Synopsis:
Determined to donate almost everything she owns before her life of grace and privilege ends, wealthy widow Cornelia Cunningham's plan hits a snag when an ambitious and ingratiating young man arrives to claim his alleged inheritance. Residency One playwright A.R. Gurney paints an incisive and hysterical portrait of the trials of class, family, legacy and race in this world premiere comedy.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Signature Theatre, NY, USA >>>     15 Aug 2015

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Love Course, The

Love Course, The
A female professor has been teaching a course on the literature of love with a younger male colleague. She has fallen in love with him through the books and the experience of the classroom. Now, in the last class of the year, she is attempting to bring the course and their relationship to a climatic conclusion.

Notes:
also part of Public Affairs

1st Produced:
Theatre Company of Boston     1970

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Best Short Plays 1970", ed Stanley Richards, Chilton, Philadelphia, 1971
Samuel French, Inc - New York >>>    

Music:
-

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Genre:
One act comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Love In Buffalo

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
NOT AVAILABLE

1st Produced:
New Haven, Connecticut     1958

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Love Letters

Synopsis:
andrew Makepeace Ladd III and Melissa Gardner, both born to wealth and position, are childhood friends whose lifelong correspondence begins with birthday party thank-you notes and summer camp postcards. Romantically attached, they continue to exchange letters through the boarding school and college years-where andy goes on to excel at Yale and law school, while Melissa flunks out of a series of "good schools." While andy is off at war Melissa marries, but her attachment to andy remains strong and she continues to keep in touch as he marries, becomes a successful attorney, gets involved in politics and, eventually, is elected to the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, her marriage in tatters, Melissa dabbles in art and gigolos, drinks more than she should, and becomes estranged from her children. eventually she and andy do become involved in a brief affair, but it is really too late for both of them. However andy's last letter, written to her mother after Melissa's untimely death, makes it eloquently clear how much they really meant, and gave to, each other over the years-physically apart, perhaps, but spiritually as close as only true lovers can be.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Long Wharf TheatreNew Haven, Connecticut     1988

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Middle Ages, The

Synopsis:
the action takes place in the trophy room of a rather stuffy men's club in a midwestern city. as the play begins we meet Barney, the son of the club president, as a teenager-and already a rebel against the WaSP-ish virtues so dear to his family. He is infatuated with eleanor, a local girl of good background, but she is wary of his wildness, and opts to date, and then marry, his stolid brother, Billy. In a series of flashbacks we encounter Barney at various stages of his life: as he runs away to join the Navy during the Korean war; as a campus activist in California; as a graduate student; and ultimately, as a successful producer of porno films. the flashbacks take Barney and eleanor from youth to middle age-and throughout Barney, to his father's growing distress, continues to profess his love for eleanor and to challenge the validity of the lifestyle she has chosen. He remains the zany, charming, unpredictable rebel, shocking family and friends alike with his outrageous behavior until, at his father's death, a kind of reconciliation is reached-as changing times and fading youth soften Barney's belligerency and offer the promise of quieter, but happier, years to come.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles     1977

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mrs Farnsworth

Mrs Farnsworth
A woman in a writing class submits a politically dangerous subject

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NY,    

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  several students

Further Reference:
-

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O Jerusalem

O Jerusalem
. . .Gurney's play manages to reach beyond its topical premise to pack a big, heartbreaking wallop. This is not a story about anything so cold as politics. above all, it's about a man struggling to balance his ideals and personal relationships against a high-pressure career. . ..

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing, New York, 2003   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Office Hours

Synopsis:
Out with the old and in with the new. across college campuses in the '70s, teachers and students engaged in a battle of their own-making education relevant. Written specifically for the Bats, this world premiere tackles the Great Books curriculum and puts dead white men to the test. the show features two rotating casts of Bat Company Members, and follows in the performance style of Gurney's classic the Dining Room.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Flea
41 White Street, New York, NY 10013     39/2010

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, Inc (2011)   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Drama comedy

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Old Boy, The

Synopsis:
Sam, a successful politician and diplomat, is invited to speak at the dedication of a new building named for his old school friend, Perry, and paid for by Perry's wealthy mother. the knowledge that Perry died of aIDS galvanizes Sam as memories of his own homophobic response to Perry's sexuality are played out in flashback. Sam's solution had been to arrange a marriage between Perry and one of Sam's discarded girlfriends, alison. Faced now with the embittered alison and a dawning sense of his own complicity in Perry's fate, Sam must decide whether or not to speak out on the issue of tolerance and jeopardize his chance for the governorship. He has to choose between his conscience and the old boy network which has served him so well.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
Play/Drama. - - Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Old One-Two, The

Old One-Two, The
A professor of Classics becomes obsessed with a girl student who challenges the relevance of his course and finally leads him into an overnight affair. Meanwhile, the Dean of the department, joining her in the attempt to bring the curriculum up to date, has become involved in a sly relationship with the professor's mysterious wife. The play is saved from a tragic ending by a sudden surprising discovery.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Brandies University, Waltham, Massachusetts     1973

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

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Genre:
One act comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Open Meeting, The

Synopsis:
A typical public meeting soon degenerates into mystery, which in turn becomes a ritual re enactment of a primal, oedipal confrontation.

Notes:
also part of Public Affairs

1st Produced:
ATMA Coffee House, Boston     1969

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, NY, 1968   

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
avante-Garde Comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Overtime

Synopsis:
Portia, a once-rich society girl, is about to celebrate her victory in the recent trial and her marriage to Bassanio. as the party is beginning, however, she is reminded of her own financial difficulties by her accountant, Salerio, who is secretly in love with her. She shrugs off his warnings, but her wedding reception begins to fall apart on its own. antonio, who turns out to be gay, is knocked down by Bassanio, who blames his impulsiveness on his Irish background. Gratiano, who is African-American, and Nerissa, who is Latina, become impatient playing subservient roles and seek out the company of their own people. Lorenzo discovers that his attraction to Jessica is based on a kind of reverse stereotyping, while Jessica decides to liberate herself from her traditional upbringing. Shylock arrives with some surprises of his own. He persuades Portia to try to put the community back together, and after a number of twists and turns, the evening ends with a tentative attempt to celebrate a new kind of Venice on a more open and diverse basis.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA     1996

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1997   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Comedy. - - Gay, theme/character full length

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Perfect Party, The

Synopsis:
Tony, a professor of American literature (and a quintessential WaSP), has given up his teaching post to stage a party to end all parties. He has invited people from all walks of American life to attend, as if to demonstrate that even if the WaSP ruling class can no longer lead America, it must, at least, teach them to entertain properly. Tony has also invited a svelte critic from the New York Times in the hopes of getting a perfect review for his perfect party, but trouble arises when the critic says the evening lacks the "essential element of danger" that makes all parties worthwhile. Improvising, Tony warns the reporter about his twin brother, a foul-mouthed and hugely endowed womanizer, whom he has invited to attend. Piqued by the chance to meet such a man, the reporter opts to stay, and here the funny heart of the play takes over. Tony, you see, is going to have to play his own fictitious twin brother if the evening's to be a success. In a fake mustache, and with an even faker Italian accent, Tony aggressively woos the reporter while trying to avoid the unavoidable and hilarious misunderstandings between both him and his skeptical wife and an obliging (if sensitive) Jewish couple from next door. In the end, the party falls apart, only to be triumphantly resurrected as Tony's rigid structure gives way to a free-for-all which may not be perfect, but is as vital and rewarding as the idea of democracy itself.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1986   

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Post Mortem

Post Mortem
Post Mortem is set in the not-too-distant future when the Christian Right hold sway. alice, a lowly lecturer in Drama at a faith-based state university in the Midwest, and Dexter, an enthusiastic student more interested in his teacher than the theatre, become embroiled in the discovery of a play by an obscure late 20th century playwright named a.R. Gurney. When the authorities destroy the script, these two must piece together the play and with it the future of the world gone mad.
Press Release

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NY,    

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Problem, The

Problem, The
A husband and wife are caught in a complicated and perverse spiral of sexual fantasies that enable them to keep their marriage alive.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
ATMA Coffee House, Boston     1969

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Public Affairs

Public Affairs
-

Notes:
This full length entertainment from one of America's foremost playwrights is comprised of revised versions of two one act plays: The Open Meeting and The Love Course

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
two one act comedies

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Rape Of Bunny Stuntz, The

Rape Of Bunny Stuntz, The
An efficient suburban matron, chairing an evening meeting, finds that she has to cope with a strange, offstage intruder who claims he knows her. The meeting degenerates step by step into a wild party, even as the intruder becomes increasingly insistent and insulting to the leader. Ultimately, the lady finds herself confessing to the lure of a liaison with this representative from the under side of society, and by going off with him, she manages to appease whatever it is that tears groups apart.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

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

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Genre:
One act comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Richard Cory

Synopsis:
Comprised of a series of vignettes and interrelated scenes, presented with a minimum of props and scenery and flowing together with resourceful theatricality, the story of Richard Cory is that of a wellborn young man who seems to have everything the world can offer. He is handsome, rich, successful in his law practice, respected in the community and an idealized husband and father. and yet, as we move ahead through the various episodes of his life, it is apparent that his good fortune has also brought him growing dissatisfaction and unease. He is disturbed by the crassness of the changes taking place in his city; by the eroding standards of his lifelong friends; by the alienation he feels from his wife and children. Seeking fulfillment he takes a mistress; he becomes involved in good works; he tries to expand his intellectual capacities-while, throughout, continuing to protect the "good name" which family and position have thrust on him. He is, and must always be, a gentleman. But perhaps, as the play so poignantly suggests, it is this very fact that leads Richard Cory, the glittering paragon so envied by all, to go home one fine day and put a bullet through his head.

Notes:
aka Who Killed Richard Cory

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1976   

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Scenes From American Life

Synopsis:
36 vignettes on American life from the Depression to the 1980's. In this youthful look at the hypocrisy of adult life, an Irish nurse is not permitted to have men visitors: but her mistress is entitled to her own sexual sidelines. The preacher interprets the Bible in a way that the rich are not scandalized or demoralized but actually pacified. A club member blackballs his best friend, a Jew, because he wants to save him from being hurt. Mature people are winos, ticket fixers with the police, order troops to fire into crowds, and are two faced: one mother calls her son at college to find out where he keeps his marijuana, and another asks her daughter at her coming out party if she has her diaphragm. Not all of youth is so innocent. There are the school chums who pray to God with thoughts of mAlice and concupiscence. Scenes, then, from American life.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Boston University at Tanglewood, Massachusetts     1970

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
dramatic comedy

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  4            Other:  all parts to be doubled

Further Reference:
-

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Screen Play

Screen Play
contemporary parody of "Casablanca"

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
the Flea

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NY,    

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  some doubling required

Further Reference:
-

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Snow Ball, The

Synopsis:
Cooper Jones is a middle-aged realtor whose failing marriage and uninspiring job have left him prey to feelings of nostalgia. Over the objections of his wife Liz, a pragmatic, no-nonsense advocate for the homeless, he is persuaded by his old friend Lucy to revive a winter dance which was the high point of their youth. To crown the evening, they plan to invite back Jack Daley and Kitty Price, everyone's vision of a bygone dream couple. In flashback, and in even more ghostly interludes, we see Jack and Kitty as they once were: young, beautiful and oblivious to the passage of time while they waltz through Cooper's memory. In other flashbacks, Cooper and his companions play themselves as teenagers in the 1950s, when cotillions and excruciatingly funny dance classes first brought these awkward, young adults together. In the course of their collaboration, Cooper and Lucy begin an affair. Meanwhile, Jack and Kitty have accepted their invitations, but neither is the person Cooper remembers: Jack is an ambitious politician struggling for the governorship of Indiana while Kitty is on her third marriage and in the throes of cancer. the gala finally arrives and, for Kitty especially, the night proves one of spiritual healing as she and Jack, in an intricate slow dance, trade partners with their young counterparts, reliving the span of years that have separated and changed them with a new eye for forgiveness and a redeeming resolve-shared by all at the dance-to live their lives for today.

Notes:
adaptation of own novel

1st Produced:
Hartford Stage Company, 50 Church St, Hartford, CT 06103     1991

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
drama with music

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  8            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
-

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Strawberry Fields

Synopsis:
I wrote the libretto for this one-act opera at the invitation of Paul Kellogg, artistic director of the New York City Opera. The music was composed by Michael Torke. We were originally one of three one-act operas, by Terrence McNally, Wendy Wasserstein, and me, under the overall title of Central Park, performed at the Glimmerglass Opera in the summer of 1999, and again at the New York City Opera the following winter.

Notes:
composer - Michael Torke

1st Produced:
Glimmerglass Festival, Cooperstown, NY     1999

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
CD's of Strawberry Fields are available through michaeltorke.com. Libretto and scores are available at www.billholabmusic.com   

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
libretto

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  chorus and walk ons

Further Reference:
-

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Sweet Sue

Synopsis:
the action of the play is set in Susan's home in a New York suburb-Susan being a romantically-minded, divorced mother of three, and a very successful artist and designer of greeting cards. It is summer and Jake, the Dartmouth roommate of her son, Ted, has taken up temporary residence with Susan while doing house painting to earn money for his college expenses. Susan is drawn to the handsome, lively Jake, while he, in turn, is hopeful of finally establishing a meaningful relationship with a member of the opposite sex-although what he has in mind is someone of his own age. But, as the two begin to draw closer to each other, what adds a special quality to their relationship is that Susan is played by two actresses and Jake by two actors-offering two distinct perspectives on both characters and allowing the playwright to conceive a wide array of clever and inventive combinations and situations. Susan (and Susan Too) wants Jake (and Jake Too) to pose in the nude for a life study, and while there is initial reluctance, Jake (both of him) finally acquiesces, leading to the bittersweet ending of the play in which desire and convention are both touchingly accommodated before Susan and Jake return, as they know they must, to their separate worlds

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1987   

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy Drama Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  doubling can be for 2nd male

Further Reference:
-

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Sylvia

Synopsis:
Greg and Kate have moved to Manhattan after twenty-two years of child-raising in the suburbs. Greg's career as a financial trader is winding down, while Kate's career, as a public-school english teacher, is beginning to offer her more opportunities. Greg brings home a dog he found in the park-or that has found him-bearing only the name "Sylvia" on her name tag. a street-smart mixture of Lab and Poodle, Sylvia becomes a major bone of contention between husband and wife. She offers Greg an escape from the frustrations of this job and the unknowns of middle age. To Kate, Sylvia becomes a rival for affection. and Sylvia thinks Kate just doesn't understand the relationship between man and dog. the marriage is put in serious jeopardy until, after a series of hilarious and touching complications, Greg and Kate learn to compromise, and Sylvia becomes a valued part of their lives.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Three People

Synopsis:
crisis for young parents

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Yale School of Drama     1955

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "the Best Short Plays 1955-56", ed Margaret Mayorga, Beacon Press, Boston, 1956   

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Turn Of the Century

Synopsis:
senility of matriarch

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Yale School of Drama     1957

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "the Best Short Plays 1957-58", ed Margaret Mayorga, Beacon Press, Boston, 1958   

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Wayside Motor Inn, The

Synopsis:
the scene is a motel outside of Boston: a depersonalized, antiseptic environment into which, one after the other, come five sets of travelers. there is a well-to-do couple on a visit to their married daughter; a lonely salesman looking for a bit of romance to temper the boredom of a business trip; an overbearing Father and his latently rebellious son en route to a Harvard interview; a pair of liberated college students intent on a weekend of passion; and an embittered doctor in the process of getting a divorce. although the various occupants of the motel room are often on stage at the same time, they neither see nor hear each other, and it is quickly evident that their shared location is, in reality, five different rooms. But, as each of the individual Dramatic situations is developed, the irony, humor and pathos which they evoke is heightened by the silent proximity of the other characters-building, in the end, to a kaleidoscopic pattern in which their separate stories blend and re-blend into a subtle but telling indictment of the shortcomings, large and small, of life in contemporary America.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1978   

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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What I Did Last Summer

Synopsis:
the setting is a well-to-do vacation colony on the shores of Lake erie, the time 1945, during the final stages of World War II. Charlie, an incipiently rebellious fourteen-year-old, is summering with his mother and sister (his Father is fighting in the Pacific) before going off to an expensive boarding school in the fall. although he intended to spend the summer loafing and socializing with his friends, the need for spending money forces him to take a job as handyman for an iconoclastic, bohemian art teacher, anna Trumbull, a former member of the "upper crust" who has lost both her fortune and her regard for the ideals of her upbringing. Sensing a kindred spirit in Charlie, she tries to stretch his mind by teaching him painting and sculpture-and exposing him to "radical" ideas about life and love which, in time, persuade Charlie to reject the notion of going back to school. the result is a family crisis and, more specifically, a showdown between anna and Charlie's conservative mother, a clash of philosophies which raises as many questions as it answers and, in the end, stimulates the self-awareness which will shape the man Charlie is destined to become.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1983   

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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White Walls

Synopsis:
son comforts divorced father

Notes:
in Urban Blight, a NY review

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Who Killed Richard Cory?

Synopsis:
Comprised of a series of vignettes and interrelated scenes, presented with a minimum of props and scenery and flowing together with resourceful theatricality, the story of Richard Cory is that of a wellborn young man who seems to have everything the world can offer. He is handsome, rich, successful in his law practice, respected in the community and an idealized husband and father. and yet, as we move ahead through the various episodes of his life, it is apparent that his good fortune has also brought him growing dissatisfaction and unease. He is disturbed by the crassness of the changes taking place in his city; by the eroding standards of his lifelong friends; by the alienation he feels from his wife and children. Seeking fulfillment he takes a mistress; he becomes involved in good works; he tries to expand his intellectual capacities-while, throughout, continuing to protect the "good name" which family and position have thrust on him. He is, and must always be, a gentleman. But perhaps, as the play so poignantly suggests, it is this very fact that leads Richard Cory, the glittering paragon so envied by all, to go home one fine day and put a bullet through his head.

Notes:
aka Richard Cory which is a one act version

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1976   

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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