n/a

n/a

West Bloomfield, Michigan

1992

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

1988

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
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-

Play/Drama

2

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: deeply affecting examination of the bizarre developments which follow when a successful (but deeply unhappy) white businessman, Marty, decides to spend a few days in his boyhood home, in what has now become a black neighborhood. He encounters Joseph, the son of the now deceased black man who was once the janitor of the once thriving synagogue which Marty attended as a child, and whose recollections of those long ago years parallel his own. And, magically, these years are relived, as Joseph "becomes" the long-dead figures who peopled Marty's boyhood and who, in memory, have drawn him to his journey into the past

Booth Theatre, New York

1974

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

1975

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

12

6

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: Increasingly disenchanted by the myriad disasters in the world around him, Dr. Lionel Morris, an eminent psychiatrist, is on the verge of withdrawing to a life of Buddhist contemplation. However, egged on by his intense daughter and her social worker fiancé, he is drawn into dealing with a very special welfare department case: a young man named Louie who has fathered nine children by five different women, all out of wedlock and all now on public assistance. The doctor's plan is to have Louie move into the family's luxurious apartment while he analyzes him, but, as luck would have it, a young black deliveryman, Lewis, strays by and is mistaken for Louiea misconception with which he readily goes along. When the real Louie shows up Lewis conceals him in a guest room and gives him reams of the doctor's questionnaires to fill out, while he pursues his own scheme of hustling the good doctor into putting up the money for a tap-dancing school in Harlem. Adding to the general confusion are, among others, the doctor's vapid wife, who is carrying on an affair with a military man friend of the family; a lascivious Swedish maid who can't keep her hands off Lewis; a bogus "French" cook and maid; a near-sighted burglar; and the military man's opera-loving wifeall of whom make their individual, and very funny contributions both to the increasing merriment of the play and to the trenchant, underlying observations which liven and illuminate it.

Circle in the Square, Theatre, New York

1974

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

1974

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
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-

Comedy

5

2

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: The hero is the millionaire co-owner of a textile plant who seems to have all that one could wish for - but who finds himself thoroughly miserable. As things have gone from bad to worse his wife (whom he loves) has left him; he is overweight but can't stop eating; his partner has just about given up on him; and, to cap it all, someone is apparently trying to kill him. In an attempt to set matters straight his brilliant law student daughter enlists the aid of her professor (and lover of five years), whereupon the action becomes ever more pell-mell, and even funnier - leading on to a quite unexpected yet characteristically zany resolution.

New York

1994

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

-

-

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis:

-

-

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

-

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

-

One Act

1

1

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: finds an aging male Artist sketching a young, female nude Model. Her youth and desirability provoke him to reflect on his life and the abyss that lies between age and youth, between desire and fulfillment.

-

-

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

-

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

-

One Act

1

1

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: brings onstage a female Artist and her young, male nude Model. He is the son of her best friend who gave up the idea of being a painter to raise a family. Who made the wiser choice haunts the Artist as she sketches.

New York

1967

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

-

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

-

One Act

2

1

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: serio-comedy study of a man who has estranged himself from his family, and given up all hope for children, career or money, to pursue the "noble" (and rather strange) scientific research which, in sad truth, has yielded only frustration and unhappiness.

Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York

1970

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

1974

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

One Act

2

3

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: The scene is the Chinese laundry which is also home for the Lee familyfather, mother and son, Chester. The older Lees are quite obviously Asian while Chester (who is usually taken for Jewish) is notbut his questions as to the possibility of his "real biological parents" are invariably turned aside by the Lees. Chester asks his fiancee (a nice Jewish girl) to meet his familywithout telling her they are Chinesewhich results in a series of hilarious misunderstandings. The Lees, indignant at Chester's obvious reluctance to be Chinese, have other plansin the form of Pu Ping Chow, a sweet little Chinese girl fresh from Hong Kong. In the end the burning question of Chester's identity is answered, but with such wry Asianl inscrutability that his future will most likely be as much a dilemma as his past.

New York

1995

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

-

-

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis:

-

1984

-

Closet Madness and Other Plays published by Samuel French Inc, New York

1984

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

Play

One Act

2

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: Six male friends all with marriage breakdowns. One decides that from now on gay is best and starts going through his friends to find a partner.

-

-

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

-

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

Play

One Act

1

1

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: wryly humorous study of the sad/funny problems which beset a middle-aged corporate attorney when, in a fit of euphoria, he apparently gooses a shapely young high school girl on his way home from the office. The first question is: "Did he or didn't he?" The other (but equally important) questions are: Will his wife, his law partners, and society in general forgive him if he did? Needless to say, the answers to these questions provide moments of high humor, not to mention some telling insights into human nature.

New York

1993

-

in Best American Short Plays 1992-1993, Applause Theater and Cinema Books

1993

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

Play

One Act

2

1

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: After being fired from his job as a highly paid advertising executive, our hero seeks refuge in the fantasy that he is a cowboy in the Old West. His wife seeks to bring him back to reality with humorous unforeseen consequences.

-

-

-

-

1993

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

-

-

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis:

Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York

1970

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

1974

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

One Act

2

2

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: Anxious to make their sex life more "meaningful," a middle-aged couple consult the eminent Dr. Fish, a sex expert whose doctorate happens to be in American history. The wife and the doctor get along swimmingly once she has overcome her reluctance to say certain forbidden words, but the husband, a down-to-earth type, remains unconvinced. The efforts of the eager young Dr. Fish to overcome the doubts of this worthy lead to some enormously funny moments, but the one who finally wins over the husband is Dr. Fish's slightly dotty grandmotherwho keeps bustling in with unwanted advice and steaming bowls of homemade lentil soup. In the end the grandmother, the husband, and a tureen of soup depart together, leaving Dr. Fish and his patient to ponder the deeper mysteries of sexual malaise and its cures.

London

1961

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

1972

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
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-

Comedy

10

8

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: Having moved away from his gypsy heritage to a Phi Beta Kappa key in college and a high salaried job in advertising, Robert Latore now wants to make a complete breakmarriage to the boss' daughter and a vice presidency in the firm. But the others in his family are reluctant to let him go, particularly his mother, Yana (who believes that Robert's late father has returned in the form of a duck); his would-be bride, Tonya Panpanya (who was promised to him when he was eleven); and Queen Mother Lenya (who announces on her deathbed that Robert is the new gypsy king). Inevitably Robert's two worlds collide as his bizarre relatives scheme to retrieve him from the enticements of his Establishment colleagues, but somehow the antic turns and twists of the plot bring all the loose ends together in time for a happy, and wonderfully wacky, ending.

New York

1994

-

in Best American Short Plays 1991-1992, Applause Theater and Cinema Books

1992

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

Play

One Act

1

1

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: a vaudeville team, waiting to hear from its agent, are subjected to a relentless barrage of supernatural telephone calls that encapsulate all of life's random vicissitudes. Song, dance and comic patter intertwine with the absurdist dramatization of their isolation and desperate need for each other.

-

-

-

in Best American Short Plays, Applause Theater and Cinema Books

1998

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

Play

One Act

-

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis:

New York

1980

-

in "The Pushcart Peddlers, The Flautist, and Other Plays", Dramatists Play Service, New York

1980

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

Play

One Act

2

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: black comedy gem in which Gregory, the son of a once famous comedian, confronts his father's longtime agent, and pleads for a chance to demonstrate the rather bizarre "act" which he has perfected. As the two parry and thrust, the deep-seated antagonism which Gregory feels for his father's exploiter is revealed, and then, in the surprising finale, suitably avenged.

Stockbridge, Massachusetts

1966

-

in "Fragments, Windows and Other Plays", Coward McCann, New York

1965

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

Play

One Act

3

1

doubling

Notes: -

Synopsis: we see three futile young men, lifelong friends (and enemies), who lash out at each other and alienate the young social worker who visits them in their cluttered room.

-

-

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

-

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

Play

One Act

1

1

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: a nuclear energy official, Dennis, returns from a lengthy trip abroad to find that his wife, Rosalind, has grown a beard! While very much a believer in women's liberation, the startled Dennis finds his openmindedness sorely taxed this timewhich leads on to some very pertinent, and funny, observations about sexism, role-playing, and the threat of nuclear annihilation.

Cleveland

1992

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

-

-

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis:

New York

1984

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

1985

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

One Act

2

1

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: When Jerry Stone comes hone to his luxurious Manhattan apartment for dinner he is in exceptionally high spirits. His business is apparently doing well; his sex life is eminently satisfying; and both he and his wife, Nina, appear to be happier than they have ever been. But then the cracks appear: Nina confesses that she has been carrying on an affair with the elevator man for the past twelve years; and Jerry abruptly confesses that they are on the edge of bankruptcy. The Stones are then visited by Robert Ginsburg, Jerry's oldest friend, whom they haven't seen for many years. Robert, who has developed the power to predict the future, tells Jerry that Demco Petro (a stock Jerry had just sold to raise cash) will open $28 a share higher in the morningwhich means that if Jerry had held on a day longer he would have realized a profit of $70,000! Shattered, Jerry and Nina move slowly away from each other, their life in ruins, as thunder and lightning crash ominously in the background

Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York

1968

-

Athenaeum, New York

1969

If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise
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-

Play with Music

9

9

-

Notes: aka An Original Jimmy Shine, music by John Sebastian

Synopsis: Martin Gottfried, in describing the play says: "The play is about a starving young painter living in a Greenwich Village loft&He is immediately established as mildly freaky: beer chilling on top of an ice cube, a mat of hair pasted on his chest&The play then moves into a flashback structure, which Schisgal handles with consummate skill, moving back and forth from the present to Brooklyn high school days, a quick trip to San Francisco and a painfully funny attempt at going straight working in a fish store&Shine is super-buddies with a school classmate, as boys are prone to be super-buddies in high school. A born follower, he is talked into skipping college by his pal, the idea being to become Village painters. Though he has neither an interest in nor a talent for painting, his friendthe ultimate phoneyconvinces him that it is possible. So he goes off to paint while the buddy decides to go to college. As it turns out, need I say, the buddy never does become a painter. He goes into his father's real estate business and marries the girl Shine adored. So the artist holes up in his loft, painting terrible pictures and dreaming about the girls he never gets while satisfying himself with a lovely and quite real prostitute&When the play ends, he is still nowherestill painting though now relieved of taking himself seriouslyand so at last capable of doing something. For Schisgal (and for me) the only thing that counts is what you do. Properly, the ending is neither sweetthough it may seem that waynor sour. It is merely right and the play of course, is the story of an artist."

Boston

1963

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

-

-

-

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis:

-

1980

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

-

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

Play

One Act

2

1

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: we meet two cemetery caretakers, Mary and Tom, who lament the death of their sailor son, Little Johnny, and decide to create a proper chapel for him by looting the graves in their care. The project soon takes them over, reviving the passion which has dwindled between them, and so absorbing them that when Johnny (who has not drowned) suddenly returns they can no longer accept him and must drive him away once and for all.

London

1963

-

Coward McCann, New York

1965

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

2

1

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: As described by the New York Times: "When the play begins there is Harry Berlin, looking like a shaved, mustachioed beatnik who has sunk so low that honest beatniks would disown him. He has no future except to jump off the bridge and is about to do so when Milt Manville comes along and intervenes. Milt and Harry turn out to be college classmates. As Harry, in his rags, slowly drops hints of his tale of woe, Milt, a picture of prosperity, is all sympathy. But LUV has ample place in its bosom for more than one miserable fellow. Milt is also full of frustration, for his wife won't release him and let him marry the girl he loves. Presently Milt's wife, Ellen, appears. As she stands under a lamppost, her expression congealed and fur-coated body rigid, it is clear that she, too, is torn by anguish. Now we have a triangle matched in misery. Milt has had an inspiration. Why not bring Ellen and Harry together and thus win the freedom to marry the other girl? But Ellen looks despairing; she needs sprucing up. Milt tidies her dress and slip, combs her hair, rouges her lips, powders her cheeks, delicately touches up her eyelashes and sprays her with perfume. Could a husband be more tender with a wife he hopes to palm off? The events that follow need not be detailed. All you will wish to know is that whatever marriages are made and unmade, Milt, Ellen and Harry end up in sorrow and agony, and the greater their misunderstandings and problems, the more you laugh."

Apple Corps Theatre, NY

-

-

Dramatists Play Service, NY

1988

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

Three One Act Plays

One Act

-

-

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: The first play, THE CONSEQUENCES OF GOOSING, is a wryly humorous study of the sad/funny problems which beset a middle-aged corporate attorney when, in a fit of euphoria, he apparently gooses a shapely young high school girl on his way home from the office. The first question is: "Did he or didn't he?" The other (but equally important) questions are: will his wife, his law partners, and society in general forgive him if he did? Needless to say, the answers to these questions provide moments of high humor, not to mention some telling insights into human nature. (1 man, 1 woman.) In the second play, HOW WE REACHED AN IMPASSE ON NUCLEAR ENERGY, a nuclear energy official, Dennis, returns from a lengthy trip abroad to find that his wife, Rosalind, has grown a beard! While very much a believer in women's liberation, the startled Dennis finds his openmindedness sorely taxed this timewhich leads on to some very pertinent, and funny, observations about sexism, role-playing, and the threat of nuclear annihilation. (1 man, 1 woman.) The third play, 74 GEORGIA AVENUE, is a deeply affecting examination of the bizarre developments which follow when a successful (but deeply unhappy) white businessman, Marty, decides to spend a few days in his boyhood home, in what has now become a black neighborhood. He encounters Joseph, the son of the now deceased black man who was once the janitor of the once thriving synagogue which Marty attended as a child, and whose recollections of those long ago years parallel his own. And, magically, these years are relived, as Joseph "becomes" the long-dead figures who peopled Marty's boyhood and who, in memory, have drawn him to his journey into the past. (2 men.)

Baltimore

1968

-

in "Fragments, Windows and Other Plays", Coward McCann, New York

1965

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

Drama

One Act

1

1

-

Notes: -

Synopsis: shows us an unhappy couple bickering over the miseries of their marriage. They vie for the loyalties of the son they have consigned to the backyard well. When they haul him up, his is a final, uniting sadnessa straw dummy dressed in a soldier's uniform.

New York

1984

-

-

-

I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page