The new edition of The GUIDE gives details of all the plays handled by Samuel French Ltd, London, available for amateur performance in the British Isles

Section A Full length plays (including all male and all female plays)
Section B One act plays (including all female and all male plays)
Section C Plays for children and young people
Section D Pantomimes and Christmas plays
Section E List of musical plays
Section F French's technical books

It is current from January 2006 until December 2008

May Axeher, an elderly widow, is entertaining inherLondon semi. The fixst"guest" to arrive is Warren, a fledgling wardrobe salesman, followed by Desmond (home security), his more experienced counterpart. Next on the scene are Stan and Angela, keen to measure up May's bedroom for decoration, and then the pneumatic July arrives with her electric keyboard. Each salesperson adopts a persona they think will persuade their prospective client to put her money their way, but May's inability to wrench her eyes from her TV - and her lack of interest in any of the products - look set to wreck their hopes. This madcap comedy comes to a rousing conclusion when May saves the day with a clever scheme that leaves everyone satisfied,

Pete and George are old friends. In fact, such good old friends that George has been Pete's best man at both of his weddings. Pete. now happily married to Sarah, is appalled when George arrives with the news that his first wife Jessica was not killed in a climbing accident as they had thought but is alive and well and keen to resume her life with Pete! This unexpected revelation leads to a series of hilarious situations as Peter and George try to find a way out of this desperate plight without upsetting either of Pete's wives or his second wife's powerful mother.

A case of mistaken identity leads to tragedy in this engaging thriller. In a snowbound guest house in the Peak District, Marjory Pike is wrongly identified by another guest as the author of a book declaiming certain mediums, one of whom had committed suicide as a result. The son of the deceased medium is staying at the guest house, so when he arrives in the lounge bloodied and bruised, and Marjory is found dead, the finger of suspicion naturally points at him. But the guest house may be haunted, other guests have their own secrets, and even the proprietors are not above suspicion . . . In true Norman Robbins fashion? the deepening mystery is rich with shocks and laughs as the play moves to its unexpected close.

Can Phileas Frog (aided by his faithful friend Pass) get round the pond in eighty days? He'd better, because he's wagered his bass, Fink, that he can - the stake being Phil's luxury lily pad. Phil plays fair to win the bet, but Pink doesn't, sending the devious snake Fix along wit Phil to delay him. Travelling by foot. boat and balloon, meeting dragonflies, toads, sticklebacks, newts and water rats, the intrepid adventurers face many trials and make lots of new friends, not least the beautiful Princess Phoebe. Catchy songs, imaginative staging opportunities and numerous excellent frog jokes make this likeable, joyful musical a feast of fun for actors and audiences alike.

Multi-layered thriller, full of unexpected twists. A 'Russian doll' of a play, which moves from a seemingly innocuous domestic play-reading, through a murder mystery in the classic style, to a final terrifying and violent climax

Inspired by the closing of the West End Synagogue in Soho's Dean Street in the late 1990s. In a West End synagogue three septuagenarians, Sophie, Hetty and Magda meet every Tuesday to play the card game Kaluki. Loretta, a youthful fortyseven-year-old, keeps the score. But all this is about to change when their synagogue is to be sold to a strip club owner. These intrepid ladies decide to take direct action and barricade themselves in their fated synagogue. Can they succeed or will their constant bickering put paid to their plan?

It's a cold winter's evening and bitter, irascible divorce Henry is enjoying a Scotch and some classical music in glorious solitude. He is soon disturbed, however, by the unwelcome appearance of his son Matthew, bringing with him his new girlfriend, the unappealing punk! Goth Christine. Matthew is obviously keen for a reconciliation with his father, but Henry is quite happy the way things are, and sparks soon fly - but this is just the beginning, for who should arrive next but Henry's ex-wife, Matthew's mother, Sue! As the cold night wears on Henry and Sue can't help but rake over the ashes of their seemingly dead relationship and to their surprise the faint glow of a new tenderness develops between them. Before long Henry is facing some important decisions

some really nasty body malarkey and a couple of Kosovan immigrants.

the story of widower William and his nine year old son danny, who live in a gipsy caravan and run the village filling station.

Henry VIII and his six wives are given a light-hearted slightly irreverant treatment in this musical by Leslie Bricusse which was first seen in London under the title Kings and Clowns, featuring Frank Finlay, Elizabeth Counsell and Dilys Watling.

Charlie is that modern media phenomenon, an A list celebrity. Mobbed and adored by thousands, his face is everywhere, his name on everything from breakfast cereals to sports gear. He is truly the man who has it all. A beautiful wife, wonderful children, immense wealth and a magnificent home. Everyone is agreed that Charlie Conrad is undoubtedly the man to know and be associated with. What is far more difficult to pin down is what precisely it is that has made Charlie so famous. What has Charlie ever done? Indeed, has he ever done anything? And, in the distorting, mirrored world of celebrity hype, does anyone even care?