http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omZ2ST6qfR0&feature=em-upload_owner


MY UNKNOWN SON, staged reading, live, in Marin, 1987link to complete script online: full script of MY UNKNOWN SON

LONG PLAYS by DANIEL CURZON

(all scripts are copyrighted)

Most are in COLLECTED PLAYS OF DANIEL CURZON  (Amazon.com)

FULL-LENGTH

QUEEN LEAR -- A COMEDY

What if KING LEAR were a comedy, revealing all the things you don't like about Shakespeare, 

from verbosity to convenient coincidence to preposterous situations galore?

CHARCTERS:

QUEEN LEAR, female, queen of Britain, over fifty

GONORRHEA, eldest daughter of Queen Lear

REAGAN, the Queen's middle daughter

ALBANY, husband of Gonorrhea

CONRWALL, husband of Reagan

EARL of KENT

EARL of WORCHESTERSHIRE (pronounced WOO)

EDMUND, a bastard

EDGAR, son of the Earl of Worchestershire, later Poor Tommy

OSWALD, servant to Gonorrhea

FOOL, a boyish or girlish entertainer

ASSORTED servants, soldiers, messengers, as needed

Plus: Cordelia, the Queen's youngest daughter

STYLE: comic Shakespeare

PLAYING TIME: 90 MINUTES, with one intermission

CLICK HERE for SCRIPT:

2. ROME DIDN'T FALL. IT WAS PUSHED

You have sword-play. You have word-play. You even have a play!  Three travelers on the road to Rome: a donkey, pirates, a would-be eunuch, Vestal Virgins, barbarians, a mad Emperor, and lepers -- everything you could want in an evening's entertainment.

CHARACTERS: (7)

IGNORAMUS, male, any age, smarter than he is given credit for

PIUS ANXIUS, male, any age, a killjoy

TITUS GASEOUS OBNOXIUS, male, over forty, a traditionalist

OTHERS: (4) to play all the other roles

SETTING: on a road to Rome in a cart pulled by an invisible donkey, then a street in Rome

STYLE: Comedy

PLAYING TIME: one and a half hours

3. WHAT DID Da VINCI DO in BED?

-- Leonardo Da Vinci has to deal with suspicions and accusations about his love life, with all sorts of visitors from his mother to Cesare Borgia.

CHARACTERS: (8, actors 7)

LEONARDO, 48, wide-ranging in his talents and interests, but vulnerable because of his attraction to teenage boys.

     SALAI, 20, his student and boyfriend, cunning, devilish,

manipulative, down to earth

CATERINA, 68, his mother, a warm, loving peasant

CESARE BORGIA, 25, a would-be patron, cruel, cold

ISABELLLA d'ESTE, 26, an entitled would-be patroness

BUTCHER, 35, a member of the town council, a spy

GEROLAMO MELFI, 30, an aristocratic military man, father of a would-be student

FRANCESCO MELFI, 30, wise, loyal, appears in Act II, nineteen years later, played by the man who plays his father in Act I

SETTINGS: Two studios of Leonardo Da Vinci, virtually identical, except for a few upgrades in Act II

STYLE: Please no artificial "classical" tone to anyone here, grounded in an earthy but witty realism

PLAYING TIME: About two hours, plus an intermission

In Volume XIII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon

CLICK for SCRIPT

4. PUPPETS RULE! -- Bisexual CASS has encounters with his eccentric, fed-up mother and disabled brother in the first scene; he encounters a quiet yet sexy person of indeterminate gender on an airplane in the second scene; in the final scene he encounters God, his mother, his brother, and his Lovie, all with "Happy" Endings!

CHARACTERS: (4), with one doubling

CASS, male, 25-45, sympathetic, bisexual, actor, son, brother, lover, and believer

VOICE, (over PA system), male, mature, deep and authoritative

MA, female, 45-65, very eccentric, fed-up with care-giving

 GOD, male, 45-65, forgetful, confused, moody; also plays airplane Voice

 Plus Two Puppet Characters (the brother and the lover)

 PLAYING TIME: 80 minutes, no intermission

note: Each scene in this full-length play can also be performed separately as a one-act (25 minutes each)

PRODUCED: Scene #2 ("Carpe Diem Airlines") was a hit at New York New Works Theatre Festival, fall, 2015. 

(in Volume XII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)

5. JANE AUSTEN'S NEW PLAY and SEX LIFE -- Jane Austen is back from a two-hundred-year bout of cryo-preservation with a new play to try out at her home, her first since childhood. She's invited some locals to help out as Utility Actors, and her Swiss-German "care-giver" is not happy with her or the contents of her new play. Oh, and you're invited too, if you behave!

CHARACTERS: (8)

JANE AUSTEN, about 40, the British author

HANS-AXL, male, Swiss German, 25-45, Jane's "care-giver"

MRS. NUHRANI, a conservative Muslim next-door neighbour

UTILITY ACTOR #1, male, 40-60, for various parts

UTILITY ACTRESS #1, female, 40-60, for various parts

UTILITY ACTOR #2, male, 20-40, for various parts

UTILITY ACTRESS #2, female, 20-40, for various parts

NIGEL, male, 30-60, a member of the gutter press

MOOD: dramedy  (the play within the play is a roman a clef)

SETTING: present day, with mimed actions of 1810

PLAYING TIME: 2 hours, one intermission

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

5.THE IMPORTANCE of BEING CECILY, or CECIL -- an alternate reality to Oscar Wilde's famous play

        Characters: (6, with one doubling)     

ALGERNON MONCRIEF, a wealthy young man about town, 25-35

LANE, a male servant, nice looking, 30-45

LORD NEVILLE BRACKNELL, cordial, stiff, over 50

CECILY CARDEW, a boyish girl, 20 – 25 (played by a male or a female, preferably a male)

MISS PRIZZIN, a governess, severe, of the unbending “progressive” persuasion, over 40

CECIL CARDEW, Cecily’s older brother, 21 – 26 (should be played by the same male or female who plays Cecily

GWENDOLEN FAIRFAX, lipstick lesbian daughter of Lord Bracknell, 25-35

        Mood: Bright Comedy

        Style: Victorian setting

        Playing Time: 2 hours with one Intermission

ALSO: stand-alone one-act of Scene 2, with Annoyingly Correct Miss Prizzin, Cecily, and Algernon.

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

 (in Volume XI of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)

ALSO: PUBLISHED as a separate play by NEXT STAGE PRESS (2020)

                                                                 

6. SUCH BAD FRIENDS -- A woman tries to force two friends of hers to become friends of each other, with disastrous results, amusing but disastrous results.  How much trouble is a friendship worth?    

              Characters: (3)  Stuart, flamboyantly gay, unrestrained, borderline nuts

                    Dennis, cautious, polite, ironic, lonely

                                  Callie: a busybody, a do-gooder, also sarcastic

              Mood: dramatic comedy      

              Playing Time: 2 hours

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

    (in Volume XI of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)

7. SCREAMING TO GET OUT, or Why I Hate the Theater – While waiting for the director,  who is late, three actors at a  rehearsal of silly and sentimental one-acts engage in various improv scenarios that they feel are never permitted on stage, led by a world-weary, militant celibate contrarian and a feisty, wealthy woman, but resisted by a naïve young actor

Characters: (3) A, B, and C, as described above.

  Mood: Edgy comedy   Playing Time: about an hour

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

   (in VOLUME XI of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)

8. THIRTEENTH NIGHT, or MALVOLIO'S REVENGE 

-- Puritan Malvolio from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, or What You Will  makes good on his promise to take  revenge "upon the whole pack of you," from aristocratic Lady Oblivia Lovecock to her former Clown now turned lawyer, Fester; from drunken wastrel Sir Toby Fartte and his wife, Ave Mariah, to their foolish friend, Sir Andrew Dribbledick, to whoever else gets in his way, whether it be the boy-dressing Viola or her over-eating husband, Duke Porcino. No one is safe, including Malvolio's fiancee, the former maid Molly Brightheart, or his "spy," the servant John B. Simpleton. It is a problem play that blows the lid off the surprising perversities of the original play.

MOOD: a neo-Shakespearean comedy, but completely understandable.

CHARACTERS: (13) bitter Malvolio; his fiancee Molly Brightheart, Lady Oblivia Lovecock, who has more than a fancy for girls dressed like boys;  her husband, Sebastian with a secret "pirate" past; Antonio, a loud and proud pirate who loved Sebastian, at least when he was a lad; debt-ridden, alcoholic Sir Toby Fartte, his on-the-wagon wife, Ave Mariah, Sir Andrew Dribbledick, a gull seeking a wife; Lawyer Fester, Fabian, his cynical assistant; the Lady Viola; her husband the Duke Porcino, who is in love with Oblivia and not his wife; John B. Simpleton, a put-upon servant;  3 walk-ons.

PLAYING TIME: 3 hours LIK TO SCRIPT:

9.  WOULDA, COULDA, SHOULDA, or God Throws a Party

– God invites six people to a suspicious "party" and makes them go through their entire lives in two hours, from kindergarten through a high school dance, a class reunion, speed dating (twice), a funeral, a group therapy session, a med-spa, a nursing home, and the Gates of Heaven and Last Judgment with Talent Show. Who would choose to live his or her life exactly as it is going to be, including one’s death, if it shown to you before it happens? Hmm?

Mood: Absurdist Comedy

Characters: (7)

God: Male or Female (change pronouns), charming, feisty, manipulative, and well dressed

Setting:   Mere suggestions of the locales mentioned above, very few special props,   six chairs, a spatula, etc.

Style:  Realistic, but hyper so.

Playing Time:  2 ½ hours with Intermission

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

  (in Volume X of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)

10.  METER MAIDS IN FLAMES (a comedy noir)

Mood: Off-beat comedy

Jeanette the embarrassingly senile sister, Zara the daughter any parent would dread.

Setting:  Present day, no special sets needed except for the front of a mausoleum, suggestions of a group-home, a restaurant, an apartment.

Style:  Noir Absurdist

Playing Time:  1hr 45 plus Intermission

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

  (In Volume IX of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)

11. CHRISTMAS: Naughty and Nice — Five one-acts with Christmas themes, from the poignant to the pungent to the Absurd:

ACT I  "A Christmas Mistake" (a touching story of a little girl (use a hand puppet) and her father encountering a homeless man on Christmas Eve), "Honest Xmas Presents" (a biting satire on what families give as gifts – and what they would if they could),

"A Christmas Miracle" (two closeted gay Air Force officers on a miraculous night in the Officers’ Club), "Nuns and Buns" (two Catholic nuns have Christmas dinner out in a cafeteria but get into a spirited theological debate that gets out of hand).

ACT II  "The Christmas to End All Christmases" (Ebenezer Putz encounters numerous visits from all the Christmas characters you can think of, from Bob Scratchit to the Little Drummer Boy to Sadie Claus and even Santa and Street Jesus).

Mood:  Mostly comedy, some drama

Characters:  (5) With properly versatile actors, all the parts can be played by a small cast, probably best with a mature male, a mature female, a young male, a young female, another male of any age. Some female parts can be played in drag.

Setting:  Various, suggested, more with props and costume touches than full-blown ones.

Style: Realistic to Absurd, depending on each one-act.

Playing Time: About 90 minutes with one fifteen-minute Intermission

Produced by Dark Theatre Co., Portland, Maine, December, 2009.

PUBLISHED by: Proplay

Staged Reading, Western Edge Theatre Company, British Columbia, CANADA, December, 2015 "It was great!: -- director Frank Moher.   "Honest Xmas Presents" performed at Wausee High School, Wausee, Iowa, May, 2018 --cancelled

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

(In Volume IX of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)

11. ONE DAMNED THING AFTER ANOTHER, or Oops, That Must Have Hurt

Mood:  Drama, with some comedy

Characters: (3) Ted, Kitti, and Lola (all between 45-60) aristocratic Kitti has a British accent. Lola has a touch of a Brooklyn accent. Ted has an American accent

Setting  The three sit or possible use podiums reading the e-mails they have

written to each other; no need to memorize the lines

Style:  Realistic

Playing Time:  About three hours, with one Intermission

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

(in Volume IX of COLLECTED PLAYS of DANIEL CURZON)

12. ENTER THE PRINCESS

Mood: Drama, with witty lines and some other liberties

Characters:  (10-25, depending on budget) Princess Margaret; Group Captain Townsend; Antony Armstrong-Jones; Roddy Llewellyn; the Queen; Prince Philip; Ladies-in-Waiting; Voices; Servants; Officials, etc. with doubling except in the main roles

Setting:  A platform for public appearances; various rooms for private events

(the same room with variations can be used)

Style: Realistic biography, with some ghost and imaginary sequences and some enhancements

Playing Time:  Three-plus hours, with Intermission

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

 (in Volume VIII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon) 

13. DESPICABLE DAUGHTER, or Shed No Tears for April

— A sociopathic daughter and a feisty gay man fight for the love (and estate) of a woman dying of cancer.

Mood:  Drama, with comedy elements

Characters:  (4) The difficult daughter; the put-upon mother; gay friend

of mother and executor of her will; and his long-time partner

Setting:  Modern day, minimal sets; use a few props and pools of light

Style:  Realistic, except when the characters move in slow motion from

one scene to the next before resuming realistic movement within the scene.

Playing Time:  About 2 hours, plus intermission

14.  BLESS ME FATHER. I HAVE SINNED?

Characters: (4) Sebastian, 30-40, nice-looking, Southern accent, as in

Time: 1957

Mood: Biting Satire

Playing Time:  About one and a half hours, no intermission

Award: semi-finalist, Reverie Theater, Next Generation Playwrights Contest, 2006

15. A PINT AT THE PREGNANT PRIEST, or a Pint at the Queen’s Arse — 

Set in a modern-day country Irish pub, Old Ireland and New Ireland meet in a black romp that is both touching and comic. An American tourist encounters a grouchy pub owner as well as Mad Mary, who lives in a cardboard box, to say nothing of Father Finnessey, who is a pregnant Catholic priest. With magic in the air (literally), there is love all around for Mad Mary.

Mood: Comedy, with touching moments

Characters: (4) The American Tourist; The Pub Owner; Mad Mary; Father Finnessey

Playing Time:  About 2 hours, with one intermission

16. GODOT ARRIVES

Mood: Absurdist comedy

Characters: (4) A.M (Stoogey); P.M. (Piddle); G.D.; Bozo 

(All can be played by strong females) (The names Estragon and Vladimir can be used but not preferred.)

Playing Time:  About 1 ½ hours, with one intermission

1999 WINNER: NATIONAL NEW PLAY CONTEST (Southwest Theatre Assoc.) Also: Performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland,

  (in Volume VI of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)

17. 1001 NIGHTS AT THE HOUSE OF PANCAKES

— a series of vignettes that capture fragments of people’s lives as overheard in a restaurant — from the sad to the comic to the odd, with an emphasis on realistic drama/comedy. Some include the grandparent who has had to reject a grandchild forced on her, an Asian military bride who, as her English gets better, realizes who she has actually married, a militant smoker who won’t leave the restaurant, and two lovesick teens who think they’ve invented Love.

     Most roles can be played by either males or females, and perhaps some of the pieces could be done twice in each performance, to show how the dynamics change when the sex of the person changes. 

The vignettes can be done in almost any order, even with different casting for every performance, thus giving a different texture to each separate performance.

Mood: Realistic comedy and drama (would make a good video or movie)

Characters: (6) (men and women, mixed) They play multiple parts, of all types

Playing Time: Varies — from half an hour to two hours, depending on the number of pieces used. Probably around 1 hour and 10 minutes with no intermission would be best.

18. A HISTORY OF REALLY, REALLY BAD IDEAS

Mood:  Satirical, from light to harsh

Characters:  (5 or 6) (three men, two or three women who play multiple parts)

Playing Time:  From five minutes to one and a half hours, depending on

number of sketches used

First Performed: at B.A.I.T. Fringe Festival, San Francisco, September, 1996.

 19. SIMPSON AGONISTES: The Truth and Nothing But in the O.J. Simpson Trial

Mood:  Satirical, from light to bitter

Characters:  (6-8) to play multiple parts, can be done with scripts in hand at microphones

Playing Time:  Half an hour to two hours, depending on amount used.

Not all scenes necessary. Select as needed

20. THE BLASPHEMER

Mood: Docu-drama, with some humor, fast-paced

Characters: (8) The Novelist; his Wife; and three men, three women for multiple parts.

Playing Time:  2 hours (one intermission)

Scheduled but not performed by Cathaaytra Productions for 2011.

21. MY UNKNOWN SON

Mood:  Basically a comedy, with some powerful and touching scenes

Characters: (3) The Father; the Son; the Midwife (all major roles)

Playing Time: 1 hour, 18 minutes (no intermission)

Produced by Martin Kaufman, off-Broadway Equity production at the Kaufman Theater, NYC, October, 1988.

Also staged at the Circle Rep Lab, NYC, October, 1987.

First performed at Marin Theater Co, summer, Marin County, California, 1987

Published by Dialogus Play Service (out of print).

22. WHEN BERTHA WAS A PRETTY NAME

Mood: High Comedy, with style; some farce

Characters : (8) Two Male Lovers; the Homophobic Mother Ogre; the sister, named Suzette; her Stuffy Lover; a Sex-Crazed Ex-lover of the Host; an English Butler; a Woman Publisher

Playing Time:  2 hours (one intermission)

Workshop: West Coast Playwrights, Marin County, Ca, 1988. 

Published by Dialogus Play Service (out of print).

23. STUCK

Mood:  Comedy/ Drama.

Characters:  (5) Joe, in his thirties; Ionia, his feminist office mate; Herm, his gay conservative colleague;

Leo Sues, the corrupt chairman of the Humanities Department; Boris Zilch, a dumb student

Playing Time: 2 hours (one intermission)

Top Ten Finalist, National New Play Contest, 2002

24.  MARGARET AND ERNIE VS. THE WORLD

Mood:  A touching drama with many laughs

Characters:   Margaret, blind retired teacher, Ernie, roughneck, retired, Social Worker; a Junkie Thief; a Guard, a female Usher

Playing Time:  Three acts, under 2 hours (one intermission)

First produced: The One-Act Theatre Company, San Francisco, 1981.

25. THE THIRD PART OF HENRY THE FOURTH

Mood:  Authentic neo-Shakespearean play, not parody, sequel to Henry IV, Parts I, II

Characters:  (15-19) King Hal; Falstaff; Duke of Lancaster; Frederick (a pompous emissary); Mistress Quickly; Doll Tearsheet; Duchess of Lancaster; assorted roles

Playing Time:  Approximately 3 hours (one intermission)

Represented by agent Jeffrey Simmons, London: "I really am mightily impres

sed with HENRY IV Part Three, and I do not use words lightly. It is quite remarkably good and at times quite splendid."

26. CINDERELLA II

— What happens after you live happily ever after? Cinderella finds Prince Charming too "perfect." She is falling in love with his less-than-charming brother, Prince Moe, and she’s even homesick for her awful stepsisters. Meanwhile, the evil court jester is plotting to overthrow the prince.

Characters:  (15-16) Cinderella; Prince Charming; Prince Moe; the Fairy Godmother; Tickle, the jester; two stepsisters (Gargola / Odia); Father; Mother; assorted small roles

Playing Time:  2 hours and 5 minutes. (one intermission)

First produced by the Angels of Light (Offshoot of the Cockettes), S.F., 1984.

WINNER: 3 Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Awards

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

27. OLIVER CROMWELL AND THE BOYS (No Mince Pies)

— Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans are on the rampage, because they’ve been persecuted. King Charles I of England is a bit of fop and rather cruel and loses his head to them. The Puritans, once in power, turn out to be cruel taskmasters themselves, trying to legislate morality according to their code, punishing adultery and even Christmas celebrations. Judith, the daughter of a Puritan family, yearns to be in the theater in a time when women are not allowed to be.

Mood:  Musical Dramedy — with parallels to contemporary religious fundamentalists,

but with entertainment the priority. (Music by Dan Turner, Book / Lyrics by Curzon)

Characters:  (15) Judith; her Mother; her Father; her Brother; Cromwell;

Charles I (all singing roles); Heretic; Counselors; Chorus, etc.

Playing Time: 3 hours (one intermission) (Music available)

Workshop Production at City College of San Francisco, summer, 1986).

28. PIXIES IN PERIL

Mood: Broad Comedy

Characters: (12-15, with doubling) the Wimp; Pixies; Glorioso, the magician;

               Affectionette (the Imp Queen); Ogress; Spiders; Monsters; Villains; the Dragon 

Playing Time: 2 hours (one intermission)

Published by Dialogus Play Service (out of print).

29. DON’T RUB ME THE WRONG WAY

Mood:  A comedy with satirical bite.

Characters:  (6) Sam, the non-bisexual main character; a "Liberated" Lady; Guy; a Reluctant Swinger; a comically Creepy Guy; Man who Speaks No Known Language; the Genie; a dog for a walk-on

Playing Time:  2 hours (one intermission)

Staged Reading: Gay Performance Company, New York, Spring, 1991.

Staged Reading: Phoenix Theater, San Francisco, 1996.

Published by Dialogus Play Service (out of print).

30. I’M GLAD I’M ME AND NOT YOU, or Avatars

Mood: Serious comedy

Characters: (4) Adrian, who is gay, Matilda, who is prudish, Alice, who is daring, and Henry, who is "good old Henry"

Playing Time: 2 hours 

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

(in Volume IV of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)

31. BEER AND RHUBARB PIE

Mood:  Drama with some humor

Characters:  (4) the Cuban Repairman; The Cuban’s wife; the Gay Man;

the Ex-lover now roommate

Playing Time:  (3 acts) 1 hour 45 minutes (+ intermission).

Videotape of one-act version, 25 minutes)

Produced twice at Theater Rhinoceros, San Francisco, 1979, 1980

(one-act version)

Staged reading; Gay Performances Co, May, NYC (three-acts), 1990

Published by Dialogus Play Service (one-act version, out of print)

32. THE BIRTHDAY GIRL

Moo:  Serious drama

Character:  (6) Addict; her Husband; Teenage Sister; Mother; Father; Doctor

Playing Time: (2 acts) About 2 hours (one intermission)

First performed as one-act at One Act Theater Co, San Fran., 1982.

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

(in Volume II of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon

33. THE BIRTHDAY BOY

35. BENEATH THE SURFACE

Mood:  Biting, politically incorrect, unsentimental satire

Characters:  (12) Asian; Gay; Lesbian; Black Woman; Black Man;

White Woman; White Man; Foreigner, etc. (in masks)

Playing Time: 1 hour and 13 thirteen minutes

 shorter version, Earnest Players, San Fran., 1979

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

  (in Volume I of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)

36. SEX SHOW

Mood: Comedy

Characters:  (5) People (all men?) who can play multiple roles

Playing Time:  Under 2 hours (one intermission)

First performed: Gay Community Center, San Francisco, 1977.

Also Leavenworth YMCA , San Francisco, 1977.

Also Produced at the Mabuhay Gardens, San Francisco, 1977.

Nominated for Best Script by San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, 1977.

37. DEMONS

— A gay man is vexed by the spirits of three women in his life --

Mood: Drama with laughs

Characters:  (4) the Man; the Nun; the Mother; the Ex-Wife

Playing Time:  2 hours (one intermission)

Staged reading: Julian Theater, San Francisco, 1983

Published by Dialogus Play Service (out of print).

38. COMEBACK (a musical)

Mood:  Musical Drama. (Music by Dan Turner, Lyrics by Curzon)

Characters: (4) The Male Self; the Female Self; the Lover; Person to play various other roles

Playing Time: 2 hours (one intermission) (Tape of music available)

Staged Reading: Noe Valley Ministry, 1987

Published by Dialogus Play Service (out of print)

39. VERY NASTY INDEED

— Thriller set in an English manor house, where two sisters, a husband, and a gardener plot / counter plot clever murders against each other.

Mood:  Thriller with possible comic/camp overtones. Keeps the audience on pins and needles wondering who will win.

Characters:  (4) The older sisters (in her 40s); the younger sister (in her 30s);

the husband (30s); the feeble-minded gardener (in his 20s)

Playing Time: 2 hours (one intermission)

CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

  *Americanized version produced by Cinemastar Productions as a TV series, 2013-14.

40. HUGELY ENTERTAINING

— A group of "seminarians" is enrolled in a theatre course in London. They ought to get  along since they have a common interest, but someone’s purse has been stolen, another asks really stupid questions of their British theatre guests, one is a transsexual studying to be a clairvoyant, another is an old Shakespearean actor going blind, another a woman director with enrollment problems, plus a bed-wetting, blithe countess, and then some really interesting characters are there too . 

Mood:  Realistic comedy drama

Characters:  (10) Each is a mixture of the comic and the sad, like most people:

a witty, suicidal Lesbian, with lovaer troubles, has a play to market, fortyish;

an old British Actor going blind, Shakespeare idolater, over sixty; the British

Guest (multiple parts played by a man over thirty — actor, director, always

the same person with different names, sometimes a mustache or other slight changes);

the self-reliant, impatient, falsely compassionate Director of the Program, heard it all,

once killed someone in a car accident, over thirty-five;

a poorly self-educated, badly dressed Social Outcast Male, any age; a would-be

Clairvoyant, sensitive, also a Transsexual, played by a man, over forty, but not

a "drag" role; something of a Male Gold-Digger but not too good at it, who is

also a scholarship actor, thirties, handsome, under thirty-five; a Young Actress,

opinionated, aloof, optimistic, overindulged, may have potential, under twenty;

a Nice Woman who tells people what they want to hear, others try to guess her

secret and gossip about her, over forty; the Countess De La Rue, streetwise,

self-assured, bed-wetting nobility whom others always want to wait on, changes

her plans often, exerts natural superiority, unfazed by her own foibles, over thirty-five

Playing Time:  (3 acts, three hours)

41. THE MURDER OF GONGAZO — A COMEDY

(Also available in a one-act version. See information below under one-acts.

-- What a playwright will do to make her new play a success.

Mood: Comedy

CLICK LINK TO FULL SCRIPT:

42. HEAVEN — THE MUSICAL

Mood:  Musical Drama (needs music)

Character: 

 (10-20) Cassie, an impulsive young woman from the Midwest, in her twenties; Milton, her fiancé, a conservative young man, also in his twenties; has a twin brother who died; Other Couple, a brother and a sister in their forties, with the sister very butch and the brother fem, also trying to get into the Club; Leather Boy, any age, a dynamic, contradictory sexy Mephistopheles in leather; Closeteers, a group of versatile actor-singer-dancers who play all the other parts.

Playing Time:  (2 acts, three hours)

    CLICK LINK TO SCRIPT:

 (in Volume VII of Collected Plays of Daniel Curzon)

For Production Rights for any play: 

Tel: 415-297-9220