Entertainment/Plays - Revision history

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@@ Line 139: / Line 139: @@
 ''Three Sisters'' (1900) – follows the lives of the Prozorov sisters as their fortune is in decline. Olga is the eldest sister, Masha is the middle sister, and Irina is the youngest sister. Their brother is Andrei.
-''The Cherry Orchard'' (1903) – last play. Revolves around Madame Ranevskaya, an aristocratic Russian landowner who returns to her family estate (which includes a cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. She allows the estate to be sold to Lopakhin, the son of a former serf.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - World|Novels - World]]</blockquote>'''Agatha Christie'''
+''The Cherry Orchard'' (1903) – last play. Revolves around Madame Ranevskaya, an aristocratic Russian landowner who returns to her family estate (which includes a cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. She allows the estate to be sold to Lopakhin, the son of a former serf.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - World|Novels - World]] / [[Entertainment/Literature - Non-Fiction|Literature - Non-Fiction]]</blockquote>'''Agatha Christie'''
 ''The'' ''Mousetrap'' was originally a 30-minute radio play, ''Three Blind Mice'', presented by the BBC in honour of the late Queen Mary's 80th birthday, in 1947. It opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 2020. The play is set in the Great Hall of Monkswell Manor, a guesthouse run by Mollie and Giles Ralston, and opens with the murder of Maureen Lyon.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Crime Fiction|Crime Fiction]]</blockquote>'''Caryl Churchill''' is a socialist feminist writer.
@@ Line 355: / Line 355: @@
 ''The Little Foxes'' (1939) – is set in Alabama in 1900. Regina Giddens struggles for wealth and freedom within the confines of a society where fathers considered only sons as their legal heirs.
-'''Ernest Hemingway''' -''The Fifth Column'' (1939) – is Hemingway’s only full-length play and concerns his experiences in the Spanish Civil War.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - USA|Novels - USA]]</blockquote>'''Victor Hugo'''
+'''Ernest Hemingway''' -''The Fifth Column'' (1939) – is Hemingway’s only full-length play and concerns his experiences in the Spanish Civil War.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - USA|Novels - USA]] / [[Entertainment/Literature - Non-Fiction|Literature - Non-Fiction]]</blockquote>'''Victor Hugo'''
 ''Cromwell'' (1927) – tells the story of Oliver Cromwell's internal conflicts in being offered the crown of England.
@@ Line 623: / Line 623: @@
 ''Time and the Conways'' (1937) – deals with different theories of time, and how time is experienced. The play focuses on the Conways, a wealthy family living in a prosperous suburb.
-''An Inspector Calls'' (1945) – takes place on a single night in 1912, focusing on the prosperous middle-class Birling family who are visited by a man calling himself Inspector Goole.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - British Isles|Novels - British Isles]]</blockquote>'''Alexander Pushkin'''
+''An Inspector Calls'' (1945) – takes place on a single night in 1912, focusing on the prosperous middle-class Birling family who are visited by a man calling himself Inspector Goole.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - British Isles|Novels - British Isles]] / [[Entertainment/Literature - Non-Fiction|Literature - Non-Fiction]]</blockquote>'''Alexander Pushkin'''
 ''Boris Godunov'' (1825) – follows Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar from 1598 to 1605. Adapted into an opera by Modest Mussorgsky.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - World|Novels - World]] / [[Entertainment/Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] / [[Entertainment/Poetry|Poetry]]</blockquote>'''Jean Racine''' was a French dramatist, one of the ‘big three’ of 17th century France, along with Moliere and Corneille. He was primarily a tragedian but did write one comedy, ''Les Plaideurs'' (1668).
@@ Line 729: / Line 729: @@
 ''Back to Methuselah'' (1922) – tackles human history in five parts starting with Adam and Eve and finishing 30,000 years in the future. It concerns Bernard Shaw’s vision of immortality.
-''Saint Joan'' (1923) – is a play about Joan of Arc and is set between 1429 and 1431. The play was written with Sybil Thorndike in mind.
+''Saint Joan'' (1923) – is a play about Joan of Arc and is set between 1429 and 1431. The play was written with Sybil Thorndike in mind.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Literature - Non-Fiction|Literature - Non-Fiction]]</blockquote>'''Richard Brinsley Sheridan''' was an Irish playwright and owner of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He was also a Whig MP.
 ''The Rivals'' (1775) – debut play. Comedy of manners, set in Bath. Jack Absolute pretends to be "Ensign Beverley", a poor army officer, in order to woo Lydia Languish. Lydia has two other suitors: Bob Acres and Sir Lucius O'Trigger. Mrs. Malaprop is Lydia’s guardian and the origin of the word “malapropism”.

@@ Line 406: / Line 406: @@
 ''Arsenic and Old Lace'' (1941) – is a black comedy that centres on two elderly sisters, Martha and Abby Brewster, who poison old men who come to their home looking for lodging. The two women are assisted in their crimes by their nephew who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt. The hero is Mortimer Brewster, who is Teddy’s brother. Adapted into a 1944 Frank Capra film starring Cary Grant.
 '''Lucy Kirkwood''' - ''Chimerica'' (2013) takes its title from the term Chimerica, referring to the predominance of China and America in modern geopolitics.
@@ Line 416: / Line 418: @@
 ''The Spanish Tragedy'' (c. 1582) – established a new genre, the revenge play or revenge tragedy. Set at the time of the war between the Viceroy of Portugal and the ruling Spanish nation.
 '''Mike Leigh''' - ''Abigail’s Party'' (1977) in which Beverly Moss invites new neighbours Angela and Tony over for drinks. Also invited is another neighbour Sue, whose teenage daughter Abigail is holding a party at home. It was recorded later in 1977 as a BBC ''Play for Today'' which brought it to a much wider audience. Abigail does not appear in the play.

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 '''Guillaume Apollinaire'''
-''The Breasts of Tiresias'' (1917) – mentioned surrealism, both as subtitle and in the preface to the play.
+''The Breasts of Tiresias'' (1917) – mentioned surrealism, both as subtitle and in the preface to the play.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Poetry|Poetry]]</blockquote>'''John Arden''' - ''Serjeant Musgrave’s Dance'' (1959) follows three privates in the British Army and their sergeant, all of whom are deserters from a foreign imperialist war.
 '''Alan Ayckbourn''' has written and produced more than eighty full-length plays and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough.
@@ Line 77: / Line 75: @@
 ''The Quare Fellow'' (1954) – first play. Set in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin. The anti-hero of the play, The Quare Fellow, is never seen or heard.
-''The Hostage'' (1958) – depicts the events leading up to the planned execution of an 18-year-old IRA member in a Belfast jail, accused of killing an RUC policeman.
+''The Hostage'' (1958) – depicts the events leading up to the planned execution of an 18-year-old IRA member in a Belfast jail, accused of killing an RUC policeman.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - British Isles|Novels - British Isles]]</blockquote>'''Aphra Behn''' - ''The Rover'' (1667) is a Restoration comedy dealing with the amorous adventures of a group of Englishmen and women in Naples at Carnival time.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - British Isles|Novels - British Isles]]</blockquote>'''Alan Bennett''' was born in Leeds in 1934.
 ''Forty Years On'' (1968) – first play in the West End.
@@ Line 89: / Line 85: @@
 ''The History Boys'' (2004) – is about a group of sixth formers from Cutlers' Grammar School, Sheffield, preparing for the Oxbridge entrance examinations during the 1980s.
-''The Habit of Art'' (2009) – is centered on a fictional meeting between W. H. Auden and Benjamin Britten while Britten is composing the opera ''Death in Venice.''
+''The Habit of Art'' (2009) – is centered on a fictional meeting between W. H. Auden and Benjamin Britten while Britten is composing the opera ''Death in Venice.''<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - British Isles|Novels - British Isles]]</blockquote>'''Stephen Berkoff''' is a British actor, playwright, author, and director.
 ''East'' (1975) – deals with growing up and rites of passage in London's East End.
@@ Line 259: / Line 253: @@
 ''Copenhagen'' (1998) – deals with a historical event, a 1941 meeting between Niels Bohr and his protégé, Werner Heisenberg, who may be working on the development of an atomic bomb.
-''Democracy'' (2003) – dramatises the story of the German chancellor Willy Brandt and his personal assistant, the East German spy Günter Guillaume.
+''Democracy'' (2003) – dramatises the story of the German chancellor Willy Brandt and his personal assistant, the East German spy Günter Guillaume.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - British Isles|Novels - British Isles]]</blockquote>'''Brian Friel''' was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company.
 ''Philadelphia, Here I Come!'' (1964) – takes place in a town in County Donegal on the night before and morning of Gar O’Donnell’s move to America.

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:10, 1 March 2022
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	''Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme'' (1985) – centres on the experiences of eight unionist Ulstermen at the beginning of World War I.		''Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme'' (1985) – centres on the experiences of eight unionist Ulstermen at the beginning of World War I.
		+
		+	'''Terrence McNally''' was described as "the bard of American theatre" and was the recipient of five Tony Awards.
		+
		+	''Love! Valour! Compassion!'' (1994) – is set at a lakeside summer vacation house where eight gay friends spend the three major holiday weekends of one summer together. Won the Tony Award for Best Play.
		+
		+	''Master Class'' (1995) – is presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life. Won the Tony Award for Best Play.

	'''Thomas Middleton''' was a Jacobean playwright and poet.		'''Thomas Middleton''' was a Jacobean playwright and poet.

@@ Line 791: / Line 791: @@
 ''A Dream Play'' (1902) – is an expressionist drama. The central character is the supernatural Daughter of Indra, who descends to Earth to bear witness to problems of human beings.
-''The Ghost Sonata'' (1908) – is an example of a chamber play. Mr. Arkenholz, a poor student, chances on a rich old invalid and is invited to a ghost supper where adultery, murder, deceit and betrayal are stripped bare in the house of the living dead.
+''The Ghost Sonata'' (1908) – is an example of a chamber play. Mr. Arkenholz, a poor student, chances on a rich old invalid and is invited to a ghost supper where adultery, murder, deceit and betrayal are stripped bare in the house of the living dead. <blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - World|Novels - World]] </blockquote>'''John Millington Synge'''
 ''Riders to the Sea'' (1904) – is set in the Aran Islands and is based on the struggle against the cruelty of the sea. Ralph Vaughan Williams made an almost verbatim setting of the play as an opera using the same title.

@@ Line 591: / Line 591: @@
 '''Luigi Pirandello''' was an Italian writer who was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature.
-''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' (1921) – is an absurdist play about the relationship among authors, their characters, and theatre practitioners. The characters are The Father, The Mother, The Stepdaughter, The Son, The Boy, and the Child. The Father explains to the Director of a play that they are unfinished characters in search of an author to finish their story.
+''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' (1921) – is an absurdist play about the relationship among authors, their characters, and theatre practitioners. The characters are The Father, The Mother, The Stepdaughter, The Son, The Boy, and the Child. The Father explains to the Director of a play that they are unfinished characters in search of an author to finish their story.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - World|Novels - World]]</blockquote>'''Harold Pinter''' was a British author who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005. He also composed 27 screenplays and film scripts for cinema and television.
 ''The Birthday Party'' (1957) – first full-length play, classified as a ‘comedy of menace’. Concerns Stanley Webber, a piano player who lives in a rundown boarding house run by Meg and Petey Boles, in an English seaside town. Two sinister strangers, Goldberg and McCann, arrive looking for him, supposedly on his birthday.

@@ Line 471: / Line 471: @@
 ''Edward II'' (c. 1592) – focuses on the relationship between Edward II and Piers Gaveston, and Edward's murder on the orders of Roger Mortimer.
-''The Massacre at Paris'' (c. 1593) – is based on the actual events that took place on St. Bartholomew’s Day in Paris in 1572 and the part played by the Duc de Guise.
+''The Massacre at Paris'' (c. 1593) – is based on the actual events that took place on St. Bartholomew’s Day in Paris in 1572 and the part played by the Duc de Guise.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Poetry|Poetry]]</blockquote>'''Anthony Marriott''' – co-writer with Alistair Foot of the farce ''No Sex Please, We’re British'' (1971).
 '''Martin McDonagh''' is a British playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director.
@@ Line 525: / Line 523: @@
 ''Le Malade Imaginaire'' (''The Hypochondriac'', 1673) – was Moliere’s last work. The play focuses on a man named Argan who is so overly worried about his health that he gets taken advantage of by several crooked French doctors. Moliere died on 17 February 1673 shortly after becoming ill whilst performing in this play.
-'''John Mortimer''' - ''A Voyage Round My Father'' (1963) is an autobiographical play that first appeared on radio.
+'''John Mortimer''' - ''A Voyage Round My Father'' (1963) is an autobiographical play that first appeared on radio.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - British Isles|Novels - British Isles]]</blockquote>'''Bill Naughton''' – ''Alfie'' (1963) recounts the life of Alfie Elkins. Adapted into a 1966 film starring Michael Caine.
 '''Peter Nichols'''
@@ Line 623: / Line 619: @@
 ''The Good Companions'' (1931) – is a play based on Priestley’s own novel about a touring concert party. Co-written with Edward Knoblock.
-''Dangerous Corner'' (1932) – first play. A character's reference to a single object (a cigarette box) sets off a seemingly endless number of associations for the six characters at Freda and Robert Caplan’s country home.
+''Dangerous Corner'' (1932) – in which a character's reference to a single object (a cigarette box) sets off a seemingly endless number of associations for the six characters at Freda and Robert Caplan’s country home.
 ''Time and the Conways'' (1937) – deals with different theories of time, and how time is experienced. The play focuses on the Conways, a wealthy family living in a prosperous suburb.
-''An Inspector Calls'' (1945) – takes place on a single night in 1912, focusing on the prosperous middle-class Birling family who are visited by a man calling himself Inspector Goole.
+''An Inspector Calls'' (1945) – takes place on a single night in 1912, focusing on the prosperous middle-class Birling family who are visited by a man calling himself Inspector Goole.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - British Isles|Novels - British Isles]]</blockquote>'''Alexander Pushkin'''
-'''Jean Racine''' was a French dramatist, one of the ‘big three’ of 17th century France, along with Moliere and Corneille. He was primarily a tragedian but did write one comedy, ''Les Plaideurs'' (1668).
+''Boris Godunov'' (1825) – follows Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar from 1598 to 1605. Adapted into an opera by Modest Mussorgsky.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - World|Novels - World]] / [[Entertainment/Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] / [[Entertainment/Poetry|Poetry]]</blockquote>'''Jean Racine''' was a French dramatist, one of the ‘big three’ of 17th century France, along with Moliere and Corneille. He was primarily a tragedian but did write one comedy, ''Les Plaideurs'' (1668).
 ''Andromache'' (1667) – takes place in the aftermath of the Trojan War, during which Andromache's husband Hector has been slain by Achilles.
@@ Line 703: / Line 695: @@
 ''Mary Stuart'' (1800) – depicts the last days of Mary, Queen of Scots.
-''William Tell'' (1804) – focuses on the legend of William Tell. Adapted into an opera of the same name by Rossini.
+''William Tell'' (1804) – focuses on the legend of William Tell. Adapted into an opera of the same name by Rossini.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Poetry|Poetry]]</blockquote>'''Anthony Shaffer''' was an English playwright and was the identical twin brother of Peter Shaffer.
 ''Sleuth'' (1970) – is set in the house of Andrew Wyke, a famous author who invites Milo Trindle, his wife’s lover, to the house. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play.
@@ Line 819: / Line 809: @@
 '''Dylan Thomas'''
-''Under Milk Wood'' (1954) – is a play for BBC radio, which was later adapted for the stage. Set in the fictional small Welsh fishing village Llareggub (“bugger all” backwards). Characters include: Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard, Captain Cat, Organ Morgan, and Polly Garter. First line: “To begin at the beginning”.
+''Under Milk Wood'' (1954) – is a play for BBC radio, which was later adapted for the stage. Set in the fictional small Welsh fishing village Llareggub (“bugger all” backwards). Characters include: Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard, Captain Cat, Organ Morgan, and Polly Garter. First line: “To begin at the beginning”.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Poetry|Poetry]]</blockquote>'''Jack Thorne''' - ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'' (2016) is based on an original story by Thorne, J.K. Rowling and John Tiffany. The story begins nineteen years after the last novel and follows Harry Potter, now Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, and his younger son, Albus Severus Potter, who is about to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
 '''Ben Travers''' wrote a series of Aldwych farces, performed at the Aldwych Theatre from 1923 to 1933.
@@ Line 871: / Line 859: @@
 ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (1895) – is subtitled ''A Trivial Comedy for Serious People''. Concerns two gentlemen, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, pretending to be people other than themselves. Lady Bracknell is Gwendolen’s mother. Jack Worthing’s real name is Ernest. Bunbury is the imaginary friend of Algernon. Miss Prism confesses that she inadvertently left a baby in her handbag at Victoria Station.
-''Salome'' (1896) – is based on the New Testament story. Originally written in French. First English text edition of the play was illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley.
+''Salome'' (1896) – is based on the New Testament story. Originally written in French. First English text edition of the play was illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - British Isles|Novels - British Isles]] / [[Entertainment/Poetry|Poetry]] / [[Entertainment/Literature - Childrens|Literature - Childrens]]</blockquote>'''Thornton Wilder'''
 ''Our Town'' (1938) – tells the story of the fictional community of Grover's Corners, modeled on several New Hampshire towns, between 1901 and 1913 through the everyday lives of its citizens. Won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
-''The Skin of Our Teeth'' (1942) – is an allegory about the history of mankind told through the story of one family, the Antrobuses from New Jersey, who lived through a new ice age, a great flood, and a devastating war. The title comes from the Book of Job in the Bible. Won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
+''The Skin of Our Teeth'' (1942) – is an allegory about the history of mankind told through the story of one family, the Antrobuses from New Jersey, who lived through a new ice age, a great flood, and a devastating war. The title comes from the Book of Job in the Bible. Won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.<blockquote>For other works by this author see: [[Entertainment/Novels - USA|Novels - USA]]</blockquote>'''Tennessee Williams''' was born in Mississippi. Moved to New Orleans in 1939.
 ''The Glass Menagerie'' (1944) – is a memory play narrated by Tom Wingfield, who works in a warehouse to support his mother, Amanda, and his sister, Laura. Set in 1930s St Louis. Amanda, sensing that Tom wants to leave, tries to make a deal with him. If Tom and Amanda can find a husband for Laura, a man who can take care of her, then Tom will be free of his responsibility to them.