Patrick is suffering in his job and in his private life, and he badly needs comfort - female comfort. Summer is determined to complete her university degree, and if she can't get the money one way, she will try another. Their encounter is explosive for both of them.
A Higher Education
by Angela Pressland
Drama: (2m, 2f) apx 1hr 45mins - Two Act split provided
Is it better for a film star to burn out or to fade away? How do you feel if you’ve done both? Sixty years after her silent flame flickered so brightly, Louise Brooks now spends her days in doubt and remorse. Few actresses had the visceral, visual impact she enjoyed, nor did they have the unique combination of intellect and beauty that enabled Louise to transcend the self-made mess of her Hollywood years to become an icon; her posters and postcards the gateway experience to a face that to this day compels attention and repeated viewing.
American Venus
by Leslie Mildiner
Drama: (3m, 4f) apx 70-75 mins
A supernatural thriller written by former 'Emmerdale' and 'Heartbeat' scriptwriter, Philip Meeks. It tells the story of Edgar Ryme, a popular medium who has mysteriously disappeared from the public gaze. An investigative journalist tracks him down to a flat in a fading Northern seaside town and despite having turned his back on the spirit world, he agrees to an interview. Her agenda is to discuss the notion of spiritualism and why people are fixated with what awaits them (or doesn't) on 'the other side'. The two compelling characters engage in a battle of wits as a terrifying tale unfolds featuring malevolent spirits, plot twists and heart-stopping shocks
Clairvoyant
by Philip Meeks
Thriller/Mystery: (1m, 1f plus two small non-speaking, face-covered roles) apx 110 mins
A 25th wedding anniversary provides the impetus for this darkly comic play which explores the evolving relationships between three couples: Jonathan, Theresa’s husband has forgotten a special date. Christopher, their son, has lost his date. Allan, their divorced friend, is looking for a date. Ultimately this is a date that no one will forget. As revelation follows revelation nothing and no one can be taken at face value.
Face Value
by David Hampshire
Black Comedy: (3m, 3f)
Derek Fowlds ('Yes Minister', 'Heartbeat') said of this play: "I really loved the play. I recognised all the characters and it made me laugh and cry. Congratulations’’ A comedy set in a theatrical boarding house in 1935. Struggling comedian Norman Tate passes his time rehearsing his act with Sally, the love-struck daughter of his landlady, Alice. Four stories inter-weave involving Alice and Sally, Norman’s best pal Victor (a conjurer), Charlie (a song and dance man), Arthur (an eccentric pianist), Laurence (an actor) and Harold Chance (an impresario). When Norman’s ex-wife Nellie Price moves into his digs Norman’s life changes dramatically. A tale of humour, heartbreak and eventual redemption which demonstrates that life is indeed full of ‘funny turns’.
Funny Turns
by David Hampshire
Comedy: (5m, 3f, 1m/f)
Attempting to impress his American girlfriend, Zoe, Tom has told her he's an English lord whose parents own a stately home. Ashworth Hall is a delightful country house hotel. Tom's sure, with the help of his friend Colin, he can pass it off as his parents' home. What could possibly go wrong? Well, his ex might turn up. And Zoe's strict father might turn up, too. And the managers of the hotel are expecting a visit from their son’s irate teacher...
Liberty Hall
by Robin Jennifer Miller
Comedy: (4m, 4f)
Nana is losing control of her life and her mind and now has to live with her feckless family. When her winning numbers come up on the Lotto, it’s her chance to force the family to change their ways. Can they convince her that they are reformed characters before the ticket expires? A fast-paced comedy that builds into classic farce.
Lucky Numbers
by Mike Yeaman
Comedy: (4m, 3f)
An original period comedy, based on Mr and Mrs Bennet from Jane Austen’s 'Pride and Prejudice', exploring how this ill-matched couple met and married twenty-five years before the novel’s opening. In the late eighteenth century, marriage was more a business transaction than a love affair; pressure mounts on the young Mr Bennet to find a suitable match, but his refusal to play by the rules sets in motion a series of events that are both comic and moving.
Mr Bennet's Bride
by Emma Wood
Comedic Drama: (4m, 6f but can be reduced to 4m, 4f)
'The Widow' is a contemporary gothic thriller with a beautiful heroine, a twisted antagonist, an ancient scandal and a long-dead victim still haunting the halls of a stately home. It is a gripping tale of thwarted ambition, unswerving maternal love, and a doomed romance that warms the heart and draws us into a rich story that will resonate long after the final curtain.
The Widow
by Merlyn Ward
Thriller/Mystery: (3m, 6f) apx 110 mins
A one man show telling the story of Harold Thropp, an ageing panto dame who is upset and annoyed with the way his beloved panto has become trivialised. The loss of his life partner, Eric causes him to re-think both his future, and that of Jez Buckham, the celebrity star of this year's, and last year's, dumbed down panto. (“Meeks has whiplash wit”; Lyn Gardner, The Guardian)
Twinkle
by Philip Meeks
Black Comedy: (1m) Nominated - 'The Stage' Award (Best Solo Show) : 2006
Dark secrets hidden in the grey mists of time are reluctantly revealed in this excellent black comedy, set in a small village in 1880's Russia. On the bizarre discovery of an empty coffin in Anya's lodgings, she and her sister Sonia, who are both now in their 40s, are goaded into recollecting some things they'd rather forget from their earlier years.