Bøker utgitt av Samuel French Ltd

Henry Bell has come to the Albert Bridge to throw himself off because he has lost his wife and his job. Instead, he saves Karen Knightly who has thrown herself off the bridge already and is dangling by her caught coat. They spend a long night driving. Henry learns that Karen has been jilted by a lover who has gone back to his wife. She suggests revenge as a way to heal their emotional wounds: she will fix Henry's dreadful former boss and Henry must ruin her ex lover's wife.-12 women, 11 men

A summer evening's barbecue is the setting for a meeting of the Trealaw and District Operatic Society. Next season's play is to be announced but Nick, the society's business manager, has promised a different show and the plum roles to four different people. As the evening progresses each character's foibles and talents are revealed: Joyce, once talented and well meaning, is a lush; Teddy is alternately sweet and strident; Derek is pathetic but lovable. The complex relationships between players emerge as moments of pure slapstick and farce alternate with ones full of real drama and pathos.6 women, 4 men

A play which looks at the political costs of women rising to the top.

This zany, hilarious farce was a London hit and won the West End Theatre Best Comedy Award of the year. At a reunion dinner at a "lesser college" of an "older university" are a number of graduates now in their early forties and mostly in responsible, influential positions. All starts smoothly with conventional greetings and old boy reminiscences. As the evening goes on, the facade falls away...|1 woman, 8 men

Miss Moffat settles in a remote Welsh mining village and starts a school for the local boys, one of whom, Morgan Evans, shows great promise. Miss Moffat determin's to do everything to help Morgan's application for a scholarship to Oxford. But Morgan rebels against help from a woman and falls prey to the flashy charms of Bessie Watty. His chances of success are almost destroyed but Miss Moffat's courageous wisdom and her affection for him win the day and Morgan wins the scholarship.5 women, 10 men

The staff of the Gwendolen Kyte School for Girls are an odd assortment of social misfits and eccentric types. Returning for a new term the teachers face a catalogue of catastrophe, and tension reaches breaking point when a government inspector arrives with anonymous letters defaming the school as outmoded, old-fashioned and unsafe, and the staff as unqualified.|10 women, 1 man

This comedy by the author of Stepping Out is a bitter sweet and perceptive look at the collapse of marriage and the development and decay of an affair. Bob is a do-it-yourself enthusiast kind of guy that longs to be needed. This is why even long after his divorce he continues to visit his former home, despite how much it irritates his new girlfriend, Diana, who doesn''t like the competition from his children or his Black and Decker.|2 women, 1 man

Notting Hill Gate, London. A sinister con man and two ex-convicts are about to meet their match. They have traced the location of a mysterious doll to the home of Sam Henderson and his blind wife, Susy and set about trying to retrieve it. They start an elaborate scam to persuade Susy to hand it over, but Susy, it seems, is no easy target. Wait Until Dark, made into a film starring Audrey Hepburn in 1967, is often ranked as one of the top 100 scariest films of all time.2 women, 6 men

It is the Earl of Loam's whim to invite his servants once a month to the drawing room where they are treated as social equals. His daughter and friends are forced to serve them much to the distaste of Crichton, the butler, who knows his place. He accompanies the Earl on a yachting party with the three daughters, an affected young man and a sporting parson, as well as the lady's maid who is in love with Crichton. They are wrecked on a desert island and Crichton, at first imperceptibly, takes command and wins their devotion by his resourcefulness. The women vie for his favor. He chooses Lady Mary no longer indolent, but intensely vital for his wife.-12 women, 13 men

Mother Goose has insured the smooth running of Nursery rhyme land for years. The king''s on his throne, everyone''s happy and Humpty Dumpty is still in his egg on the palace wall. Then he has a great fall and mayhem is unleashed. Lovable, naive humpty loses his magic at the critical time and unwittingly brings about the collapse of Nursery rhyme Land. But all is not lost: the evil ones get their come uppance and the good their partners - and Humpty has his magical powers restored.|Large flexible cast

What could be more pleasant than cruising through the picturesque English countryside? This voyage combines the comedy touches that make Ayckbourn one of the world's best loved playwrights with a darker thread of menace.-4 women, 3 men

Robert and Stella learn that their son has been kidnapped - not for ransom, but to force them to allow one of the kidnappers to remain in their house. Two other men, supposedly police officers, arrive and reveal that one of the kidnappers has been murdered. Soon, however, it is clear that these two are far from what they seem.|4 women, 4 men

When the retiring professor in a chemistry department of a northern university chooses A1, a mediocre scientist but a brilliant administrator to succeed him as head of department, he sets in motion a chain of events that will test the department's endurance to the limit.

Time of My Life charts the decline and fall of a successful family business founded and nurtured by Gerry and Laura Stratton. It is Laura's fifty-fourth birthday and Gerry has organized a small family dinner at their favourite restaurant. Domestically, all seems well. Glyn, their eldest son, has patched up his marriage with Stephanie; younger son Adam has a new girlfriend and is deeply in love. But, as we suspect, all this is surface stuff. For, as their evening proceeds, the play reveals skeletons from the past and a spectre of the future.

Since their mother and father were shipwrecked, Crispian and Rosamund Carey have been living with their aunt and uncle. Rosamund discovers in a book that all lost loved ones are to be found in the land where the rainbow ends. Together with a Genie of a magic carpet found in the library and two friends, the children set out on their search.-Large flexible cast

Originally published: London: Faber and Faber, 1995.

Effie, who has lived in mental institutions since the age of thirteen, has been admitted to hospital with severe burns. Treating her is Dr Ruth Kovacs, who finds in Effie's extraordinary story of injustice and official callousness the key to her own suppressed anger and power. Taut and powerful, tender and often funny, Effie's Burning is an emotional switchback of a play, with a searing anger at its heart.-2 women

By the acclaimed author of plays including "Breaking the Code" and "As You Desire Me."

Tom and Annabel are a reasonably happy married couple. One evening they have an argument as to who loves the other most. A rough and tumble ensues, and Tom discovers to his horror that Annabel is dead. So starts a hectic evening of black farce, which also involves a policeman and Tom's literary agent. It seems no woman can enter the house without rapidly becoming deceased. Annabel's mother and Tom's appalling landlady follow and disposal of bodies becomes an acute problem. The arrival of a grim police inspector complicates matters until a further corpse involves him too.-4 women, 4 men

Guy Haines and Charles Bruno meet on a train. Because they're strangers they "can say anything they like" to one another. Bruno proposes the perfect murder: he will kill Guy's unfaithful wife if Guy will kill his much-hated father. Guy never imagines Bruno is serious. But Bruno is deadly serious.

The hilarious story of five women who inherit equal shares in a dilapidated theatre and plan to bring it back to life again. A fast-paced and very funny comedy with five great roles for women.|5 women

The pupils of St Campion's Comprehensive are devoted to their headmaster. But something strange is going on and the worst class in the world - 6Z - are going to get to the bottom of this mystery and expose the Demon Headmaster!

Genre: Comedy with music Characters: 4 females and 1 male Scenery: Simple set In a festive mood, the ladies mount another assault on the classics with their stage version of A Christmas Carol. They enthusiastically portray a dizzy array of characters from the Dickensian favorite (and a few which aren't), engineer some novel audience participation while bravely contending with an intrusive PA system and a real Farndale first rap their vocal cords and feet around two original, show stopping songs.

This farce centres around the efforts of eight party guests to spare their unfortunate host, and themselves, from scandal.

Frinsley Village Hall is the hub of community life, lovingly tended by the amiable Mr Quigley, whose little blue book ensures the aerobics class never clashes with the wedding bookings. But plans are afoot to change this cosy existence... the invidious Keith has plans to sell the site. Feeling sure of success, Keith launches his attack on Mr. Quigley a big mistake, for Mr Quigley is wilier than he looks. Offers acting opportunities for all and great fun for the audience!13 women, 13 men

A British Labour M.P., ten years into his second marriage, feels tethered in a time of change. He is distrustful on the one hand of the "mawkish mentality" of the young and, on the other, of the encroaching motorway life of the middle aged who can look forward to nothing more than the fairly imminent end of a not so very interesting road. "The play is a small jewel of bewilderment and regret." - London Sunday Times