Seven One Act Plays

THE STORIES: In BETTE AND ME, the author and the legendary Bette Midler get their hair done, try on makeup, and row a boat on the Hudson River. They finally end up at Radio City Music Hall, where Wendy rises from the orchestra pit on a half-shell w

These short plays by the great Danish-Norwegian playwright Ludvig Holberg reveal, in brilliant and sparking miniature, his genius for comedy. The plays are here translated into English for the first time, with an introduction by Svend Kragh-Jacobsen, well-known Danish theater critic. In these social comedies Holberg pricks the vanity of snobbery and the worship of riches, deals with the world of the philosophers, and has fun with the theme of common sense. A talkative barber, a scientific charlatan, and an ignorant farmer boy come in for sharp characterization. Originally published in 1950. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

THE STORIES: MARGARET’S BED. Elsie picks up Ben at the symphony and brings him back to the apartment she shares with Margaret, who is away for the night. Ben assumes that this is a prelude to sex, but truly Elsie is just desperate for Ben to sleep in Margaret’s empty bed, because she has a pathological fear of sleeping in an empty apartment. (1 man, 1 woman.) THE KILLING. Mac meets Huey at a bar and brings him home to his apartment to share a bottle of whiskey, but this isn’t the kind of pick-up you might think. Mac, who is a religious man and fears damnation, hopes to convince Huey, who does not believe, to kill him. (2 men.) THE POWER OF SILENCE. Teachers at the same school, Emma and Louise have been receiving mysterious phone calls, and when Emma answers, no one speaks. Louise is less disturbed by the calls, but they make Emma frantic, and she is sure that one of her students is responsible. After several silent calls, someone rings their door buzzer repeatedly. But who’s there? (2 men, 2 women.) PRODIGAL. Terry is a troubled teen who’s been arrested multiple times and is on probation. In fact, if his mother won’t let him stay with her, Terry has to turn himself in and go back to “the farm.” Nancy has a chance at a new life with a new husband, though, and she can’t handle her son anymore. But her decision has dire consequences for others. (1 man, 2 women.) THE CALL. Joe has traveled to New York City from Billings, Montana for a Shriners-like convention and parade, but he is weighed down by his sense of failure and fear of a changing world. He can’t even bring himself to stay with his successful actress sister and her husband in their tony apartment, preferring to drag his heavy suitcase to find a hotel room on a low floor. (2 men.) THE LOVE DEATH. Byron is a successful writer, living alone in a well-decorated apartment, who makes a series of calls to his mother, friends, and the critic who gave his last book of short stories a terrible review to let them know that he is about to commit suicide. (1 man, voices.) MOVED-IN. The super of the apartment complex, Mr. Flicker, is leaving, and the board has offered his job to Carlton. But Carlton, an African American who struggled to get admitted to the complex in the first place, isn’t sure he wants to take the job and give up the hate he feels for many of his fellow tenants. (2 men, 1 woman.)

These are the best of Moliere's masterful one-acts, blending broad farce and pointed wit to express his never-ending delight in human foibles. But Moliere is more than just the "master of the laugh," for behind the comic gestures of these matchless rogues, tight-fisted masters, possessive lovers and elegant ladies lurk fears, insecurities and their consequences. Includes: The Jealous Husband, The Flying Doctor, Two Precious Maidens Ridiculed, The Imaginary Cuckold, The Rehearsal at Versailles, The Forced Marriage, The Seductive Mistress.

THE STORIES: ENIGMA VARIATIONS. Zany hijinks as a pair of lookalikes named Bebe W.W. Doppel-gängler solve an identity crisis with the help of Dr. William W. Williams and his nurse Fifi, who may or may not be Aphrodite the Goddess of Love. Or is she

Filled with wry, dark humor, unparalleled imagination, unforgettable characters, and exquisitely crafted storytelling, Sam Shepard’s plays have earned him enormous acclaim over the past five decades. In these fifteen one-acts, we see him at his best, displaying his trademark ability to portray human relationships, love, and lust with rare authenticity. These fifteen furiously energetic plays confirm Shepard's status as our most audacious living playwright, unafraid to set genres and archetypes spinning with results that are utterly mesmerizing. Included in this volume: Ages of the Moon Evanescence; Shakespeare in the Alley Short Life of Trouble The Unseen Hand The Rock Garden Chicago Icarus’s Mother 4H Club Fourteen Hundred Thousand Red Cross Cowboys #2 Forensic & The Navigators The Holy Ghostly Back Bog Beast Bait Killer’s Head