The One-Act Play Companion

A Guide to plays, playwrights and performance

Colin Dolley, Rex Walford

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781474213899
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Performing Arts

The one-act play stands apart as a distinct art form with some well known writers providing specialist material, among them Bernard Shaw, Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter, Caryl Churchill. Alan Ayckbourn, Edward Albee and Tennesee Williams. There are also lesser-known writers with plenty of material to offer, yet sourcing one-act plays to perform is notoriously hard. This companion is the first book to survey the work of over 250 playwrights in an illuminating A-Z guide. Multiple styles, nationalities and periods are covered, offering a treasure trove of compelling moments of theatre waiting to be discovered. Guidance on performing and staging one-act plays is also covered as well as essential contact information and where to apply for performance rights. A chapter introducing the history of the one-act play rounds off the title as a definitive guide.

biographies of playwrights

introduction to the biographies

Biographies and short discussions of the work of about 250 playwrights are included in the following section, specifically in relation to their work in the one-act play. We have limited our survey to plays written (or translated) into English so it is not surprising that the list includes many playwrights from Britain and the USA, but there are also a considerable number of writers from other parts of the world.

General biographical listings of playwrights exist in other publications, but in compiling this one, we have been struck by the fact that few of the acknowledged one-act ‘specialists’ appear in supposedly comprehensive listings elsewhere.

We have sought to include playwrights who have written a considerable number of one-act plays and whose work has been performed regularly on both professional and amateur stages whether such productions are contemporary or have been in the past (stretching back to 1850). We have not included plays which never appear to have been performed in public or never intended for stage performance.

A key consideration for inclusion was whether or not the playwright had a significant number of one-act plays published. Though many one-act plays may not be currently in print (and indeed the publisher may no longer exist) in many cases, it is possible to obtain copies of these plays, by paying a fee to the present copyright holder, if you can locate them. Usually, a single copy of the script will then be sent and permission given for photo-copies to be made. (We have indicated in Appendix 3 which firms have been subsumed by others in the course of time.)

We have also included, exceptionally, biographies of authors who may have only written a single one-act play, if we believe the play to have been an interesting or significant contribution to the genre. Other single plays are listed in a separate section beyond the biographies.

guide to the entries

In the opening line of each biography we have indicated the author’s name, and date of birth and death where applicable and known. In the same line we have indicated their nationality and whether or not they have claims to fame beyond being a dramatist (e.g. poet, actor, film director). A short description and comment on each author’s work follow, drawing attention to one-act plays of particular significance. Plays mentioned in the text are dated where possible; the date given is (as far as can be ascertained) the date of first public performance. Publication of the play may have been in the same year or, perhaps a year or two later in most cases.

At the end of the entry, we list alphabetically by title some of the author’s other published plays which are worth consideration. This final list is not necessarily an exhaustive one; in some cases, there are simply far too many plays to list. In the final line we list the principal original publishers of the plays. (It should be noted that the publishers listed are those who first published the plays; some of these publishers may have since been amalgamated or taken over by another company (see Appendix 3 where we also list the addresses and contact details of publishers who are publishing one-act and/or short plays in 2005.)

In some cases, we have included a writer whose career or plays (or both) are representative of a particular set of circumstances (e.g. a writer primarily of plays whose origins are in radio but which might be adapted for the stage; a writer working from local historical material; a writer who produced many plays but who published only a small number). In these cases we have added an asterisk (*) in front of the name, to indicate that a generic point about sources of one-act plays is being made in this entry, quite apart from the merits of the individual playwright.

Inevitably, our choices must bear elements of subjectivity, and are related to the extent of our researches and experience. We hope that there are no notable omissions but also that readers will be surprised and heartened by the extent of what is available in this genre. We do not mean to imply inferiority to those whose work may not be noted here, and, with the help of readers, hope to expand this list in subsequent editions

a note about adapting scripts from other media

Though theatre was the dominant medium for drama at the beginning of the 20th century, the related media of film, radio and television developed as the century progressed. Writers, who would have thought only of producing plays for the stage in 1900, thus had increasing opportunities for their work to be produced in other contexts.

Radio drama flourished (both in Britain and the USA) in the inter-war period, and remains today, in the UK at any rate, a major source of short plays. In Britain, Val Gielgud’s tenure as Head of Radio Drama at the BBC led to the commission of both short and longer plays from many major playwrights. The tradition continues today through series such as Afternoon Theatre. Similarly, the frequent presentation of plays on television since the 1940s has meant that some writers (who in an earlier age would have sought primary outlet for their work on the stage) – Dennis Potter is a good example – have directed their output almost exclusively to that form. The BBC’s Play for Today and ITV’s Armchair Theatre were a prime source of new drama in the 1960s and 1970s, and since then there have been many stand-alone new plays presented in prime-time viewing.

Radio, film and TV scripts are frequently reproduced in book form, or may be obtained from the authors or authors’ agents. More recently, there has also been the practice of reproducing scripts from situation-comedies or drama series in print. A recent (2005) check of one town bookshop’s shelves revealed complete scripts from the following TV series available: Blackadder, Dad’s Army, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Fatuity Towers, Dinner-Ladies, The Office, Porridge, Phoenix Nights, Little Britain, Only Fools and Horses, Alan Partridge, Frasier, The West Wing. Many of these scripts are of pieces which range from 30 to 60 minutes in length, and with a little imagination and enterprise they can be transformed into the stage one-act form. They represent an important extra resource for potential directors and performers of short plays on the stage.

The difference in origin may mean that adaptation and simplification of setting needs to be made, and this must be negotiated with the copyright holders, but the potential of this growing resource of material is high and may itself not only re-invigorate work by stage playwrights but also bring new audiences to the theatre.

the biographies

Edward Albee (1928–) American dramatist

Adopted as a child by a well-to-do American theatrical family, Edward Albee’s first job was writing continuity dialogue for radio stations. On his 30th birthday he resigned from this post and wrote the short play, The Zoo Story (1959), a two-hander set in New York’s Central Park. Rejected by American producers, the play was first staged in Berlin in a double-bill along with Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape.

Gradually it was realised that Albee’s was a new dramatic voice, a theatrical innovator who jumped boundaries and challenged his audience both mentally and emotionally. The Zoo Story, which won awards when first produced in America, is still successfully making demands on audiences – and the two actors!

Another of his earlier short plays which is still popular is The American Dream (1961), a vicious parable which Albee describes as ‘an examination of the American scene, an attack on the substitution of the artificial over the real values in society; a condemnation of cruelty and emasculation’. As such, it as relevant today, decades after its first performance.

After The American Dream he wrote his first full-length play, the hugely successful Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, after which he rarely returned to the one-act form. However, two more of his early plays worth seeking out are The Death of Bessie Smith (1960) and The Sandbox (1960).

It has been said that if it is possible to categorise Albee, he might fit into a school of Anti-Complacency. With his sharp hard-edged dialogue, he has continued to challenge audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

Other plays to consider: Fam and Yam; Finding the Sun; Listening

Publishers: Samuel French; Dramatists Play Service

Arthur Aldrich English dramatist

Based in Leicester, Aldrich has produced several effective one-act plays which have won a place on the drama festival circuit in recent years. Most interesting of these is The Road to Northborough, which deals poignantly with episodes in the life of the family of the peasant poet, John Clare. While he is confined to a mental institution Clare’s wife struggles to bring up a family, only to discover that he has gone off to search for his first love. Shindig (1990), by contrast, has a contemporary setting and explores some of the darker sides of the office party.

Other plays to consider: The Housewarming; The Guest of Bedlam

Publishers: Samuel French

Woody Allen (1935–) American dramatist, director, actor

The multi-talented Woody Allen always brings his highly personal sardonic view of life his work.

If a drama company is looking for a large cast play then Death (1975), with a cast of over 20, is an extraordinary screwball madcap black comedy with element of nightmare and melodrama. Beneath the almost comic-strip humour there is an allegorical undercurrent reflecting the authors view of death. A companion piece, the farcical God (1975), has an even larger cast.

More recent work includes three short plays collected in one volume – Riverside Drive, Old Saybrook and Central Park West (1995) – all set in and around New York where unexpected things happen to an innocent man from that city – the archetypal Woody Allen character.

Publishers: Samuel French; Random House

Jean Anouilh (1910–1987) French dramatist

Jean Anouilh was the prominent French playwright of the mid-20th century, but in recent years his work, which some critics have deemed lightweight, has declined in popularity.

One of his best-known short plays is The Orchestra (1967). Adapted from his television script, the curtain rises on a charming café orchestra but once the music stops it is clear that disharmony and jealousy is rife among the sextet of ladies and the lone beleaguered male pianist. There are great opportunities here for full-blooded performances from the largely female cast.

Other plays to consider: Augustus; Cecile; Episodes in the Life of the Author; Madam de; Medea

Publishers: Samuel French

* B Douglas Arnot English dramatist and director

Douglas Arnot was a journalist (in later years the editor of the Edgware Post) and a talented theatre writer...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• contents
• foreword
• introduction
• presenting one-act plays
• writing the one-act play, by Nick Warburton
• biographies of playwrights
• the history of the one-act play
• appendices
• appendix 2
• appendix 3
• appendix 4
• acknowledgements
• Footnotes
• eCopyright