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Two-hander
A two-hander is a term for a play, film, or television programme with only two main characters. The two characters in question often display differences in social standing or experiences, differences that are explored and possibly overcome as the story unfolds.Caption for still from William Gibson’s play "Two for the Seesaw." Photo credit ; from "Looking Back at Arthur Penn" slide show; ''The New York Times'', September 30, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-04. Instances of two-handers may include theatre, film, television episodes, television series, and radio. Theatre * ''[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talley's Folly
''Talley's Folly'' is a 1980 play by American playwright Lanford Wilson. The play is the second in ''The Talley Trilogy'', between his plays '' Talley & Son'' and ''Fifth of July''. Set in an boathouse near rural Lebanon, Missouri in 1944, it is a romantic comedy following the characters Matt Friedman and Sally Talley as they settle their feelings for each other. Wilson received the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work. The play is unlike Wilson's other works, taking place in one act with no intermission, set in ninety-seven minutes of real time, with no set change. Plot summary ''Talley's Folly'' depicts one night in the lives of two unlikely sweethearts, Matt Friedman and Sally Talley. The one-act play takes place in a boathouse on the Talley farm in Missouri on the Fourth of July, 1944. The play opens with Matt directly addressing the audience, telling them that the play will take ninety-seven minutes and he hopes to relay his story properly in that time. Taking the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutchman (play)
''Dutchman'' is a play written by African-American playwright Amiri Baraka, then known as LeRoi Jones. ''Dutchman'' was first presented at the Cherry Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village, New York City, in March 1964 co-produced by Rita Fredricks. The play won an Obie Award; it shared this distinction with Adrienne Kennedy's '' Funnyhouse of a Negro''. Baraka's stage play was made into a film in 1967, starring Shirley Knight and Al Freeman Jr. ''Dutchman'' was the last play produced by Baraka under his birth name, LeRoi Jones. At the time, he was in the process of divorcing his Jewish wife, Hettie Jones, and embracing Black Nationalism. ''Dutchman'' may be described as a political allegory depicting black and white relations during the time Baraka wrote it. The play was revived in 2007 at the Cherry Lane Theatre starring Dulé Hill, and in 2013 was restaged by Rashid Johnson at the Russian and Turkish Baths in the East Village. Plot The action focuses almost exclusively on Lula, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Happy Days (play)
''Happy Days'' is a play in two acts, written by Samuel Beckett.Beckett, S., ''The Grove Centenary Edition'' Vol. III: ''Dramatic Works'' (New York: Grove Press, 2006), pp. 279–307. Also: Beckett, S., ''The Complete Dramatic Works'' (London: Faber & Faber Ltd., 2006), pp. 135–168. Viewed positively by critics, it was named in ''The Independent'' as one of the 40 best plays of all time. Winnie, buried to her waist, follows her daily routine and prattles to her husband, Willie, who is largely hidden and taciturn. Her frequent refrain is "Oh this ''is'' a happy day." Later, in Act II, she is buried up to her neck, but continues to talk and remember happier days. Plot summary Act I Winnie is embedded waist-deep in a low mound under blazing light, with a large black bag beside her. She is awakened by a piercing bell and begins her daily routine with a prayer. Talking incessantly to herself, she brushes her teeth, drinks the last of a bottle of tonic, and puts on her hat. She str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Do! I Do!
''I Do! I Do!'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt which is based on the Jan de Hartog play ''The Fourposter''. The two-character story spans 50 years, from 1895 to 1945, as it focuses on the ups and downs experienced by Agnes and Michael throughout their marriage. The set consists solely of their bedroom, dominated by the large fourposter bed in the center of the room. History For producer David Merrick, who initially presented the play on Broadway, ''I Do! I Do!'' was an ideal investment in that it had neither expensive sets and costumes nor a large cast. After four previews, the Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Gower Champion, opened on December 5, 1966, at the 46th Street Theatre and closed on June 15, 1968, after 560 performances. Mary Martin and Robert Preston comprised the original cast. Carol Lawrence and Gordon MacRae played matinees starting in October 1967 and then replaced Martin and Preston in December 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dumb Waiter
''The Dumb Waiter'' is a one-act play by Harold Pinter written in 1957. "Small but perfectly formed, ''The Dumb Waiter'' might be considered the best of Harold Pinter's early plays, more consistent than ''The Birthday Party'' and sharper than ''The Caretaker''. It combines the classic characteristics of early Pinter – a paucity of information and an atmosphere of menace, working-class small-talk in a claustrophobic setting – with an oblique but palpable political edge and, in so doing, can be seen as containing the germ of Pinter's entire dramatic oeuvre".Derbyshire, Harry. "Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter (review)", ''Modern Drama'', vol 53, no 2 (2010), pp266-268. "''The Dumb Waiter'' is Pinter distilled – the very essence of a writer who tapped into our desire to seek out meaning, confront injustice and assert our individuality."Glover, Jamie. "The Dumb Waiter" (programme notes). The Print Room, 2013. Plot Two hit-men, Ben and Gus, are waiting in a basement room fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Zoo Story
''The Zoo Story'' is a one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee. His first play, it was written in 1958 and completed in just three weeks. The play explores themes of isolation, loneliness, miscommunication as anathematization, social disparity and dehumanization in a materialistic world. Today, professional theatre companies can produce ''The Zoo Story'' either as a part of ''Edward Albee's at Home at the Zoo'' (originally titled ''Peter and Jerry''), or as a standalone play. Its prequel, ''Homelife'', written in 2007, however, can only be produced as a part of ''Edward Albee's at Home at the Zoo''. Productions Rejected by New York producers, the play premiered in West Berlin at the Schiller Theater ''Werkstatt'' on September 28, 1959, in a double bill with the German premiere of Samuel Beckett's '' Krapp's Last Tape''. The play premiered in the United States Off-Broadway in a production by Theatre 1960 at the Provincetown Playhouse on January 14, 1960, and closed on M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Same Time, Next Year (play)
''Same Time, Next Year'' is a 1975 romantic comedy play by Bernard Slade. The plot focuses on two people, married to others, who meet for a romantic tryst once a year for two dozen years. Plot New Jersey accountant George Peters and Oakland housewife Doris meet at a Northern California inn in February 1951. They have an affair, and agree to meet once a year, despite the fact both are married to others and have six children between them. Over the course of the next 24 years, they develop an emotional intimacy deeper than what one would expect to find between two people meeting for a clandestine relationship just once a year. During the time they spend with each other, they discuss the births, deaths, and marital problems each is experiencing at home, while they adapt themselves to the social changes affecting their lives. Productions The Broadway production opened on March 14, 1975, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre with Ellen Burstyn as Doris and Charles Grodin as George and direct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Two For The Seesaw
''Two for the Seesaw'' is a 1962 American romantic- drama film directed by Robert Wise and starring Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine. It was adapted from the 1958 Broadway play written by William Gibson with Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft (who was awarded the 1958 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play) in the lead roles. Plot Jerry Ryan (Mitchum) is a lawyer from Nebraska who has recently separated from his wife. To get away from it all, he has moved to a shabby apartment in New York. He is struggling with the divorce, which has been filed but is not final, and takes long walks at night. At a party, he meets Gittel Mosca (MacLaine), a struggling dancer. They instantly get along, and begin to fall in love. But the relationship is hampered by their differences in background and temperament. Jerry gets a job with a New York law firm and prepares to take the bar examination. He helps Gittel rent a loft for a dance studio, which she rents out to other dancers. But thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Blood Knot
''Blood Knot'' is an early play by South African playwright, actor, and director Athol Fugard. Its single-performance premier was in 1961 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the playwright and Zakes Mokae playing the brothers Morris and Zachariah.Mel Gussow"Stage: 'The Blood Knot' by Fugard" ''The New York Times'' 24 Sept. 1985. Lucille Lortel produced ''The Blood Knot'', starring J.D. Cannon as Morris and James Earl Jones as Zachariah, at the Cricket Theatre, Off Broadway, in New York City, in 1964, "launch ng Fugard's "American career." It was the first South African play performed with an interracial cast. Its Broadway premiere was at the John Golden Theatre, in 1986, with Fugard and Mokae playing the brothers as they had in the play's premiere. The play was most recently performed in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010 as part of Mandela Day celebrations, with Michael Brando playing the lead role of Morris. Plot summary The only two characters in the two-hander play are t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Fourposter
''The Fourposter'' is a play written by Jan de Hartog. The two-character story spans 35 years, from 1890 to 1925, as it focuses on the trials and tribulations, laughters and sorrows, and hopes and disappointments experienced by Agnes and Michael throughout their marriage. The set consists solely of their bedroom, dominated by the large, fourposter bed in the centre of the room. Among the couple's milestones are the consummation of their marriage, the birth of their first child, Michael's success as a writer, his extramarital affair, their daughter's wedding, and their preparations to move to smaller quarters and pass their home on to another newlywed couple. After a pre-London tour, it opened in the West End in 1950. A Broadway production followed in 1951, and the play has been adapted for film, television and musical theatre. Productions The world premiere was given at the New Theatre, Cambridge, on 21 August 1950, in a seven-week pre-London tour. The play, directed by Peter Ash ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gin Game
''The Gin Game'' is a two-person, two-act play by Donald L. Coburn that premiered at American Theater Arts in Hollywood in September 1976, directed by Kip Niven. It was Coburn's first play, and the theater's first production. The play won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Plot Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey, two elderly residents at a nursing home for senior citizens, strike up an acquaintance. Neither seems to have any other friends, and they start to enjoy each other's company. Weller offers to teach Fonsia how to play gin rummy, and they begin playing a series of games that Fonsia always wins. Weller's inability to win a single hand becomes increasingly frustrating to him, while Fonsia becomes increasingly confident. While playing their games of gin, they engage in lengthy conversations about their families and their lives in the outside world. Gradually, each conversation becomes a battle, much like the ongoing gin games, as each player tries to expose the other's weakness ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hughie
''Hughie'' is a short two-character play by Eugene O'Neill set in the lobby of a small hotel on a West Side street in Midtown Manhattan, New York, during the summer of 1928. The play is essentially a long monologue delivered by a small-time hustler named Erie Smith to the hotel's new night clerk Charlie Hughes, lamenting how Smith's luck has gone bad since the death of Hughie, Hughes' predecessor. O'Neill wrote ''Hughie'' in 1942, although it did not receive its world premiere until 1958, when it was staged in Sweden at the Royal Dramatic Theatre with Bengt Eklund as Erie Smith. It was first staged in English at the Theatre Royal, Bath, in 1963 with Burgess Meredith as Erie. The play was first presented on Broadway in 1964 starring Jason Robards as Erie and directed by José Quintero. Robards received a Tony Award nomination for his performance, and revived the production in 1975 in Berkeley, California, with Jack Dodson as Charlie Hughes. Robards and Dodson returned to perform ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
