Ten plays by comedic playwright Roy Smiles, available digitally as an anthology or as single editions. Contains the plays Schmucks, Baghdad Boogie, Bombing People, Reno, The Lad Himself, Working for Mammon, Waugh in Winter, Reading Gaol, The VIP, and The Weight of Days.
Funny People is Roy Smiles’ whimsical account of his life in comedy; from his childhood growing up with the star actors and comedians on television, stand-up and film in the 1960s and 1970s, through to his own work, writing hit plays that pay tribute to those legends of comedy who had a vital influence on both him and British popular culture of the post-war years. From Sunday Night at the Palladium and The Dean Martin Show through Monty Python to The Simpsons and When Harry Met Sally and from Laurel and Hardy and Danny Kaye through Les Dawson to Jon Stewart and Chris Rock, Funny People is a compelling celebration of comedy and its value in our lives. I am a religious man and I believe in the Holy Trinity:and they are Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and Bill Hicks. Amen. Billy Connolly is the best comic ever to come out of the British Isles in my lifetime: I can prove it using slides and pie-charts. Jo Brand [is] easily the most fearless performer I’ve ever seen live (she used to swat down hecklers like they were slightly irritating gnats). Am I the only guy in the world who adores Abbot & Costello? Does this mean I’m a bad person?
Ten plays by comedic playwright Roy Smiles, available digitally as an anthology or as single editions. Contains the plays Schmucks, Baghdad Boogie, Bombing People, Reno, The Lad Himself, Working for Mammon, Waugh in Winter, Reading Gaol, The VIP, and The Weight of Days.
April 1994. A man sits alone in an attic extension on the cusp of becoming a Seattle suicide statistic. This man is no 'number and name' to be reported in a local newspaper. He is an icon, albeit a reluctant one. Kurt Cobain, the frontman of Nirvana, is about to pull the trigger of the gun in his hand and join the leagues of rock star deaths down the ages. Without invitation, Kurt has the curious company of a man purporting to be the Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious, Kurt's hero. Roy Smiles' witty and beautifully poignant new play explores exactly what it means to dice with death when being alive proves to be all too painful and peace seems elusive...
A struggling comic Joe Klein, mourning another failed night at comedy, finds himself in the middle of the New York blackout of 1965. Two comedy greats Lenny Bruce and Groucho Marx find themselves in the same diner. Groucho has got old and jaded. Lenny is fighting for the right to free speech and a longtime heroin addiction. As they wait out the dark they struggle for the comedic soul of young Joe. While Joe falls for the damaged but feisty waitress Mary. Schmucks was first staged at Battersea Arts Centre in 1992 with William Marsh as Lenny Bruce and David Mayberry as Groucho Marx.
In The VIP Welsh film and theatre icon Richard Burton is trapped at a fog-bound Heathrow Airport in 1968 shortly after finishing filming Where Eagles Dare. He is haunted by visions of his wives Sybil and Elizabeth Taylor; his drinking companions Dylan Thomas and Peter O'Toole and his miner father. Has Burton sacrificed his considerable talent for the tarnished glory of fame, fortune and love?
Reno is the story of actress Marilyn Monroe and playwright Arthur Miller's marriage imploding in Nevada during the making of her last movie The Misfits. Miller is the writer, Monroe the star, but Miller finds himself the referee between Marilyn and tyrannical director John Huston, as she finds comfort in addiction and the suffocating method acting teachings of Paula Strasberg.
See Cleese's first audition. Hear the simpering paternalism of David Frost. Be touched by the religious furore over the 'Life of Brian'. Comprehend the true meaning of the coconuts in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'! Pythonesque premiered at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, in August 2009.
1948: George Orwell is attempting to finish his final novel - Nineteen Eighty Four - before ill-health forces him off the solated Scottish island he has made his home. Holed up with a shotgun and literary-circle bombshell Sonia Brownell for company he's desperately hoping for a last chance at happiness. But George is no womaniser and is sure to make a hash of things particularly after his childhood friend and notorious lecher Cyril Connolly turns up. Will he seduce Sonia or will Cyril scupper his plans? Can he survive his friends, both real and imaginary, and finish his masterpiece before death comes knocking? Year of the Rat had its UK premiere at West Yorkshire Playhouse in March 2008.
Reading Gaol concerns Oscar Wilde's imprisonment in Reading Gaol after his infamous court case, persecuted relentlessly by the sadistic and pious prison governor for refusing to admit he is a common criminal. George Bernard Shaw, Frank Harris, Sid Edward Carson and Lord Alfred Douglas appear as Wilde justifies his self-inflicted martyrdom. 'Football is all very well as a game for rough girls, but is hardly suitable for delicate boys' - Oscar Wilde.
‘Smiles & Tears – Journey of a Woman’ is an amazing and prodigious collection of thirteen stories. Every story belongs to the real-life experiences of a woman. The life journey of the author has gone through with various ups and downs. The turns of life are knitted with words and catered to the readers. Along with all the diversified reading experience, the book gives some propulsive messages to live life at its full. ‘God always has some plans’, and this spontaneously motivates the readers. Some moments are exciting whereas some are very emotional. This is the beauty of ‘Smiles and Tears’ that glistering from it every story. ‘Smiles & Tears’ is woven with emotions and designed with affection. A complete package to get the ecstasy by mere reading!
‘Smiles & Tears – Journey of a Woman’ is an amazing and prodigious collection of thirteen stories. Every story belongs to the real-life experiences of a woman. The life journey of the author has gone through with various ups and downs. The turns of life are knitted with words and catered to the readers. Along with all the diversified reading experience, the book gives some propulsive messages to live life at its full. ‘God always has some plans’, and this spontaneously motivates the readers. Some moments are exciting whereas some are very emotional. This is the beauty of ‘Smiles and Tears’ that glistering from it every story. ‘Smiles & Tears’ is woven with emotions and designed with affection. A complete package to get the ecstasy by mere reading!
Under pressure to write The Goon Show to end all Goon shows, Spike Milliganis planning his escape from a mental institution dressed in only his pyjamas. After applying to the British Museum to get his marbles back, he starts to lose his grip on reality and threatens to kill all the Goons. Will his partners in Goon - Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers - be able to stop him? Ying Tong is an hilarious and touching insight into the mind comic genius Spike Milligan who was an inspiration for comedians from Monty Python to The League of Gentlemen and loved by many including Eddie Izzard and Robin Williams.
Arriving in Limbo after his lonely end in Australia, Tony Hancock finds himself in a hospital waiting room very much like the waiting room in 'The Blood Donor'. There he is met with the red tape and bureaucracy that drove him mad in life; a Galton and Simpson-esque tribute to possibly the greatest comedian of his generation.
The fourth installment in Roy Jacobsen’s bestselling Barrøy Chronicles. After a long journey through Norway, Ingrid has returned to Barrøy, the island that bears her family name. The Second World War still casts its long shadow: former collaborators face cold shoulders, while others wish to leave the painful years in the past. When a boy arrives on the island, Ingrid assumes responsibility for him, and so he joins the Barrøy community, raised alongside Ingrid's own daughter, another child of war. As letters from distant friends arrive with news of a society undergoing dramatic changes, Ingrid must decide which stories to keep to herself, and which she should she bring to light. What kind of future does she imagine—for herself, and for the children?
Roy Freirich's novel Winged Creatures intimately depicts the inner lives of five people driven by secret torments and dangerous compulsions, in flight from their own memories and dreams, as they struggle to regain their trust in the ordinary world. The basis for the 2008 film starring Kate Beckinsale and Dakota Fanning. Shots ring out in a local fast food restaurant. Teenager Anne Hagen and her best friend Jimmy hide under a table, watching a suicidal gunman randomly murder her father and others. Winged Creatures tells the stories of the survivors. . . Struggling to understand her father's death, Anne develops a religious hysteria. Jimmy becomes mute, protecting a secret that he and Anne share until it nearly destroys him and his already fractured family. Grazed by a bullet, driving instructor Charlie becomes obsessed with pressing his luck at a casino. By dangerous degrees, restaurant cashier Carla loses her ability to care for herself and her infant son. Dr. Laraby, an ER physician who failed to revive the shooting victims, turns to his wife as someone to "save," while psychologist Ron Abler tries to counsel the witnesses, but meets suspicion and resistance.
THE SERPENT'S GUILE is a psychological thriller with three main characters - a famous writer, his personal chauffeur and the unwitting biracial sex worker embroiled into the dark world of the writer. All three of them hiding secrets, all puppets of greed, all three magnificent liars. Set in an opulent background of the privileged few, it shows humanity at its lowest and at its most human element. Unlike books of same genre, readers know who the serpent is from the beginning. The crux is how each one of the three protagonists try to manipulate each other - like a game of chess, a charade, a cat and mouse game. A cliff hanger to the very last page, it keeps the readers guessing what happens next: who wins, who lives, and who dies.
William Hazlitt is viewed by many as one of the most distinguished of the non-fiction prose writers to emerge from the Romantic period. This nine-volume edition collects all his major works in complete form.
At forty-seven, Caroline is hit by fate. Final blow: the loss of her husband and her children's departure, leaving her alone in an empty house with two dogs for only company... A stroke of madness: her sister pushes her to leave France for a job as a housekeeper in a luxury hotel... A stroke of luck: the delay of her flight and the unexpected boarding on a private plane to Saint-Hélier... A crush: her new home, the island of Jersey... What if all that was missing from her rebirth was love at first sight for the enigmatic and seductive Matthew?
Collects Marvel Super-Heroes (1967) #15; Incredible Hulk Annual (1968) #1; Fantastic Four (1961) #81-83, 99; Amazing Adventures (1970) #1-10; Avengers (1963) #95 and material from Fantastic Four (1961) #95, 105; Not Brand Echh (1967) #12. From Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas and Neal Adams the titans of the Marvel Age come the Inhumans! For the first time, the stories that defined these regal outcasts are brought together in one collection starring Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, Gorgon, Crystal and the loveable Lockjaw! Their quest for peace is threatened not just by a world that fears them, but also by Black Bolts own brother, Maximus the Mad, and his evil Inhuman cohorts! Its a family epic full of intrigue and treachery, told in the mighty Marvel fashion as only comics greatest creative talents could craft it!
Desperate for survival in the rude city, Rita is fortunate to get hired as a household help by a retired diplomat. At that moment, Arijit Basu does not know that she is an undocumented migrant. Convulsed by a marauding tide of events, the two are reduced to wrecks. Arijit's fiancée, Nandita, fights bravely to recover the vulnerable girl from the circles of evil. The outcome of this struggle irrevocably impacts their lives. Lyrical, epic and devastating, Border Crossers brings into sharp relief the many shades of terror and religious intolerance that shape the subcontinent.
The Winds of Fate Micronesian Love Story is an adventurous story about a brave, young, ambitious African American woman and university professor, who accepted the challenge to train teachers in Micronesia during the 1970s on how to educate children with handicaps in their classrooms. The obstacles she faced were enormous and the lessons she learned were immeasurable. She traveled and worked alone in places she had never heard of; each island was very different, undeveloped and undergoing major political changes. She discovered that special education concepts and practices were not part of the natives' cultures, languages, vocabulary or understanding in the societies where she worked. She had to learn how to train teachers using their cultural norms, learning styles, languages and experiences. She learned immediately that the training agenda and materials from the U.S. mainland would not work in Micronesia. She learned that the teachers used storytelling, their ancestral medium, to teach and learn; therefore, she had to change her approach overnight. She created stories every night in her hotel room to be able to train the teachers. During her seven year assignment on the islands, a riveting love story was born between her and a Micronesian man. They were two people from two different worlds, cultures, languages and ways of life but their romance became an enthralling, passionate, powerful love affair that seemed destined to happen.
Three new plays from three of the UK's most celebrated playwrights. All rooted in West London, the plays explore race, identity and our sense of place and purpose, presented together as one piece, Out West. The Overseas Student by Tanika Gupta London. 1888. An 18-year-old Gandhi has just arrived from India to study Law. Miles from home, his wife and his family, we see him navigate a time of uncertainty, growth and opportunity. As he builds a new life, he explores the joys of money, food and women whilst facing the struggles of class and imperialism. Gupta's sharp and profound play is an insight into the teenage years of a man we know will grow up to be one of the most significant figures in history. Blue water and cold and fresh by Simon Stephens London. 2020. A walk back in time. A walk that may change everything he's ever believed. In the wake of city lockdown living and the Black Lives Matter protests, one man's journey across London raises difficult truths he has to confront. The death of a loved one. His father's racism. His own white privilege. This heartfelt piece explores what it means to be a father, husband and son. Go, Girl by Roy Williams London. 2020. Working as a security guard at Westfield and a mother to a teenage daughter, Donna sees her life as unremarkable. Why have things not turned out how she pictured when she was a young girl, inspired by the words of Michelle Obama? The hope and excitement she once felt has now become isolation and judgement of the choices she has made. Until one night Donna gets a call from her daughter that makes her rethink her entire life. As their bravery and humanity is tested, Donna realises just how remarkable they both truly are. A celebration of Black women, everyday heroism and female resilience.
Felix Batterinski grew up tough in Northern Ontario. After enjoying brief fame as an "enforcer" for the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, he finds himself eking out a living as a player-coach in Finland. But a controversial play spells the end of his comeback bid, and Felix begins a tragic descent into disillusion and despair.
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