Dark comedy?
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Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Play Suggestions
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URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3587
Printed Date: 11/25/24 at 5:31pm
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Topic: Dark comedy?
Posted By: tallulah
Subject: Dark comedy?
Date Posted: 11/08/08 at 3:35pm
Does anyone have suggestions for a dark comedy with good female leads? I am a big fan of "Arsenic," but I doubt that our director will want to do that one, as it requires a large number of lead males and only a few lead females. Also looking for something with a cast size between 5-15. Thanks so much! 
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Replies:
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 11/08/08 at 4:27pm
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Posted By: DWolfman
Date Posted: 11/08/08 at 11:14pm
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http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=1504 - AndMIssReardonDrinksALittle - Paul Zindel
from Dramatists Play Service
2 Men 5 Women
Their father having deserted them in their childhood, the three Reardon sisters have grown up in a house of women, dominated by their mother, who is only recently dead. But time has erased the tender closeness of girlhood; one sister has married and cut herself off; another has begun to drink more than she should; and the third, after a scandalous incident at the school where she teaches, is on the brink of madness. When the married sister comes to dinner to press the need for committing her sibling to an institution, the simmering resentments of many years burst alive and are exacerbated by the intrusion of a well-meaning but boorish neighbor couple, whose unexpected arrival impels the action towards its shattering conclusion in which all the pathos, humor and searing honesty of the play combine with overwhelming effect .
One of my favorite roles of all times was playing the boorish husband.
The female roles are treasures as well. ------------- Even a man who is pure of heart... |
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 11/09/08 at 8:18am
| I love that play! - as all Zindel's plays. |
Posted By: Bayman
Date Posted: 11/16/08 at 3:12pm
| The Gingerbread Lady by Neil Simon. 3 women, 2 Men |
Posted By: bernster74
Date Posted: 11/17/08 at 4:17pm
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MURDERERS by Jeffrey Hatcher
Three 30-minute monologues set in a Florida retirement company. Each of the characters is a murderer who tells the audience how they did it, to whom they did it, why they did it, and how they got away with it (or didn't). Nice dark comedy.
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Posted By: teridtiger
Date Posted: 11/21/08 at 4:33pm
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I adore "Ravenscroft". One of my favorite roles ever - Dolly, the dumbest maid in the world.
You need five excellent actresses with some serious chops: comedy, drama, melodrama, fight sequences.
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Posted By: red diva
Date Posted: 11/26/08 at 5:45pm
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How about "Crimes of the Heart"? Definitely a comedy/drama and definately a bit dark, with great roles for 4 women and smaller (in length, but not quality) roles for 2 men. And, hello again, everyone. I'm still alive and kicking, but started a new job and don't have too much time for on-line fun. ------------- "I've worked long and hard to earn the right to be called Diva!" |
Posted By: DaveD
Date Posted: 12/06/08 at 8:42pm
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I am new to the board so pardon me if this is too late, but Paul Zindel has another very interesting script, Ladies at the Alamo. Which is either 5-6 female caracters. I don't recall any males. It is about the attempted take over of a professional theater in Texas. ------------- DaveD |
Posted By: jphock
Date Posted: 12/27/08 at 9:00am
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We just finished "The House of Yes" by Wendy MacLeod. 3 Women, 2 Men. Absolutely amazing....
Available through Dramatists... THE STORY: It's Thanksgiving, and Marty's arrival home is greatly anticipated by his mother, Mrs. Pascal, his twin sister, Jackie-O, and his younger brother, Anthony. He arrives during a hurricane, but worse than the storm is the fact that Marty brings Lesly, his fiancée. This ruins everything. Marty's engagement is a threat to the well-being of this family and a greater threat to Jackie-O, who has always wanted her brother for herself. On top of that, Jackie-O has just recently been released from a mental hospital, Anthony dropped out of Princeton, and their mother has a serious problem handling any of this. This is also a family severely affected by the Kennedy family, whose Virginia Compound makes them neighbors with the Pascals. Mr. Pascal left his family on the very day JFK was assassinated. Jackie-O and Marty made a game out of reenacting the moment of the assassination, which became a sort of foreplay to their incestuous relationship. So, Marty just can't marry Lesly! Jackie-O convinces Anthony to try and seduce Lesly and steal her away from Marty. Marty will then have to stay at home, which suits Anthony just fine as he is immediately attracted to Lesly. The only way he finds to seduce her, though, is to convince her that Marty and Jackie-O are lovers. In a series of short scenes, Lesly spies on Marty and Jackie-O doing their Kennedy reenactment; Mrs. Pascal catches Anthony and Lesly in bed; Lesly confronts Marty, who begs her to take him back and away from his family; Mrs. Pascal insists Lesly pack up and leave; Jackie-O pleads with Marty to stay with her; and Anthony tries to convince Lesly to take him with her instead of Marty. Finally Jackie-O goes over the edge and begins the reenactment game again, only this time with real bullets. Killing Marty with a shot to the head, she brings the play to a bloody, conclusive end. |