Chapter X: Selective Lists of Amateur Plays

The following lists, which do not pretend to completeness, will at least be found helpful in assisting amateur organizations to choose "worth-while" plays. The general headings "Classic", etc, are clear, but the following explanations must be made regarding the other markings:

An asterisk (*) indicates that the play is in one act. Those not so marked are in more than one act, and are in most cases "full length."

The letter "S" denotes serious or tragic plays, intended in nearly every case for advanced amateurs.

The letter "R" denotes plays of a romantic and poetic nature.

The letter "C" denotes comedies, farces, and plays in lighter vein.

The letter "F" in parenthesis after the title indicates that a fee is charged for production by amateurs. The publisher or agent (see footnotes), must be consulted for particulars.

The letter "D" denotes modern dialect plays, like those of Lady Gregory. Most of these plays are included under the general heading of "Classic" because the costumes and setting, though they may be modern, are not the familiar modern costumes and settings.

All plays not included in the first division "_Classics, including modern costume and historical plays_" are to be found in the second division: "_Modern plays._"

It is nearly always unwise for an amateur organization to take a play on faith; it is therefore advisable for it to collect a library of amateur plays, from which successive generations of members can at least form some judgment of the field from which they are to select their plays.

This list makes no pretence to completeness. It has been the writer's purpose merely to mention a number of classic and standard plays which amateurs can produce without too great difficulty.

(Courtesy of Rollin H. Tanner).]

CLASSICS, INCLUDING MODERN COSTUME AND HISTORICAL PLAYS

Greek

RS Euripides, _Alcestis_ (Samuel French; Walter H. Baker)

RS Sophocles, _Antigone_ (Samuel French; E. P. Dutton, in
Everyman's Library)

RC Aristophanes, _The Clouds_ (Macmillan; "The Drama", Victorian
edition)

C _Lysistrata_ (Samuel French. Another version, by Laurence
Housman, published by The Woman's Press, London)

Latin

C Plautus, _The Twins_ (Samuel French)

C Terence, _Phormio_ (Samuel French)

Spanish

RC Lope de Vega, _The Dog in the Manger_ ("The Drama",
Victorian edition)

RC Calderon, _Keep Your Own Secret_ (Macmillan)

RC Benavente, _The Bonds of Interest_ (in "The Drama", No. 20)

Italian

RC Goldoni, _The Fan_ (Yale Dramatic Association)

RC _The Beneficent Bear_ (Samuel French)

RC _A Curious Mishap_ (McClurg)

RCD _The Squabbles of Chioggia_ ("The Drama", August, 1914)

R* Giacosa, _The Wager_ (Samuel French)

French

C Brueys (adaptor of 15th century anonymous), _Master
Patelin, Solicitor_ (Samuel French)

C Moliere, _The Merchant Gentleman [Le Bourgeois
Gentilhomme]_ (Samuel French; Little, Brown; Bohn Library,
etc.)

C* _The Affected Young Ladies [Les Precieuses ridicules]_

C _The Sicilian_

C* _Doctor Love [L'Amour Medecin]_

C* _The Doctor in Spite of Himself [Le Medecin malgre lui]_

C _The Imaginary Invalid [Le Malade imaginaire]_ (Samuel
French; Little, Brown; Bohn Library; Putnam, etc., publish
the above five titles)

C* Dancourt, _Woman's Craze for Titles_ (in "The Drama";
Historical Publishing Company, 1903, vol. viii.)

C* Le Sage, _Crispin, His Master's Rival_ (Samuel French)

CR* Marivaux, _The Legacy_ (Samuel French)

CR De Musset, _Fantasio_ (Dramatic Publishing Company)

CR* _The Green Coat_ (Samuel French)

C Augier, _M. Poirier's Son-in-law [Le Gendre de M.
Poirier]_ (in "Four Plays by Emile Augier", published by
Alfred A. Knopf, and in "Chief European Dramatists",
published by Houghton Mifflin)

CR* Banville, _Gringoire_ (Dramatic Publishing Company;
Samuel French)

CR* _Charming Leandre_ (Samuel French)

C Sardou, _A Scrap of Paper_ [_Les Pattes de mouche_]
(Samuel French)

CR _The Black Pearl_ (Samuel French)

CR* Feuillet, _The Fairy_ (Samuel French)

CR* Rivoire, _The Little Shepherdess_ (Samuel French)

CR Rostand, _The Romancers_ (Samuel French; Walter H.
Baker; Heinemann)

C* France, _The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife_ (Lane) (F)

C* Picard, _The Rebound_ (Samuel French)

CR Zamacois, _The Jesters_ (Brentano) (F)

SR* Bouchor, _A Christmas Tale_ (Samuel French)

CR* Coppee, _The Violin-Maker of Cremona_ (Samuel French)

SR* _Pater Noster_ (Samuel French)

SR* Theuriet, _Jean-Marie_ (Samuel French)

Danish

C Holberg, _The Loquacious Barber_ ("The Drama", Victorian
edition)

C _Captain Bombastes Thunderton_ (in "Three Comedies by
Ludvig Holberg", published by Longmans) (Requires cutting)

CR Hertz, _King Rene's Daughter_ (Samuel French)

German

CR Lessing, _Minna von Barnhelm_ (in Bohn Library,
Macmillan)

C _The Scholar_ (in Bohn Library)

C Schiller, _Nephew or Uncle_ (Walter H. Baker)

English

S Anonymous, _Everyman_ (Everyman's Library; Dutton)

R Lyly, _Alexander and Campaspe_ (Scribner, and in
Everyman's Library) (Requires cutting)

R Greene, _Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay_ (Dutton) (Requires
cutting)

CR Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Knight of the Burning Pestle_
(Scribner; Everyman's Library; etc.) (Requires cutting)

CR Dekker, _Old Fortunatus_ (Scribner) (Requires cutting)

CR _The Shoemaker's Holiday_ (Scribner; Dutton) (Requires
cutting)

CR Heywood _The Fair Maid of the West_ (Scribner) (Requires
cutting)

SR Jonson, _The Sad Shepherd_ (Dutton) (Requires cutting)

CR _The Case is Altered_ (in any complete set of Ben Jonson)
(Requires cutting)

Shakespeare (no plays need be mentioned. The "Ben Greet
Shakespeare for Amateurs" contains good directions for
staging and acting)

C Udall, _Ralph Roister Doister_ (Macmillan; Dent) (Requires
cutting)

CR Goldsmith, _The Good-natured Man_ (in any edition of
Goldsmith's plays)

CR _She Stoops to Conquer_ (in any edition of Goldsmith's
plays)

CR Sheridan, _The Rivals_ (in any edition of Sheridan's
plays)

C _The School for Scandal_ (in any edition of Sheridan's
plays)

C _The Critic_ (in any edition of Sheridan's plays)

CR Pinero, _Trelawney of the 'Wells'_ (Dramatic Publishing
Company) (F)[12]

[12] Apply to Sanger & Jordan, 1432 Broadway, New York, for
acting rights.

CR Housman, _A Chinese Lantern_ (Dramatic Publishing
Company) (F)

CR* _Bird in Hand_ (Samuel French) (F)

SRD* _A Likely Story_ (Samuel French) (F)

CR* _As Good as Gold_ (Samuel French) (F)

SRD* _The Snow Man_ (Samuel French) (F)

SR* _Nazareth_ (Samuel French) (F)

SR* _The Lord of the Harvest_ (Samuel French) (F)

SR* _The Return of Alcestis_ (Samuel French) (F)

CR (and Barker), _Prunella_ (Little, Brown) (F)

CR Shaw, _The Devil's Disciple_ (Brentano) (F)[13]

CR Parker, _Pomander Walk_ (Samuel French) (F)

CR* Barrie, _Pantaloon_ (Scribner) (F)[13]

[13] Apply to American Play Company, 33 West 42nd St., New
York.

CR Bennett and Knoblauch, _Milestones_ (Doran) (F)

CR Noyes, _Sherwood_ (Stokes) (F)

CR Tennyson, _The Princess_ (in any complete edition of
Tennyson)

CR _The Foresters_ (in any complete edition of
Tennyson)

SR* _The Falcon_ (in any complete edition of Tennyson)

R* Lord Dunsany, _The Gods of the Mountain_ (Little, Brown)
(F)

CR* _The Lost Silk Hat_ (Little, Brown) (F)

CRD* _The Glittering Gate_ (Little, Brown) (F)

R _King Argimenes and the Unknown Warrior_ (Little,
Brown) (F)

RS* Yeats, _The Land of Heart's Desire_ (Macmillan; Samuel
French)

CD* _The Pot of Broth_ (Macmillan) (F)[14]

RS* _Deirdre_ (Macmillan) (F)[14]

RS* _The King's Threshold_ (Macmillan) (F)[14]

[14] Apply to Samuel French, 28 West 38th St., New York.

CRD* Lady Gregory, _The Rising of the Moon_ (Putnam) (F)[15]

CD* _The Workhouse Ward_ (Putnam) (F)[15]

SRD* _The Travelling Man_ (Putnam) (F)[15]

CD* _Spreading the News_ (Putnam) (F)[15]

CD* _The Jackdaw_ (Putnam) (F)[15]

CD* _Hyacinth Halvey_ (Putnam) (F)[15]

SD* Hyde, _The Lost Saint_ (Scribner)

SD* _The Twisting of the Rope_ (Poet Lore)

CD* Mayne, _The Turn of the Road_ (Luce) (F)

CD _The Drone_ (Luce) (F)

SD* Synge, _The Shadow of the Glen_ (Luce) (F)[15]

CD Boyle, _The Building Fund_ (Gill, Dublin) (F)

RC* Downs, _The Maker of Dreams_ (Samuel French) (F)[15]

Sanskrit

SR Kalidasa, _Sakountala_ (Walter Scott, London; and
Everyman's Library)

Bengali

RS Tagore, _The Post-Office_ (Macmillan) (F)[15]

[15] Apply to Samuel French, 28 West 38th St., New York.

MODERN PLAYS (NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES, IN WHICH THE COSTUMES AND SETTINGS ARE MODERN)

Italian

S Giacosa, _As the Leaves_ (in "The Drama No. 1, and by
Little, Brown)

S _The Stronger_ (in "The Drama", May, 1913, and by Little,
Brown)

French

C* Augier, _The Post-Script_ (Samuel French, and in "Four
Plays by Emile Augier", Alfred A. Knopf)

SC _The House of Fourchambault_ (Samuel French, and in
"Four Plays by Emile Augier", Alfred A. Knopf)

CR* Meilhac and Halevy, _Indian Summer_ (Samuel French)

CR* _Panurge's Sheep_ (Samuel French)

CR* Feuillet, _The Village_ (Samuel French)

C* Labiche, _The Two Cowards_ (Samuel French)

C* _Grammar_ (Samuel French)

C Pailleron, _The Art of Being Bored_ (Samuel French)

C* Bernard, _French Without a Master_ (Samuel French)

C* _I'm Going!_ (Samuel French)

C* Donnay, _They!_ (In "Lovers, The Free Woman, and They!"
(Little, Brown)

S France, _Crainquebille_ (Samuel French)

C* Maurey, _Rosalie_ (Samuel French)

C* Hervieu, _Modesty_ (Samuel French)

S Capus, _The Adventurer_ ("The Drama", November, 1914)

C _Brignol and his Daughter_ (Samuel French)

C* Caillavet, _Choosing a Career_ (Samuel French)

German

SC Freytag, _The Journalists_ ("The Drama", February, 1913)

RC* Sudermann, _The Far-Away Princess_ (in "Roses", Scribner,
and separately, by Samuel French) (F)

S* _Fritzchen_ (in "Morituri", Scribner)

C* Benedix, _The Law-Suit_ (Samuel French)

C* _The Third Man_ (Samuel French)

C* Gyalui, _After the Honeymoon_ (Samuel French)

Scandinavian

S* Strindberg, _The Stronger_ (Scribner) (F)

SB _Lucky Pehr_ (Stewart and Kidd) (F)

SC Bjoernson, _The Newly-Married Couple_ (Everyman's Library;
Dutton)

C _Love and Geography_ (Scribner)

S Ibsen, _An Enemy of the People_ (Scribner)

Russian

C* Tchekoff, _The Boor_ (Samuel French; Scribner)

C* _A Marriage Proposal_ (Samuel French; Scribner)

C* _The Tragedian in Spite of Himself_ (Scribner)

C* Andreyev, _The Dear Departing_ (Henderson, London), and
[same play] _Love of One's Neighbor_ (Boni, New York)

English

C Pinero, _The Schoolmistress_ (Walter H. Baker) (F)

C _The Magistrate_ (Walter H. Baker) (F)

CS _The Benefit of the Doubt_ (Dramatic Publishing
Company) (F)

C _The Amazons_ (Walter H. Baker) (F)

C _Dandy Dick_ (Walter H. Baker) (F)

C Jones, _The Manoeuvres of Jane_ (Samuel French) (F)

CS _The Liars_ (Samuel French) (F)

C _Dolly Reforming Herself_ (Samuel French) (F)

C Wilde, _The Importance of Being Earnest_ (Walter H.
Baker; Nichols; Luce; Putnam; and French)[16]

C* Sutro, _The Bracelet_ (Samuel French; Brentano)
(F--Samuel French)

C* Sutro, _The Man on the Kerb_ (Samuel French; Brentano)
(F--Samuel French)

C* _A Marriage Has Been Arranged_ (Samuel French;
Brentano) (F--Samuel French)

CR* Barrie, _The Will_ (Scribner) (F)[16]

CR* _The Twelve-Pound Look_ (Brentano) (F)[16]

[16] Apply to Sanger & Jordan.

CR _The Admirable Crichton_ (Doran) (F)[17]

CR _Quality Street_ (Doran) (F)[17]

[17] Apply to Sanger & Jordan.

C Shaw, _You Never Can Tell_ (Brentano) (F)[18]

CR _Candida_ (Brentano) (F)[18]

C* _Press Cuttings_ (Brentano) (F)[18]

C* _How He Lied to Her Husband_ (Brentano) (F)[18]

CR _Arms and the Man_ (Brentano) (F)[18]

[18] Apply to American Play Co.

S Barker, _The Voysey Inheritance_ (Little, Brown) (F)

SC Bennett, _What the Public Wants_ (Doran) (F)

RC _Milestones_ (Doran) (F)

S _Cupid and Commonsense_ (Doran) (F)

C _The Great Adventure_ (Doran) (F)

C* _Polite Farces_ (Doran) (F)

S Baker, _Chains_ (Luce) (F)

S* Gibson, _Mates_ (Macmillan) (F)

S* _On the Road_ (Macmillan) (F)

C Hankin, _The Cassilis Engagement_ (Samuel French) (F)

C _The Return of the Prodigal_ (Samuel French) (F)

C _The Charity that Began at Home_ (Samuel French) (F)

C* Houghton, _The Dear Departed_ (Samuel French) (F)

C* _The Fifth Commandment_ (Samuel French) (F)

C* _Phipps_ (Samuel French) (F)

SC Houghton, _Independent Means_ (Samuel French) (F)

S Galsworthy, _The Silver Box_ (Scribner) (F)[19]

C _Joy_ (Scribner) (F)[19]

SC Hamilton, _Just to Get Married_ (Samuel French) (F)

SC* Chapin, _Augustus in Search of a Father_ (Gowans and
Grey, London) (F)

DCR* Brighouse, _Lonesome Like_ (Samuel French) (F)

SD* _The Price of Coal_ (Samuel French) (F)

C Monkhouse, _The Education of Mr. Surrage_ (Sidgwick and
Jackson, London) (F)

C Mason, _Green Stockings_ (Samuel French) (F)

SD Ervine, _Jane Clegg_ (Holt) (F)

DCR* Fenn and Pryce, _'Op o' me Thumb_ (Samuel French) (F)

American

S Gillette, _Secret Service_ (Samuel French) (F)

S _Held by the Enemy_ (Samuel French) (F)

C _Too Much Johnson_ (Samuel French) (F)

C MacKaye, _Anti-Matrimony_ (Stokes) (F)

C Thomas (A. E.), _Her Husband's Wife_ (Doubleday, Page)
(F)[19]

[19] Apply to Samuel French for producing rights.

S* Middleton, _The Failures_ (Holt) (F)[20]

S* _The Groove_ (Holt) (F)[20]

S* _Tradition_ (Holt) (F)[20]

[20] Apply to Samuel French for producing rights.

C* Macmillan, _Short Plays_ (Stewart and Kidd) (F)

C Forbes, _The Commuters_ (Samuel French) (F)

C _The Traveling Salesman_ (Samuel French) (F)

S Klein, _The Lion and the Mouse_ (Samuel French) (F)

R Thomas, _Arizona_ (Dramatic Publishing Company) (F)

RD _Alabama_ (Dramatic Publishing Company) (F)

C _Mrs. Leffingwell's Boots_ (Samuel French) (F)

C _The Other Girl_ (Samuel French) (F)

C _Oliver Goldsmith_ (Samuel French) (F)

C _The Earl of Pawtucket_ (Samuel French)(F)

C _The Capitol_ (Samuel French) (F)

COLLECTED VOLUME OF PLAYS

1. _Representative One-Act Plays by American Authors_, edited by Margaret G. Mayorga (Little, Brown), contains a large number of suitable plays for amateurs. Among these are:

R* _Sam Average_, by Percy MacKaye (F)

R* _Six Who Pass While the Lentils Boil_, by Stuart Walker
(F)

S* _In the Zone_, by Eugene O'Neill (F)

R* _The Wonder Hat_, a Harlequinade by Ben Hecht and Kenneth
Sawyer Goodman (F)

C* _Suppressed Desires_, by George Cram Cook and Susan
Glaspell (F)

S* _The Last Straw_, by Bosworth Crocker (F)

2. _Representative One-Act Plays by British and Irish Authors_, edited by Barrett H. Clark (Little, Brown), contains, among others, the following plays suited to the requirements of amateurs:

R* _The Widow of Wasdale Head_, by Arthur Pinero (F)

C* _Rococo_, by Granville Barker (F)

R* _The Snow Man_, by Lawrence Housman (F)

C* _Fancy Free_, by Stanley Houghton (F)

3. _Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays_, edited by Frank Shay and Pierre Loving (Stewart-Kidd), includes the following plays for amateurs:

C* _Literature_, by Arthur Schnitzler (F)

C* _Francoise' Luck_, by Georges de Porto-Riche (F)

S* _Mary's Wedding_, by Gilbert Carman (F)

C* _A Sunny Morning_, by the Quinteros (F)

APPENDICES