I will ever be grateful for the almost psychic gift that enabled me to write Blithe Spirit in five days during one of the darkest years of the war.' Written in 1941, Blithe Spirit remained the longest-running comedy in British Theatre for three decades thereafter. Plotted around the central role of one of Coward's best loved characters, a spirit medium Madame Arcati (originally performed by Margaret Rutherford) Coward's play is an escapist comedy about a man whose two previous wives return to haunt him. "A minor comic masterpiece of the lighter sort" Professor Allardyce Nicoll

America&’s Longest Run: A History of the Walnut Street Theatre traces the history of America&’s oldest theater. The Philadelphia landmark has been at or near the center of theatrical activity since it opened, as a circus, on February 2, 1809. This book documents the players and productions that appeared at this venerable house and the challenges the Walnut has faced from economic crises, changing tastes, technological advances, and competition from new media. The Walnut&’s history is a classic American success story. Built in the early years of the nineteenth century, the Walnut responded to the ever-changing tastes and desires of the theatergoing public. Originally operated as a stock company, the Walnut has offered up every conceivable form of entertainment&—pageantry and spectacle, opera, melodrama, musical theater, and Shakespeare. It escaped the wrecking ball during the Depression by operating as a burlesque house, a combination film and vaudeville house, and a Yiddish theater, before becoming the Philadelphia headquarters for the Federal Theatre Project. Because Philadelphia is located so close to New York City, the Walnut has served as a tryout house for many Broadway-bound shows, including A Streetcar Named Desire, The Diary of Anne Frank, and A Raisin in the Sun. Today, the Walnut operates as a nonprofit performing arts center. It is one of the most successful producing theaters in the country, with more than 350,000 attending performances each year.

The Walnut Street Theatre, located at the corner of Ninth and Walnut Streets, is Americas oldest theater, a national historic landmark, and the state theater of Pennsylvania. Since its opening in 1809, world-famous stars, such as Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, and Marlon Brando, have performed on its stage. Many of the greatest works in American theater premiered there, including A Streetcar Named Desire, A Raisin in the Sun, and Neil Simons first Broadway play, Come Blow Your Horn. In 1982, under the direction of Bernard Havard, the Walnut became a not-for-profit producing theater company. Today, with over 56,000 subscribers annually, it is the most subscribed theater company in the world. Through vintage images from the theaters archives and the Free Library of Philadelphias Theatre Collection, Walnut Street Theatre rediscovers the Walnuts rich past.

The sleepy town of Popcorn Falls is forced into bankruptcy when a neighboring town threatens to turn them into a sewage treatment plant. Their only hope – open a theater! Two actors play over twenty roles in a world of farce, love, and desperation, proving once and for all that art can save the world.

Exploring diverse human experiences in the US, Poland and Northern Ireland, this book is of interest to practitioners and students of applied theatre, peace and conflict studies, professionals working in conflict resolution, counselors, psychotherapists, professionals in the field of criminal and restorative justice, and spiritual seekers.

Twenty-four hours in the life of a Philadelphia belle, during which she discards an about-to-be second husband to remarry her first mate.

In this Flat Stanley I Can Read adventure, Stanley visits his relatives at the farm and helps his uncle win big at the pumpkin contest! There are so many fun ways for Flat Stanley to help on his uncle’s farm in the fall. Being flat comes in handy when picking corn and even acting like a scarecrow! But when pumpkins begin to disappear right before the county fair, will Flat Stanley be able to help? Flat Stanley and the Missing Pumpkins is a is a Level Two I Can Read book, geared for kids who read on their own but still need a little help.