The one-act play occupies a special niche in the history of modern theatre, attracting major talents like Eugene O'Neill and Susan Glaspell, Terence Rattigan, James M. Barrie, and J. M. Synge, Dorothy Parker and George S. Kaufman. In this collection, 'An Introduction to Modern One-Act Plays, ' Marshall Cassady, veteran writer and teacher, has assembled seventeen complete one-acters by these and other famous writers.

The one-act play stands apart as a distinct art form with some well known writers providing specialist material, among them Bernard Shaw, Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter, Caryl Churchill. Alan Ayckbourn, Edward Albee and Tennesee Williams. There are also lesser-known writers with plenty of material to offer, yet sourcing one-act plays to perform is notoriously hard. This companion is the first book to survey the work of over 250 playwrights in an illuminating A-Z guide. Multiple styles, nationalities and periods are covered, offering a treasure trove of compelling moments of theatre waiting to be discovered. Guidance on performing and staging one-act plays is also covered as well as essential contact information and where to apply for performance rights. A chapter introducing the history of the one-act play rounds off the title as a definitive guide.

THE STORIES: The first play, GIRLS WE HAVE KNOWN, was initially presented by Playwrights Horizons, in New York City, and was a finalist in the Great American Play Festival of the Actors Theatre of Louisville. The action centers on two young buddi

Containing plays by Chekhov, James Barrie, Sacha Guitry, W. W. Jacobs and Margaret Wood, this book provides an introduction, exercises, notes and stage directions which will be extremely useful to student performers.

Two dozen classic dramas by some of the finest and most famous playwrights of the last hundred years--Anton Chekhov, Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller, and A.A. Milne.