General Books

HOW TO BE A GOOD RADIO ACTOR The play in this book has actually been produced on the radio. Possibly you have listened to this one when you tuned in at home. The persons whose voices you heard as you listened, looked just as they did when they left their homes to go to the studio, although they were taking the parts of men and women who lived long ago and who wore costumes very different from the ones... more...

ACT THE FIRST. SCENE I. A GOTHIC HALL. Enter Edric and Birtha. Bir.What may this mean? Earl Douglas has enjoin'd theeTo meet him here in private?Edr.Yes, my sister,And this injunction I have oft receiv'd;But when he comes, big with some painful secret,He starts, looks wild, then drops ambiguous hints,Frowns, hesitates, turns pale, and says 'twas nothing;Then feigns to smile, and by his... more...

SCENE I. Sutlers' tents—in front, a Slop-shop. Soldiers of all colors anduniforms thronging about. Tables all filled. Croats and Hulanscooking at a fire. Sutler-woman serving out wine. Soldier-boysthrowing dice on a drum-head. Singing heard from the tent. Enter a Peasant and his Son. SON.Father, I fear it will come to harm,So let us be off from this soldier swarm;But boist'rous mates will... more...

SCENE I A room in the Ministry of War in the capital of Iberia. Evening. The minister of war, a tall, stern, bearded man with deep-set eyes and many furrows, is sitting at a large, mahogany desk-table, Left. The chief of staff, silent, motionless and watchful, stands beside him with his hands resting on the table-top. He is thin, old and emaciated, clean-shaven, firm-lipped, and looks startlingly like... more...

ACT I SCENE: The library of ASHER PINDAR'S house in Foxon Falls, a New Englandvillage of some three thousand souls, over the destinies of whichthe Pindars for three generations have presided. It is a large,dignified room, built early in the nineteenth century, with whitedoors and gloss woodwork. At the rear of the stage,—which is thefront of the house,—are three high windows with small, square... more...

THE RECKONING The scene is a barber shop. At the center is the chair, facing a mirror and washstand at the right. The tiled walls are sprinkled with the usual advertisements. At the rear, a door leads up to the street by a flight of two or three steps. A dock on the left wall indicates three. At the rise of curtain, THE BARBER, a man of fifty, is discovered sharpening a razor, and whistling softly to... more...

WAR BRIDES The war brides were cheered with enthusiasm and the churches were crowded when the wedding parties spoke the ceremony in concert.—PRESS CLIPPING. SCENE: A room in a peasant's cottage in a war-ridden country. A large fireplace at the right. Near it a high-backed settle. On the left a heavy oak table and benches. Woven mats on the floor. A door at left leads into a bedroom. In the... more...

PARSIFAL. PART I THE COMING OF PARSIFAL Within a noble stretch of mountain woods,Primeval forest, deep and dark and grand,There rose a glorious castle towering high,—And at its foot a smiling, shimmering lakeLay in the still lap of a verdant glade.'T was daybreak, and the arrows of the dawnWere shot in golden glory through the trees,And from the castle came a trumpet blastTo waken life in all... more...

TRISTAN AND ISOLDA. ACT I. [A pavilion erected on the deck of a ship, richly hung with tapestry, quite closed in at back at first. A narrow hatchway at one side leads below into the cabin.] SCENE I. ISOLDA on a couch, her face buried in the cushions.— BRANGÆNA holding open a curtain, looks over the side of the vessel. THE VOICE OF A YOUNG SAILOR (from above as if at the mast-head).   ISOLDA... more...

ACT I A fine October morning in the north east suburbs of London, a vast district many miles away from the London of Mayfair and St. James's, much less known there than the Paris of the Rue de Rivoli and the Champs Elysees, and much less narrow, squalid, fetid and airless in its slums; strong in comfortable, prosperous middle class life; wide-streeted, myriad-populated; well-served with ugly iron... more...