The PlayFinder™

Virginia Carpolotti is a devoted widow with loving memories of her recently-deceased husband. Though her love endures, her confidence in him flounders as one shady character after another comes calling for the debt that Ed put in her name, and things really heat up when a mysterious blackmail letter appears.... Read more

Purchase a manuscript copy of Ben Jonson's The Alchemist via ePUB format. Click here.

THE STORY: LONDON. 1610. It’s plague time again. When a wealthy gentleman flees to the country, his trusted servant opens his house to a pair of con artists and sets up a den of criminal capitalism. Claiming alchemical powers, the quick-witted trio fleece an onslaught of greedy sheep with their virtuosic abil... Read more

In 1661 the most famous portrayer of female roles on the London stage was a performer named "Kynaston." Like every other player permitted to enact such roles, Kynaston was a man. A celebrity artist shining bright at the crest of the Restoration, Ned or Mr. K, as he's called, is applauded onstage and off for his interpretations of Shakespeare's tragic ladies: Ophelia, Cleopatra, especially his Desdemona and his famous "death scene." He's the toast of the town and the very secret... Read more

Lancelot, Guinevere, and Merlin come tumbling your way in this contemporary adaptation of the satirical tale from America’s favorite humorist. Wander with Twain as he time travels to 6th-century England through the eyes of Hank Morgan of Hartford, Connecticut, who is unexpectedly transported back to the time of legendary King Arthur. Hank astonishes the Middle Age with modern technology and pop culture. These tricks from the future initially advance and improve King Arthur’s Co... Read more

From comic mastermind Jeffrey Hatcher comes a fresh take on Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 18th-century romp THE CRITIC, a whirlwind comedy about bad theatre, worse playwrights…and, worst of all, the critics. The meta-theatrical frenzy builds throughout, from wacky antics and quick changes to an operatic burlesque as the company jumps from role to role. Experience a madcap night of life in the theatre with this classic behind-the-scenes comedy.... Read more

A new and shocking version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of depravity, lust, love and horror. On the fog-bound streets of Victorian-era London, Henry Jekyll's experiments with exotic "powders and tinctures" have brought forth his other self—Edward Hyde, a sensualist and villain free to commit the sins Jekyll is too civilized to comprehend. When Hyde meets a woman who stirs his interest, Jekyll fears for her life and decides to end his experiments. But Hyde has other ... Read more

When the locals in a small Russian hamlet learn that an undercover government inspector is coming for a surprise visit, an unfortunate case of mistaken identity sends the whole village spiraling into a world of panic and greed. Witty, smart and wildly satirical, this timely and spirited adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's classic play exposes the corruption of a provincial town with biting hilarity.... Read more

Sherlock Holmes is dead. Or so it is assumed. The world knows the great detective went over the falls at Reichenbach with his nemesis Professor Moriarty. But as Holmes’ body was never retrieved, a number of frauds, fakes, and charlatans have come forward since to lay claim to his identity, and it falls to Dr. Watson to disprove them. Then a telegram arrives informing Watson that three men, each claiming to be Holmes, have been committed to a remote asylum off the coast of Scotl... Read more

Adapted from the play by Henrik Ibsen.

THE STORY: In an adaptation full of sparkling wit and cynical humor, this political comedy follows the meteoric rise of ambitious young Stensgaard, an office-seeker who’s willing to say anything to win an election. Forming the "League of Youth" to lobby against his opposition, Stensgaard schemes, romances, and manipulates in his rush to power. Ibsen’s most popular play in his lifetime, THE LEAGUE OF YOUTH caused fighting in the streets, with... Read more

Inspired by hilarious memories of a childhood etiquette class, playwright Jeffrey Hatcher conjures up the world of a ten-year-old studying manners. Mrs. Mannerly is a demanding teacher, and no student in her thirty-six years of etiquette classes has achieved a perfect score. But when he discovers her secret past, Young Jeffrey is determined to be the first to achieve this feat. This unique comic tale reveals truths about the face we present and the real selves that lie inside.... Read more

A dark and dreadful night. A woman in white lost within a wood. And the only shelter is a house full of murderers. Mixing funhouse tricks, Grand Guignol and a deadly game of cat and mouse, MURDER BY POE is a theatrical reimagining of some of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous tales of terror—"The Black Cat," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "William Wilson," "The Purloined Letter," "The Mystery of Marie Roget" and "The Fall of the House of Usher." As each haun... Read more

The Man Who Married His Mother-in-Law is Gerald Halverson's confession of an elicit love and a plan to shelter five million dollars from the IRS. When Gerald's mother-in-law, Spiffy, finds out she hasn't long to live, Gerald concocts a plan to keep her estate "in the family." But when they move down to Florida to wait out Spiffy's death sentence at Riddle Key, old friends and new faces threaten to spoil the scheme, and a surprise twist throws a wrench into Gerald's pla... Read more

Paris, 1941. Pablo Picasso has been summoned from his favorite café by German occupation forces to a storage vault across the city for an interrogation. His questioner: Miss Fischer, a beautiful "cultural attaché" from Berlin. Her assignment: discover which of the three Picasso paintings recently "confiscated" by the Nazis from their Jewish owners are real. The ministry of propaganda has planned an exhibit, and only the great artist himself can attest to their authenticity. At ... Read more

In the last decade of the twentieth century, a beautiful young woman in nineteenth-century clothing is found floating on an iceberg in the middle of the North Atlantic. When rescued, she says only one word: Titanic. The woman, Winifred, is taken to an isolated spot on the coast of Maine where an expert on the sinking of the liner, a mysterious man named John, has arranged to interrogate her for six days. His goal: to crack her story, get her to confess she's a fake, and reveal ... Read more

A cross between traditional Italian commedia and postmodern vaudeville, this new version of Goldoni's classic pits the madcap servant Truffaldino against masters, mistresses, lovers, lawyers, and twenty-seven plates of meatballs. Imagine a Bob Hope or Woody Allen comedy written by Monty Python and performed with the physical bravura of Chaplin or Keaton—with places in the script for ad-libs and audience participation.... Read more

In the heart of London, behind the impassive facade of a windowless house, some of Europe's most powerful men gather to play a game. The game is murder, and this is The Suicide Club. But the club has a new member, Sherlock Holmes: brilliant, brooding, the greatest detective in the world. Why does Holmes wish to die? Can his friend Dr. Watson save him? Or doesn't Holmes want to be saved? A new stage thriller featuring the famed sleuth in a tale full of mystery, romance, twists a... Read more

In 1896, the Winter Carnival is in full swing, but St. Paul’s wealthiest man has lost his head—literally. A young man disappears just before his wedding, and his fiancée has already given back her wedding dress. When a gruesome discovery is made in the Ice Palace, there’s only one man for the job. Sherlock Holmes is summoned to solve a mystery that’s hardly elementary. With the help of trusty Watson and Irish barkeep Shadwell Rafferty, it’s up to Holmes to track a cold-blooded ... Read more

Based on the novel An Unsocial Socialist by George Bernard Shaw, the story centers on Sidney Trefusis, a millionaire Socialist who leaves his bride on their wedding day because he fears his passion for her will get in the way of his plans to overthrow the British government. Sidney vanishes "underground" - disguises himself as a common laborer called "Mengels" - and infiltrates Alton College, a girls' school where well-bred young women are "fitted and fatted to be put on... Read more

Part of volume, Three Viewings.

THE STORY: TELL-TALE is the story of Emil, the mild-mannered undertaker whose unspoken passion for a local real-estate woman who comes to all his funerals leads him to commit crimes and plot a way to confess his true feelings before time—and bodies—run out.... Read more

Summer, 1938. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, the two most revered stars of the Broadway stage, have decided to perform Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. But first they must retreat to "investigate" the play at Ten Chimneys, their sprawling Wisconsin estate, surrounded by actors, family and hangers-on. When a young actress named Uta Hagen arrives, a romantic triangle begins to mirror the events in Chekhov'... Read more

Part of volume, Three Viewings.

THE STORY: THE THIEF OF TEARS is Mac, a beautiful Los Angeles drifter, who makes her living stealing jewelry from corpses. When her wealthy grandmother dies, leaving her nothing, Mac returns to her hometown and attempts to pry loose her inheritance, a diamond ring her grandmother promised Mac when she was a child. Her attempt leads Mac to find there are more obstacles ... Read more

Part of volume, Three Viewings.

THE STORY: THIRTEEN THINGS ABOUT ED CARPOLOTTI is the story of Virginia, the widow of a wheeler-dealer contractor, who discovers that her husband has left her in debt to the banks, her family and the mob. As Virginia struggles to escape her creditors and understand how her husband could have left her in such pain and doubt, a mysterious list of "thirteen things" embarra... Read more

Tell-Tale is the story of Emil, the mild-mannered undertaker whose unspoken passion for a local real-estate woman who comes to all his funerals leads him to commit crimes and plot a way to confess his true feelings before time—and bodies—run out.

The Thief of Tears is Mac, a beautiful Los Angeles drifter, who make... Read more

In this new adaptation of Jean Anouilh's 1940 romantic comedy, Amanda, a poor hat maker from Paris, is invited to a chateau by an eccentric duchess to spend a weekend trying to make her suicidal nephew, Albert, forget about the death of his great love, the divine Leocadia. Amanda, it turns out, is a dead ringer for the dead woman, and if she can convince Albert that she is his lost love for just three days, then Albert just might not kill himself. A gossamer tale of love and tr... Read more

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE is the autobiographical story of Mitch Albom, an accomplished journalist driven solely by his career, and Morrie Schwartz, his former college professor. Sixteen years after graduation, Mitch happens to catch Morrie's appearance on a television news program and learns that his old professor is battling Lou Gehrig's Disease. Mitch is reunited with Morrie, and what starts as a simple visit turns into a weekly pilgrimage and a last class in the meaning of life.... Read more

Based on the provocative tale of suspense, horror and repressed sexuality, this adaptation gives the famous story yet another turn of its own. A young governess journeys to a lonely English manor house to care for two recently orphaned children. But she is not their first governess. Her predecessor, Miss Jessel, drowned herself when she became pregnant by the sadistic valet, Peter Quint, who was himself found dead soon after under mysterious circumstances. Now the new governess... Read more

Forty-seven years after WAIT UNTIL DARK premiered on Broadway, Jeffrey Hatcher has adapted Frederick Knott's 1966 original, giving it a new setting. In 1944 Greenwich Village, Susan Hendrix, a blind yet capable woman, is imperiled by a trio of men in her own apartment. As the climax builds, Susan discovers that her blindness just might be the key to her escape, but she and her tormentors must wait until dark to play out this classic thriller's chilling conclusion.... Read more

In this thrilling and imaginative new play about the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, audiences get an in-depth look at the master builder at three distinct phases of his life and career:

In Act One, as a young man in a hurry to change the way people live and finding inspiration in Mamah Cheney, a unconventional (married) woman who becomes the great love of his life and leads to his greatest tragedy.

In Act Two, as a doubting genius at the crossroads, fendi... Read more