Antigone, the Classic

Classical works of literature usually share a common element: a memorable main character. Classics feature central characters with vivid, distinct personalities and strong points of view about the wor...

Mystery Plays

Mystery plays are religious performances based on Biblical stories, such as the Fall of Adam and Eve and the Last Judgement. They were originally performed in churches and then moved out into public s...

Being Incomplete

Hayavadana, Girish Karnad’s popular play, fulfils our romantic fantasies. A woman aspires to the perfect man, pursuing her dream of being complete. And a man with a horse’s head yearns to be fully hum...

Naga-Mandala

The play Naga-Mandala is based on the two oral stories from Karnataka that the playwright Girish Karnad heard from his mentor, Professor A K Ramanujan. Karnad through the play exposes the exploitation...

One-Act Play

A one-act play is a theatrical performance that consists of a single act or scene, usually lasting around 30 minutes to an hour. Unlike traditional plays, which are divided into multiple acts, a one-a...

The Pie and the Tart

Hugh Chesterman is a British author who wrote several children's books in the 1920s and 1930s. He and his friend Basil Blackwell edited a children's magazine, The Merry Go Round, published in Oxford. ...

Under Fire

Laurence Housman is a prolific playwright, writer and illustrator. Under Fire, one of the best of his one-act plays portrays a sensational episode in the life of Queen Victoria during the early period...

The Dear Departed

William Stanley Houghton was an English dramatist who was a prominent member of a group of playwrights known as the Manchester School of Dramatics. He was influenced strongly by Ibsen. Houghton's play...

The Brink of Silence

Esther E Galbraith's one-act play The Brink of Silence is based on the theme of an expedition to Antarctica. The process of looking for information and resources is called exploration or expedition. N...