Plays for Hire
Highly entertaining one-act and full-length plays with sizzling dialogue by award-winning writer Alison Neil. Available for performance by amateur or professional groups.
THE SHAKESPEARE LADIES CLUB
Tales of Georgian London
Cast: one woman playing two roles, or two women
Full-length play with two acts
and one-hour version
Coffee shops and tooth-worm, smuggling and mouse-skin eyebrows...amid the fascinating trivia of mid-eighteenth century life, Mary Cowper De Grey recounts the true story of a group of Ladies of Quality who determined to make Shakespeare fashionable.
Mrs Cowper De Grey then introduces her surprise guest - and the Lords Ladies and Gentlemen of the audience are told a very different tale - of a London unseen by People of Quality.
"unmissable entertainment...her immaculate research and attention to detail makes her productions not only entertaining but wonderfully informative too" DORSET ECHO
"Her writing has a light touch and her depth of research is unsurpassed"
VILLAGES IN ACTION
"A fascinating insight into Georgian London, jammed full of historical fact" BORDON POST
"Colourful and gripping...real life events mingle happily with amusing anecdotes and perceptive comments which make the past come alive" DORSET ECHO
WHERE THERE’S A WILL
Winner: BEST PLAY BY A WELSH-BASED WRITER 2008
Drama Association of Wales
Cast of three:
middle-aged woman
middle-aged man
elderly woman
A light thriller (or a dark comedy) of mistaken identities and bravura Shakespearean acting.
An elderly woman and her slightly simple daughter outwit a fraudster using magic and technology. The play offers an opportunity for an older actress to perform scenes from Romeo and Juliet - as Juliet!
Length: 45 minutes
RING OF ROSES
Cast of five:
3 middle-aged women
2 elderly women
A light-hearted play of deception, twists, and estate agents.
Five women, one empty house, five secrets. Each secret discovered by a different woman, who cannot reveal it without her own secret becoming known…..
Great parts of equal size for five actresses
Length: 45 minutes
ARMED AND DANGEROUS
A Ghost Story
Short Play for one woman of any age.
A “Tale of the Unexpected”, with a splendid visual surprise at the end.
A woman sits in a hospital waiting room, awaiting a check-up. She explains
how she lost her arm in a car crash a year before, and how the subsequent
“phantom limb syndrome” led to some strange and ghoulish results…
Delightfully unnerving!
An opportunity for a bravura one-person performance.
Can be used as part of a Christmas compilation show.
Length: 12 minutes
LAST POST
Cast of three:
Middle-aged woman
Middle-aged man
Elderly woman
A touching and absorbing story.
Set after the Second World War, a couple grieve for their lost son. When they unexpectedly receive his last letter, their lives are turned upside-down. During one evening, they learn some truths about themselves and each other, and must make a life-changing decision.
Three parts of equal size, with a bravura story-telling section for the older actress.
Length: 45 minutes
THE CHRISTMAS ELF
Cast of three:
1 'grandfather'
1 young girl
1 male 'elf'
An enchanting and funny Christmas play for young children, with magic
and songs.
Something strange is living in the woodshed...it's a Helf! He brings magic and
mayhem into the lives of a girl and her grandfather, but can they work out how
to help the Helf to get home?
Length: 40 minutes
BELLA – THE STORY OF MRS BEETON
Cast: one young woman
TWO VERSIONS:
Full-length play with two acts
One-hour version
Alison Neil’s highly acclaimed play was performed professionally in hundreds
of venues up and down the country between 1988 and 2002.
The entertaining and moving story of an extraordinary Victorian woman.
Isabella Beeton tells of her life – as the eldest of 21 children living in the Grand Stand on the Epsom Racecourse, the touching story of her meeting and marriage to Sam Beeton, and their professional partnership which culminated in the world famous “Beeton’s Book of Household Management”.
"Highly entertaining, from start to finish, and fascinating in its content.”
OXFORD TIMES
"This attractive and spontaneous show... keeps interest bubbling continually"
SPEECH AND DRAMA MAGAZINE
"The linguistic power of Alison Neil's script "
HALSTEAD GAZETTE
THE SIXTH WIFE
Cast: one young woman
TWO VERSIONS:
Two acts, with one interval
One-hour version
Katherine Parr witnessed it all - the dazzling reign of Henry VIII; the lust and
the laugher, double-dealing and deaths...and the coming and going of all
those wives. In this witty and fast-moving play, Katherine tells her story; her
many marriages, brushes with death for treason, time as Queen Regent of
England, and how she finally fell in love. And lived to tell the tale...
A mesmerising one-woman play, performed in numerous venues up and down the country.
"an entertaining and at times funny commentary on the life of one or our most
notorious monarchs"
STROUD NEWS
"a rivetting tale"
OXFORD TIMES
"great show...a delightful entertainment"
OXFORD MAIL
"Neil's play superbly delves into the history and politics of the time"
BORDON HERALD
TRULY YOURS, C.B.
Cast: one young woman
TWO VERSIONS:
Two acts with one interval
One-hour version, no interval
Determined, brilliant and romantic, Charlotte tells her story of passion
and duty, triumph and tragedy, and above all - love.
Devoted to her strange and unworldly family, Charlotte Brontë was also
wildly ambitious. The joy of literary success was tempered by the scandalous
fall of her brother Branwell, and a succession of family disasters. Charlotte's
own life, however, had an extraordinary, happy twist at the end.
The Brontë family's story has captivated the imagination for a century and a half. Alison Neil's engrossing play - using many of Charlotte's own words - provides an exceptional theatrical treat.
“This enthralling and moving play”
HUNGERFORD & DISTRICT COMMUNITY ARTS
" a spellbinding and hugely enjoyable insight into one of our best-loved novelists."
DETOUR
"Both informative and entertaining in full measure - many of us remember little bits about the Bronte story, and the books read so long ago, so it was wonderful to have all of these memories brought to life, and perfectly staged.."
AUDIENCE EMAIL: THEATR FFWRNES, LLANELLI
"Truly Yours took us to the heart of Charlotte Brontë… excellent entertainment"
SURREY ADVERTISER
“Another of Alison Neil’s brilliant series of one-woman shows”
LETCHWORTH ARTS CENTRE
THE JUST WILLIAM LADY
Cast: one woman (character ages from 30s to 70s)
Full-length play with two acts
and
70 minute version
A lively and affectionate play celebrating Richmal Crompton, the author of the much-loved William books.
Richmal was a Classics mistress, a Suffragist, and later a prominent London literary figure. Crippled by polio as a young woman, she refused to see her change in fortune as anything but a positive springboard to success.
She was also a beloved Aunt at the centre of an eccentric family, whose real-life escapades were the inspiration for many of William's adventures...
"The play is really excellent. Even though of course I knew the story, I found it riveting"
MARGARET DISHER, RICHMAL CROMPTON'S ELDEST NIECE
"Simply a masterpiece of theatre"
BORDON HERALD
"A compelling, witty - and often moving - portrayal of this brave and likeable figure"
OXFORD TIMES
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