Playwriting Commons^™

Much Ado About Nothing

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1970 performance of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare.

Much Ado About Nothing tells the story of two couples, the feuding Benedick and Beatrice, and the deeply in love Claudio and Hero. Through the use of gossip Benedick and Beatrice are brought together again, and Claudio and Hero, at first separated by malicious lies, are brought together again.

She Stoops To Conquer

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1970 performance of She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith.

She Stoops to Conquer is the story of Kate Hardcastle, a high society woman whom her father is trying to marry to rich Londoner Charles Marlow. When Marlow rejects her in favor of marrying someone less intimidating and of a lower class, she takes on the persona of a maid to woo him.

Charley's Aunt

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1969 performance of Charley’s Aunt by Brandon Thomas.

Charley’s Aunt is the story of Lord Fancourt Babberley, an undergraduate persuaded by two of his friends, Jack and Charley, to impersonate Charley’s aunt so they can spend time with they beaus. Their plan is complicated when an elderly fortune hunter tries to woo the fake aunt and Charley’s real aunt appears.

The Cocktail Party

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1969 performance of The Cocktail Party by T. S. Elliot.

The Cocktail Party by T. S. Elliot is the story of a separated couple who are brought together by their psychiatrist to a cocktail party so they might be reunited.

This show was performed by the Faculty Readers reader’s theater.

The Madwoman Of Chaillot

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1969 performance of The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux.

The Madwoman of Chaillot is a satire about an eccentric woman who uncovers the plot of a group of businessmen to dig up Paris for oil and sets out to thwart them with the help of other ordinary and peculiar people.

The Rivals

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1967 performance of The Rivals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

The Rivals tells the story of young lovers, Lydia Languish and Captain Jack Absolute and the mishaps which happen when Jack’s father tries to arrange a marriage for him and a sequence of gossip and misdelivered letters sets off a clash between Lydia’s suitors.

This show was performed by the Faculty Readers reader’s theater.

The Mikado

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1967 performance of Mikado by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan.

The Mikado is the comic opera about the romance between Nanki-Poo, the son of Japan’s Mikado, and Yum-Yum, the ward of the High Executioner of Titipu.

The Birds

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1966 performance of The Birds by Aristophanes.

The Birds tells the story of two Athenians who are tired of their life among the gods and people and seek a king who became a bird, that they may form an allegiance with the birds form a city of their own.

The Cave Dwellers

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1964 performance of The Cave Dwellers by William Saroyan.

The Cave Dwellers tells the story of four homeless persons living on the stage of a theater about to be torn down, and how they recount the memories of their better days with joy.

Arsenic And Old Lace

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1964 performance of Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring.

Arsenic and Old Lace is the story about the Brewsters, an insane homicidal family, and the one sane member, Mortimer Brewster, who must decide whether or not to go through with his promise to marry the woman he loves, Elaine Harper, who lives next door.

The Miser

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1962 performance of The Miser by Molière, adapted by Miles Malleson.

The Miser tells the story of old man obsessed with wealth, determined to marry a young woman who is actually in love with his son, and marry his daughter to a rich man, though she is in love with someone else. As the children are trying to live according to their own designs, events are complicated further when the miser’s hoard is stolen.

The Importance Of Being Earnest

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1962 performance of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, is a farcical comedy about two men who each take on the personas with the name of Earnest in order to escape the burdens of social obligations.

The Matchmaker

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1960 performance of The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder.

Before the world fell in love with Hello, Dolly!, Thornton Wilder’s uproarious play The Matchmaker introduced Ms. Dolly Gallagher Levi: a cunning, crafty, and thoroughly modern woman who knows a good catch when she sees one. When the wealthy Horace Vandergelder hires matchmaker Ms. Levi to find him a wife, Dolly doesn't need to look far to find his perfect mate. While Dolly is “arranging things” for Mr. Vandergelder, the young, hopeless romantics of Yonkers reap the rewards of Dolly’s generosity.

You Can't Take It With You

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1959 performance of You Can’t Take It with You by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

You Can’t Take It with You follows the story of the only normal daughter in an eccentric family, and the chaos and mishaps which happen when she brings her fiancé home to meet her family.

The Late Christopher Bean

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1958 performance of The Late Christopher Bean by Sidney Howard.

The Late Christopher Bean is the story of a not well-off family who discovered they have inherited the paintings from an artists whose work has become very valuable, and how their greed impacts their home.

The School For Scandal

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1957 performance of The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

The School for Scandal tells the story of a conniving gossiper Lady Sneerwell, and her plot with other unscrupulous persons to separate couples and redirect love interests through slander and gossip.

Twelve Hours By The Clock

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1946 performance of Twelve Hours by the Clock by Lindsey Barbee.

Performed by the Junior Class.

The Merchant Of Venice

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1940 performance of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare.

The Merchant of Venice is a story of a Venice merchant named Antonio who must pay off a loan to a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.

The Importance Of Being Earnest

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1940 performance of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.

The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, is a farcical comedy about two men who each take on the personas with the name of Earnest in order to escape the burdens of social obligations.

Tiger House

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1938 performance of “Tiger House.” A novel mystery comedy in three acts by Robert St. Clair.

All three acts take place in the library of “Mystery Manor” a lonely country estate two miles from the nearest village.

The Taming Of The Shrew

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1927 performance of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare.

The Taming of the Shrew follows the courtship and marriage of Petruchio and Katherina, a headstrong shrew and how Petruchio "tames" her.