A Ghost in Love and Other Plays
Do you believe in ghosts? Jerry doesn’t. He’s a nineteen-year-old American, who just wants a good holiday with his friend, Brad. They are travelling round the north of England by bicycle. But strange things begin to happen in the small hotel where they are staying, first. Brad seems to think that he has been there before. And then a girl called Ellen appears …
The first of these three original plays is set in the seventeenth century. and the other two take place in modern times. In each play, a ghost comes back from the dead to change the lives of living people.
(Word count 5.561)
Goodbye, Mr Hollywood
Nick Lortz is sitting outside a café in Whistler. A village in the Canadian mountains, when a stranger comes and sits next to him. She’s young. pretty. and has a beautiful smile. Nick is happy to sit and talk with her.
But why does she call Nick ‘Mr Hollywood’? Why does she give him a big kiss when she leaves? And who is the man at the next table the man with short white hair?
Nick learns the answers to these questions three long days later – in a police station on Vancouver Island.
(word count 5.200)
Love or Money?
It is Molly Clarkson’s fiftieth birthday. She is having a party. She is rich, but she is having a small party – only four people. Four people, however, who all need the same thing: they need her money. She will not give them the money, so they are waiting for her to die. And there are other people who are also waiting for her to die.
But one person can’t wait. And so, on her fiftieth birthday, Molly Clarkson is going to die.
(Word count 6,010)
Mutiny on the Bounty
It is night in the south seas near Tahiti, and the ship HMS Bounty has begun the long voyage home to England. But the sailors on the ship are angry men, and they have swords and guns. They pull the captain out of bed and take him up on deck. He tries to run. but a sailor holds a knife to his neck. ‘Do that again, Captain Bligh, and you’re a dead man!’ he says.
The mutiny on the Bounty happened in April, 1789. This is the true story of Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian. and the ship that never came home to England. (Word count 5,825)
ONE-WAY TICKET
Tom Walsh had a lot to learn about life. He liked travelling, and he was in no hurry. He liked meeting people, anyone and everyone. He liked the two American girls on the train. They were nice and very friendly. They knew a lot of places. Tom thought they were fun. Tom certainly had a lot to learn about life.
This is a collection of short stories about adventures on trains. Strange, wonderful, and frightening things can happen on trains and all of them happen here.
Pocahontas
A beautiful young Indian girl, and a brave Englishman. Black eyes, and blue eyes. A friendly smile, a laugh, a look of love …. But this is North America in 1607, and love is not easy. The girl is the daughter of King Powhatan, and the Englishman is a white man. And the Indians of Virginia do not want the white men in their beautiful country.
This is the famous story of Pocahontas, and her love for the Englishman John Smith.
Remember Miranda
Cathy Wilson is driving to Norfolk, to begin her new job with the Harvey family. She is going to look after the two young children. Tim and Susan. Cathy meets the children’s father, and their grandmother, and their aunt. She meets Nick. the farmer who lives across the fields. But she doesn’t meet Miranda, the children’s mother, because Miranda is dead. She died two years ago, and Cathy cannot learn anything about her. Everybody remembers Miranda, but nobody wants to talk about her.
(Word count 5,060)
Sherlock Holmes and the Duke's Son
Dr Huxtable has a school for boys in the north of England. When the Duke of Holdernesse decides to send his young son there, that is good news for the school. The Duke is a very important person, and Dr Huxtable is happy to have his son in the school.
But two weeks later Dr Huxtable is the unhappiest man in England. Why? And why does he take the train down to London and go to Baker Street? Why does he need the help of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes?
Because someone has kidnapped the Duke’s son …
Sherlock Holmes and the Sport of Kings
Horseracing is the sport of kings, perhaps because racehorses are very expensive animals. But when they win races, they can make a lot of money too, money for the owners, for the trainers, and for the people who put bets on them to wins.
Silver Blaze is a young horse, but already the winner of many races. One night he disappears from his stables, and someone kills his trainer. The police want the killer, and the owner wants his horse, but they can’t find them. So, what do they do?
They write to 221B Baker Street, London, of course – to ask for the help of the great detective, Sherlock Holmes.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer does not like school. He does not like work, and he never wants to get
out of bed in the morning. But he likes swimming and fishing, and having
adventures with his friends. And he has a lot of adventures. One night, he and his friend Huck Finn
go to the graveyard to look for ghosts.
They don’t see any ghosts that night. They see something worse than a ghost – much, much worse …
(Word count 5,825)
The Coldest Place on Earth
In the summer of 1910, a race began, A race to be the first man at the South Pole, in Antarctica. Robert Falcon Scott, an Englishman, left London in his ship, the Terra Nova, and began the long journey south. Five days later, another ship also began to travel south. And on this ship was Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian.
But Antarctica is the coldest place on earth, and it is a long, hard journey over the ice to the South Pole. Some of the travellers never returned to their homes again.
This is the story of Scott and Amundsen, and of one of the most famous and dangerous races in history.
The Elephant Man
He is not beautiful. His mother does not want him, children run away from him. People laugh at him, and call him ‘The Elephant Man”.
Then someone speaks to him — and listens to him! At the age of 27, Joseph Merrick finds a friend for the first time in his life.
This is a true and tragic story. It is also a famous film.
The Monkey's Paw
Outside. the night is cold and wet. Inside, the White family sits and waits. Where is their visitor?
There is a knock at the door. Aman is standing outside in the dark. Their visitor has arrived.
The visitor waits. He has been in India for many years. What has he got? He has brought the hand of a small, dead animal – a monkey’s paw.
Outside, in the dark, the visitor smiles and waits for the door to open.
(Word count 4.8301)
The Omega Files
In EDI (the European Department of Intelligence in
Brussels) there are some very secret files – the Omega Files. There are strange, surprising, and sometimes horrible stories in these files, but not many people know about them. You never read about them in the newspapers.
Hawker and Jude know all about the Omega Files, because they work for EDI. They think fast, they move fast, and they learn some very strange things. They go all over the world, asking difficult questions in dangerous places, but they don’t always find the answers . . .
The Phantom of the Opera
It is 1880, in the Opera House in Paris.
Everybody is talking about the Phantom of the Opera, the ghost that lives somewhere under the Opera House. The Phantom is a man in black clothes. He is a body without a head, he is a head without a body. He has a yellow face, he has no nose, he has black holes for eyes. Everybody is afraid of the Phantom — the singers, the dancers, the directors, the stage workers …
But who has actually seen him?
(Word count 6,230)
The Witches of Pendle
Witches are dangerous. They can kill you with a took. or a word. They can send their friend the Devil after you in the shape of a dog or a cat. They can make a clay picture of you. then break it … and a few weeks later you are dead.
Today, of course, most people don’t believe in witches. But in 1612 everybody was afraid of them. Young Jennet Device in Lancashire knew a lot about them because she lived with the Witches of Pendle. They were her family…
(Word count 5.730)
The Withered Arm
A woman and a man … words of love whispered on a summer night. Later. There is a child. but no wedding-ring. And then the man leaves the first woman. finds a younger woman, marries her… It’s an old story.
Yes. it’s an old, old story. It happens all the time – today, tomorrow. a hundred years ago. People don’t change. But this story, set among the green hills of southern England, has something different about it. Perhaps it is only a dream, or perhaps it is magic — a kind of strange dark magic that begins in the world of dreams and phantoms …
(Word count 5.735)
White Death
Sarah Harland is nineteen, and she is in prison. At the airport, they find heroin in her bag. So, now she is waiting to go to court. If the court decides that it was her heroin, then she must die.
She says she did not do it. But if she did not, who did? Only two people can help Sarah: her mother, and an old boyfriend who does not love her now. Can they work together? Can they find the real criminal before it is too late?
(Word count 6,600)
Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp
In a city in Arabia there lives a boy called Aladdin. He is poor and often hungry, but one day he finds an old lamp. When he rubs the lamp, smoke comes out of it, and then out of the smoke comes a magical jinnee.
With the jinnee’s help, Aladdin is soon rich, with gold and jewels and many fine things. But can he win the love of the Sultan’s daughter, the beautiful Princess Badr-al-Budur?
(Word count 5,240)
Christmas in Prague
In a house in Oxford three people are having breakfast – Carol, her husband Jan, and his father Josef. They are talking about Prague, because Carol wants them all to go there for Christmas.
Josef was born in Prague, but he left his home city when he was a young man. He is an old man now, and he would like to see Prague again before he dies. But he is afraid. He still remembers another Christmas in Prague, many long years ago – a Christmas that changed his life for ever…
(Word count 4,720)
Scotland
More than 20 million visitors come to Scotland each year. Some love it for its long white beaches and quiet green hills. Some like the busy cities, with their shops and museums, castles, and parks. Others come to see the home of their parents and grandparents, to hear Scottish music, to find their family tartan. And some come to visit the whisky distilleries, eat wonderful food, and go to one of the world’s biggest street parties. Scotland has something for everybody. Come and find what Scotland has for you.
(Word count 5,150)
Sister Love and Other Crime Stories
Some sisters are good friends, some are not. Sometimes there is more hate in a family than there is love. Karin is beautiful and has lots of men friends, but she can be very unkind to her sister Marcia. Perhaps when they were small, there was love between them, but that was a long time ago.
They say that everybody has one crime in them. Perhaps they only take an umbrella that does not belong to them. Perhaps they steal from a shop, perhaps they get angry and hit someone, perhaps they kill…
(Word count 5,565)
The Butler Did It and Other Plays
How do you get a licence if you want to keep a monkey? What can you do if your wife has a lover? How can you see into the future? Where can you go for an exciting but cheap holiday somewhere hot and far away? How can you persuade your girlfriend or boyfriend to marry you?
The characters in these six original short plays are looking for answers to these questions. While trying to solve their problems, people get into some very funny situations. Each play gives an amusing view of life today, and there is often an unexpected ending.
(Word count 5,925)
The President's Murderer
The President is dead!
A man is running in the night. He is afraid and needs to rest. But there are people behind him – people with lights, and dogs, and guns.
A man is standing in front of a desk. His boss is very angry, and the man is tired and needs to sleep. But first he must find the other man, and bring him back – dead or alive.
Two men: the hunter and the hunted. Which will win and which will lose?
Long live the President!
(Word count 5,270)
The Wizard of Oz
Dorothy lives in Kansas, USA, but one day a cyclone blows her and her house to a strange country called Oz. There, Dorothy makes friends with the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.
But she wants to go home to Kansas. Only one person can help her, and that is the country’s famous Wizard. So Dorothy and her friends take the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, to find the Wizard of Oz…
(Word count 5,440)
Titanic
On a quiet sea, the biggest ship in the world is waiting. There is no noise from the engines. Up in the night sky there are hundreds of stars. Behind the ship, an iceberg – a great mountain of ice – goes slowly away into the black night.
In the beautiful first-class rooms rich passengers eat and listen to music. Down in the third-class cabins, families sleep. An exciting new life is waiting for them in America.
But for many of the people in this small city on the sea, this is their last night alive…
(Word count 5,600)
Weddings
‘The bride wore a long white dress, with flowers in her hair. After the wedding, there was a party, and people gave presents to the bride and groom.’ This wedding was nearly two thousand years ago, in Rome. Some things don’t change.
But some things do. Today you can have a wedding on a mountain, or under the sea, or ‘Elvis’ can sing for you. And different things happen in different places. Little birds made of paper, small trees, money in the bride’s shoe, and lots of noise – they are all important for weddings somewhere. Welcome to the wonderful world of weddings!
(Word count 5,865)
William and Kate
Everybody took photos of Prince William when he first arrived at the University of St Andrews. Crowds of photographers came to the little Scottish town next to the sea and took pictures of this new student – the nineteen-year-old grandson of the Queen of England.
But nobody photographed Kate Middleton on her first day at the university. She moved in quietly, ready to begin her studies in art history. She was just an ordinary student with an ordinary future in front of her. Or was she?
(Word count 5,132)
San Francisco
‘It’s a good place for gold,’ said people in the 1840s, and they came from all over the world. ‘It’s a good place for a prison,’ said the US government in the 1920s, and they put Al Capone there on the island of Alcatraz. ‘It’s a good place for love,’ said the hippies in the 1960s, and they put flowers in their hair and came to Haight Ashbury. And San Francisco is still a good place – to take a hundred photographs, or see the Chinatown parade, or just to sit in a coffee shop and be in this interesting, different city…
(Word count 5,664)
Shirley Holmes and the Cyber Thief
Shirley Homes, private investigator. Like Sherlock Holmes a hundred years ago, she lives in London, enjoys working on difficult cases, and has some helpful friends. She understands people, is a good listener, and of course, she is clever with computers. In today’s world that is important, because a lot of crime is cyber crime.
In this second Shirley Homes detective story, Shirley must catch a cyber thief. But how? You can’t see a cyber thief, you can’t hear a cyber thief. Only the computer knows, and the computer isn’t talking…
(Word count 6,063)