The Curse of an Aching Heart,
by Herbert E. Swayne

Taking place in an Irish Catholic lower middle class Brooklyn neighborhood between 1923 and 1942. When orphaned Fran has to fend off a passionate overture from the uncle who is raising her, she moves out and goes to work. Light hearted, nostalgic scenes of Brooklyn follow. Fran marries a handsome fellow and eventually finds herself supporting a son and a heavy drinking, improvident husband. She returns to the old neighborhood and reconciles with her now widowed, destitute uncle who is confined to a wheelchair.

"An extraordinarily sweet play crammed with careful observation, vignettes of reality, goblets of truth… and the portrait of a lady as a survivor." - The New York Post

Mary, Mary, by Jean Kerr

As Howard Taubman of the New York Times describes: “You will not be overwhelmed to discover that Mary is contrary and that her trouble is basic insecurity. Seems she had an older sister, a stunner. Oh, the traumatic effect on Mary! In high school she went out for the literary monthly instead of with boys. She learned to compensate for her drabness by being clever. When we meet her, she is as witty as—well, Jean Kerr. She appears at the apartment of her former husband, Bob, because his lawyer has summoned her to help with Bob’s sticky tax returns. Their marriage, it seems, foundered on the rocks of Mary’s unrelenting sense of humor. The moment she arrives she gives us some excellent samples of it. It takes Dirk Winston, a handsome film hero whose star is in decline, to understand Mary. Dirk makes her face up to her secret. He also kisses her and offers her the kind of adoration her practical and obtuse husband has been unable to manage. Just in time, Bob, who has been on the verge of marrying a rich, young health fiend named Tiffany Richards, realizes that he still needs Mary. It will not be killing any suspense to reveal that true love triumphs."

One of the great theater successes, this sparkling comedy offers a warm and witty examination of a modern marriage gone hilariously awry. “This one is great.” —NY Journal-American. “…an urbane, witty and sophisticated light comedy.” —Women’s Wear Daily. “This new play is that almost legendary theatrical staple, a tender laugh-filled show about people.” —Variety.