Romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock as Margaret Tate, a tyrannical business executive on the brink of deportation from the United States back to her homeland of Canada. Margaret coerces her young assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) into marrying her so that she can stay in the country and he can stay in his job. In order to keep up the facade, Margaret must now endure a trip to Alaska to meet her future in-laws (Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson).

As Captain Scott lay freezing and starving to death on his return journey from the South Pole, he wrote with a stub of pencil his final words: ‘For God’s sake look after our people.’ Uppermost in his mind were the three women who would now be widows: Kathleen, his own bohemian artist wife; Oriana, the devout wife of the expedition’s chief scientist, Ted Wilson; and Lois, the Welsh working-class wife of Petty Officer Edgar Evans. When the news came that the men were dead, they became heroes, their story filling column inches in newspapers across the world. Their widows were thrust into the limelight, forced to grieve in public view, keeping a stiff upper lip while the world praised their husbands’ sacrifice. These three women had little in common except that their husbands had died together, but this shared experience was to shape the rest of their lives. Each experienced their loss differently, their treatment by the press and the public influenced by their class and contemporary notions of both manliness and womanly behaviour. Each had to rebuild their life, fiercely and loyally defending their husbands’ legacies and protecting their fatherless children in the face of financial hardship, public criticism and intense press scrutiny. Widows of the Ice is not the story of famous women but of forgotten wives, whose love and support helped to shape one of the most iconic moments in British history. They have drifted to the outer edges of the Antarctic narrative, and bringing them back gives a new perspective to a story we thought we already knew. It is a story of imperialistic dreams, misogyny and classism, but also of enormous courage, high ideals, duty – and, above all, love.

This is the story of a man who went from Yorkshire mill worker to Monte Carlo millionaire. Amongst the men 'who broke the bank at Monte Carlo', Joseph Hobson Jagger is unique. He is the only one known to have devised an infallible and completely legal system to defeat the odds at roulette and win a fortune. But he was not what might be expected. He wasn't a gentleman or an aristocrat, he wasn't a professional gambler, he was a Yorkshire textile worker who had laboured in the Victorian mills of Bradford since childhood. What led a man like this to travel nearly a thousand miles to the exclusive world of the Riviera when most people lived and died within a few miles of where they were born? The trains that took him there were still new and dangerous, he did not speak French and had never left the north of England. His motivation was strong. Joseph, his wife and four children, the youngest of whom was only two, faced a situation so grave that their only escape seemed to be his desperate gamble on the roulette tables of Monte Carlo. Today Jagger's legacy is felt in casinos worldwide and yet he is virtually unknown. Anne Fletcher is his great-great-great niece and in this true-life detective story she uncovers how he was able to win a fortune, what happened to his millions and why Jagger should now be regarded as the real 'man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo'.

The Decades of Modern American Drama series provides a comprehensive survey and study of the theatre produced in each decade from the 1930s to 2009 in eight volumes. Each volume equips readers with a detailed understanding of the context from which work emerged: an introduction considers life in the decade with a focus on domestic life and conditions, social changes, culture, media, technology, industry and political events; while a chapter on the theatre of the decade offers a wide-ranging and thorough survey of theatres, companies, dramatists, new movements and developments in response to the economic and political conditions of the day. The work of the four most prominent playwrights from the decade receives in-depth analysis and re-evaluation by a team of experts, together with commentary on their subsequent work and legacy. A final section brings together original documents such as interviews with the playwrights and with directors, drafts of play scenes, and other previously unpublished material. The major playwrights and their works to receive in-depth coverage in this volume include: * Clifford Odets: Waiting for Lefty (1935), Awake and Sing! (1935) and Golden Boy (1937); * Lillian Hellman: The Children’s Hour (1934), The Little Foxes (1939), and Days to Come (1936); * Langston Hughes: Mulatto (1935), Mule Bone (1930, with Zora Neale Hurston) and Little Ham (1936); * Gertrude Stein: Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights (1938), Four Saints in Three Acts (written in 1927, published in 1932) and Listen to Me (1936).

"The Process of Dramaturgy: A Handbook" is a guide to dramaturgy for students. Its practical approach is to "committing acts of dramaturgy," and contains exercises, models, and examples of how the dramaturg works to make his or her thoughtful and creative contributions to a theatrical production, from pre-production work through the rehearsal process

The book provides specific exercises, examples, and models to assist the student or emerging dramaturg in developing the ability to: 1) apply critical methodologies (among them literary theory) to production; 2) better communicate with directors, designers and playwrights within the context of rehearsal and production.

It includes a case study for analysis, Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues.

This book is a daily devotional to start your day.

Contextualizing New Plays: Studies in Theatre Concepts, Forms, and Styles uses short, original plays as catalysts for discussing basic theatrical concepts, dramatic forms and genres, styles of production, thematic concerns, critical theory, and dramatic criticism. This book uses these short form plays as instructional tools with the pedagogical underpinnings needed to prepare students to successfully interact with full-length scripts. Each chapter introduces a playwright and his or her play, then discusses the particular form and style exemplified. After exploring this content, students are referred to longer plays of similar form and style, and participate in both individual and group exercises and activities that enable them to apply specific dramatic knowledge and skills including collective creation, image-tracking, magical realism, absurdism, and group playwriting. Contextualizing New Plays provides a welcome alternative to anthologies of full-length plays or working with numerous separate scripts. Developed for courses in theatre history, play analysis, and introduction to the theatre, it is equally suited to serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplemental reader.

Time Tells Tales A Novel in Five Tales Set in Ireland and England in the early 1900's, covering a century, Time Tells Tales is a Novel in five parts or 'Tales'. They explore the history of three families; their interconnected lives are intricately woven together by love, birth, death, and marriage. These lives are spiced up by religion, revenge, scandal, abuse, heartache and spiritual intervention. The five Tales are told from different perspectives by the characters that drive this novel along to the surprising conclusion, spreading across time, space and dimensions, hence the title - Time Tells Tales. Alfred's Tale Dead in a Ditch Alfred of indeterminable age is lying at the bottom of an icy cold deep muddy ditch, where he is hidden by brambles and branches. He has been knocked into this desperate place by a hit and run driver on a lonely, unlit lane on the Staffordshire moorlands. He was drunk as a skunk and it was pitch black. He didn't blame the driver for not stopping, why would they? He was one of life's destitute wanderer's, better for all if he was not found. He was sure that broken bones aside, this was going to be his last resting place. As this realisation hits home Alfred begins to review, play out the high and lows of his mostly misspent life, whilst his body succumbs to hypothermia, and finally death. What will he reveal? Will he be found? These and many more questions will be answered in this first novel by this new author, Stephanie Fletcher. For sure, Time certainly has some Tales to Tell.

Time Tells Tales A Novel In Five Tales Set in Ireland and England in the early 1900's, covering a century, Time Tells Tales is a Novel in five parts or 'Tales'. They explore the history of three families; their interconnected lives are intricately woven together by love, birth, death, and marriage. These lives are spiced up by religion, revenge, scandal, abuse, heartache and spiritual intervention. The five Tales are told from different perspectives by the characters that drive this novel along to the surprising conclusion, spreading across time, space and dimensions, hence the title - Time Tells Tales. Theresa's Tale - Forbidden Love Theresa's Tale is the third tale of this novel and tells of forbidden love. She is the illegitimate daughter of Catherine and Alfred, raised by catholic nuns in an orphanage in County Kerry where she was born, cruelly taken from her mother before she had chance to even glimpse her bastard child. Theresa is a troubled child who is bullied and beaten by the Nuns who see her as a child that is no good, scarred and useless. The local priest who is attached to the church and the orphanage plays a big part in keeping this child from knowing her heritage and her parents as it is only him, Joseph Bennett, who has all the answers to all the secrets and lies. We follow Theresa as she is moved from home to home coping with abuse, lack of love or any true affection and generally having miserable existence. Theresa runs away to England, to London, looking for her best friend from her last 'home' David, and she is dragged into the world of prostitution and drugs, her only way to survive on the streets. A familiar face, her childhood abuser, rescues her Theresa is pulled into another world of paedophilia and child slavery. She slowly plans to exact her revenge on the devil incarnate while helping as many of the kids that he rescues in the name of God, to escape their horrible fate. Theresa does this with the help of Brian and Mary, a brother and sister who befriend her. It is with Brian she has her first glimpse of what true love could be, but she worries that Brian will not be able to love her, an abused physiologically damaged middle-aged woman with no experience of a real loving relationship. In November 1999, just before the millennium, Theresa's plans come to a violent conclusion but with an unexpected twist. This Tale presents us with many more questions and few answers to the ever more complicated lives of these characters in Time Tells Tales. Will Theresa ever find out who her real parents are? Why was she left in the hands of those cruel nuns? What is true love and why would anyone want to love her? Will Theresa ever escape the hands of her abuser and save her mortal soul? Will Brian get passed her damaged persona and love her truly? Will she live to find answers to these questions? These and many more questions will be answered in this first novel by this new author, Stephanie Fletcher. For sure, Time certainly has some Tales to Tell.

Time Tells Tales A Novel In Five Tales Set in Ireland and England in the early 1900's, covering a century, Time Tells Tales is a Novel in five parts or 'Tales'. They explore the history of three families; their interconnected lives are intricately woven together by love, birth, death, and marriage. These lives are spiced up by religion, revenge, scandal, abuse, heartache and spiritual intervention. The five Tales are told from different perspectives by the characters that drive this novel along to the surprising conclusion, spreading across time, space and dimensions, hence the title - Time Tells Tales. Angela's Tale A Gift For All. This is the final Tale, set in 2008, in both England and Ireland. This Tale is about Angela's special gift, and how she learns to use it. How it helps to brings to a conclusion to all the secrets, scandals and lies which intricately weaved the lives of these three family histories together. Angela finally un-wraps the mystery that she had begun with her Granddad Jim, who sadly passed away, but Angela with her special insight and empathy made his passing memorable and peaceful as he returns to the arms of his loving wife. Alfred's letter and journal's came too late for Serena and Jim but with Angela's gift, she helps her family in ways no-one else can and they set out to solve the mystery of Catherine and Alfred's forbidden love and hopefully to find the lost child they never got to see. As Angela is now a fully qualified a nurse as she feels her gift and her intuition is best used in the healing profession. Her most recent patient is a middle aged woman who was involved in a shooting and she was hit by a bullet which lodged near her temple in her brain. The woman had undergone surgery which was successful, but she was left in a coma for over ten years. Angela gets messages and visions from her Grandparents, Jim and Serena, who help her find Catherine, her mother's mother who she has never spoken about and finally revels to her family her past family life in Ireland. The evidence contained in Alfred's journals and Catherine's diary highlight the possibility that this woman in a coma might be related. Will they piece together who this woman is? Will she ever gain consciousness? Will Brian stand by her? Will Catherine survive the ravages of old age to finally hold her long lost daughter? These and many more questions will be answered in this first novel by this new author, Stephanie Fletcher. This is the final tale of a family reunited on both sides of the veil. Time has truly told a Tale.

Time Tells Tales A Novel in Five Tales Set in Ireland and England in the early 1900's, covering a century, Time Tells Tales is a Novel in five parts or 'Tales'. They explore the history of three families; their interconnected lives are intricately woven together by love, birth, death, and marriage. These lives are spiced up by religion, revenge, scandal, abuse, heartache and spiritual intervention. The five Tales are told from different perspectives by the characters that drive this novel along to the surprising conclusion, spreading across time, space and dimensions, hence the title - Time Tells Tales. Catherine's Tale Love, Loss, Lust, and Lies This is the sequel to Tale One - Alfred's Tale, and tells the story from the perspective of Catherine, the love of Alfred's troubled life. Here we meet this young girl, Catherine, on the verge of womanhood, who has to deal with the unexpected death of her Mother under suspicious circumstances, and the fallout of her Father's grief and the interference of the Catholic Church. Catherine is brought up a devout Roman Catholic living in a town called Puncheston, County of Kildare in Ireland, in the 1930's. Just as Catherine seems to be coming to terms with her loss, she suffers an unexpected attack on her person, raped by a trusted member of the family, a cousin older than her twelve years who makes this abhorrent, botched declaration of his love for her, resulting in uproar and more emotional outbursts. We can live every moment with Catherine as we read from the pages of her Diary. She aspires to become a writer like Jane Austin, her heroine. We have access to her most private thoughts, written as she struggles to come to terms with all the devastating trials and tribulations that beset her. She describes her first love, a secret and forbidden, eventually giving into lust with Alfred, the apprentice butcher, who comes from a family of some disrepute. We continue with her as the consequences of their actions drive them far apart - forever. What are these consequences? Will Catherine ever recover from the highs and lows of this emotional roller coaster? Will she recover from the loss, the lust, the love, and the lies? These and many more questions will be answered in this first novel by this new author, Stephanie Fletcher. For sure, Time certainly has some Tales to Tell.

A Novel In Five Tales Set in Ireland and England in the early 1900's, covering a century, Time Tells Tales is a Novel in five parts or 'Tales'. They explore the history of three families; their interconnected lives are intricately woven together by love, birth, death, and marriage. These lives are spiced up by religion, revenge, scandal, abuse, heartache and spiritual intervention. The five Tales are told from different perspectives by the characters that drive this novel along to the surprising conclusion, spreading across time, space and dimensions, hence the title - Time Tells Tales. Jim's Tale Out of the Mouth of Babe's Set in 1994 in England, this Tale is about Jim Middleton and his wife Serena, nee Rooney, and younger sister to Alfred. Serena and Jim have one child, Paul, born in 1958, who meets June Bennett, legitimate daughter of Catherine Bennett, whilst at university and they marry in 1982. They have a gifted child, Angela, born 1989, Jim's only grandchild who Serena got to hold, cruelly for a brief moment before her passing. Serena dies prematurely from bowel cancer at the age of 58. Jim comes to terms with his wife's sudden death by helping to care for five year old Angela whilst June is pregnant with their second child as it is a difficult pregnancy. Angela opens her Granddads eyes to possibilities he had never given much credence to, his scepticism about all things supernatural and spiritual. But his lack of belief or faith in an everlasting life after death is challenged by events and Angela helps him to cope with his grief, changing his whole outlook on life and death. This Tale introduces a new family to this saga and opens us to new concepts, pushing the boundary of belief systems, sharing the struggle of a five year old girl and the trials and tribulations she has had to face in her short life. Will people begin to believe in her gift? Will she grow up bullied, tormented and hide her gift, never to help those who seek her help? These and many more questions will be answered in this first novel by this new author, Stephanie Fletcher. For sure, Time certainly has some Tales to Tell.

Poems about church, love, life, and other things

The Decades of Modern American Drama series provides a comprehensive survey and study of the theatre produced in each decade from the 1930s to 2009 in eight volumes. Each volume equips readers with a detailed understanding of the context from which work emerged: an introduction considers life in the decade with a focus on domestic life and conditions, social changes, culture, media, technology, industry and political events; while a chapter on the theatre of the decade offers a wide-ranging and thorough survey of theatres, companies, dramatists, new movements and developments in response to the economic and political conditions of the day. The work of the four most prominent playwrights from the decade receives in-depth analysis and re-evaluation by a team of experts, together with commentary on their subsequent work and legacy. A final section brings together original documents such as interviews with the playwrights and with directors, drafts of play scenes, and other previously unpublished material. The major playwrights and their works to receive in-depth coverage in this volume include: * Clifford Odets: Waiting for Lefty (1935), Awake and Sing! (1935) and Golden Boy (1937); * Lillian Hellman: The Children's Hour (1934), The Little Foxes (1939), and Days to Come (1936); * Langston Hughes: Mulatto (1935), Mule Bone (1930, with Zora Neale Hurston) and Little Ham (1936); * Gertrude Stein: Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights (1938), Four Saints in Three Acts (written in 1927, published in 1932) and Listen to Me (1936).

This title examines the life and achievements of a theater legend. ""Rediscovering Mordecai Gorelik"" explores the life and work of the pioneering scene designer whose career spanned decades in American theater. Anne Fletcher's insightful volume draws intriguing parallels and contrasts between Gorelik's productions and the theatrical movements of the twentieth century, exposing the indelible mark he left on the stage. Through in-depth analysis of his letters, diaries, designs, and theoretical works, Fletcher examines the ways in which Gorelik's productions can be used as a mirror to reflect the shifting dramatic landscapes of his times. Fletcher places Gorelik against the colorful historical backdrops that surrounded him - including the avant-garde movement of the 1920s, World War II, the Cold War, and absurdism - using the designer's career as a window into the theater during these eras. Within these cultural contexts, Gorelik sought to blaze his own unconventional path through the realms of theater and theory. Fletcher traces Gorelik's tenures with such companies as the Provincetown Players, the Theatre Guild, and the Theatre Union, as well as his relationships with icons such as Bertolt Brecht, revealing how his interactions with others influenced his progressive designs and thus set the stage for major dramatic innovations. In particular, Fletcher explores Gorelik's use of scenic metaphor: the employment of stage design techniques to subtly enhance the tone or mood of a production. Fletcher also details the designer's written contributions to criticism and theory, including the influential volume ""New Theatres for Old"", as well as other articles and publications. In addition to thorough examinations of several of Gorelik's most famous projects, ""Rediscovering Mordecai Gorelik"" contains explications of productions by such legends as John Howard Lawson, Clifford Odets, and Arthur Miller. Also included are numerous full-color and black-and-white illustrations of Gorelik's work, most of which have never been available to the public until now. More than simply a portrait of one man, this indispensable volume is a cultural history of American theater as seen through the career of a visionary designer and theoretician.