On December 1, 1959, in Chicago, a small band of classically trained actors, directors, and musicians came together to create what became and remains a legendary home of comedy: The Second City. Very quickly it achieved a national and international reputation as a center for comedic performance. It served as the training ground for hundreds of important writers, actors, and directors: Bill Murray, John Belushi, Alan Arkin, Mike Nichols and Elaine May, John Candy, Martin Short, Harold Ramis, George Wendt, Mike Myers, Gilda Radner the list goes on and on. Now Bernard Sahlins, a founder and the longtime director and producer of The Second City, has set down his experiences and his methods in Days and Nights at The Second City. This is a fascinating history of how this remarkable institution came to be, plus a detailed text on every aspect of staging a comic review, and absorbing conversation on the art of the hilarious. Not only actors and directors but anyone interested in theatre and comedy will find engaging and useful insights on every page. With 15 black-and-white photographs.

Moliere's beloved comedy features a rising member of the middle class who lusts for social status and higher learning. The strength of the play lies in its rich comic invention and its sure delineation of character. Its underlying themes of social striving, financial greed, and love's ingenuity still resonate. Bernard Sahlins's new adaptation is wonderfully playable.

Sensual gaiety is at the heart of this comic masterpiece which continues the merry tale of the little barber of Seville, a clever common man whose wits overcome his superiors who would suppress him. In paring down the number of players, presenting the scenes more economically, and offering a translation that removes archaic phrasing, Mr. Sahlins delivers a script that can be comfortably staged by present-day theatres.

Following on his enormously successful The Mysteries: Creation, Mr. Sahlins has adapted the stories of The Passion to make their language available to a present-day American audience, preserving the verse in all its alliterative beauty while replacing medieval and regional words. The resulting play is an unusually engaging drama for all ages.

On December 1, 1959, in Chicago, a small band of classically trained actors, directors, and musicians came together to create what became and remains a legendary home of comedy - The Second City. Very quickly it achieved an international reputation as a center for comedic performance. It served as the training ground for hundreds of important writers, actors, and directors Bill Murray, John Belushi, Alan Arkin, Mike Nichols and Elaine May, John Candy, Martin Short, Harold Ramis, George Wendt, Mike Myers, Gilda Radner - the list goes on and on. Now Bernard Sahlins, a founder and the longtime director and producer of The Second City, has set down his experiences and his methods in "Days and Nights at The Second City". A fascinating history of how this remarkable institution came to be, plus a detailed text on every aspect of staging a comic review, and absorbing conversation on the art of the hilarious. Not only actors and directors but anyone interested in theatre and comedy will find engaging and useful insights on every page. "The entire recent tradition of American satire can be summed up in three words "The Second City" - "New York Times". "A must for anyone interested in the period" - Alan Arkin.

A new adaptation by Bernard Sahlins of the medieval Mystery plays, in language available to a present-day American audience. Plays for Performance Series.