Susan Parker – författare

Full Length, Comedy Characters: 3 male, 4 female Huge oil reserves have been discovered in the Chagos Islands. O.P.E.C. is pressuring the Chagosians to join the cartel. A C.I.A. agent and an under Secretary of State, whose life appears to be run by her libido, are sent to a C.I.A. safe house in the mountains of Virginia to begin negotiations for the U.S. to place the Chagos Islands under their protection. Unfortunately, no one knows who the islands' representative really is. We are left to wonder how the C.I.A. agent ever got the job. He gets caught in all his own booby traps, he electrocutes himself, he sets fire to himself, he gets a bucket stuck on his head, and finally locks himself in his own handcuffs! Add to the inevitable chaos, a stranded televangelist, his innocent secretary (or is she?), an ex-marine caretaker, who isn't what he seems to be, and a mysterious, glamorous neighbor, and you have a complex, laugh out loud farce, that can be played on any stage.

2m, 4f / Farce Mrs. Stancliffe's Rose Cottage Bed & Breakfast has been successful for many years. Her Guests (nearly all women) return year after year. Her next door neighbor, the elderly, silver-tongued, Bud "Bud the Stud" Davis believes they come to spend time with him in romantic liaisons. The prim and proper Mrs. Stancliffe steadfastly denies this, but really doesn't do anything to prevent it. She reluctantly accepts the fact that "Bud the Stud" is, in fact, good for business. Her other neighbor and would-be suitor Henry Mitchell is a retired chemist who has developed a blue pill called "Venusia," after Venus the goddess of love, to increase the libido of menopausal women. The pill has not been tested. Add to the guest list three older women: Victoria Ambrose, a romance novelist whose personal life seems to be lacking in romance; Hillary Hudson a friend of Henry's who has agreed to test the Venusia: and Charmaine Beauregard, a "Southern Belle" whose libido does not need to be increased! Bud gets his hands on some of the Venusia pills and the fun begins, as attempts to entertain all three women!The women mix up Bud's Viagra pills with the Venusia, and we soon discover that it has a strange effect on men: it gives them all the symptoms of menopausal women, complete with hot flashes, mood swings, weeping and irritability! When the mayham settles down, all the women find their lives moving in new and surprising directions.

Characters: 3-7 male, 3-7 female Farce Interior The Cider Mill Inn is an old, rustic and somewhat run down country inn owned and operated by an endearing elderly couple, Michael and Susan Edwards. At first they appear to be bordering on senility. We quickly learn however that they are very clever con artists, preying on their unsuspecting guests, by advertising huge discounts to various tradesmen. Using an elaborate check-in form with duplicate copies, guests are, in fact, signing a work contract, requiring them to perform various tasks and improvements at the inn. Over the course of three weekends, plumbers, tile layers, carpenters and electricians are recruited to do work they never expected. This unique play offers theatres the opportunity for the other twelve characters (Besides Susan and Michael) to be played by either two males and two females, or twelve different actors, or any number in between. The characters vary from the world's most boring man, (his wife says he's had charisma bypass surgery), to a young couple on their honeymoon.Audiences will fall in love with each of these distinctive characters, but especially the loving relationship between the two main characters, Michael and Susan, so touching that this play might be called a love story, if it wasn't first and foremost a farce. So, what is Susan's secret? On this subject the authors remain silent, preferring instead to let the audience decide on the truth, which of course, in a Parker play, is only revealed in the last few seconds of the show.

Mrs. Stancliffe’s Rose Cottage Bed & Breakfast has been successful for many years. Her Guests (nearly all women) return year after year. Her next door neighbor, the elderly, silver-tongued, Bud “The Stud” Davis believes they come to spend time with him in romantic liaisons. The prim and proper Mrs. Stancliffe steadfastly denies this, but really doesn’t do anything to prevent it. She reluctantly accepts the fact that “Bud the Stud” is, in fact, good for business. Her other neighbor and would-be suitor Henry Mitchell is a retired chemist who has developed a blue pill called “Venusia,” after Venus the goddess of love, to increase the libido of menopausal women. The pill has not been tested.Add to the guest list three older women: Victoria Ambrose, a romance novelist whose personal life seems to be lacking in romance; Hillary Hudson, a friend of Henry’s who has agreed to test the Venusia; and Charmaine Beauregard, a Southern belle whose libido does not need to be increased! Bud gets his hands on some of the Venusia pills and the fun begins, as he attempts to entertain all three women. The women mix up Bud’s Viagra pills with the Venusia, and we soon discover that it has a strange effect on men: It gives them all the symptoms of menopausal women, complete with hot flashes, mood swings, weeping and irritability! When the mayhem settles down, all the women find their lives moving in new and surprising directions.

The late Mr. Hammond spent twenty years printing $20 bills on a printing press he built in the basement of Monet Manor. After his death ten years ago his faithful retainer George and his daughter Annie continued the family business for Mr. Hammond's widow who recently passed away. Contrary to her promise to leave the manor and all her assets to George and Annie she has bequeathed the manor to a stranger Mr. Bud Davis who is emphatic about turning it into a retirement home for ladies. Determ

Joan Scheller lives with the great love of her life Sandy. In an effort to hide their relationship from her overbearing sister-in-law the former movie star Olivia St. Claire she introduces him as her psychiatrist. One little white lie leads to another. Before long Vinny the Enforcer a quintessential Italian mobster masquerades as her security guard while her son Chris is forced to wear a dress and become her daughter Christina. Further complications occur when her new neighbor Racha

The Lovers' Landing Beach Hotel a popular wedding destination has acquired a certain mystique as the home of 'Sandy Toes & Salty Kisses'. Recently inheriting the hotel from her late father Audrina Brown quickly discovers that her Uncle Bubba the hotel manager is running a variety of 'extra-curricular activities' (all illegal) on the property. It's a mystery - It's a love story - It's a new farce by the authors of Sex Please We're Sixty.

Kauri Gold is the story of hotheaded, rebellious Sonja from Dalmatia, and Harry: aristocratic, spoilt, rich.Sonja is determined to join the fight to expel the Austrian rulers from her beloved Dalmatia, while Harry has killed a man in a duel and is fleeing the law of England. When their paths cross just as Harry is about to embark on a boat for China, their lives become inextricably linked.By a series of coincidences, they meet again 12,000 miles away on the inhospitable gum fields of New Zealand, where different groups are vying for possession of the land and the gum: the Maori people, its first inhabitants, the later English settlers and the newcomers, the Dalmatians.Will they be able to overcome the hardship and struggle they face?

This book is an introduction to educational management in practice. The 20 case studies have been selected to provide different insights into the challenges facing managers in education today. A key feature of the book is that management can be learned through the planning and execution of small-scale investigations. These develop practitioner skills and insights and, at the same time, provide information for the institution in which the study is set.

This is the companion volume to Improving Educational Management through Research and Consultancy edited by Nigel Bennett, Ron Glatter and Rosalind Levacic. It is one of the two course readers for The Open University Course E828 Educational Management in Action.