Recommendations based on Arsenic and Old Laceby Joseph Kesselring

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

    by Stephen Sondheim
    A vengeful barber and his accomplice bake their victims into pies in 19th century London.

    According to legend, Sweeney Todd had his barber shop at number 186 Fleet Street, next door to St. Dunstan's Church, just a few blocks away from the Royal Courts of Justice. On this site, they say, ... (Goodreads)

  2. Fiddler on the Roof

    by Joseph Stein
    A poor Jewish milkman in pre-revolutionary Russia tries to uphold his traditions and marry off his daughters.

    The full text and complete lyrics, as well as photographs from the original production. One of the great works of the American musical theatre. It is darling, touching, beautiful, warm, funny and ... (Goodreads)

  3. The Elephant Man

    by Bernard Pomerance
    The story of John Merrick, a severely deformed man in Victorian England, and his journey to find acceptance and dignity.

    The Elephant Man opens with Frederick Treves , an up-and-coming surgeon, meeting his new employer Francis Carr-Gomm, the administrator of the London Hospital. Ross, the manager of a freak show , ... (Wikipedia)

  4. A Streetcar Named Desire

    by Tennessee Williams
    A woman's struggle to come to terms with her past and present in a post-war New Orleans.

    After the loss of her family home to creditors, Blanche DuBois travels from the small town of Laurel, Mississippi , to the New Orleans French Quarter to live with her younger married sister, Stella , ... (Wikipedia)

  5. Steel Magnolias

    by Robert Harling
    A group of Southern women bond and support each other through life's joys and tragedies.

    Presents the script of a 1988 play about a group of women in Chinquapin, Louisiana, who learn to draw upon their underlying strength and love to meet the challenges of life. ... (Goodreads)

  6. Hamlet: Screenplay, Introduction And Film Diary

    by Kenneth Branagh
    A reimagined version of Shakespeare's classic play, told through film.

    Often credited with creating a popular movie audience for Shakespeare, Kenneth Branagh has wanted for many years to bring to the screen the complete, full-length version of Hamlet , Shakespeare's ... (Goodreads)

  7. Pygmalion / My Fair Lady

    by George Bernard Shaw
    A phonetics professor transforms a Cockney flower girl into a refined lady, but struggles with the consequences of his experiment.

    George Orwell claimed that "The central plot of Shaw's play, Pygmalion , is lifted out of Peregrine Pickle [by Tobias Smollett ], and I believe that no one has ever pointed this out in print, which ... (Wikipedia)

  8. Pygmalion

    by George Bernard Shaw
    The transformation of a poor flower girl into an elegant society lady.

    George Orwell claimed that "The central plot of Shaw's play, Pygmalion , is lifted out of Peregrine Pickle [by Tobias Smollett ], and I believe that no one has ever pointed this out in print, which ... (Wikipedia)

  9. The Odd Couple

    by Neil Simon
    Two mismatched roommates, one neat and one messy, struggle to coexist in a small New York City apartment.

    Comedy / 6m, 2f / Int. This classic comedy opens as a group of the guys assembled for cards in the apartment of divorced Oscar Madison. And if the mess is any indication, it's no wonder that his wife ... (Goodreads)

  10. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

    by Tennessee Williams
    A family struggling to confront hidden resentments and repressions that lurk beneath the surface.

    Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the story of a Southern family in crisis, especially the husband Brick and wife Margaret (usually called Maggie or "Maggie the Cat"), and their interaction with Brick's ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Inherit the Wind

    by Jerome Lawrence
    A courtroom drama about a teacher accused of violating a law against teaching evolution.

    A meaningful play based on the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, in which a Tennessee teacher was tried for teaching evolution. The accused was a slight, frightened man who'd deliberately broken the law. ... (Goodreads)

  12. An Ideal Husband

    by Oscar Wilde
    A play exploring the themes of blackmail, political corruption, and the nature of honor and integrity in Victorian society.

    The play opens during a dinner party at the home of Sir Robert Chiltern in London's fashionable Grosvenor Square . Sir Robert, an esteemed member of the House of Commons , and his wife, Lady ... (Wikipedia)

  13. West Side Story

    by Irving Shulman
    A modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in 1950s New York City, exploring the rivalry between two street gangs and the love between their members.

    From the silver screen to the Great White Way—one of the greatest stories of all time.,They came together through love but violence threatened to tear them apart. Maria was young and innocent and had ... (Barnes & Noble)

  14. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

    by Tom Stoppard
    A humorous exploration of fate and free will, seen through the eyes of two minor characters in Shakespeare's "Hamlet".

    Hamlet told from the worm's-eye view of two minor characters, bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Echoes of Waiting for Godot resound, reality and illusion mix, and where fate leads heroes to a ... (Goodreads)

  15. Noises Off

    by Michael Frayn
    A play within a play, following the chaotic and hilarious antics of a dysfunctional theater troupe.

    Each of the three acts of Noises Off contains a performance of the first act of a play within a play , a sex farce called Nothing On . The three acts of Noises Off are each named "Act One" on the ... (Wikipedia)

  16. Perestroika

    by Tony Kushner
    A powerful look at the impact of political upheaval on the lives of ordinary people.

    Set in New York City, the play takes place between October 1985 and February 1986. , The play begins with the funeral of Sarah Ironson, an elderly Jewish woman, whose rabbi eulogizes not only her, ... (Wikipedia)

  17. The Gift of the Magi

    by O. Henry
    A young couple's story of love and sacrifice as they give up their most prized possessions for one another.

    On Christmas Eve , Della Young discovers that she has only $1.87 to buy a present for her husband Jim. She visits the nearby shop of a hairdresser, Madame Sofronie, who buys Della's long hair for ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Hedda Gabler

    by Henrik Ibsen
    A woman's struggle against societal expectations and a search for freedom.

    Hedda, the daughter of an aristocratic and enigmatic general, has just returned to her villa in Kristiania (now Oslo) from her honeymoon. Her husband is George Tesman, a young, aspiring, and reliable ... (Wikipedia)

  19. Gorky Park

    by Martin Cruz Smith
    A thrilling murder mystery, set in the Soviet Union, uncovering secrets and conspiracies.

    The story follows Arkady Renko , a chief investigator for the Moscow militsiya , who is assigned to a case involving three corpses found in Gorky Park , an amusement park in Moscow. The victims - two ... (Wikipedia)

  20. The Importance of Being Earnest

    by Oscar Wilde
    A lighthearted comedy of manners, full of witty dialogue and satirizing Victorian society.

    Oscar Wilde's madcap farce about mistaken identities, secret engagements, and lovers entanglements still delights readers more than a century after its 1895 publication and premiere performance. The ... (Goodreads)

  21. The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

    by Edgar Allan Poe
    A collection of dark and mysterious stories and verses, exploring the human psyche.

    The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe , by Edgar Allan Poe , is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  22. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    by Michael Rosen
    A retelling of the classic tragedy of two young lovers from feuding families, set in modern times.

    The bard's quintessential love story — retold in an elegantly illustrated volume that will appeal both to aficionados of Shakespeare's play and to readers discovering it for the first time. The story ... (Goodreads)

  23. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    by Douglas Adams
    An eccentric space adventure filled with comedic misadventures and cosmic revelations.

    At last in paperback in one complete volume, here are the five novels from Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker series. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a ... (Goodreads)

  24. The Aeneid

    by Virgil
    Epic tale of Aeneas and the founding of Rome, a fateful journey through the gods.

    The Aeneid – thrilling, terrifying and poignant in equal measure – has inspired centuries of artists, writers and musicians. Virgil’s epic tale tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, who flees his ... (Goodreads)

  25. King Arthur and His Knights: Selected Tales

    by Thomas Malory
    A collection of stories of the legendary King Arthur and his heroic knights.

    Thomas Malory, knight, adventurer, and soldier, was born in the early years of the fifteenth century and died on March 14, 1471, having spent much of the last twenty years of his life in prison. It ... (Goodreads)

  26. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

    by Edward Albee
    A darkly comedic exploration of a troubled couple's tumultuous marriage.

    George and Martha engage in dangerous emotional games. George is an associate professor of history and Martha is the daughter of the president of the college where George teaches. After they return ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Glengarry Glen Ross

    by David Mamet
    Cutthroat competition in a real estate sales office, where survival of the fittest is the only way out.
  28. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

    by Christopher Moore
    A retelling of the life of Jesus Christ, told through the eyes of his childhood best friend.

    Biff is resurrected in the 20th Century to complete missing parts of the Bible , under the inefficient supervision of Raziel ; wherefore Biff narrates that he and Joshua (by Biff's account, the ... (Wikipedia)

  29. The Arabian Nights

    by Anonymous
    Tales of adventure and imagination, featuring larger-than-life characters and magical creatures.

    This volume reproduces the 1932 Modern Library edition, for which Bennett A. Cerf chose the most famous and representative stories from Sir Richard F. Burton's multivolume translation, and includes ... (Goodreads)

  30. A Light in the Attic

    by Shel Silverstein
    A whimsical collection of poems, stories and drawings exploring life, love and the power of imagination.

    Last night while I lay thinking here, Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear, And pranced and partied all night long, And sang their same old Whatif song:, Whatif I flunk that test?,Whatif green hair ... (Goodreads)