24 Favorite One Act Plays

by Van H. Cartmell (Editor), Bennett Cerf (Editor)

Two dozen classic dramas by some of the finest and most famous playwrights of the last hundred years--Anton Chekhov, Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller, and A.A. Milne.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Fiction, Reference

558 pages, Paperback

First published April 3, 1963

About the author

Van Henry Cartmell (1896 -1966) was an American book editor.

From 1936 to 1950, Mr. Cartmell was an editor with Doubleday & Co. He served for several years as editor in chief of the Garden City Publishing Company, a Doubleday subsidiary. Mr. Cartmell collaborated with Bennett Cerf in the editing of several anthologies of plays.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read Milne's "The Ugly Duckling' and from another source Dorothy Parker's 'Here we Are'. A fun evening of reading around the table. Also learned that Lenore participated in a play reading group for over 10 years. An idea for the future!

[Emily Cataldo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished about half way through, might come back to it later. Plays were very mixed, some manges to connect me to these characters and feel for them in just one act and others had me skimming after three pages. If you are a theater fan looking to read more plays like I was I’d say give it a shot!

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 star roundup, a couple duds but a good 60-70% of this is really outstanding stuff

[James Binz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great favorites. Many from long ago.

[Jeanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly lightly entertaining but very dated in language and subject. My favorites were the Noel Coward Hands Across the Sea and Terrence Rattigan Browning Version.

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of short plays from well-known authors, though I'll admit there were a few that well less well-known to me personally. As in any collection, there were some that really spoke to me that I would love to see produced locally.

There were also some where the endings left me feeling a little flat.