About the Play:

The Beautiful People has long been a favourite of acting teachers for female/male scenes.

The Beautiful People is a full-length comedy by William Saroyan. The 'Beautiful People' refuse to play by the rules of a wicked world, steadfastly preserving their enchanted and – at times illegal – innocence, by any means necessary. This comedy is by the celebrated writer of The Time of Your Life.

The Beautiful People is concerned with a deliciously loony family who exist on the pension cheque of the long since deceased former occupant of their house. A philosophical father, a one-word boy novelist, and blessed Saint Agnes of the Mice battle the breaking of dreams, accompanied by a ghostly cornet player, a nostalgic clerk, an octogenarian drunk, a drunken priest, an almost-mother, and several literate vermin. Cheques are stolen from a complete stranger, dead for seven years. Mice are daringly rescued by a poet. Strangers become family. The prodigal son returns. And lost loves are finally and forever found. These charming, interesting characters represent William Saroyan's belief that love is the only thing which matters in the world.

The Beautiful People opened in 1941 at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway in New York City, and was a runner-up for the New York Drama Awards. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is regularly performed in regional, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 2 female, 7 male

What people say:

"It possesses a beguiling quality of sustained innocence and blessed derangement." — New York Post

About the Playwright:

William Saroyan (1908-1981) was an internationally renowned American writer, playwright, and humanitarian. Hailed as one of America's Greatest Playwrights, in 1939, he was the first American writer to win both the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for his play The Time of Your Life. He famously refused to accept the Pulitzer Prize on the grounds that "Commerce should not patronize art." He achieved great popularity in the thirties, forties, and fifties through his hundreds of short stories, plays, novels, memoirs, and essays. He has been described as "one of the most prominent literary figures of the mid-20th century."