About the Play:

Bell, Book and Candle has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Female/Female Scenes, Female/Male Scenes, and Male/Male Scenes.

Bell, Book and Candle is a full-length romantic comedy by John van Druten. Shepherd Henderson has the right job. He is engaged to the right girl. Everything in his life is, in fact, right on schedule. Until the night he meets Gillian, a smart and sexy witch. Mix with a good glug of humour, stir in a dollop of desire. The result? Bell, Book and Candle is a deliciously dark tale of treachery and enchantment that will leave your audience spellbound.

Bell, Book and Candle is a bewitching romantic comedy that is frequently cited as the forerunner to shows like Charmed, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and such diverse witch-meets-mortal fare as Harry Potter, Twilight, and Bewitched. Gillian Holroyd is a modern witch who can actually cast spells and perform feats of supernaturalism. She casts a spell over a handsome unattached mortal publisher, Shepherd Henderson, partly to keep him away from a rival and partly because she is attracted to him. He falls head over heels in love with her at once and wants to marry her. But witches, unfortunately, cannot fall in love, and this little snag leads into a number of hilarious difficulties, where Gillian loses her witch's powers, her cat deserts her, and her aunt and warlock brother don't quite know how to relate to Gillian as a human. Ultimately, Gillian breaks off with her fellow witches, preferring the normal and human love offered her by the attractive publisher. But before the happy conclusion of the romance, Gillian comes very near to losing him – but doesn't. Bell, Book and Candle became part of the material upon which the hit TV series Bewitched was based.

Bell, Book and Candle premiered in 1950 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway in New York City and ran for over a year and enjoyed national tours. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is regularly performed in regional, high school, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 2 female, 3 male

What people say:

"…completely enchanting – a wonderfully suave and impish fantasy." — New York Times

"Bell, Book and Candle ... becomes a thinly veiled protest against the repression of nonconformists. My recommendation? Watch the play as pure entertainment, enjoy every wry and witty moment, but set aside some time later to ponder potential deeper themes. It's a bit like getting two plays for the price of one." — Westside Theatre Reviews

"Bell, Book, And Candle makes for two of the freshest, funniest, and downright sexiest hours of romantic comedy around town." — Stage Scene LA

About the Playwright:

John van Druten (1901-1957) was an English playwright and theatre director who, after being educated as a solicitor, found much success writing for the London theatre in the 1920s and '30s. He relocated to the United States in 1940, and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944. He was known for his primarily light comedies about witty and urbane observations of contemporary life and society.