About the Play:

Little Brother, Little Sister and Out of the Flying Pan contains two one-act plays by David Campton. Distinct but with a thematic connection, these plays may be performed separately or as an evening of entertainment. The deliciously dark and hilarious comedy Little Brother, Little Sister is a macabre fairy tale set in a bomb shelter where two adolescents have spent their entire lives with only an old family servant named Cook for company. The comedy Out of the Flying Pan is a mercilessly funny spoof of modern day political rhetoric and the sorry (and perilous) results that this so often yields.

Little Brother, Little Sister: In the deep shelter where they escaped from the last spasm of global destruction, Sir and Madam (a teenage brother and sister) experiment with the first gropings of love, while Cook, their aged family servant and symbol of timeless authority, snores in her chair. Awakening suddenly she orders them apart, threatening to grind them up for "rissoles" if they don't behave. But the feelings stirring within them cannot be imprisoned indefinitely. When Cook falls asleep again Sir and Madam resolve to find the door leading outside, away from the restrictions of a life imposed by others and shaped by their failures. As they search for the handle Cook mumbles in her sleep of the old days and of forgotten loves, and when she rouses she speaks to the young people of how it used to be – and can never be again. Then she chastises them for trying to leave and resolves that one of them must be sacrificed if security is to be maintained. But then Sir, acting as though he were Cook's long-lost lover, pleads his affection – and suddenly he is (to her) what he pretends to be. Cook falls eagerly into his arms and, just as abruptly, to her death. She has gone "outside." Sir and Madam then turn at last towards the door, with only a vague feeling of hopefulness to guide their steps into the unknown that lies before them. (Cast: 2 female, 2 male and 1 any gender)

Out of the Flying Pan: Amid fanfares and popping flash bulbs, two diplomats (A and B) meet to engage in a bout of international bargaining. Their rapid-fire dialogue, while composed largely of cliches and windy pronouncements, has chilly overtones of the "real thing," as do their inevitable disagreement and estrangement. Angrily they tear apart the treaty they have signed, and turn their backs on one another. Sirens wail, guns rattle, and then a cosmic-sized explosion – followed by a sudden, heavy silence. In the stillness B stalks off the stage, but then a bird twitters, gentle music plays, and A begins to move to its rhythm, retrieving the pieces of the torn treaty. Another moment passes, the sound of an approaching airplane, and then B reappears, dispatch case at the ready. They shake hands, patter again through the trite preliminaries, and then launch into still another round of pretentious gibberish, while mankind holds its collective breath at the outcome. A remarkable excursion into the Theatre of the Absurd does an excellent job of mocking the outlandish political doubletalk that we have become so accustomed to. (Cast: 2 male)

Little Brother, Little Sister and Out of the Flying Pan were originally presented in 1960 by the Studio Theatre Company in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. While the plays are rarely performed professionally, both are an ideal choice for one-act festivals.

About the Playwright:

David Campton (1924-2006) was a prolific British dramatist who wrote plays for the stage, radio, and cinema for thirty-five years. One of the most prolific playwrights of the late 20th century, he is a rarity in that he best known for his one-act plays. His vast output of over 120 scripts has long been regular features of drama festivals worldwide; indeed some of his titles are still regularly performed in schools today.