Arthur and Esther

Title: Arthur and Esther
Author: Howard, Ross
Price: $19.95

Full Length Play, Dark Comedy, Romantic Comedy
CASTING: 1m, 1f
ARTHUR HUEY - Long-serving community librarian. Mid 50s.
ESTHER HUEY - His wife in life. Now deceased and eternally youthful. Mid 20s.

A play of two worlds. This elemental and affecting two-hander explores love, its loss, and the lives we inherit and impose on others.


75 Minutes
Time Period - Present Day
Settings Of Play - A low lit, empty library in the north-west of England and a brightly lit area somewhere in the afterlife.

No intermission

Monologues, Competition or audition material
CAUTIONS: Mild Adult Themes
THEMES: Aging, Betrayal, Current Events, Death, Love, Marriage, Memory, Politics
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult, Teen (Age 14 - 18)
PERFORMANCE GROUP: College Theatre / Student, Community Theatre, Professional Theatre, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups


In the wake of public spending cuts, Arthur wrestles with the methods set out in Montgomery Swank’s \"28 Ways to Terminate Your Existence and Questions You May Have\", the one book he has salvaged from the closure of his beloved library.

In the wake of her own death, his wife Esther reconciles the ghosts of the past with a hope for the future.

A play of two worlds. This elemental and affecting two-hander explores love, its loss, and the lives we inherit and impose on others.

British playwright Ross Howard is an Edward F. Albee Foundation Fellow.

\"Howard's script sprints along with observation and humor\" - Las Vegas Review Journal

\" ….full of both outrageous dark comedy and deep sincerity….an ultimately compelling night of theatre\" - nytheatre.com

First performed at The Studio at Cherry Lane Theatre, New York.

Publisher: Samuel French Ltd
Publication date: 25/02/2014
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780573114618
Publishing status: OS Archived