Proposals
a Comedy
by
David Mitchell
Introduction
'Proposals' is a comedy of manners. Most of the characters in the play have severe emotional or sexual problems with relationships. The surprising interventions by Trixie, a fictional character in a play being written by Peter, and by Trixie's real-life counterpart, Roxy, resolve matters to almost everyone's satisfaction.
The Cast
|
Michael (Mickey) Good
Lionel Mason Antonia Mason Julia Reeves Roxanne (Roxy) Mason Paul Groves Peter Philbin |
a successful young actor, in his late twenties or early thirties
a wealthy industrialist, in his early fifties his second wife, in her late thirties a former actress, now married and in her early thirties an undergraduate of twenty, Lionel's daughter by his first marriage a struggling young actor, in his mid-twenties a successful playwright, in his late thirties |
The Sets
The living room of Michael Good's flat (all but three scenes are set here)
The breakfast room and kitchen of the Mason's House (Act 1, scene 3 and Act 3, scene 2)
A rehearsal studio (Act 3, scene 4)
The Play
'Proposals' is a conventional, but short, three-act play with each act taking about twenty minutes to perform. Of the seven parts, Michael's is by far the largest at around 400 speeches. He's on stage in every scene except Act 3 Scene 2. Paul's is the shortest - just 9 speeches in Act 3 Scene 1 - though he has a non-speaking appearance in Act 1 Scene 3. The other characters come and go in several scenes and have parts between 100 and 150 speeches in size.
This HTML version is not designed for printing, but a PDF version of the script is available from the author.