The Lady Demands Satisfaction
by Arthur M. Jolly
When a young maiden who has never touched a sword learns she must defend her inheritance in a duel, she struggles with a milksop suitor, a servant girl posing as a Prussian fencing master, a Prussian fencing master who thinks he is there to marry her, a stodgy lawyer and her domineering aunt – the finest blade anywhere – to save her house and lands. Like all classic farces, everyone gets the ending they deserve in unexpected ways… but will they be satisfied?
- Cast Size: 2M 5W
- Running Time: 90+ minutes
- Royalty Rate: $75 per performance
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About the Playwright
Arthur M. Jolly was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences with a Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, and in 2017 won theHammond House International Literary Prize for a Screenplay. As a playwright, Jolly is a three time Joining Sword and Pen winner, finalist for the Woodward/Newman Drama Award, and has penned over 60 produced plays, with productions across the US and in Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and South America. Next Stage Press works include A Gulag Mouse, Trash, Past Curfew, The Ithaca Ladies Read Medea and a collection of three one acts Thin Lines. Work published elsewhere include Childish Things, The Christmas Princess, Long Joan Silver, The Four Senses of Love, How Blue is My Crocodile, Rising, Snakes in a Lunchbox, What the Well Dressed Girl is Wearing, and the short play collection Guilty Moments. Jolly is a member of the WGA caucus, The Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, and The Dramatists Guild. Repped by Brant Rose Agency. More at www.arthurjolly.com
ALSO BY ARTHUR M. JOLLY
The Lady Demands Satisfaction was such an exciting read. The female characters where vibrant and varied, offering every archetype and even inventing some!
This funny script kept me on my toes along with the characters as they fought for their livelihoods. Sure to entertain and make you laugh out loud.
I would highly recommend it!
I designed the scenery for a production of THE LADY DEMANDS SATISFACTION and thoroughly enjoyed my time with this play. The gender-bending, sword-fighting antics are a wonderful way to spend a couple hours! And it gives the opportunity for many more strong, fun female roles than plays with similar cast sizes. The sets can be minimal with the exception of the dining room scene which does require a food fight. This is a fun play to collaborate on and a fun play to watch.
This is such an incredible script that will keep you on your toes! This fast-paced, energetic play is wonderfully written with strong female characters and hilarious sword-fighting scenes! I highly recommend this play.
The Lady Demands Satisfaction is one of my favorite plays ever. Witty, fast and full of farcical fun, it allows for many opportunities to deliver fierce (stage) fighting in the most fantastical and humorous fashion. Arthur Jolly knows how to bring life from the page to the stage. Can’t wait to read / see more of what he delivers, since I’m sure he has more up that Jolly sleeve. Cheers!
This is a breathtaking, breathless madcap farce of swordplay, mistaken identity, unbuckled swash, and just plain fun of the first order. Arthur M. Jolly never lets up, and the ride is so worth every moment; it’s like the Marx Brothers teamed up with the costume dramas of Erroll Flynn and Lockwood and LaMont (“Singin’ in the Rain”) and threw in a dash of Richard Brinsley Sheridan (“The School for Scandal”) and commedia del’arte. The staging is brilliant (as are the stage directions), and the roles leave no one behind. “The Lady Demands Satisfaction” demands to be staged. En garde!
Scheming servants, bumbling masters, farcical concealments, disguises, mistaken identities, deliciously silly Python-esque wordplay, equally silly but also skillful swordplay–had Rossini seen this script he would have turned it into a comic opera to rival “The Barber of Seville.” Inspired hilarity throughout.
Review The Lady Demands Satisfaction.