The Man Who Lost America and My Sister Next Door

The Man Who Lost America: Following the defeat of the British at Saratoga in the State of New York in 1777, two soldiers are in hiding. The officer is urbane and witty, the young ranker tough but warm-hearted, with an instinct for survival. At the outset each man is suspicious of the other but the barriers of class and authority are gradually broken down as they draw on their common experience of war. (Cast 2+m)

“[The Man Who Lost America] masquerades as a defence of the General who lost the battle of Saratoga in 1777 ... By the end of this well-written playlet, however, something else has been achieved. In its delicate tracing of a mutually beneficial relationship between two soldiers from opposite extremes of society, both reduced to living off their wits, it shows how people come to terms with defeat, both national and personal .”
~ Georgina Brown, The Independent)

"[This] is high calibre stufff ... As an historian Michael Burrell obviously knows his onions, and the play should be required viewing for anyone studying the American War of Independence. As a playwright he is a gifted wordsmith, taking particular delight in references to Anglo-American relations that still hold good today after more than two hundred years.”
~ David McGillivray, What’s On

My Sister Next Door: Two sisters are sharing the family home after the death of their father. Gwen is the stay-at-home daughter, with a safe job as a building society clerk. Anthea is the wild one, now back in England after chasing fame and fortune as a dancer in the sleazy night-clubs of Morocco and the Lebanon. In spite of their different attitudes to life the sisterly resonances filter through. (Cast 1f)

“Michael Burrell’s one-woman play is built on an interesting foundation ... [it features] two very different sisters who have drifted together in middle age and are living in adjacent rooms in their family house ... Burrell inserts enough sharp observation to keep it moving swiftly ... Quiet fun.”
~ Suzi Feay, Time Out

“The comedy of dowdiness is a peculiarly British institution, and My Sister Next Door represents the genre at its cruellest.”
~ Sam Willetts, What’s On