'Six Of One...' is a collection of six plays by Nicolas Ridley offering a range and variety of comedy from gentle farce, through simple sketch and conventional comedic drama, to tragicomedy.

Each play has a running time of 10-15 minutes which means that the collection can be performed together (in any order) to provide a full evening's entertainment, Alternatively, selected plays can be chosen as part of a different programme.

All the pieces have single settings and require very little in the way of stage furniture and props. Simple sound effects will enhance the production in some cases but there is certainly no requirement for sophisticated stage lighting.

The total number of parts in the six plays is 10m, 9f but there is ample scope for doubling, trebling, and more! Some companies may choose to use an ensemble cast  to allow individual actors to stretch themselves across several parts; others may wish to spread parts more widely. The collection may also provide an ideal opportunity for new directors to cut their directorial teeth on.

All the plays in the collection have been played successfully as full productions or as semi-staged 'script-in-hand' performances by professional and non-professional groups. The watchwords for 'Six Of One...' are: fun, flexibility, laughter, and one or two tears.

Casting About (Comedy: 2m, 3f) Four characters are auditioning for a play which is soon to be written by England’s ‘greatest living dramatist’. Salome, Boudicca and King Arnold all believe they have a strong case for being the star of the show, but Hamlet has his doubts. A comic frolic with a surprising twist.

Holly, Polly, Tom, Dick & Harry (Comedy: 3m, 1f) It’s the morning after the night before. Holly remembers exactly what happened. Dick and Harry think they know but do they? For Tom it’s a total blank. What did he do? What did he say? More importantly, what did Holly say? A comedy that might so easily have ended badly!

Not A Friend Of The Family (Comedy: 1m, 1f) Two strangers meet at the funeral of a friend. ‘Jack’ knew him as ‘Tony’; ‘Polly’ knew him as ‘Anton’; Rev Pilchard, who conducted the service, didn’t know him at all. Anthony Wilson had charm, joie de vivre and a keen sense of humour. Jack and Polly will both miss him terribly but - as they discover - they each knew a different side of him. A bittersweet comedy about love and loss.

Mr Mouse's Munificent Gifts (Comedy: 2m, 1f) There’s a fair bit of farcical fun when a customer visits a jewellery shop to buy necklaces for the women in his life: his wife, his daughter and his mistress. He’s greeted by a clueless new assistant who’s no help at all, but fortunately the manager is at hand. He does everything he can to assist the customer but he won’t be duped. Or will he?

The Mistress Bedroom (Drama: 1m, 2f) Anya is a high-achieving woman, who has splintered the glass ceiling. She is married to Edmund, a notably unsuccessful novelist and playwright, who’s not done much of anything. While Anya’s in New York, Edmund’s chance encounter with Cindy, who has recently been made homeless, leads to an unusual proposal and then a comically unexpected domestic arrangement.

What Now? (Absurd: 1m, 1f). An apparently chance encounter between the Man and the Woman in the ‘Mind, Body, Spirit’ section of a bookshop leads them down some distinctly odd paths to some frankly puzzling places. An absurdist drama or an exercise in role-play? Impossible to say with any certainty!