(Applause Books). Here is a joyous pageant of plays by masters through the ages including Dylan Thomas, Charles Dickens, Thornton Wilder, Langston Hughes, and Hans Christian Andersen ready to be produced, along with "The Traditional Christmas Pageant" and "The Second Shepherd's Play" in a modernized text and a lively version of "St. George and the Dragon." Comedies like "A Visit from St. Nicholas," "Amahl and the Night Visitors," "Kringle's Window" and "A Partridge in a Pear Tree" stand beside more serious works such as "A Child's Christmas in Wales," "Black Nativity," "Scrooge and Marley," "The Match Girl's Gift" and "The Long Christmas Dinner," called by critic John Gassner "...the most beautiful one-act play in English prose." Lowel Swortzell, himself the author of a number of popular Christmas plays, has brought together these delightful works, which are ideally suited for performances in the classroom, sanctuary, or theatre. Ranging from the traditional to the contemporary, they also can be enjoyed for themselves as holiday reading that reminds us how Christmas has inspired great writers to their highest dramatic achievements.