Modern and contemporary plays / drama

Book SynopsisInspired by true stories, this critically acclaimed modern play explores the everyday abuse and exploitation of Asian women and their struggles to obtain freedom. The play has been performed internationally to sell-out audiences on three continents including theatres in New York, Melbourne, Bangkok and Singapore. An opera heroine. Two interracial marriages. An abused daughter-in-law. An under-aged prostitute. A prime minister's wife. Seven women of diverse Asian backgrounds perform a series of vignettes about the various predicaments of women from Asia. Presented through a highly theatrical mixture of dance, comedy and tragedy, the play questions the myths and stereotypes which underpin the continuing oppression of women in the region. Presented through a highly theatrical mixture of dance, comedy and tragedy, the play questions the myths and stereotypes which underpin the continuing oppression of women in the region.Trade Review“a powerhouse on Melbourne's independent theatre scene.” The Age “...lush, entertaining, challenging and passionately performed and directed.” Kate Herbert Theatre Reviews “Brilliant scripting, powerful stories, beautiful costumes and some unforgettable performances.” VibeWire “the stories are moving and ring true ...” Bangkok Post “explores the subjugation faced by women, deconstructing the myth of the 'ideal' Asian wife and mother in the process. Palomera proves to be a master of powerful and intricate storytelling.” Popspoken “Seven provocative true-life stories packed into one powerful 90 minutes show, GenerAsia's Women of Asia (WOA) will stir emotions and make you question the social forces that shape our world the way it is.” Campus.com.sgTable of ContentsAUTHOR BIO CAST BIOS PLAYTEXT INFORMATION ABOUT THEATRE COMPANY PHOTOGRAPHS FROM PRODUCTIONS

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Book SynopsisAn entertaining collection of new short plays by popular children's playwright Rachel Barnett. Specially commissioned for young people, these plays are a great resource for schools, colleges and youth theatres. With contemporary themes and a wide variety of roles, this is a collection which enables young people to engage with serious topics while enjoying all the fun of performance.Trade Review“It's never easy to find inclusive, meaty plays suitable for youth theatres or schools so this contribution from well-established children's playwright Rachel Barnett (whose adaptation of Gorilla is currently enjoying a revival at Polka Theatre) is very welcome. Rocketfuel is a nicely balanced piece about risk taking and boundaries commissioned for gap year students to perform in secondary schools. LOL: Laughing Out Loud, Crying Insideis about cyberbullying and the role of bystanders, intended for performance to 11-14-year-olds by slightly older students. Three Shoes and Noah make up the quartet. All four plays are fine, thoughtful pieces likely to inspire discussion. Commissioned and successful in their original settings, they are now being made available for more widespread use.” Susan Elkin, The Stage “An entertaining collection of new short plays by popular children's playwright Rachel Barnett. Specially commissioned for young people, these plays are a great resource for schools, colleges and youth theatres. With contemporary themes and a wide variety of roles, this is a collection which enables young people to engage with serious topics while enjoying all the fun of performance.” Theatre for Young Audiences “Rachel Barnett's excellent play texts give voice to the concerns of young people, exploring options for dealing with the pressures of teenage life. Her production of Noah, which was performed by our Youth Theatre in 2012, was a gem of a show and makes you wonder why schools are still performing musicals and pantos when there is new writing of this standard out there.” Jonathan Church, Artistic Director, Chichester Festival Theatre The Plays LOL: Laughing Out Loud, Crying Inside: This is a play about bullying and bystanding, exploring the complex new world of cyber-bullying and internet trolling. “With the tragic consequences of cyberbullying being seen regularly in the media it is important that students are educated about the impact of their actions and the law surrounding this crime. LOL is a script I will return to again and again.” Year 10 teacher Rocketfuel: A forum-theatre play about peer pressure, making responsible choices about drinking and looking after your friends. “Every child in my class was so absorbed in the play. You seem to have really hit the message home to them. A fantastic starting point for the rest of the year's PSHE curriculum.” Year 8 Teacher Three Shoes: A play which explores children working on stage and screen in the past and present, taking in the backstage life of a choirboy at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, a pantomime babe in Victorian England, and a pair of young film stars in the glare of the media today. Noah: A colossal storm is brewing and the great flood is coming. Yet only one man and his family are doing anything to prepare. The rain starts to fall, the Ark's doors close and an extraordinary journey must begin. “... a terrific re-imagining of the biblical story. Rachel Barnett's writing is immediate, intelligent, bold, quirky, consistently surprising and compelling for young people.” Youth Theatre Director, Chichester Festival TheatreTable of ContentsINTRODUCTION THE PLAYS ROCKETFUEL LOL THREE SHOES NOAH

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Book SynopsisThree generations of women try to push back the tide.It is 1966. I am sixteen years old and I am on the Venetian bridge with Brian Joy from the Golden Sands Guesthouse and he has bought me a 99 and I am on top of the world. Now I am 16, I know what boys want and why you mustnt give it to them.Tensions are high in Clacton-on-Sea. Guesthouse owner Val has been taken ill and both her estranged daughter Lisa and ambitious grand-daughter Chloe have arrived to lend a hand. Chloe is close to Val, having spent most of her childhood raised by her grandmother. But Lisa and her mother are not on best terms. In this poignant and beautifully observed drama, three generations of women have to set aside differences as they decide the fate of their family-run B&B.

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Book Synopsis• New 'totally captivating' stage version of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. • Two original stage plays about World War I and transportation to the colonies. • Suitable for professional productions to family audiences, or for students, amateur groups and youth theatres to perform.Trade Review'...there is not a moment which isn't magical.' THE YORKSHIRE POST '...a marvellous play... challenging in both form and content.' TES '...no doubting the show's mesmerising appeal to the imagination, which seized the audience with rapt delight.' THE DAILY TELEGRAPHTable of ContentsPreface Introduction The Plays: Brothers in Arms The Hunchback of Notre Dame With All My Love

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Book Synopsis• Award-winning playwright explores classroom bullying and teachers' responses. • Includes Teachers' Resources to aid structured discussion and exploration of the themes raised in schools, colleges and beyond. Care Takers is part of an Edge Hill University (Birmingham, UK) research project on homophobia. The team invites everyone, after seeing or reading (or both!) the play, to give feedback by completing the online survey, here (10 minutes). • Care Takers included on a programme of International Health and Humanities Conference, Health Humanities: Creative Practices as Care (September 2016): a growing worldwide interdisciplinary dialogue across diverse communities of arts and humanities academics and practitioners, clinicians, informal carers, service users and the self-caring public. Conference details are here. • The play is great for use as a source text for all those interested in the impact of creative practices in health, psychological well-being and enhancing social inclusion of people. Includes: hospitals, social and community centres, mental health centres, schools, and museums.Trade Review“...like watching all the episodes of a fabulous five-part drama series in one sitting. You're gripped in the first scene. Then you're given time to breathe and collect your thoughts before the action resumes and the plot thickens. The pattern is repeated. As the saga unfolds you just can't wait to see the next one and all sorts of thoughts are going through your head about what twists are still to unfold in this 'will she, won't she?' epic.” Richard Beck, Broadway Babe 5 stars “Hits home with a punch” Helen Jones, WhatsOnStage 5 stars “Clever, and very powerful...well written and perceived.” Mark Dee, North West End

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Book Synopsis• Neil Duffield's reworking of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairytale, The Nightingale (1844), like his earlier adaptation of Andersen's The Snow Queen, brings a timeless classic into the twenty-first century. • With appeal to family audiences and more, Duffield's plays are performed regularly by schools and other amateur groups, as well receiving regular professional productions nationwide. Previous productions of this play, include The Dukes Theatre, Lancaster (2002); The Watermill Theatre, Newbury (2003); Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham (2003). • Published to coincide with a new production of the play at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick.Trade Review“The story, adapted with his customary panache by Neil Duffield, remains loaded with all the essential elements of a child's fable. The importance of honesty, friendship, love, loyalty and trust. For two hours at least, we are taught that the song of the Nightingale might just be more essential than all of Earth's other treasures. Without turning all this delicate storytelling into anything resembling more seasonal fare, Joel Sams sails as close as he dares to being a panto villain. There is equally excellent support among the cast of eight actor musicians, whose skills stretch to playing an authentic Chinese stringed instrument, the guzheng.” British Theatre Guide, December 2016 “Set in ancient China, it tells the tale of Emperor Wu (Martin Sarreal) and2000-1 peasant girl Xiao (Sally Cheng) who head off together in search of the nightingale. Their adventure teaches them about the importance of friendship and all about life - the good bits and bad - full of energy, colour and creativity, intertwined with alluring music and lots of fun.” News & Star, December 2016 “Forrest's direction is typically tight, marshalling an eight-strong cast across a range of roles with a characteristic eye for humour. Johns' set impressively encompasses Beijing's Forbidden City as well as a range of rural location1000-1s. Composer Richard Atkinson supplies some beautifully atmospheric songs as well as directing a musically talented cast on a range of Chinese and western instruments. Jimmy Grimes' puppetry direction gives us a genuinely affecting nightingale, brought to life by the evocative vocals and puppetry skills of Amy Gardyne.” The Stage, December 2016

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Book SynopsisMay the legends of old be lessons to the people of our time, so that a man may see those things which befell others beside himself, and wonder. When Sheherazad is brought to the palace to be the Sultan's new bride, her very life depends upon her skill as a storyteller. She tells him tales of lost cities and buried treasure, of slave girls and robbers, of genies in bottles and evil sorcerors. But will it be enough to save her? The stories of the Arabian Nights originate from Persia, India and Arabia, and date back more than a thousand years. Neil Duffield has combined elements of many of them, keeping alive the excitement and humour to produce a show which transports the audience into a world of myth and legend where fantasy and reality can never be separated.Trade Review“Neil Duffield has the magic touch when it comes to dramatising myths and legends. He excels himself…with this comic and enchanting story…such exuberance. It teems with life and atmosphere. . . It is such a treat.” The Stage “[The] adaptation mixes ancient and modern and elements of several of the Tales.” The Stage “Like a Persian miniature in its case, this. . . is the quintessence of the Neil Duffield storytelling style. . . I recommend it to everyone.” The Sunday Times “Neil Duffield’s play is both robustly comic and serious in its consideration of smart women who know how to get the upper hand, brotherly relationships and greed... There may be fabulous treasures and genies in abundance, but there is no magic formula to this play: it is merely simple, straight-forward storytelling, done very well... Duffield has interwoven the familiar and less familiar so you get a real sense of a never-ending story, and he has the gift of combining the accessible and down to earth with the mythic in a single sentence. It is a small show, but one of transformations and pleasures constantly reminding us that when one story ends another begins.” The Guardian “a breath-taking 90 minutes with bags of pace and laughs a-plenty... The familiar story of Sherezade’s story-telling guile being used to outwit a blood-thirsty and misogynistic Sultan who takes wives for just one night before dispatching them with a sword in the morning, works on many levels... For an intimate seasonal show, it’s hard to imagine anything more satisfying than Arabian Nights.” Birmingham Post “Duffield’s...best yet. A good story, colourful and exciting, clearly told but with ingenious details. A treat.” The Times “Like a Persian miniature in its case, this delightful show is the quintessence of the Neil Duffield storytelling style... I recommend it to everyone.” The Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisIn 1988, 14-year-old Michael comes out as gay. Later he returns as a teacher. In the background: the notorious Section 28 of Thatcher’s Local Government Act, which prohibited schools from “promoting homosexuality” . The narrative of the play spans from 1988 to 2003.Trade Review"Next Lesson is an interesting and unique look at LGBT culture, identity and public thought throughout the 80s, 90s, and 00s. " – Everything Theatre " Author Chris Woodley keeps the piece leaping through time as every scene moves the narrative forward to a different year – allowing us to follow the characters and their stories as they develop over the decades. These individual snapshots add up to a colourful collage that deftly documents a particular period of British history. " – Gay Times " In Next Lesson, Woodley manages to make the audience laugh, tear up, and enjoy a little boogie. " – Diva MagazineTable of ContentsAbout the Company 8 Cast and Creative 9 Author's Note 10 About the Play 12 Next Lesson 13

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Book SynopsisNew revised 2020 version Chequered Flags to Chequered Futures tells the true story of Chris Gilfoy, the Rookie’s World Champion Banger Racer in 2000. In 2006 Chris was being driven along a public road in a powerful BMW by a racing friend. She was thought to be driving at 90 mph in a 30 limit. None were wearing seatbelts and, unknown to Chris, the driver was uninsured. Disastrously, they crashed into a wall, narrowly avoiding killing another driver. The consequences for all three in the car were life changing in very different ways. The play tells the fast-paced story through the words of Chris and his family with great opportunities for imaginative ensemble work. In a parallel strand of powerful monologues, Jane (the mother of the driver) tells her story of the aftermath of the accident. Suitable for: Key Stage 3/4/5, BTEC, A-Level to adult Duration: 60 minutes approximately Cast: 5 female, 3 male, 3 female/male “Mark beautifully crafts and weaves the story of the three friends and cleverly integrates some stunning monologues.” Tim Ford: Artistic Director Garrick Theatre, Litchfield

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Book Synopsis“The sky was painfully big, but our worlds were small, our lives little. So when we found each other in the muddle of it all, that feeling of belonging was addictive.” Mal, Ama, Lewis and Oskar have grown up together; hedonistically charging through life – and any house party going – in rural Devon. They're railing against the stories that have been written for them as they stand at the precipice of adulthood. But all the space can be suffocating, and it’s tough sometimes – feeling so low in a place so beautiful. The powerful poetics of Malaika Kegode and soaring music of Bristol band Jakabol combine in this autobiographical gig-theatre show directed by Jenny Davies. Genre-defying and emotional, Outlier explores the impact of isolation, addiction and friendship on young people in the often-forgotten places. ★ ★ ★ ★ “the spirit of Kerouac reaches the West Country in superb drama” The Guardian ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ “Stark, touching, witty… it is nothing short of brilliant” Stage Talk “Outlier is raw, tender and funny but perhaps most of all: timely” Wheelie Stagey “A poetic gem perfect to use as stimulus for those aged 16 and above” Drama & Theatre CAST: 6 (3 female, 3 male) plus chorus

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Book SynopsisAnthony Burgess was an energetic writer and composer, whose work for the stage is widely admired. In Two Plays, we see him tackling major monuments of French and Russian theatre: The Miser by Molière and Chatsky by Alexander Griboyedov. Miser, Miser! is a bold reworking of Molière’s classic comedy of 1668. Harpagon the miser is hoarding a pile of gold, which he has buried in his garden. As he tries to sell off his daughter, catch himself a beautiful young bride and outwit his scheming household of clever servants, the comedy of errors intensifies. Although the original French play is written in prose, Burgess remakes it in a mixture of verse and prose, in the style of his famous adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac. This translation, discovered in the author’s archive, is the work of a writer at the height of his powers, reinventing Molière for modern audiences. Chatsky, subtitled ‘The Importance of Being Stupid’ is another verse comedy. The theme is that of the intellectual hero who rebels against the smug, philistine society in which he finds himself. First performed in 1833, Griboyedov’s play was so heavily cut by Russian censors that it was barely recognisable. The play is a virtuoso vehicle for male actors, and the source of many famous quotations. It is also notoriously difficult to translate. In Chatsky, Burgess remakes a classic Russian play in the spirit of Oscar Wilde. It is a great feast of language and invective. The complete texts of both plays are published here for the first time. Two Plays confirms Anthony Burgess’s reputation as a gifted writer for the stage, and as a translator of great wit and sophistication. MISER, MISER! CASTING: 7 men, 3 women CHATSKY CASTING: 9 men, 7 women

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Book SynopsisWhen repressed British schoolfriends Nina and Noa start writing a parody American coming-of-age romance, the colourful, familiar characters come to life and show them that they might just have a story of their own to tell. Cowboys and Lesbians is a queer romantic comedy which examines the intersection between sexuality and fantasy through the eyes of two closeted teenage girls, highlighting just how much the stories we consume affect the ones we tell about ourselves. CASTING 2 actors (both female, playing later teens) or up to 8 actors Running time: 75-80 minutes ★★★★ "Funny, mischievous, utterly absorbing..’ Clive Davis, The Times "Outrageous, hilarious, and wonderfully wholesome, this queer rom-com is exactly what the title insists and more." - Vi Dang, Playbill "Incredibly tender, fuelled by the hopeful urges of early understandings of queerness and the desperate desire to be kissed" - Kate Wyver, The Guardian ★★★★★ “refreshing, original and laugh out loud hilarious” London Theatre Review ★★★★ “outrageously funny, and gay too - what more could you want?” Watch that Scene ★★★★★ West London Queer Project

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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