Plays, playscripts, drama

Book Synopsis'I'm a dying man who can't die.' Thomas Newton came to Earth seeking water for his drought-ridden planet. Years later he's still stranded here, soaked in cheap gin and haunted by a past love. But the arrival of another lost soul brings one last chance of freedom... Inspired by the book The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis and its cult film adaptation starring David Bowie, Lazarus brings the story of Thomas Newton to its devastating conclusion. Written by Bowie with the playwright Enda Walsh, and incorporating some of Bowie's most iconic songs, Lazarus was first performed at New York Theatre Workshop in 2015, starring Michael C. Hall and directed by Ivo Van Hove. The production transferred to London in 2016.Trade Review'David Bowie's parting gift to the world - and what a rare and mesmeric testament this is… it's all unforgettable. I sat rapt throughout' * Independent *'Enda Walsh's book is full of longing – for love, for peace, for release from earthly ties – while songs from Bowie's iconic catalogue, an astonishing legacy spanning four decades, are reimagined in a new context whilst somehow retaining the potency they once exerted during the course of a life richly lived. No jukebox musical, this… [the] entire creation is infused with the spirit, the quirkiness, the capriciousness of Bowie, and Walsh could not be more in tune with all of it' * The Arts Desk *'Like David Bowie himself, this is a show that defies definition. It's both all and none of a musical, a play, a gig, performance art, philosophical meditation, a fever dream, a collective trip into the unknown... strangely fascinating and fascinatingly strange' * Broadway World *'Beautiful... a last transmission from a dying star' * Time Out *'Outstanding... full of wild energy, magical effects and overwhelming music' * WhatsOnStage *'Fascinating to watch... [a] spectacular study of a pained outsider's search for peace' * Guardian *'Blazingly original... complex, layered and riveting... sensational' * The Stage *'Captivating, tense, and emotional… shows like this don't come along very often' * Radio Times *'Gripping… [a] strangely poetic piece of music theatre… there’s nothing at all conventional about this. It is festive. Riotous. Dionysian. Wonderful' * BritishTheatre.com *'Ice-bolts of ecstasy shoot like novas through the fabulous muddle and murk of Lazarus, the great-sounding, great-looking and mind-numbing new musical built around songs by David Bowie' * New York Times *'Wild, fantastical, eye-popping. A surrealistic tour de force' * Rolling Stone *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThings are going to be different. Very different... 1838, London. Jacob Marley is dead. And so is Ebenezer Scrooge... In this reinvention of the timeless classic, Ebenezer has died and his sister Fan has inherited his money-lending business. She rapidly becomes notorious as the most monstrous miser ever known, a legendary misanthrope, lonely, and despised by all who cross her path. This year, on Christmas Eve, Fan Scrooge will be haunted by three spirits. They want her to change. But will she? Charles Dickens's traditional story was adapted for the stage by renowned author Piers Torday, and came to life in the Dickensian environment of the world's oldest-surviving music hall, Wilton's Music Hall, London, in 2019. It will prove a festive gift for amateur theatre companies seeking an original, female-led version with lashings of goodwill to all men - and women. Piers Torday's bestselling series for children, The Last Wild trilogy, has been sold all over the world, was nominated for the Waterstone's Children Book Award, and won the Guardian's Children's Fiction Prize. He also adapted The Box of Delights for Wilton's.Trade Review'Delightfully surprising and subversive… offers both the story, and its 19th-century writer, a welcome 21st-century transformation' * Guardian *'Dickens's classic is given a smart feminist spin in this bold new version' * Time Out *'An intelligent, compelling riff on [Dickens' tale]... tremendously good fun. Torday's text has a whip crack wit... at once familiar yet breathtakingly new-minted... a Christmas Carol that both embraces its historical context but speaks urgently to our time. It's also a cracking piece of theatre' * WhatsOnStage *'A magical and heartwarming adaption' * The Upcoming *'A bold, satisfying and empowering re-imagining which dares to suggest that the humanism of Dickens's moral is nothing without the feminism that the writer, and his works, ignored' * The Reviews Hub *'Never loses its grip on its storytelling nature and is as eerie as it is enchanting in its theatricals... modern in its heartwarming wish, and refreshes Scrooge's redemption by giving an updated slant to the allegory' * Broadway World *

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn eighteen-year-old girl, Mary Shelley, dreams up a monster whose tragic story will capture the imaginations of generations to come. A young scientist by the name of Frankenstein breathes life into a gruesome body. Banished into an indifferent world, Frankenstein's creature desperately seeks out his true identity, but the agony of rejection and a broken promise push him into darkness. Dangerous and vengeful, the creature threatens to obliterate Frankenstein and everyone he loves, in a ferocious and bloodthirsty hunt for his maker. Rona Munro's 'inventive feminist adaptation' (The Stage) of Mary Shelley's Gothic masterpiece places the writer herself amongst the action as she wrestles with her creation and with the stark realities facing revolutionary young women, then and now. It premiered on a tour of the UK in 2019. Trade Review'An inventive feminist adaptation... an exploration and celebration of female creativity' * The Stage *'By putting Mary onstage at the centre of things rather than a mere framing device, Munro has written something that gets to the heart of the creative process itself' * Herald *

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn unsettling play about infidelity seen from the perspective of the three women involved: the wife, the lover and the daughter. George and Honor have been happily married for thirty-two years. She is a successful writer, he is a revered columnist. They have a perfect understanding of each other. Until a pushy young female journalist - on an assignment to 'profile' George - quite deliberately seeks to undermine that understanding. The fallout is dreadful - but beautifully and convincingly portrayed in all its painful consequences. Joanna Murray-Smith's play Honour was first performed at the Playbox Theatre, Melbourne, Australia, in November 1995. It received its UK premiere, in this revised version, at the National Theatre, London, in February 2003, and was revived in the West End in 2006.Trade Review'A stinging bulletin from the frontline of the gender wars... clinically dissects the notion, the nature, of love' * Evening Standard *'Murray-Smith's considerable skill lies in charting the minute emotional shifts and the subtle power play between the four people... Superb' * Mail on Sunday *'Murray-Smith's writing is searching and droll, naturalistic and poetically honed' * Independent on Sunday *'An old story, but thanks to the quality of the writing and acting we share the characters' sense of sailing into uncharted waters... And there are some excellent comic touches... the piece deserves full credit for its honesty and dramatic grip' * Sunday Telegraph *'It's an intelligent, powerful, gripping piece' * The Times *'A really powerful new play. Joanna Murray-Smith is the most exciting Australian dramatist of her generation' * New Statesman *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA powerful and straightforward dramatisation of Orwell's enduring parable on the perils of totalitarianism. Ian Wooldridge's dramatisation of Animal Farm remains faithful to Orwell's original, retaining both its affection for the animals and the inciciveness of its message. It was first performed by TAG Theatre Company at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, in 1982. This edition contains production notes for schools and other groups wishing to stage the play.Trade Review'Dare I say it... as good as the book' * Guardian *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA poignant drama about attitudes to teenage pregnancy in 1960s Britain. Mary Adams, aged 19, is unmarried and seven months pregnant. Forcibly sent to a Mother-and-Baby Home in the north of England by a mother intent on keeping up appearances, Mary – along with the other girls in the home – has to cope with both the shame and the dawning realisation that she will have to give the baby up for adoption whether she likes it or not. Despite this – and an overbearing matron – the girls' youthful effervescence keeps breaking through as they sing along to the girl-group songs of the period. Amanda Whittington's hugely touching play Be My Baby was first performed by Soho Theatre Company at the Pleasance Theatre, London, in 1998. This edition of Be My Baby includes new scenes added for several successful revivals of the play.Trade Review'Poignant, powerful and still pertinent... Whittington's play about yesterday sings out to today' * Observer *'You don't have to be young, female or unmarried to find it immensely touching' * The Times *'Whittington cleverly coats the bitter pill of her characters' experience with the sugared naivety of popular girl-group routines' * Guardian *

Read more less

Book SynopsisCompared to Gaelic poetry, the history of Gaelic theatre has not been a particularly long one, with the first examples appearing in the eighteenth century. However, drama in Gaelic began to thrive in the twentieth century, and modern Gaelic drama has the power to break down barriers and to touch people across linguistic and cultural divides.This collection is a celebration of this often-overlooked genre, bringing together eight Gaelic plays from the start of the twentieth century to the present day. Accessible to non-Gaelic speakers, this book contains English translations as well as an introduction to the history of Gaelic theatre, and to the playwrights whose skill and commitment to their art deserves much wider recognition.ContentsRèiteach Mòraig (Morag's Betrothal) Iain M. MacLeòidAm Fear a Chaill a Ghàidhlig (The Man Who Lost His Gaelic) Iain MacCormaigCeann Cropic Fionnlagh MacLeòidTog Orm Mo Speal (Give Me My Scythe) Iain Mac a' GhobhainnÒrdugh na Saorsa (Order of Release) Tormod Calum DòmhnallachSequamur Dòmhnall S. Moireach (Gaelic by Catrìona Dunn)Scotties Muireann Kelly with Francis PoetBana-Ghaisgich (Heroines) Màiri Nic'IlleMhoire

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis anthology offers an introduction to New Russian Drama through plays that illustrate the versatility and global relevance of this exciting movement. Both politically and aesthetically uncompromising, they chart new paths for performance in the twenty-first century.Trade ReviewRecommended for scholars, theater makers, and readers with a serious interest in world theater. * Library Journal *The ten pieces featured in Maksim Hanukai and Susanna Weygandt’s anthology are not so much plays in the traditional sense, complete with conflict and resolution, as live recordings of twenty-first-century Russian reality: snippets of dialogue framed by text. -- Anna Aslanyan * Times Literary Supplement *This timely and skillfully edited anthology of plays introduces us to the inventive genius and sheer courage of young dramatists who continue to defy the aesthetic, social, and political conservatism of Putin’s Russia. -- Julie Curtis, University of OxfordThe early years of this young century sparked an unprecedented flourishing of new writing for the theater in Russia. With abundant theatricality and often mordant wit, these plays represent some of the best and most enduring works from a vital generation of new Russian playwrights. -- Christian Parker, Columbia UniversityThere has never been a more important moment to stay connected to Russian theater and culture. This rich, comprehensive, and timely anthology offers a vital and inspiring lifeline for scholars, students, theater makers, and the general public alike. -- Duška Radosavljević, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of LondonA whole that is much more than the sum of its parts, this volume brings together a wide range of “texts for performance” that embody and enact a defiantly unruly theatrical sensibility, each rendered in an idiom that makes them legible and compelling to English-language audiences while preserving their provocative strangeness. This is theater that stuns, wounds, and transforms its readers and viewers. The texts gathered and expertly contextualized here offer us an opportunity to imagine and experience word as action, with culture and politics, emotion and ideology coming together to reshape the possibilities of the stage. -- Boris Wolfson, Amherst CollegeThis well-edited and beautifully translated volume introduces an English-speaking readership to one of the most interesting Russian cultural phenomena of the twenty first century: New Drama. * Slavic Review *It will be vital resource for scholars and theatre directors alike, and will no doubt spur greater interest in this rich and dynamic era of Russian drama. * Translation and Literature *Table of ContentsForeword, by Richard SchechnerIntroduction by Maksim Hanukai and Susanna WeygandtA Chronology of New Russian Drama1. Plasticine, by Vassily Sigarev2. Playing the Victim, by the Presnyakov Brothers3. September.doc, by Elena Gremina and Mikhail Ugarov4. The Brothers Ch., by Elena Gremina5. The Blue Machinist, by Mikhail Durnenkov6. The Locked Door, by Pavel Pryazhko7. The Soldier, by Pavel Pryazhko8. Summer Wasps Sting in November, Too, by Ivan Vyrypaev9. Somnambulism, by Yaroslava Pulinovich10. Project SWAN, by Andrey Rodionov and Ekaterina TroepolskayaNotesAbout the Authors

Read more less

Book SynopsisDrama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Henrik Ibsen's revolutionary play about a woman's awakening to her need for a life of her own. A Doll's House was premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 1879. This English version of A Doll's House is translated and introduced by Kenneth McLeish.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSomeone sneezes. Someone can't get a signal. Someone shares a secret. Someone won't answer the door. Someone put an elephant on the stairs. Someone's not ready to talk. Someone is her brother's mother. Someone hates irrational numbers. Someone told the police. Someone got a message from the traffic light. Someone's never felt like this before. In this fast moving kaleidoscope, more than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know. Caryl Churchill's play Love and Information was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in September 2012.Trade Review'This exhilarating theatrical kaleidoscope... What is extraordinary about Churchill is her capacity as a dramatist to go on reinventing the wheel' * Guardian *'A myriad of short scenes, a plethora of ideas, a large cast, a script of unallocated lines (with an appendix of "random" alternatives), a comedy of communication, a drama of depression, a modern manual of sex, memory and schizophrenia. I'm not quite sure how it happens, but every time Caryl Churchill writes a play, she breaks the mould' * Whatsonstage.com *'In the fast-moving traffic of life there are still quiet moments of beauty, heart wrenching sorrow, joy, and profound epiphanies... (The) succinct and thought-provoking script... speaks volumes about the fast turnover of modern life. Five Stars' * Huffington Post *'A wonderful web of complex emotions, memories, secrets and facts' * A Younger Theatre *'The wit, invention and structural ingenuity of Churchill's work are remarkable...she never does anything twice' * Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisEveryman is successful, popular and riding high when Death comes calling. Forced to abandon the life he has built, he embarks on a last, frantic search to recruit a friend, anyone, to speak in his defence. But Death is close behind, and time is running out.One of the great primal, spiritual myths, Everyman asks whether it is only in death that we can understand our lives. A cornerstone of English drama since the 15th century, this new adaptation by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy was presented at the National Theatre, London, in April 2015.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTable of ContentsPart I: THE FABRIC OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION. 1. A First Look at Interpersonal Communication. 2. Communication and Personal Identity. 3. Perception and Communication. 4. The World of Words. 5. The World Beyond Words. 6. Mindful Listening. Part II: WEAVING COMMUNICATION INTO RELATIONSHIPS. 7. Emotions and Communication. 8. Communication Climate: The Foundation of Personal Relationships. 9. Managing Conflict in Relationships. 10. Friendships in Our Lives. 11. Committed Romantic Relationships. 12. Communication in Families. Epilogue: Continuing the Conversation. Glossary. References. Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisEuripides (c. 485–406 BCE) has been prized in every age for his emotional and intellectual drama. Eighteen of his ninety or so plays survive complete, including Medea, Hippolytus, and Bacchae, one of the great masterpieces of the tragic genre. Fragments of his lost plays also survive.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSorcerer is a book in the form of a script/novel/manual about the pleasures of being with others and of being alone. Three friends hang out and share a long and unremarkable conversation about getting dressed, headaches, ticks, compression fantasies, surgery, and their aspirations, among other things. The characters find contentment in each other's company, conversing in the placid, eerie rhythms of a sitcom in which conflict never arises. When two of the friends go home for the night, the remaining one watches TV, dances, and takes apart his face in front of a giant mirror.Trade Review'Atkins and Zultanski's play redesigns the contemporary home as a machine for comedy, sadness, and anxiety. Sorcerer is a unique work of theatre and literature, beautiful and unsettling.' - Dan Fox; 'With Sorcerer, Ed Atkins and Steve Zultanski invite us 'round for an evening of conversational bricolage, word games, and mild social debarment (with grapes). We are privy to the trivial crosscut with the vital; we submit to compression fetish and sulphuric mythology; we ruminate on the merits of facial deconstruction, and most crucially of all, we are reminded once again about the awful sad joy of humanness and what it means to be alone.' - Graham Lambkin; 'Vivid on the page, Sorcerer is a surprising and compelling hallucinatory theatre text for a cast of three. In it a set of hyper-naturalistic micro-conversations are laid out in an unblinking deadpan; crisp dialogues that focus in on the body, mapping the detail of daily actions and experiences from the removal of clothing, to the acquisition of new skills, and the precise interior feeling of headaches. Atkins & Zultanski have made the score for a complex, haunting event.' - Tim Etchells; 'Sorcerer is the emphatic magic of lived-time actions. This is a dialogue between the object body and other objects, so distended and loud as to be near silent. Where each action held might also begin to corrupt, or stain, pulling too hard, tuning in and tearing out. A politics of who we are in how we are, learnt, programmed, actioned and acted.' - Ghislaine Leung; 'In this ingenious work, Zultanski and Atkins innovatively deploy both material and human gesture to paint a sad yet almost comic scenario of contemporaneity. A group of friends conduct inane conversation about subjects like how to take off your pants (with accompanying gestures), yet these people raise serious compassion in us, for they are us. Atkins and Zultanski's brand of drolly underwrought utterance show us once more that innovative device is the sine qua non of really good art.' - Gail Scott

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe electrifying, Tony Award-winning playset inside the elusive world of a recording studio, as a rock band on the brink of superstardom attempts to create their difficult second album. Published alongside the West End production in 2025.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOffers economical, metrical translations that convey the range of effects of the playwright's verse, from the idiomatic speech of its dialogue to the high formality of its choral odes.Trade ReviewDiane Arnson Svarlien's body of work means a quantum leap forward in the vibrancy and immediacy of classical verse drama. I first learned of her work when I was searching, madly, for a translation of Medea for a production I had been hired to direct. I sought out every published version. I tried to track down any unpublished ones rumored to exist. All the others were wanting; her translation was revelatory. Merely read her translation of the play, then read another. You will sense the difference. This is particularly true if you are a practitioner of theatre. --Patrick Wang, Director of Diane Arnson Svarlien's Medea in its world premiere at the Stella Adler Studio, and of the feature film In the Family, nominated for a Best First Feature Independent Spirit Award.The excellent Introduction by Robin Mitchell-Boyask displays an admirable command of up-to-date scholarship and judiciously leaves controversial matters open to one's own interpretation. Arnson Svarlien's verse translation has both elegance and power--it reads well, not just to the eye, but (happily for the director and actors) also to the ear. --Ian Storey, Department of Classics, Trent UniversityMitchell-Boyask's Introduction gives the reader a lively and accessible overview of Euripides' life, the circumstances of the original performances, and critical debate on the three plays. Footnotes to the translations provide students with useful background without over-burdening the text. The translations themselves are lively, vigorous, colorful, and direct, while remaining very close to the Greek; I laughed out loud more than once when I realized that, yes, this was exactly what Euripides had said. Arnson Svarlien has also taken care with the meter. Iambic trimeter, the 'spoken' meter of Greek, has been represented with iambic pentameter in English; but even in the lyric passages, whose meters do not translate into English, responsion within odes has been preserved. Yet all of this attention to such details of meter and accuracy sacrifices nothing in clarity or pace. Arnson Svarlien's translations are an ideal introduction to Euripides for students with no Greek and little knowledge of the ancient world. They remind me of why I love Euripides. --Laurel Bowman, Department of Classics, University of VictoriaTable of ContentsIntroduction; Translator's Preface; Maps; Alcestis; Medea; Hippolytus.

Read more less

Book SynopsisCelebrating the art forms of ballet and fashion, this beautiful book explores the creative collaborations between New York City Ballet and the top fashion designers of our age, including Virgil Abloh, Christopher John Rogers, Anna Sui, and Valentino, among others.Featuring more than thirty contemporary fashion designers, New York City Ballet Choreography & Couture highlights their distinctive work for ballet. From the shorts suits of Thom Browne accommodating the movement of dancers, and the leather harness detailing of Prabal Gurung to the baroque flounces of Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen or the jewel-encrusted slip dresses of Carolina Herrera, this enchanting volume highlights how fashion design is adapted for dance to amplify movement and music.The stunning photography by Pari Dukovic features breathtaking images of the dancers in motion, along with detail shots highlighting the couture elements of the costumes. Author Marc Happel, NYCB’s DirTrade Review"The New York City Ballet has staged an annual fashion gala since 2012, bringing together choreographers and fashion designers for collaborations both whimsical and mind-bending. A decade’s worth of their creations are vividly showcased in “New York City Ballet: Choreography and Couture,” with a foreword by Sarah Jessica Parker." — New York Times"The list of designer collaborators for New York City Ballet’s annual Fall Fashion Gala reads like the ultimate fashion Rolodex. Carolina Herrera, Raf Simons, Dries Van Noten, Virgil Abloh, and Sarah Burton are just a few of the 30 names who have designed costumes for the annual celebration of dance and fashion over the past 12 years and whose work is celebrated in a new Rizzoli monograph titled New York City Ballet: Choreography & Couture." ~GRAZIA

Read more less

Book SynopsisAlan Bennett''s beloved, best-known play, with a beautiful typographic cover. The best moments in reading are when you come across something a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things that you'd thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you've never met, maybe even someone long dead.As an unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys pursue sex, sport and a place at university, adolescent anarchy and staffroom rivalry provoke insistent questions about history and education.The History Boys premiered at the National Theatre, London, 2004, winning Evening Standard, Critics' Circle, Olivier and South Bank Awards. On Broadway, it received numerous awards, including six Tonys.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs one of the leading influencers in theatric art, John Macfarlane is widely regarded as one of Wales''s finest theatre designers and painters. This is the first book about John Macfarlane and his works, both within and outside of the theatre world.

Read more less

Book SynopsisPhaedra * Oedipus * Medea * Trojan Women * Hercules Furens * ThyestesSeneca''s plays are the product of a sensational, frightening, and oppressive period of history. Tutor to the emperor Nero, Seneca lived through uncertain and violent times, and his dramas depict the extremes of human behaviour. Rape, suicide, child-killing, incestuous love, madness and mutilation afflict the characters, who are obsessed and destroyed by their feelings. Passion is constantly set against reason, and passion wins out. Seneca forces us to think about the difference between compromise and hypocrisy, about what happens when emotions overwhelm judgement, and about how, if at all, a person can be good, calm, or happy in a corrupt society and under constant threat of death.Seneca was one of the most prolific, versatile, and influential of all classical Latin writers, and the only tragic playwright from ancient Rome whose work survives. This new edition of his six best plays captures Seneca''s style in a verseTrade ReviewI am awstruck by how good this is * Times Literary Supplement, A. N. Wilson's Book of The Year, 3/12/2010 *Wilson catches the beauty of their descriptive passages with simple felicity. * TLS, *A fine new translation. * William Fitzgerald, Times Literary Supplement *This edition of Seneca's tragedies is fresh, affordable, and teachable. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *Table of ContentsPhaedra ; Oedipus ; Medea ; Trojan Women ; Hercules Furens ; Thyestes

Read more less

Book SynopsisAntigone was originally produced in Paris in 1942, when France was an occupied nation and part of Hitler's Europe. The play depicts an authoritarian regime and the play's central character, the young Antigone, mirrored the predicament of the French people in the grips of tyranny. One of the masterpieces of the modern French stage.Trade Review"Anouilh is a poet, but not of words: he is a poet of words-acted, of scenes-set, of players-performing." Director, Peter Brook

Read more less

Book SynopsisA masterpiece of Russian drama, now in a student editionTrade ReviewIt is the element of might-have-been in Chekhov's characters that makes their sense of waste so tragic ... I know of no more moving climax in world drama. * Guardian *Michael Frayn has left his signature upon our contemporary enjoyment of Chekhov...this Uncle Vanya possesses all the scrupulous, subtly idiomatic life we have come to expect from his hand, allied with - and this is the true mark of Frayn - a fine sense of Chekhovian complexity. * Spectator *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFord wrote darkly about sexual and political passion, thwarted ambition, and incest. This selection also shows his ability to portray the poignancy of love as well as write entertaining comedy and create convincing roles for women. Setting Ford's earliest surviving independently-written play, The Lover's Melancholy; alongside his three best-known works, this edition includes an introduction with sections on each play, addressing gender issues, modernrelevance, and staging possibilities. Includes: The Lover's Melancholy; The Broken Heart; `Tis Pity She's a Whore; Perkin Warbeck.Table of ContentsThe Lover's Melancholy ; The Broken Heart ; 'Tis Pity She's a Whore ; Perkin Warbeck

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Modern Husband * The Clandestine Marriage * She Stoops to Conquer * Wild OatsThis edition brings together four eighteenth-century comedies that illustrate the full variety of the century''s drama. Fielding''s The Modern Husband , written before the 1737 Licensing Act that restricted political and social comment, depicts wife-pandering and widespread social corruption. In Garrick and Colman''s The Clandestine Marriage two lovers marry in defiance of parental wishes and rue the consequences. She Stoops to Conquer explores the comic and not-so-comic consequences of mistaken identity, and in Wild Oats, the ''strolling player'' Rover is a beacon of hope at a time of unrest.Part of the Oxford English Drama series, this edition has modern-spelling texts, critical introduction, wide-ranging annotation and an informative bibliography. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Select Bibliography ; THE MODERN HUSBAND ; THE CLANDESTINE MARRIAGE ; SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER ; WILD OATS ; Explanatory Notes ; Glossary

Read more less

Book SynopsisBasically, Robert reported lights over the Tesco car park. Then he told us an alien was coming to stay in his spare room. With the help of some historical abduction stories, a latex alien mask, and a bucket of fl ying saucers, we’re working out whether to believe him.Maybe this is a good place to believe him?Maybe you can help?Developed in association with The North Wall, supported by New Diorama Theatre and The Yard Theatre.“Poltergeist Theatre is making a name for itself as witty, whacky theatremakers with an electric, experimental edge”THE STAGESAMUEL FRENCH NEW PLAY AWARD WINNER 2018NSDF OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE 2018NSDF COMMENDATION IN DIRECTING 2018

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisA major new edition of Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy,an outstanding landmark of Elizabethan drama. In its time, it quickly became a box office success and probably inspired Shakespeare to write Hamlet, as it contains a ghost, murders that demand revenge and a hero that hesitates and contemplates suicide. As a revenge tragedy, it set up the salient features of a dramatic genre that would last decades. Its hero, the aged Marshall of Spain Hieronimo, whose son is murdered at night, soon transcended the play and became the standard stage representation of grief, rhetorical passion and madness. Hieronimo's main antagonist is one of the first Machiavellian characters of English drama. This edition explores the play in relation to its historical context and contemporary Iberian dynastic policy. It also relates the play, as a literary artefact, to other artistic manifestations of the European Renaissance and offers a fresh assessment of the play's stage history. For the first time in the play's textual history, this edition presents an integrated text inviting a reading of the play as it was published both in 1592 and in 1602.Trade ReviewThe Spanish Tragedy has a long stage history which Calvo and Tronch summarize concisely [in this book]. Professional performances up to 2010 are documented, but amateur performances, often ignored by critics, are also shown to yield interesting insights. * The Year's Work in English Studies *A well-thought-out contribution to the study of Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy, and its underlying themes of cultural representation, power relations, afterlife studies, early modern international relations, and historical context analysis. * H-Nationalism *

Read more less

Book SynopsisBertolt Brecht (1898-1956) is acknowledged as one of the great dramatists whose work has had a considerable influence on the theatre. His landmark plays include Mother Courage and Her Children, The Threepenny Opera, Life of Galileo, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. His plays and dramatic theory are central to the study of modern theatre.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA traveller falls ill in a poor country and plummets into a feverish self-examination.But something''s been hidden from me, too. Something - a part of myself - has been hidden from me, and I think it''s the part that''s there on the surface, what anyone in the world could see about me if they saw out the window of a passing train. The incredible history of my feelings and my thoughts could fill up a dozen leather-bound books. But the story of my life - my behaviour, my actions - now that''s a slim little paperback, and I''ve never read it.The Fever was first performed by the author in an apartment near Seventh Avenue in New York City in January 1990. It was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1991, and at the Ambassadors Theatre in 1997. The Fever was revived at the Royal Court Theatre in April 2009.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTiffany Stern is Professor of Early Modern Drama at University College, University of Oxford, UK. She is one of the General Editors of the New Mermaid series, and she has also edited two plays in the series - Sheridan's The Rivals (2004) and Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer (2010).James Ogden is Editor of She Stoops to Conquer for the New Mermaids series and a former Senior Lecturer in English at Aberystwyth University, UK.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction About the Play Plot Genre Structure Characters Men Women Themes Original Staging Recent Performances Date and Sources The Author Note on the text Abbreviations Further reading The Country Wife

Read more less

Book SynopsisOkot wants nothing more than to get to the UK. Beth wants nothing more than to help him.Join the hopeful, resilient residents of The Jungle', the refugees and volunteers from around the globe who gather at the Afghan Café. They're just across the Channel, right on our doorstep.Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson's The Jungle premiered as a coproduction between Young Vic and the National Theatre with Good Chance Theatre, commissioned by the National Theatre, opening at the Young Vic, London, in December 2017. It transferred to the Playhouse Theatre, London, in June 2018.The play made its North American premiere at St. Ann''s Warehouse in New York in 2018 and enjoyed a subsequent engagement at The Curran in San Francisco in 2019. In 2023, The Jungle returned to the US, running at St. Ann''s Warehouse and Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington D.C.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA drama of ambition, murder, remorse and retribution, Boris Godunov charts the decline of a Russian statesman, whose dynastic aims were foiled by a guilty past and an audacious upstart. Based on history and inspired by Shakespeare, Alexander Pushkin’s daring masterwork is presented here in its rarely published uncensored version of 1825. Set in Vienna, Flanders, Madrid and London, Pushkin’s celebrated Little Tragedies – Mozart and Salieri, The Mean-Spirited Knight, The Stone Guest and A Feast during the Plague – each focus on a protagonist’s driving obsession – with status, money, sex or risk-taking – and its devastating consequences.Table of ContentsThis edition features an appendix containing extra historical material, notes on the play's staging and versions of the text, as well as an extract from John Wilson's The City of the Plague.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn downstate Illinois, four men convicted of sex crimes against minors share a group home where they live out their lives in the shadow of the offences they committed. A man shows up to confront his childhood abuser – but does he want closure or retribution? Bruce Norris's provocative play Downstate zeroes in on the limits of our compassion and what happens when society deems anyone beyond forgiveness. Downstate received its UK premiere at the National Theatre, London, in March 2019, in the same production which had its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago, in September 2018.Trade Review'You can hear a pin-drop for most of the evening – except when you are laughing in shock or reeling in surprise... an astonishing piece of writing, which fulfils art's profound function of making you look and think hard about complex, difficult moral issues’ * WhatsOnStage *'A haunting vision of sex abuse by a playwright with a gift for unsettling… Norris handles the subject matter nimbly… an uncomfortable experience, flecked with humour but bleak and haunting. It raises deeply awkward questions about revenge, revulsion and forgiveness' * Evening Standard *'A smart, acutely funny, important piece of work… Bruce Norris has a lightness of touch which prevents the grim subject matter from a descent into preachiness… in an arena where reasoned debate is routinely shouted down, Bruce Norris has proved to be a necessary voice' * Telegraph *'An unsentimental act of compassion and a devastating entertainment, a wry polemic and the darkest of dark comedies' * Chicago Reader *'[An] audacious, highly charged play' * Daily Herald *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the heat of summer, Sonya and her Uncle Vanya while away their days on a crumbling estate deep in the countryside, visited occasionally by the only local doctor Astrov. However, when Sonya's father, Professor Serebryakov, suddenly returns with his restless, alluring, new wife, declaring his intention to sell the house, the polite façades crumble and long-repressed feelings start to emerge with devastating consequences. Olivier Award-winner Conor McPherson's stunning adaptation of Anton Chekhov's masterpiece, Uncle Vanya, is a portrayal of life at the turn of the twentieth century, full of tumultuous frustration, dark humour and hidden passions. It premiered at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End in January 2020, directed by Ian Rickson. A film of the production, made by Sonia Friedman Productions/Angelica Films and shot on the stage of the Harold Pinter Theatre after the West End run was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was screened on BBC Four and went on to win the Theatre Award in the South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2021.Trade Review'[Conor McPherson's adaptation is] perfectly weighted... does not radically reinvent or revolutionise Chekov's 19th-century story. It returns us to the great, mournful spirit of Chekhov's tale about unrequited love, ageing and disappointment in middle-age, while giving it a sleeker, modern beat. McPherson's script has a stripped, vivid simplicity which quickens the pace of the drama... Every character is fully realised, including the ancillary roles that bring more than comic relief... a perfect tragicomedy' * Guardian *'As accessible as a TV drama, without ever betraying the great, melancholy, insightful soul that has made the play last for as long as it has. It is radical and revelatory without ever being gimmicky or insensitive… McPherson pulls off a feat of magical reinvention, and allows us to see the play anew' * WhatsOnStage *'Succeeds resoundingly in making the turn-of-the-20th-century cares of the original resonate today… the contemporary relevance is startling' * The Arts Desk *'Nobody quite walks the tightrope between comedy and tragedy with the aplomb of Chekhov… in McPherson's version, more than any others I've seen, the women get to deliver the emotional gut-punches that balance the humour' * Broadway World *'McPherson's new adaptation feels almost impossibly contemporary in the way it packs in so much lust, wit, rage and regret' * The Times *'A Vanya for our times' * Evening Standard *

Read more less

Book SynopsisKefalonia, 1941. Captain Corelli, an enigmatic young Italian officer, is posted to the idyllic Greek island as part of the Axis occupying forces. Shunned by the locals at first, he proves to be civilised, humorous – and a consummate musician. The captain is soon thrown together with Dr Iannis's strong-willed and beautiful daughter, Pelagia, who discovers all of the complexities of love, and how it can blossom in the most unexpected and profound way. Rona Munro's adaptation of Louis de Bernières' much-loved epic novel, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, premiered on tour of the UK in 2019, before transferring to London's West End.Trade Review'A vivid and tumbling dramatic presence… real riches and depths are to be found, as it highlights the coarsening and toughening effects of life in wartime, balanced against an emotive love story' * Evening Standard *'A magical, moving immersion in Louis de Bernières' exquisite story that so many of us know and love' * A Younger Theatre *'Manages to both stay faithful to the original and inject it with freshness… much of the emotional drama comes from spectacle, song, movement and music and while this means that the weighty, winding narrative of the book is simplified, it feels more streamlined' * Guardian *'A fleet, muscular retelling. Liable to bring a lump to the throat' * Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA darkly comic, smashed-up retelling of Richard III, Shakespeare's classic tale about the lust for power, Teenage Dick reimagines the most famous disabled character of all time as a high-school outsider in junior year: the deepest winter of his discontent. Picked on because of his disability (as well as his sometimes creepily Shakespearean way of speaking), Richard is determined to have his revenge and make his name by becoming president of the senior class. But like all teenagers, and all despots, he is faced with the hardest question of all: is it better to be loved, or feared? 'Retells Shakespeare with a much-needed urgency, providing an arch reminder that the voices of the disabled have often been ignored, terrorised or shouted down from the earliest possibility... Lew's writing neatly blends Shakespearean rhetoric with everyday speech... sharp and highly enjoyable... more plays of this calibre, telling the stories they do, are very much needed and welcome to explore our own ingloriousness' - Broadway WorldTrade Review'Retells Shakespeare with a much-needed urgency, providing an arch reminder that the voices of the disabled have often been ignored, terrorised or shouted down from the earliest possibility... Lew's writing neatly blends Shakespearean rhetoric with everyday speech... sharp and highly enjoyable... more plays of this calibre, telling the stories they do, are very much needed and welcome to explore our own ingloriousness' Broadway World; 'Bursting onto the stage and bringing a hundred innuendos with it, Mike Lew's vibrant play mashes up teen films based on Shakespeare, (think 10 Things I Hate About You), and Richard III to present a potent and relevant play about our times and power... riffs beautifully from Shakespeare's original, with enough mashing up of the verse to make the audience laugh out loud at the tributes to the Bard. But, more importantly, it is a play for today' BritishTheatre.com; 'A smart, probing play... sinks a cunning, shining dagger into an author who’s buried in centuries of history and glory' Time Out; 'A raggedly brilliant evening... both deals in and subverts the dizzy, hyper-tense energy that drives American school dramas... boldly challenges the audience' Evening Standard; 'This is not just muscular writing by Mr Lew; it also has the ping of absolute authenticity' New York Times; '[A] sharp modern-day reinvention' Time Out (New York)

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Nothing is any longer one thing.' From a teenage encounter with Elizabeth I, through infatuations, voyages and even a change of gender, Orlando lives out five centuries of life and love before they finally find the courage to truly be themselves. Neil Bartlett's sparkling adaptation of Virginia Woolf's famous fantasy finds powerful contemporary relevance in her vision of equal rights to love for bodies of every kind – and brings it to life on the stage with a kaleidoscope of theatrical styles, overseen by the haunting figure of Woolf herself. It premiered at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End in November 2022, in a production directed by Michael Grandage and starring Emma Corrin in the title role. Written for a diverse ensemble of nine or more actors, this adaptation will appeal to any theatre or company looking to entertain their audiences with a bold new take on this iconic tale of love and transformation.Trade Review'Radiates gleeful intelligence, rampaging heart and tremendous fun. It couldn't feel more timely, and it's glorious' * Guardian *'Theatre to make the heart leap... this vivid, glittering drama achieves not just the improbable, but the almost impossible: it captures the brilliance of Woolf's mind, the daring of her transgressive vision and the lush gorgeousness of her prose, and refracts it on the stage in an exquisite rainbow of prismatic colour... a play that is at once a delectable queer fantasia and a freewheeling intellectual joyride through the intertwined complexities of life, literature, identity and the creative process... a blazing beacon to progress, to possibility, to freedom and the power of imagination' * The Stage *'Neil Bartlett's fleet-footed, wildly imaginative but wonderfully disciplined adaption shines literal and metaphorical light on contemporary ideas of identity... an outstandingly original theatrical pleasure' * Variety *'Joyful and groundbreaking... a triumph' * Independent *'Neil Bartlett's adaptation captures all [the novel's] sexiness and spirit... it's splendid in every sense: passionate, camp as Christmas and as warmly celebratory, too' * iNews *'An adaptation full of joy and hope and sense of possibility for the future' * WhatsOnStage *'Neil Bartlett's funny but moving adaptation... a frisky romp, wittily engaging with today's debate about gender fluidity... a joyous ode to freedom' * Daily Mail *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTodd Almond is an acclaimed performer, songwriter, and playwright. His recent performance on Broadway in Girl from the North Country was called stunning by The Washington Post and roof-raising, uplifting, and invigorating by Hollywood Reporter. His musical The Odyssey, for which he wrote the book, music, and lyrics, was hailed as brash, funny and heart-stirring by The New York Times. His theater piece Kansas City Choir Boy was called awesome, slyly punk rock by Rolling Stone.Almond is known for his singular songwriting in addition to his work as an accomplished performer. He recently toured the US in his original musical Kansas City Choir Boy, starring alongside rock icon Courtney Love, and starred in three of his original musicals at the famed Delacorte Theater in Central Park (The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, and The Odyssey). His musical Girlfriend based on the Matthew Sweet album o

Read more less

Book SynopsisPlaywright Migdalia Cruz breathes new life intoRichard III. Nuyorican playwright Migdalia Cruz unpacks and repositions Shakespeare'sRichard IIIfor a twenty-first-century audience. She presents a contemporary English verse translation, faithfully keeping the poetry, the puns, and the politics of the play intact, with a rigorous and in-depth examination ofRichard IIIthe man, the king, the outsiderwho is still the only English king to have died in battle. In the Wars of the Roses, his Catholic belief in his country led to his slaughter at Bosworth's Field by his Protestant rivals. In reimagining this text, Cruz emphasizes Richard III's outsider statusexacerbatedby his severe scoliosis, which twisted his spineby punctuating the text with punk music from 1970s London. Cruz's Richard is no one's fool or lackey. He is a new kind of monarch, whose dark sense of humor and deep sense of purpose leads his charge against the society which never fully accepted him because he looked different.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAntler steps out of her front door and throws her phone to the ground. She stamps on it. Then she climbs the tallest tree in the park. She doesn't want to be found, not by anyone. Over the course of one autumnal evening, seven teenagers' lives intertwine as they make their way through the park. And everything that seemed normal becomes extraordinary. A play about protest, power and protecting yourself, Stef Smith's Remote was commissioned as part of the 2015 National Theatre Connections Festival and proved enormously popular with youth theatres and college companies across the UK, returning for the 2023 Connections Festival.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA stage thriller set in the world of competitive swimming,from a major US writer.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less