Plays, playscripts, drama
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. A Month in the Country
Book Synopsis
£18.69
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Outside Mullingar
Book Synopsis
£17.09
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Neva: English/Spanish billingual edition
Book Synopsis "Guillermo Calderón is an authentic genius of the theater . . . you can''t say you''ve heard or seen any of it before, which may make you want to hear and see it again."?The New Yorker "Neva''s neobrutalist punch demonstrates . . . the enduring power of art."?Time Out New York "Brilliant and provocative."?TheatreMania "A lovely, disturbing drama . . . Calderón''s drama is Chekhovian in the best sense."?The Village Voice This politically charged, haunting yet humorous meditation on theater and the revolutionary impulse tells the story of three actors, including Anton Chekhov''s widow, who gather to rehearse scenes from The Cherry Orchard as Russia faces an impending revolution. A savage examination of the relationship between theater and historical context, Neva is the author''s first play, which he directed for its English language premiere at the Public Theater in New York City. Guillermo Calderon is Chile''s foremost contemporary theater artist. His plays include Diciembre (December), Clase (Class), Villa, Discurso (Speech), Quake, and Escuela (School), and his productions have toured extensively through South America and Europe. His co-written screenplay Violeta won the World Cinema Jury Prize for Drama at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and other awards include Best Play of the Year (Art Critics Circle of Chile), three Chilean Altazor Awards for Best Playwright and Best Director, and the 2010 Bank of Scotland Angel Award (Edinburgh Fringe Festival).
£17.99
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Five Plays
Book Synopsis
£20.89
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Marie Antoinette & 3C: Two Plays
Book Synopsis
£19.54
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Barbecue / Bootycandy: two plays
Book Synopsis
£16.14
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. The Liquid Plain
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£17.09
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. The Kilroys List: Volume One: 97 Monologues and
Book Synopsis
£19.79
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Molière, or The Cabal of Hypocrites & Don
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£21.24
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One
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£20.39
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. The Cherry Orchard
Book Synopsis
£17.99
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Illyria
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£15.02
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Three Sisters
Book Synopsis
£16.80
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Linda Vista
Book Synopsis
£15.61
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Ironbound Sanctuary City two plays
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£21.24
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Becky Nurse of Salem
Book Synopsis
£19.54
St Augustine's Press Don`t Worry about Socrates – Three Plays for
Book SynopsisThis book exemplifies Pieper’s skills as a communicator. Despite his concentration on the depths—which, beneath the stormy surface level of life, he is constantly able to plumb—Pieper is able to stage his profoundest thoughts. Here, in a clear and appealing Pieper re-enacts the central meanings of three of Plato’s most famous dialogues, all touching on the central purpose of life: how do we gain by giving, what is love and how do we show it, what is the purpose of our action and where do we find full happiness? In the first of the three plays, Gorgias: Or the Abuse of Words and Power, he is able to vent his concerns about the dishonest use of language for purely political purposes or for purely personal advancement. Socrates contends that gaining power does not lead to happiness, and that, in the end, suffering wrong is to be preferred over doing wrong. In the second of the plays, The Symposium, Socrates sits back and listens to all the speakers say what they understand by Eros, for love is seen here in many forms from the speakers. Then, when his turn comes, he merely reports the wise words which Diotima spoke to him about the highest form of Eros—which is love of that which is beautiful in itself, that “is” eternal, that neither becomes nor passes away. In the third play, The Death of Socrates (from Plato’s dialogue Phaedo) Pieper shows how Socrates’ profound values enable him to face death with equanimity. Even his close disciples and friends (Plato is absent) are nonplussed as they witness his total selfless integrity. Without popularizing, this book succeeds in highlighting some fundamental issues which are not only central to Plato’s thought, but are also shown to be acutely relevant to our current society.
£20.00
Africa World Press And The Girls In Their Sunday Dresses: Four Works
Book Synopsis
£17.95
The Library of America Moliere: The Complete Richard Wilbur
Book Synopsis
£28.89
University of Delaware Press Dramatic Extracts in Seventeenth-Century English
Book SynopsisThroughout the seventeenth century, early modern play readers and playgoers copied dramatic extracts (selections from plays and masques) into their commonplace books, verse miscellanies, diaries, and songbooks. Dramatic Extracts in Seventeenth-Century English Manuscripts: Watching, Reading, Changing Plays is the first to examine these often overlooked texts, which reveal what early modern audiences and readers took, literally and figuratively, from plays. As this under-examined archival evidence shows, play readers and playgoers viewed plays as malleable and modular texts to be altered, appropriated, and, most importantly, used. These records provide information that is not available in other forms about the popularity and importance of early modern plays, the reasons plays appealed to their audiences, and the ideas in plays that most interested audiences. Tracing the course of dramatic extracting from the earliest stages in the 1590s, through the prolific manuscript circulation at the universities, to the closure and reopening of the theatres, Estill gathers these microhistories to create a comprehensive overview of seventeenth-century dramatic extracts and the culture of extracting from plays. Dramatic Extracts in Seventeenth-Century English Manuscripts: Watching, Reading, Changing Plays explores new archival evidence (from John Milton’s signature to unpublished university plays) while also analyzing the popularity of perennial favorites such as Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The study of dramatic extracts is the study of particulars: particular readers, particular manuscripts, particular plays or masques, particular historic moments. As D. F. McKenzie puts it, “different readers [bring] the text to life in different ways.” By providing careful analyses of these rich source texts, this book shows how active play-viewing and play-reading (that is, extracting) ultimately led to changing the plays themselves, both through selecting and manipulating the extracts and positioning the plays in new contexts. Published by University of Delaware Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.
£33.15
Iter Press Amorous Hope, A Pastoral Play – A Bilingual
Book SynopsisA seventeenth-century play showing the reality of life for women. Valeria Miani’s Amorous Hope is a play of remarkable richness, subtlety, and verve. It presents a scathing exposure of society’s double-standards and it champions women’s dramatic agency by centering on the bleak reality they often faced, a reality that attempted to harm and silence its victims. The play’s salient episodes reflect realities modern women still face today. Miani’s literary achievements attest to her emergence as a cultural protagonist alongside Europe’s most talented women writers, such as Isabella Andreini, and she challenged the premodern notion that a woman’s eloquence is an indication of her sexual promiscuity. Trade Review“Joining recent publications of other drama by Italian women around 1600, Miani’s Amorous Hope is a work of considerable interest by a playwright only recently becoming better known after long neglect. Coller’s introduction, which makes use of excellent and up-to-date scholarship, persuasively presents Miani’s participation within a network of literati and academia members and pursues this topic of interconnections through a detailed account of her poems published in anthologies alongside the verses of others. Its discussion of the play focuses on Miani’s treatment of the main issue: male injustices to women, and the corrections or penalties delivered by the two leading female characters. As Coller points out, the lessons given by female characters are also the lessons to the audience by the playwright herself.” -- Janet L. Smarr, University of California San DiegoTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Illustrations Introduction The Other Voice Life, Works, and Afterlife of Valeria Miani The Ricovrati of Padua The Ricovrati on the Education of Women Miani among the “Illustrious and Famous Poets of Italy”: Contributions to Polinnia (1609) and the Gareggiamento poetico (1611) Miani’s Madrigal in Paolo Bozi’s Vita, attioni, miracoli (1614) Miani’s Amorosa speranza and Female-Authored Pastoral Drama Amorosa speranza: Structure and Themes Note on the Italian Text Note on the Transcription Note on the Translation Amorosa speranza / Amorous Hope Notes to the Italian Text Notes to the English Translation Appendix Selections from Polinnia Selections from Gareggiamento poetico, Le Lodi (Part Four) Bibliography Index
£45.60
Bucknell University Press,U.S. Faust: A Tragedy, Part I
Book SynopsisGoethe is the most famous German author, and the poetic drama Faust, Part I (1808) is his best-known work, one that stands in the company of other leading canonical works of European literature such as Dante’s Inferno and Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This is the first new translation into English since David Constantine’s 2005 version. Why another translation when there are several currently in print? To invoke Goethe’s own authority when speaking of his favorite author, Shakespeare, Goethe asserts that so much has already been said about the poet-dramatist “that it would seem there’s nothing left to say,” but adds, “yet it is the peculiar attribute of the spirit that it constantly motivates the spirit.” Goethe’s great dramatic poem continues to speak to us in new ways as we and our world continually change, and thus a new or updated translation is always necessary to bring to light Faust’s almost inexhaustible, mysterious, and enchanting poetic and cultural power. Eugene Stelzig’s new translation renders the text of the play in clear and crisp English for a contemporary undergraduate audience while at the same time maintaining its leading poetic features, including the use of rhyme. Published by Bucknell University Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.Trade ReviewStelzig's translation is an excellent and unusually accessible introduction to Goethe's text for college students. Its dramatic prose with occasional rhyme catches the basic tone of Goethe's play and loosely follows the lineation of the original. Accurate and clear enough to stand on its own with minimal annotation, lively enough to keep students reading and to read aloud in class, it is a superb choice for world literature courses or for departmental courses in translation. -- Jane K. Brown * University of Washington *This exciting new translation of Goethe’s Faust brings the text to life for a contemporary audience. Stelzig’s 'flexible' approach to poetic translation is eminently successful: the complexity of the text is allowed to emerge without completely sacrificing its poetry. I highly recommend it--especially for the classroom and first-time English readers of Faust. -- Astrida Tantillo * University of Illinois at Chicago *"The renewing potential of translation—indeed, of any act of cultural transmission—lies at the heart of so many of Goethe’s works, and Stelzig has succeeded in crafting a vibrant English version of this masterpiece." * Eighteenth-Century Studies *"This translation successfully captures the power of the text and maintains, as best as possible, fidelity to the original, even as the author has made many choices to produce a readable and quite modern Faust." * The Wordsworth Circle *"Stelzig’s translation succeeds in establishing this desired rapport between Goethe’s German text and English-speaking readers of the twenty-first century. By using contemporary but not overly colloquial language, by conveying some of the range of Goethe’s explicit and implicit meaning, and by creating a text with sonorous, poetic qualities, Stelzig has produced a translation that will make Goethe’s work accessible to a range of readers. It would certainly be appropriate for undergraduate literature courses; the scholarly apparatus (introduction and notes) is informative without being pedantic. The translation would, I think, also lend itself to use in theatrical performances." * European Romantic Review *"Stelzig has provided a solid, readable text of Faust I that should remain enjoyable and useful for a long while." * Goethe Yearbook *Table of ContentsTranslator’s Note IntroductionFAUST, PART I Further Reading Contemporary English Translations of Faust, Part I Acknowledgements Authorial Note
£17.99
Swan Isle Press Zóbel Reads Lorca – Poetry, Painting, and
Book SynopsisA cherished erotic play by Federico García Lorca, illustrated by a major Spanish artist. Painting, poetry, and music come together in Zóbel Reads Lorca, as Fernando Zóbel, a Harvard student who would become one of Spain’s most famous painters, translates and illustrates Federico García Lorca’s haunting play about the wounds of love. The premiere of Amor de Don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín, an “erotic allelujia” which Lorca once called his most cherished play, was shut down in 1928 by Spanish government censors who confiscated the manuscript and locked it away in the pornography section of a state archive. Lorca rewrote the work in New York, and an amateur theater group brought it to the Spanish stage a few years later. Since his death, the play has also been transformed into ballet and opera. Zóbel Reads Lorca presents Zóbel’s previously unpublished translation and features contextual essays from several scholars. Art historian Felipe Pereda studies Lorca in the context of Zóbel’s development as a painter, Luis Fernández Cifuentes describes the precarious and much-debated state of the humanities in Zóbel’s Harvard and throughout the United States in the 1940s, and Christopher Maurer delves into musical and visual aspects of the play’s American productions. Trade Review"[...] his translation is far superior to the 1941 O'Connell/Graham Luján version and is a real treat as presented in this exquisitely illustrated volume." * The Bulletin of Spanish Studies *Table of ContentsPreface Marta Mateo vii Zóbel Reads Lorca: The Painter’s Early Years in New England Felipe Pereda 1 Zóbel’s Harvard and the 1940s Crisis in Higher Education Luis Fernández Cifuentes 41 American Perlimplín Christopher Maurer 63 About the Translation Christopher Maurer 81 Federico García LorcaDon Perlimplín in Love Translated by Fernando Zóbel 83 Federico García Lorca Music to Amor de Don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín Arranged by Gustavo Pittaluga 123 From Stage to Page: A Perlimplín Chronology Christopher Maurer and Lincoln Son Currie 127 Illustrations 141 Notes 145 Bibliography 165 Acknowledgments 171
£30.40
Playwrights Canada Press,Canada The List
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£18.69
Playwrights Canada Press,Canada Lion in the Streets
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£18.69
Playwrights Canada Press,Canada Concord Floral
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£19.54
Playwrights Canada Press,Canada Refractions: Scenes
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£24.64
Playwrights Canada Press,Canada Other Side of the Game
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£19.54
Wits University Press Suddenly the Storm: A play
Book SynopsisPaul Slabolepszy’s Suddenly the Storm set in Johannesburg’s East Rand at the home of an ageing former police offi cer Dwayne Combrink and his much younger wife Shanell, poses the question of whether the wounds of the past can ever truly be healed.Combative, volatile, constantly on the verge of exploding, Dwayne and Shanell Combrink are two halves of a white South African workingclass couple, living an uneasy truce as they struggle with the day-today trials of scraping together a living and dreaming competing dreams. But beneath Dwayne’s angry, violent exterior lies the heartbreak that governs his attitude to life. Dwayne is a man in mourning. Shanell believes his current level of despair was sparked by the death of his childhood friend and recent work partner, Jonas, but the source of his mourning and anger lies much further back. When the elegant and self-contained Namhla Gumede, born on 16 June 1976, arrives on their doorstep seeking answers to questions that have remained buried for 40 years, Dwayne and Shanell fi nally fi nd out the truth.What starts as a smouldering dark comedy suddenly turns into a roller-coaster ride of startling revelations, rage and recrimination … before the storm finally breaks.Trade ReviewSlabolepszy is a master of dialect which makes his East Rand characters so authentic you could be sitting in a bar in one of these Ekurhuleni towns listening to their real-life equivalents and laughing at their jokes. Through his dialect he is able to elicit real pathos in all his characters … With Slabolepszy you are always waiting for something menacing to happen, and it does in this play."" — Zakes Mda, award-winning playwright and novelist
£15.00
Wits University Press Mooi Street and Other Moves
Book SynopsisThis collection of six plays by one of South Africa’s leading playwrights and actors features works written between 1984 and 1993. Slabolepszy is a master of dialogue, capturing the essence of the personality and speech patterns of his protagonists in language that is often dramatic, frequently funny, sometimes tragic and always entertaining.The works included are Under the Oaks, Over the Hill, Boo to the Moon, Smallholding, Mooi Street Moves and The Return of Elvis du Pisanie.Elvis won Slabolespzy the 1992/93 IGI Life Vita Award for Play of the Year and, together with Mooi Street Moves, gained him the Vita Playwright of the Year award.This collection is introduced by Robert Greig, a well-known theatre critic, and by Bobby Heaney, who has been involved in the evolution of several of Slabolepszy’s plays.Table of ContentsGlossary Introduction - Robert Greig Bringing Page to Stage – Bobby Heaney Under the Oaks Over the Hill Boo to the Moon Smallholding Mooi Street Moves The Return of Elvis du Pisanie
£23.42
Wits University Press Ulwembu
Book SynopsisEvil stalks the township of KwaMashu, near Durban. It comes in the form of Whoonga, a toxic mix of B-grade heroin, rat poison and other chemical components that almost immediately sucks its users into the vortex of addiction and the crime, deception and personal tragedy that goes with it. Caught up in the web, the ulwembu of the title, presided over by the dealer, Bongani Mseleku, are Lieutenant Portia Mthembu, a police officer in the frontline of the fight against the scourge; her son Sipho; his friend, Andile Nxumalo, and Emmanuel Abreu, a Mozambique-born spaza shopkeeper. As it traces Sipho’s descent from talented scholar and aspirant poet and songwriter to suicidal addict, Ulwembu explores the effects of addiction not only on those who suffer from it but on communities, families and the police, both those who try to control the murderous trade and those who benefit from it. Using a process they have dubbed Empatheatre, The Big Brotherhood, Neil Coppen, Dylan McGarry and Mpume Mtombeni, aim to share ‘people’s real-life stories, with the intention to inspire and develop a greater empathy and kindness in spaces where there is conflict or injustice’. Ulwembu is the dramatic result of their efforts.Trade ReviewDirected with a muscularity and sense of conviction, this beautifully researched and deeply felt performance takes advocacy theatre which talks to the man on the street to a level that is considerably deeper and theatrically more developed than convention dictates. Normally, you might hear the words `community theatre’ or `advocacy drama’ and shrink away from the product’s aesthetic value, understanding it to be a mere one-dimensional extrapolation of bald ideologies. But the adjective `mere’ doesn’t fit in any understanding of this poignant and hard hitting play. — Robyn Sassen, My View. Ulwembu powerfully reveals the root causes of substance abuse. — South African Police ServiceTable of Contents Introduction - Dylan McGarry Foreword - Monique Marks Acknowledgements Glossary Ulwembu: the script
£15.00
Wits University Press Bafana Republic and Other Satires: A collection
Book SynopsisBafana Republic and Other Satires is a selection of monologues from a series of one-person satirical revues. Using the 2010 FIFA World Cup as an entry point for satirical commentary, the sketches focus on various issues facing democratic South Africa: state 'vanity' projects, land issues, abuse of women and state capture. In any deeply polarised society, satire provides an effective means for challenging audiences. Van Graan's potent mix of comedy, poetry and drama compels audiences to reflect on controversial topics in a non-alienating, thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining way. The collection tackles themes of corruption, colonialism, violence against women, AIDS denialism, violent crime, racism and inequality head on. Readers or audience members cannot remain unaffected by the use of humour, exaggeration, irony and ridicule in the sketches to highlight social and political issues and human foibles. They will laugh and cringe and sometimes cry, but ultimately they will appreciate more deeply the beauty and humanity of their country, and perhaps feel recharged with hope. The sketches in the collection come from six one-person revues: Bafana Republic (2007), Bafana Republic: Extra Time (2008), Bafana Republic: Penalty Shootout (2009), Pay Back the Curry (2016), State Fracture (2017) and Land Acts (2018). The compilation can be used as monologues for exam purposes or as acting exercises for drama students, or selections can be made from the sketches to make up one-person shows of varying lengths.Table of Contents Introduction Outline of sketch characters, themes, background and context Glossary of terms and translations Acronyms Play 1: Bafana Republic (2007) Sketch 1: Interview with the CEO of the South African Football Association Sketch 2: Chardonnay Sketch 3: PAHAD representative Sketch 4: Bhamjee Sketch 5: Kabouter Basson Sketch 6: Bafana Idols Play 2: Bafana Republic: Extra Time (2008) Sketch 1: World Cup ambassador, Hayi Buti Sketch 2: Reality show medley Sketch 3: American and Frenchie on safari Sketch 4: AA on-screen fillers Sketch 5: A man’s game Sketch 6: ABC take-out Sketch 7: Security chief Sketch 8: Bafana election fever Sketch 9: Vuvuzela salesman Sketch 10: Whinge Sketch 11: Stand-up comic Play 3: Bafana Republic: Penalty Shootout (2009) Sketch 1: Toilet cleaner Sketch 2: Estate agent 1 Sketch 3: False prophet Sketch 4: Madonna of Africa Sketch 5: Disabled Sketch 6: Jimmy Blond Sketch 7: School for African dictators Sketch 8: Dog shrink Play 4: Pay Back the Curry (2016) Sketch 1: Time travel Sketch 2: Fly SAA Sketch 3: Fallism Sketch 4: And the Oscar goes to … Sketch 5: Born free Sketch 6: Weekend special Sketch 7: I am an African Sketch 8: Estate agent 2 Sketch 9: So-calleds Sketch 10: Blame apartheid Sketch 11: The Met Sketch 12: Julius Sketch 13: Rainbow song Play 5: State Fracture (2017) Sketch 1: Saxonwold shebeen Sketch 2: Trumple-thin-Skin Sketch 3: Chicken shite Sketch 4: Hello, looter Sketch 5: Blacks adopted by whites anonymous Sketch 6: Pastor Hlaudi, the miracle worker Sketch 7: ABBA medley Sketch 8: Some black lives matter Sketch 9: Stand-up on privilege Sketch 10: The Helen Zille School of Good Colonialism Sketch 11: Social cohesion Sketch 12: Social media rollercoaster Sketch 13: The patriot Sketch 14: No Zuma, no cry Play 6: Land Acts (2018) Sketch 1: Derya Hanekom Sketch 2: Give me a sign, Julius Sketch 3: Middle finger for the natives Sketch 4: McDonald’s farm Sketch 5: A promise fulfilled Sketch 6: Car guard Sketch 7: Australian refuge Sketch 8: A dog’s life Sketch 9: What a wonderful world Sketch 10: Shakespeare in love Sketch 11: Ode to WaNkandla Sketch 12: Football match Sketch 13: Imagine
£18.00
Wits University Press You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock / Wathint’
Book SynopsisYou Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock / Wathint’Abafazi, Wathint’Imbokodo is a bristling example of protest theatre making during the height of apartheid. Created in ensemble fashion in 1986 by director Phyllis Klotz in collaboration with performers Thobeka Maqhutyana, Nomvula Qosha and Poppy Tsira, this play stands as a contemporary South African classic.The play focuses on three central characters: Sdudla, Mambhele and Mampompo living and working in a Cape Town township trying to eke out a living in a racially, socially and economically unequal world. There are few work opportunities and there is a great deal of red tape to be self-sufficient. Men are glaringly absent from this world – working as cheap migrant labour in urban areas. Women have to undertake great risk to see their husbands and to try keep a semblance of family cohesiveness. Helicopters fly above and state security police surveil the area. The play shows how these women work miracles to ensure the survival and wellbeing of their families at all cost.Following the famous 1956 slogan of the South African woman’s march against apartheid laws, this latest publication in 2021 is a testament to the contemporariness of this play. Its themes around gender activism and the need for gender parity remains as true today as it did fifty years ago. Fresh and full of life, this is an important historical document and will be a landmark play for high schools and students of theatre.Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction by Sarah Roberts Images from the play You Strike A Woman, You Strike A Rock / Wathint’Abafazi Wathint’Imbodoko: The Play Characters in order of appearance Prologue Scene 1 The Market Place Scene 2 The Post Office Scene 3 The Bus Scene 4 The Dompas Scene 5 The Train Scene 6 The Work Place Scene 7 The Farm Scene 8 The System Scene 9 The Hostel Scene 10 The Father Scene 11 The Blockade Scene 12 The Foreboding Bird Scene 13 The Student Protest Annexure: Historical Context: Keywords and their significance Glossary and translations
£18.00
New Internationalist Publications Ltd Workers Play Time: A collection of plays born
Book SynopsisA collection of plays born from the great struggles of the Trade Union movement.
£9.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Toller: Plays Two
Book SynopsisThe second collection of plays from the German Expressionist playwright. Includes the plays: The Machine Breakers, The German Hinkemann, The Revenge of the Lover Scorned, Wotan Unbound, Day of the Proletariat and German Revolution. Ernst Toller (1893-1939) was a formative figure in the development of theatrical modernism. He was also a revolutionary activist who experienced fully the unbearable cataclysms of his times: war, revolution, imprisonment, the chaos of Weimar life, Nazi persecution, exile and the Holocaust. His revolutionary intensity infuses these three innovative plays, all of which inspired landmark productions and substantially extended the language of theatricality. These stage-worthy new translations capture that spirit of artistic and political combustion and should help to restore Toller's rightful place in the modern repertoire.
£18.04
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Theatre Café Plays Three
Book SynopsisThe third volume in the successful Theatre Café series contains three contemporary European plays in English translation. All fairly short two-handers, the plays make a great volume for teachers and students looking for suitable material to work on in schools, colleges, and youth theatre groups. The volume contains: Clyde and Bonnie by Holger Schober (translated by Zoe Svendsen) Mothers, hide your children! Fathers, hide your savings! Clyde and Bonnie are back in town! A brief synopsis of what happened before: Clyde, whose real name is Werner, and Bonnie, which is her real name - parents can be so cruel - meet each other, fall in love, and start robbing banks. On the occasion of their 10th bank robbery, Bonnie gets shot and killed. Clyde takes refuge in a bar and is actually still sitting there. So much for part one. But what Clyde did not know is that he and Bonnie have a daughter, who is now 16 and somehow feels that she doesn't fit in with the family she lives with. She doesn't know that they are her foster family. If the first part of the play was a love story, then the second is the story of a father and a daughter: An evening about responsibility, love and also about how to stay cool when the cops are hot on your heels. The play won the Austrian Theatre for Young People award ‘Stella’ in two categories (incl best production in Theatre for Young People), 2009. Helver’s Night (Polish) by Ingmar Villqist (Translated by Jacek Laskowski) Helver’s Night is an expressionist drama about the relationship between Carla and her young charge, Helver. Helver is fascinated by fascism – not by the ideology, which he is unable to grasp, but by the show-off aspects of the movement. In the end he becomes a victim of this fascination. Busstopkisser (German) by Ralf N.Höhfeld (Translated by Vanessa Fagan) A boy. A girl. A bus stop. 18 Kisses over 18 months. Coffee and conversation by candlelight, a picnic under the Eiffel Tower. Then the girl vanishes. But was she ever really there? Can anyone without an email address or mobile phone actually be real? A funny, unusual take on the classic boy-meets-girl scenario, Busstopkisser takes the audience on a mind-bending tweet-sized journey through adolescent romance.
£18.04
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Eye of a Needle
Book SynopsisLaurence is a caseworker at the department formerly known as the UK Border Agency. He prefers drug-fuelled nights out with the lads to the spirit-crushing accounts of the asylum seekers whose future he presides over during the day. But when Ugandan gay rights activist Natale Bamadi arrives, her tenacity and charisma awaken him to the cruelty of the system he serves. Laurence’s boss Ted, hounded by his superiors, detects the fragile beginnings of a passion and exploits it in order to expose his suspicion that Natale is in fact heterosexual. Caught up in the system’s machinations, Natale is forced to withdraw her application for asylum and is deported back to her death in Uganda. Unable to accept the inhumanity of the system Laurence walks out of his job leaving Ted alone struggling against the tide of an agency ‘not fit for purpose.’
£12.58
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Bravado
Book SynopsisScottee grew up around strong, brave and violent men and boys. Bravado is his memoir of working class masculinity from 1991 to 1999 as seen by a sheep in wolf's clothing. Scottee grew up on a council estate in Kentish Town, where as a child he knew the inside of every pub. In Bravado he goes back to the raw, harsh days of that childhood - growing up among men who worked hard, drank hard and fought hard. He describes his first fight, trying to prove himself to tougher boys and experiences of domestic and sexual abuse. Scottee also grapples with the contradictions of being a gay man who is attracted to working-class men, but also feels scarred by the experience of growing up with them. Bravado was devised as a show that would be performed in typically male, working-class environments such as pubs, garages or changing rooms, and that would be performed by a volunteer who would be paid £100 for reading the script, and receive counselling after the show. Bravado explores the graphic nature of maleness and the extent it will go to succeed. This show is not for the weak-hearted – it includes graphic accounts of violence, abuse, assault and sex.
£14.61
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Electra
Book SynopsisA Queen masterminds the murder of her Husband and takes the throne with her new lover. Her Daughter, Electra, grows up in the grip of a cruel regime, swearing revenge. Her Son Orestes, exiled as a boy and raised in the arms of the rebels, waits to embark on a holy mission to reclaim his country. Two decades later a twist of fate brings Brother and Sister together; united by hate but divided by faith. With the country on the brink of civil war, the most powerful family in the Kingdom are torn apart from the inside as their dark past once again becomes the present. The revolution will be televised, but are The Gods watching? DumbWise reinvent the murderous Greek myth of power and prophecy as a lyrical modern epic with a live punk-rock score.
£14.59
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Exodus
Book Synopsis“Settlers wanted for alternative living community in South America, all welcome to apply, unless you’re a prick.” The world premiere production of acclaimed new Welsh theatre company Motherlode in their London debut following a Welsh tour, Exodus is set in South Wales. On the eve of the last factory in town closing, four neighbours hatch a plan that is literally pie in the sky… Mary, Ray, Mike and Timmy gather in an allotment, decide to build a plane, and take off down the high street. Past the butchers, past the curry house and above the Chapel in search of a life free from politics and the grind. Blisteringly funny, this heart-warming new drama is accompanied by a live original score by David Grubb with choreography from Emma Vickery culminating in a new adventure that makes anything seem possible. Motherlode’s last production, The Good Earth, created and directed by Rachael Boulton, told the story of a Valleys community torn apart by their council and big business and, following a successful tour of Wales, it transferred to the Flea Theatre in New York City for an acclaimed run. Exodus will tour to twelve venues across Wales this October from Milford Haven in the west to Newport in the east and Mold in the North. Tickets are on sale now for performances at The Coliseum Aberdare (5 and 6 October), Theatr Clwyd (9 and 10 October), Llandinam Village Hall (11 October), Redhouse Cymru Merthyr Tydfil (12 October), Taliesin Swansea (13 October), Chapter Cardiff (17–20 October), Riverfront Newport (23 October), Gwynfe Village Hall (24 October), Torch Theatre Milford Haven (25 October), Blackwood Miners’ Institute (26 October), Theatr Brycheiniog Brecon (27 October) and Cwmavon Village Hall (30 October) prior to the Finborough Theatre run.
£12.58
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Eden
Book Synopsis"It’s perfect, isn't it? The most perfect spot I think I’ve ever seen… An unspoiled, natural beauty. Which makes it utterly ripe for development…" Eden is an idyllic coastal village of astonishing beauty, and home to an active community who are eager to protect it at all costs. Even the infamous Aaron Chase, an American property tycoon intent on building a luxury golf course, can’t name a price they’ll accept. But his star employee Sophie, a former Eden resident, might be able to broker a deal, so Chase plans to exploit her invaluable connections and local knowledge. Forced to confront her past, will Sophie be content to act as Chase Enterprises’ bulldozer or will deeper loyalties come to the fore? Hannah Patterson returns to Hampstead Downstairs with her latest play following sell-out hits Platinum and Giving. Inspired by real events, Eden is a modern-day David and Goliath drama about the importance of fighting for what’s right – whatever the outcome.
£12.58
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC I Run
Book SynopsisA new Danish play by Line Mørkeby shining a light on how we talk about death. A dad loses his six-year-old daughter to cancer, and his world falls apart. He doesn’t know how to process the life-shattering void following her premature death. He starts running to deal with his loss. Only, he can’t stop. He runs through the pain, the memories and the grief to try and find the point where he no longer runs, but soars – the point where he is close to her again. I Run is a fast-paced, explosive and moving one-man play about running, grief and missing someone we love. About how you survive the death of your child. Why do we find it so hard to talk about death?
£12.58
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Games For Lovers
Book SynopsisFour millennials looking for sex, love and a well-located flat find themselves caught in a complex game of rivalry, desire and seduction. As the cost of happiness soars, how can they negotiate the new rules of modern relationships and win the game of love? Games for Lovers is a glittering modern rom-com with a wicked gleam in its eye.
£12.58
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC My White Best Friend: (And Other Letters Left
Book Synopsis“Could you put your white best friend on stage and remind them that they’re part of the problem? Even if you love them? Even if you never want anyone to feel for even a moment how you feel living in this world every day? Would - could - a white person finally hear what you have to say?” Originally commissioned by The Bunker Theatre as a critically-acclaimed festival that ran in 2019, My White Best Friend collects 23 letters that engage with a range of topics, from racial tensions, microaggressions and emotional labour, to queer desire, prejudice and otherness. Expressing feelings and thoughts often stifled or ignored, the pieces here transform letter writing into a provocative act of candour. Funny, heartfelt, wry and heart-breaking, whether a letter to their younger self or an ode to the writer's tongue, this anthology of exceptional writing is always engaging and thought-provoking. Featuring different letters from some of the most exciting voices in the UK and beyond, My White Best Friend (And Other Letters Left Unsaid) includes work from: Zia Ahmed, Travis Alabanza, Fatimah Asghar, Nathan Bryon, Matilda Ibini, Jammz, Iman Qureshi, Anya Reiss, Somalia Seaton, Nina Segal, Tolani Shoneye, Lena Dunham, Inua Ellams, Rabiah Hussain, Mika Johnson, Jasmine Lee-Jones, Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, Shireen Mula, Ash Sarkar, Jack Thorne and Joel Tan.Trade ReviewThis extremely topical compilation of thought-provoking letters speaks to us all … A carefully designed anthology of heartfelt and emotional writing … It leaves the reader with the lasting feeling that more communication from every side would only help to achieve more understanding and cohesion. This compilation is a great start. * Broadway World *The various writers’ anecdotes and Rachel De-Lahay’s purple prose and the unique idea to twinkle out some connections with the present make the book – bravura! * Ethnic and Racial Studies *
£15.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Land Without Dreams
Book SynopsisThis Is A Play About The Future (And Climate Change. Not Insomnia.) A woman walks onto the stage. She says she is from the future. She says that we have stopped dreaming. She says we can change everything. She says that she can help end all our dystopian nightmares. But we know plays don’t change the world. Right? Land Without Dreams is a hopeful, funny and courageous new show by experimental Copenhagen-based theatre company Fix&Foxy. Their previous works include radical versions of Pretty Woman, Twin Peaks, and Friends.
£999.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC I Can Go Anywhere
Book SynopsisAnyone can learn maps and battles. Geezer, I feel it! I live it! I’m giving everything to this beautiful, wild, absolutely pure British thing. Like, do you know what it took to get here, man? Stevie is a disillusioned academic who once wrote an unfashionable book on youth movements in Britain, now struggling to cope after a painful break-up. His misery is interrupted by Jimmy who lands unexpectedly on his doorstep beaming with excitement. Jimmy is 100% Mod: oversized military parka, fitted Italian suit, dessy boots, pork pie hat. The full package. Jimmy is seeking asylum in the UK. With just a few days before the substantive interview that’s going to decide his fate, the stakes are high. So he came up with a brilliant plan. A plan that’s going to work against all odds. It has to work. He can’t go back. And Stevie has an important part to play.
£12.58
Liverpool University Press Terence: The Girl from Andros
Book SynopsisThe Girl from Andros was the first play of the brilliant but short-lived Roman comic playwright Terence and shows him as already a master dramatist. It is based on two plays (both now lost) by the Greek playwright Menander and was first put on in Rome in 166 BCE. The main focus of interest is the plotting and counter-plotting of a devious master and his equally devious slave, but there are also two boys both in danger of losing the girls they love, and a girl in search of the family from which she has long been separated – typical ingredients of a Latin comedy.The play is a theatrical tour de force with many comic highlights and is enlivened by a succession of metatheatrical remarks; but it also provokes thought on various aspects of human relationships in a male-dominated, slave-owning society that jealously guards its rights of citizenship. It was the first ancient Latin comedy to be performed in the Renaissance and influenced a number of plays in succeeding centuries, most notably Richard Steele’s The Conscious Lovers (1722); it was also the inspiration for Thornton Wilder’s novel The Woman of Andros (1930). This volume includes the first detailed commentary on the play in any language for nearly sixty years.Trade ReviewReviews ‘Dr Brown's book fills a real need, with a right-to-the-point introduction and commentary. His translation stays close to the Latin, but that does not keep it from being brilliant by moments'.Professor Benjamin Victor, University of Montreal'I am very happy to say that this Andria is an exemplary edition, invaluable for scholars, students and the Latin-inclined general reader alike. A fine work for us to remember Peter by.' Keith Maclennan, Classics for All'In preparing this last of his many contributions to the study of Terence, Brown was thus able to draw upon the full range of his knowledge, experience, and interests, and the result has all the virtues we might expect of him: clear and accurate discussion of the Latin text, a keen eye for details and nuances of interpretation, scrupulously evenhanded reporting and cogent analysis of past scholarly views, and a precise English rendering of the Latin original.' Sander Goldberg, Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewTable of ContentsIntroductionText and TranslationCommentaryBibliographyIndex
£34.42
Seagull Books London Ltd On the Royal Road – The Burgher King
Book SynopsisCarefully perched somewhere between tragedy and grotesque, high-pitched and squeamish, Jelinek's play, On the Royal Road, brings into focus the phenomenon of right-wing populism, which spreads like a virus and has a lasting effect on global politics. Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek is known as a writer who works in response to contemporary crises and cultural phenomena. Perhaps none of her works display that quality as clearly as On the Royal Road. Three weeks after Donald Trump’s election, Jelinek mailed her German editor the first draft of this play, which turns out to be a stunningly prescient response to Trump and what he represents. In this drama, we discover that a “king,” blinded by himself, who has made a fortune with real estate, golf courses, and casinos, suddenly rules the United States, and the rest of the people of the world rub their eyes in disbelief until no one sees anything anymore. As topical as the evening news, yet with insight built on a lifetime of closely observing politics and culture, On the Royal Road brings into focus the phenomenon of right-wing populism, which spreads like a virus and has a lasting effect on global politics. Carefully perched somewhere between tragedy and grotesque, high-pitched and squeamish, Jelinek in this work questions her own position and forms of resistance. Trade Review"In a near-perfect echo of today's world, Nobel Prize-winning Elfriede Jelinek's On the Royal Road is stuffed breathless with metaphors, innuendoes, and anecdotes as it satirises US President Donald Trump. . . . The play reveals unflinchingly how complicit everyone has been in the entire spectacle of the Trump presidency. And because Jelinek never actually names the country nor the leader, it becomes a raw and scary tale of power left unchecked which can apply anywhere in the world." * The Daily Star (India) *"Honegger’s translation fizzes with the intellectual rigour and linguistic command. . ." * Translation and Literature *Table of ContentsN
£14.99
