Plays, playscripts, drama

Book Synopsis`Okay I'm sorry but I don't want to have a meal. I want to talk and find out a bit more about you and ideally have sex. Or maybe not full sex but - I need to be home by 11 p.m.' Dating again after a complex break-up, Jessie is trying to get her personal life in order - before her kids wake up. From actress, comedian, writer and doodler Jessie Cave, Sunrise is an honest, tender-hearted and uproariously funny story about crying in the woods, sexual misadventures at Harry Potter conventions and Instagram espionage - but also about motherhood and trying to get stuff done. This published edition also includes dozens of never-before-seen doodles by Jessie. She's very happy to (over)share it with you. Sunrise was performed as a critically acclaimed live show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, at Soho Theatre, London, and on tour around the UK.Trade Review'Devastatingly honest, wickedly funny… Sunrise pitches us right into Cave's life, and her head' Guardian; 'An exquisite show from one of the more creative minds in comedy today… It is painfully funny, hilariously sad and makes oversharing a thing of comic genius. There is no corner of Jessie's life into which her blindingly honest comic light does not shine' Scotsman 'Confessional comedy that is unstoppably amusing as well as compellingly complex… crammed full of telling details that are amusing, or painful, or more likely both at once, this is comic storytelling of the highest order' The Times: 'Not everyone can make heartbreak this entertaining… it's the little details that make this so special – revealing all the things she's secretly thinking, while we either empathise or wince in recognition. So open, so honest, so inspirational' ThreeWeeks; 'Emotional, occasionally filthy, and frequently very funny… it adds up to a rich tapestry which, while laying Cave bare, also has much to say about the double bind of being a modern woman – from balancing career and being a role model with having children, to dating, rejection and abuse. It's all done with the lightest of touches and enormous charm, and it confirms Cave as one of comedy's most compellingly unique voices' i

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Book SynopsisOne night in a small town in County Cork, where everyone knows everyone, things spiral terrifyingly out of control. What will happen now to Emma? To her family? To the others? This stage adaptation of Louise O’Neill’s devastating novel, Asking for It, shines an unflinching light on the experience of a young woman whose life is changed for ever by a horrific act of violence. Adapted by Meadhbh McHugh, in collaboration with its director Annabelle Comyn, the play premiered at the Everyman, Cork, in 2018, before transferring to the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.Trade Review'Fearless theatre that focusses on an hugely topical current issue' * WhatsOnStage *'With a script by Meadhbh McHugh that is sharp and also very funny, Asking for It not only stays faithful to the novel, it goes further, raising it up to heaven and down to hell, too. It is worth the hype' * Irish Independent *'Powerful, provocative, hard-hitting, shocking… a sharply observed and at times wincingly true-to-life portrayal of a family and its disintegration… funny, infuriating and unbearably sad' * Irish Examiner *

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Book Synopsis‘Listen!’ In this collection of new essays, the world-renowned director Peter Brook offers unique and personal insights into sound and music – from the surprising impact of Broadway musicals on his famous Midsummer Night's Dream, to the allure of applause, and on to the ultimate empty space: silence. It is studded throughout with episodes from the author's own life and career in opera, theatre and film – including working on many of his most notable productions, and intimate first-hand accounts of collaborating with leading figures including Truman Capote, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh – and ranges across musical styles and cultures from around the world. Playing by Ear is full of Brook's shafts of insight and perception, and written with his customary wit and wisdom. It is a rich companion to his earlier reflections on Shakespeare in The Quality of Mercy and on language and meaning in Tip of the Tongue.Trade Review'Incisive and perceptive… gives readers a unique opportunity to enter the mind of one of the most imaginative and enduring theatre directors of the last three-quarters of a century. It functions as a meditation on music and sound but also provides pleasant reminders of the life and career of an indisputably great man' * British Theatre Guide *

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Book Synopsis‘If the sky dropped the stars or the river drained the water there would be outrage, but we treat children like this and there is silence.’ Something's not right. Children are being raised by animals. A mother is slowly sinking in the bath. The trees are left doing the paperwork. The air is filled with screams of children howling for help. And some twins want to tell you a story about how everything got so fucked up. A spiralling odyssey of dizzying theatricality, Wolfie is a bold, fantastical fairytale following two twins separated at birth and asks who is truly responsible for society's most vulnerable children. Ross Willis's debut play is a wildly imaginative, irreverent look at life in and after the care system. It was premiered at Theatre503, London, in March 2019, directed by Theatre503 Artistic Director Lisa Spirling. Wolfie was awarded Best Play at the 2020 Writers' Guild Awards, and Best New Play at the 2020 Off-West End Awards. It also earned Willis a nomination for Best Writer at the 2019 Stage Debut Awards and Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards.Trade Review'Playful, anarchic... Willis has a gift for surreal dialogue' * Guardian *'A striking debut... a fairy tale with bite, sinking its teeth into the frailties of the care system and the human cost of its limitations... Ross Willis is a fresh and fearless voice, clearly itching to test the boundaries of theatre' * Evening Standard *'Wild, raw, full of fury and wonder, this debut play is a ragged thing of ferocious beauty... Willis's writing snarls, snaps, howls at the moon and gazes at the stars; it is tender, thrillingly vital and glittering with hope' * The Times *'Laugh-out-loud funny yet never hesitating to be brutally honest when necessary, this is a bold start from the award-winner Willis, surely one worth keeping a beady eye on' * WhatsOnStage *'A strange and striking debut play... Mighty Boosh’-esque doses of weirdness' * Time Out *'Splendidly surreal' * Broadway World *

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Book Synopsis1968. East Berlin. Anna and Hans are married, in love and moving up in the world – but it is a world ruled by suspicion. Who can be trusted when everyone is listening? Can we ever escape our past? Written by playwright Ella Hickson, and co-created with sound designers Ben and Max Ringham, ANNA unfolds with all the tension of a spy thriller, and the inexorable revelations of an Ibsen play. ANNA premiered at the National Theatre, London, in May 2019, directed by Natalie Abrahami, with the audience wearing individual headsets to direct their attention amongst the overlapping scenes on stage. This uniquely formatted edition of the script features all of the play's dialogue, including the scenes seen but not heard in performance.Trade Review'A swift spy thriller set during the Cold War that's as slick and stylish as it is technologically savvy... a wonderfully plotted play, full of history, mystery and horror... oppressive, intense, and impressively intelligent' * The Stage *'Unpredictable to the last; every time you think you know where things are going, Hickson's script thrills in proving you wrong and the tension never drops... consistently gripping, Anna is a superb spy drama' * BritishTheatre.com *'From the start, the action is taut... it twists and turns, consistently pulling on the threads that join public and private spaces together' * A Younger Theatre *'Electrifying... as unsettling as it is nail-biting... a thrilling hour of Cold War drama that is tautly told... Anna is a rare thing of beauty: a play one hates to stop watching' * The Reviews Hub *'Marvellous... a political thriller with a retro edge... a complex multilayered plot worthy of Le Carré' * The Times *'Intimate and disturbing' * Observer *'A layered, engrossing and remarkable piece... constantly challenges us to look anew, to change our focus' * WhatsOnStage *'Fascinating... Anna is both an audio experiment and an investigation of the lies and suspicion surrounding life in communist East Berlin' * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisMark Williams is tired of his marriage and tired of his job teaching astronomy at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. Angela Vasquez is a young single mother training to be a nurse. Norman Ketterly is fighting for his life in a cancer ward. Their intertwining stories unspool under a canopy of stars too vast to imagine and too beautiful to comprehend, especially when the travails of life on Earth threaten to blot it out. Kenneth Lonergan's play The Starry Messenger is a bittersweet exploration of love, hope and the mysteries of the cosmos. It premiered in New York in 2009, and received its UK premiere at Wyndham's Theatre, London, in May 2019, featuring Matthew Broderick and Elizabeth McGovern.Trade Review'A quirkily profound script with a wry, idiosyncratic freshness' * Independent *'Twists away from every expectation... a compassionate portrait of lost souls grasping for love, meaning, or perhaps just a moment of belonging in a fleeting existence' * Broadway World *'Gentle, compassionate comic drama… has the sweet taste of redemption' * The New York Times *'Lacing questions large and small, about ourselves and the cosmos, with characteristic sensitivity, compassion and humour… a heartbreaking story' * Variety *'Wryly observant' * Guardian *'A rich and engrossing new play… a sprawling, mature, leisurely profound serious comedy about everyday desperation and cosmic mysteries' * Newsday *'Moving and beautifully written' * New York Post *

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Book SynopsisA group of people sit around a table theorising, categorising and telling stories. Their real purpose is never quite clear, but they continue on, searching for the monstrous. Part satire, part sacred rite, Annie Baker's play The Antipodes asks what value stories have for a world in crisis. First seen at Signature Theatre, New York, in 2017, the play had its UK premiere at the National Theatre, London, in 2019. 'The most original and significant American dramatist since August Wilson' Mark Lawson, The GuardianTrade Review'Annie Baker's philosophical study of storytelling is pure pleasure' * Evening Standard *'A disquieting, dazzling piece... lingers long, long after its ending' * Telegraph *'There is simply no playwright like Annie Baker... hyper real, surreally odd and extremely funny' * Metro *'Another cryptic masterpiece from Annie Baker... utterly, gloriously out there and will doubtless horrify some people... endlessly shifting and complex' * Time Out *'An examination of fiction and reality that refuses to give up its own mysteries... so sharp, and so pertinent, venturing to worlds where most playwrights fear to tread. Hours after the performance had ended, I found I was still thinking of the play and its themes, pulling at threads, thrilled by its rich ambition. Annie Baker. What a writer' * WhatsOnStage *'Complex and many-layered, and in the course of the play she has characters tell some cracking stories in fantastic ways... excruciating and masterful at the same time, this is a huge allusion of a play – always skirting, never defining – and all the more potent, and relevant, for it' * The Stage *'Monstrously clever: a philosophical Fright Night... addresses [its] ideas with such witty, idiosyncratic strangeness, and such innate theatricality... spry, surprising, very funny, and likely to haunt the subconscious' * Broadway World *'Endlessly fascinating… The Antipodes leaves you glowing with a wondering satisfaction. I mean the happy satiety that comes from being in the hands of a real right-brain/left-brain author who channels her ineffable instincts with a master artisan's practical skills… Ms. Baker has established herself as one of the freshest voices in American theater. Here she also provides evidence of her peerless ear for contemporary language' * New York Times *'Tantalizing… In John, a play set in a quaintly eerie bed and breakfast, Baker flirted with occult suspense. Here, in a drama confined to a fluorescent room… she edges into symbolist territory. Baker's signature hyper-realism makes room for an irrational dimension that lightly evokes the supernatural enigmas of Maurice Maeterlinck and August Strindberg' * Los Angeles Times *

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Book SynopsisA beautiful, ferocious play about the bonds that tie us, and how we sometimes need to break them. One sister stayed at home to care for Dad. The other set out to 'make a difference'. Reunited under their childhood roof, Pauline and Rachel unearth more than the ten years between them. It's a huge gap. Almost insurmountable. And each is determined to let the other know exactly who has done things right. Charley Miles's Daughterhood was first produced in 2019 by Paines Plough and Theatr Clwyd on a nationwide tour, including a run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, in Paines Plough's pop-up theatre, Roundabout.Trade Review'A visceral exploration of separation and estrangement in a severed family… from its masterful character development, to its candid, conscious portrayal, Daughterhood proves not only a literary masterpiece, but also a rare and poignant echo of our current age' * Theatre Weekly *'A very well written piece that explores the subject matter sensitively and convincingly' * The Reviews Hub *'Each character is beautifully drawn in this witty, realistic script' * BritishTheatre.com *'Compelling... [has] ferocious emotional depth' * The List *'Sharply observes the complex, envy-laced relationship between siblings' * Guardian *

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Book Synopsis'We ain't killers' 'How you figure that?… Iss in the blood.' When a letter arrives from the mother they thought was dead, twenty-one-year-old twins Racine and Anaia travel from the Dirty South to the California desert, to a yellow house with teal shutters. They're on a mission to avenge her past, and they're ready to take down anyone who stands in their way. A revenge tale about two women seeking justice and taking control of their own narratives, Is God Is collides the ancient and the modern, the tragic and the Spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk. Aleshea Harris's play had its world premiere at Soho Rep., New York, in February 2018, winning the Relentless Award, and the Obie Award for Playwriting. It received its British premiere in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in September 2021, directed by Ola Ince.Trade Review'A snarly new master of high-octane carnage has risen into view… putting her own audacious stamp on that most venerable of pop genres… Is God Is sees fit to bring down the house' * New York Times *'Unforgettably original… Is God Is is simultaneously very funny and deeply troubling and its effects spring from the care with which Harris manipulates and fires words. Although it takes place in a landscape that Quentin Tarantino, Sergio Leone and Sam Shepard would all recognise, the way she moves within that world is entirely her own' * WhatsOnStage *'A rich, funny, unnerving, exhilarating gold mine' * New York Magazine *'A dazzlingly satirical extravaganza… there's an electricity in Harris's writing, a comic crackle and pop that sizzles and screeches, deliberately treating the heaviest of issues with the lightest of touches… both hilarious and disturbing' * The Arts Desk *'A theatre production that has the audience gasping aloud in genuine shock is a rare thing, but Is God Is achieves it (and then some)… this bizarre, beautiful revenge tale is a triumph' * Independent *'This splashy revenge comedy is a blast... you can see why Harris has been compared to Tarantino and Martin McDonagh. Her script shares their gleeful brutality, but she is a completely original voice. The rhythm of her dialogue is unique. She seems to be effortlessly funny, though this sort of 'funny' actually takes a lot of work, from everyone involved' * Evening Standard *'It is not often that a play manages to resemble a Tarantino film and a Greek tragedy at once. And it is not often, these days, that theatre manages to shock. But Aleshea Harris's brazen drama will leave few unmoved, one way or the other… [has] an always crisp, entertaining and outrageous script' * Guardian *'Excellent revenge fantasy… furious and incandescent' * Time Out New York *'Transfixingly theatrical… Harris summons a language – absurd, fantastical, studiously mundane at times – that is entirely unique… though the play is full of brutal violence and a seriousness of purpose in its message of seizing control of one's narrative, and of the relativities of good and evil, what Harris never allows to backslide for too long is the humour. Even in its queasiest moments, there's a laugh' * The Stage *'Aleshea Harris is an arsonist of a playwright. By the end of Is God Is, I found I was shaking and overwhelmed by the play's incendiary power... not since the first night of Sarah Kane's Blasted have I felt so annihilated by a play... [an] original, entertaining and sickening bloodbath of a drama' * Observer *

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Book Synopsis‘He’ll look different. My little boy. When I get out. Like… to the picture I’ve got in my head. Be like meeting him all over again. A whole new start.’ Instead of GCSEs, Cain, Riyad and Jonjo got sentences. Locked up in a young offender institution, they trade sweets, chat shit, kill time – and await fatherhood. Grace's job is to turn these teenagers into parents, ready to take charge of their futures. But can they grow up quickly enough to escape the system? Winner of the 2019 Papatango New Writing Prize, Samuel Bailey's Shook is a tender and honest play examining the young men society shuts away. It was premiered by Papatango at Southwark Playhouse, London, in October 2019, followed by a UK tour. Samuel Bailey was the winner of the Times Breakthrough Award at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2021.Trade Review'A fantastic debut... boy it punches home' -- Thomas Sutcliffe * Saturday Review, BBC Radio 4 *'One of the most important theatrical debuts of the decade' * BritishTheatre.com *'Both laugh-out-loud funny and brutally honest, catching you off-guard with touching moments when you least expect it... funny, down-to-earth, and with a lot to say' * WhatsOnStage *'A delicate and deliberately paced character study... the dialogue is bitterly funny... a moving and absorbing piece of work' * The Stage *'An entertaining and thought-provoking piece of theatre' * Broadway World *

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Book SynopsisFrom those electric moments of discovery and connection to the dark hours of isolation, we all seek community and resolution. But sometimes the things that connect us are the very things we need to escape. Sally Abbott's I Think We Are Alone is a delicate and uplifting play about fragility, resilience and our need for love and forgiveness. The play was commissioned by Frantic Assembly as part of their twenty-fifth anniversary and premiered on a UK tour in 2020 as a co-production with Theatre Royal Plymouth and Curve, Leicester. The original production was co-directed by Kathy Burke and Frantic Assembly's Artistic Director Scott Graham.Trade Review'Impactful and meticulously written' * A Younger Theatre *'A sentimental tribute to the good people of London... sweetly sincere' * Time Out *'A tender sweep of a show, I Think We Are Alone swells with the simple, difficult, important desire for connection' * Guardian *'Sally Abbott's new play... comes straight from the heart... a paean to the human need to connect' * The Stage *'Intelligent, poignant, funny and ultimately uplifting' * Wirral Globe *

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Book SynopsisAn outrageous play about imperialism, cross racial adoption, cultural appropriation... and tea. Brighton, 1862. A day in the life of Sarah, an African girl, adopted by Queen Victoria and raised in the Queen's circles. Today is the eve of her having to return to Africa, but will she go The Present. A day in the life of Sarah, a black middle class woman staying in a Cheshire village with her husband and small child. They are paid a visit by well meaning neighbours who have something to confess... The two Sarahs meet Queen Victoria for tea. This won't be your regular tea party... Janice Okoh's play The Gift is premiered on a UK tour by Eclipse Theatre, from January 2020.Trade Review'Clever and complex... a formally original and intellectual engagement with forgotten history, cross-racial adoption and the impact of imperialism on black British lives today' * Guardian *'Unafraid to tackle important and complex issues... a must-see piece of theatre' * Broadway World *'A bold exploration of black Britishness that is as agonising as it is funny' * Metro *

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Book SynopsisA sometimes comic, sometimes heartbreaking journey into the world of autism. Sandra is looking for love. Gordon is seeking acceptance. Simon just wants these parents to stop talking for two minutes so he can get on with teaching their kids. And Casper? Casper is not here. Jody O'Neill's play What I (Don't) Know About Autism mixes narrative, song, dance and direct address to explore this contentious and often misunderstood subject matter. Inspired by the writer's own experiences with autism, the play celebrates autistic identity whilst offering deeper insight and understanding to non-autistic audiences.Trade Review'A riveting celebration of difference... Jody O'Neill's timely new play has a wide emotional register' * Irish Times *'An innovative theatrical experience that makes light work of heavy themes' * The Arts Review *'An uplifting, powerful piece of theatre' * Irish Examiner *

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Book SynopsisWhen Ronan's former girlfriend Max turns up at his fashionable Dublin restaurant, he's determined to prove to her how far he's come. But Max has something bigger to discuss. Over the course of one winesoaked evening, old wounds are exposed and new truths uncovered. Gillian Greer's play Meat is a story of class, consent and transgressions buried in the past. How can one couple navigate their shared history when their memories don't quite match up? The play was a finalist in Theatre503's International Playwriting Award in 2018. It premiered at Theatre503, London, in February 2020.Trade Review'Nail-bitingly tense... subtle, acutely observed script... a thought-provoking and gripping depiction of a reckoning with trauma' * Time Out *'Gillian Greer's striking play navigates the subject of sexual consent with unflinching honesty' * The Stage *'This smart drama has plenty of meat on its bones... played on the edge of a butcher's cleaver' * The Reviews Hub *'Complex, personal and bleeds like an open wound' * A Younger Theatre *

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Book Synopsis‘The end-of-the-world quiz waits for no man, literally. Onwards, ever onwards, to our fiery decline. Round three…’ It's the end of the world. The last night on Earth. An asteroid is heading straight for us and there's nothing we can do about it. Except for maybe host a pub quiz – which is exactly what landlady Kathy and her quizmaster Rav are doing. But, with time ticking, some unexpected guests explode on the scene – Bobby wants to settle old scores, and Fran wants one last shot at love. Alison Carr's play The Last Quiz Night on Earth is an innovative comedy-drama featuring a fully interactive pub quiz for the audience to participate in, complete with real teams, real questions and real swapping each other's answers for marking. It was premiered by Box of Tricks in 2020 on a UK tour, taking in a host of theatres, community venues and pubs. Ideal for performance by amateurs – either in theatres or more unconventional spaces (such as theatre bars and local pubs) – this play offers rich opportunities for audience participation. Quizzing compulsory, alcohol optional.

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Book Synopsis'In the death zone, your body starts eating itself. Time and space disappear. It's impossible to remember what happens up there.' When Yasmin and her guide, Tshering, return from a perilous expedition to Everest without a member of their party, they have a lot of questions to answer. Where is Yasmin's husband Charlie? What happened on the mountain? Why do Yasmin and Tshering's accounts differ so drastically? As private investigator Connie tries to distinguish hallucination from reality, and fact from delusion, it's clear that someone, somewhere, is not telling the truth. Set at an altitude where life hangs by a thread, Carmen Nasr's play The Climbers is a thrilling exploration of the lure of the mountains, the drive to conquer and the price of staying alive. It was first performed in June 2022 at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, directed by Guy Jones.Trade Review'Fascinating... a gripping story with just the right level of humour and hope in it... hauntingly beautiful' * Northern Arts Review *'A brilliant new play... moving and exceptional... beautifully captures the joy and passion of climbing, and the complexity of a relationship' * Cumbria24.com *'A chilling drama that brings Everest terrifyingly close to us... thrilling and atmospheric' * Mag North *'Thrilling... utterly rewarding... an enthralling study of love, passion, ambition, break-ups and the drive to succeed whatever the odds' * Reviews Hub *

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Book Synopsis'I just need to hear you say you believe me. You've known me my whole life. Would you be friends with someone capable of doing that?' When his friend becomes embroiled in a rape allegation, Chris Quinn offers his support. Only the rules keep changing, nothing is clear-cut, and Chris finds himself caught in a tussle between loyalty, love and doubt. Caitríona Daly's Duck Duck Goose is a viscerally charged play examining the nature of consent, trust and trial by social media. Full of moral ambiguity and psychological complexity, it was developed as part of Fishamble's A Play for Ireland initiative, and first performed by the company in the 2021 Dublin Theatre Festival.Trade Review'A nuanced and insightful look at the social impact of sexual violence... provoking, timely and challenging' * Irish Times *'A dramatically sophisticated tackling of contemporary stories about rape' * Independent.ie *'Addresses important issues around disclosure, consent and allegations of rape' * Arts Review *

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Book SynopsisA double bill of plays from the frontline of climate change – an epic portrait of Britain in the grip of unprecedented and catastrophic floods. In On the Beach, glaciologist Will has followed in his father's footsteps, dedicating himself to studying climate change. Back from Antarctica, he visits his parents on the Norfolk coast. With catastrophic flooding growing more likely by the day, he has news that forces long-submerged secrets to rise to the surface. In Resilience, Will, freshly appointed as a scientific advisor, is in Westminster and he's out of his depth. Surrounded by ministers manoeuvring to impress, and with the threat of environmental disaster, can he get them to listen before it's too late? Impressive in scale and chilling as a prediction of our immediate future, the two plays are complementary but can also stand alone. Steve Waters' The Contingency Plan was first performed at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2009, and shortlisted for the John Whiting Award. It was revived, in this fully revised and updated version, at Sheffield Theatres in 2022, directed by Caroline Steinbeis and Chelsea Walker.Trade Review'An urgent wake-up call... for sheer emotional intensity, has no rival on the London stage... Waters' massive achievement is to have made the most important issue of our times into engrossing theatre' * Guardian *'A triumph' * Evening Standard *'Thrilling... masterly... a stunning theatrical knock-out' * Daily Telegraph *'The first and best British play on climate change' * Time Out *

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Book Synopsis'One day all you care about is music, fashion and boys. The next day there's no food. Piece by piece your world starts to change so you change with it.' Mostar, Yugoslavia, 1988. Mili, a boy from out of town, dives from the famous Old Bridge. Mina, a local girl, watches. As he falls, she begins falling for him. Mostar, Bosnia, 1992. In a town of growing divisions, Mina and Mili never doubt that their future lies together. But nor can they imagine the dangers that future will bring. Winner of the 2020 Papatango New Writing Prize, Igor Memic's play Old Bridge is an epic love story exploring the impact of a war that Europe forgot, and the love and loss of those who lived through it. It was first produced by Papatango at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2021, directed by Selma Dimitrijevic. Memic went on to win the Most Promising Playwright Award at the 2022 Offies (Off West End Awards), and was also named Most Promising Playwright (jointly with Zadie Smith) at the 2022 Critics' Circle Awards. Old Bridge won the Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre Award at the 2022 Olivier Awards.Trade Review'An achingly romantic, Balkan Romeo and Juliet story... Memic, writing about the hometown he left aged two, has a gift for character and atmosphere... a remarkably assured debut, shot through with ardour and pain, recalling history that's recent and raw' * Evening Standard *'[A] wholly deserving [winner of the Papatango Prize], with the writer bringing a faultless naturalism to conversational dialogue... you're carried along by these characters and their quirks, even as their home is transformed into a combat zone. It's made all the more remarkable by the fact that Old Bridge is Memic's debut play' * Whatsonstage *'A chilling jolt to the memory... a powerful and moving reminder of the fragility of the peace that we take too easily for granted' * Reviews Hub *

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Book SynopsisWhen Patrick is eight years old, his absent father returns unexpectedly for a brief but memorable encounter. Years later – recalling that meeting, and the revelations that followed – Patrick traces the events of his father’s life, laying bare a journey of grandiose plans, aching disappointments and audacious self-delusion. Three Kings by Stephen Beresford is a heartbreaking and hilarious play for a solo actor about fathers and sons, the gifts and burdens of inheritance, and the unfathomable puzzle of human relationships. It was written for Andrew Scott to perform as part of Old Vic: In Camera, a series of live performances streamed from the Old Vic Theatre, London, in 2020. This edition includes an introduction by the director Matthew Warchus. ‘A knockout – entertaining, sad and outrageous. [Stephen Beresford] is going to be a major name’ Observer on The Last of the HaussmansTrade Review'A superb monologue – short, sharp, unsettling and upsetting... though easy and colloquial the writing has the intensity of a Greek drama, suggesting how damage ricochets down generations... in its rich mix of light and shade it's almost a male correlative to Fleabag' * Telegraph *'An intimate character study, teeming with vivid descriptions... beautifully crafted' * The Arts Desk *'A tour de force... Beresford's play [is] a mixture of longing and despair, the constant flickering hope that things will be different, the crushing realisation of disappointment. His writing is precise and fluent, catching each mood as it swims swiftly by' * WhatsOnStage *'A measured and meticulously crafted tale of fathers and sons, with moments of sharp humour' * Guardian *'While the subject matter is dark and the content often heartbreaking, there are also elegant moments of comedy scattered lightly at the most perfect times – but when those painful moments do hit, they hit you hard and unexpectedly' * Broadway World *'Bleakly compelling' * The Times *'A penetrating play about toxic fathers and sons... until it becomes heartbreaking, Beresford’s script is nasty fun' * New York Times *'A triumph' * Los Angeles Times *

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Book Synopsis'Welcome. Welcome to Bristol in 1963. Welcome to Waterloo Bridge in 2016. Welcome to a house in May 2017. Welcome to three couples and what might be, what once was and what could have been in 2017. Welcome to a West Indian household in 2018. Welcome to London in 2018. Welcome to the past, present and – crucially – the future.' This anthology brings together six plays, all written or performed since 2017, by six brilliant Black British writers – Travis Alabanza, Firdos Ali, Natasha Gordon, Arinzé Kene, Chinonyerem Odimba and debbie tucker green. The plays demonstrate a rich range of settings, forms, styles, locations, scales, contents and concerns – and explore themes including politics and protest, grief and colonisation, relationships and gender. They have been seen on stages including the National Theatre, the Royal Court, the Bush and Bristol Old Vic, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, in the West End, and on tour of the UK. Selected and introduced by leading theatre director Natalie Ibu, Contemporary Plays by Black British Writers celebrates a multiplicity of stories authored by Black playwrights in the UK over the last decade.Trade Review'A must... includes lots of things to work with for classes in KS3, 4 and 5... as Natalie Ibu says in her Introduction, it's impossible to create a collection of six plays that fully covers what Black British writers have to offer, but this is an excellent place to begin' * Drama & Theatre *'A fascinating insight into sexual identity, cultural differences, and shared experiences... I would recommend this book to a wide audience... it's an anthology that does not disappoint' * Word Matters (Journal of the Society of Teachers of Speech and Drama) *

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Book SynopsisA girl is locked in a room. A boy brings another boy flowers. A girl has tied herself to a railing. A boy doesn't know who he is. A girl worries about impending catastrophe. A woman jumps in front of a train. A boy's heart falls out his chest. A butterfly has a broken wing. Laura Lomas's play Chaos is a symphony of dislocated and interconnected scenes. A series of characters search for meaning in a complicated and unstable world. Bouncing through physics, the cosmos, love and violence, they find order in the disorder of each other. Written specifically for young people, the play formed part of the 2019 National Theatre Connections Festival and was premiered by youth theatres across the UK. It offers opportunities for a large, flexible cast of any size or mix of genders, and can incorporate chorus work, movement and music.

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Book Synopsis2013 Critics Award Scotland Best Technical Presentation WINNER 2013 Critics Award Scotland Best Children and Young People's Show NOMINEE Sam McTannan is just a typical 15 year old, with one exception. Sam is a Superhero! He can literally turn See-Thru when it suits him, only today something is wrong.In Superhero comics they would call it a blip.Sam's powers are failing him and the people he doesn’t want to see him start paying a little bit too much attention. The story of an ordinary boy with an extraordinary life. A heartbreaking, life affirming comedy about life, love and being a total loser.Trade Review"'Touching and surprisingly tragic.' - The Guardian 'Often breathtaking.' - The Scotsman 'A powerfully observed study of adolescent angst - An awfully big adventure well worth taking the leap.' - The Herald "

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Book SynopsisBlood Wedding by Federico García Lorca is a classic of Spanish literature, the tragedy of a woman loved by two men. The man she has loved since childhood is hot-blooded Leonardo, but his family are hated by her own folk, and he marries someone else. Then, on her wedding-night, Leonardo carries her off on horseback, pursued by the men of the two shamed families. The two rivals meet in the moonlight in a ?ght to the death… Lorca said the only hope for happiness lies in 'living one's instinctual life to the full'. And: 'To burn with desire and to remain silent is the greatest punishment we can in?ict on ourselves.' Blood Wedding explores the tragic intensity of lived, instinctual passion. For Brendan Kennelly, this involves a return to the very origins of drama: 'The pure pulsing sense of the mysterious nature of life before we learn to explain things almost out of existence … Blood Wedding is a drama of agonised and bewildering revelation.' Lorca has a searing realisation of the power of desire. Brendan Kennelly rises to the challenge of how to convey this in an English translation. In language at once soaring and accurate, wild and precise, he does justice to Lorca's tragic vision of the nature and consequences of lived desire. His version of Blood Wedding reveals the mysterious, intricate, passionate and truly astonishing nature of Lorca’s masterpiece. Brendan Kennelly's versions of Euripides' The Trojan Women and Medea, and Sophocles' Antigone, are published by Bloodaxe Books in his drama trilogy When Then Is Now: Three Greek Tragedies (2006). His version of Lorca's Blood Wedding was premièred by Northern Stage in Newcastle and Derby in autumn 1996. His Antigone and The Trojan Women were both first performed at the Peacock Theatre, Dublin, in 1986 and 1993 respectively; Medea premièred in the Dublin Theatre Festival in 1988, toured in England in 1989 and was broadcast by BBC Radio 3.

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Book SynopsisA collection of seven plays from Scottish writers, reflecting the upsurge in Scottish playwriting in the late twentieth century. Selected and introduced by Alasdair Cameron, the collection draws on adventurous theatres such as the Edinburgh Traverse and touring groups including Wildcat and 7:84, as well as looking further afield. The plays included in this volume are: Writer's Cramp by John Byrne Debut play from the author of The Slab Boys. Losing Venice by John Clifford A parable on the consequences of military adventuring. The Letter-Box by Ann Marie Di Mambro A short play about a woman who's been thrown out of her flat. Saturday Night at the Commodore by Rona Munro A woman remembers a painful teenage betrayal. Elizabeth Gordon Quinn by Chris Hannan Modern classic about an indomitable woman fighting to retain her dignity during the Glasgwegian rent-strikes of 1915. Dead Dad Dog by John McKay A short comedy about a trendy young Scotsman pursued by the ghost of his dad. The Steamie by Tony Roper Celebrates women's work in a Glasgow wash-house.Trade ReviewReviews from the Scotland tour of THE STEAMIE by Tony Roper, 2012, published in the volume SCOT-FREE: 'A Glasgow institution in its own right, The Steamie is as Glaswegian as the Gorbals, the People's Palace, deep fried mars bars and the cone on the head of the Duke of Wellington's statue. This wonderful play is a slice of Glasgow's social history delivered eloquently and emotionally in true Glesga patter.' - www.backstagepass.biz 'This remains an immensely important play with obvious resonances today. It is a lament for the death of community. Roper's use of the Scots language is so vivid, his observation of life so astute, that this era of friendship and solidarity is borne again.' - Whatsonstage.com 'one of Scotland's most loved comedy dramas... this play brings together issues of women's rights with the realities of a simpler life with humour, good nature and tenderness... a must see for people of all ages' - publicreviews.com

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Book SynopsisThe true story of the flourishing of a theatre in a wartime Jewish Ghetto. Winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best Play and the Critics Circle Award for Best New Play. Set in the Jewish ghetto of Vilna, Lithuania, in 1942, and based on diaries written during the darkest days of the holocaust, Ghetto tells of the unlikely flourishing of a theatre at the very time the Nazis began their policy of mass extermination. Joshua Sobol's play Ghetto was first performed at the Haifa Municipal Theatre in Israel and the Freie Volksbühne, Berlin, in 1984. This English-language version, adapted by David Lan, was first performed in the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre, London, in April 1989, directed by Nicholas Hytner. This edition of Ghetto includes Jeremy Sams' songs and music from the play, as well as extracts from the original ghetto diary.

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Book SynopsisTen short plays by Caryl Churchill, written for stage, radio and TV, selected and introduced by the author. This collection of short plays by one of our leading playwrights opens up a little-known aspect of her writing, and demonstrates her remarkable versatility and breadth of concern. Abortive (Radio 3, 1971) The After-Dinner Joke (BBC TV, 1978) The Hospital at the Time of the Revolution Hot Fudge (Royal Court Theatre, 1989) The Judge's Wife (BBC TV, 1972) Lovesick (Radio 3, 1967) Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen (Radio 3, 1971) Schreber's Nervous Illness (Radio 3, 1972) Seagulls Three More Sleepless Nights (Soho Poly Theatre, 1980) The volume also includes an introduction by the author.Trade Review'A dramatist who must surely be amongst the best half-dozen now writing' * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe extraordinary story of the women's orchestra in Auschwitz, originally filmed for television with Vanessa Redgrave, and adapted for the stage by Miller himself. Fania Fénelon, a Parisian singer, is arrested by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz. There, she finds herself swept into the orchestra, composed entirely of female prisoners and founded as entertainment for the camp commandants. As long as the orchestra continues to find favour, its members will be spared the gas chambers. But Fania is struggling with the corruption of what she holds most sacred in the world – her music – and the morals of the orchestra members are being ground down every day. They are, quite literally, playing for time. Arthur Miller's stageplay Playing for Time is adapted from the 1980 CBS television film, written by Miller himself, and based on acclaimed musician Fania Fénelon's autobiography The Musicians of Auschwitz. The television film starred Vanessa Redgrave as Fénelon. The stageplay was first staged at 1-Act Theatre, San Francisco, in 1985.Trade Review'Homing in, like many of Miller's other works, on an individual standing alone, and undergoing extreme dilemmas of personal conscience in the face of a system run mad' * Independent *

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Book SynopsisEugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra is a trilogy of full-length plays, reworking themes from Greek tragedy, particularly The Oresteia of Aeschylus, relocated to New England in 1865, just after the end of the American Civil War. Lavinia Mannon (Electra) dotes on her father Ezra (Agamemnon), who has just returned victorious from the war, and despises her mother Christine (Clytemnestra) – especially since Catherine has been making a cuckold of Ezra with Lavinia's ex-suitor, Adam. Lavinia's brother Orin (Orestes), on the other hand, war-wounded and weak, idolises his mother and resents his overbearing father. When Christine and her lover poison Ezra, Lavinia convinces her brother that they must avenge their father's death. But they have spent years soaking in family conflicts and curses of generations past, and fate will be sated... Mourning Becomes Electra was premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre in October 1931. This edition of the play includes a full introduction, biographical sketch and chronology.

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Book SynopsisDrama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Restless and discontented in her marriage, Hedda Gabler is drawn to a former admirer, Lovborg, now a brilliant writer. But he is more taken with Hedda's old schoolfriend. Driven by jealousy, Hedda destroys Lovborg and his precious manuscript and, finally, herself. This English version of Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler, published in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is translated and introduced by Kenneth McLeish.

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Book SynopsisDrama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price A masterpiece of the Spanish Golden Age. It is foretold that Prince Sigismund will become a tyrant. Alarmed, his father, the king, imprisons him. When he is released for a day as an experiment he proves the omens only too right, and, as a result, is incarcerated once more. Sigismund persuades himself that all that has passed is a dream and emerges to rule wisely and justly. Pedro Calderon's play Life is a Dream was first published in 1635. This English translation by John Clifford was first performed at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, in 1998. It is published in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.Trade Review'The star of the festival… John Clifford's translation reclaims a Spanish masterpiece for the modern stage' * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisDrama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Bored with her sheltered existence, Miss Julie attempts to seduce the footman, but gets far more than she bargained for... August Strindberg's classic naturalistic play Miss Julie was written in 1888, and first performed at Strindberg's experimental theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1889, despite being banned by the censor. This English version, translated and introduced by Kenneth McLeish, is published in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series. The volume also includes Strindberg's Preface.

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Book SynopsisPart Two of the two-part Angels in America, Tony Kushner's epic drama set during the Reagan years in America - now recognised as one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century. Perestroika picks up the stories of Prior and Cohn from Part One: Millennium Approaches. Prior, overwhelmed by the responsibilties of 'prophet' placed on him by the angels, wishes that they would leave him alone. Cohn, now dying from the virus, continues to manipulate the system from his hospital bed. But who is left to look after them now? And does anyone still care? With a climax as bittersweet as it is beautiful, we are left wondering who the real angels are in a disparate world. Perestroika was premiered in November 1992 in a production by the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, directed by Oskar Eustis and Tony Taccone. In November 1993 it received its London debut in a National Theatre production on the Cottesloe stage, in repertory with a revival of Millennium Approaches, again directed by Declan Donnellan. Perestroika won the 1994 Tony Award for Best Play.Trade Review'One of the greatest plays of the 20th century' * New York Observer *'The most ambitious American play of our time' * Newsweek *'A vast, miraculous play, a true millennial work of art' * New York Times *'A victory for the theatre, for the transforming power of the imagination to turn devastation into beauty' * New Yorker *'A vision of America at large, pulsating with energy and appetites in the shadow of history and the sense of oncoming disaster' * Independent on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisA bold and theatrically inventive adaptation of the literary classic that puts the interior life of the novel on stage. As a child, the orphaned Jane Eyre is taught by a succession of severe guardians to stifle her natural exuberance. A part of herself is locked away, out of view of polite society... until she arrives at Rochester's house as a governess to his young child. Soon Rochester's passionate nature reawakens Jane's hidden self, but darker secrets are stirring in the attic... Polly Teale's adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre was first performed by Shared Experience Theatre Company in 1997.Trade Review'Polly Teale has liberated Jane Eyre in a way that Charlotte Brontë could not... Her most inspired idea is to fuse the mad woman in the attic with Jane's younger self' * Observer *'Puts the interior life of the book on stage as well as its narrative. Adaptations of this quality can't be dismissed as a poor second to reading the book' * Time Out *'One of the finest and most searching stage adaptations I have ever seen... this Jane Eyre succeeds as both a wise distillation of the novel and a thrilling piece of theatre in its own right' * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisTwo linked one-act plays set in a run-down residential hotel in Bournemouth. In the first of the plays, Table by the Window, a lonely divorcee tracks down her former husband in order to resume a kind of half-life with him. In the other, Table Number Seven, a repressed young spinster offers brave moral support to a fake major accused of importuning women in a local cinema. Terence Rattigan's play Separate Tables was first produced at the St. James's Theatre, London, in September 1954. In an alternative version, only recently discovered among Rattigan's papers, the major's offence was revealed to be homosexual; these 'alternative' scenes are published here for the first time. This edition, edited and introduced by Dan Rebellato, includes a biographical sketch and chronology. 'Few dramatists of this century have written with more understanding of the human heart than Terence Rattigan' Michael Billington

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Book SynopsisGarcía Lorca's drama about the shattering effects of emotional repression on a family of cloistered daughters, in a version by playwright Rona Munro for the critically acclaimed Shared Experience Theatre Company. When Bernarda's husband dies, she locks all the doors and windows. She tells her grown-up daughers to sew and be silent. 'There are eight years of mourning ahead of us. While it lasts not even the wind will get into this house.' But locks can't hold back the growing tide of desire... Rona Munro's version of The House of Bernarda Alba was first staged by Shared Experience Theatre Company at Salisbury Playhouse in March 1999 before a UK tour.Trade Review'Rona Munro's new translation is vigorous and direct' * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisDrama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price The Rolls-Royce of English comedies, Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband explores corruption and morality, bringing an act of political sin into the heart of the English home. Ambitious government minister Sir Robert Chiltern seems assured of a smooth ascent to the top. Until Mrs Cheveley appears in London with damning proof of his past financial chicanery. An Ideal Husband was first staged at the Haymarket Theatre, London, in 1895. This edition of An Ideal Husband in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series is edited and introduced by Laurie Wolf.Trade Review'Oscar Wilde's ability to satirise the hollowness of our social and political life remains remarkably undimmed' * Daily Express *'Hugely entertaining, a curious mixture of melodrama, Wilde's distinctive epigrammatic wit and sudden moments of deeper feelings' * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisBased on the real-life court case of a young naval cadet unjustly accused of stealing a five-shilling postal order and first staged in 1946, The Winslow Boy has been revived many times since. Ronnie Winslow is expelled from naval college, having been accused of petty theft. Enraged, his father Arthur engages a lawyer to challenge the Admiralty to prove the charges in court – but public opinion is very much against the Winslows, and each member of the family is suffering... Terence Rattigan's play The Winslow Boy was first produced (after a brief pre-London tour) at the Lyric Theatre, London, in May 1946. This edition includes an authoritative introduction by Dan Rebellato, a biographical sketch and a chronology.Trade Review'As well made an example of a well-made play as you will find anywhere' * Sunday Times *'A sterling example of Rattigan's dramatic skill and humanity... deeply poignant' * Telegraph *'A playwright of acute emotional intelligence, elegant wit, and an extraordinary gift for expressive construction... thrilling' * Independent *'Among Terence Rattigan's finest work' * Evening Standard *'Excellent... its relevance to modern times feels obvious and urgent' * Metro *

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Book SynopsisA bold, witty and fresh adaptation of Jane Austen's novel which, while thoroughly modern, retains the spirit and much of the language of the original. It is night-time and an exhausted Jane Austen sleeps over the recently completed manuscript of her novel Emma. Her four nieces steal in and decide to act out the text and, after her initial anger on being wakened, Jane herself takes the role of Mr Knightley. The excitable teenage girls often try to take the story into their own realms of fantasy but are always brought back to the real text by Jane. This adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, by Doon MacKichan and Martin Millar, was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 1999, transferring to the Tricycle Theatre, London, in September.Trade Review'Full of life and vitality – an admirably lively, daringly provocative adaptation' * Daily Telegraph *'Ebullient and mischievous' * The Times *

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Book SynopsisPirandello's classic play, updated for the twenty-first century by Headlong. Blurring the border between fiction and life, between the stage and the world outside, Luigi Pirandello's play Six Characters in Search of an Author exploded onto the stage in 1921 as one of the unique achievements of twentieth-century drama. Updated and recontextualised in this vertiginous new version, it becomes a dark parable for a media-obsessed age and an exhilarating exploration of how we define art, ourselves and 'reality' in the twenty-first century. This version by Rupert Goold and Ben Power was first performed at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, in June 2008, in a co-production between Headlong and Chichester Festival Theatre.Trade Review'Exhilarating... stunning' * The Times *'Madly ingenious... gives a remarkable new lease of life to Pirandello's seminal play' * Independent *'Brilliantly inventive... gets to the heart of Pirandello's meaning while making the old play seem fresh to a modern audience' * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisA dark fable of the emotionally stultifying effects of small-town life, from the author of Disco Pigs and The Walworth Farce. Three sisters in a remote fishing village, trapped in the years that have passed since their halcyon days at The New Electric Ballroom, are still obsessed by darker memories of something resembling romance. Enda Walsh's play The New Electric Ballroom was first staged by Druid Theatre Company at the Galway Arts Festival in July 2008 and later at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, during the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The production won an Edinburgh Fringe First Award and was revived on tour in 2009.Trade Review'A beautiful and devastating play of broken hearts and maimed lives... Walsh confirms himself as one of the most dazzling wordsmiths of contemporary theatre, and one who has a direct conduit to our wanting hearts' * Guardian *'Shatteringly fine theatre' * Scotsman *'A total work of art, in short: it may make you uncomfortable, and you may even wonder what the hell's going on at moments, but that's what great theatre ought to do' * Arts Desk *

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Book SynopsisThe fourth volume of the collected plays of one of the best playwrights alive. Written over a period of ten years and evincing an extraordinary range of topics and techniques, this fourth volume of Caryl Churchill's collected plays confirms her standing as a playwright who is 'amongst the best half-dozen now writing' (The Times). This volume includes: Hotel (Schauspielhaus, Hannover, 1997), an innovative theatre piece combining music, voices and dance, with a text by Caryl Churchill and music by Orlando Gough. This is a Chair (Royal Court Theatre, 1997), a short play about the surreal nature of modern life. Blue Heart (Out of Joint & Royal Court Theatre, 1997), two linked one-act plays, both startlingly innovative, exploring the underpinnings of family relationships. Far Away (Royal Court, 2000), a brilliantly unsettling play about conflict and its unsettling effect on our lives and humanity. A Number (Royal Court, 2002), a fascinating meditation on human cloning, personal identity and the conflicting claims of nature and nurture. Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? (Royal Court, 2006),examining US foreign policy and international power politics through the lens of an intense personal relationship. A Dream Play (National Theatre, London, 2005), a spare and resonant version of August Strindberg's 1901 masterpiece.Trade Review'Lasts less than an hour but packs in more emotion, ideas, and disconcerting strangeness, than many dramatists manage in half dozen dramas' * Daily Telegraph on 'A Number' *'Leaves you feeling both chilled and scalded...outstanding' * Sunday Times on 'A Number' *Table of ContentsHotelThis is a ChairBlue HeartFar AwayA NumberDrunk Enough to Say I Love You?A Dream Play

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Book SynopsisThe tragic story of how Rudyard Kipling sent his son to his death in the First World War. The year is 1913 and war with Germany is imminent. Rudyard Kipling's determination to send his severely short-sighted son to war triggers a bitter family conflict which leaves Britain's renowned patriot devastated by the warring of his own greatest passions: his love for children - above all his own - and his devotion to King and Country. David Haig's play My Boy Jack was first staged at Hampstead Theatre in 1997. It was revived at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, in 2004, and toured the UK. The play was filmed for television in 2007, with Daniel Radcliffe as Jack and the author himself as Kipling.Trade Review'Dramatises Kipling's story beautifully. The family confrontations bristle with life' * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisA play about love, death, identity and evolution, from the bestselling and highly acclaimed novelist. Elizabeth, forty-something, childless, recently separated, just wants to be alone. She's moved into a converted Victorian mansion, alive with history, character, woodworm and rot. But worse than that she's besieged by invaders of the human kind. Her best friend, her sister, their mother, the builder and a photographer are all determined to make their mark. And a former inhabitant of the house, disturbed from her resting place by Elizabeth's arrival, revisits her own long-forgotten past. Kate Atkinson's play Abandonment was first performed at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 2000.Trade Review'Atkinson has arrived at theatrical customs with a huge amount to declare' * Guardian *'Witty, intelligent and absorbing... terrific comic dialogue' * Scotsman *

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Book SynopsisDrama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price The story of the mythical Greek king of Thebes, the archetypal tragic hero who accidentally fulfills a prophecy that he will end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster down upon his city and family. This volume, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, contains two plays by Sophocles, Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonos, in English translations by Kenneth McLeish. It also includes an introduction to the plays.Trade Review'Kenneth McLeish's fine translation' * Daily Telegraph *'An unparalleled translator of the Greeks' * Financial Times *

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