Plays, playscripts, drama

Book SynopsisA chance meeting leads to giddy kisses in a play about two women who find each other without even knowing they were looking. Premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2024.

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Book SynopsisA play exploring the inequalities we face around death, and the cost of turning your loved ones into art. Premiered by Paines Plough in 2024.

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Book SynopsisA sharp-witted and devastating play charting the parallel lives of two gay Pakistani men as they negotiate everything from casual hook-ups to the UK's hostile environment.

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Book SynopsisA thrilling play offering a deep-dive into the mysterious world of cryptocurrency, revealing how ambition and hope can be exploited, no matter the system at play. Premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2024.

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Book SynopsisA new play about a contentious statue in the British Museum, questioning who can claim cultural artefacts and why. Premiering at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2025.

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Book SynopsisThe story of a game, a life, and a man of two halves. This stage adaptation of David Peace's iconic novel about Bill Shankly, Manager of Liverpool FC, was premiered at the Royal Court Liverpool in 2025, with a cast including Peter Mullan.

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Book SynopsisA powerful, inventive stage play inspired by real animal encounters from around the world. Premiered at Liverpool Everyman in 2025.

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Book SynopsisSix characters's search for jobs, commitment, love and friendship is transformed by a night out.

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Book SynopsisA play by the poet and playwright Jon Fosse. This version is translated for the stage by playwright Gregory Motton. Two lovers have conflicting interests when they have a child together.

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Book SynopsisRichard Eyre's version of Ibsen's Ghosts is a fresh and vivid depiction of a woman who yearns for emotional and sexual freedom, but who is too timid to achieve it. Helene Alving has spent her life suspended in an emotional void after the death of her cruel but outwardly charming husband. She is determined to escape the ghosts of her past by telling her son, Oswald, the truth about his father. But on his return from his life as a painter in France, Oswald reveals how he has already inherited the legacy of Alving's dissolute life. Richard Eyre's version of Ghosts was first staged at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2013. This edition contains an introduction to the play by Richard Eyre.Trade Review'Raw and unsparing, but also devastatingly true to the spirit of the original... theatre seldom, if ever, comes greater than this' * Sunday Telegraph *'Both humorous and deeply affecting... the most lucid and affecting version of the play I have ever seen' * Time Out *'Richard Eyre's new stripped-down 90-minute version has glories too many to list' * The Times *'Held me in its grip throughout... leaves one reeling' * Telegraph *'Glittering, dark... as fresh and unsettling as ever' * Financial Times *'Grabs you by the throat and never releases its grip... extraordinary' * Guardian *'Scaldingly intense... the inexorable build-up of tension is beautifully calibrated' * The Arts Desk *

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Book SynopsisA collection of wide-ranging and ambitious short plays reflecting the complexities of women and political power in the United Kingdom. The four plays published here look back to the moments in history when women possessed - or achieved - power, and what they did with it. The Milliner and the Weaver by Marie Jones, about the Suffragette movement in Ireland, as the question of Home Rule divides the nation. The Lioness by Rebecca Lenkiewicz is about Queen Elizabeth I, the myth and the reality. Handbagged by Moira Buffini, about the working relationship between Mrs Thatcher and the Queen. Bloody Wimmin by Lucy Kirkwood, about the protests at Greenham Common, a political landmark in the fight for nuclear disarmament. The plays were first performed at the Tricycle Theatre, London, as part of the Women, Power and Politics season in June 2010. The other plays presented in the season are available in the companion volume, Women, Power and Politics: Now.Trade Review'A terrific achievement and crucial, frightening viewing, for both sexes' * Evening Standard *'The demands of compressed dramaturgy... have liberated these writers into genuinely experimental formats. It's incredibly refreshing' * Whatsonstage.com *

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Book SynopsisMary Shelley: daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft; lover of Shelley; author of Frankenstein… Helen Edmundson's compelling play explores a crucial episode in the early life of Mary Shelley – her meeting and scandalous elopement aged sixteen with Percy Bysshe Shelley, and its consequences for her sisters, her stepmother and above all, her troubled father, the political philosopher William Godwin. Mary Shelley was first staged in a co-production between Shared Experience, Nottingham Playhouse and West Yorkshire Playhouse, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, in March 2012.Trade Review'Full of literary intelligence, feminist fire and feminine understanding' * York Press *'Passionate, and at times tragic... it's testament to the quality of the script and the performances that it flies by' * Yorkshire Post *'Gripping... Without ever reducing Mary Shelley to an issue drama, Edmundson suggests the destructive nature of a life lived without compromise' * The Times *'This is a powerfully told story that will no doubt enjoy a successful run in Leeds, and beyond' * Whatsonstage.com *'This is a great introduction to two pivotal years of Mary Shelley's life, after which she published the acclaimed Frankenstein, and inspires the spectator to look beyond the stories into the writer's existence' * www.thepublicreviews.com *

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Book SynopsisA sharp comedy about power games and privacy in the media and beyond. Carrie's getting them out for the lads, Charlotte's just grateful to have a job, Sam's being asked to sell more than his body, and Aidan's trying to keep his magazine from going under. Set in the cut-throat media world, Lucy Kirkwood's comedy exposes power games and privacy in the age of Photoshop. [NSFW = Not Safe For Work, online material which the viewer may not want to be seen accessing in a public or formal setting such as at work.] Lucy Kirkwood's play NSFW was premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2012.Trade Review'Kirkwood's writing is intelligent, insightful and rings with one-liners and zippy exchanges' * The Arts Desk *'A cracking piece... dramatically gripping... a richly absorbing and inventive play' * Telegraph *'Timely, provocative... studded with moments of outrageous humour' * Evening Standard *'Bright, sharp, funny' * Guardian *'Sublimely funny' * Independent *

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Book Synopsis'Bein you means not bein me, see, a deficit already - before you even started we running at a loss.' Elayne doesn't want company but company won't leave her alone. Everyone's got an opinion but no one's listening and things are starting to slip. debbie tucker green's play nut is a drama about a woman who wants to withdraw from the world. It premiered at The Shed at the National Theatre in October 2013, directed by the author.Trade Review'Provocative, touching, darkly humorous... its understated power is remarkable' * Time Out *'Masterly... deeply concerned, caring and powerful' * Financial Times *'Throbs with feeling... flecked with humour and poetry' * Evening Standard *'Mesmerising, even terrifying... this is pure, potent theatrical intensity' * Metro *'Sharp, spiky, subtle' * The Arts Desk *

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Book SynopsisAn exciting, fresh and accessible adaptation of Dostoyevsky's masterful novel. Starving, destitute student Raskolnikov is surrounded by the harsh injustices of the world: the grime of poverty and prostitution, unscrupulous pawnbrokers chasing debts, and a sister about to marry someone she doesn't love to keep her family alive. His guilt is unbearable. Only Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute, can offer any chance of redemption. As Raskolnikov enters a dangerous cat and mouse game with the examining magistrate, a psychological thriller unfolds that probes how far humanity might go when driven by disillusionment and whether any crime can be justified by a higher purpose. Chris Hannan's adaptation of Crime and Punishment was first performed at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, in 2013, followed by a UK tour.Trade Review'Both a classic come to life and an urgent new work which develops its own style and language rather than slavishly imitating the text and it’s all the better for it' * Independent *'Powerful... To find a theatrical structure, adaptor Chris Hannan roams freely through the novel. He turns interior monologue into direct address, thins out subplots and reconfigures the sequence of events to fashion a fluid route through the story' * Guardian *'Magnificent... a fluent, beautiful, profoundly theatrical account of one of the great stories of world literature' * Scotsman *

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Book SynopsisAn uplifting story of the triumph of love, inspiration and hope against all odds, laced with the song and dance of austere 1940s Britain. Ricky Braithwaite, an ex-RAF fighter pilot and Cambridge graduate, arrives in London in 1948. Despite his First Class degree in electronic engineering he is turned down for job after job in his chosen profession and discovers the reality of life as a black man in post-war England. Taking the only job he can get, Ricky begins his first teaching post, in a tough but progressive East End school. Supported by an enlightened headmaster, the determined teacher turns teenage rebelliousness into self-respect, contempt into consideration and hate into love, and on the way, Ricky himself learns that he has more in common with his students than he had realised. Ayub Khan Din's play To Sir, With Love is based on E.R. Braithwaite's 1959 autobiographical novel of the same name. The play was first performed at Royal & Derngate, Northampton, in September 2013, and subsequently toured the UK.Trade Review'Funny and tough... an unlikely tale, beautifully told' * Express *'Stark and engaging... a poetic period piece' * Whatsonstage.com *'A clever re-working... beautifully judged with warmth and a lot of humour' * British Theatre Guide *

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Book Synopsis‘Surprise me. Wipe the smile off my face.’ Harry and Jo are up all night drawing the battle lines of a relationship based on desire, dependency and dirty games. Vicky Jones's viciously funny play The One invites you into the world of a couple trapped in a destructive cycle of love and lust. Winner of the 2013 Verity Bargate Award, The One premiered at Soho Theatre, London, in February 2014, and was revived at the theatre in July 2018.Trade Review'Packs one hell of a provocative punch. It's also a tremendously accomplished fusion of writing, performance and stagecraft, that entertains as much as it shocks… Jones proves a master at creating multi-layered characters… in its forensic, unflinching examination of the casual cruelty couples inflict on each other, the piece often resembles Patrick Marber's Closer, and displays a similar mordant, intelligent wit' * WhatsOnStage *'Achingly funny... witty, brave and galling writing... a harshly realistic, intelligent discussion of the complexities of love' * Time Out *'The real thing: sexy, savage and as lively as a cat on a hot tin roof... this is new writing as it should be' * The Stage *'Truly astounding… frank, edgy dialogue and biting wit… hypnotic to watch' * Telegraph *'Incredibly, lawlessly funny… deeply and seriously engaged with femininity and feminism in the contemporary world… in its willingness to say the unsayable it brings theatre one step closer to life…. makes an awful lot of other plays look pallid, mealy-mouthed and, frankly, just a bit boring' * Exeunt Magazine *'A finely wrought study of toxic relationships… spiky and unsettling' * Evening Standard *'Searingly accurate… fierce, funny and well-observed… a short, sharp glimpse into the addictive grip of toxic relationships' * Metro *'Punchy, shocking… it's the bravery in Jones' writing [that] makes this piece so exciting' * Huffington Post *

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Book SynopsisAn absurd, hilarious and fast-paced comedy by the writer of some of Britain's most acclaimed TV comedies. Flight BA043 has crashed on an island. Stranded, four survivors wait. Surely somebody will find them. Planes don't just disappear, do they? And, if no one's coming... what do they do now? Tom Basden's razor-sharp comedy Holes opened at the Arcola Tent, London, in July 2014, following a run at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Trade Review'Lost meets Lord of the Flies... quick, sarcastic and agreeably grisly' * The Times *'Fast-paced and relentlessly funny' * A Younger Theatre *

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Book SynopsisA portrait of an eclectic family, held together by the courage to survive. In an ivy-clad house in Zagreb, Croatia, the Kos family argue and fall in and out of love as world after world is erected and then torn down around them. From the remnants of monarchy, through Communism, then democracy, war, and eventual acceptance into a wider Europe, four generations of Kos women – each one more independent than the last – have to adapt to survive. The one constant is the house: built by aristocrats, partitioned, nationalised, it stands witness to the passing generations. But when the family assemble for Lucija's wedding, Alisa learns that her nouveau-riche brother-in-law has bought the family home for himself and the other tenants have to move out. For the bride this is progress, for her sister it's a shady act of greed. For their principled parents, finally, it's one battle too many. Tena Štivičić's play 3 Winters premiered at the National Theatre, London, in November 2014. It won the 2015 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.Trade Review'Generous, surprising and extremely powerful' * Observer *'A fascinating portrait of the need to adapt and survive in a country in a constant state of transition... tremendous' * Guardian *'Brilliant... grab[s] you by the guts' * Independent *

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Book SynopsisThree hard-hitting, distinctive monologues for young female actors, from one of the country's most exciting young playwrights. Bird is a cutting-edge monologue that throws light on the experience of a teenager in contemporary Britain. It's four in the morning and Leah is waiting for her boyfriend to call. Over the course of a single night she tells us what it's like to be fourteen, fearless and full of love. But everything isn't what it seems, and as the sun comes up, Leah begins to unpick the true nature of her relationship. Bird was first presented by Root Theatre and Echo, on a tour of the UK, in 2014. This edition also includes the monologues Gypsy Girl and Where I'm From.Trade Review'Potent… [a] beautifully crafted monologue with rich theatrical texture' * The Stage on Bird *

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Book SynopsisA razor-sharp, acid-tongued play by Mike Bartlett, one of the UK's most exciting and inventive young writers. Two jobs. Three candidates. This would be a really bad time to have a stain on your shirt...Bull opened at Crucible Studio Theatre, Sheffield, in February 2013 in a Sheffield Theatres Production, winning the 2013 UK Theatre Award for Best New Play. This edition is published alongside its production at the Young Vic Theatre, London. Winner of the 2015 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.Trade Review'Sinewy, stinging, witty... it's as if Bartlett has taken the nastiest needling from a Mamet or a Pinter play and put them into a space of pure verbal aggression' - The Times 'Short, slick and emotionally unflinching... delivers a decisive punch' - The Stage 'A gem of a new play... chillingly evokes the dynamics of bullying, in school, the work place, and elsewhere' - Whatsonstage.com 'A writer with a startling breadth of ambition coupled with an ear for dialogue unmatched by many of his contemporaries... Bull taps into something incredibly relevant and potent' - Exeunt Magazine

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Book SynopsisCharlie Ashanti lives in a future where phones are powered by the sun, cars are banned and companies are more powerful than countries. Charlie is a perfectly normal boy, except for one thing: he can speak to cats. When his parents are kidnapped, he sets off on a rescue mission – with a little help from a floating circus and its pride of performing lions. Based on Zizou Corder's bestselling novels, Marcelo Dos Santos's adaptation fuses storytelling and circus in a gripping tale that provides great opportunities for amateur and school groups looking to perform a magical adventure. Lionboy was commissioned and first produced by award-winning theatre company Complicite in 2013, and was revived in 2014 for an international tour.Trade Review'A beautiful, stylistic and intelligent adaptation' * Teaching Drama *'It twinkles with a sense of magical possibility… liveliness, invention and effortless appeal' * The Times *'A wonderfully imaginative adventure' * Evening Standard *

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Book SynopsisHow to fill what's left of your day. How to fill the rest of your days. Sick buckets, bucket rattling, bucket lists, buckets of love. Wry, emotive, funny and heartfelt, buckets is a play with a unique perspective on a universal dilemma: how do you deal with the fact that time always runs out? Across thirty-three interconnected scenes – some just a few lines, others mini-plays in their own right – buckets swings through a kaleidoscopic world of sadness and happiness, illness and health, youth and experience, kissing and crying, singing and dying. Adam Barnard's open-ended text can be performed by any number and composition of actors. buckets premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in May 2015.Trade Review'Innovative... Barnard writes with a wounding intelligence' * Guardian *'Clearly influenced by Caryl Churchill… it startles, touches and wryly amuses… a neat balance of absurdity and pathos' * The Times *'An exuberant, likeable and snappy 80 minutes… has a winningly absurdist sense of humour' * Time Out *'Both wise and humorous' * Evening Standard *

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Book Synopsis‘Who said smashing things up was a bad thing?’ Three strangers are about to face their demons head on. Balanced precariously on the tipping point, they might just be able to save one another – if they can only overcome their urge to self-destruct. Passionate, painful and playful, Stef Smith’s Swallow takes a long, hard look at the extremes of everyday life. The play premiered at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, as part of the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it received a Scotsman Fringe First Award. It was directed by Traverse Artistic Director Orla O’Loughlin, and featured original music by LAWholt.Trade Review'An elegant and glowing piece of 21st-century magic realism… [a] rich mix of drama and poetry, comedy and tragedy' * Scotsman *'[A] bloody great bruise of a play which borrows, magpie-like, from Sarah Kane but which is always distinctively itself. It has a shard-like lyricism that tears through the heart. It finds the comic in the tragic... a shattering 80 minutes' * Guardian *'In a relatively short space of time Stef Smith has established herself as a remarkably diverse and elusive playwright… her most assured to date' * The Times *'Dazzlingly deft… there are so many reasons to love this piece… a must-see' * Independent *'Smith's script is dense with tense and memorable imagery… packed with powerful language' * The Stage *

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Book SynopsisAn explosive and thought-provoking play from the author of Girls Like That, exploring what happens when buried secrets catch up with you. As Head of Year 11, Diane is meant to be implementing the new 'Healthy Relationships' curriculum. But then Freddie arrives. She hasn't seen him since that night six years earlier when he was fifteen. She thinks he took advantage of her. He thinks she groomed him for months. Neither is sure. But when it comes to sex and consent, how far can you blur the lines? Evan Placey's Consensual was first performed by the National Youth Theatre in their 2015 West End season.Trade Review'Consensual is designed to shake your moral compass to its core... Evan Placey's intelligent, gripping new play about a pupil-teacher relationship offers a 360 degree view of a situation that most of us only read about in one-dimensional headlines... The fierce, funny classroom banter and sharp put downs, give the piece its heart and mind... [a] compelling play for our times' * WhatsOnStage *'Lively, sparky and ballsy as heck… gets the brain pounding and the blood pumping' * Time Out *

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Book SynopsisBecca and Howie Corbett are a happy suburban couple whose lives are changed forever when their young son Danny is killed in an accident. Eight months on, they are drifting perilously apart. Becca wants to start afresh in a new home and give away their son's possessions, but Howie wants to keep the memory of Danny alive. Can they ever find their way back to each other? David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, filled with distinctive wit and grace, charts the path from grief to its antidotes – love and hope. Rabbit Hole premiered on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre in a Manhattan Theatre Club production in January 2006. The play was originally commissioned by South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California, and first presented at its Pacific Playwrights Festival reading series in 2005. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2007. Rabbit Hole was made into a film starring Nicole Kidman in 2010, and the play had its UK premiere at Hampstead Theatre, London, in January 2016.Trade Review'Taut, unsentimental… a modern tragedy' * WhatsOnStage *'[A] scorching drama… emotionally shattering' * The Stage *'A beautifully observed new play blessed with David Lindsay-Abaire's customary grace and wit' * New York Times *'A transcendent and deeply affecting new play, which shifts perfectly from hilarity to grief' * Entertainment Weekly *'An intensely emotional examination of grief, laced with wit, insightfulness, compassion and searing honesty' * Variety *

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Book SynopsisAva and Tash are up on a cliff, looking out at the flocking birds – and at their future. On the cusp of adulthood and about to leave the care home they've shared, the two friends road-test their impending freedom and living in the outside world. Ava must confront the mother she left behind. Tash will have to look for a new home. And both girls will go on living dangerously with the men who surround them. Raw, delicate and bold, Katherine Chandler's play Bird is a story of growing up outside a family but inside the fiercest of friendships. It was the winner of a Judges' Award in the 2013 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, and premiered at Sherman Cymru in 2016 before transferring to the Royal Exchange, Manchester.Trade Review'The writing has a blasted beauty... like its teenage protagonists, [it is] a small, fragile thing with a fiercely beating heart' * Guardian *'Uncompromising in its fury… a play that refuses to look away' * The Stage *'A story that has to be told… [will] have you thinking hard and feeling deeply' * The Public Reviews *

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Book SynopsisA darkly comic play that explores the unexpected, bewildering, and life-changing consequences of challenging the status quo at a global level. Last week, Andrew was that guy with his girl lunching in KFC, discussing apartments and making plans for the future. Today he's in Moscow, in an undisclosed hotel room, on the run and at risk of assassination. Last week, a nobody. This week, America's Most Wanted: a man who humiliated his country with one touch of a button. Mike Bartlett's Wild premiered at Hampstead Theatre, London, in June 2016, in a production directed by James Macdonald.Trade Review'Bartlett raises big issues, and explores with painful honesty the mixed motives and practical dilemmas of the whistleblower... defiantly and uniquely theatrical' * Guardian *'Bold and fittingly mind-blowing… confirms [Mike Bartlett] as a playwright impressively willing to wrestle with the big questions of our time' * Telegraph *'It's the Mike Bartlett Wild Ride ride… fascinating' * The Times *'Breathtaking' * Financial Times *'A wild ride indeed: one that will leave you utterly gripped, at the edge of your seat' * WhatsOnStage *

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Book Synopsis‘I am up for it. All the time. That’s not a boast. Or an opinion. It is bone-hard medical fact.’
 John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester. Charismatic poet, playwright and rake with a legendary appetite for excess. Yet when a chance encounter with an actress at the Playhouse sends him reeling, he is forced to reconsider everything he thinks and feels. With all the wit, flair and bawdiness of a Restoration comedy, Stephen Jeffreys’ brilliant play is an incisive critique of life in an age of excess. Originally performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 1994, The Libertine has been staged around the world, was adapted for radio, and became a film. This edition of the play was published alongside the 2016 production at the Theatre Royal Bath and Theatre Royal Haymarket, directed by Terry Johnson and starring Dominic Cooper as Wilmot.Trade Review'The dialogue burns with a lusty vigour... the storytelling is confident and compelling... it's perfect, it's profound, and it's fun too' * The Arts Desk *'Captures the zesty backstage politics of Restoration theatre… an invigorating, warts-and-all portrait of a self-destructive sceptic' * Guardian *'Sumptuous, silly, rude, poetic' * The Times *

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Book SynopsisA sensitive, delicate and powerful play that asks what our labour is worth and how life can be lived when the system is stacked against you. ‘I dreamt about this last night. I dreamt that I was packing boxes in boxes in boxes.’ Tamsin packs boxes in a warehouse, on the clock, to a target, with a zero-hour contract. Her brother Dean is housebound, working to obsessive-compulsive rituals of his own. When Dean is declared fit for work, their benefits are cut. There are phone calls to make, appeals to lodge and endless forms to fill in. Tamsin must pack faster, work harder, and fight to get the support she and her brother so desperately need. Katherine Soper's play Wish List won the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting and was co-produced by the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, and the Royal Court Theatre, London. It premiered at the Royal Exchange in September 2016 and the Royal Court in January 2017, and Katherine Soper was named Best Writer in the 2017 Stage Debut Awards. ‘The play has such eloquence, such quiet craft, such dignity and such compassion’ Sir Nicholas HytnerTrade Review'Lays bare social iniquities without resorting to melodrama… its motivating spirit is the same as a Ken Loach film: this isn’t fair, and attention must be paid' * Financial Times *'A beautifully compassionate, tender and at times gently humorous piece of work… in its clear-eyed look at the interplay between two dehumanising systems, it arouses due political indignation. A heartening debut' * Independent *'A sad, beautiful drama about austerity Britain… Wish List is sad and upsetting, condemnatory of the way in which automated systems replace humanity. But it’s not an angry rant, and ultimately it feels celebratory of humanity' * Time Out *'A quietly sympathetic vision of a difficult brother-sister relationship, it’s also a politically charged piece about the insecurity of the modern workplace… Soper has trenchant things to say about the cult of productivity and society’s obsession with transactions and quantifiable achievements' * Evening Standard *'Precise, tender yet unsentimental writing… marks out Soper as a writer of real promise' * Exeunt Magazine *'Intense and moving… a play that demands to be seen' * The Reviews Hub *'The writing is extraordinary: deceptively lightweight while filtering personal and social issues through carefully nuanced characters... [a] compassionate, funny and quietly troubling debut' * The Stage *'Its emotional impact is devastating... a quietly essential and moving play that makes us empathise with the lives of the desperate and the unseen' * Guardian *'Peppered with humour and humanity' * British Theatre Guide *'A necessary play about unnecessary pain' * The Skinny *

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Book Synopsis'People like us are unhappy in this world and in the next: if we made it to heaven, we'd have to help make it thunder.' The multi-award-winning Jack Thorne, the playwright behind Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, breathes new life into Georg Büchner's existential masterpiece, Woyzeck, one of the most extraordinary plays ever written. It's 1980s Berlin. The Cold War rages and the world sits at a crossroads between Capitalism and Communism. On the border between East and West, a young soldier and the love of his life are desperately trying to build a better future for their child. But the cost of escaping poverty is high in this searing tale of the people society leaves behind. Jack Thorne's version of Woyzeck premiered at the Old Vic Theatre, London, in May 2017, in a production starring John Boyega in the title role.Trade Review'This really is one not to miss' * Radio Times *'An exceptionally powerful portrait of a man at the bottom of the heap, helpless and hopeless' * Mail on Sunday *'A brutal interpretation for our times' * Observer *'Jack Thorne has sprinkled magic over Georg Büchner's elusive masterpiece… earthy, robust and admirably clear… this isn’t an easy watch, but it certainly rewards audience effort' * Evening Standard *'Shattering… makes Woyzeck more accessible while preserving its unsettling spirit' * Independent *'A thrillingly powerful triumph… as a picture of working-class men, this Woyzeck is powerful and effective' * The Arts Desk *'Explosive… an emotionally challenging, deeply unsettling must-see' * TheatreCat *'A delirious Freudian dream, a parable of toxic masculinity' * Time Out *'Thorne introduces shafts of humour amidst the gloom... [this] descent into darkness is completely absorbing' * WhatsOnStage *'A ferocious play that grows exponentially in power as it progresses. It's the play that Woyzeck would have been, needs to be, if written in 2017... Thorne brings his pitch-perfect naturalistic dialogue to bear on a work that becomes about class, masculinity and mental health... though it's almost 200 years old, this feels like a new play, savagely laying bare an unequal world' * The Stage *

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Book Synopsis'When am I going to wake up and be different?' Three flatmates. A single bathroom. And a whole world of men. In this funny, unapologetic play, three twenty-something women figure out how they really feel about sex, their bodies and each other. With a vibrancy and stylistic freedom, Low Level Panic interrogates the effects of society's objectification of women. Clare McIntyre's play Low Level Panic premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 1988, winning the Samuel Beckett Award. This edition was published alongside its first major revival at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in 2017.Trade Review'Sharply observed, and often very funny… a beautifully realised snapshot of the relationship between three women, their rivalry, humour and mutual support' * The Stage *'Very entertaining… an utterly truthful play, which has bags of winning charm even as it delivers its blows' * Guardian *'Low level panic is the constant fear that runs through women's lives like a cold underground stream, its source is male violence and it is fed by tributaries of pornography. Clare McIntyre's play looks at the repercussions this fear has on the lives of three women' * Time Out *'McIntyre has a deadly accurate ear, a subtle sense of humour and a deep fund of compassion: she writes with thrilling understanding' * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisIf you are born in a country where being yourself can get you killed, exile is your only choice. Frances Poet's play Adam is the remarkable true story of a young trans man having to make that choice and begin his journey. It charts Adam's progress from Egypt to Scotland, across borders and genders, in his search for a place to call home. The play was first performed by the National Theatre of Scotland at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017, where it won a Fringe First award. It was directed by Cora Bissett, with music by Jocelyn Pook, and starred Adam Kashmiry, whose story inspired the play. A TV movie based on the play, written by Frances Poet and also starring Adam Kashmiry, was made by Hopscotch Films and National Theatre of Scotland, and was broadcast by the BBC in 2021. The film was the winner in the Television Scripted category at the 2021 BAFTA Scotland Awards.Trade Review'A resonant, broad meditation on the theme of identity… a compelling, hugely moving experience, and a show that blurs boundaries between theatrical artifice and real-life trauma to provocative effect' * The Arts Desk *'What a lovely thing Adam is… a beautiful adaptation of [this true] story' * Observer *'No pale recreation, but honest first-person testimony... essential viewing' * Independent *'Deeply moving… with an extraordinary story at its heart, Adam is a compelling piece of theatre, which seeks to fully interrogate the challenges of the trans experience' * The List *'A big-hearted, moving show that explores both the human urgency of living your truth and the cost of that transformation' * WhatsOnStage *'Fearlessly honest… fresh, interesting and impactful, with a strong message of hope and persistence against bigotry that remains sincere throughout' * The Skinny *'High-energy and often spectacular theatre' * Scotsman *'Compelling… bravely and joyously affirms [trans and non-binary people's] humanity in a time when many political regimes seem to be conspiring to deny it * Exeunt Magazine *

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Book Synopsis‘I don’t know how I became so filled with hate. I find it shocking that I did. Somebody said to me that war affects us in all kinds of ways, and that drinking is only one of them. Perhaps hating people is another. Perhaps sex is too.’ 1943, Henley-on-Thames. Miss Roach is forced by the war to flee London for the Rosamund Tea Rooms boarding house, a place as grey and lonely as its residents. From the safety of these new quarters, her war effort now consists of a thousand petty humiliations, of which the most burdensome is sharing her daily life with the unbearable Mr Thwaites. But a breath of fresh air arrives in the form of a handsome American lieutenant and things start to look distinctly brighter. Until a new boarder moves into the room next to Miss Roach’s – outwardly friendly, she soon starts upsetting the precarious balance in the house. Nicholas Wright’s play The Slaves of Solitude weaves a fascinating blend of dark hilarity and melancholy from Patrick Hamilton’s much-loved story about an improbable heroine in wartime Britain. The play premiered at Hampstead Theatre, London, in October 2017.Trade Review'Brilliantly transformed for the stage by Nicholas Wright… although there is some wonderful sly comedy from the start, [the play's] strength is in a humane, rueful, oddly hopeful understanding of loneliness and of the way we try to make real connections… no character is all bad, nor all good; even the most minor of them, in fleetingly sketched moments, reveal both their handicap and their hope. It's lovely' * TheatreCat *'[A] witty, evocative, gnarly human drama… the home front is a hotbed here as people who look like heroes or villains reveal themselves to be more complex while they make their small but crucial claims for territory… wonderful' * The Times *'Nicholas Wright's adaptation captures the familiar emotional notes of Hamilton's fiction, the pervading loneliness, the melancholy, the use of booze as a crutch and a shield' * The Stage *

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Book SynopsisTwo plays by award-winning writer James Fritz, each asking urgent, pointed and complex questions of the times we live in. Ideal for schools, youth theatres and amateur companies to perform, these versatile and incisive plays demonstrate an innovative playwright at the top of his craft. In Comment Is Free, a journalist forms the centre of a devastating media storm. After being staged by Old Vic New Voices in 2015, the version published here was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016, winning both the Tinniswood and Imison Awards for Audio Drama. Start Swimming is a play about occupation, revolution and what the future holds for today’s youth. One step away from disaster, there’s only one thing left to do: start swimming. First staged by the Young Vic Taking Part department, Start Swimming was also performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017.Trade Review'Both a caustic critique of contemporary society's treatment of young people and an exploration of the role of language in the perpetuation and justification of the practices under critique' * Exeunt Magazine on Start Swimming *'Theatrical and fun... radiates a puckishness and sense of mischief that mocks control systems even as it articulates their bleakness' * Time Out on Start Swimming *'Raw and vivid... a powerful indictment of the situation in which many people find themselves' * Scotsman on Start Swimming *'A brilliant piece... It took my breath away' * Telegraph on Comment is Free *

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Book Synopsis‘We’re cosmic scallies, we dance on the off-beat, we’re wonky shopping trollies, we’re forgotten and trod on, we’re gravy-stained and piss-sodden, we’re the breath between coughing fits.’ Shaun and Dent grew up best friends on the same council estate in Skelmersdale. Dent left, full of ambition, but ten years later she’s back. Can Shaun convince her that Skem is an inheritance better than any house? Jackie's Hagan's Cosmic Scallies is a witty and touching play about class, friendship and absence. It premiered at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in a co-production between Graeae Theatre Company and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, before transferring to the Royal Exchange.Trade Review'Hagan has written a love letter to her home town… an assured debut, slowly revealing the inner lives of its characters' * Scotsman *'A darkly comic portrayal of working class life, referencing benefits, drugs, education, class divide and gender… Cosmic Scallies is very funny, but the issues faced by the characters are real, particularly in our current political climate' * British Theatre Guide *'For all its beady-eyed honesty, this is a story told with a fierce, exasperated love for the people and the place… lots of very funny one-liners… a hymn to those who are hanging on by their fingertips but refusing to let go' * Guardian *'A small town yarn of thwarted ambition, shared history and reconciliation told with a wicked back-street wit… [has] a rough and ready swagger' * Herald *

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Book SynopsisEight short plays, commissioned and developed as part of the Women Centre Stage Festival, that together demonstrate the range, depth and richness of women's writing for the stage. Selected by Sue Parrish, Artistic Director of Sphinx Theatre, these plays offer a wide variety of rewarding roles for women, and are perfect for schools, youth groups and theatre companies to perform. How to Not Sink by Georgia Christou looks at duty, love and dependency across three generations of women. In Wilderness by April De Angelis, a patient and her psychiatrist head into the wilderness to find out how sane any of us really are. In Chloe Todd Fordham’s The Nightclub, three very different women at a gay nightclub in Orlando are caught up in a terrifying hate crime. Fucking Feminists by Rose Lewenstein is a fiercely funny investigation of what feminism means, and what it has become. Winsome Pinnock’s Tituba is a one-woman show about Tituba Indian, the enslaved woman who played a central role in the seventeenth-century Salem Witch Trials. In The Road to Huntsville by Stephanie Ridings, a writer researching women who fall in love with men on death row finds herself crossing the line. White Lead by Jessica Siân explores the expectations and responsibilities of being an artist and a woman. In What is the Custom of Your Grief? by Timberlake Wertenbaker, an English schoolgirl whose brother has been killed on active duty in Afghanistan is befriended online by an Afghan girl. Sphinx Theatre has been at the vanguard of promoting, advocating and inspiring women in the arts through productions, conferences and research for more than forty years.Trade Review'This collection is proof of the incredibly moving and imaginative work being written by women… [it] showcases big ideas on the lives of women, with stories that will resonate with modern audiences and students, regardless of background or gender' * Teaching Drama *'Meaty roles for actresses to sink their teeth into… the plays are innovative and imaginative' * Broadway World *

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Book SynopsisIt’s 1991 in West Belfast. With their husbands either locked up or killed, Marie, Cassie and Nora are just trying to get on with their lives, despite the bombs, burning buses and soldiers trampling the flower beds. Life must go on – after all, there’s still laundry to do and kids to feed. But when a mysterious young woman turns up on Marie’s doorstep and disrupts their girls’ night out, the devastating revelations which ensue will shatter dreams and threaten their friendship irrevocably. Sharply funny, moving, yet never shying from the harsh realities of life during the Troubles, Bold Girls is a celebration of women’s strength under siege. It was first performed by 7:84 Scottish People's Theatre at Cumbernauld Theatre in 1990 and on tour. The play announced Rona Munro as one of the best playwrights of her generation, winning her the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for 1990-91. This new edition was published alongside the revival at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, in June 2018.Trade Review'An unflinching study of the effects of male violence' * Guardian *'Skilfully exposes the tensions that lurk beneath the friendships of four women' * The Stage *

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Book Synopsis‘I just thought it would be a secret I’d have to die with. And now – I think it’ll be what kills me.’ Life as the director of a Muslim funeral parlour isn’t always easy, but Ayesha has things pretty sorted. She and Zeyd share everything: a marriage, a business, a future. Until Tom walks in to organise his boyfriend’s funeral. A snap moral decision, informed by the values of Ayesha’s community and faith, has profound consequences. Forced to confront a secret she has hidden even from herself, Ayesha must decide who she is – no matter the cost. Iman Qureshi's play The Funeral Director is an incisive and heartfelt story of sexuality, gender and religion in twenty-first-century Britain. It won the 2018 Papatango New Writing Prize and premiered at Southwark Playhouse, London, in 2018.Trade Review'Very clever… plenty of moral meat to sink your teeth into' * Time Out *'A bit of a cracker... Iman Qureshi's play tackles, with grace and dignity, the tricky subject of Islamic attitudes to same-sex relationships. It's a play that makes a humane point without lapsing into preachiness' * Guardian *'A sensitive and nuanced exploration of sexuality and the Islamic faith... elegantly drawn' * The Stage *

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