Plays, playscripts, drama
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Brace Brace
Book SynopsisOli Forsyth is a playwright, poet and actor from London. In 2013 he established new writing theatre company Smoke & Oakum Theatre which has to date, produced two of his plays. In 2014 Tinderbox had two productions in London and one at the Edinburgh Festival, where it was nominated for an Amnesty International Award. In 2015 Cornermen premiered at The Old Red Lion before running at The Pleasance and transferring to both The New Diorama and the Vaults. As a poet Oli performs his work at venues and festivals around the UK.
£13.10
Nick Hern Books More Life
Book SynopsisA sci-fi gothic horror exploring what it means to be human, from Kandinsky Theatre Company. Premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2025.
£10.44
Nick Hern Books Anne Boleyn
Book SynopsisA celebration of a great English heroine, Anne Boleyn dramatises the life and legacy of Henry VIII's notorious second wife, who helped change the course of the nation's history. Traditionally seen as either the pawn of an ambitious family manoeuvred into the King's bed or as a predator manipulating her way to power, Anne – and her ghost – are seen in a very different light in Howard Brenton's epic play. Rummaging through the dead Queen Elizabeth's possessions upon coming to the throne in 1603, King James I finds alarming evidence that Anne was a religious conspirator, in love with Henry VIII but also with the most dangerous ideas of her day. She comes alive for him, a brilliant but reckless young woman confident in her sexuality, whose marriage and death transformed England for ever. Howard Brenton's play Anne Boleyn was first performed at Shakespeare's Globe, London, in July 2010, and was named Best New Play at the Whatsonstage.com Awards in 2011. The play was revived at the Globe in 2011 and toured regionally in 2012 in a joint production between Shakespeare’s Globe and English Touring Theatre.Trade Review'The play bursts through the constraints of costume drama. Brenton understands how to work the audience at the Globe' * Independent *'It takes a big, generous spirit to fill the Globe, and in this Brenton follows Shakespeare - not just with asides and soliloquies, but with a large colourful canvas' * Daily Mail *'Anne Boleyn has drama, royalty, sex, scheming... in short, as much entertainment value as a Tudor execution' * Time Out *'This is no dry and dusty history lesson... a witty and engrossing impression of the times that gave birth to our first Elizabethan age, and the subsequent reformation' * British Theatre Guide *'What an absolute delight... a beautifully written piece of theatre that instantly draws you in into the life and times of both Anne Boleyn and King James I' * Whatsonstage.com *
£11.39
Nick Hern Books The Wind in the Willows
Book SynopsisThis delightful stage adaptation combines all the joy and mystery of Kenneth Grahame's much-loved classic with the lightness of touch and playful theatricality that award-winning playwright Mike Kenny is known for. Tired of spring-cleaning, Mole leaves Mole End and ventures out to the riverbank, where he befriends the resourceful Ratty, the gruff Badger and the infamous Toad of Toad Hall (Poop-poop!). Together they explore the Wide World, and the Wild Wood, and try to keep Toad out of trouble…! With ample opportunities for creativity on stage and wonderful character parts for actors, it is ideal for schools and youth theatres, or any drama groups looking for a fresh new version of an old favourite. This version of The Wind in the Willows was first staged at the Theatre Royal, York, in 2010.Trade Review'Mike Kenny's script is funny, clever and pointed in its championing of riverbank life. It has a warm heart but is never twee' * The Stage *'Taps into the novel's prevailing mood of wistful nostalgia for a timeless, pastoral England' * Guardian *
£10.44
Nick Hern Books The Haunting
Book SynopsisA spine-chilling play by Hugh Janes, based on several original ghost stories by Charles Dickens. In an ancient, crumbling mansion, sheltering from the howling winds that tear across the surrounding desolate moorland, two men stumble across a dark and terrifying secret that will change both of their lives. When a young book dealer, David Filde, is employed by a former associate of his uncle to catalogue a private library, he finds an incredible array of rare and antiquated books. But as a series of strange and unexplained events conspires to keep Filde from his work, he realises that if he is to convince his sceptical employer that the mysterious phenomena he is experiencing are real, they must journey together to the very edge of terror, and beyond... Hugh Janes' play The Haunting was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, in 2010. The play offers rich material for amateur theatre companies or student groups who want to introduce their audiences to another side of Dickens' work - and have them jump out of their seats at the same time.Trade Review'The Haunting revels in the old-fashioned power of simple theatrical tricks, and basks in the shrieks and gasps of an audience that is clearly part of the event' * Scotsman *'Great pace and terrific suspense... guaranteed to raise goosebumps' * Maidenhead Advertiser *'Gripping... and fascinating too' * British Theatre Guide *'It hits all the right notes and entertains' * www.informededinburgh.co.uk *
£11.39
Nick Hern Books The Last of the Pelican Daughters
Book SynopsisIn folklore, pelican mothers feed their young on their own blood. Today, four sisters are trying to come to terms with their mother's death – and divide their mother's house between them. Joy wants a baby, Storm wants to be seen, Sage wants to be paid, Maya doesn't want anyone to find out her secret. Granny's in a wheelchair on day release – and Mum's presence still seeps through the ceiling and the floors. The Pelican Daughters are home for the last time. The Wardrobe Ensemble's play The Last of the Pelican Daughters is a comedy about four sisters trying to come to terms with their mother's death. It combines the company's trademark irreverent humour and lovable characters to tackle the idea of what it means for young people to grapple with inheritance, loss and justice. The Last of the Pelican Daughters was first staged at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019. In addition to the full script of the play, this published edition includes an extensive oral history of The Wardrobe Ensemble by its members, and a workshop plan for two people of different generations to communicate and collaborate in person or online.Trade Review'Just wonderful. The show captures the little rifts and rivalries that exist between the sisters and it has an ace up its sleeve in the form of a gorgeous, heart-flooding movement sequence' * The Stage *
£10.44
Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. Hamlet Zweisprachige Ausgabe
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£14.85
Princeton University Press The Divine Comedy I. Inferno Vol. I. Part 2
Book SynopsisProvides the English-speaking reader with what he needs to read and understand Dante's great masterpiece. This book is illustrated with maps of Italy and the region Dante knew especially, diagrams of the circles of Hell, and plates.Trade Review"The publication of the first part of Singleton's translation and commentary provides the most comprehensive annotated edition of the Inferno available in English. It is particularly valuable not only for the wealth of factual material but for the citing and translation of long passages from Dante's sources... An indispensable tool for all serious students of the Divine Comedy in English and a valuable possession for all Dantisti."--Renaissance Quarterly "Although we have had many translations of the Comedy since the eighteenth century, some of them notable re-creations, we have not really had a scholarly edition which aims at relative completeness of information about the language, ideas, and background of the poem. This Professor Singleton has provided."--Speculum
£49.50
New Directions Publishing Corporation Fairy Tales
Book SynopsisThree mini-plays by the German wunderkind and asylum-dweller.Trade Review"One of the most profound creations and one that is enough on its own to explain why the most powerful of all writers was a favorite author of the merciless Franz Kafka." -- Walter Benjamin"A Paul Klee in prose—as delicate, as shy, as haunted. A cross between Stevie Smith and Beckett." -- Susan Sontag"If he had a hundred thousand readers, the world would be a better place." -- Hermann Hesse
£11.39
University of Pennsylvania Press The Bagnios of Algiers and The Great Sultana
Book SynopsisThe first English translation of two captivity plays by Cervantes, set in Algiers and Constantinople. Featuring a lively cast of corsairs, captives, and renegades, they offer important insights into early modern Spain's conception of the world of Islam.Table of ContentsIntroduction The Bagnios of Algiers Act I Act II Act III The Great Sultana Act I Act II Act III Bibliography Acknowledgments
£999.99
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Oedipus Tyrannus
Book SynopsisPeter Meineck and Paul Woodruff's collaboration on this new translation combines the strengths that have recently distinguished both as translators of Greek tragedy: expert knowledge of the Greek and of the needs of the teaching classicist, intimate knowledge of theatre, and an excellent ear for the spoken word. Their Oedipus Tyrannus features foot-of-the-page notes, an Introduction, stage directions and a translation characterized by its clarity, accuracy, and power.Trade ReviewA clear, vigorous, spare, actable translation, and with it, excellent apparatus (Intro., notes, bibliography); all in a slim and affordable volume. I will use when I next teach Oedipus. Hackett is an invaluable resource!--Rachel Hadas, Rutgers UniversityI have enjoyed all of the recent Hackett editions of translations of Greek literature and "Oedipus Tyrannus” is certainly no exception. Meineck and Woodruff got things just right, from employing "Tyrannus” instead of "Rex” in the title (as has become traditional, though it lends an erroneous sense to the play from the outset) to Woodruff’s very fine and accessible Introduction to the suspenseful, poetic and powerful rendering of the play itself. Meineck’s theatrical sensibility and knowledge are evident, yet the text never becomes too "stagey” nor wanders far from the Greek. I will definitely use this text along with other terrific Hackett editions in my courses.--Lisa Rengs George, Arizona State UniversityAn excellent translation. . . . Paul Woodruff’s Introduction, written for a general audience, is clear and well-informed.--Herman Van Looy, L'Antiquité Classique
£10.99
Currency Press Pty Ltd Wolf Lullaby
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£14.24
Currency Press Boy Overboard the play
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£13.99
Currency Press Pty Ltd The Dreamers
Book SynopsisWith humane irony, Jack Davis gives a painful insight into the process of colonisation and the transformation of his people. The Dreamers is the story of a country-town family and old Uncle Worru, who in his dying days, recedes from urban hopelessness to the life and language of the Nyoongah spirit in him, which has survived ''civilisation''.
£14.24
Nick Hern Books Animal Farm
Book SynopsisA fresh interpretation of George Orwell's classic story ofrebellion and treachery, first performed by the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain.
£10.44
New World Library Stories Sell
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£16.19
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Mother Courage and Her Children
Book SynopsisMother Courage is usually regarded as Brecht's masterpiece and remains to this day an epic indictment of the brutality of war. This translation by world-famous playwright Tony Kushner is spirited, lively and accessible for a modern audience. National Theatre production September 2009.Trade Review'Tony Kushner's sparky new translation' Michael Billington, Guardian, 27.9.09 'Tony Kushner's bouncy new translation of Brecht's greatest play' Paul Taylor, Independent, 29.9.09 'The translation, by American playwright Tony Kushner, is fast-moving, articulate, and reaches the heart of Brecht's reasonings' Paul Callan, Daily Express, 28.9.09 'Tony Kushner's wry, witty translation' Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard, 28.9.09 'Tony Kushner's translation is zesty' Kate Bassett, Independent on Sunday, 4.10.09
£13.93
Nick Hern Books Kindertransport
Book SynopsisA modern classic about one woman's struggle to come to terms with her past. Brutally separated from her German Jewish parents at the age of nine, Eva is brought to England with the promise of a new life... Between 1939 until the outbreak of World War II, nearly 10,000 Jewish children were taken from their families in Nazi-occupied Germany and sent to live with foster families in Britain. Diane Samuels’ seminal play, Kindertransport, imagines the fate of one such child. Now widely considered a modern classic, Kindertransport has been read and studied the world over. Kindertransport won the 1992 Verity Bargate Award and was subsequently staged by the Soho Theatre Company at the Cockpit Theatre in London in 1993. It also won the Meyer-Whitworth Award in 1993. Since its premiere the play has been revived several times. Watford Palace Theatre staged it in 1996, in a production that transferred to the West End. Renowned theatre company Shared Experience also revived the play to great acclaim for a regional tour in 2007. This edition includes several personal memoirs by German-born children whose lives were saved, and transformed, by the Kindertransport. Kindertransport is a SET TEXT for GCSE English Literature (AQA) and AS/A-Level English Literature (WJEC).Trade Review'Desperately harrowing... searing theatre that cuts across a continuum of suffering to the very heart of what unifies us as human' * The Times *'A powerful contribution to Holocaust literature... presented with emotional clarity and intense sympathy' * New Yorker *'Samuels has written the best play about the pain and passion of mother/daughter relationships' * Guardian *
£10.44
Oxford University Press, USA Hysterical Laughter
Book SynopsisHysterical Laughter: Four Ancient Comedies about Women exhibits many of the interdisciplinary qualities that characterize teaching in the Classics. It is an innovative text that takes two important subfields of Classics-literature and gender studies-and brings them together into a new synthesis that provides instructors with a new and creative way to explore key issues into each of these disciplines. Instructors who teach courses in ancient comedy or drama are looking for ways to show students the social and cultural dimensions of theater. And instructors who teach courses on women or sexuality in the ancient world will want to use one of the most important sources we have from the classical world-comedy-as a way to show students how gender roles were constructed in ancient societies. There are many anthologies of Greek and Roman drama. There are many translations of say, Lysistrata, one of the most famous comedies of the ancient world. There are several books that examine women in antiquity. But Christenson''s is the first volume that uses a literary genre--comedy--as a vehicle to explore another field (women/gender/sexuality). The results are immensely creative and open up new teaching avenues for instructors. Christenson''s volume provides all new translations (all translated by Christenson) of four ancient comedies, two Greek and two Roman, that question classical stereotypes about women and challenge configurations of gender in ancient society. Lysistrata (Aristophanes), Samia (Menander), Casina (Plautus), and Hecyra (Terence)-each regarded as among the finest classical comedies-illustrate the possibilities of theater as an agent for gender awareness and expose traditional feminine roles in real life as social constructions, asking students to assess the cultural and historical position of theater in ancient society.Trade ReviewHysterical Laughter features four classic Greek and Roman plays - Lysistrata, Samia, Casina, and Hecyra each starring strong female characters. Each play is an excellent example of these great playwrights' work, and juxtaposing them brings out both similarities and differences in their ideas and their stagecraft. As the author demonstrates, each play challenges its society's ideas about women and gender roles, using hilarious comic techniques. The translations are close, but very lively, boldly including the originals' vulgarity and even obscenity; they ought to be staged as well as read. The introductions, informed by the latest scholarship, provide information about women in the ancient world and the original performance conditions; the notes are succinct and helpful, the bibliographies excellent. This book will be ideal in classical studies, history, theater, and women's studies classes. * Mary-Kay Gamel, University of California, Santa Cruz *Table of ContentsTable of Contents: ; About The Translator ; Preface ; Introduction ; DT Greek Old Comedy ; DT Greek New Comedy ; DT Roman Comedy ; DT Women In The Ancient World ; Aristophanes' Lysistrata ; Lysistrata ; Menader's Samia ; Samia. ; Plautus' Casina ; Casina ; Terence's Hecyra ; Hecyra ; Appendix: Olympian Deities
£35.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Peter Handke Plays Offending the Audience My Foot
Book SynopsisThis volume contains Handke's work from the 1970s. It includes "Kaspar", in which the playwright explores the power of language as a means of oppression - a means of creating artificial uniformity by teaching people to comprehend the world only in terms of the speech patterns they are given.Trade ReviewHandke's play is a downright attack on the way language is used by a corrupt society to depersonalise the individual. * Michael Billington, The Guardian (on Kaspar) *Handke's most sustained study in social indoctrination . . . there could be no better introduction to Handke. * The Times (on Kaspar) *Table of ContentsOffending the Audience;My Foot My Tutor;Self Accusation;Kaspar;Lake Constance;They are Dying Out
£20.89
Focus Publishing/R Pullins & Co Lysistrata
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£11.39
Currency Press Pty Ltd Miss Peony
Book SynopsisLily''s grandmother was a beauty queen back in Hong Kong. She doesn''t care that times have changed, that Lily lives in a new country and a new century. She sees a granddaughter caught between worlds. So Poh Poh pushes Lily into entering the highly competitive Miss Peony, and no matter how hard Lily tries to wriggle out of it, her grandma won''t take no for an answer. And to make matters worse, she''s a ghost. Glitzy and madcap, Miss Peony??by award-winning writer Michelle Law is a bold new comedy about our good old need for connectionto family, the past, the future, each other.
£15.19
Nick Hern Books The Welkin (NHB Modern Plays)
Book SynopsisOne life in the hands of 12 women. Rural Suffolk, 1759. As the country waits for Halley's comet, Sally Poppy is sentenced to hang for a heinous murder. When she claims to be pregnant, a jury of 12 matrons are taken from their housework to decide whether she's telling the truth, or simply trying to escape the noose. With only midwife Lizzy Luke prepared to defend the girl, and a mob baying for blood outside, the matrons wrestle with their new authority, and the devil in their midst. The Welkin premiered at the National Theatre, London, in 2020, directed by James Macdonald and featuring Maxine Peake and Ria Zmitrowicz. Lucy Kirkwood's other plays include Mosquitoes, The Children, Chimerica (winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Play, the Evening Standard Best Play Award, the Critics' Circle Best New Play Award, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), NSFW and it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now.Trade Review'A superb new history play - a feminist courtroom drama that's equal parts Twelve Angry Men, The Crucible and The Vagina Monologues, plus a dash of searing, up-to-the-minute political and social commentary... a warm, humane and very funny piece, firmly anchored in women's everyday experience' Broadway World; 'Brilliant, brave, bold and intelligent theatre. It is, for all the seriousness of its subject, often very funny yet at the close, profoundly moving' WhatsOnStage; 'A mighty play: magnificent in its scope, depth and intricacy... a wise, funny, richly intelligent and generously ambitious play that asks, as all good history plays do, how far have we really come?' Financial Times; 'Dazzles with its examination of the big, immovable structures that inflict violence on women... there is so much richness in its visual imagination' Guardian 'Ungoverned, furious, larky, layered... sheer, gutsy audacity' Evening Standard
£10.44
Faber & Faber Walden
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£10.44
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Hetty Feather
Book SynopsisTREMBLE as she faces Matron Stinking Bottomly. THRILL as she discovers the squirrel house and Tanglefield’s Travelling Circus. GASP as she endures a night locked in the attic. QUAKE as she braves the scary streets of Victorian London and CHEER as she overcomes all in the search to find her real mother and a true family of her own. From bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson, the tale of plucky Hetty Feather is brought thrillingly to life on stage by award-winning script writer Emma Reeves (CBBC’s The Story of Tracy Beaker) and the Olivier Award-Nominated director Sally Cookson whose many five-star productions include Peter Pan, We’re Going on a Bearhunt and Stick Man. With a huge heart, Hetty Feather is a terrific adventure story! ‘The play sticks to my basic story, but with many inventive touches that constantly took me by surprise… [it] was a magical experience.’ Jacqueline WilsonTrade ReviewThis transformation of Jacqueline Wilson's children's book is a real treat. And not just for ardent, existing fans: we're all won over by Hetty Feather. * Five stars - Holly Williams, Independent *
£999.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Comedy About a Bank Robbery Modern Plays
Book SynopsisI'm really looking forward to robbing this bank!Mischief's smash-and-grab hit The Comedy About A Bank Robbery is a fast, fabulous comedy caper and the funniest show in the West End! Summer 1958. Minneapolis City Bank has been entrusted with a priceless diamond. An escaped convict is dead set on pocketing the gem with the help of his screwball sidekick, trickster girlfriend and the maintenance man. With mistaken identities, love triangles and hidden agendas, even the most reputable can't be trusted. In a town where everyone's a crook, who will end up bagging the jewel?Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, the creators of the Olivier Award-winning Best New Comedy The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery opened at the Criterion Theatre in London's West End in April 2016.The best new comedy to open straight into the West End in decades'Time OutThrilling and daringly inveTrade Review‘This is the funniest show in town’ * The Telegraph *Fast and fabulous comedy caper is a joyful night out * The Times *The team behind ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ hit the funnybone again...The best new comedy to open straight into the West End in decades * Time Out *Thrilling and daringly inventive...This lung-bustingly funny play is just what the therapist ordered * The Guardian *
£14.19
Gallimard Rhinoceros French Edition
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£10.92
Josef Weinberger Plays Wit Acting Edition for Theater Productions
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£10.44
Amber Lane Press Ltd Can You Hear Me at the Back
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£10.41
Penguin Books Ltd Frogs and Other Plays
Book SynopsisThree plays from Aristophanes, the master of Ancient Greek comedyMarrying deft social commentary to a rich, earthy comedy, the three comedies collected in Aristophanes' The Frogs and Other Plays offers a unique insight into one of the most turbulent periods in Ancient Greek history. The master of ancient Greek comic drama, Aristophanes combined slapstick, humour and cheerful vulgarity with acute political observations. In The Frogs, written during the Peloponnesian War, Dionysus descends to the Underworld to bring back a poet who can help Athens in its darkest hour, and stages a great debate to help him decide between the traditional wisdom of Aeschylus and the brilliant modernity of Euripides. The clash of generations and values is also the object of Aristophanes' satire in Wasps, in which an old-fashioned father and his loose-living son come to blows and end up in court. And in Women at the Thesmophoria, the famous Greek tragedian Euripides,
£10.44
Currency Press Pty Ltd Shoe Horn Sonata PLAYS
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£14.24
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Bacchae
Book SynopsisThis translation with notes is primarily for classroom use. It aims to be true to the basic meaning of the text and tries to bring across some of the beauty of the poetry as well as the rhetorical power of the dialogue and speeches.Trade ReviewThis is a very useful edition, excellent for classroom purposes. The translation is clear and lively, and several students commented on how much they enjoyed it. The introduction provides an excellent overview of the issues in the play, as well as of earlier scholarship, making it a good resource for more advanced classes. The cover photo is an added bonus and provided the starting point for stimulating class discussion. --James B. Rives, York UniversityAn excellent translation which captures Bacchae's combination of colloquial and lyric language. The Notes and Introduction are also very helpful. --Mary-Kay Gamel, University of California, Santa Cruz
£11.99
Nick Hern Books The Changeling
Book SynopsisDrama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Middleton and Rowley's masterpiece, a tale of murder, lust, seduction and blackmail in the seventeenth century. Alsemero has fallen in love with the beautiful Beatrice after a chance meeting in a church – but Beatrice has already been promised to another man. Unable to marry the man she loves, she employs the hated De Flores, her father's servant, to murder the man her father bids her marry. As payment, De Flores demands Beatrice. And then things get worse... Thomas Middleton and William Rowley's play The Changeling was mostly likely first performed in 1622. This edition of the play in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series is edited and introduced by Trevor Griffiths. Set Text >> The Changeling is a set text for AQA Drama and Theatre Studies A/AS Level, AQA English Literature A/AS Level, OCR English Literature A/AS Level and WJEC English Literature A/AS Level.
£6.71
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Lieutenant of Inishmore Modern Classics
Book SynopsisA farcical look at political violence as it''s played out during the Troubles in Northern Ireland against the drab backdrop of a bare, rustic Irish cottage and unending boredom in an inhospitable environment in which a mutilated cat sets off a murderous cycle of revenge. Wee Thomas was a friendly cat. He would always say hello to you were you to see him sitting on a wall. (Pause.) He won''t be saying hello no more, God bless him. Not with that lump of a brain gone.Who knocked Wee Thomas over on the lonely road on the island of Inishmore, and was it an accident? Mad Padraig will want to know when he gets back from a stint of torture and chip shop bombing in Northern Ireland: he loves that cat more than life itself.Trade Review'Gleeful, gruesome play about political terrorism in rural Ireland, which won the Olivier Award for best comedy...Appallingly entertaining...Enlightening..."Lieutenant" is brazenly and unapologetically a farce. But it is also a severely moral play, translating into dizzy absurdism the self-perpetuating spirals of political violence that now occur throughout the world.' The New York Times 'A cautionary fairy tale for our toxic times. In its horror and hilarity, it works as an act of both revenge and repair, turning the tables on grief and goonery, and forcing the audience to think about the unthinkable.' The New Yorker
£10.44
Random House USA Inc Torch Song Trilogy
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£13.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Frances YaChu Cowhigs China Trilogy Three
Book SynopsisFrances Ya-Chu Cowhig (author)is an internationally produced playwright whose work has been staged in the United Kingdom at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Trafalgar Studios 2 [West End] and the Unicorn Theatre. In the United States her work has been staged at venues that include the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Manhattan Theater Club and the Goodman Theatre. Frances' plays have been awarded the Wasserstein Prize, the Yale Drama Series Award (selected by David Hare), an Edinburgh Fringe First Award, the David A. Callichio Award and the Keene Prize for Literature. Her plays include Lidless, The World of Extreme Happiness, Snow in Midsummer, and The King of Hell's Palace.Joshua Chambers-Letson (editor) is Professor of Performance Studies at Northwestern University. He is the author of After the Party: A Manifesto for Queer of Color Life (NYU Press, 2018) and A Race So Different: Law and PeTrade ReviewSome playwrights have a gift to amuse; Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig has a darker gift. Anyone with romantic notions of Chinese culture will be unsettled by the jagged, unsentimental portrait of modern urban China. * Chicago Reader *“Fearless, zippily-paced, and satirical, shining a light on Chinese society's necessary doublethink, be that willful blindness to the political past, or an equally blind belief in an impossibly brilliant future. * Independent (on The King of Hell's Palace) *An expansive, ambitious play about trauma and passion * The Stage (on Snow in Midsummer) *Cowhig speaks bitterness and makes us sit up and listen * Lyn Gardner The Guardian (on The World of Extreme Happiness) *Table of Contents1. Editorial Preface (Chambers-Letson) – A brief preface introducing the volume and its structure. 2. General Introduction (Mok) – An introduction to Cowhig’s work and the process behind the China Plays 3. The World of Extreme Happiness (Cowhig) 4. World Afterword (Chambers-Letson) 5. Snow in Midsummer (Cowhig) 6. Snow Afterword (Chambers-Letson) 7. The King of Hell’s Palace (Cowhig) 8. King Afterword (Chambers-Letson) 9. Transcribed Conversation w/ Cowhig, Chambers-Letson, and Mok
£23.74
Nick Hern Books Nine Night (NHB Modern Plays)
Book SynopsisFamily, food, music and mourning. Gloria is gravely sick. When her time comes, the celebration begins; the traditional Jamaican Nine Night Wake. But for Gloria's children and grandchildren, marking her death with a party that lasts over a week is a test. Nine nights of music, food, sharing stories - and an endless parade of mourners. Natasha Gordon's debut play Nine Night is a touching and very funny exploration of the rituals of family. It is premiered at the National Theatre in April 2018.Trade Review'A remarkable debut… Gordon has a finely tuned ear for the humour of everyday life… an eloquent vision of what it means to be haunted by the past' Evening Standard; 'Reverberates with authenticity… [has] a great warmth of characterisation' Daily Mail; 'Gordon's intense, moving play pulls the focus tightly on a mourning family, and the mingled strains and comforts that tradition offers... her humour isn't cautious: it's unafraid to poke at racism, colourism, and the insults traded as Jamaica and Britain stare each other down, across centuries of brutal and oppressive history… the play says so much about how we rely on family for validation, for confirmation of our identity, putting a weight of need onto them that they sometimes just can’t fulfil. And it points to the cathartic power of ritual, too, in a culture whose burial rites are miles away from traditional England’s sad, grey funeral teas' Time Out; 'Sharp and snappy… an undeniably important piece that both celebrates and gives a voice to the Windrush generation and its descendants living in Britain today' Broadway World; 'The beauty of Nine Night is in the ordinariness of it. The mainstream delivery of black stories is often – too often – overtly political. Brutalised bodies and violent racism is disturbingly normalised in black British theatre. But what we have here is a pure tale about a regular family, dealing with a regular fact of life. This play is a gift, and you’d do well to go and receive it' The Stage
£10.44
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Monster
Book Synopsis"He's got zero empathy. You could be having a conversation and start choking to death and he'd just think, 'Well, this conversation's over. He'd probably just sit there and finish eating whatever you were choking on."An inexperienced teacher is given the job of saving a disturbed and violent fourteen-year-old boy from permanent exclusion. Alone in the classroom, an intense battle of wills takes place. But what can be done when a child cares for no one and is afraid of nothing? Monster won two awards at the inaugural Bruntwood Playwriting Competition and was first performed in 2007 at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, where Duncan MacMillan was Writer-in-Residence.
£16.59
Hogarth Normal People The Scripts
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£24.00
Nick Hern Books Little Baby Jesus & Estate Walls: Two plays
Book SynopsisTwo plays, both set in contemporary inner-city London, showcasing the remarkable poetic and theatrical imagination of writer/performer Arinzé Kene. Little Baby Jesus is a lyrical triptych of three intertwining, colliding monologues about the life-changing moments when three young people 'grew up'. Joanne is dipped in rudeness, rolled in attitude and is fighting to keep her life afloat. Sensitive and mature he may be, yet Kehinde struggles with an obsession for mixed-race girls as he eyes his place on the social ladder. Rugrat is the class clown and playground loudmouth, and just wants to make it past GCSEs. Estate Walls is the story of Obi, a young writer who dreams of leaving his estate, but with bad boys Myles and Cain for best friends, there are bound to be setbacks… Both plays premiered at Ovalhouse Theatre in south London, directed by Ché Walker, with Estate Walls winning Arinzé the Most Promising Playwright at the Offies (Off West End Theatre Awards) in 2011. Little Baby Jesus was revived at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in 2019, directed by winner of the JMK Young Director Award Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu.Trade Review'An intense, visceral and vivid portrayal of the often-brutal reality of growing up. It feels starkly authentic and cruel, whilst at times is wildly funny and is all the more appealing for it' * Broadway World on Little Baby Jesus *'A huge groundswell of hormones, mistakes, loneliness and searching. You feel, emotionally, like you know the story and care about these three teenagers and that is why Arinzé Kene is brilliant' * Time Out on Little Baby Jesus *'The great joy of the play springs from Kene's sharp-eyed, witty observations and the lyricism of his descriptive writing... moves from hysterically funny to tear-jerkingly moving in an instant, with comedy, harsh reality and allegory fitting together seamlessly... rides the highs and lows of the years of teenage discovery and arrives assuredly at a life affirming destination' * The Reviews Hub on Little Baby Jesus *'Here is a play that will be racing through you, making you laugh and think, long after you've left the theatre... a genre-defying theatrical hybrid – a thrilling combination of performance poetry, standup comedy and good old-fashioned storytelling' * Guardian on Little Baby Jesus *'Skips majestically between the epic and urban in a story that would feel as comfortable set against a Grecian palace as it does the grimy city wall of its title... Kene's eclectic dialogue is a pleasure to listen to, jumping from poetic to pithy and back again with remarkable ease' * Theatre Workbook on Estate Walls *'Witty and intelligent... deftly captures and magnifies the poetry of everyday conversation on an estate' * Soul Culture on Estate Walls *
£12.34
Nick Hern Books The Three Musketeers
Book Synopsis‘My name is D’Artagnan, musketeer to King Louis the Thirteenth, defender of the Queen’s diamonds, and the man you tried to poison in that bar.’ When the young and naive D'Artagnan sets out on his quest to become a King's musketeer, he immediately encounters the dangerous femme fatale, Milady de Winter. After discovering that the musketeers have been disbanded, he makes it his mission to get them reinstated. But will his feud with Milady thwart him? And who the heck is she? This riotous adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic novel by John Nicholson (Hound of the Baskervilles, Peepolykus) was originally performed by physical-comedy theatre company Le Navet Bete on a UK tour in 2019, with four actors playing over thirty characters. It was co-produced by Le Navet Bete and Exeter Northcott Theatre. The Three Musketeers will suit any theatre company or drama group looking for a funny, high-energy adaptation of a universally loved story, which is suitable for audiences of all ages. Swashbuckling and rollicking adventure guaranteed – convincing French accents, not so much.Trade Review'Utterly hilarious and heartfelt' * The Reviews Hub *'A beautifully realised piece of work... enormous fun and full of quirkiness... a joyful, slightly bonkers, artistically clever and accomplished piece of theatre... a visual and aural feast' * ReviewsGate *'An enthusiastic riot of dad jokes, dodgy accents and gleeful gallivanting' * Guardian *
£12.34
Playwrights Canada Press,Canada Paradise Lost
Book Synopsis
£19.54
Nick Hern Books A Moon for the Misbegotten
Book SynopsisThe last work from one of the twentieth century's most significant writers, continuing the semi-autobiographical cycle centring on the Tyrone family started by Long Day's Journey into Night. James 'Jamie' Tyrone Jnr is a hard-drinking Broadway playboy, trying to blot out his painful memories of the past by indulging his craven self-destructive streak. One day he finds that he has wandered to the home of his salty tenant-farmer Phil Hogan; and Hogan's lusty, jaded daughter Josie. Under the Connecticut moon, Jamie and Josie find something in each other they never knew existed – though it is only when he passes out dead drunk that Josie can really touch him. But will he still be there when the moon goes? Eugene O'Neill's play A Moon for the Misbegotten had its world premiere at the Hartman Theatre in Columbus, Ohio, in 1947. It premiered on Broadway in 1957. This edition of the play includes a full introduction, biographical sketch and chronology.Trade Review'Eugene O'Neill is arguably the greatest of American playwrights... this play is a work of shattering genius' * Independent *'A scorching play about the eternal American theme of reality and illusion... that rarest of theatrical treats: an evening of raw, powerful emotion' * Guardian *'Tremendous, often shatteringly powerful... wrenches the heart like few other 20th-century dramas' * Daily Telegraph *
£10.99
The Lilliput Press Ltd Rhapsody In Stephens Green: And The Insect Play
Book SynopsisUsing a play by Karl and Josef Capek as source, Flann O’Brien locates his insect drama in Dublin, his most familiar stalking- territory. His adaptation is a vehicle for ridicule and invective, targeting race, religion, greed, identity and purpose. With his extraordinary ear for dialogue, O’Brien creates his own fantastical world, and the outcome is a hilarious satire of Irish stereotypes – as Orangemen, Dubliners, Corkagians and culchies become warring ants, bees, crickets, dung-beetles, and other small-minded invertebrae. The lost text of this play, Hilton Edwards’ prompt copy from the 1943 Gate Theatre performance, was discovered in the archives at Northwestern University, Illinois.Trade ReviewA play by Ireland’s most celebrated comic writer, Flann O’Brien, lost for fifty years, has been discovered in the archives of Northwestern University, Illinois, by an American academic. The O’Brien play, Rhapsody in Stephen’s Green, was put on in Dublin by the Edwards-MacLiammoir company at the Gaiety Theatre during Lent in 1943 with a cast of 150 – representing millions, as is obligatory with an insect play. But, presumably because of the offence it gave to Catholics, Ulster Protestants, Irish civil servants, Corkmen, and the aspersions it seemed to cast on married life and the superpatriotic Fianna Fail party, it only ran six days and was never again performed … However it and the context in which it was born – and rapidly snuffed out – gives intriguing insights into neutral Ireland of the 1940s, suffocating in puritanism and insular politics.’ -Peter Lennon, The GuardianA play by Ireland’s most celebrated comic writer, Flann O’Brien, lost for fifty years, has been discovered in the archives of Northwestern University, Illinois, by an American academic. The O’Brien play, Rhapsody in Stephen’s Green, was put on in Dublin by the Edwards-MacLiammoir company at the Gaiety Theatre during Lent in 1943 with a cast of 150 – representing millions, as is obligatory with an insect play. But, presumably because of the offence it gave to Catholics, Ulster Protestants, Irish civil servants, Corkmen, and the aspersions it seemed to cast on married life and the superpatriotic Fianna Fail party, it only ran six days and was never again performed … However it and the context in which it was born – and rapidly snuffed out – gives intriguing insights into neutral Ireland of the 1940s, suffocating in puritanism and insular politics.’ -Peter Lennon, The Guardian
£8.18
Random House USA Inc Notes from the Field
Book Synopsis
£15.30
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Blink
Book SynopsisThis is the tale of Jonah, Sophie, and a fox called Scruffilitis. It''s a love story. A dysfunctional, voyeuristic and darkly funny love story, but a love story all the same. This new play by the Bruntwood Playwriting Prize winner Phil Porter, is an exciting collaboration between Soho Theatre - London''s most vibrant venue for new writing, comedy and cabaret - and internationally acclaimed Fringe First winners nabokov.Trade ReviewRecommended viewing for those who like their romance served with a twist. * What’s On Stage *A sad, funny and bitter-sweet delight. * The Herald *A clever love story… the mixture of feel good love story and something sadder and more disturbing is neatly handled. * Guardian *Brief, bright, exquisite. * The Scotsman *
£13.39
Hal Leonard Corporation Bent: The Play
Book SynopsisMartin Sherman's worldwide hit play Bent took London by storm in 1979 when it was first performed by the Royal Court Theatre with Ian McKellen as Max (a character written with the actor in mind). The play itself caused an uproar. It educated the world Sherman explains. People knew about how the Third Reich treated Jews and to some extent gypsies and political prisoners. But very little had come out about their treatment of homosexuals. Gays were arrested and interned at work camps prior to the genocide of Jews gypsies and handicapped and continued to be imprisoned even after the fall of the Third Reich and liberation of the camps. The play Bent highlights the reason why - a largely ignored German law Paragraph 175 making homosexuality a criminal offense which Hitler reactivated and strengthened during his rise to power.
£16.59
Currency Press Pty Ltd VENETIAN TWINS A Musical Comedy CTS
Book Synopsis
£14.24
