Plays, playscripts, drama
Currency Press Pty Ltd At Sea Staring Up
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£14.24
Ariadne Press Professor Bernhardi Other Plays Studies in
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£26.99
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Spring Awakening
Book SynopsisFrom Jonathan Franzen, bestselling author of The Corrections and Crossroads, comes his razor-sharp translation of Frank Wedekind''s major modern play, Spring Awakening.Featuring an introduction by Franzen.First performed in Germany in 1906, Frank Wedekind''s controversial play Spring Awakening closed after one night in New York in 1917 amid charges of obscenity and public outrage. For the better part of the twentieth century Wedekind''s intense body of work was largely unpublished and rarely performed. Yet the play''s subject matterteenage desire, suicide, abortion, and homosexualityis as explosive and important today as it was a century ago. Spring Awakening follows the lives of three teenagers, Melchior, Moritz, and Wendl, as they navigate their entry into sexual awareness. Unlike so many works that claim to tell the truth of adolescence, Spring Awakening offers no easy answers or redemption. Today, mo
£13.30
Nick Hern Books Sex with Robots and Other Devices
Book Synopsis`It would still be me... they make it like me, look like me, smell like me, talks like me, feels like me... me. And you... most importantly... you get me...' Welcome to a world where your partner can arrive by special delivery, you can replace your ex with a replica, or supplement your waning love life with regular updates. It could be the answer to all our problems... but what might we lose along the way? Nessah Muthy's fearless examination of the future of sex offers a fascinating vision of where humanity could be heading next. It won the King's Head Theatre's Adrian Pagan Award and the Live Theatre Newcastle Elevator Lab Bursary, and premiered at the King's Head Theatre, LondonTrade Review'A fascinating show which leaves lots of questions open and gives a chilling glimpse into a future that is, rather scarily, not that far away' * LondonTheatre1 *'Creepy and inventive... a thoughtful and well-judged meditation on future sexual possibilities' * The Stage *
£9.49
Nick Hern Books Treasure Island
Book SynopsisFourteen-year-old Jim Hawkins is serving ale in The Admiral Benbow Inn – when suddenly the door slams open and in strides Billy Bones, the infamous pirate, to change Jim’s life forever… Soon, Jim finds himself on board The Jolly Todger and setting sail on the high seas. Alongside him, the crew includes Captain Birdseye, Black Dog, Blue Peter, the one-legged Long John Silver, and a parrot called Alexa – and their destination: a mysterious tropical paradise in the Caribbean named Treasure Island. Or Skeleton Island. Depends who you ask. This riotously chaotic adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s beloved Treasure Island is a collaboration between John Nicholson (The Hound of the Baskervilles) and the physical-comedy theatre company Le Navet Bete, with their four actors playing dozens of characters. Following the company’s hilarious, hit adaptations of Dracula: The Bloody Truth and The Three Musketeers, it premiered at the Plymouth Athenaeum in 2019, and in a Black Spot-defying production at the Exeter Northcott Theatre in 2020, before touring nationally. If you’re looking for a rip-roaring, swashbuckling, family-friendly retelling of a classic story to perform with your theatre company or drama group, then X marks this spot.Trade Review'A ripping good yarn with an abundance of theatrical surprises' * The Stage *'Batten down the hatches for breakneck and breathless barrels of laugh-out-loud hilarity' * British Theatre Guide *'Great fun... a version of Stevenson's novel that not only entertains, it refreshes the narrative for a modern audience' * The Reviews Hub *
£12.34
Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S. Topdog/Underdog
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£14.24
Currency Press Pty Ltd The Lewis Trilogy: Summer of the Aliens, Cosi,
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£21.59
Ediciones Ctedra Los empeños de una casa Amor es más laberinto
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£18.55
Josef Weinberger Plays Pvt Wars One Act Acting Edition
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£7.99
The Chinese University Press The Other Shore: Plays
Book SynopsisGao Xingjian is the leading Chinese dramatist of our time. He is also one of the most moving and literary writers for the contemporary stage. His plays have been performed all around the world, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, the Ivory Coast, the United States, France, Germany and other European countries. Born and educated in China, Gao studied French literature at the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute between 1957-1962. After the Cultural Revolution, he became a resident playwright at the Beijing People's Art Theatre. His works, including Bus Stop, Absolute Signal, and Wilderness Man, were trend-setting and have created many controversies and a wave of experimental drama in China. In 1987 he settled in Paris, France and continued to write in Chinese and in French. He was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government in 1992. The present collection contains five of Gao Xingjian's most recent works: The Other Shore (1986), Between Life and Death (1991), Dialogue and Rebuttal (1992), Nocturnal Wanderer (1993), and Weekend Quartet (1995). One finds poetry, comedy as well as tragedy in the plays, which are graced by beautiful language and original imagery. Combining Zen philosophy and a modern worldview, they serve to illuminate the gritty realities of life, death, sex, loneliness, and exile, all essential concerns in Gao's understanding of the existence of modern man. The plays are also manifestations of the dramatist's idea of the tripartite actor, a process by which the actor neutralizes himself and achieves a disinterested observation of his self in performance.
£16.96
Rimal Publications,Cyprus Hat and the Prophet, The
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£6.42
Nick Hern Books Follies
Book SynopsisSondheim's landmark musical about a reunion of showgirls, with a book by James Goldman. New York, 1971. There’s a party on the stage of the Weismann Theatre. Tomorrow the iconic building will be demolished. Thirty years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs, and lie about themselves. Including such classic songs as ‘Broadway Baby’, ‘I’m Still Here’ and ‘Losing My Mind’, James Goldman and Stephen Sondheim’s legendary musical was originally staged in New York in 1971, and received its British premiere in 1987. This edition was published alongside the major revival at the National Theatre, London, in 2017, directed by Dominic Cooke and starring Tracie Bennett, Janie Dee, Philip Quast and Imelda Staunton.Trade Review'A stunning musical... a pastiche so brilliant as to be breathtaking' * New York Daily News *'A landmark musical... a work of art' * New York Times *'A grand and lilting pastiche of legendary musical styles... the songs are cunning, melodic motifs laced with provocative lyrics that dutifully define each character with clarity and purpose... merges past and present with resonating counterpoint' * Variety *'Uniquely powerful and evanescent' * Los Angeles Times *
£10.44
Faber & Faber My Country a work in progress in the words of
Book SynopsisBritannia calls a meeting, to listen to her people. Caledonia, Cymru, East Midlands, North East, Northern Ireland and the South West bring the voices of their regions. The debate is passionate and opinions divided. Can there ever be a United Kingdom?In the days following the Brexit vote, a team from the National Theatre of Great Britain spoke to people nationwide, aged 9 to 97, to hear their views on the country we call home. In a series of deeply personal interviews, they heard opinions that were honest, emotional, funny, and sometimes extreme.These real testimonials are interwoven with speeches from party leaders of the time in this play by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and director Rufus Norris.My Country opened at the National Theatre, London, in March 2017 before playing at venues around the UK.
£9.49
Siete Cuentos Editorial La Muerte y la Doncella
Book SynopsisLa muerte y la doncella, la obra latinoamericana mas representada en la historia del mundo, ha llegado a constituirse en un clasico sobre la justicia y el perdon, la memoria y el olvido. Dorfman se ha propuesto a explorar preguntas pocas veces hechas en voz alta: "¿Como pueden los represores y los oprimidos cohabitar una misma tierra, compartir una misma mesa?" preguntas que hoy dîa siguen tan vigentes como cuando Dorfman escribia esta obra.
£999.99
Focus Publishing/R Pullins & Co Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy
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£17.09
Josef Weinberger Plays THE HOUSE
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£10.44
Simon & Schuster A Midsummer Nights Dream
Book SynopsisThe authoritative edition of A Midsummer Night''s Dream from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers.In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare stages the workings of love. Theseus and Hippolyta, about to marry, are figures from mythology. In the woods outside Theseus’s Athens, two young men and two young women sort themselves out into couples—but not before they form first one love triangle, and then another. Also in the woods, the king and queen of fairyland, Oberon and Titania, battle over custody of an orphan boy; Oberon uses magic to make Titania fall in love with a weaver named Bottom, whose head is temporarily transformed into that of a donkey by a hobgoblin or “puck,” Robin Goodfellow. Finally, Bottom and his companions ineptly stage the tragedy of “Pyramus and Thisbe.” This edition includes: -Freshly edited text bas
£9.49
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Theban Plays
Book SynopsisThis volume offers the fruits of Peter Meineck and Paul Woodruff''s dynamic collaboration on the plays of Sophocles'' Theban cycle, presenting the translators'' Oedipus Tyrannus (2000) along with Woodruff''s Antigone (2001) and a muscular new Oedipus at Colonus by Meineck. Grippingly readable, all three translations combine fidelity to the Greek with concision, clarity, and powerful, hard-edged speech. Each play features foot-of-the-page notes, stage directions, and line numbers to the Greek. Woodruff''s Introduction discusses the playwright, Athenian theatre and performance, the composition of the plays, and the plots and characters of each; it also offers thoughtful reflections on major critical interpretations of these plays.
£32.39
Christian Publishers LLC 100 Duet Scenes for Teens: One-Minute Duos for
Book SynopsisEasily staged scenes with believable characters in a wide variety of comic and dramatic situations. The duets are divided into four categories: Gender Neutral; Male & Female; Male Only; Female Only. The short length of each duet scene makes it easy for students to memorise lines. Excellent for contests, acting practice or comedy revue shows.
£18.04
Broadview Press Ltd The Witlings and The Woman-Hater
Book SynopsisThis Broadview edition pairs two of Frances Burney's linked comedies. They both present the character of Lady Smatter, a "femme savante" whose lineage may be traced back to Molière; they both centre on the misfortunes of the "elle" figure, the dispossessed heiress and wife who appears frequently in Burney's fiction; and they both criticize a culture of misogyny that breeds suspicion and resentment. The Witlings, lighter and more comic, derives from late seventeenth-century conventions; The Woman-Hater, more melodramatic, both expresses and warns against the excessive sensibility of romanticism. Together, these two plays constitute a miniature history of English drama from the Restoration to the French Revolution and beyond. This edition contains a valuable selection of appendices, including: Burney’s "Epilogue to Gerilda"; letters and diary entries; contemporary writings on comedy; and Burney’s cast-list for The Woman-Hater.Trade ReviewIt is no longer a secret for specialists only that Frances Burney wrote some of the finest stage comedies of the eighteenth century. Thanks to Peter Sabor and Geoffrey Sill, this splendid edition makes two of her best plays available to readers, directors, actors, and students alike." - Brian Corman, University of Toronto"Burney’s comedies, like her novels, have lively and funny moments, but are likely to appeal to modern readers as much for their uncomfortably vivid depictions of embarrassment, vulnerability and marginalisation on the basis of gender, class, status and money. Peter Sabor and Geoffrey Sill’s edition effectively contextualises The Witlings and The Woman-Hater within eighteenth-century theatrical culture and Burney’s own preoccupations, literary and personal. This is an attractive, affordable, and excellently annotated edition." - Jacqueline Pearson, The University of ManchesterTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsShort TitlesIntroductionFrances Burney: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextThe Witlings (1778-80)The Woman-Hater (1800-02)Appendix A: Burney’s Earliest Theatrical Writing: Epilogue to GerildaAppendix B: Contemporary Letters and Diary Entries on The WitlingsAppendix C: Burney and MolièreAppendix D: Contemporary Critical Essays on “Laughing” and Sentimental ComedyAppendix E: Literary Allusions in The Witlings and The Woman-HaterAppendix F: Burney’s Cast-List for The Woman-HaterAppendix G: Similarities between The Witlings, The Woman-Hater, and Burney’s NovelsSelect Bibliography
£23.70
Hal Leonard Corporation Classical Tragedy Greek and Roman: Eight Plays
Book SynopsisA collection of eight plays along with accompanying critical essays. Includes: The Oresteia ä Aeschylus; Prometheus Bound ä Aeschylus; Oedipus the King ä Sophocles; Antigone ä Sophocles; Medea ä Euripides; The Bakkhai ä Euripides; Oedipus ä Seneca; Medea ä Seneca.
£18.57
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Dublin Oldschool
Book SynopsisEpic.In small ways. Jason, a wannabe DJ, is making his way through the streets of Dublin on a chemically enhanced trip, stumbling from one misguided misadventure to another. Somewhere between the DJs, decks, drug busts and hilltop raves, he stumbles across a familiar face from the past: his brother, Daniel.Daniel is an educated, homeless addict, living on the streets of Dublin. The brothers haven't seen or spoken to each other in three years but over a lost weekend they reconnect and reminisce over tunes, trips, their history and their city. Two brothers living on the edge, perhaps they have more in common than they think, but how long can this buzz last?This programme text edition of Dublin Oldschool was published to coincide with the revival of the play at the Project Arts Centre, Dublin, on 11 January 2016.Trade ReviewIt's as a great onrush of sometimes laugh-out-loud verbal virtuosity that Emmet Kirwan's very talented two-hander bowls you over . . . There's the swagger and linguistic self-intoxication of rap and a kind of vernacular concrete poetry that you can almost see materialising in mid-air as it is uttered. * Independent *With its up-tempo energy and fast-flowing but lyrical urban poetry . . . it's a buzz * Evening Standard *He is driven by a lust for language and there is no doubt he has a gift for a telling line. * Guardian *
£16.59
Open Book Publishers The Theatre of Shelley
£20.85
Nick Hern Books Push Up
Book SynopsisA savage satire on the rapacious nature of office lives and lusts - the British debut from a writer whose work has been seen in prestigious theatres all over Germany. Everyone wants to get to the executive suite. Everyone wants the Delhi job. Everyone wants sex, everyone wants love. So, they push for it. Roland Schimmelpfennig's play Push Up was first performed at the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin, in November 2001. It was premiered in this English translation by Maja Zade at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in February 2002.Trade Review'An attack on corporate life enacted in a sequence of cunning dialogues... formally elegant and crisply expressed' * Observer *'An arresting piece... makes one hope that the Royal Court will import more of Schimmelpfennig's work' * Independent *
£10.44
Nick Hern Books A Little Night Music
Book SynopsisOozing with sophistication and wit, Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's A Little Night Music (based on Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles on a Summer Night) is a passionate story of intertwined love affairs, regret and longing centred on elegant actress Desirée Armfeldt, and her family and flirtations. When Desirée performs in the town of her former lover, old passions rekindle and during a weekend in the country, the entangled romances of four couples are laid bare. With the magic of music on a summer's night, love's joys and complications play out in three-quarter time. Filled with beautiful iconic numbers, including 'Send in the Clowns' and 'A Weekend in the Country', A Little Night Music is a romantic musical by one of our greatest living composers. It opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre in February 1973 in a production directed by Harold Prince, winning Best Musical at the New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards and the Tony Awards. The musical premiered in the West End at the Adelphi Theatre in April 1975. It has since enjoyed professional productions in the West End, by opera companies, in a 2009 Broadway revival, and elsewhere, and it is a popular choice for regional groups. It was adapted for film in 1977, with Harold Prince directing.Trade Review'Heady, civilised, sophisticated and enchanting. Sondheim's breathtaking lyrics have the kind of sassy poetry that Cole Porter mastered' * New York Times *
£9.99
Nick Hern Books The Man of Mode
Book SynopsisDrama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price The best comedy of manners written in England before Congreve, The Man of Mode was first staged in 1676 and contains all the classic ingredients of Restoration Comedy: adultery, intrigue, gossip - as well as the first and greatest of the Restoration fops, Sir Fopling Flutter. This edition, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is edited by Trevor Griffiths, presenting the complete text, uncluttered by footnotes, with a full introduction setting out the historical context.
£6.71
NeWest Press Teatro Trilogy: Selected Plays
Book SynopsisA Teatro Trilogy is three plays, written by Stewart Lemoine for his company Teatro la Quindicina. Each play, "Shockers Delight!", "Pith!", and "The Margin of the Sky" respond to the question: Well . . . what if THIS happened?
£13.49
Nick Hern Books Ugly Lies the Bone
Book Synopsis'Beauty is but skin deep, ugly lies the bone; beauty dies and fades away, but ugly holds its own.' After three tours of duty in Afghanistan, wounded veteran Jess finally returns home to Florida, where she must confront her scars – and a hometown that may have changed even more than her. Undergoing an experimental virtual reality therapy, she builds a breathtaking new world where she can escape her pain. As Jess advances further into that world, she begins to restore her relationships, her life and, slowly, herself. Lindsey Ferrentino's play Ugly Lies the Bone received its European premiere at the National Theatre, London, in 2017, in a production directed by Indhu Rubasingham and starring Kate Fleetwood. It was a New York Times Critics' Pick during its sold-out run Off-Broadway in 2015.Trade Review'One of the most painfully truthful portraits of sibling relationships that I have seen in a long time' * Telegraph *'A winningly empathetic piece… messy humanity [is] reflected by a play that's similarly heartfelt… plenty of welcome humour' * Broadway World *'Ferrentino's writing is deeply felt and often touching' * Hollywood Reporter *
£9.49
Nick Hern Books The Urban Girl's Guide to Camping and other plays
Book SynopsisFour plays from award-winning playwright Fin Kennedy, created in parnership with Mulberry School in East London - ideal for performance by schools and youth groups. Tender, uncompromising, haunting and lyrical, these four plays together comprise a contemporary chronicle of the lives of East London's young women. In The Urban Girl's Guide to Camping, four young friends leave the city behind and head into the wilderness, but a burning secret threatens to tear their lives apart. A bittersweet comedy about life, love and friendship once school is long gone. Mehndi Night is a touching family tale about resentment and forgiveness on the night before a wedding, exploring the pleasures and pains of a cross-cultural identity in twenty-first century Britain. From the heart of London's East End, Stolen Secrets are urban fairytales, bold, lyrical and gruesome, that can be performed individually or together for maximum shock value. In The Unravelling, a dying mother challenges her daughters to weave her the greatest tale, using nothing more than pieces of cloth. A Fringe First Award-winning fable about the power of mythology to change your life. These plays are the result of a unique four-year partnership between award-winning playwright Fin Kennedy and Mulberry School in East London. Originally performed by the school at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and at Southwark Playhouse, London, they are written in an ensemble storytelling style that will suit younger performance groups around the country, especially those looking for predominantly female roles.Trade Review'To say Fin Kennedy and Mulberry School for Girls are one of the best writer/education partnerships there is doesn't do them justice. To say they're one of the best companies at the Fringe comes closer' * Scotsman *
£15.29
Nick Hern Books The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd
Book SynopsisDrama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price An intense and powerful drama, set in a Nottinghamshire mining town. Elizabeth Holroyd is an educated woman with refined sensibilities, struggling to make a good home for her two children in the grime and poverty of a Nottinghamshire mining town. Poverty is not the only problem she faces. Her husband, a miner, is a brutish man, prone to fighting, drinking and spending his evenings in the pub. When Blackmore, a mine electrician, recognises Mrs Holroyd as a kindred spirit, he asks her to leave her husband for him, with the promise of a new life for her and her children in faraway Spain. It's a promise that Mrs Holroyd is almost ready to accept... D.H. Lawrence's second play, The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd was written in 1910 but went unpublished until 1914. It was staged for the first time in 1916, by the Players Producing Company at the Little Theatre in Los Angeles, USA. In 1920 it was staged in Britain, in an amateur production at the Garrick Theatre in Altrincham. This edition, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, includes an introduction by Colin Counsell, a glossary of difficult words, a chronology and suggestions for further reading.
£6.41
Nick Hern Books God's Dice
Book SynopsisScience and religion go head to head in David Baddiel's debut play: a ferociously funny battle for power, fame and followers. When physics student Edie seems to prove, scientifically, the existence of God, it has far-reaching effects. Not least for her lecturer, Henry Brook, his marriage to celebrity atheist author Virginia – and his entire universe. God's Dice is an electric tragicomedy about the power of belief and our quest for truth in a fractured world. It premiered at Soho Theatre, London, in October 2019, starring Alan Davies as Henry, and directed by James Grieve.Trade Review'A satire straight from heaven' * Daily Mail *'Top-class theatre… funny, captivating exploration of people's desire for hope, power, legacy and answers with an artfully written script and brilliantly believable characters' * Londonist *'A cracking theatrical gift... a combination of dizzyingly ingenious mathematics, theatrical excitement, genuine human interest and thumping good jokes... intelligent and eminently watchable throughout' * WhatsOnStage *'A brilliant debut from David Baddiel... his mastery of the stage is mature and his handling of complex themes nearly faultless in this fascinating take on the endlessly vexed question of proving the existence of God... crafted intelligently and elegantly' * BritishTheatre.com *
£12.34
Samuel French Ltd Rodgers Hammersteins State Fair
Book SynopsisRodgers & Hammerstein''s only musical written directly for the screen is now a stage musical that''s had critics raving from coast to coast. Set against the colorful backdrop of an American heartland tradition, State Fair travels with the Frake family as they leave behind the routine of the farm for three days of adventure at the annual Iowa State Fair. Mom and Pop have their hearts set on blue ribbons, while their children Margy and Wayne find romance and heartbreak on the midway. Set to the magical strains of an Academy Award-winning score and augmented by other titles from the Rodgers and Hammerstein songbook, State Fair is the kind of warm-hearted family entertainment only Rodgers & Hammerstein could deliver!
£11.99
Currency Press Pty Ltd Wittenoom
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£16.14
Currency Press Pty Ltd Wayside Bride
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£15.19
Nick Hern Books Age is a Feeling
Book SynopsisYour life from the day you turn twenty-five through to your death. All the chances you get to change course and all the things you leave unsaid. Inspired by interviews with hospice workers, conversations with mystics and trips to the cemetery, Age is a Feeling is a gripping story that wrestles with the glorious and melancholy uncertainties of human life. A covert rallying cry against cynicism and regret, it's an uplifting exploration of chance, morality and living with verve. Haley McGee's one-person play was produced by Soho Theatre, directed by Adam Brace, and first performed at Summerhall during the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it was adored by audiences, acclaimed by critics, and awarded several prizes including a Fringe First. It transferred to Soho Theatre, London, for several runs. Each performance was shaped by random selections made by the audience. This published edition, illustrated by Jason Logan, contains the full text of the play and offers readers a complete experience, as well as a blueprint for future productions.Trade Review'An astonishing dive into the future... a funny and wistful solo show that chronicles turning 25 and explores the decades ahead... as breathtaking as it is moving... heartbreaking and fascinating' * Guardian *'A tender, wise, wry, gut-wrenching monologue' * Telegraph *'Accomplished and poignant... a brilliant reflection of the suppleness of memory' * WhatsOnStage *'A gentle, loving, heart-breaking, and yet regularly funny affair: an audacious attempt to capture the full absurdity of the human condition' * Quintessential Review *'McGee makes distinctive and distinctively different theatre... her prose often has an assassin's sharpness... [this is] a show which knows exactly what it's doing and how it's doing it, and it is prepared to take its time so that it turns the screws before it pierces the heart. But make no mistake, it will make you weep' -- Lyn Gardner * Stagedoor *'Beautifully written... an immensely skilful exercise in storytelling... Half the audience is sobbing by the end' * The Stage *'A prodigiously wise, sad and beautiful contemplation of a life... a beautiful work that makes you feel every age in its protagonist's long life' * Time Out *'Cleverly conceived... a decades-long, fathoms-deep yarn about life and death, ambition and resentment, illness and ageing, and, well, just about everything that constitutes existence... a sensitive, smartly structured piece of writing, full of wit and an astonishing amount of wisdom' * Scotsman *
£10.44
Creative Media Partners, LLC The Ballad of the White Horse
£14.96
Faber & Faber The Box of Delights
Book SynopsisPiers Torday''s magical stage adaptation of the classic children''s Christmas tale by John Masefield. There are tricks, and then there''s magic!After a seemingly chance encounter on a train, orphaned schoolboy Kay Harker finds himself the guardian of a small wooden box with powers beyond his wildest dreams. Caught up in a battle between two powerful magicians, Kay fights to save not only the people he loves but the future of Christmas itself.Adapted by Piers Today from John Masefield''s classic children''s novel, this festive production opened at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in October 2023, based on the original staging at Wilton''s Music Hall, London, 2017.''Very charming . . . and wildly imaginative.'' Daily Telegraph (on the 2017 premiere)''A classic winter's night yarn told with energy and flair.'' The Stage (on the 2023 revival)
£10.44
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Describe the Night
Book SynopsisRajiv Joseph (born June 16, 1974) is an American playwright. He was named a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo,[1] and he won an Obie Award for Best New American Play for his play Describe the Night.Trade Review‘Joseph writes sly, funny dialogue laced with jolts of lyricism. He has a distinctive voice with mordant humor and adventurous tonal range!’ * The Hollywood Reporter *
£13.39
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Black Protagonists of Early Modern Spain: Three
Book SynopsisRemarkable products of a nation deeply implicated in the Atlantic slave trade, the seventeenth-century Spanish plays Juan Latino, The Brave Black Soldier, and Virtues Overcome Appearances appear together in English for the first time in this volume. The three protagonists not only defy the period’s color-based prejudices but smash through its ultimate social barrier: marriage into the white nobility. Michael Kidd’s fluid translations and extensive critical introduction, bibliography, and glossary are enhanced by Hackett’s title support webpage. Black Protagonists of Early Modern Spain is essential reading for students of theater history, Spanish literature, and the African diaspora.Trade Review"Kidd’s book on Black protagonists in early 17th century Spain is a remarkable introduction to a little-known world of drama that explores the racial realities of a society of Christians, Muslims, and Africans. His three specimen plays include the slave Juan Latino, a Black scholar, whose learning earns him a noble white wife and a university chair. Juan de Merida is The Brave Black Soldier who captures Prince William of Orange, thus ending the war in Flanders. He is a free man and wins his woman. Filipo, the accidental prince of Virtues Overcome Appearances, is an aberration, the result of coitus during which his father, Lisandro, imagines the Ethiopian Queen Saba. Filipo, the Black prince, is immured until he frees himself and proves his worth by his virtue. The play ends with his becoming the king and acting like an absolute monarch. Kidd’s scholarly commentary is illuminating and his analyses are a great aid in understanding the complexities of the racial content of the plays. I found this an extraordinary eye-opening read that will be exciting to use in a classroom." —Lee A. Jacobus, Professor Emeritus of English, University of Connecticut
£20.69
Faber & Faber Alma Mater
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£10.44
Aurora Metro Publications Dark Tales in Winter: adapted for the stage
Book SynopsisDARK TALES IN WINTER adapted for the stage by Matt Beames & Hannah Torrance A mysterious door that will not close... A haunted railwayman at his lonely post... A chilling presence haunts a quiet household... A black cat reveals a grim secret... A collection of four classic ghost stories by masters of the genre, each newly adapted for the stage. Each tale can be enacted by a single performer and together they make for a chilling evening of ghostly tales. Features: The Open Door by Charlotte Riddell The Signal-Man by Charles Dickens The Shadow by E. Nesbit The Black Cat by Edgar Allen PoeTrade Review"These Dark Tales in Winter have been put together for a thrilling evening of entertainment, certainly a striking contrast to shows typical of the festive period." - What's On.
£12.34
Columbia University Press The Fragrant Companions
Book SynopsisThe Fragrant Companions is the most significant work of literature that portrays female same-sex love in the entire premodern Chinese tradition. It is at once an unconventional romantic comedy, a barbed satire, and a sympathetic portrayal of love between women.Trade ReviewThis engaging translation makes available in lively English the maverick playwright Li Yu’s playful and convention-defying account of romantic love between two women almost four hundred years ago. Resonating with conversations about sexuality and gender identity in our contemporary social world, this adept translation not only is poised to become indispensable reading in a range of undergraduate courses but also would lend itself well to stage adaptation. -- SE Kile, University of MichiganThis expert and highly readable translation takes readers into the world of Chinese opera by presenting a new classic, rich in literary quality, delightful in its panorama of life in seventeenth-century China, and unique in its portrayal of female same-sex romance. Li Yu is an author who deserves a worldwide readership, and this volume is a welcome addition to the growing corpus of translations of his works. -- Keith McMahon, author of Celestial Women: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Song to QingThe Fragrant Companions epitomizes the premodern Chinese literary fantasy of utopian polygyny with a satirical twist. Desire between women is shown to be subversive even as it smooths the operation of a male-headed, polygamous union. Li Yu's wit fully comes alive in this elegant and entertaining translation. -- Tze-lan Deborah Sang, author of The Emerging Lesbian: Female Same-Sex Desire in Modern ChinaA wonderful and long-awaited addition to the world canon of queer literature! Beautifully and accessibly rendered with a view toward stage production, Roddy and Wang’s translation of Li Yu’s female same-sex love story The Fragrant Companions is sure to intrigue academics, undergraduates, general readers, and theater professionals alike. -- Patricia Sieber, coeditor of How to Read Chinese DramaThis felicitous translation of The Fragrant Companions, with a comprehensive introduction, makes Li Yu’s most popular play accessible and should inspire stagings of the play across the English-speaking world. A lively translation with strong scholarly underpinnings, it is a tremendous achievement. -- Sophie Volpp, author of The Substance of Fiction: Literary Objects in China, 1550–1775Neatly dealing with both the passionate love between two intelligent and talented women and the Chinese examination-system, The Fragrant Companions is a rich and rewarding play that is approachable and yet also intriguingly different from much Western drama. -- M.A. Orthofer * Complete Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Women in Love and the Business of Men in Li Yu’s Chuanqi DramaDramatis PersonaeThe Relationship Between Role Types and CharactersNote on Editions of LianxiangbanList of ScenesThe Fragrant CompanionsAppendix: Modes and TunesNotesSelected Works on Li Yu and Same-Sex Love in Classical Chinese Fiction and DramaIndex
£23.75
Currency Press Pty Ltd The Visitors
Book SynopsisOn a sweltering day, 26 January, 1788, on a bluff high above Sydney Cove, seven Aboriginal men stand looking out to sea. Moored off-shore is a huge nowee (boat) then there are two, then more. Who are these visitors? Where are they from? What do they want? Should they be turned awayby forceor welcomed to country? In The Visitors, Muruwari playwright Jane Harrison (Stolen, Rainbow''s End) reimagines the arrival of the First Fleet from a First Nations'' perspective. These senior men, carrying the weight of cultural responsibility in their very human hearts, must decide what action they''ll take toward these unwanted arrivals. A decision, under pressure, that will have repercussionsunforeseeably and forever. Told with wit, charm, and a fierce intelligence, Harrison''s story upends the dominant point of view of this pivotal event. Annotated and with an introduction by Wesley Enoch. ''I do not doubt thatThe Visitorswill take its place alongsideStolenas a touchstone of Australian theatre, and as an essential part of the continuing struggle to make sense of colonisation and multigenerational trauma.''Harriet Cunningham, Sydney Morning Herald
£14.24
Currency Press Pty Ltd The Appleton Ladies' Potato Race
Book Synopsis
£14.24
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Oresteia Agamemnon by Aiskhylos Elektra by
Book SynopsisAfter the murder of her daughter Iphigeneia by her husband, Agamemnon, Klytaimestra exacts a mother's revenge, murdering Agamemnon and his mistress, Kassandra. Displeased with Klytaimestra's actions, Apollo calls on her son, Orestes, to avenge his father's death with the help of his sister Elektra.
£15.30
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Antigone
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA lucid, well-paced translation, natural enough sounding in the dialogue to make a good acting version, and remarkably successful in making the choruses clear, lyrical, and yet part of the dramatic movement. Woodruff's rendering of the choruses especially impresses me by the way he manages to render complex syntax and imagery of the original--often tangled and occasionally obscure in its allusiveness--into clear and genuinely poetic English. --Joseph Russo, Haverford CollegeWhen a play has been translated as many times as the Antigone, a new version has to have some remarkable qualities in order to merit attention. Happily, Woodruff's Antigone has just that. Most notably, his text is performable: when read aloud it displays real pace and force. . . . Of course, performability is often gained at the expense of what we might call 'faithfulness' to the original text--and in practical terms, this means that a performance translation rarely serves well as a teaching text. Woodruff, then, has pulled off a remarkable feat in that this edition will serve the teacher and student of Sophocles as well as it would the actor. The original line numbers are preserved and the text is seldom distorted: Woodruff is aware that the words used by Sophocles matter, and employs footnotes to good effect to explain points of linguistic and cultural interest in a concise and accessible way. The flavour of Sophocles' play is also preserved by the stage directions, which are envisaged in terms of the ancient rather than the modern stage. The choral odes--which are translated with particular clarity--are also marked and divided into strophes and antistrophes. What also sets the translation apart is the quality of the introduction and appendices, which are both well informed and address the reader in a direct way. Woodruff succeeds in being straightforward but not patronizing and whilst his target audience is presumably a student of A-level or university level, this edition would be a good starting point for any intelligent adult who wished to read the play. Woodruff frames scholarly debates in such a way as to invite reaction from the reader and to encourage informed debate. Notable, too, is that he strives to keep the text 'open': as well as presenting different scholarly views on the play, he even provides 'Endnotes' where he provides information on readings of the manuscripts, thus providing access to debates from which the student is normally excluded. As part of this project--and refreshingly in my view--he makes his own presence felt: he informs us as to his own views on the play and spells out his objectives as a translator, thus opening up yet another aspect of investigation and debate. This is a provocative edition of the Antigone, which fulfills many of its high ambitions. For me, the vibrancy of Woodruff's approach to the play shines through, giving us a text just waiting to be read aloud, discussed and debated. --James Robson, The Joint Association of Classical Teachers Review
£10.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Cornelius
Book Synopsis"So all the time, while you were pretending to work, you've been having the most astonishing adventures in that corner?" A forgotten masterpiece from one of Britain’s greatest dramatists, J.B. Priestley. As bankruptcy looms, the ever optimistic Jim Cornelius, partner at import firm Briggs and Murrison, is fighting to keep his creditors happy and his spirits up. Tensions rise with the arrival of Judy, the beautiful, young typist who shows Cornelius the life he could have led... Written for Ralph Richardson in 1935, Priestley observes the politics and tensions of daily office life with searing wit and humanity in this hilarious and heart-breaking story of friendship, unrequited love and business.Trade Review"'[An] attractively strange and surprising 1935 play' - Whats on Stage 'a high quality, polished exploration of an era that is sometimes peculiarly familiar and at other times entertainingly unexpected.' - The Stage 'engaging and well-judged - an intriguing period piece that speaks to our times in its tragicomic depiction of the anxieties, humour, despair and obstinate hopes of an age of recession.' - Independent 'Strikes a resounding contemporary chord' - Metro 'On the one hand "Cornelius" is a warm, entertainingly old-fashioned, well-made drama - At the same time it coolly portrays the casualties of an economic system spinning off its axis.' New York Times"
£12.58
Nick Hern Books A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Book SynopsisA bawdy, fast-paced, raunchy comedy musical from one of the world's most influential and innovative creators of musical theatre, loosely based on the plays of Plautus. Pseudolus, a simpering slave, is trying to win his own freedom by cooking up a romance for his master's son, Hero, with the pretty young virgin Philia. But there's a problem – not only is Philia owned by Marcus Lycus, an infamous courtesan dealer, but she's also already promised to swaggering soldier Miles Gloriosus... and neither of them are keen to give her up. Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with a book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, ran for three years on Broadway. The first British production, starring Frankie Howerd as the cowardly slave Pseudolus, ran almost as long and spawned the TV series Up Pompeii! A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum won the 1962 Tony Award for Best Musical.Trade Review'The funniest, bawdiest and most enchanting musical that Plautus, with a little help from Stephen Sondheim, Burt Shevelove and Lary Belbart, ever wrote' * New York Times *'Spectacularly generous when it comes to the gags... one of the most exuberant opening numbers ever penned... The comic plot never stops boiling in a show that creates mounting farcical mayhem with rare precision... a brilliantly crafted hit... preposterously enjoyable' * Daily Telegraph *'A brilliant synthesis of stock characters from Plautus... a vertiginously funny show' * Guardian *'Simply irresistible... blissfully hilarious... a glorious gag-fest... A delirium of good, clean, filthy fun... a cornucopia of delight' * Independent *'Gloriously mischievous' * The Times *'Delightful... just sit back and enjoy it' * Financial Times *
£12.59
