Plays, playscripts, drama

Book SynopsisThe first stage adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's heartbreaking, bestselling novel. And as that day grows near, Kathy looks back at her life. Memory and reality collide in Suzanne Heathcote's gripping adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's bestselling novel.

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Book SynopsisThe Polden Players have just left the stage after performing in a local drama festival. The production was a disaster and there is plenty of wit and repartee as sparks fly while they vent their feelings about the performance. It is apparent that each is using the theatre to escape from a humdrum life. When the Adjudicator arrives, they are surprised to get their just desserts.3 women, 4 men

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Book SynopsisSports agent Liz Rico has money and an elite client roster but a woman in a man''s industry has to fight to stay on top. She''s worked twice as hard to get where she is and wants to take over the agency that she''s helped build. Enter Freddie Luna, a high school basketball superstar with a troubled past. If Liz can keep this talented yet volatile young star in line, she just might end up making not only his career, but her own as well. But at what price?

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Book SynopsisThe first Indian indentured labourers arrived in the Caribbean over 150 years ago. But how are the Indian characters in these plays to live in 20th century Trinidad? These plays explore their experiences as traditional values confront a rapidly changing world. Highway in the Sun tells the story of Tiger and Urmilla's first year of marriage away from their extended family. How are they to relate to Joe and Rita, their new Afro-Creole neighbours? In Home Sweet India, Johnny, dismayed by his and his family's loss of culture, plans to return to India. But will this solve his problems? In Turn Again Tiger, Tiger learns that he cannot turn his back on the Indian past if he is to lay the ghosts of the past to rest and face the future whole. In Harvest in Wilderness, the traditional cane-cutting world of Balgobin confronts the new technology of his creolised nephew, Romesh, but the past continues to spring surprises. These plays, originally broadcast by the BBC in the 1970s, bring together S

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Book SynopsisWhat is home? The answer seems obvious. But Telling Our Stories of Home, an international collection of eleven plays by and about women from Lebanon, Haiti, Venezuela, Uganda, Palestine, Brazil, India, UK, and the US, complicates the answer. The answer includes stories as far-ranging as: enslaved women trying to create a home, one by any means necessary, and one in the ocean; siblings wrestling with their differing devotion to home after their mother's death; a family wrestling with the government''s refusal to allow the burial of their soldier-son in their hometown; a young scholar attempting to feel at home after studying abroad; a young man fleeing home due to his sexual orientation only to discover the difficulty of creating home elsewhere, and Siddis (Indians of African descent) continuing to struggle for acceptance despite having lived in India for over 600 years. These are voices seldom represented to a larger audience. The plays and performance pieces range from 20 to Table of Contents1. Acknowledgement 2. Introduction by Kathy A. Perkins The Plays · The House by Arzé Khodr (Lebanon) · Happy by Kia Corthron (U.S.) · The Blue of TheIsland by Évelyne Trouillot (Haiti) · Nine Lives by Zodwa Nyoni (UK) · Leaving, but Can't Let Go by Lupe Gehrenbeck (Venezuela) · Questions of Home by Doreen Baingana (Uganda) · On the Last Day of Spring by Fidaa Zidan (Palestine) · Letting Go and Moving On by Louella Dizon San Juan (U.S.) · Antimemories of an Interrupted Trip by Aldri Anunciação (Brazil) · So Goes We by Jacqueline E. Lawton (U.S.) · Those Who Live Here, Those Who Live There by Geeta P. Siddi and Girija P. Siddi (India)

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Book SynopsisNigeria, England, America, Jamaica; are you proud of where you''re from? Dark skinned, light skinned, afro, weaves, who are your true brothers and sisters?When two brothers from different continents go down the street to buy a pint of milk, they lift the lid on a disunited nation where everyone wants to be an individual but no one wants to stand out from the crowd.A debut work produced at the Royal Court''s Young Writers Festival, Gone Too Far! is a comic and astute play about identity, history and culture, portraying a world where respect is always demanded but rarely freely given.Gone Too Far! premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 2007 where it was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, 2008. It is published here in an abridged form as part of Methuen Drama''s Plays For Young People series.Trade ReviewAgbaje has an astute eye and ear and offers a different perspective to her male counterparts. * Guardian *In her remarkable debut as a playwright Bola Agbaje walks two teenage black brothers around a dilapidated London council estate. She exploits their close encounters to give us a jolting lesson about the range of identities, beliefs and anxieties concealed beneath black or blackish skins. * Evening Standard *

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Book SynopsisWe think we'll be alright - because we wade through air, not water, but that's not enough.Best friends Mohsen and Kash are gearing up for the biggest night of their lives Jess Denver's pool party. There's just one problem... they can't swim.Fueled by halal Haribo and chicken wings, the pair throw themselves in at the deep end, tackling cramped cubicles and cold showers as they learn how to be at one with the water.Fierce, funny, and brimming with heart, Karim Khan examines the pressures faced by young Muslim men in this exhilarating new play about fitting in and striking out. This was published to coincide with the production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, in August 2022.

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Book SynopsisWinner of Best New Play at the 2023 UK Theatre Awards Winner of Best New Play at the 2023 Critics' Awards for Theatre in ScotlandTo keep that part of me silent. That is what is unbearable. That is why I must be free.Based on a true story, Enough of Him explores the life of Joseph Knight, an African man enslaved by plantation owner Sir John Wedderburn and brought to Scotland to serve in his Perthshire mansion.Highly favoured by Wedderburn and yet still enslaved, Knight balances on the knife edge between obligation and a soul-deep yearning for freedom. He forges a bond with Annie, a young Scottish servant working in the household, and the two of them fall in love.But the walls of Ballindean do not keep secrets their affair unsettles Lady Wedderburn, whose bitter loneliness is only deepened by the close bond her husband has with Knight. Joseph will endure bondage no longer. What happens when Joseph's dreams clash with those of the man who owns him? What become

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Book SynopsisKwame Kwei-Armah OBE is British actor, playwright, director, singer and broadcaster. In 2018 he was made Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre, where he has directed Twelfth Night and Tree. From 2011 to 2018 he was the Artistic Director of Baltimore Center Stage, where his directing credits include: Jazz, Marley, One Night in Miami, Amadeus and Dance of the Holy Ghosts. As a playwright his credits include Tree (Manchester International Festival, Young Vic), One Love (Birmingham Repertory Theatre), Beneatha's Place (Baltimore Center Stage, Young Vic) Elmina's Kitchen, Fix Up, Statement of Regret (National Theatre), Let There Be Love and Seize the Day (Tricycle Theatre). He has also co-authored Decolonizing the Theatre Space (2023) and written the play Elmina's Kitchen.Oladipo 'Dipo' Agboluaje is a British-Nigerian playwright and academic, born in London and educated in Britain and Nigeria. He studied Theatre Arts at the University of Benin, Nigeria, and later wrote a doctoral thesis at the Open University, UK, on West and South African drama. He won the Alfred Fagon prize for playwriting for his play Iya-lle and is a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund, working in partnership with the University of East London, UK. He has written the commentary and notes to the Methuen Drama Student Edition of Inua Ellams's Barber Shop Chronicles (Bloomsbury, 2021).

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Popcorn Writing Award 2024Grieving is weird and expensive.Jamie can't swim. Fuelled by guilt and a need to mend her broken family, at 30 years old, she''s taking on her biggest fear the ocean.With the help of a chipper swim instructor, a shady spiritual guide, and one cathartic crab sandwich, she questions, ''How many lengths does it take to wash away regret?''Brilliantly witty, deeply heartfelt, this play explores what lies beneath the surface of the Black diasporic relationship to water. Somebody Jones's searing debut How I Learned to Swim is ''funny with fear, liberating with grief'' (Fringe Review) and impossible to walk away from unchanged.This edition was published to coincide with the Prentice Productions show at Summerhall's Roundabout, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2024.

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Book SynopsisAs far as I''m concerned, why get paid to sit on my arse at home when I can get paid to sit on my arse in a lobbyWhere I also get paidBea''s secretly working three full-time jobs.All at the same time.And she''s still financially f*cked.Between looking after luxury flats and dogsitting the world''s ugliest pooch, she''s neck-deep in employers and it''s only a matter of time until someone finds out she''s breaking all her contracts.Armed with nothing but her smarmiest boss'' dirty secret, can Bea get herself out of the red and into the black (and into the fit intern''s bed)? Or will the plates she''s been spinning come crashing down around her and her dysfunctional family?Jobsworth is a riotous comedy about snakes and surviving capitalism written by Isley Lynn and Libby Rodliffe.This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at the Pleasance Courtyard, at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Augus

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Book SynopsisAn engaging ensemble piece based on the story of the painting by Thomas Hickey showing the Three Queens of Mysore and their determination to encourage others to receive the smallpox vaccine.

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Book SynopsisJames Graham is a multi award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His play This House gained critical acclaim, enjoyed a sell-out run at the National Theatre's Olivier in 2013 and its 2017 West End revival was Olivier-nominated. It was chosen by popular vote as the best play of the 2010's by Methuen Drama. James created theatre history when his two plays Ink, about the early days of Rupert Murdoch, and Labour of Love, a romantic political comedy, played in theatres next to each other in the West End in 2017. James won an Olivier award in 2018 for Labour of Love and Ink transferred to Broadway in 2019, receiving six Tony award nominations. James' play The Vote (Donmar Warehouse) aired in real time on TV in the final 90 minutes of the 2015 polling day and was BAFTA-nominated. His most recent television film, Brexit: An Uncivil War (Channel 4/HBO) is nominated for a 2019 Emmy Award.

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Book SynopsisNathaniel Brimmer-Beller is a mixed-race and Jewish writer, published playwright, award-winning performer, and director for stage and screen. He is based in London, and originally from Washington, DC. He has directed more than thirty theatrical productions, and has written fifteen plays, including six acclaimed premieres at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Genius - Broadway Baby, Fringe theatre does not get much better than this - The Violet Curtain), and multiple London runs with his production company Black Bat Productions, which he founded in 2017. He has been nominated for the BBC Writersroom's Popcorn Award for Best New Writing, the Ilfeld Prize, an OffFest Award, and the George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwriting, and won a Bursary Prize at South of the River Pictures' and SISTER Global's writer-performer competition Screenshot.

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Book Synopsis'I saved lives and I got rewarded and I'm bloody well not going to apologise for it.' Sir Neil Marriot had a 'good pandemic', becoming familiar to millions from his TV appearances as a government medical advisor. His service even earned him a knighthood, and he is now rewarding himself with a lavish birthday party. But, amidst the oak panelling, the champagne and the silver service, his family are at one another's throats again, and he thinks there's something familiar – and somehow unsettling – about one of the catering staff... The Snail House is a play about how the past impacts on the present, and how overconfidence can have disastrous consequences. Written and directed by Richard Eyre, it premiered at Hampstead Theatre, London, in September 2022.Trade Review'A classic family drama... written and directed with unimpeachable skill' * WhatsOnStage *'Well-crafted' * The Times *'An honourable, polished play with a fine grip on the contemporary moment' * Observer *

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Book Synopsis'You're a wonder. You're a window into a wide world.' Scotland, 1504, seen fresh through the eyes of new arrivals Ellen and Anne, two Moorish women who were expected to take their place at a royal court… but not this one. Both women now have to fight to find and keep a place in the dazzling, dangerous world of the Scottish court of James IV. It's a world where war is never far away, words of love and promises of peace are not what they seem, and where poets might turn out to be more dangerous than any assassin. Rona Munro continues her journey through an uncharted period of Scottish history with James IV: Queen of the Fight, which was first presented in 2022 by Raw Material and Capital Theatres in association with National Theatre of Scotland, and directed by Laurie Sansom. It follows the spectacular success of Munro's plays about James I, II and III, which were first performed by National Theatre of Scotland, transferred to the National Theatre, London, and were named Best New Play at the Evening Standard Awards.Trade Review'Epic and intimate... abounds with curious, colourful characters... Scotland's answer to Shakespeare's cycle of history plays. The similarities are there in the scope of [Munro's] script, the cross-section of courtly society she presents and in the flashes of humour that illuminate the evening. Most of all, they are in the play's questing contemplation of royal and national identity, then and now... a fun and fascinating riposte to Shakespeare' * The Stage *'Explosive and chilling' * Guardian *'Passionate and timely... hilarious and shocking, with some killer put-downs... Munro skips so nimbly between tones and ideas that you barely notice the expansive ground she's managing to cover. In shining a bright new light on diversity in late medieval Scotland, it's a revelation. More than that, though, it reminds us of some profound questions about tolerance and power that are very much still with us today' * Arts Desk *'Ambitious and admirable... a history play that says a great deal about modern Scotland' * Financial Times *

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Book Synopsis'So, if you Americans already have cornflakes and Woolworths, what brings you to England?' It's 1973, and a young man from Des Moines, Iowa, has arrived on the ferry at Dover. He intends to conquer the whole of the island, like Caesar attempted before him. But Caesar didn't have to deal with counterpanes, kippers, Cadbury's Curly Wurlies, or Mrs Smegma the landlady's eccentric house rules. As Bill travels the length and breadth of Britain, through villages with names like Titsey and Little Dribbling, something strange starts to happen. Can it be true? Is he really starting to feel at home? Bill Bryson's smash-hit memoir Notes from a Small Island spent three years in The Sunday Times bestseller list, sold over two million copies, and was voted the book which best represents the UK. Tim Whitnall's hilarious stage adaptation was first produced at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury, in 2023. Written for an ensemble cast of seven (but suitable for a cast of dozens), it will appeal to amateur drama groups as a glorious celebration of one of the nation's most beloved books, and a brilliant dissection of the enduring quirks of our small island.Trade Review'A comic pleasure... has a revue-like charm... abounds in nostalgia and warmth' * Telegraph *'A thoroughly enjoyable piece of theatre... With more than 80 characters and incorporating almost as many cities, Tim Whitnall's adaptation [is] a hugely ambitious project... it manages to capture the spirit of the novel... This tour of Britain has been lovingly recreated... with a strong, diverse ensemble, gradually building up a picture of Britain over the decades... hilarious' * The Stage *'A pilgrimage of delight... Delicious fun... wonderfully vivid cameos, to great comic effect and always affectionate rather than simply caricature' * WhatsOnStage *'A whirlwind of adventure... lovingly evokes images of Britain in times gone by... ignites an unexpected surge of patriotism' * West End Best Friend *

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Book SynopsisA thrilling, funny and spectacular adaptation of Joan Aiken's classic children's novel, perfectly suited to performance by theatre companies and drama groups of any size. A thrilling adventure set in an alternative history of England, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase tells the story of two brave and determined girls as they fight against ferocious wolves, snowy wastelands and their very evil guardian, Miss Slighcarp. The opening of the Channel Tunnel has led to dangerous wolves roaming Britain, but this is not the only danger that cousins Bonnie and Sylvia, and their friend Simon the Goose-boy, must face as they encounter unforgettable characters and mysterious scheming. Russ Tunney's magical adaptation of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was first performed at the Layard Theatre, Wimbourne, in 2010. It was originally performed by a cast of five, but it has also been staged by – and is suitable for – much larger casts. Featuring a chorus who narrate, sing and comment on the action, and plenty of opportunities for song and dance, this version will suit any theatre company, youth theatre or drama group wanting to exercise their theatrical imagination.Trade Review'A gift for any company as family entertainment... Expertly blends melodrama, comedy, adventure and a little spookiness, interwoven with songs and dances... Wonderful stuff' * The Stage *'Satisfying, funny and exciting... this ingenious show makes a children's favourite live on' * ReviewsGate.com *

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Book SynopsisA superb adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's famous story of the unassuming Dr Jekyll and his dark alter-ego Mr Hyde. During one of his audacious experiments trying to separate good from evil in human nature, the kind and gifted Dr Jekyll inadvertently unleashes an alternative personality of pure evil … the mysterious Mr Hyde. As this sinister figure starts causing terror and havoc in foggy London, Jekyll must race to find a cure for his monstrous alter-ego before it takes over for good. This version by David Edgar, first performed at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1996, is a revised and partially re-written version of the adaptation premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Theatre, London, in 1991.Trade Review'A single actor tackles both roles... His transformation from mild-mannered, myopic doctor to the fiendish Mr Hyde is merely the physical manifestation of the divisions within the Victorian psyche. This thoughtful show goes far beyond melodrama' * Guardian *'Urgent, superbly wrought and well-structured' * Observer *'Both a theatrical feast and an intellectual challenge' * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisFaust: A Tragedy by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is a masterpiece of German literature that delves into the timeless themes of ambition, knowledge, and the human condition. The story follows the eponymous protagonist, Faust, a scholar dissatisfied with his life, who makes a pact with the devil, Mephistopheles, in exchange for unlimited knowledge and boundless pleasure. Through Faust's journey, Goethe explores the profound depths of the human soul, questioning the nature of morality, the pursuit of power, and the consequences of unchecked desires. With poetic brilliance and philosophical insights, Goethe weaves a tapestry of passion, remorse, and redemption, as Faust grapples with the consequences of his Faustian bargain. This iconic tragedy continues to captivate readers with its profound exploration of human nature and the eternal quest for meaning.

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Book SynopsisA play set in London in the 60s reflecting a time of social change. Its subject is the cultural poverty and frustration of a generation of young people on the dole and living on council estateTrade Review"Ideal for students and teachers of drama and literature, the commentary covers the themes, style, language, characters and context of the play and includes a full set of study aids." Sardines Magazine (Spring/Summer 2009)

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Book SynopsisTanika Gupta's epic drama pushes the boundaries of verbatim theatre, telling an important story in a fresh and authentic way never seen on stage before. A rousing piece of work. - Greg Walker, University of Edinburgh, UKBased on the true story of Tanika Gupta''s great uncle, Lions and Tigers follows 19-year-old Dinesh Gupta''s emotional and political awakening as a freedom fighter pitting himself against the British Raj.Drawn from family stories that the playwright herself heard from early childhood, the play teems with details drawn from her grandfather's 500-page handwritten journal about his younger brother, and from the 92 letters written by her great uncle from his prison cell.Set against the backdrop of negotiations between the leaders of the Indian National Congress and culminating in actions that shook the very foundations of the British Empire, Lions and Tigers challenges our assumptions about Indian independence and offers powerful new insights intTrade ReviewAn ambitious, driving play... Lions and Tigers is a political history as much as it is a personal one, and it swings from dense history lecture to intimate storytelling, where Gupta’s writing is at its most playful and potent. -- Corrie Tan * The Guardian *A powerful new play... It's typical of the play's freshness that it looks at the role of women in the cause of independence (and acknowledges those who feel they would have to unshackle themselves from Indian men first)... An impressive piece – warm, humorous, stirring, and deeply sad. -- Paul Taylor * The Independent *Seventy years on from the partition of India, the bloody legacy of mass displacement and sectarian conflict remains. But rather than dwelling on partition’s effects, Tanika Gupta’s new play celebrates the spirit of independence that preceded it... Flashes of humour punctuate a script that doesn’t shy away from the ugly business of torture and grooming. -- Henry Hitchings * Evening Standard *

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Book SynopsisTwo plays made up of ten short stories that bring together the wild imaginations of school children with major writers from the North East of England. Based on the pioneering Live Tales creative writing model at Live Theatre in Newcastle, placing children's authorship at the centre of the creative process, Wintry Tales offers a series of brilliant, alternative takes on the Christmas story. A mysterious bout of snowfall in ASDAA wizard detective with a love of hot chocolateA lonely polar bear seeking another sharp-toothed friendAn elf kickstarting a worker's revolutionSimple in form but deliciously rich in ideas, these explosive dramatic works can be performed by just two actors on either a packed or empty stage. It's all about the words! And the outrageous ideas behind themThe perfect book for anyone seeking an alternative Christmas offering, whether to read, perform or watch live onstage. Rory Mullarkey is one of the UK's leading

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Book SynopsisA moving story about love, political action, and one woman's journey from a brutal existence to her own liberation.

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Book SynopsisTeddy, a philosophy professor in an American university, brings his wife Ruth to visit his father, uncle and two brothers at his old London home, after years of estrangement. In the intense conflict that follows, it is Ruth who becomes the focus of their struggle for supremacy.An exultant night a man in total command of his talent.' ObserverThe most intense expression of compressed violence to be found anywhere in Pinter's plays.' The TimesThe Homecoming can be seen as a Freudian play about sons filled with subconscious Oedipal desires. It can equally be seen as an ethological study of a group of human animals fighting over territory. Precisely because Pinter never moralises about or resolves the situation, it is a play that, when impeccably acted, continues to haunt our dreams.' Michael Billington, GuardianThe Homecoming premiered at the Aldwych Theatre, London, 1965.

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Book SynopsisWinner of Best Revival at the Olivier Awards 2024Winner of Best Play Revival at the WhatsOnStage Awards 2024Can you imagine if it was possible to completely change the way you live your life? To look at your life and ask yourself what you would do if it died. If your old life died. It ended. And then take what's left of your real life and live it properly. How can I do that, Michael? Where do I start?Chekhov's classic tale of love, art, sex, and attempted murder in a fresh adaptation by Simon Stephens, written to be performed by a solo actor.Comedic and tragic, Chekhov's examination of our shared humanity our hopes, dreams, regrets is thrust into sharp focus in Vanya. This fresh adaptation explores the kaleidoscope of human emotions, harnessing the power of the intimate bond between actor and audience to delve deeper into the human psyche.This edition was published to coincide with the West End premiere starring Andrew Scott in September 2023.

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Book SynopsisAnnie Baker's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about three cinema attendants - 'Wondrous, devastating, hilarious, and infinitely touching. A play to be treasured' New York Times. In a run-down movie theatre in central Massachusetts, three underpaid employees mop the floors and attend to one of the last 35-millimetre film projectors in the state. Their tiny battles and not-so-tiny heartbreaks play out in the empty aisles, becoming more gripping than the lacklustre, second-run movies on screen. With keen insight and a finely tuned ear for comedy, The Flick is a hilarious and heart-rending cry for authenticity in a fast-changing world. The Flick arrived at the National Theatre, London, in 2016, direct from New York, where it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It went on to win Best New Play at the 2016 Critics' Circle Awards.Trade Review'Annie Baker's play is not just good. It is not just new. It's a new sort of good' * Observer *'Astonishing... The beauty of Baker's play lies in its portrait of three quietly desperate people... This is like no other play in London. It moves at its own unhurried pace and magically exposes the souls of lonely people in danger of being left behind in our new, digitised age' * Guardian *'A portrait of a generation struggling through life without moorings, that also beautifully and often hilariously observes the strange, fragile nature of work friendships, enforced intimacy with virtual strangers' * Time Out *'An understated epic of dreams, disappointment and tenacity by America's greatest living dramatist' * The Stage *'What makes The Flick so original and captivating is the way form really does match content… [conjures] a stillness that is almost like a painting, rewarding patience, forcing you to pay attention. It's a mighty achievement' * WhatsOnStage *'Wondrous, devastating, hilarious, and infinitely touching. A play to be treasured' * New York Times *'The Flick offers that beautiful, exquisitely alive feeling you get during the best moments of theatre – that life is too wonderful to be believed' * New Yorker *

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Book SynopsisMasterful versions of Ibsen’s two great verse plays by one of our greatest living poets, Geoffrey Hill   These two masterly and contrasting verse dramas by Ibsen made his reputation as a playwright. The fantastical adventures of the irrepressible Peer Gynt—poet, idler, procrastinator, seducer—draw on Norwegian folklore to conjure up mountains, kidnappings, shipwrecks, and trolls in an exuberant celebration of life; while Brand, an unsparing vision of an idealistic priest who lives by his steely faith, explores free will, sacrifice, and the self. This volume brings together the poet Geoffrey Hill’s acclaimed stage version of Brand with a new poetic rendering of Peer Gynt, published for the first time.   For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best w

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Book SynopsisI can tell the difference between who I am and a side effect.The Effect is a clinical romance. Two young volunteers, Tristan and Connie, agree to take part in a clinical drug trial. Succumbing to the gravitational pull of attraction and love, however, Tristan and Connie manage to throw the trial off-course, much to the frustration of the clinicians involved. This funny, moving and perhaps surprisingly human play explores questions of sanity, neurology and the limits of medicine, alongside ideas of fate, loyalty and the inevitability of physical attraction.Following on from the critical and commercial success of Enron, The Effect offers a vibrant theatrical exploration into the human brain via the heart. It received its world premiere at the National Theatre''s Cottesloe Theatre in November 2012, starring Billie Piper and Jonjo O''Neill. It is published here in the Modern Classics series alongside an introduction by Miriam Gillinson.Trade ReviewLucy Prebble is a playwright blessed with an exceptionally fine mind . . . the play struck me as being both wise and sane, raising more questions than it answers, to be sure, but that seems a sign of integrity in a work dealing with such a complex subject. But what makes The Effect so special, is that as well as being a play of ideas, it is also deeply moving, both in its depiction of the giddy wonder of love, and also in its account of the terrifying wasteland of depression itself . . . The Effect is an astonishingly rich and rewarding play, as intelligent as it is deeply felt. * Daily Telegraph *Lucy Prebble’s follow-up to Enron is a scintillating exploration of the clash between scientific advance and human impulse … it demonstrates the same vivid, provocative intelligence * Financial Times *This four-hander brings the author's agile wit, intellectual penetration and a fresh, deeply affecting empathy to bear on a fundamentally much more complex topic than finance: brain chemistry and what it can – and cannot – tell us about the causes of severe depression and the experience of being in love … This is a provocative and challenging play … it ends in edgy gesture of good sense that made me feel like cheering. * Independent *After her hit with Enron, Lucy Prebble turns to medicine and the mind - to great effect ... The Effect is a four-hander that hopscotches confidently across themes of neurology, psychopharmacology, depression, love and guilt . . . The Effect moves you to thought, sometimes to strong feeling. * Sunday Times *Prebble has written a profound and stirring play. The material is complex but always accessible, the drama serious and informative yet deeply human, with the odd jolt of piercing humour. The Effect confirms her as one of the most intelligent voices in British theatre. * Evening Standard *Incisive dialogue . . . Prebble really researches and the range of her subjects suggests she will have a long theatrical life * Observer *The Effect is a headlong delve into the mysteries of the human brain. And Prebble pulls it off with assurance, tickling our cerebellums in the first half, before tugging on our heartstrings in the second . . . heartbreaking . . . [it has] a heart as well as a brain. * Time Out *Lucy Prebble's absorbing drama, a hit . . . Taut, intelligent * The Times *This is a knotty drama, dealing with scientific objectivity, guilt, the mysteries of the human heart and brain and what makes us who we are, wrapped up in a deceptively simple and constantly entertaining package. * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisThis first volume of David Hare''s plays contains his work from the 1970s, including his landmark play of that decade, Plenty, charting the development of ''one of the great post-war British playwrights'' (Independent on Sunday).The volume also includes the plays Slag, Teeth ''n'' Smiles, Knuckle and Licking Hitler, and is introduced by the author.

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Book SynopsisKaren Britland is Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Book SynopsisStephen Sondheim's 'cool, and impossibly chic' (New York Times Critic's Pick) final work, written with Tony Award-nominee David Ives. UK premiere at the National Theatre, London, in 2025.

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Book SynopsisIn this sequel to Faust, Mephistopheles takes Faust on a journey through ancient Greek mythology, conjuring for him the insurpassably beautiful Helen of Troy, as well as the classical gods. Faust falls in love with and marries Helen, embodying for Goethe his ''imaginative longing to join poetically the Romantic Medievalism of the germanic West to the classical genius of the Greeks''. Further to the themes of redemption and salvation in this great drama, are Goethe''s eerie premonitions of modern phenomena such as inflation and the creation of life by scientific synthesis.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary autTrade Review" One of those great works of literature into which a writer has been able to combine his ranging preoccupations and understanding as he worked." -A. S. Byatt, from the Preface

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Book Synopsis'Love or knowledge: which would you choose?' A moving, comical and eye-opening story of four young women fighting for education and self-determination against the larger backdrop of women’s suffrage. 1896. Girton College, Cambridge, the first college in Britain to admit women. The Girton girls study ferociously and match their male peers grade for grade. Yet, when the men graduate, the women leave with nothing but the stigma of being a 'blue stocking' - an unnatural, educated woman. They are denied degrees and go home unqualified and unmarriageable. In Jessica Swale's debut play, Blue Stockings, Tess Moffat and her fellow first years are determined to win the right to graduate. But little do they anticipate the hurdles in their way: the distractions of love, the cruelty of the class divide or the strength of the opposition, who will do anything to stop them. The play follows them over one tumultuous academic year, in their fight to change the future of education. Blue Stockings received its professional premiere at Shakespeare's Globe, London, in August 2013, directed by John Dove.Trade Review'Cracking... leaves you astonished at the prejudices these educational pioneers had to overcome' * Guardian *'Brings wit and intelligence to a meaty subject' * Evening Standard *'Lively and eye-opening' * Independent *'Thoughtful and provocative... thoroughly researched and grippingly dramatised' * The Stage *'Touching and entertaining... Swale tells the story with both wit and a hint of righteous indignation' * Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisJimmy Porter, frustrated and bitter in his drab flat, lives with middle-class wife Alison. Also sharing the flat is Cliff who keeps things tenuously together. Alison''s friend Helen arrives and persuades her to leave Jimmy only to fall for him herself. When Alison becomes pregnant Helen leaves them together. This play originally opened at the Royal Court Theatre in 1956 and has since proved to be a milestone in the history of theatre.

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Book SynopsisThis revised third volume of Harold Pinter''s work includes The Homecoming, Old Times, No Man''s Land, four shorter plays, six revue sketches and a short story. It also contains the speech given by Pinter in 1970 on being awarded the German Shakespeare Prize.The Homecoming''Of all Harold Pinter''s major plays, The Homecoming has the most powerful narrative line... You are fascinated, lured on, sucked into the vortex.'' Sunday Telegraph''The most intense expression of compressed violence to be found anywhere in Pinter''s plays.'' The TimesOld Times''A rare quality of high tension is evident, revealing in Old Times a beautifully controlled and expressive formality that has seldom been achieved since the plays of Racine.'' Financial Times''Harold Pinter''s poetic, Proustian Old Times has the inscrutability of a mysterious picture, and the tension of a good thriller.''

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Book SynopsisCovid-19 seems to be a sort of dirty bomb, thrown into the body to cause havoc.On the same day that the UK government finally made the first of two decisive interventions that led to a conspicuously late lockdown, David Hare contracted Covid-19. Nobody seemed to know much about it then, and many doctors are not altogether sure they know much more today. Suffering a pageant of apparently random symptoms, Hare recalls the delirium of his illness, which mixed with fear, dream, honest medicine and dishonest politics to create a monologue of furious urgency and power.

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Book SynopsisExclusive to Penguin Classics: the definitive text of the first great twentieth-century English play and a classic exposé of the eternal struggle between the sexes—part of the official Bernard Shaw Library  A Penguin Classic After the death of her father, Ann Whitefield becomes the joint ward of two men: the respectable Roebuck Ramsden and John Tanner, author of “The Revolutionist’s Handbook.” Believing marriage would prevent him from achieving his higher intellectual and political ambitions, Tanner is horrified to discover that Ann intends to marry him, and he flees to Spain with the determined young woman in hot pursuit. The chase even leads them to the underworld, where the characters’ alter egos discuss questions of human nature and philosophy in a lively debate in a scene often performed separately as “Don Juan in Hell.” In Man and Superman, Shaw combined seriousness with comedy to create a Trade ReviewBy the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature“[Shaw] did his best in redressing the fateful unbalance between truth and reality, in lifting mankind to a higher rung of social maturity. He often pointed a scornful finger at human frailty, but his jests were never at the expense of humanity.” —Thomas Mann “Shaw will not allow complacency; he hates second-hand opinions; he attacks fashion; he continually challenges and unsettles, questioning and provoking us even when he is making us laugh. And he is still at it. No cliché or truism of contemporary life is safe from him.” —Michael Holroyd “In his works Shaw left us his mind. . . . Today we have no Shavian wizard to awaken us with clarity and paradox, and the loss to our national intelligence is immense.” —The Sunday Times “He was a Tolstoy with jokes, a modern Dr. Johnson, a universal genius who on his own modest reckoning put even Shakespeare in the shade.” —The Independent “His plays were superb exercises in high-level argument on every issue under the sun, from feminism and God, to war and eternity, but they were also hits—and still are.” —The Daily Mail

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Book SynopsisThis vibrant collection of verse translations of Aristophanes' works-featuring Clouds, Women at the Thesmophoria (or Thesmophoriazusae), and Frogs-combines historical accuracy with a sensitive attempt to capture the rich dramatic and literary qualities of Aristophanic comedy.Trade ReviewIt would be hard to find a better companion to Aristophanes, for classicists but perhaps especially for the general reader Altogether a fine effort, to be recommended for all classes of reader. * Colin McDonald, Classics for All *Halliwell pairs his fluency in rendering verse with deftness at capturing the complexities of Aristophanes' language, which gives his translations particular verve. * The Classical Journal *Table of ContentsPREFACE; INTRODUCTION; NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION; SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY; CHRONOLOGY; CLOUDS; WOMEN AT THE THESMOPHORIA; FROGS; APPENDIX: THE LOST PLAYS OF ARISTOPHANES; NOTES; INDEX OF NAMES

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