Description
Book SynopsisEdited and introduced by leading cultural and theatre critic Aleks Sierz, this bold and urgent collection of contemporary plays by England''s newest and most relevant young writers explores the various cultures and identities of a nation that is at once traditional, nationalistic and multicultural.
Eden''s Empire, by James Graham is an uncompromising political thriller exploring the events of the Suez Crisis, and the tragic story of its flawed hero Churchill''s golden boy and heir apparent, Anthony Eden.
Alaska, by D. C. Moore features Frank, an ordinary bloke who likes smoking, history and playing House of the Dead 3. He can put up with his job on a cinema kiosk until a new supervisor arrives who is younger than him. And Asian.
A Day at the Racists, by Anders Lustgarten is a timely examination of the rise of the BNP which attempts to understand why people might be drawn to the BNP and diagnoses the deeper cause of that attraction.
Shades, by Alia Bano s
Trade ReviewGraham's play is both a dramatic piece of living history and a timely demonstration of the danger of allowing foreign policy to be dictated by a prime minister who flagrantly flouts international law. * Michael Billington, Guardian, on Eden's Empire *
The measure of DC Moore's quality as a writer is his ability to garner sympathy for this immensely dislikeable university drop-out. * The British Theatre Guide on Alaska *
Boasting the digestibility of a rom-com and the roughage of an issues drama, Alia Bano's tale of London Muslims looking for love is a superb start to the Royal Court's Young Writers Festival ... Like most good rom-com folk, Bano's characters are smart, headstrong, witty and self-aware. That they happen to be both united and divided by their background gives Bano her story ... The play's great achievement is to be engagingly irreverent while knowing that irreverence can be an orthodoxy too ... Reza ... says he resents being asked to choose between Britishness and being a Muslim. Such sentiments have been expressed before, but rarely with the propulsive plotting, inspiring intelligence and light touch of this hugely enjoyable play * Dominic Maxwell, The Times on Shades *
must-see for anyone concerned about the threat of extreme nationalism and curious to explore the context behind that threat. * whatsonstage.com on A Day at the Racists *
This thrilling debut play by Rachel De-lahay plugs straight into the jittery heart of multicultural London today ... De-lahay has an alert ear for comic dialogue and her portrait of mixed-race, upwardly mobile twentysomethings on the estate – one character works in PR, another is an aspiring model – crackles with wit as well as moments of deep emotion. The play raises the provocative question of whether it is possible to shrug off the fraught issue of racial identity ... It’s a play that combines sharp one-liners with a savvy sense of the way we live now ... One leaves the theatre impatient to discover what Rachel De-lahay will come up with next. * Telegraph, on The Westbridge *
Table of ContentsIntroduction, by Aleks Sierz Eden's Empire, by James Graham Alaska, by D. C. Moore A Day at the Racists, by Anders Lustgarten Shades, by Alia Bano The Westbridge, by Rachel De-lahay
