Search results for ""nick hern books""

An extensive guide to acting, followed by close to a hundred audition pieces chosen from the whole of world drama. Masterclass is a unique handbook for actors, student actors and teachers. 'Full of such essential truth that it seems at once revelatory and confirmatory. This book will give the actor a massive injection of self-confidence - at the same time propelling them into unknown territory. An affirmation of the actor's strength - instinct. Buy it!' Hugo Weaving

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Two powerful expressionist plays from the early career of one of the twentieth century's most significant writers. The Hairy Ape is a nightmarish condemnation of the dehumanising effects of industrialisation on the American people. Robert 'Yank' Smith, an animalistic stoker, breaks free from his engine-room confines when he is spurned by the glamorous society woman, Mildred Douglas. Looking to find his free self out in the 'real' world, Yank goes on the rampage – but how much will his freedom cost him? And is there really any such thing? First staged at the Playwrights' Theater, New York, in March 1922. All God's Chillun Got Wings is a vigorous social commentary based around a violently dysfunctional mixed-race marriage. Ella is the neurotically jealous white wife of Jim, a driven, charismatic black man. She sabotages his career, effectively destroying him, before her frenzy lapses into remorseless dependency. First performed in 1924 at the Provincetown Playhouse, New York, in a production starring Paul Robeson. This edition includes a full introduction, biographical sketch and chronology.

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A landmark play about sexual politics in colonial Africa and modern-day Britain, in which all our assumptions about sex and gender are stunningly exploded. Set in both colonial Africa and modern-day Britain, Cloud Nine is about relationships – between women and men, men and men, women and women. It is about sex, work, mothers, Africa, power, children, grandmothers, politics, and money. Caryl Churchill's play Cloud Nine was first staged by Joint Stock and premiered in London at the Royal Court Theatre in 1979. It has since been staged all over the world.

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This clear, concise and practical guide provides actors with a structured and effective method for breaking down and understanding a performance script. It offers a flexible approach that works with plays from any period or genre, with television and film scripts, and even when preparing for your audition. Inside, you'll find the tools you need for every step of the process, from making sense of the whole script, to breaking it down scene by scene, through to detailed line-by-line analysis. There are strategies for exploring character arcs, objectives, beat shifts and subtext, as well as practical exercises and sample scenes from leading playwrights to help you put the concepts into action. Also included are worksheets you can use and reuse on all your future projects. Wherever you are in your acting career, this book is your essential working companion – giving you a method for tackling any script, and providing the foundation to take your performances to the next level. The Compact Guides are pocket-sized introductions for actors and theatremakers, each tackling a key topic in a clear and comprehensive way. Written by industry professionals with extensive hands-on experience of their subject, they provide you with maximum information in minimum time.

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When Patrick is eight years old, his absent father returns unexpectedly for a brief but memorable encounter. Years later – recalling that meeting, and the revelations that followed – Patrick traces the events of his father’s life, laying bare a journey of grandiose plans, aching disappointments and audacious self-delusion. Three Kings by Stephen Beresford is a heartbreaking and hilarious play for a solo actor about fathers and sons, the gifts and burdens of inheritance, and the unfathomable puzzle of human relationships. It was written for Andrew Scott to perform as part of Old Vic: In Camera, a series of live performances streamed from the Old Vic Theatre, London, in 2020. This edition includes an introduction by the director Matthew Warchus. ‘A knockout – entertaining, sad and outrageous. [Stephen Beresford] is going to be a major name’ Observer on The Last of the Haussmans

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'One day all you care about is music, fashion and boys. The next day there's no food. Piece by piece your world starts to change so you change with it.' Mostar, Yugoslavia, 1988. Mili, a boy from out of town, dives from the famous Old Bridge. Mina, a local girl, watches. As he falls, she begins falling for him. Mostar, Bosnia, 1992. In a town of growing divisions, Mina and Mili never doubt that their future lies together. But nor can they imagine the dangers that future will bring. Winner of the 2020 Papatango New Writing Prize, Igor Memic's play Old Bridge is an epic love story exploring the impact of a war that Europe forgot, and the love and loss of those who lived through it. It was first produced by Papatango at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2021, directed by Selma Dimitrijevic. Memic went on to win the Most Promising Playwright Award at the 2022 Offies (Off West End Awards), and was also named Most Promising Playwright (jointly with Zadie Smith) at the 2022 Critics' Circle Awards. Old Bridge won the Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre Award at the 2022 Olivier Awards.

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A sometimes comic, sometimes heartbreaking journey into the world of autism. Sandra is looking for love. Gordon is seeking acceptance. Simon just wants these parents to stop talking for two minutes so he can get on with teaching their kids. And Casper? Casper is not here. Jody O'Neill's play What I (Don't) Know About Autism mixes narrative, song, dance and direct address to explore this contentious and often misunderstood subject matter. Inspired by the writer's own experiences with autism, the play celebrates autistic identity whilst offering deeper insight and understanding to non-autistic audiences.

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An outrageous play about imperialism, cross racial adoption, cultural appropriation... and tea. Brighton, 1862. A day in the life of Sarah, an African girl, adopted by Queen Victoria and raised in the Queen's circles. Today is the eve of her having to return to Africa, but will she go The Present. A day in the life of Sarah, a black middle class woman staying in a Cheshire village with her husband and small child. They are paid a visit by well meaning neighbours who have something to confess... The two Sarahs meet Queen Victoria for tea. This won't be your regular tea party... Janice Okoh's play The Gift is premiered on a UK tour by Eclipse Theatre, from January 2020.

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Two plays about contemporary life in Ireland, from award-winning writer John O'Donovan. On the outskirts of Ennis, on a dark and stormy night, three men gather for the anniversary of a childhood friend, killed in a road accident when they were seventeen. Expecting a crowd and tearing into the cans, the three slowly realise they're the only ones coming. As they drink to their uncertain futures – and their receding youth – they're forced to face up to the ghost that has held them together. Flights is a haunting and funny play about bereavement, brotherhood and breaking away from your past. It premiered in 2020 at glór in Ennis before transferring to Dublin and London, directed by Thomas Martin. Sink is a play of two voices for one actor, about memory, catastrophe and sacrifice. Bríd's coming home to convalesce after drying out in rehab. Ciara's headed west too, investigating a potential archaeological site on a parched area of bogland. But as the countryside swelters in a heatwave, the pair find peace elusive. How will Bríd cope in her old haunts? How will Ciara confront a past she thought forgotten? And will they unearth the hidden truth that binds them together? Sink premiered at the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2019, directed by Thomas Martin.

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'My mother seduced a man so successfully that he altered the constitutional history of this country.' Elizabeth I is the only unmarried woman to have ever ruled England. And she reigned for forty-four years. Mastermind. Seductress. Survivor. Created by award-winning writer Ella Hickson and director Natalie Abrahami, Swive [Elizabeth] shines a light on the ways and means by which women in power negotiate patriarchal pressure in order to get their way. It premiered in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare's Globe, London, in December 2019.

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One 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.

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‘There are no miracles in this world. Only those we make for ourselves.’ It's 8 a.m. and a revolt is underway. The father is dying. The son is spying. The wife is cheating. The uncle is stealing. The mother is scheming. The dynasty is crumbling. One house. One fortune. One victor. Maxim Gorky's savagely funny play Vassa Zheleznova was first published in 1910. Mike Bartlett's adaptation, Vassa, premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in October 2019.

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Kefalonia, 1941. Captain Corelli, an enigmatic young Italian officer, is posted to the idyllic Greek island as part of the Axis occupying forces. Shunned by the locals at first, he proves to be civilised, humorous – and a consummate musician. The captain is soon thrown together with Dr Iannis's strong-willed and beautiful daughter, Pelagia, who discovers all of the complexities of love, and how it can blossom in the most unexpected and profound way. Rona Munro's adaptation of Louis de Bernières' much-loved epic novel, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, premiered on tour of the UK in 2019, before transferring to London's West End.

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'We ain't killers' 'How you figure that?… Iss in the blood.' When a letter arrives from the mother they thought was dead, twenty-one-year-old twins Racine and Anaia travel from the Dirty South to the California desert, to a yellow house with teal shutters. They're on a mission to avenge her past, and they're ready to take down anyone who stands in their way. A revenge tale about two women seeking justice and taking control of their own narratives, Is God Is collides the ancient and the modern, the tragic and the Spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk. Aleshea Harris's play had its world premiere at Soho Rep., New York, in February 2018, winning the Relentless Award, and the Obie Award for Playwriting. It received its British premiere in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in September 2021, directed by Ola Ince.

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A mysterious accident. A dead husband. People are talking. Secrets are resurfacing from the depths. Is the past ever truly dead? Beiv, a celebrated artist, has moved from suburban Dublin to her holiday cottage on an island off the coast of West Cork. But a dark shadow from the past hangs over her. When her estranged son and his new young wife arrive to stay, she is faced with some difficult questions. Nancy Harris's play The Beacon was premiered at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway, in September 2019 before transferring to the Gate Theatre, Dublin, as part of the 2019 Dublin Theatre Festival, in a co-production between Druid and the Gate, directed by Garry Hynes.

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‘We stand on the edge On the threshold of On the entrance to Stepping out from On the cusp…’ Set in and around a swimming pool, Chris Bush's play The Changing Room follows a group of teenagers full of excitement, impatience and uncertainty. They know change is coming, but not what it'll look like. Written specifically for young people, The Changing Room was part of the 2018 National Theatre Connections Festival and was premiered by youth theatres across the UK. It offers opportunities for a large, flexible cast of any size or mix of genders, and incorporates chorus work and music. No swimming pool required. This edition of The Changing Room includes the words and music to Chris Bush's original songs, arranged by Matt Winkworth.

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‘So I thought, since we can’t do Europe this summer, why don’t the kids and I just do a little Southern History road trip? We’re going to drive back home through Mississippi, Louisiana – all those places – experience some of Daddy’s heritage.’ The Lafayette family gather at their late father's home in Arkansas to bury the hatchet and prepare the former plantation for its Estate Sale. Until, that is, they make a discovery which changes everything. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Appropriate is a gripping play about ghosts and the legacies we are left with, and a wickedly subversive appropriation of the great American family drama. Appropriate premiered Off-Broadway in 2014, and won the Obie Award for Best New American Play. It had its UK premiere at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in August 2019, directed by Ola Ince and featuring Monica Dolan. This edition also features his short play I Promise Never Again to Write Plays About Asians...

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‘It wasn’t just her freakish ability with language. She saw through to behind the words. It was like she had a direct line to – I was going to say to “the gods”…’ About to be fired from her cleaning job for stealing a volume of Euripides, Jude turns her employer's outrage to shock by translating the ancient Greek on the spot. The employer, a Classics teacher, knows great talent when she sees it and the encounter kick-starts Jude's lifelong ambition to study at Oxford University. Possessing an astonishing gift for languages, Jude will stop at nothing to achieve her dream – but she remains oblivious to the hidden barriers that her background has placed in her path… Loosely inspired by Thomas Hardy's novel Jude the Obscure, Howard Brenton's play Jude is a modern-day tale of unexpected genius and of our struggle to accommodate extraordinary talent. The play premiered at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 2019, directed by Edward Hall.

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1968. East Berlin. Anna and Hans are married, in love and moving up in the world – but it is a world ruled by suspicion. Who can be trusted when everyone is listening? Can we ever escape our past? Written by playwright Ella Hickson, and co-created with sound designers Ben and Max Ringham, ANNA unfolds with all the tension of a spy thriller, and the inexorable revelations of an Ibsen play. ANNA premiered at the National Theatre, London, in May 2019, directed by Natalie Abrahami, with the audience wearing individual headsets to direct their attention amongst the overlapping scenes on stage. This uniquely formatted edition of the script features all of the play's dialogue, including the scenes seen but not heard in performance.

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This edition is the prescribed text for the English Mastery Secondary programme. Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica, Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer, and Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots. In these three intimately connected stories, hope and humanity meet stubborn reality, tracing the tangled history of Jamaica and Britain. Andrea Levy's epic novel Small Island, adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson, journeys from Jamaica to Britain in 1948 – the year that HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury. It premiered at the National Theatre, London, in April 2019, directed by Rufus Norris. 'Honest, skilful, thoughtful and important. This is Andrea Levy's big book' Guardian on Andrea Levy's Small Island

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‘Because Christmas. Well… That’s when they say people come home.’ Andy loves nostalgic television, pints down the pub, and listening to the whole album from beginning to end. His daughter, Maya, wears good shoes, likes good arguments, and has a secret plan to bring down the government. The trouble is, three years ago Maya left home, and they haven't spoken since. But this Christmas, she might be coming back. Andy knows she's going to stay. Maya knows she's not. Mike Bartlett's play Snowflake is an epic story about generational conflict, fathers and daughters, and whether we're living in the best or worst of times. It premiered at the Old Fire Station, Oxford, in 2018, and was revived at Kiln Theatre, London, in 2019, directed by Clare Lizzimore.

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‘We’re in a hotel. We’re always in a hotel. And each room is exactly the same as the last room, and the one before that, and the one before that…’ Leila wants to inspire global change. John needs to get his shit together. They have an arrangement. But managing an affair isn't easy when the world around you is falling apart. Rose Lewenstein's Cougar is a play about what – and who – we consume. It was premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in February 2019, in a co-production with English Touring Theatre.

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A day and a night in the city that never sleeps. A young woman arrives into JFK with time to kill until her departure tomorrow. She looks up an old college friend who lives in the city. With thirty-one hours till she has to leave, she's taken on a whistle-stop tour of the city. Chronicling a night of debauchery and delicate connection followed by a difficult parting in the cold light of day, Gary Duggan's play Stop/Over asks what these little moments mean. First performed as a rehearsed reading at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in 2008, this new expanded version premiered at the Dublin Fringe Festival in September 2018, in a production by On The Quays.

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In 1919, Badgersbridge Village Hall is Margaret's domain and the last place she expected to come face to face with Grace, who knew and loved Margaret's brother. This chance meeting results in an unlikely pairing that will change the course of both of their futures. Fast-forward to 2019. Mirjana from the care company is waiting to meet Sean's mother to help her stay in her own home. Mirjana is from Sarajevo, but has lived in the village since escaping the war there as a teenager. The village hall has been her solace and proves an unlikely link between them. With music, waltzing and unexpected connections, Deirdre Kinahan's play Crossings dances through a century, exploring how we return, resettle and adapt. The play was first seen on a UK tour in 2018, in a co-production between Pentabus Theatre Company and New Perspectives.

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The funniest and most magical Nativity you will ever see. A travelling troupe of two actors and an opera singer arrive by donkey to masterfully, movingly and miraculously enact the greatest story ever told. The absurdly talented Maurice Rose, the alarmingly unpredictable Ronald Bream RAC, and the distinguished diva Mrs Leonora Fflyte play a cast of thousands in a Christmas comedy that conjures up the sublime, the ridiculous and the truly angelic. Patrick Barlow's The Messiah was first performed to universal acclaim by the National Theatre of Brent in 1983, and revived at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2000. This new version, with additional material by Julian Hough, Jude Kelly and John Ramm, was published alongside a major touring production in 2018, starring Hugh Dennis, John Marquez and Lesley Garrett, which was seen at venues around the country including Birmingham Repertory Theatre and The Other Palace, London.

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‘I expect the plummet, I brace, but no. The wind is now a breeze is now a whisper and I’ve stopped; suspended in the sky…’ Greasy fish’n’chips, sticks of rock and a pot-bellied Spider-Man throwing himself off the pier; the annual ‘Birdman’ competition is in full flight. It’s the busiest weekend of the year in this faded seaside town, but Bayview B&B is somehow closed for business. A finalist in the Theatre503 Playwriting Award, Alison Carr's play Caterpillar is a darkly funny, searing and tender drama about those moments when we find ourselves teetering on the edge. Caterpillar was first performed at Theatre503, London, in September 2018 before transferring to the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, produced by Small Truth Theatre in association with Theatre503 and Michelle Barnette Productions.

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`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, London

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

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Will truth out? Set over one evening, Rathmines Road by Deirdre Kinahan is a play that rages in a tiny room. Fraught, funny and ferocious, this new drama testifies to the pain of carrying the memory of sexual assault throughout a lifetime. A play about secret trauma and public revelation, Rathmines Road bristles with tension and interrogates catharsis to ask: when and how do we take responsibility?

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London, present day. The body of an unidentified young man is found face down in a suburban street. Who is he and where did he come from? He has no ID and nobody witnessed anything. It's as if he has just fallen from the sky… Pathologists and police working on the case must uncover the truth and piece the story – and body – of this 'John Doe' back together. A breakthrough sends DC John Kavura into overdrive and as his investigation unravels, he uncovers a haunting story of our time. Inspired by real events, Fiona Doyle's play The Strange Death of John Doe is a powerful and poignant drama that premiered at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, London, in 2018, and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

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‘There is no shame in deriving pleasure from this little world.’ Siblings Fanny and Alexander are growing up amidst the gilded romance and glamour of 1900s Sweden. But their world is turned upside down when their widowed mother remarries the iron-willed local bishop. As creative freedom and rigid orthodoxy clash, a war ensues between imagination and austerity in this magical study of childhood, family and love. Legendary film-maker Ingmar Bergman’s 1982 masterpiece Fanny & Alexander was adapted for the stage by Stephen Beresford. It premiered at The Old Vic, London, in 2018, in a production starring Penelope Wilton and directed by Old Vic Associate Director Max Webster. Stephen Beresford is the BAFTA award-winning screenwriter of Pride. His other plays include The Last of the Haussmans, which premiered at the National Theatre.

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Autumn 1940. The Battle of Britain rages. Southampton is home to Britain's only hope of victory: the Spitfire. But when the Luftwaffe drops 2,300 bombs in three devastating raids, the city goes up in flames and the Woolston Supermarine Spitfire factory is destroyed. From the ashes, a story of chaos, courage and community spirit emerges. Jackie is the third generation of Dimmock at her family-run laundry. Polly is the first and only draughtswoman in the Spitfire design office. How will each woman forge her own path in this evolving landscape?

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It’s May 1997. Tony Blair has won the election and Katrina and the Waves have won Eurovision. Channel 5 is a month old. No one knows who Harry Potter is. Britain is the coolest place in the world. At the local secondary school it’s a different story. Miss Belltop-Doyle can’t control her Year 10s, Mr Pashley has been put in charge of a confiscated Tamagotchi, and Miss Turner is hoping that this muck-up day goes smoother than the last. Tobias, the German language assistant, watches on. Things can only get better. Education, Education, Education is The Wardrobe Ensemble’s love letter to the schools of the 1990s and asks big questions about a country in special measures, exploring what we are taught and why, and where responsibility lies. Inventively theatrical and irreverently funny, Education, Education, Education was co-produced with Royal & Derngate Northampton and Shoreditch Town Hall. It premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017, where it won a Fringe First Award, before touring the UK.

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In 1949, scientist and mathematician Dr Jacob Bronowski installs a hidden, locked room in his house. Fifty years later, his grandson discovers the secrets contained in the room, unearthing echoes from across six million years of human history. David Byrne's play Secret Life of Humans was first seen during a sell-out, award-winning run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017. It had its London premiere at New Diorama in April 2018, ahead of transferring Off-Broadway. David Byrne is a playwright and director. His other plays include a radical new version of George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London.

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A collection of five plays by Alexi Kaye Campbell. The premiere of The Pride at the Royal Court Theatre in 2008 marked the emergence of Alexi Kaye Campbell as a distinctive new talent. With its bold and ingenious structure and its daring take on sexual politics in the 1950s and today, the play combined thrilling dramaturgy with profound insight into the affairs of the human heart. It went on to win an Olivier Award, the Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, and the John Whiting Award for Best New Play, and was revived in the West End in 2013. Published here alongside that remarkable debut are Alexi’s four subsequent plays, which together demonstrate his rare ability to harness theatricality in pursuit of emotional truth. Apologia (Bush Theatre, London, 2009; revived in the West End in 2017), a perceptive look at what has happened to 1960s idealists and their children. ‘Sharp, funny, wise and humane, Alexi Kaye Campbell is a writer to cherish’ Telegraph The Faith Machine (Royal Court, 2011), an exploration of the relationship between faith and capitalism that asks fundamental questions about the true meaning of love. ‘An urgent play of expansive ambition and largeness of spirit’ Guardian Bracken Moor (Tricycle Theatre and Shared Experience, 2013), a haunting tale of grief and denial, set against the economic crisis of the 1930s. ‘A superior kind of ghost story… intellectually as well as emotionally haunting’ The Stage Sunset at the Villa Thalia (National Theatre, 2016), a passionate and deeply personal play about the impact of foreign influence, planned and unintentional, on a nation and its people. ‘This play is a winner, a thought-provoking slow-burn story that works on many levels’ The Times Also included is an introduction by the author.

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Millions of people cycle to work every day. And every week, some of them don’t make it home. One Tuesday morning, Isabelle packs her lunch box into her pannier, kisses her young daughter goodbye, and sets off on her bike through Hackney. What happens along the way is at once shocking, inconceivable, and terrifyingly ordinary. Based on a true story, The White Bike is an affecting play about what happens when our world is turned upside down. It was premiered in 2017 at The Space, London, in a production directed by Lily McLeish. Tamara von Werthern is the founder and producer of Fizzy Sherbet, a new-writing initiative for women writers from across the world. This edition also includes her short plays Baby Dolls and The Village Church.

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'I used to be scared of them. They seemed so different. They don't scare me any more. They're just children, aren't they? Just children.' January 1941. A terrible crime is taking place in a clinic for disabled children. The perpetrators argue that it will help struggling parents and lift the financial burden on the mighty German state. One brave voice is raised in objection. But will the doctor listen? A moving examination of a terrifying moral dilemma, and a powerful story that shows what it takes for humanity and decency to be restored in a world that has abandoned them. First produced by Tara Finney Productions, Stephen Unwin's debut play All Our Children premiered at Jermyn Street Theatre, London, in 2017.

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A thoughtful and deeply personal book by a master theatre-maker. In Tip of the Tongue, Peter Brook takes a charming, playful and wise look at topics such as the subtle, telling differences between French and English, and the many levels on which we can appreciate the works of Shakespeare. Brook also revisits his seminal concept of the 'empty space', considering how theatre – and the world – have changed over the span of his long and distinguished career. Threaded throughout with intimate and revealing stories from Brook's own life, Tip of the Tongue is a short but sparkling gift from one of the greatest artists of recent times.

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In September 2004, a group of terrorists stormed School Number One in Beslan, Russia, taking hundreds of children, their parents and teachers hostage. The ensuing siege lasted three days and left many dead. Us/Them is not a straightforward account of this terrible tragedy, but an exploration of the entirely individual way children cope with traumatic situations. Originally created for BRONKS, a theatre company for young audiences, Us/Them had a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2016, winning a Scotsman Fringe First Award, and transferred to the National Theatre, London, in 2017. It was co-produced by BRONKS and Richard Jordan Productions, with Theatre Royal Plymouth and Big in Belgium, in association with Summerhall.

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'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.

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'When am I going to wake up and be different?' Three flatmates. A single bathroom. And a whole world of men. In this funny, unapologetic play, three twenty-something women figure out how they really feel about sex, their bodies and each other. With a vibrancy and stylistic freedom, Low Level Panic interrogates the effects of society's objectification of women. Clare McIntyre's play Low Level Panic premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 1988, winning the Samuel Beckett Award. This edition was published alongside its first major revival at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in 2017.

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Why is Justice blind? Is she impartial? Or is she blinkered? Friends Ed and Tim take opposing briefs in a rape case. The key witness is a woman whose life seems a world away from theirs. At home, their own lives begin to unravel as every version of the truth is challenged. Consent, Nina Raine's powerful, painful, funny play, sifts the evidence from every side and puts Justice herself in the dock. It premiered as a co-production between the National Theatre and Out of Joint, directed by Roger Michell at the National Theatre in 2017, and transferred to the West End in 2018. It was shortlisted for the 2018 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

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Jessica Swale's Blue Stockings is the empowering and surprising story of four young women fighting for their right to a university education in a world that assumed women belonged at home. First produced professionally at Shakespeare's Globe in 2013, and a sell-out success, it is now regularly performed by theatre groups in the UK and beyond, and widely studied by GCSE Drama students. This Page to Stage guide, written by the playwright, who also directed the first production at RADA, along with her assistant director Lois Jeary, is packed with contextual information, scene-by-scene and character breakdowns, and personal insights into the world of the play and the real lives that inspired it. An invaluable resource for those studying and staging the play, it takes you through the entire production process, considering each of the elements in turn, from sound and music to design and rehearsals. You'll also find notes from the original rehearsal process, extracts from working diaries, and interviews with key members of the creative team. Throughout, there are hints and tips on staging, and helpful games and exercises to bring the play to life on the stage and in the classroom. Highly accessible and uniquely authoritative, it is the indispensible guide for anyone studying, teaching or performing the play.

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The Bronze Age. The Iron Age. The Age of Oil. The Stone Age didn't end for want of stones. Oil follows the lives of one woman and her daughter in an epic, hurtling collision of empire, history and family. Ella Hickson's explosive play drills deep into the world's relationship with this finite resource. It is 'the single most gloriously audacious piece of playwriting of the last few years' Evening Standard. Oil premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in October 2016, in a production directed by Carrie Cracknell and starring Anne-Marie Duff.

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Ava and Tash are up on a cliff, looking out at the flocking birds – and at their future. On the cusp of adulthood and about to leave the care home they've shared, the two friends road-test their impending freedom and living in the outside world. Ava must confront the mother she left behind. Tash will have to look for a new home. And both girls will go on living dangerously with the men who surround them. Raw, delicate and bold, Katherine Chandler's play Bird is a story of growing up outside a family but inside the fiercest of friendships. It was the winner of a Judges' Award in the 2013 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, and premiered at Sherman Cymru in 2016 before transferring to the Royal Exchange, Manchester.

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Peepolykus bring their exhilarating combination of verbal slapstick, visual surprise and anarchic comedy to Gustave Flaubert's seminal nineteenth-century masterpiece Madame Bovary. Laugh and cry in equal measure as Emma Bovary chooses the wrong husband. Lose yourself in mesmeric love scenes featuring a procession of devastatingly attractive men. Rail at the fate of women in a patriarchal society, if you will. Prepare yourself for vermin, moustaches, wild animals, lots of French people and a nun. Written for a bijou cast of four playing multiple roles, The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary was a co-production between Peepolykus, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, the Nuffield in Southampton, Bristol Old Vic and the Royal & Derngate in Northampton. It premiered at the Everyman in Liverpool in 2016 before touring to all those other places too. Like their tremendously popular Hound of the Baskervilles, Peepolykus's Bovary offers abundant opportunities for comedy and slapstick – plus some massive tragedy – to any theatre company or drama group looking for a loving derailment of a classic novel.

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A delightfully unfestive comedy about a group of recent graduates doing seasonal work selling Christmas trees. 'Tis the season to be jolly. But the employees at Christmas Pines are certainly not. Gabby has a first-class honours degree and an MA, but somehow she's stuck – for the third year running – counting Norwegian Spruce. Betty wishes she was ice-skating with her mates at Somerset House rather than 'gaining work experience'. Joe is nursing a broken hand, and heart, by lugging trees. Taj can't decide whether he's in love with Gabby or Betty. And they're all being driven out of their minds by Christmas songs on repeat… Jacqui Honess-Martin's play Pine explores the value of learning on the job, the rose-tinted expectations of recent graduates, and the inability to see the wood for the trees. It premiered at Hampstead Downstairs, London, in December 2015.

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