Search results for ""nick hern books""

An explosive and thought-provoking play from the author of Girls Like That, exploring what happens when buried secrets catch up with you. As Head of Year 11, Diane is meant to be implementing the new 'Healthy Relationships' curriculum. But then Freddie arrives. She hasn't seen him since that night six years earlier when he was fifteen. She thinks he took advantage of her. He thinks she groomed him for months. Neither is sure. But when it comes to sex and consent, how far can you blur the lines? Evan Placey's Consensual was first performed by the National Youth Theatre in their 2015 West End season.

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Dazzling and sequin-studded, Kiss Me Quickstep is a play about the world of ballroom dance, taking us behind the fixed smiles and fake tan to look at the real lives of those for whom ballroom dancing is everything. Justin and Jodie have finally made it to the national ballroom-dancing championships in Blackpool – via the motorway hard shoulder. Luka's come all the way from Russia. Nancy's been training for this since she was three. Lee and Samantha arrive on a wave of success. But what if your dance-floor dreams are turning into a nightmare? How do you stop dancing to other people's tunes? What can you do if your partner's secret could cost you the crown? And, even when the whole world's at your feet, it only takes one false step... Amanda Whittington's Kiss Me Quickstep premiered at New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, in 2016, in a co-production between the New Vic and Oldham Coliseum Theatre.

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‘Who said smashing things up was a bad thing?’ Three strangers are about to face their demons head on. Balanced precariously on the tipping point, they might just be able to save one another – if they can only overcome their urge to self-destruct. Passionate, painful and playful, Stef Smith’s Swallow takes a long, hard look at the extremes of everyday life. The play premiered at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, as part of the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it received a Scotsman Fringe First Award. It was directed by Traverse Artistic Director Orla O’Loughlin, and featured original music by LAWholt.

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A thrillingly fast-paced play about youthful disaffection, protest and violence, drawing on the history of the Scuttlers, the youth gangs of nineteenth-century Manchester. It's 1882 and the streets of Manchester are crackling with energy, youth and violence. As workers pour into Ancoats to power the Industrial Revolution, 50,000 people are crammed into one square mile. The mills rumble thunderously day and night. The air is thick with smoke. Life is lived large and lived on the street. This is the world's very first industrial suburb and the young mill workers form the very first urban gangs, fighting over their territory with belts, fists and knives. Invisible in history, their lives, deaths, loves, lusts and defiant energy tell stories that will repeat and repeat over the decades that follow. Scuttlers by Rona Munro was first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, in 2015. With nine leading roles and a large cast of mill workers and gang members, Scuttlers is well suited to performance by schools and youth groups, who will enjoy its physical energy and dramatic storyline.

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Charlie Ashanti lives in a future where phones are powered by the sun, cars are banned and companies are more powerful than countries. Charlie is a perfectly normal boy, except for one thing: he can speak to cats. When his parents are kidnapped, he sets off on a rescue mission – with a little help from a floating circus and its pride of performing lions. Based on Zizou Corder's bestselling novels, Marcelo Dos Santos's adaptation fuses storytelling and circus in a gripping tale that provides great opportunities for amateur and school groups looking to perform a magical adventure. Lionboy was commissioned and first produced by award-winning theatre company Complicite in 2013, and was revived in 2014 for an international tour.

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Mr and Mrs Twit are not very nice. In fact they're extremely nasty. They're nasty to each other, and they're VILE to everyone else. They hold a family of monkeys hostage in a cage and force them to stand on their heads. ALL THE TIME. We told you they weren't very nice. Can the monkeys find a way to show those vicious Twits what for? Mischievously adapted from Roald Dahl's story, acclaimed playwright Enda Walsh has turned The Twits upside down. This revolting revolution was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in April 2015.

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A gripping, kaleidoscopic drama about a clash of values in multicultural Britain, from actor and playwright John Hollingworth. Bradford. On the eve of a Conservative Party Conference the country is in turmoil and one of its most multicultural cities awaits a visit from the Prime Minister. Kash, a liberal British Muslim, prepares his address to politicians about the state of the nation. His girlfriend Natalie, a recent convert to Islam, cooks for anti-war protesters gathered at the Town Hall. Lyn, her mother, moans to anyone who’ll listen about the decline of her cherished England. It’s all too much for Kash’s daughter Qadira, who begins to plan a radical intervention. As the nation questions immigration policies and military support in the Middle East, one family face their own internal conflict of faith, belonging, and who gets to call themselves British. Multitudes, John Hollingworth’s debut play, premiered at the Tricycle Theatre, London, in 2015.

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A razor-sharp, acid-tongued play by Mike Bartlett, one of the UK's most exciting and inventive young writers. Two jobs. Three candidates. This would be a really bad time to have a stain on your shirt...Bull opened at Crucible Studio Theatre, Sheffield, in February 2013 in a Sheffield Theatres Production, winning the 2013 UK Theatre Award for Best New Play. This edition is published alongside its production at the Young Vic Theatre, London. Winner of the 2015 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.

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Melissa Bubnic's Beached is a darkly funny comedy about modern freak shows, love and cream buns. Loads of cream buns. Arty is the world's fattest teenager. At sixty-seven stone, he is a young man literally going nowhere.
 All that is set to change when a reality TV crew moves in to ruthlessly document Arty's supposed transformation from bedridden walrus to trousered sophisticate. But with the cameras rolling, something totally unexpected happens – Arty falls in love. Beached had its British premiere at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, in 2014 before transferring to Soho Theatre, London. It won the 2010 Patrick White Playwrights Award at the Sydney Writers' Festival.

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THE GOOD AUDITION GUIDES: Helping you select and perform the audition piece that is best suited to your performing skills If you're auditioning for a musical – or needing to choose a song to perform for an exam, showcase or drama-school application – it's vital you find a song that shows off your voice and reveals your full potential as both a singer and an actor. In this invaluable book, you'll find comprehensive introductions to fifty of the best songs from musical theatre, for tenor/high baritone and baritone/bass voices, and in a variety of periods, styles, genres and tempos. Each song comes with detailed textual, vocal and musical analysis, and a practical performance guide to ensure you perform it to maximum effect in your own unique way. Drawing on his experience as a performer, musical director and teacher at several leading drama schools, Paul Harvard gives his top tips for performing each song, note by note, moment by moment. He also recommends soundtrack recordings to inspire you, and tells you where to find the correct sheet music for your chosen song (please note: the book does not contain the sheet music itself). The selection includes songs from acclaimed contemporary musicals such as Children of Eden and Pippin by Stephen Schwartz, Parade and The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown, as well as Martin Guerre, The Wild Party, Taboo and The Lion King – alongside many much-loved classics like Carousel, Fiddler on the Roof, 42nd Street, Kiss Me, Kate, and six of Sondheim's masterpieces. Also included is an extensive introduction to the process of choosing your song, preparing your performance and approaching the audition itself, along with many vocal and acting exercises to improve your technique and boost your confidence. 'For anyone wishing to do justice to a musical-theatre role, and definitely for those wishing to work in this genre, this guide is a must' Teaching Drama Magazine on Paul Harvard's bestselling book Acting Through Song

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THE GOOD AUDITION GUIDES: Helping you select and perform the audition piece that is best suited to your performing skills If you're auditioning for a musical – or needing to choose a song to perform for an exam, showcase or drama-school application – it's vital you find a song that shows off your voice and reveals your full potential as both a singer and an actor. In this invaluable book, you'll find comprehensive introductions to fifty of the best songs from musical theatre, for soprano, mezzosoprano and alto voices, and in a variety of periods, styles, genres and tempos. Each song comes with detailed textual, vocal and musical analysis, and a practical performance guide to ensure you perform it to maximum effect in your own unique way. Drawing on his experience as a performer, musical director and teacher at several leading drama schools, Paul Harvard gives his top tips for performing each song, note by note, moment by moment. He also recommends soundtrack recordings to inspire you, and tells you where to find the correct sheet music for your chosen song (please note: the book does not contain the sheet music itself). The selection includes songs from acclaimed contemporary musicals such as In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Songs for a New World by Jason Robert Brown, as well as Next to Normal, Miss Saigon, The Color Purple, Sister Act and Ragtime – alongside much-loved classics like The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, My Fair Lady, Anything Goes, and five of Sondheim's masterpieces. Also included is an extensive introduction to the process of choosing your song, preparing your performance and approaching the audition itself, along with many vocal and acting exercises to improve your technique and boost your confidence. 'For anyone wishing to do justice to a musical-theatre role, and definitely for those wishing to work in this genre, this guide is a must' Teaching Drama Magazine on Paul Harvard's bestselling book Acting Through Song

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A portrait of an eclectic family, held together by the courage to survive. In an ivy-clad house in Zagreb, Croatia, the Kos family argue and fall in and out of love as world after world is erected and then torn down around them. From the remnants of monarchy, through Communism, then democracy, war, and eventual acceptance into a wider Europe, four generations of Kos women – each one more independent than the last – have to adapt to survive. The one constant is the house: built by aristocrats, partitioned, nationalised, it stands witness to the passing generations. But when the family assemble for Lucija's wedding, Alisa learns that her nouveau-riche brother-in-law has bought the family home for himself and the other tenants have to move out. For the bride this is progress, for her sister it's a shady act of greed. For their principled parents, finally, it's one battle too many. Tena Štivičić's play 3 Winters premiered at the National Theatre, London, in November 2014. It won the 2015 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

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Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel is a multi-award-winning play about the empowerment of a black seamstress in New York City in 1905. Esther sews exquisite lingerie for clients who range from wealthy white patrons to prostitutes. She has saved enough to allow her to dream of one day opening a beauty salon for black women, and at thirty-five years old, longs for a husband and a future. When she begins to receive beautiful letters from a lonesome Caribbean man who is working on the Panama Canal, it looks like life may be about to take a different course. Intimate Apparel was first produced by South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California, and Centerstage in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2003, winning the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play and the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award. It received its UK premiere at the Theatre Royal Bath in 2014 before transferring to Park Theatre, London, the same year.

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This collection of plays written and introduced by actor-turned-writer Ayub Khan Din charts the development of a writer able to turn the tumultuous experience of life in modern Britain into satisfying, humane and often richly comic drama. Whether drawing on his own childhood, growing up in an Anglo-Pakistani family in Salford, or on E.R. Braithwaite's account of racial tensions in the East End in To Sir, With Love, he depicts the struggles of individuals to come to terms with their conflicting cultural legacies – and he does so with unerring warmth and compassion. East is East (1996) is an irresistible comedy set in multiracial Salford in 1970, where the Khan children are buffeted this way and that by their Pakistani father’s insistence on tradition, their English mother’s laissez-faire and their own wish to be citizens of the modern world. The film adaptation that followed, with a screenplay by the author, became one of the most successful British films ever made. The version included here is the revised text first performed at the Trafalgar Studios in 2014. The short, elegiac play, Notes on Falling Leaves (2004), is an emotionally tender depiction of a young man as he loses his mother to dementia, 'overwhelming in its emotional impact' (Telegraph). In All the Way Home (2011), a quarrelsome group of siblings gathers at the family home under the shadow of impending loss. Amidst the cut and thrust of spiky Salford banter, long-harboured resentments rise to the surface and family bonds unravel and unwind. To Sir, With Love (2013), based on E.R. Braithwaite's autobiographical novel, is the uplifting story of a talented, idealistic young teacher discovering the reality of life as a black man in Britain after the Second World War as he struggles to find a way to connect with his students at a tough but progressive East End school.

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A story of lust, madness and destruction set in the backstreets of Paris. Based on Emile Zola's classic novel. The beautiful but doomed heroine is trapped in a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille. Every Thursday evening she watches her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin, play dominoes... until one day her husband brings along an old friend, the alluring and athletic Laurent. As Laurent and Thérèse embark on an illicit affair, a turbulent passion is unleashed that drives them ultimately to violence and murder. Helen Edmundson's sensuous adaptation of Thérèse Raquin premiered at the Theatre Royal, Bath, in July 2014. It was later seen on Broadway in a production starring Keira Knightley.

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The essential, one-stop handbook for actors, with everything you need to survive and thrive, from the team behind the internationally successful Surviving Actors conventions. Being an actor is a vocation, but it’s also a real-life job. Talent, determination and passion are vital, but will only get you so far. In addition to developing the craft of acting, actors have to remember that it is a career, and so the business side needs to be taken just as seriously. This manual covers the day-to-day essentials you need to succeed in the industry, with sections that cover: Establishing your personal brand and business plan Getting great headshots, showreels, voicereels and a website Dealing with agents, casting directors and auditions Developing your networking skills And managing your money Honest, straightforward, but also empowering, it will help you unlock your potential and focus on being the best, most employable – and, hopefully, successful – actor you can be. Compiled by the team at Surviving Actors, and drawing on a wide range of other experienced professionals, the Surviving Actors Manual is designed to help you develop and sustain your career and to create your own new opportunities. Felicity Jackson and Lianne Robertson both trained as actors. Together they run Surviving Actors, founded in 2009 to help and encourage other actors in all areas of their professional lives.

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In The Quality of Mercy, one of the world's most revered theatre directors reflects on a fascinating variety of Shakespearean topics. In this sequence of essays, Peter Brook debates such questions as who was the man who wrote Shakespeare's plays, why Shakespeare is never out of date, and how actors should approach Shakespeare's verse. He also revisits some of the plays which he has directed with notable brilliance, such as King Lear, Titus Andronicus and, of course, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Taken as a whole, this short but immensely wise book offers an illuminating and provocative insight into a great director's relationship with our greatest playwright. 'An invaluable gift from the greatest Shakespeare director of our time... Brook's genius, modesty, and brilliance shine through on every page' James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare

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Three plays based on George Eliot's classic novel, which can be performed as a trilogy or as standalone pieces. George Eliot's Middlemarch is peopled with some of literature's most memorable characters. In Geoffrey Beevers' dramatisation, all three interconnected plays can be performed as a trilogy, but each play can also stand on its own, telling the story of Middlemarch from the perspective of a different set of characters: from county, town and countryside. In Dorothea's Story, set among the big houses of the local aristocracy of Middlemarch, young, intelligent Dorothea is so enamoured of the pedantic Reverend Casaubon that she marries him, much to everyone's disbelief. But her friendship with Casaubon's young cousin Will Ladislaw arouses suspicions in her new husband, who will do anything to thwart their mutual affection. In The Doctor's Story, set in the town of Middlemarch itself, where everyone wants to know each other's business, idealistic Dr Lydgate arrives in Middlemarch determined to achieve great things. He catches the eye of the Mayor's beautiful, self-centred daughter Rosamond but is torn between ambition and loyalty as he is drawn into an alliance with a corrupt banker. In the poignant but light-hearted Fred and Mary's Story, set amongst hard-working countryfolk, Fred is trying to please his parents and become a country gentleman, but his childhood sweetheart Mary will have none of it. The Middlemarch Trilogy premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in October 2013.

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The definitive guide to writing music for the stage, by the Composer-in-Residence at the Donmar Warehouse. Music has played a vital part in drama since the earliest days of theatre. For composers, writing music for the stage is an opportunity to exercise their utmost creativity and versatility: a good musical score will both support and enhance the play it serves, and can lift a prosaic moment into something quite extraordinary. In this book, Michael Bruce takes you through the entire process – from initial preparation, through composition, rehearsals and recording, and finally to performance. He covers everything a composer needs to know, including: • Getting started – spotting when and how music might be used in a play, doing research, considering form and content • Building a 'sound world' – finding and using source music, creating incidental music, choosing the best instrumentation, scoring, utilising technology, writing music to accompany song lyrics • Working on the production – understanding the composer's role in rehearsals, collaborating with key creatives, employing actor-musicians, getting the show on • Recording – knowing when to record, booking and working with musicians – and the studio engineer, running a recording session Throughout the book, the author draws on his own experience of creating music for a wide variety of plays at the Donmar Warehouse, the National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway, including detailed case studies of his work on The Recruiting Officer, Coriolanus, Privacy, The Winslow Boy, Noises Off and Strange Interlude. The book is accompanied by online excerpts from his scores. An essential companion for all composers – amateur, student or professional – Writing Music for the Stage is also invaluable reading for other theatre professionals, including directors, playwrights, producers, actors, designers and sound designers – in fact, for anyone seeking to understand how music helps to create worlds and tell stories on stage. 'This fascinating book – like its author (with whom I've had the good fortune to work on three productions) – is bursting with practical advice, good sense and invention. A must-read for all those with an interest in how music works on stage.' Mark Gatiss 'A good score makes a world of difference to an actor. Read Michael Bruce's book and you'll understand why. He is a genius.' Judi Dench 'Michael's music is wonderful: inclusive, original, respectful and – in its rightness – sheer joy.' Josie Rourke, from her Foreword

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A thrilling, fast-paced adaptation of the classic novel, considered by Dickens 'the best story I have ever written'. An epic story of love, sacrifice and redemption, interweaving one family's intensely personal drama with the terror and chaos of the French Revolution. This version of A Tale of Two Cities premiered at Royal & Derngate, Northampton, in February 2014, featuring a large community ensemble alongside the main cast. Mike Poulton's adaptation is ideal for any amateur theatre companies, schools or youth theatres looking to stage a bold and dramatic version of Dickens' classic.

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A dark and visceral coming-of-age vampire love story, based on the acclaimed novel and film. Oskar is a bullied, lonely, teenage boy living with his mother on a housing estate at the edge of town, when a spate of sinister killings rocks the neighbourhood. Eli is the young girl who has just moved in next door. She doesn't go to school and never leaves the flat by day. Sensing in each other a kindred spirit, the two become devoted friends. What Oskar doesn't know is that Eli has been a teenager for a very long time… Jack Thorne's adaptation of Let The Right One In, based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, premiered in June 2013 at the Dundee Rep Theatre in a production by the National Theatre of Scotland, before transferring to London's Royal Court Theatre in November 2013. It won the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Theatre in 2014.

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An uplifting story of the triumph of love, inspiration and hope against all odds, laced with the song and dance of austere 1940s Britain. Ricky Braithwaite, an ex-RAF fighter pilot and Cambridge graduate, arrives in London in 1948. Despite his First Class degree in electronic engineering he is turned down for job after job in his chosen profession and discovers the reality of life as a black man in post-war England. Taking the only job he can get, Ricky begins his first teaching post, in a tough but progressive East End school. Supported by an enlightened headmaster, the determined teacher turns teenage rebelliousness into self-respect, contempt into consideration and hate into love, and on the way, Ricky himself learns that he has more in common with his students than he had realised. Ayub Khan Din's play To Sir, With Love is based on E.R. Braithwaite's 1959 autobiographical novel of the same name. The play was first performed at Royal & Derngate, Northampton, in September 2013, and subsequently toured the UK.

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A play confronting the challenges we face in a foreign land, asking where, or to whom, we belong. Dubai seems to offer British twenty-somethings Greg and Holly everything they could want: tax-free income, a brand-new apartment and an exotic landscape waiting to be explored. But surviving on the edge of a desert, in a society they don't understand, proves more difficult than they could have imagined. They soon start to question why it is they came, and whether they'll ever get home. Alexandra Wood's play The Empty Quarter was first staged at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, London, in September 2013.

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'From that very first minute I sin 'im - strung up by his feet and howling - oh I certainly knew we had business all right.' A haunting play about loss and grief, set in the mists of Suffolk. Fishskin Trousers weaves together the haunting tales of three lost people from different eras, united by the common setting of the fishing village of Orford in Suffolk, its castle and its mysterious island, Orford Ness. From the twelfth century, Mab gives an eyewitness account of the legendary Wild Man of Orford, caught in the nets of fishermen... Eight hundred years later, at the height of the Cold War, Ben, a young Australian scientist, hears strange noises on the Ness as he tries to fix the island's radar system. While Mog, in 2003, is faced with a heartbreaking decision...

 Suffused by the landscape and traditional folk tales of East Anglia, their echoing voices and stories reveal how deeply and intimately their lives touch each other, though decades – and even centuries – separate them. Elizabeth Kuti's Fishskin Trousers premiered at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 2013, and was revived at Park Theatre, London, in October 2017. This volume also contains the short plays Enter A Gentleman and Time Spent on Trains.

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The definitive guide to designing for theatre – by an award-winning designer with over 160 productions to his name. With a Foreword by Alison Chitty. A theatre designer needs to be able to draw on a wide spectrum of skills, work collaboratively with all the different members of the production team, and deliver designs that work in the testing conditions of performance. This book guides you through everything you need in order to become – and ultimately to succeed as – a theatre designer, including: The various aspects of design – set and props, costume, masks, make-up The applications of design – opera, dance, site-specific, lighting, video and more The skills you require, and the training available The journey of a design from page to stage, from your first reading of the script, through research, first sketches, storyboards, technical and costume drawings, and on to the model The people you will collaborate with – directors, producers, actors, writers and more – and how to work effectively with each of them Finally, there are sections on landing your first production and furthering your career. Also included is a production timeline to guide you through the mechanics of contracts, copyright, costings, and what you need to have ready at each stage of the process. It is illustrated throughout with designs, by the author and other leading designers. Written by an experienced practitioner and teacher, this book will be an essential guide for any aspiring or emerging theatre designer, as well as anyone seeking a greater understanding of how designers work. 'A comprehensive introduction and guide to the world of the professional theatre designer, a key book for anyone contemplating entering the profession' Alison Chitty, from her Foreword

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An urgent and explosive play that explores of the pressures on young people today in the wake of advancing technology. When a naked photograph of Scarlett goes viral, she becomes the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons. But while rumours run wild and everyone forms an opinion, Scarlett just stays silent... With roles for up to twenty-four young female actors (though it can also be performed by a smaller cast), the play is perfect for any schools, youth theatres or drama groups looking to tackle a contemporary subject in a theatrically exciting way. Specially commissioned by Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth and West Yorkshire Playhouse, Evan Placey's play Girls Like That was developed through work with young people from the three theatres and first performed by their youth theatre companies in 2013. It was revived at the Unicorn Theatre, London, in November 2014. Girls Like That was named Best Play for Young Audiences at the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards 2015.

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Drawing on his lifetime career in front of the camera (and sometimes behind it), Denis Lawson offers a wonderfully accessible introduction to acting for film and TV. For the young actor hoping to break into the industry – whether in a drama series, soap or sitcom – this book is the ultimate insider’s guide. In The Actor and the Camera, Denis Lawson takes us on a guided tour of the film or TV set from day one. We meet the various members of the crew, from the director of photography to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd ADs, and learn what each of them does – and how to get the most from them in your work as an actor. Then comes the actual business of shooting the scenes, beginning with readthroughs and rehearsals (if there are any), on to hitting your mark and getting your eye-line right, finishing with the actor’s involvement in post-production. Throughout, Lawson takes the actor’s point of view, offering encouragement and enlightenment, as well as being refreshingly candid about some of the more inane procedures. Above all, he offers a magnificent array of tips and inside knowledge for coping with what can be a daunting experience for a hopeful young actor. ‘Denis is a great actor and he’s always been my inspiration, since I was a child… He’s the only person really in the world who I discuss acting with if I feel that I’m stuck. I love watching him still.’ Ewan McGregor

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Michael Pennington's solo show about Shakespeare, Sweet William, has been acclaimed throughout Europe and in the US as a unique blend of showmanship and scholarship. In this book, he deepens his exploration of Shakespeare's life and work - and the connection between the two - that lies at its heart. It is illuminated throughout by the unrivalled insights into the plays that Pennington has gained from the twenty thousand hours he has spent working on them as a leading actor, an artistic director and a director - and as the author of three previous books on individual Shakespeare plays. With practical analysis, wonderfully detailed and entertaining interpretations of characters and scenes, and vivid reflections on Shakespeare's theatre and ours, the result is a masterclass of the most enjoyable kind for theatregoers, professionals, students and anyone interested in Shakespeare. This book was published in hardback as Sweet William: Twenty Thousand Hours With Shakespeare. 'A brilliant and intimate insider's guide to Shakespeare from one of our greatest classical actors' Gregory Doran 'Michael Pennington is a great Shakespearian actor who writes with the authority of an academic. His book analyses the plays, the characters and the playwright's life. It will intrigue, entertain and challenge students, actors and their audiences' Ian McKellen 'Rich and informative, and something that will be mined for many years to come by anyone interested in Shakespeare and in British theatre' Professor James Shapiro 'Shakespeare comes wonderfully to life in Michael's beautifully written book' Rupert Everett 'Irresistibly readable' Peter Brook

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A 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.

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Six generations, twenty-three characters one very special piece of furniture. Tanya Ronder's thrilling play is an epic tale of belonging, identity and the things we pass on. Table was the first play to be staged in The Shed, a temporary venue at the National Theatre, London, to celebrate original, ambitious and unexpected theatre. It premiered in April 2013 in a production directed by Rufus Norris.

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Stage fright has the power to drive actors away from the stage for months, years, and even a lifetime. It is a monster that can affect any actor at any time – but it is also a challenge that can be met. In Facing the Fear – the first book of its kind written specifically for actors – performer, author and teacher Bella Merlin draws on her own and other actors' personal experiences to examine: The internal and external roots of stage fright, and how it manifests itself both psychologically and physiologically The complex relationship between the actor and the audience, and how it contributes to stage fright The cognitive processes of learning, storing and retrieving lines, and practical strategies to help The essential principles for building a healthy, fear-free rehearsal environment The techniques that actors can employ to develop their own practices, from tips on physical wellbeing to performance strategies Insightful, empowering and always reassuring, Facing the Fear is a book for any actor: for those who are experiencing or have previously suffered from stage fright, as well as for those who want to be fully prepared in case that day ever comes. It provides all the tools actors need to understand, confront and ultimately overcome stage fright and its effects, thereby regaining control over their lives and careers. (And it might just save a fortune in psychotherapist’s fees!) It's also valuable reading for any teacher, director or stage manager working closely with actors, and a fascinating insight for anyone interested in what actors go through. 'An utterly engrossing book about confronting one of the most fundamental aspects of being an actor – fear.' Antony Sher

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An absorbing study of attitudes towards outsiders, spanning two continents and sixty years. 1949. Small town Colorado. A group of regular American students struggle to accept a foreigner in their midst; their unthinking behaviour will have terrible consequences that are to change world history. In London, sixty years later, a university professor’s work analysing those consequences takes on a frightening personal dimension when Layla Ahmad walks into his office... Steve Waters' play Ignorance/Jahiliyyah was first performed at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 2012.

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A sharp comedy about power games and privacy in the media and beyond. Carrie's getting them out for the lads, Charlotte's just grateful to have a job, Sam's being asked to sell more than his body, and Aidan's trying to keep his magazine from going under. Set in the cut-throat media world, Lucy Kirkwood's comedy exposes power games and privacy in the age of Photoshop. [NSFW = Not Safe For Work, online material which the viewer may not want to be seen accessing in a public or formal setting such as at work.] Lucy Kirkwood's play NSFW was premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2012.

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‘She has, to my knowledge, an almost unblemished record in never having failed to spot a great new play…’ Philip Howard, from his Foreword Joyce McMillan has been writing about theatre in Scotland for more than three decades. As drama critic successively for The Guardian, Scotland on Sunday and The Scotsman, she has reviewed thousands of plays. During that time she has borne witness to an extraordinary cultural and political renaissance in Scotland, reflected in the newfound confidence of its playwrights, in the vibrancy of its theatre culture and in its recent outburst of new theatre companies. Compiled by McMillan and the theatre director, Philip Howard, Theatre in Scotland is a panoramic history of modern Scottish theatre, reported from the frontline. It traces the remarkable journey of Scottish theatre towards its new self-confidence: the road to 1990, when Glasgow was European Capital of Culture; followed by the explosive expansion of the 1990s; culminating in the emergence of the National Theatre of Scotland and its drive to bring theatre culture right into the heart of the nation. Gathered here are the leading Scottish playwrights, from John Byrne to Liz Lochhead, from David Greig to David Harrower, as well as the full breadth of English playwrights, from Shakespeare to Pinter. There are reflections on the great Scottish plays, classic – Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis, Men Should Weep – and modern – Black Watch, The James Plays. There are reports not only from the urban theatre centres of Edinburgh and Glasgow but from all over Scotland; and from the feast that is the Edinburgh Festival, to the nourishing A Play, A Pie and A Pint. A leading thinker and writer about Scotland, McMillan has an incomparable ability to detect the wider cultural resonances in Scottish theatre, and to reveal what it can tell us about Scotland as a whole. Her book serves as a portrait of a nation and a shared cultural life, where visions of ‘what we have been, what we are, and what we might become’ are played out in sharp focus on its stages. ‘When Scottish theatre works [its] magic over the coming years, I will be there, to try to catch the moment in print, and to tell it as it was. And believe me, on the good nights and the bad ones, the privilege will be mine: to be paid to go looking for joy, and occasionally to find it.’ Joyce McMillan 'Joyce has an unrivalled passion and hunger for theatre - to be surprised by it, challenged by it, moved by it. Her prose when describing something which has done just this is inspiring and affecting.' Vicky Featherstone

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The author's guide to Kindertransport, an invaluable and uniquely authoritative resource for anyone studying, teaching or performing the play. Since it was first staged by the Soho Theatre Company in London in 1993, Diane Samuels’ Kindertransport has enjoyed huge success around the world, has been revived numerous times, and is widely studied in schools and colleges. The play tells the story of how nine-year-old Eva, a German Jewish girl, is sent by her parents on the Kindertransport to start a new life with a foster family in Britain just before the outbreak of World War Two. Over forty years later, she has changed her name to Evelyn and denied her roots. When her own daughter discovers some old letters and photos in the attic, she is forced to confront the truth about who she really is and to reveal a dark secret that she has done everything to keep hidden. In this author’s guide to the play, Diane Samuels investigates the historical background, drawing on the personal testimony of those whose lives were transformed by the Kindertransport. She explores the creative process that shaped the play through successive drafts. And she presents detailed accounts from the actors, directors, a composer and designer who have contributed to the play’s most notable productions.

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A practical investigation into story-theatre and the art of telling stories through theatre, by the renowned director who founded Shared Experience Theatre Company. In Then What Happens?, Mike Alfreds makes the case for putting story and storytelling back at the heart of theatre. He explores the whole process of adapting for the stage, and investigates the particular techniques - many of them highly sophisticated - that actors require when performing 'story-theatre'. The book includes over two hundred exercises, improvisations and workshops dealing with the practical aspects of story-theatre, such as building an ensemble, creating a physical vocabulary, and transforming written narrative into drama. It draws on examples ranging from traditional legends and folklore, through the works of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Evelyn Waugh, to contemporary fiction. Alfreds shows how each story demands its own particular set of dramatic choices, opening up endless possibilities for performance. Then What Happens? - like the author's tremendously successful first book, Different Every Night - will be invaluable to directors and actors, to dramatists working in the field of adaptation, to those devising and working from improvisation, and to any theatregoer who has been moved by the power of an unfolding story to ask: 'Then what happens?' ‘All theatre directors know that good narrative is the secret of good theatre, but few have as distinctive, rigorous and exceptional a method of exploring that secret as does Mike Alfreds. His system of working, and his thoughts on the making of theatre in our time, are as crucial and illuminating as those of Stanislavsky and Peter Brook have been to generations of theatre enthusiasts and practitioners.’ Michael Coveney

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A wildly imaginative, hilariously provocative and deeply moving play from one of Scotland's most important playwrights. The philosopher David Hume and the father of modern economics, Adam Smith, wake up in Edinburgh in the early twenty-first century. To their bewilderment, joy and horror, it is a world where all the knowledge they ever dreamt of is at everyone's fingertips and the utopia of a free-market economy is a reality. But at what cost to the planet and to humanity? With their fellow traveller, Eve, a Scottish everywoman, Hume and Smith embark on an extraordinary journey of enlightenment - from the concrete New Towns of Scotland's central belt, to Silicon Glen, ecstasy and the gay clubs of Edinburgh. Jo Clifford's play The Tree of Knowledge was first performed at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 2011.

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Ibsen's political comedy in a crisp and satirical version by Andy Barrett. Bratsberg is a man of tradition. He thinks manners, knowledge and education are the foundations of a good society, but are his values dated? Monsen is an entrepreneur who believes success comes from hard work, but can he be trusted? Stensgard is a radical. He can see that change is beckoning and that he should be the man to drive progress forward. But when real power becomes a possibility how will he respond? A play about political ambition and opportunism, the conflicts of class, the difficulties of breaking open long established systems, and the ways in which political expediency can lay waste to idealism. Written as a response to political change in Norway, The League of Youth was Henrik Ibsen's first truly successful play, and is a clear precursor to The Pillars of Society, A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People. Its vivid characters are instantly recognisable as the prototypes for many of his greatest creations. This English version by Andy Barrett was first staged at Nottingham Playhouse in 2011.

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A moving story of love and loyalty, courage and fear, based on Terence Rattigan's own experiences as a tail gunner in the Second World War. 1942. The Falcon Hotel, on the Lincolnshire coast. RAF bomber pilot Teddy is celebrating a reunion with his actress wife Patricia. When Peter, Patricia's ex-lover and Hollywood heart-throb, arrives and an urgent bombing mission over Germany is ordered, Patricia finds herself at the centre of an emotional conflict as unpredictable as the war in the skies. Terence Rattigan's play Flare Path was first produced at the Apollo Theatre, London, in August 1942. It was revived as part of the Rattigan Centenary celebrations at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, in March 2011. This edition contains an authoritative introduction by Rattigan scholar Dan Rebellato.

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A truthful, personal and insightful exploration of the state of arts funding and carrying on in the face of adversity, by the renowned founder of Out of Joint. One March morning, out of the blue, Max Stafford-Clark learned that the Arts Council had drastically cut their grant to his theatre company, Out of Joint, leaving it in danger of imminent collapse. Journal of the Plague Year is his account of what happened next, as he sets out to contest the cut, make the case for public funding of the arts, and continue producing the work for which he and his company are renowned. Max's journal often takes on an autobiographical flavour, including the unexpectedly moving story of his two fathers, his surreal encounter with the New York theatre world, and the shocking details of what it is to suffer a massively debilitating stroke. By turns funny, alarming and deeply personal, Journal of the Plague Year offers a fascinating exposé of the often Kafkaesque workings of arts subsidy in England, and the financial and artistic manoeuvrings which are a fact of life for every arts organisation today. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the state of our arts, from students to theatregoers, and from struggling arts workers right up to the Secretary of State for Culture.

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A tense and gripping drama, loaded with dark humour, about the price we pay for material possessions and the effect it has on those we love. Eddie Carver is a self-made businessman. In stark contrast with his humble beginnings he now boasts a millionaire lifestyle: designer clothes, flashy cars, exotic holidays and exclusive country pursuits. Installed in their luxury home behind high walls and electric fences, his wife Pam and daughter Ruby want for nothing, and expect the best. But one evening Eddie's behaviour becomes distinctly erratic. Have some dodgy business dealings come back to haunt him? Or is the real threat to the family's idyllic life already inside the perimeter? Fiona Evans's play The Price of Everything was first staged at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in November 2010.

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Fifty years after Yuri Gagarin's first orbit around the Earth, Little Eagles tells the fascinating and little-known story of Sergei Korolyov, chief designer and unsung hero of the Soviet space programme. Under Korolyov's leadership the 'little eagles' of the USSR beat the Americans in the early stages of the space race, achieving a series of firsts, including the first human in space. Rona Munro's gripping play illuminates the life and work of a brilliant engineer who struggled to meet the military demands of his ruthless political masters, whilst devoting as much time as possible to his real passion, exploring outer space. Little Eagles was first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 2011.

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Packed with insights from a lifetime of directing theatre, Words into Action is a fascinating read and a vital masterclass for actors and directors. Renowned theatre director William Gaskill was one of the founders of the Royal Court, whose ethos, as Christopher Hampton says in his Foreword, 'this book goes a long way towards defining'. Gaskill's acclaimed work as a director always began with the words of the playwright, and here, starting with a chapter on 'Trusting the Writer', he takes the actor through the vital steps needed to find the life of the play and then to articulate it on stage. Drawing instances from his own work in the theatre and from teaching at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he looks at action and intention, stillness and movement, sentences and rhetoric, punctuation and pauses. He pays detailed attention to staging Shakespeare's plays, and there are also chapters on masks, on language as character, and on verse and prose. Gaskill was, says Maggie Smith, ‘the best teacher in the world.'

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Betrayed by a husband she sacrificed everything for, Medea unleashes a horrific vengeance on her enemies, by murdering her own children. Featuring one of the most powerful female roles in the history of drama, Euripides' tragedy Medea is reworked by poet Tom Paulin into lithe and sinewy modern English that conveys the shocking story - and our conflicted loyalties as spectators to the tragedy - more strongly than ever. This version of Medea was first staged by Northern Broadsides on a UK tour in 2010.

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A funny, painful and deeply moving play about loss - and cooking. Lucy has lost something very important. One minute Jo's there, the next he isn't, leaving Lucy with a pile of half-cooked food and a collection of invited (and uninvited) guests. As Lucy acclimatises to her new situation, she is absorbed, along with her visitors, into an intimate and sensory experience. Pamela Carter's play What We Know was first performed at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 2010. This edition includes recipes by Rosie Sykes that can be used in a production of the play.

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A collection of five extraordinary plays exploring and reflecting contemporary life across the Near East and North Africa. In Withdrawal by Mohammad Al Attar (Syria), Ahmad and Nour rent a flat so that they can spend time together away from their families, but is having a space to themselves going to solve all their problems? In 603 by Imad Farajin (Palestine), four Palestinian men share a cramped prison cell listening to the buses come and go outside. Will the next bus be the one to take them home? In Damage by Kamal Khalladi (Morocco), three weeks after Youssef and Sana’a’s wedding, Youssef accepts a military peacekeeping expedition in the Congo. Will either of them be the same people when he returns? In The House by Arzé Khodr (Lebanon), Nadia wants to remain in the house she grew up in. For her sister, Reem, it is filled with painful memories. Are their differences over the future of the house irreconcilable? In Egyptian Products by Laila Soliman (Egypt), Hadia is an independent woman in Cairo. Gasir is a painfully awkward lab assistant with attachment issues over his dead mother. Is he really her knight in shining armour? In 2007 the Royal Court Theatre’s International Department and the British Council embarked on an ambitious project working with twenty-one writers from across the Near East and North Africa. Seven of the resultant plays received rehearsed readings at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2008. This volume, introduced by Laila Hourani of the British Council, collects five of these unique new voices, each posing different but equally urgent questions.

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A unique collection of everything that Chekhov wrote about the theatre. Chekhov started writing about theatre in newspaper articles and in his own letters even before he began writing plays. Later, he wrote in detail about his own plays to his lifelong friend and mentor Alexei Suvorin, his wife and leading actress, Olga Knipper, and to the two directors of the Moscow Art Theatre, Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko. Collected for this volume, these writings reveal Chekhov's instinctive curiosity about the way theatre works – and his concerns about how best to realise his own intentions as a playwright. Often peppery, passionate, even distraught, as he feels his plays misinterpreted or undermined, Chekhov comes over in these pages as a true man of the theatre.

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An essential handbook for anyone who wants to act on television and film – by a leading teacher of screen acting. For any aspiring screen actor, the challenge is to combine all the components of your craft with an ability to handle the technical demands of acting for the camera within the often bewildering environment of a film set. Michael Bray takes you step by step through all the challenges you'll face, demystifying the processes you'll encounter, and helping you develop the necessary skills, including: How to approach the script and prepare your character How to maintain your concentration and learn to relax on set How to deliver your lines and improve your vocal range How to master continuity, eye lines, and hitting your marks How to tackle auditions to ensure your best chance of getting the job Full of invaluable advice, extracts from screenplays, numerous illustrations and practical exercises – which can be undertaken on your own, using the camera on your phone – this book is an accessible and authoritative guide to developing a successful career as a screen actor.

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