Search results for ""author david edgar""

An epic, panoramic play about how the political fault-line has been redrawn. Premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company and Headlong in October 2024.

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In How Plays Work, distinguished playwright David Edgar examines the mechanisms and techniques which dramatists throughout the ages have employed to structure their plays and to express their meaning. Written for playwrights and playgoers alike, Edgar's analysis starts with the building blocks of whole plays – plot, character-creation, genre and structure – and moves on to scenes and devices. He shows how plays share a common architecture without which the uniqueness of their authors' vision would be invisible. How Plays Work is both a masterclass for playwrights and playmakers and a fascinating guide to the anatomy of drama. In this revised edition, Edgar brings the book right up to date with analyses of many recent plays, as well as explorations of emerging genres and new innovations in playwriting practice. 'A brilliantly illuminating, bang-up-to-date, unmissable read' April De Angelis 'A book of real theoretical heft written by a major working playwright' Steve Waters 'An essential accompaniment for anyone fascinated by the craft of dramatic storytelling' John Yorke 'Every theatremaker should read this book' Pippa Hill, Literary Manager, Royal Shakespeare Company 'Even if you've read the book before, it demands to be reread' Simon Callow 'Combines theoretical acumen with the assured know-how of a working dramatist' Terry Eagleton, Times Literary Supplement

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An epic and provocative play about multi-racial Britain, from the UK's leading political playwright. When the District Council of Wyverdale fails to satisfy a government audit, New Labour high-flyer Alex Clifton is despatched from the capital to formulate a robust recovery plan. But racial tensions soar and good intentions have fatal consequences, as what begins as a comedy of misunderstanding soon becomes a chilling drama about multicultural Britain. David Edgar's play Playing With Fire was first staged at the National Theatre, London, in 2005. This edition includes an Afterword by the author.

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A timely, provocative and witty look at the campaign to redefine Britishness for a multicultural society. Who is head of the Church of England? How many members are there in the Welsh Assembly? What is the main function of the Council of Europe? Emma is a dedicated ESOL teacher (English for Speakers of Other Languages), teaching British citizenship to people from Somalia, Serbia, the Congo, India and Egypt. At the same time, Tetyana, Mahmood and Chong have their own, very different reasons for wanting to pass the citizenship test. As the Home Office worries away at the questions in the test, Emma faces a challenge to her deepest-held beliefs. David Edgar's play Testing the Echo was first staged by Out of Joint on a UK tour in 2008.

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A collection of shorter plays from stage and television by one of the UK's foremost political playwrights. Included are: Blood Sports, five hilarious sketches on sporting subjects Ball Boys, an unlikely match between Marx and tennis Baby Love, a powerful and moving account of a baby-snatcher The National Theatre, 'Three Sisters' in a strip club The Midas Connection, an ironic look at gold dealing Especially suitable for performances by groups with limited time and/or resources, all the pieces engage – however wryly – with important issues. The whole collection sheds fascinating new light on Edgar the dramatist.

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Based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic horror story, this dramatic adaptation shows the transformation of the mild-mannered Dr Jekyll into the fiendish Mr Hyde. When Jekyll discovers a drug that can transform him, he becomes able to unleash the dark side of his nature onto the streets of Victorian London. But he soon discovers the price of his double life. What are the themes? The struggle between good and evil, the conscious and unconscious, family relationships,Victorian society and morality. Teaching points With one actor taking the roles of both Jekyll and Hyde, the play allows pupils to more easily understand that these characters are ‘one’ person. The play is suitable for use either at Key Stage 3, or to support the study of the novel at Key Stage 4.

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1968. A time of political upheaval the likes of which has not been seen since. Until - perhaps - now. In a new age of radical leftism and global politics, this new version of David Edgar's 1983 award-winning hit play, Maydays, has startling parallels to the political revolution of the Millennial Generation. It's 1968. David is 20. It is the height of the worldwide student revolt. The Vietnam war rages. Enoch Powell delivers his 'Rivers of Blood' speech. Martin Luther King is assassinated. These events will define David's politics and give focus to his writing. It's 50 years on. The 70-year-old is confronted by the 20-year old. Do they share the same beliefs? If not, is it the world that's changed, or him? Trying It On is a new play, written and perfromed by David Edgar. It premieres at the RSC in October 2018.

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The third in David Edgar's post-Cold War trilogy, which also includes Pentecost and The Shape of the Table. An urgently topical account of a bloody conflict on Europe's Eastern borders. Beginning in early 1989 and spanning some twelve years, the play follows a team of peace negotiators attempting to resolve an ethnic conflict occurring within a fictional former Soviet republic. The Prisoner's Dilemma was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, in July 2001, transferring to the Pit Theatre, Barbican, London, in January 2002.

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A compelling new drama that imagines a confrontation between two giants of stage and screen, Elia Kazan and Arthur Miller. Premiering at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in September 2024.

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A superb adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's famous story of the unassuming Dr Jekyll and his dark alter-ego Mr Hyde. During one of his audacious experiments trying to separate good from evil in human nature, the kind and gifted Dr Jekyll inadvertently unleashes an alternative personality of pure evil … the mysterious Mr Hyde. As this sinister figure starts causing terror and havoc in foggy London, Jekyll must race to find a cure for his monstrous alter-ego before it takes over for good. This version by David Edgar, first performed at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1996, is a revised and partially re-written version of the adaptation premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Theatre, London, in 1991.

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A valuable fresco is discovered in a church in war-torn Eastern Europe. As international and local art historians argue over who should claim ownership, the fate of the painting becomes a metaphor for the future of the emergent nations of Eastern Europe. David Edgar's play Pentecost was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, in October 1994. The production transferred to the Young Vic, London, with performances from 31 May 1995. It went on to win the 1995 Evening Standard Award for Best Play. Pentecost is part of David Edgar's trilogy of plays about post-Communist Eastern Europe, which also includes The Prisoner's Dilemma and The Shape of the Table.

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With Plays Unpleasant, Shaw issued a radical challenge to his audiences' complacency and exposed social evils through his dramatization of the moral conflicts between youthful idealism and economic reality, promiscuity and marriage, and the duties of women to others and to themselves. His first play, Widowers' Houses, depicts Harry Trench's dilemma on learning that the inheritance of his fiancée comes from her father's income as a slum landlord. In The Philanderer, charismatic Leonard Charteris proposes marriage to Grace, while he is still involved with the beautiful Julia Craven - who is not inclined to give him up so easily. And in Mrs Warren's Profession, Vivie Warren is forced to reconsider her own future when she discovers that her mother's immoral earnings funded her genteel upbringing.

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