Search results for ""nick hern books""

Dorian Gray – handsome, hedonistic, narcissistic – sells his soul for eternal beauty. Basil and Henry join him for the ride until it all goes too far, and the hangovers become murderous... Oscar Wilde's only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was a succès de scandale on its publication in 1891, accused of violating the laws of public morality. It immediately captured the minds of its readers, the spirit of the age, and the soul of a man with nothing to declare but his genius. This thrilling stage adaptation by Phoebe Eclair-Powell and Owen Horsley follows one man's descent from glorious debauchery to epic self-destruction, intertwined with Wilde's own life story, his tragic persecution, and ultimate imprisonment in Reading Gaol.

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A time to learn. A time to rebel. A time to love. A time to burn. A group of teenagers – silenced and controlled by a censorious society – discovers a new world of feeling and freedom, with beautiful and devastating consequences. Inspired by German playwright Frank Wedekind's once-banned and groundbreaking play from 1891, Spring Awakening tells a story of adolescent anarchy, set to one of the best-loved musical scores of the twenty-first century. Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's musical opened in New York City in 2006, and London in 2009, and won eight Tony Awards and four Olivier Awards, including both prizes for Best New Musical. This new edition of the complete book and lyrics – the first to be published in the UK – features four pages of colour photographs and exclusive bonus material by writers Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, and members of the original Broadway and West End casts: Aneurin Barnard, Jonathan Groff, Evelyn Hoskins, Lea Michele and Iwan Rheon. It was published alongside the first London revival at the Almeida Theatre in 2021, directed by Rupert Goold, which won the 2022 Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical.

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'Love's irrelevant – we're talking about marriage.' This unique take on Jane Austen's beloved novel is an adaptation like no other, drawing on over two hundred years of romantic pop history, and featuring five young women with a story to tell. You might have seen them before, emptying the chamber pots and sweeping ash from the grate; the overlooked and the undervalued making sure those above stairs find their happy ending. Of course, these women have always been running the show – after all, 'You can't have a whirlwind romance without clean bedding' – but now the servants are also playing every part. Let the ruthless match-making begin! Isobel McArthur's acclaimed Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) was first produced in 2018 by theatre company Blood of the Young at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, before a UK tour the following year, produced by the two companies and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh. It transferred to the Criterion Theatre in London's West End in October 2021, and won Best Entertainment or Comedy Play at the 2022 Olivier Awards, with its author winning the Emerging Talent Award at the 2022 Evening Standard Theatre Awards. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an amateur company in want of an irreverent all-female adaptation of a literary classic to perform, need look no further.

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Larry Kramer's passionate, polemical drama, set during the early days of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. The Normal Heart traces the story of one man who, while his friends are dying around him, strives to break through a conspiracy of silence, indifference and hostility from public officials and the gay community, and gain recognition for a virus that threatens to change everything. The play received its British premiere at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1986. Thirty-five years after that premiere, the play's prescience and its searing emotional power are beyond doubt. It was revived on Broadway in 2011 (winning the Tony Award for Best Revival) and adapted for television in 2014 (receiving the Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie). This new edition of the play is published alongside a major revival at the National Theatre, London, in 2021, directed by Dominic Cooke. It features the definitive text of the play, extensive supplementary material including a new introduction by critic and broadcaster David Benedict, and tributes to Larry Kramer by Russell T Davies, Tony Kushner and Matthew López, all of whom have also contributed to the canon of dramatic work about HIV/AIDS – with, respectively, It's A Sin, Angels in America and The Inheritance.

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'Lucy Kerbel's work has become increasingly pivotal in helping the entire industry raise its game... this illuminating book answers the cynic, informs the impartial, converts the supporter into an activist and equips them all; not in a rallying cry of anger-fuelled idealism, but in a calm, pragmatic and clear-eyed way.' Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre, from his Foreword Theatre needs to change. Everywhere – in its boardrooms, on its stages, throughout its repertoires – it could be so much more successful at reflecting the gender balance of the world it seeks to represent. This is a book about why change matters, its benefits – artistic, commercial, ethical and social – and how, with everyone's help, we can actually achieve it. From small shifts, such as how you run your meetings, or what's on the shelves of your school library, to rethinking concepts as huge as the art we inherit, how we attribute excellence, and the constraints we unwittingly pass on to the next generation, there are things we can all do to bring about change. In this book, you'll find provocations to help you consider your current practices and their effects, challenge unconscious biases and identify opportunities for change, plus strategies and tools to help you decide where best to focus your efforts, to convince others why change matters, and to achieve meaningful, lasting success. Eye-opening, empowering and inspiring, All Change Please is a book for anyone who loves theatre. Whether you make it, teach it, watch it or study it, everyone has their own unique part to play in helping refresh, reshape and re-imagine the industry as truly diverse, equal and inclusive. 'We are the industry. If things will shift it is down to us, all of us, to make that happen. We all need to reflect on how we work, how we think, and how we make choices. That's what will drive the greatest change.' Since 2011, Lucy Kerbel and her organisation Tonic Theatre have been working with companies and individuals across the theatre industry to support them in achieving greater gender equality in their work and workforces. Her first book, 100 Great Plays for Women, is also published by Nick Hern Books.

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Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price A delightfully lewd city comedy written in 1613 by the co-author of The Changeling. Thomas Middleton's A Chaste Maid in Cheapside is an intricately plotted play about unscrupulous people in search of wealth, marriage, or sex - and sometimes all three. Unpublished until 1630 and long-neglected afterwards, it is now considered among the best and most characteristic Jacobean comedies. This edition of the play in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series is edited and introduced by Emma French.

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Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price A masterpiece by one of the greatest writers of the Spanish Golden Age. When the people of the town of Fuente Ovejuna revolt against their tyrannical overlord and murder him, the authorities attempt to find out who is responsible, leading to one of the most memorable acts of resistance in world drama. First published in Madrid in 1619, Lope de Vega's play Fuente Ovejuna is believed to have been written between 1612 and 1614. This edition in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series is an English translation by Laurence Boswell.

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Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Henrik Ibsen's mighty epic, by turns fantastic and tragic, based on the Norwegian fairy tale Per Gynt. Ibsen's play, his last to be written in verse, follows the poet and braggart Peer Gynt as, fleeing disgrace, he swaggers and seduces his way from the fjords of Norway to the deserts of Africa and back. Peer Gynt was originally published in 1867, and first performed in Christiania (Oslo) in 1876. This English version, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is translated and introduced by Kenneth McLeish.

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A play about division, destiny and the undimmed potency of memory itself, from the author of the award-winning The Pull of Negative Gravity. East Berlin, 1990. The Wall has just been pulled down. A man arrives at the flat of his grandmother with awkward questions about the past. Meanwhile, a generation later, in Bethlehem the Israeli security barrier is going up... Jonathan Lichtenstein's play Memory was first performed at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in 2006.

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An inspiring new approach to acting from a respected drama teacher - concise, succinct and full of practical exercises. Nick Moseley's Acting and Reacting: Tools for the Modern Actor establishes a new, intensely practical actor-training system incorporating the best of Stanislavsky, David Mamet and Sanford Meisner. Starting with the technique of Transactional Improvisation, it covers topics such as: The World of the Play Inhabiting the Space Learning to Trust Your Body Approaches to Text The result is a punchy and empowering book intended to shake up ideas about acting. Each theory is tested and reinforced with games and exercises that stretch and challenge the student actor at each stage. Acting and Reacting is a must for drama teachers and drama students alike.

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Late-night taxis, teen discos, home nurses, Jewish launderettes, vigilantes, babies, immigrants, seagulls. Citysong is a play, a poem and a chorus of voices showing three generations of a Dublin family on one day. Intimate and sweeping, joyous and ridiculous, it's modern-day Dublin's Under Milk Wood via Metamorphoses (not the book about the cockroach). It's different things at different times, which makes sense seeing as it's about change. Carys D. Coburn's Citysong was winner of the 2017 Verity Bargate Award, and premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in May 2019, before transferring to Soho Theatre, London. The author was named Most Promising New Playwright at the 2020 Off-West End Theatre Awards for Citysong. This edition also contains the plays Boys and Girls, which won the Fishamble Best New Writing Award at the Dublin Fringe and was nominated for the Stewart Parker Trust Award, and Drawing Crosses on a Dusty Windowpane.

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Keep your enemies close, and your wives closer. As their husbands clash over an international crisis, the first ladies of France and America find themselves alone together in a side room. Friends, or enemies? When the stakes are so high, can they trust each other? Can they trust their husbands? Nancy Harris's play Two Ladies premiered at the Bridge Theatre, London, in 2019, directed by Nicholas Hytner, and featuring Zoë Wanamaker and Zrinka Cvitešić.

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‘This lady excelled all others, as well in beauty and favour, as in wit and policy, and was of stomach more like a man than a woman’ Holinshed’s Chronicles, 1577 Hungry for power and angered by their king, the nobles of Henry VI’s court plot and scheme against each other. As Henry wavers and the factions split, Queen Margaret is determined to hold on to power and protect the crown that will one day belong to her son. Using Shakespeare’s orginal lines, alongside new text, Jeanie O’Hare retells the Wars of the Roses through the eyes of the Queen. A captivating exploration of an iconic moment in British history, the play premiered at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, in September 2018, directed by Elizabeth Freestone and featuring Jade Anouka as Margaret of Anjou.

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‘You – miserable, mean, scribbler of a man. You’re quoting from that play you put me in.’ Abandoning theatre, living a life of squalid splendour, August Strindberg practises alchemy. In his hotel room, he attempts to make gold by finding the philosopher’s stone, the secret of creation. As his grasp on reality weakens, his first two wives visit him to bring him to his senses. But their interventions spin out of control. For four years in fin-de-siècle Paris, Europe’s most famous playwright vanished. Most people thought he had gone insane. When he reappeared, his new plays changed theatre forever. Howard Brenton's play The Blinding Light tells the astonishing story of August Strindberg’s ‘Inferno’ period. It premiered at Jermyn Street Theatre, London, in 2017, directed by Tom Littler.

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New York. A film studio. A young woman has an urgent story to tell. But here, people are products, movies are money and sex sells. And the rights to your life can be a dangerous commodity to exploit. Martin Crimp's razor-sharp satire, The Treatment, was first seen at the Royal Court Theatre in 1993. It was revived at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2017, in a production directed by Lyndsey Turner. The Treatment was the joint winner of the 1993 John Whiting Award.

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‘Why do folk not, ever, catch on to themselves?… Ach, gies you another interesting nutter to play.’ Welcome to Paris at the time of Louis XIV. Come backstage and meet the King’s theatre company – a troupe of grandes dames, old hams, ingénues and, of course, their leading man, author of their dramas and cause of all their troubles... thon man Molière. Under constant threat of debtors’ prison, in big bother with church and state and – worst of all – disastrously in love, Molière writes brilliant, scurrilous comedies inspired by a desperate life. But telling the truth is a dangerous business and his latest drama could be the death of him… Liz Lochhead's play Thon Man Molière was first performed at the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in 2016, in a production starring Jimmy Chisholm and Siobhan Redmond. ‘I was so moved by this play, which surprised me, as I had expected a knockabout comedy. Don’t get me wrong, it was funny. But I hadn’t expected the tenderness and emotional complexity. The bond – eternal, exasperated, essential – between Molière and Madeleine is the core of the piece, but all of these characters seem every bit as human and deep and strange and needy as theatre people always are.’ David Greig, Artistic Director of the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh

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'She came out of the sea Crawled out of the mud, quietly Shy and beautiful, brushing off sand and shells' England trembles in the grip of a devastating epidemic. But in a remote coastal village, quiet Derek waits for love and life to really begin. Then Lydia arrives. She burns brightly, beyond Derek’s wildest dreams. And she is hiding something. When Derek discovers her secret, they are both propelled into a strange new world of conflicted desire and dangerous loyalties, where terrifying forces test their courage and humanity. But can love survive the fear inside? Ben Musgrave's play Crushed Shells and Mud premiered at the Southwark Playhouse, London, in October 2015.

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A young entrepreneur sets out on a quest for wealth with priceless ambition and a purse of gold. Bruce Norris's play The Low Road is a startling fable of free-market economics and cut-throat capitalism. It was premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in March 2013.

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A jealous king, an abandoned daughter, a prince hopelessly in love. Shakespeare's timeless tragicomedy of obsession and redemption is reimagined in a new production co-directed by Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh. It was performed as part of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company's Plays at the Garrick Season in 2015, starring Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh. This official tie-in edition features the version of Shakespeare's text performed in the production, plus exclusive additional content including an introduction to the play, interviews with Kenneth Branagh, Rob Ashford, Judi Dench, Michael Pennington and composer Patrick Doyle, and extracts from the original score.

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Written in the early fifties when Rattigan was at the height of his powers, The Deep Blue Sea is a powerful account of lives blighted by love - or the lack of it. Special film tie-in edition published alongside the release of The Deep Blue Sea film (2011), starring Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston.

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A courageous and convincing play that sensitively tackles the important subject of child abuse. Tom works in digital analysis, investigating crimes against children. Faced with watching recordings of the most unforgiveable acts on a daily basis, in a job that barely anyone else can endure, he struggles to retain his humanity. Meeting Emily might just mean that his life has changed for the better, but when your entire working day is spent watching horrific crimes, how do you find room for love? Luke Owen's play Unscorched was the winner of the 2013 Papatango New Writing Competition in partnership with the Finborough Theatre, London, where it premiered in October 2013.

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A tender and funny tale about our secret selves, No Romance is a play about our search for connection in a fractured world. It received the Stewart Parker Trust Award in 2012. Laura has a secret. Joe's has been revealed. Peg's been keeping hers for years. Rich with the absurdities, hypocrisies and vulnerabilities that course through our lives, Nancy Harris's No Romance playfully observes the longings, fears and desires we reveal - and don't reveal - in our closest relationships. No Romance was first staged at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in 2011.

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Reformed womaniser Nick is approaching thirty and has fallen head over heels with the girl he wants to marry and have kids with. But then a dark little fling he'd rather forget comes back to threaten everything. For the first time he understands that a picture-perfect, middle-class life might not be a given. How far will he go to keep himself in the game that everyone else seems to be playing?

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A striking play from Northern Ireland about two women and the childhood tragedy they'll never be allowed to forget. For Emma and Clare, 1980 was the summer they met at the swings, the summer they built a tree house and stole from Dennis O'Donnell's shop. The summer a young mother and her infant daughter moved into number 14... Now in their thirties, Emma and Clare struggle to come to terms with the chain of devastating events that began that summer, to understand what they did, what they became and how they were judged. Lisa McGee's play Girls and Dolls was first performed by Tinderbox Theatre Company on a tour of Northern Ireland in 2006. It won the Stewart Parker Trust Award in 2007.

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A gripping psychological thriller adapted for the stage by Émile Zola himself from his own notorious novel, in a version by Nicholas Wright. Stifled by an oppressive mother-in-law and a sickly husband, Thérèse Raquin falls passionately for another man. Their feverish affair drives the lovers to an act of terrible desperation, which catapults them headlong into a world more claustrophobic than the one they sought to destroy. This English version of Thérèse Raquin was first staged at the National Theatre, London, in 2006.

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A hilarious, real-life comedy about pensioners going in search of love - from the sublime to the downright saucy. Maureen is a pensioner in search of passion. After 33 blind dates, 12 cruises and one broken heart, she is still determined to find Mr Right. But when best friend Margaret beats her to the altar, Maureen has her doubts - is Margaret just on the rebound and, more importantly, will she lose her pension? Alecky Blythe's verbatim theatre play Cruising was first staged at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2006 in a co-production with Recorded Delivery, using an innovative verbatim-theatre technique. The technique consists of recording interviews with real people, editing them and replicating them on stage in all their uncanny verisimilitude. The result is both disconcertingly comic and profoundly moving, as all the individual peculiarities of the 'characters' are scrupulously reproduced.

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A fiercely funny play about what it's like to be a young woman living, working, drinking, loving and having sex in the 21st century. It's Bella's 29th birthday. Friends and former lovers meet for a drink to celebrate. But as the Bloody Marys flow, the bar soon becomes a battlefield. Nina Raine's Rabbit was first performed at the Old Red Lion Theatre, London, in 2006. It subsequently transferred to the Trafalgar Studios in the West End, before playing at the Brits Off Broadway festival in New York in 2007. The play won Nina Raine both the Evening Standard and Critics' Circle Awards for Most Promising Playwright in 2006.

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'I like London. I like the pavements. I like to walk out my door and not sink up to my tits in primordial sludge.' A comedy thriller from the author of the Olivier Award-winning Jerusalem. West waits in a burnt-out farmhouse, on Dartmoor, in the depths of winter, for two associates from the city. The wine has been poured and the revolver loaded. But who is waiting upstairs? Jez Butterworth's play The Winterling was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2006.

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An energetic, fast-moving adaptation for the stage of this modern children's classic, by the best-selling author and 2005 Children's Laureate. Mandy's been picked on at school for as long as she can remember. That's why she is delighted when cheeky, daring, full-of-fun Tanya picks her as a friend. Mum isn't happy - she thinks Tanya's a 'bad girl' and a bad influence. Mandy's sure Tanya can only get her out of trouble, not into it. But can she? Vicky Ireland's stage adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson's novel Bad Girls was first performed at Polka Theatre, Wimbledon, in 2004. 'Vicky has adapted a handful of my books for the stage. I hope she works her magic on many more to come!' Jacqueline Wilson This edition comes with production notes indicating how the play can be staged even with minimal resources - plus a lot of ingenuity!

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An adaptation for the stage of this modern children's classic by the best-selling author and 2005 Children's Laureate. For her history project, Charlie hits on the idea of writing the diary of Lottie, a young Victorian serving girl. When Charlie's mother loses her job as a shop manageress and starts work as a cleaner, Charlie's previously happy and comfortable lifestyle is threatened, and she finds her own hardships and struggles are not so different from Lottie's. First staged at the Polka Children's Theatre in 1999, this adaptation is suitable for young actors as well as young audiences. The adapter, Vicky Ireland, has provided production notes to indicate how the play can be staged even with minimal resources - plus a lot of ingenuity! 'Vicky has adapted a handful of my books for the stage. I hope she works her magic on many more to come!' - Jacqueline Wilson

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'You were supposed to love me. You said it in front of sixty of our friends and family. Even my father cried.' A satirical comedy of modern manners set in contemporary Dublin. Neil is a maverick TV reporter struggling to re-integrate into domesticity. Back from Darfur with a head full of nightmares, he takes a hammer to his life – and his fifteen years of marriage. But is his extra-curricular relationship with Sarah going to mend anything – or is it just that she's new? Stella Feehily's play O go my Man (the title is an anagram of 'monogamy') was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2006 in a production by Out of Joint Theatre Company. It was the joint winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for 2006-07.

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A battle of wits between Cromwell and John Milton, by the well-known actor Jack Shepherd. 1656. Two revolutionaries meet in the woods at Hampton Court: the blind poet, John Milton, and his long-term comrade, Oliver Cromwell. But after the bitter ravages of revolution, regicide and civil war, freedom is hard to come to terms with. Jack Shepherd's play Through a Cloud was first staged at the Drum Theatre, Plymouth, in 2004.

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An intensely practical handbook for actors on how to cope with text, subtext, character and situation. With a preface by Kenneth Branagh. Having helped the actor with basic vocal technique in her enormously successful book, Finding Your Voice, Barbara Houseman here shows the actor how to cope with the demands posed by the text [and the subtext] of the play itself. Full of practical exercises developed over many years of working with actors of all ages and experiences, Tackling Text [and subtext] is an indispensable handbook for any actor working with text - from acting students and young professionals, to experienced actors wanting to tackle specific problems and acting coaches wanting to discover new ways of enabling their students. 'If you want to improve as an actor, read this book... it helps restore the hard work of the actor as fresh, playful and fun' Kenneth Branagh, from his Preface 'An inspiring teacher... a hugely motivating force in my work' Daniel Radcliffe 'Barbara's work starts with the voice, passes through the physical - and results in a character. Her teaching helps total performance' Jude Law

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Other early 'stand-out' roles came in the premieres of Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine (1979) and Mike Leigh's Goose Pimples (1981). He was Malcolm Bradbury's History Man on TV (1981) before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1982, where he has played a huge variety of leading role in modern plays such as David Edgar's Maydays (1983) and Peter Flannery's Singer (1989) but chiefly in Shakespeare. He was the Fool to Michael Gambon's Lear, a famous Richard III, Shylock, Malvolio, Leontes, Macbeth with Harriet Walter, and, currently, Iago. For the RSC he was also Cyrano and Tamburlaine and the Malcontent. Interspersed with these were appearances at the National Theatre - as Astrov to Ian McKellen's Uncle Vanya, as Stanley Spencer in Pam Gems's play and as Titus Andronicus, which he originated at the Market Theatre, Johannesburg. In October 2004 he will appear at the National again in his own play based on Primo Levi's This was a Man. Following his debut as a writer with Year of the King, he has written four novels - Middlepost, Indoor Boy, Cheap Lives and The Feast - as well as an autobiography, Beside Myself (2001), and a play, I.D. (premiered at the Almeida, 2003).

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The classic tale of Sleeping Beauty's curse – as seen through the eyes of the fairy who curses her. Written by acclaimed director Rufus Norris for the Young Vic Theatre, London. Once upon a time there was a beautiful Princess who was loved by everyone. Well... almost everyone. Cursed by a wicked fairy, she pricks her finger and falls into a deep sleep. One hundred years later, a Prince wakes her with a kiss. But the Prince isn't as brave as he should be – and his mother's a bit of an ogress... Based on Perrault's 17th-century classic, Rufus Norris's Sleeping Beauty goes beyond the kiss into a perilous world of beastly shadows, nasty smells and a forest full of enchanted trouble. It was first performed at the Young Vic Theatre, London, in December 2002.

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A powerful and poetic play, with echoes of Jean-Paul Sartre's Huis Clos and Euripides' Medea. From the author of Death and the Maiden. A Man and a Woman in purgatory – a soul-less white room. Each is interrogated in turn by the other. Each is groping for forgiveness and contrition. But one of them has done something unforgiveable... Ariel Dorfman's play Purgatorio was first performed at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle, USA, in November 2005. (An earlier version was first performed in a rehearsed reading at the Criterion Theatre, London, in November 2001). The play was first staged in the UK at the Arcola Theatre, London, in January 2008.

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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 Complete Voice Training Manual For Actors A simple, step-by-step manual, written by an RSC voice coach, which offers everything that an actor needs to work on their voice. Suitable for actors at all levels, from students and young professionals to established and experienced actors. Drama teachers in schools and committed amateur actors who want to increase their vocal skills and understanding will also find it invaluable. Includes sections on: * Preparation * Body Work * Breathing and Support * Breathing Into Sound: Supporting the Voice * Releasing the Sound * Filling out the Sound: Resonance * Extending the Sound: Range * Shaping the Sound: Articulation * Trouble-Shooting. Each chapter begins with a brief introduction, then clearly and succinctly sets out a sequence of relevant exercises - accompanied by simple diagrams - ending with a summary of what we have learned. 'Brilliantly guides the actor using exercises and tools that can revolutionise the voice. It's a boon!' Joseph Fiennes 'Barbara's work is simple and practical, encouraging each actor to be free and fluid with their own voice... Very inspiring' Emily Watson 'Barbara has a great understanding of the way that actors' anxieties can affect their voice. Her tone is calm, reassuring and good humoured' Niamh Cusack

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A play about love, death, identity and evolution, from the bestselling and highly acclaimed novelist. Elizabeth, forty-something, childless, recently separated, just wants to be alone. She's moved into a converted Victorian mansion, alive with history, character, woodworm and rot. But worse than that she's besieged by invaders of the human kind. Her best friend, her sister, their mother, the builder and a photographer are all determined to make their mark. And a former inhabitant of the house, disturbed from her resting place by Elizabeth's arrival, revisits her own long-forgotten past. Kate Atkinson's play Abandonment was first performed at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 2000.

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A funny, vibrant and moving version of Chekhov's Three Sisters, set amongst the Jewish community in wartime Liverpool. From the award-winning writer Diane Samuels (Kindertransport) and well-known actress and writer Tracy-Ann Oberman. Liverpool, 1946. A year after the sudden death of their father, sisters Gertie, May and Rita Lasky share their once grand home on Hope Street with their asthmatic brother Arnold, Auntie Biel (who still keeps her packed suitcase under the spare bed) and old family friend Dr Nate Weinberg (who claims, hand on heart, to be on the wagon). As the sisters regularly welcome GIs and pilots from the nearby American base, each continues her own search for meaning amidst the shattered remains of their city, in a rapidly changing world. Three Sisters on Hope Street was first staged at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, in 2008, transferring to Hampstead Theatre, London.

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A bold, witty and fresh adaptation of Jane Austen's novel which, while thoroughly modern, retains the spirit and much of the language of the original. It is night-time and an exhausted Jane Austen sleeps over the recently completed manuscript of her novel Emma. Her four nieces steal in and decide to act out the text and, after her initial anger on being wakened, Jane herself takes the role of Mr Knightley. The excitable teenage girls often try to take the story into their own realms of fantasy but are always brought back to the real text by Jane. This adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, by Doon MacKichan and Martin Millar, was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 1999, transferring to the Tricycle Theatre, London, in September.

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A tried-and-tested stage adaptation of Barry Hines' novel A Kestrel for a Knave, about a troubled young boy who finds and trains a kestrel. Billy, a disaffected young boy, has problems at school and at home: he's neglected by his mother, beaten by his brother and bullied on all sides. He adopts a fledgling kestrel and treats it with all the tenderness he has never known. Slowly, he begins to see for the first time what he could achieve – if only he tried. Lawrence Till's adaptation of Barry Hines' 1968 novel retains its gritty charm and popular staying power. Kes was first performed at West Yorkshire Playhouse in 1999.

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Two plays by award-winning playwright Marie Jones: the smash hit Stones in His Pockets, which ran for four years in London's West End; and an earlier monologue, A Night in November, exploring the subjects of football and sectarianism, set during the 1994 World Cup. Stones in His Pockets is a comedy with a poignant undercurrent, about a small rural town in Ireland where a Hollywood epic is being filmed. The story centres on Charlie Conlon and Jake Quinn, who, like much of the town, are employed as extras for the filming. After a tragic incident concerning a local teenager, Charlie and Jake assume responsibility for giving an account of events, taking on all the roles themselves. A two-hander that delights in exploring the limits of comedy and theatricality, and the collision of romanticised notions of 'Irishness' and the harsher reality, Stones in His Pockets has delighted audiences around the world. Marie Jones's play was first staged at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast in June 1999 before opening at the Tricycle Theatre, London, in August 1999. It transferred to the New Ambassadors Theatre, London, in May 2000. Stones in His Pockets won the 2001 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. A Night in November is a one-man show following Kenneth McCallister, family man and Ulsterman, on the fateful night in November in Belfast when the Republic of Ireland qualifies against Northern Ireland for the World Cup, and Kenneth finds himself watching the sectarian hatred of the crowd rather than the football. A Night in November was first performed at The West Belfast Festival, Whiterock, Belfast, in August 1994, then toured extensively throughout Ireland, and was also seen in New York. It was staged in London at the Tricycle Theatre in March 1995.

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A practical guide to the skills, characters and history of Commedia Dell'Arte through graded games and illustrated exercises - a useful tool in any actor's training and a discipline for all forms of physical theatre. Chapters include: * Warm-Up Games * Mime and Movement Games * Word Games * Using Face Masks * The Legacy of Commedia dell'Arte, a chapter looking at the individual Masks or characters in the traditional Commedia dell'Arte.

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A simple and delightfully inventive re-telling of the stories from the Arabian Nights. It is wedding night in the palace of King Shahrayar. By morning the new Queen Shahrazad is to be put to death, like a thousand young brides before her. But she has one gift that could save her – the gift of storytelling. Can the young Queen transport the vengeful King to the mystical land of her stories? On her side she has a rich array of characters including Ali Baba, Es-Sinbad the Sailor and Princess Parizade – adventurers in strange and magical worlds populated by giant beasts, talking birds and crafty thieves. Will her silver-tongued storytelling save her life? This edition was published alongside the Young Vic's production in 1998.

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Two linked one-act plays set in a run-down residential hotel in Bournemouth. In the first of the plays, Table by the Window, a lonely divorcee tracks down her former husband in order to resume a kind of half-life with him. In the other, Table Number Seven, a repressed young spinster offers brave moral support to a fake major accused of importuning women in a local cinema. Terence Rattigan's play Separate Tables was first produced at the St. James's Theatre, London, in September 1954. In an alternative version, only recently discovered among Rattigan's papers, the major's offence was revealed to be homosexual; these 'alternative' scenes are published here for the first time. This edition, edited and introduced by Dan Rebellato, includes a biographical sketch and chronology. 'Few dramatists of this century have written with more understanding of the human heart than Terence Rattigan' Michael Billington

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Two plays from playwright Gary Mitchell, known for his powerful explorations of the conflicts troubling Northern Ireland. Tearing the Loom is a searing portrait of a community divided against itself, set in a weaver's cottage in County Armagh at the time of the 1798 Rebellion. It was first performed at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, in 1998. In a Little World of Our Own is a powerful illustration of how the conflict in Northern Ireland affects whole families, and of how the violence of the streets is brought into the heart of the home. It was first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in 1997.

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