Search results for ""AURORA""

Since 1660 when actresses first began performing on the English stage, women have forged bright careers in theatre, while men called the shots. Four hundred years of women playwrights, from Aphra Behn to Caryl Churchill, yet plays by women make up less than a quarter of staged productions in the UK, leading to a scarcity of roles for women. With women buying most of the tickets, theatre productions risk losing their relevance to modern culture if they fail to represent the many and varied lives of women. With an overview of post-war theatre and 25 exclusive interviews with leading women theatre-makers, this book inspires us to create a truly equal and inclusive theatre today. Including interviews with: Nina Lee Aquino Sudha Buchar Moira Buffini Paule Constable Denise Gough Jill Greenhalgh Vicky Ireland Jude Kelly Bryony Lavery Rachel Maza Kumiko Mendl Katie Mitchell Marsha Norman Lynn Nottage Kate O'Donnell Winsome Pinnock Emma Rice Daryl Roth Jenny Sealey Saviana Stanescu Michelle Terry Kate Waters and more...

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When Briony Campbell confesses to killing her boyfriend, a straightforward crime of passion soon turns into a baffling mystery. Haunted by demons from his past, lawyer S.J. Robin is assigned to the case. But as confusion - and the body count - rises, he's forced to question who is guilty and who is innocent. Can he see justice served and hold on to the woman he loves?

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A humorous and poetic observation of the banking world through the story of a rogue trader Meet 'The Bear'. A wealthy trader, a family man, a success story. But his world is about to come crashing down when he loses his job, his wife, his self-respect. But he has plan, one that takes the tried and tested rules of the corporate finance world to the streets. Inspired by the true story of the infamous city trader who ran up the biggest loss in British banking history Dare to Do delves into the world of finance and its relationship with the world, and the people it owns. The untold story of the man who broke the city - Kweku Adoboli.

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• To coincide with a national tour by Black Theatre Live productions • Rarely heard story of a South London Black teen carer With grime music and Guyanese folk stories, Joseph Barnes-Phillip's semi-autobiographical story is a comic, tragic and honest portrayal of becoming a man. The story follows Rayleigh as he negotiates the tensions of growing up and taking responsibility − to his pregnant girlfriend, to his sick mother, to his church, to the multi-cultural community he grew up in and somewhere in the mix to himself. When the euphoric highs of teenage life in south London collide with his mum's terminal illness, all Rayleigh wants to do it watch anime in his pants and eat indomie. Love, life and masculinity meet head-on as Rayleigh tries to find his feet, torn between the new girl in his life and being there for his mum, while trying not to make the same mistakes as his dad. The show has been created by HighRise Theatre to be the sixth touring production for consortium Black Theatre Live. Performed by the author Joseph Barnes-Phillips. • Can be performed as a monologue in schools, colleges, etc.

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Shortlisted for the Virginia Prize for Fiction “Quirky and warm-hearted, with darker undertones that keep you gripped. Kate Dunn is a fine storyteller.” Ben Elton When Colin goes to Paris to help his son clear his name of a terrible crime, he trails his beloved little boat The Dragonfly across the Channel so he will have a place to stay. Thrown together with Delphine, his grandchild, for the summer holidays, he takes her on an adventure along the picturesque French canals in a bid to cheer her up. Delphine soon proves to be as challenging to her grandfather as the winding waterways and hazardous locks, but as they travel south through Burgundy ‘until the butter melts’, they land big fish, cultivate new loves and slowly the ice in each of them begins to thaw. But what of Colin’s son languishing in a French jail? How will this unlikely pair ever get him off the hook?

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Inspired by true stories, this critically acclaimed modern play explores the everyday abuse and exploitation of Asian women and their struggles to obtain freedom. The play has been performed internationally to sell-out audiences on three continents including theatres in New York, Melbourne, Bangkok and Singapore. An opera heroine. Two interracial marriages. An abused daughter-in-law. An under-aged prostitute. A prime minister's wife. Seven women of diverse Asian backgrounds perform a series of vignettes about the various predicaments of women from Asia. Presented through a highly theatrical mixture of dance, comedy and tragedy, the play questions the myths and stereotypes which underpin the continuing oppression of women in the region. Presented through a highly theatrical mixture of dance, comedy and tragedy, the play questions the myths and stereotypes which underpin the continuing oppression of women in the region.

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• Winner of the Virginia Prize for Fiction, 2013 • Nominated for Scottish First Book of the Year Award 2015, Saltire Society • BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime A tale of love, betrayal and redemption in the dying days of the Cold War. The year is 1985. East Germany is in the grip of communism. Magda, a brilliant but disillusioned young linguist, is desperate to flee to the West. When a black market deal brings her into contact with Robert, a young Scot studying at Leipzig University, she sees a way to realise her escape plans. But as Robert falls in love with her, he stumbles into a complex world of shifting half-truths - one that will undo them both. Many years later, long after the Berlin Wall has been torn down, Robert returns to Leipzig in search of answers. Can he track down the elusive Magda? And will the past give up its secrets?

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It is the year 1852, and the origin of species remains a mystery. In a primitive hut in the remote Amazonian jungle, Alfred Wallace, a brilliant young collector of scientific specimens, lies wasted by tropical illness. He does not expect to survive. Healed by a village shaman, Wallace continues his pioneering fieldwork in the Malay archipelago, crystallising his ideas about evolutionary theory, which Charles Darwin had also secretly formulated but was reluctant to publish. In this new novel based on the scientist's extraordinary life, what unfolds is a dramatic tale of money, class, faith and discrimination.

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• New collection of plays for young people across the globe from award-winning playwright. • Ideal for schools, colleges and youth theatre companies. Follow up to the acclaimed PLAYS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE by award-winning playwright, includes: Missing: a modern take on Hansel and Gretel, about the nature of poverty, inspired also by true events. A gripping story of a brother searching for his missing sister in a sinister world of deceit and unknown peril. This is a modern day fairytale about two children surviving desperate circumstances through a rich mix of power, loyalty, love and sheer cunning. This play won the German Children's Theatre Prize 2010 and has had eight productions in Germany and one here. Nivelli’s War: about a six year old German Evacuee and his journey home at the end of WW2. Pirates: about a boy at sea, the play is on the surface a rollicking pirate tale and can be enjoyed as a fantasy adventure - but it is also a story about a child's emotional journey as he sails the tempestuous seas of his parents' separation. This was nominated both for the Writer's Guild Best Children's Play and a Helen Hayes Award in America for Outstanding new play. Winner of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education 'Distinguished Play' Award 2012.

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* "A tour-de-force of imaginative fiction... lyrically written, if often harrowing, tale of surprising passion." Huffington Post * unique insight into the life of Rudyard Kipling, one of the most influential literary figures of the twentieth century. * Explores the truth about Alice "Trix" Kipling, delving into the heart of the relationship between a difficult brother and his troubled sister. Mary Hamer has unearthed the truth about Alice Kipling, known to her family affectionately as Trix. In this fictionalised account of their lives, the author goes to the heart of the relationship between a difficult brother and his troubled sister and explores how their early lives shaped the very different people they were later to become. Set against a lavish backdrop of colonial India, austere Edwardian England and Vermont, USA, New England, Kipling & Trix provides a unique insight into the life of one of the most influential literary figures of the 20th century; one whose private life was obsessively well-guarded. An incredible and theatrical tale, Hamer's debut novel explores the truth about Alice Kipling, delving into the heart of the relationship between a difficult brother and his troubled sister.

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Mayflower Street runs between Jamaica Road and the Thames in Bermondsey, South London. In 1939, 34 houses and 121 residents occupied the street. Between 1940 and 1941 bombs fell on 7 of these houses and at the end of war, the street - with its corner shop, was demolished. The London Bubble Theatre backs on to Mayflower Street overlooking the new houses and flats that now stand there. Over the past year members of our drama groups have been researching the history of the Blitz, consulting the electoral roll and interviewing residents who grew up nearby. BLACKBIRDS is the drama that has emerged from this process. Using personal testimony, physical theatre and the combined skills of a cast of contemporary Londoners, ranging in age from 7 to 78, the project aims to share some of the experiences and events that made our city into the place we know today. Suitable for use in schools, colleges, youth theatres and community groups.

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Pomegranate Sky is an evocative story of love and lies set against the turmoil of post-revolutionary Tehran. An impressive debut novel, Pomegranate Sky won the inaugural Virginia Prize for Fiction (2009).

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A deliciously biting comic tale of one super-sized teenager's heroic transformation into a cool young guy with a future to die for. George, aged 13, weighs 17 stone and is still growing in all directions. When a TV chef brings healthy food to the school dinner menu, George demands his right to chips, chips and more chips. But his teachers won't budge and they set George thinking...perhaps his family's devotion to fast food is the reason they are all so big and getting bigger? Following a nightmarish encounter with himself as a grown-up, George embarks on a journey of discovery where he takes the giant leap from living to eat to eating to live.

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Three distinctive adaptations from a master of total theatre, Steven Berkoff fuses all the elements of drama together in a whole theatrical experience. Combining movement and mime with text to achieve a heightened dramatic intensity, Berkoff takes Kafka's stories and transforms them into a powerful dramatic expression of the inhumanity which plagued the twentieth century and continues unchecked today.

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Women have been at the dawn of the blues since Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey were singing about hard knocks and tough love in smoky bars. This book gives an overview of the early days of the blues and its development from the Mississippi Delta to the hometown of electric blues, Chicago, to becoming the vibrant global musical movement it is today. Features over 30 exclusive interviews with the amazing female musicians leading the Blues to new heights today. Includes selected highlights from Chicago blues photographer Jennifer Noble’s extensive colour collection.

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Explores the incredible story of Annie Besant's relationship with India and the boy who went on to become one of India's greatest teachers and thinkers - Krishnamurti. 1916: India is simmering with discontent against the Raj. Enter English proto-feminist Annie Besant, notorious at home for the match-girls' strike, political, charismatic. In India she finds a new family and a new cause. Gandhi hails her as the leader of the Congress Party after she courts imprisonment for promoting Indian Home Rule. She admires him - but can rulers ever befriend the ruled? Can Annie's great love affair with India last? ... or is she mistaken in her beliefs, politics and adoptions?

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• The moving tale of a child coming to terms with the realities of emigration in a troubled society. • Award-winning Cuban-born writer Enrique Perez Diaz creates a contemporary novel for teenage readers steeped in the burning issues of today's world. • Shortlisted for the Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation.

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Johnny is 17 and the biggest Darlis Diller fan in Germany. Having tricked both his school and his parents, he follows his rock idol on a national tour. But things don't go to plan when he has all his money stolen and the people around him end up dead - all because of an email he's mistakenly received from a criminal gang! Soon he has nowhere to hide and nobody to turn to - except Pola, his new best friend, that is. Unaware that both the criminals and the police are after him, Johnny tries to track down his elusive rock idol. But his idol seems to be hallucinating about a demon called the Dhuul...

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The play explores the period leading up to and after the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers and shows us how things have changed. We meet two young men in love and living in New York and we see how their families face the loss of their loved ones and come to terms with who and what they really were.

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Winner of The Brother Grimm Prize, Berlin. The exciting story of a brother and sister's escape to England. Persecuted for being different, Andrea and Riva are forced to flee their homeland, and now they must learn to live in a country very different from their own.

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Celebrating 50 years of Theatre Centre Edited and Introduced by Rosamunde Hutt Foreword by Pam St. Clement Listen To Your Parents by Benjamin Zephaniah | Precious by Angela Turvey | Look At Me by Anna Reynolds | Gorgeous by Anna Furse | Glow by Manjinder Virk | Souls by Roy Williams A challenging and culturally diverse collection of new plays by some of the UK's foremost writers. dealing with topics such as domestic violence, eating disorders, mother/daughter relationships and sibling rivalry, written by some of Britain's foremost writers. Beautifully written and tested in performance, these plays which deal with topics such as domestic violence, eating disorders, mother/daughter relationships and sibling rivalry, will become essential texts for theatres, schools, colleges and youth centres.

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A collection of plays by one of Britain's leading writers of plays for children and young people. Winner of the Writers Guild Best Children's Play in 1996, Way's critically acclaimed plays receive multiple productions and are performed internationally.

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Simple recipes offering the best of Middle Eastern food and more. Gathered in Israel and Palestine from ordinary people going about their everyday lives, the author found that each person had a story to tell and a recipe to cook. Robin Soans tells of his moving encounters with the people of the region and provides authentic pictures of those he met, the places he visited and the food he tasted. We bring you their individual recipes handed down through the generations - from carrot cake to kebabs, from falafels to gefilte fish, from tabbouleh to tuna melt ...

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Winner of The Raymond Williams Prize Plays by Ayshe Raif, Cheryl Robson, April De Angelis, Nina Rapi, Eva Lewin, Jan Rupee, Jean Abbott.

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Introduced by Farindokht Zahedi, Associate Professor, College of Fine Arts / Theater / Faculty of Performing Arts and Music, University of Tehran. Editors Aubrey Mellor and Cheryl Robson. A wide-ranging collection of plays from new and established voices from today's Iran and the global Iranian diaspora. Plays cover life in contemporary Iran, the hopes of women finding new ways to assert their individuality in a time of great of upheaval, the lives of those trapped in a migrant camp and the need to challenge stereotypical views. The plays shine a light on a rapidly changing Iran, one that is vastly different from the misconceptions outsiders have of it. Includes: A Moment of Silence by Mohammad Yaghoubi - (Iran) Home by Naghmeh Samini - (Iran) Shame by Sholeh Wolpe -(Iran-USA) Manus by Leila Hekmatnia (Iran), Keyvan Sarreshteh (Iran), Nazanin Sahamizadeh (Australia) Isfahan Blues Torange Yeghiazarian - (Iran-USA) Editors: Aubrey Mellor Aubrey is a leading Australian Theatre Director. Currently Senior Fellow at LASALLE, in Singapore, he was the first Australian to study Asian writing. Formerly Director of the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), he is well-known as an acting teacher to a generation of acclaimed Australian actors. He has directed for all major companies, commissioned and premiered plays by Australia's leading playwrights and is a leading proponent of new Australian writing. Aubrey founded several writing awards for playwrights and is an advisor to arts bodies including the Performing Arts Board of The Australia Council and The Australian National Playwright's Conference. Awards include the OAM in 1992, the Australian Writer's Guild's Dorothy Crawford Award for services to Playwriting and the International Theatre Institute's Uchimura Prize for best production, Tokyo International Festival. Cheryl Robson Cheryl has edited several collections of international drama. After studying drama at Bristol University, she worked for the BBC and as a film lecturer. She founded the Virginia Prize for Fiction in 2009 in the UK. She is an award-winning playwright who has received Arts Council UK commission and option awards and had several plays produced. She ran a theatre company for several years in London, developing and producing international plays by women. She has won numerous awards for her filmmaking and was recently named a finalist in the ITV National Diversity awards - Lifetime Achievement. .

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