Search results for ""nick hern books""

‘I know you want what everyone else wants. A family. A home. But you’ll never have it. Cos of what’s inside you.’ Joanne and Lisa were like sisters. Then Lisa left. Now they’re back together for one last birthday party by the railway tracks. But can they salvage their friendship, or will ghosts of the past haunt them forever? Poignant, moving and darkly funny, All the Little Lights is the searing story of young girls slipping through the cracks in society, desperately searching for friendship, family and themselves. In a world where nobody wants you, what would you do to survive? Jane Upton's All the Little Lights was joint winner of the 2016 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright, and was nominated for Best Play at the 2017 Writers’ Guild Awards. Produced by Fifth Word, and written with support from charity Safe & Sound, the play toured the UK in 2017, following a successful run in 2015.

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‘I was a storm. I was also a man entirely alone in a storm. There were forces beyond my control and I was one of them.’ 1968. Midlands MP Enoch Powell has something to say. Something he feels needs to be said. Something that could divide Britain forever. 1992. Rose Cruickshank, a black Oxford academic, wants answers. Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech, with its controversial words about immigration, shattered her childhood and now she is driven to confront both the man who made the speech and her own troubled identity. Will a meeting with Enoch resolve the conflicts that are tearing her – and the country – apart? Chris Hannan's powerful play, What Shadows, is a searing look at identity and immigration within a bitterly divided country. It premiered at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 2016, in a production directed by Roxana Silbert and starring Ian McDiarmid as Enoch Powell. The play was revived at the Royal Lyceum Edinburgh in 2017, before transferring to Park Theatre, London.

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‘Everyone gets what they deserve, they have to…’ It’s in the window of Sam’s, behind the rusty display. Two wheels, shiny body, handlebars ready to be gripped. Mum’s promised him that bike, so even when school or homelife bites, he knows to keep his chin up, his head down and his shirt clean. No harsh word, no sudden push to the ground, will distract him from growing up to be a good man. Set during the early noughties, Arinzé Kene's good dog is a theatrical monologue that chronicles growing up in a multicultural community, and the everyday injustices that drive people to take back control. Because even the most patient among us can’t wait forever. Delicately observed and fearlessly told, good dog was first produced by tiata fahodzi in association with Watford Palace Theatre in spring 2017. 'One of Britain’s most exciting young playwrights' Guardian

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Matt Hartley's moving, funny and charming play, Here I Belong, takes you through decades of history seen through the eyes of one village resident. It’s Elsie’s ninetieth birthday. Come and join us in the village hall to celebrate. There will be cake. Elsie has lived in the village for sixty years. She has seen elections, weddings, wars, people coming, people going. The village is where her daughter grew up, it’s where her husband died and it’s where she’s going to stay. Travel through time from 1953 to the present day in this play about village life and the right to grow old in your own home. First produced on a UK tour by Pentabus Theatre Company in 2016, performed by two women, Here I Belong provides ideal material for amateur companies for up to eight female performers – especially those performing in their own village halls. This volume also includes Matt Hartley's short monologue play, Last Letters Home.

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Ben doesn't even like Anna that much. She doesn't take life seriously enough. And then a couple of years go by and he's in absolute floods and she just wishes things could be different. This is a play about gender, the ethical dimensions of modern love, and a mandatory sillier third theme to make the whole thing seem less serious, in this case lemon tart. Travesty is the debut play by Liam Williams, double Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee and the 'voice of a generation' (Independent). It was produced by Fight in the Dog and premiered at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 'The Fringe's most articulate and original chronicler of twenty-something angst' Telegraph

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A touching and provocative story of first love though the eyes of a gender-curious teen, Scorch was inspired by recent UK cases of 'gender fraud'. For those who feel they're not living the right life, online is a place to be yourself. 'More real than real life. I'm honest on there. I'm being honest. That's important.' Out in the real world, though, things can be very different. Stacey Gregg's play for a solo performer premiered at the Outburst Queer Arts Festival, Belfast, in 2015, co-produced by Prime Cut, MAC and Outburst. It won the Irish Times Theatre Award for Best New Play and the Writers Guild of Ireland ZeBBie Award for Best Theatre Script. It was presented in Paines Plough's Roundabout at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it won a Fringe First Award. It then toured Ireland.

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A painful comedy about growing up and manning up. Tobes is young, free and having a ball. Off. He's successfully ignored his lump for two years but it's starting to get in the way – cramping his style and, worse, affecting his sex life. So now there are pants to be dropped, and decisions to be made... it's a real ball ache. Luke Norris's play Growth was first produced by Paines Plough in their pop-up theatre, Roundabout, at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it won a Fringe First Award. It subsequently toured the UK. An earlier version of the play was seen at the Gate Theatre, London.

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'When she was little she was obsessed with me - if I didn't play with her or sit next to her she screamed her head off. Then one day she replaced me with a Captain crunch cereal box.' When Sarah, a young woman with Asperger's Syndrome, comes to visit her sister and brother-in-law, what starts as a fortnight of family holiday spirals into a nightmare of accusation and intrigue. A love triangle with a dangerous twist, this moving and funny play explores the everyday dilemmas of a young woman living with autism: what to eat, what to watch on TV, and how to seduce your sister's husband with a piece of cake. Amy Shindler's Burning Bridges premiered at Theatre503, London, in September 2016.

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A chilling and powerful modern Medea about motherhood and class, taking an unapologetic look at the single young mum, the one already judged before she's even opened her mouth. This is Sam. Young, impulsive, single mum. Londoner born and bred and never ever left. Sam makes her mistakes, but who can blame her? Tom rents the flat above, the one Sam cleans. If they can come to 'an arrangement' he won't call the Social on her. You might think Tom is a monster. You might think Sam's kids would be better off without her. Someone needs to make a decision. Winner of the Soho Theatre Young Writer's Award, Phoebe Eclair-Powell's play Fury premiered at Soho Theatre, London, in July 2016.

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A darkly comic play that explores the unexpected, bewildering, and life-changing consequences of challenging the status quo at a global level. Last week, Andrew was that guy with his girl lunching in KFC, discussing apartments and making plans for the future. Today he's in Moscow, in an undisclosed hotel room, on the run and at risk of assassination. Last week, a nobody. This week, America's Most Wanted: a man who humiliated his country with one touch of a button. Mike Bartlett's Wild premiered at Hampstead Theatre, London, in June 2016, in a production directed by James Macdonald.

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‘It’s passing on your thoughts, your personality, a part of yourself, your DNA. If we don’t do that, what are we? We’re just dust.’ Jess and Dylan are in love. They want a family. That's all they have ever wanted. This perfectly ordinary couple find themselves on an extraordinary journey when they enter the world of IVF. Forced to fight for the family they so desperately want, they put their faith in science and their relationship to the ultimate test. A funny, moving and unswervingly honest love story, The Quiet House was co-produced by Echo Presents, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Park Theatre, London. It premiered at Birmingham Rep in 2016 before transferring to the Park Theatre.

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Anna Jordan's Bruntwood Prize-winning play, Yen explores a childhood lived without boundaries and the consequences of being forced to grow up on your own. Hench is sixteen, Bobbie is thirteen. They’re home alone in Feltham with their dog Taliban; playing PlayStation, streaming porn, watching the world go by. Sometimes their mum Maggie visits, usually with empty pockets and empty promises. Then Jenny shows up. Anna Jordan's play Yen won the 2013 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting and was first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, before transferring to the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2016. This edition of Yen was published alongside the Royal Court Theatre production in January 2016.

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Ibsen's forensic examination of a marriage as it falls apart, in a version by Richard Eyre. How is a life well-lived? Alfred Allmers comes home to his wife Rita and makes a decision. Casting aside his writing, he dedicates himself to raising his son. But one event is about to change his life forever. Little Eyolf was first performed in 1894. This new version, adapted and directed by Richard Eyre, premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2015. The third in a trilogy of revelatory Ibsens, Little Eyolf follows Richard Eyre's multi-award-winning adaptations of Ghosts (Almeida, West End and BAM, New York), and Hedda Gabler (Almeida and West End).

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A double bill by Terence Rattigan, featuring two plays of striking contrast that display his astonishing range as a writer. The comic gem Harlequinade follows a classical theatre company whose intrigues and dalliances are revealed with increasingly calamitous consequences in an affectionate celebration of the lunatic art of putting on a play. A powerfully atmospheric one-woman play, All On Her Own tells the story of Rosemary who, alone at midnight in London, has a secret burden to share that is both heartbreaking and sinister. Harlequinade & All On Her Own was performed as part of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s Plays at the Garrick Season in 2015, starring Zoë Wanamaker and Kenneth Branagh, and co-directed by Branagh and Rob Ashford. This official tie-in edition features both plays, plus exclusive additional content including an introduction to Rattigan's work, interviews with Kenneth Branagh, Rob Ashford, Zoë Wanamaker and designer Christopher Oram, and reproductions of Oram's original design sketches.

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THE GOOD AUDITION GUIDES: Helping you select and perform the audition piece that is best suited to your performing skills As an actor at any level – whether you are doing theatre studies at school, taking part in youth theatre, preparing for drama-school showcases, or attending professional acting workshops – you will often be required to prepare a duologue with a fellow performer. Your success is often based on locating and selecting a fresh, dynamic scene suited to your specific performing skills, as well as your interplay as a duo. Which is where this book comes in. This collection features twenty-five fantastic duologues for two men, almost all written since the year 2000 by some of our most exciting dramatic voices, offering a wide variety of character types and styles of writing. Playwrights featured include Mike Bartlett, Howard Brenton, Jez Butterworth, Alexi Kaye Campbell, Ella Hickson, Sam Holcroft, Anna Jordan, Rona Munro, Jack Thorne and Tom Wells, and the plays themselves were premiered at the very best theatres across the UK including the Manchester Royal Exchange, Watford Palace, the Almeida, Bush, Hampstead, Royal Court and Soho Theatres, and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Drawing on her experience as an actor, director and teacher at several leading drama schools, Trilby James equips each duologue with a thorough introduction including the vital information you need to place the piece in context (the who, what, when, where and why) and suggestions about how to perform the scene to its maximum effect (including the characters' objectives). The collection also features an introduction on the whole process of selecting and preparing a duologue, and how to present it to the greatest effect. The result is the most comprehensive and useful contemporary duologue book of its kind now available. 'Sound practical advice... a source of inspiration for teachers and students alike' Teaching Drama Magazine on The Good Audition Guides

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Ella Hickson's version of J.M. Barrie's much-loved story puts the character of Wendy firmly centre stage, in an adaptation that is refreshingly modern but never loses the charm of the original. Winter 1908. Snow is falling across London. Wendy Darling and her brothers sleep peacefully in their bedroom, as their parents bicker downstairs. In a sudden flurry of snow their window blows open, and into their lives tumbles a mischievous boy called Peter, followed by a fractious fairy called Tink. With the aid of a little fairy dust, Wendy agrees to fly with Peter to Neverland, seeing not only the promise of an awfully big adventure, but also the chance to rediscover the key to her parents' lost happiness. Once there, she will give the Lost Boys a run for their money, defeat Captain Hook and his pirate crew, and ultimately, learn what it means to grow up. Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Ella Hickson's Wendy & Peter Pan premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in December 2013, and was revived by the RSC in 2015. It was staged at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, in an international co-production between Bunkamura in Tokyo and Leeds Playhouse in the UK. The play will suit any theatre company or youth group looking to stage a classic tale, full of magic, adventure and strong female roles.

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A short play about death by Caryl Churchill. A funeral party for a man with an adventurous past and a ginger cat that needs a home. Where is he now? Is his heart lighter than a feather? How did he die? And what happens to his friends? Caryl Churchill's play Here We Go was premiered at the National Theatre, London, in November 2015.

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A tender, frank and funny play about a West Country farm struggling to survive the Foot and Mouth pandemic. South Devon, 2001. Disease ravages the countryside, pyres are lit on the horizon, and dairy herdsman Michael is trapped as his farm becomes a battleground for his business, his heritage, and his friendship with local vet Jeff. Ten years on and the battle scars are as evident on their relationship as they are on the landscape. Bea Roberts' play And Then Come The Nightjars charts the struggle of one farm amidst a crisis that saw the slaughter of four million animals and the postponement of a General Election. The play was joint winner of the inaugural Theatre503 Playwriting Award, and premiered at Theatre503, London, in September 2015, before transferring to Bristol Old Vic.

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As violence sweeps the city, a couple escape to an isolated Nordic research facility. On the brink of discovering a cure for the devastating disease, cracks in their marriage start to appear. The outside world grows increasingly hostile and the couple are forced to choose between conflicting allegiances. As they battle for power and truth, the future of the human race is at stake. Suffused with Norse mythology, Paul Murphy's play Valhalla depicts a world where the boundaries of scientific research and the endurance of human love are stretched to their limits. It was joint winner of the inaugural Theatre503 Playwriting Award, and premiered at Theatre503, London, in 2015.

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How do I get a job as a dancer? Where and when should I train? How can I protect my body from injury? How do I become a choreographer? These and many more such questions asked by young or aspiring dancers are answered in this book – the most revealing and instructive book yet on what it means to be a dancer. Here is advice from some of the best dancers and choreographers in the world, crossing the fields of ballet, contemporary, South Asian dance, musical theatre and hip hop, and covering subjects both motivational and mundane, from tapping into your own reserves of creativity and resilience, to the important matter of when to eat your pre-show banana. The twenty-five experts in these pages have performed with the likes of the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Rambert, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures and BalletBoyz; they range from stars of the West End stage to TV talent-show successes and Kylie’s backing dancers – as well as some of Britain’s leading choreographers. They are Carlos Acosta, Matthew Bourne, Teneisha Bonner, Darcey Bussell, Lauren Cuthbertson, Maxine Doyle, Tommy Franzén, Adam Garcia, Jonathan Goddard, Matthew Golding, Melissa Hamilton, Wayne McGregor, Steven McRae, Stephen Mear, Cassa Pancho, Seeta Patel, Arlene Phillips, Arthur Pita, Kate Prince, Matthew Rees, Tamara Rojo, Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy, Hofesh Shechter, Aaron Sillis and Marlon ‘Swoosh’ Wallen.

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World Scenography 1990-2005 is the second volume in a series of large-format, lavishly illustrated books documenting for posterity a collection of significant and influential theatrical set, costume, and lighting designs. This volume covers 1990-2005 and presents designs for 409 productions from 55 countries representing the work of hundreds of designers as researched by a group of more than 100 dedicated volunteers from around the globe. Like all performance-based art, stage design is ephemeral. If it is not recorded, it disappears. And if the designs are not contextualized through scholarship, their meanings will become obscure. World Scenography provides an outstanding visual and contextual record of the art of designing for the stage. The World Scenography series is an official project of OISTAT, the International Organization of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians.

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The second collection of plays from the multi-award-winning Irish playwright, Enda Walsh. This volume of remarkable plays charts the development of one of the most strikingly original playwrights in contemporary theatre. It collects together four full-length plays – three of which were produced by Galway’s Druid Theatre Company, three of which were performed at the Edinburgh Fringe, and two of which transferred to London’s National Theatre – along with two fascinating short plays and a Foreword by the author. The Walworth Farce (2006) is a madcap yet tender play about what can happen when we become stuck in the stories we tell about our lives. The New Electric Ballroom (2008) is a dark, glitter-dusted fable of the emotionally stultifying effects of small-town life. In a savage and riveting take on the classic Greek myth of Odysseus’s wife, Penelope (2010) sees four ridiculous men facing their inevitable deaths, and playing for an unwinnable love. Ballyturk (2014) saw Walsh reuniting with actor Cillian Murphy after Disco Pigs and Misterman for a jaw-droppingly physical play in which the lives of two men unravel over the course of ninety minutes. Also included in this volume are two short plays, My Friend Duplicity (2010), which went on to inspire Ballyturk, and Room 303 (2011). ‘One of the most fiercely individual voices in the theatre today’ New York Times ‘Enda Walsh makes his own distinctive stage music in the fury of his writing talent and the irresistible surge of his blatant theatricality’ Independent

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An epic, hilarious and moving play that takes a sideways look at the First World War. 1915. Jack Twigg, twenty-one years old, enlists in the London Regiment and goes on a journey he never imagined - nor did the rest of the world. On his way, he meets the pioneering medic Harold Gillies, who saves his life and his sanity. And who is the mysterious Doctor Scroggy who appears at night in Gillies' hospital dispensing champagne to the patients? Doctor Scroggy's War premiered at Shakespeare's Globe, London, in September 2014. Howard Brenton is a prolific playwright whose plays have been staged at the Royal Court Theatre, National Theatre, RSC and Shakespeare's Globe among others. Other writing work includes collaborations with David Hare and thirteen episodes of the BBC1 drama series Spooks. 'sharp and entertaining... strikes a chord with our own intensified concern for the returning veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq' - WhatsOnStage 'appealing and engaging... one of the very finest of this year's glut of First World War dramas' - Evening Standard 'Howard Brenton's fine new play... hits you in the heart' - Guardian 'compelling... [a] big, warm, perceptive play' - Telegraph

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When Josie dies in an old people's home, her grandchildren gather to share their memories of her, and her fellow residents feel the effects of her death as her funeral takes place. Is the gulf between the young and old as wide as it feels, or are we fundamentally the same inside whatever age we are? Deborah Bruce's play Same was commissioned as part of the 2014 National Theatre Connections Festival and premiered by youth theatres across the UK. Originally written for young actors, but with roles from teens to eighties, Same can be performed by groups of any age.

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A captivating, darkly comic play that questions what it means to be human. In a world where using technology to erase people's imperfections and disabilities is increasingly normal, one couple is going back to basics. Far from the city, Mark and Violet are looking forward to the natural birth of their first baby. But one of them has a secret that threatens to undermine their perfect world. Stacey Gregg’s Override was first performed at Watford Palace Theatre in October 2013 as part of the theatre's Ideal World Season.

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Within the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the world's leading museum of art and design, there lies an extraordinary wealth of material relating to a single individual: the playwright William Shakespeare. This book presents a fascinating selection of one hundred objects – often surprising, always delightful – chosen by the museum’s curators for the insight each affords into the world of Shakespeare and his plays. The objects are drawn from across the V&A's rich and varied collections. There are paintings, sculptures, pieces of jewellery, engravings and figurines. There are posters and playbills, costume designs, photographs, illustrations and film stills. Also included are original costumes worn by Henry Irving, Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Rudolf Nureyev and Ian McKellen. Amongst the more unexpected objects are a bed (the Great Bed of Ware, which Shakespeare mentions in Twelfth Night), a sword (presented to Edmund Kean after his performance as Macbeth) and a real human skull (Yorick to Jonathan Pryce's Hamlet). Some of the greatest Shakespearean performances and productions of all time are memorialised, including Sarah Bernhardt’s Hamlet, Ellen Terry's Lady Macbeth, John Gielgud's Lear, Olivier's Richard III, Paul Robeson's Othello, many of Henry Irving's performances, David Garrick's celebratory Shakespeare Jubilee of 1769 and Peter Brook's iconic 1970 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Each object is illustrated in full colour and is accompanied by a compact essay on its history, its provenance, and what it has to tell us about Shakespeare and his plays, particularly in performance. The result is a book that not only underlines Shakespeare's infinite variety, but also reveals his astonishing legacy in material things, a substantial pageant that has not faded.

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A timely play based on the true story of a Nobel Laureate. On 3 April 2011, as he was boarding a flight to Taipei, the Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei was arrested at Beijing Airport. Advised merely that his travel "could damage state security", he was escorted to a van by officials after which he disappeared for 81 days. On his release, the government claimed that his imprisonment related to tax evasion. Howard Brenton's play is based on recent conversations with Ai in which he told the story of that imprisonment - by turns surreal, hilarious, and terrifying. A portrait of the Artist in extreme conditions, it is also an affirmation of the centrality of Art and of freedom of speech in civilised society.

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'Love or knowledge: which would you choose?' A moving, comical and eye-opening story of four young women fighting for education and self-determination against the larger backdrop of women’s suffrage. 1896. Girton College, Cambridge, the first college in Britain to admit women. The Girton girls study ferociously and match their male peers grade for grade. Yet, when the men graduate, the women leave with nothing but the stigma of being a 'blue stocking' - an unnatural, educated woman. They are denied degrees and go home unqualified and unmarriageable. In Jessica Swale's debut play, Blue Stockings, Tess Moffat and her fellow first years are determined to win the right to graduate. But little do they anticipate the hurdles in their way: the distractions of love, the cruelty of the class divide or the strength of the opposition, who will do anything to stop them. The play follows them over one tumultuous academic year, in their fight to change the future of education. Blue Stockings received its professional premiere at Shakespeare's Globe, London, in August 2013, directed by John Dove.

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A provocative comedy about sex, love and infidelity. Comfortably married for 25 years, Eleanor's world is turned upside down when her husband begins an affair with their young friend Kate. As the lies mount up, the marriage is stripped bare, revealing illicit desires and hidden passions. A potent mix of desire, intimacy and deception, this new edition of a modern classic and winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best Play was published alongside its return to the West End in 2013. Peter Nichols's Passion Play was first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre, London, in January 1981.

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An inspiring, practical handbook for anyone working with young people to make devised theatre. Devising theatre is a fundamental element of the Drama curriculum, but managing the process is often demanding, difficult and challenging. It can lead even highly competent Drama teachers to feel disempowered. However, help is at hand, whether you're a novice coping with your first exam season, a non-specialist or a veteran in need of some fresh ideas. Making Theatre provides a framework that will take the stress out of the process, and help your students realise their full potential. Joss Bennathan answers the common questions raised by Drama teachers, such as: What is the best way of grouping my students? How do I manage and monitor several groups rehearsing simultaneously? How do I include the erratic attender without jeopardising the work of the others? What degree of directing and guidance is appropriate? He shows how to build the foundations that underpin devised theatre, and provides ten invaluable structures to meet the needs of different students, regardless of their level of skills. These structures will help you to ensure that your students avoid shallow, clichéd work and demonstrate their understanding of the relationship between style, content and form. There is a diverse range of stimulus material including song lyrics, prose extracts, verbatim testimony and artwork, all reproduced in this book - and also available to download and print. The book includes a range of stand-alone exercises covering key areas, including: Voice and movement Characterisation Communication Scene transitions Narrative economy and clarity Performance conventions

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A ferociously gripping play that tackles the challenging moral issues of contemporary military occupation and its effect on the mental health of serving soldiers with startling insight. Falklands War veteran Major Oscar Hadley is sent to a combat zone to probe allegations of severe misconduct by Eddie Clark, a young squaddie from Burnley and part of a self-styled ‘Bully Boy’ unit of the British Army. As the interrogation develops, Oscar begins to discover that ‘truth’ in a modern insurgency can be a point of view rather than a fact. Written with startling insight by author and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig, Bully Boy was first performed at Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, in 2011.

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A devastating drama about family and the ties that bind us together. Sixty five miles. The distance between Hull and Sheffield. The distance between a man and the daughter he's never met. Pete and Rich are two very different brothers. Reunited after nine years, both are seeking forgiveness. Rich needs to confront ex-girlfriend Lucy, and the shadows of his recent past. Pete's search is for the one woman in his life he has never known, his daughter. Matt Hartley's play Sixty Five Miles won the Under-26 Award at the 2005 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, and was first staged by Hull Truck Theatre in 2012.

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It's finals day for the Class of 2011. Benny, Mack, Timp and Cam are due out of their five bedroom flat tomorrow morning; five bedrooms, five chairs, four boys - and one hell of a party. Stepping into a world that doesn't want them, these boys start to wonder whether there's any point in getting any older. How will they find the fight to make it as adults? Tonight marks the end of an era. It's hot. And there'll be girls. Predict a riot. This is a world premiere presented by Headlong theatre company - touring the UK 2012. From award-winning playwright Ella Hickson, whose debut "Eight" won an Edinburgh Fringe First Award and the Carol Tambor 'Best of Edinburgh' Award in 2008.

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‘I want you to remember something… You do what you want with your life. Alright? Break heads if you need to and hearts if you have to, but whatever you do don’t do what I did. Don’t waste yourself.’ Frank has been married for forty five years. Three years ago he fell in love. Luke Norris's taut and tender debut play, Goodbye to All That, asks if it's ever too late to start again. It was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2012.

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A funny, touching and at times savage portrait of a family full of longing that's losing its grip – The Last of the Haussmans examines the fate of the revolutionary generation. Anarchic, feisty but growing old, high-society drop-out Judy Haussman remains in spirit with the ashrams of the 1960s, while holding court in her dilapidated art deco house on the Devon coast. After an operation, she's joined by her wayward offspring, her sharp-eyed granddaughter, a local doctor and a troubled teenager who makes use of the family's crumbling swimming pool. Over a few sweltering months they alternately cling to and flee a chaotic world of all-day drinking, infatuations, long-held resentments, free love and failure. Stephen Beresford's play The Last of the Haussmans was first staged at the National Theatre, London, in 2012, in a production starring Julie Walters and Rory Kinnear.

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'This book gives some of the very best of Shakespeare’s twenty-first-century colleagues an opportunity to share insights that can only come from playing him' Nicholas Hytner, from his Foreword Twelve leading actors take us behind the scenes of landmark Shakespearean productions, each recreating in detail their memorable performance in a major role. Roger Allam on his Falstaff in both Henry IV plays at Shakespeare’s Globe Eileen Atkins on Viola in two productions of Twelfth Night seventeen years apart Simon Russell Beale on Cassius in Deborah Warner’s modern-dress Julius Caesar Chiwetel Ejiofor on his Donmar Warehouse Othello, directed by Michael Grandage Sara Kestelman on Hippolyta and Titania in Peter Brook’s iconic white-box Dream Ian McKellen on one of Shakespeare’s most demanding of roles: King Lear Michael Pennington on stepping in at the eleventh hour as Timon of Athens Alan Rickman on re-evaluating the melancholic Jaques in As You Like It Fiona Shaw on Shakespeare’s Shrew, Katherine, in Jonathan Miller’s production Patrick Stewart on his Las Vegas-set Shylock, a role he has played many times Harriet Walter on Imogen in Shakespeare’s late romance, Cymbeline, at the RSC Zoë Wanamaker on her National Theatre Beatrice, directed by Nicholas Hytner Each actor leads us through the choices they made in rehearsal, and how the character works in performance, shedding new light on some of the most challenging roles in the canon. The result is a series of individual masterclasses that will be invaluable for other actors and directors, as well as students of Shakespeare – and fascinating for audiences of the plays. Shakespeare On Stage: Volume 2 was shortlisted for the 2018 Theatre Book Prize. ‘Absorbing and original… Curry’s actors are often thinking and talking as that other professional performer, Shakespeare himself, might have done.’ TLS on Shakespeare On Stage: Vol. 1

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An acclaimed trilogy of plays exploring the impact of war on ordinary lives. In Being Friends, two young men meet in a Kentish field in 1944 as doodlebugs whizz overhead. One is a conscientious objector, the other an artist, but an intense bond forms between them. In Lost, May Appleton, whose son is serving in the Falklands, receives the visit that every mother dreads. In Making Noise Quietly, set in 1986 in the Black Forest, a German businesswoman takes into her home a fugitive British private and his disturbed stepson. Robert Holman's trilogy of short plays, collectively called Making Noise Quietly, was first performed at the Bush Theatre, London, in June 1986. It was revived by the Oxford Stage Company at the Whitehall Theatre, London, in April 1999 following a UK tour. It received a major revival at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in April 2012.

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Ten years after 9/11, twenty international writers respond to the defining event of our times. Published here are their individual plays, which woven together formed the basis of Decade, an immersive theatrical production from Headlong theatre company, first staged at Commodity Quay, St. Katharine's Dock, London, in 2011. The writers: Samuel Adamson, Mike Bartlett, Alecky Blythe, Adam Brace, Ben Ellis, Ella Hickson, Samuel D. Hunter, John Logan, Matthew Lopez, Mona Mansour, DC Moore, Abi Morgan, Rory Mullarkey, Janine Nabers, Lynn Nottage, Harrison David Rivers, Simon Schama, Christopher Shinn, Beth Steel, Alexandra Wood.

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A funny, moving and topical portrayal of the world in flux, Invisible explores the many sides of migration. Lara left home convinced that hard work and talent would reward her with a better life. Anton was forced to leave his village and finds himself suspended sixteen floors above a city cleaning windows. Malik stands on a beach and looks out towards a country where women apparently walk around half-naked. Felix, a young businessman with a pretty wife and a lucrative future, finds it difficult to get out of bed in the mornings. Amid the world of visas and wind turbines, commuter flights and nightclubs, fairy tales and tabloid press a chance meeting drives disparate lives towards a chilling point of no return... Tena Štivičić's play Invisible was first performed at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, in 2011.

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Stella Feehily brings her trademark wit and emotional insight to this revealing play that goes behind the public face of charities, journalists and NGOs, and is drawn directly from workshops and interviews with aid workers, doctors, human rights defenders, government advisers, journalists and photographers. A seasoned human rights defender and her idealistic young colleague embark on a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. For Mathilde, it's an induction into a life less ordinary. For Sadhbh it's back to madness and chaos away from her lover and London – exactly as she likes it. But while Mathilde lets off steam with a photographer and a spliff, Sadhbh has her own encounter: tea with a smart but brutal young warlord she's investigating. Stella Feehily's play Bang Bang Bang was first performed at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, in 2011, in a production by Out of Joint that subsequently toured the UK, including performances at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in October 2011.

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Gregory Doran's account of his quest to re-discover Cardenio, the lost play written by Shakespeare and John Fletcher. A thrilling act of literary detection that takes him from the Bodleian Library in Oxford, via Cervantes' Spain to the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. Fully illustrated throughout, Shakespeare’s Lost Play tells a fascinating story, which, like the play itself, will engross Shakespeare buffs and theatregoers alike. Doran’s much-praised production of Cardenio for the Royal Shakespeare Company marked the culmination of years spent searching for a famously 'lost’ play co-authored by William Shakespeare. In this book, Doran takes us with him on his quest to unearth every extant clue and then into the rehearsal room as he pieces together a play unseen since its first performance in 1613. The result, as the Guardian attested, is ‘an extraordinary and theatrically powerful piece, one that should both please audiences and keep academic scholars in work for years’.

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A romantic-comedy-thriller about the heat of love and the magic of changing perspectives. Lin Han and Jie Hui have exchanged 536 emails and 72 jpegs, though they've only just met. She's sure he's the man she could fall in love with, if only he'd do it first. But Jie Hui's a little distracted. When his business partner gets shot, things start to get very complicated – especially when he realises his heart is broken. Meanwhile, Madeleine finds herself falling for James, the most attractive man she's met in years. And the feeling seems to be mutual. It's just a pity he's the policeman questioning her about the shooting of her ex-boyfriend… Rona Munro's play Pandas was first staged at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 2011.

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Lucy Kerbel's 100 Great Plays for Women is an inspiring guide to a hundred plays that put female performers centre stage, dispelling the myth that 'There just aren't any good plays for women'. With a foreword by Kate Mosse. Women buy the majority of theatre tickets, make up half the acting profession, and are often the largest cohort of any youth theatre or drama club. And yet they have traditionally been underrepresented on stage. 100 Great Plays for Women seeks to address this gap by celebrating the wealth of drama available for women to perform. Theatre director Lucy Kerbel's myth-busting book features compact and insightful introductions to 100 plays, each of which has an entirely or predominantly female cast, with the female characters taking an equal or decisive role in driving the on-stage action. Also included are ten plays for solo female performers. The result is a personal but wide-ranging reappraisal of the theatrical canon, a snapshot of the very best writing – from ancient times right up to the present day – that has female protagonists at its heart. A fascinating mixture of familiar and less well-known works dealing with a broad range of themes, it is an essential resource for all directors and producers looking for plays to stage, writers seeking inspiration and actors trying to track down a new audition piece. It is also an exciting provocation that will have readers, both male and female, championing their own personal favourites. The book is the culmination of a project by Tonic Theatre and the National Theatre Studio. Tonic Theatre was founded by Lucy Kerbel in 2011 to support the theatre industry in achieving greater gender equality in its workforces and repertoires; it partners with leading theatre companies around the UK on a range of projects, schemes and creative works. The National Theatre Studio provides support and resources for both emerging and established theatre-makers of outstanding talent, and contributes to the National’s ongoing search for and training of new artists. 'A gem of a book… Lucy Kerbel has done hard-working directors and artistic directors, of spaces large and small, a great service.' Kate Mosse, from her foreword

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In late 2006 the everyday life of the quiet rural town of Ipswich was shattered by the discovery of the bodies of five women. The residents of London Road had struggled for years with the soliciting and kerb-crawling that they frequently encountered. As Steve Wright, the occupant of No. 79, was arrested, charged and then convicted of the murders, the immediate community grappled with the media frenzy and what it meant to be at the epicentre of this tragedy. London Road is a verbatim-theatre musical based on those events, with book and lyrics by Alecky Blythe, who recorded extensive interviews with the people of Ipswich, and music by Adam Cork, whose score is a response to the melodic and rhythmic speech patterns captured on those recordings. The musical was developed by the National Theatre, London, and first performed there in the Cottesloe auditorium in April 2011. It won the 2011 Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical. London Road is an experimental and challenging work which reveals the ways in which even the darkest experiences can engender a greater sense of our mutual dependence.

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An alternative autobiography of the well-loved actor and man of the theatre, winner of the Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography. In My Life in Pieces Simon Callow retraces his life through the multifarious performers, writers, productions and events which have left their indelible mark on him. The story begins with Peter Pan – his first ever visit to the theatre – before transporting us to southern Africa and South London, where Callow spent much of his childhood. Later, he charms his way into a job at the National Theatre box office courtesy of his hero, Laurence Olivier – and thus consummated a lifetime’s love affair with theatre. Alongside Olivier, we encounter Paul Scofield, Michael Gambon, Alan Bennett and Richard Eyre, all of whom Callow has worked with, as well as John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Alec Guinness, David Hare, Simon Gray and many more. He writes too about figures he did not meet but who greatly influenced his life and work, figures such as Stanislavsky, Nureyev and Cocteau, as well as Charles Laughton and Orson Welles. And he even makes room for not-quite- legit performers like Tony Hancock, Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howard – and Mrs Shufflewick. The result is a passionate, instructive and beguiling book which, in tracing Simon Callow’s own ‘sentimental education’, leaves us enriched by his generosity and wisdom. 'first rate... the best writer-actor we have' David Hare 'Simon Callow combines zest, originality and passion and has elegantly turned his views and life in the theatre into an astonishing memoir' Richard Eyre

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Two plays from one of the leading dramatists of the 20th century. In Who is Sylvia?, Mark is obsessed with a girl called Sylvia, whom he kissed just once at a garden party when he was 17. He makes a habit of pursuing physically identical girls for the rest of his life - despite having a wife and growing son. Terence Rattigan's play Who is Sylvia? premiered in the West End in 1950, where it ran for over a year. He seems to be offering a bittersweet portayal of his father - and maybe of his own frustrated love life. Also included in this volume is Duologue, a short monologue play for a female actor in which a woman reminisces movingly about her dead husband. Originally written for television and appearing here for the first time in print, Duologue was broadcast in 1968 and subsequently staged in 1976 in a double bill with The Browning Version.

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Love in Idleness is the third in Terence Rattigan's unofficial trilogy of war plays (after Flare Path and While the Sun Shines). It is published here alongside an earlier version of the play, Less Than Kind, which was never staged during Rattigan's lifetime. Michael, eighteen, returns to wartime London from schooling in Canada, brimming with youthful left-wing convictions. Reunited with his mother, he is alarmed as he begins to realise that she is the mistress of a leading member of the war cabinet. Sparks fly between the idealistic younger man and the pragmatic politician, while the mother is torn between them... Love in Idleness was first staged at the Lyric Theatre, London, in December 1944, in a version rewritten by Rattigan at the request of the production's stars, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. The earlier version of the play, Less Than Kind, was never staged and remained unpublished until 2011, the centenary of Rattigan's birth. That version was premiered at Jermyn Street Theatre, London, in January 2011. This volume presents both plays in full so that readers may judge for themselves which is the better. This edition includes an authoritative introduction by Dan Rebellato, a biographical sketch and chronology.

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This delightful stage adaptation combines all the joy and mystery of Kenneth Grahame's much-loved classic with the lightness of touch and playful theatricality that award-winning playwright Mike Kenny is known for. Tired of spring-cleaning, Mole leaves Mole End and ventures out to the riverbank, where he befriends the resourceful Ratty, the gruff Badger and the infamous Toad of Toad Hall (Poop-poop!). Together they explore the Wide World, and the Wild Wood, and try to keep Toad out of trouble…! With ample opportunities for creativity on stage and wonderful character parts for actors, it is ideal for schools and youth theatres, or any drama groups looking for a fresh new version of an old favourite. This version of The Wind in the Willows was first staged at the Theatre Royal, York, in 2010.

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