Search results for ""NICK HERN BOOKS""

THE GOOD AUDITION GUIDES: Helping you select and perform the audition piece that is best suited to your performing skills Each Good Audition Guide contains a range of fresh monologues, all prefaced with a summary of the vital information you need to place the piece in context and to perform it to maximum effect in your own unique way. Each volume also carries a user-friendly introduction on the whole process of auditioning. Classical Monologues for Men contains 50 monologues drawn from classical plays throughout the ages and ranging across all of Western Theatre: * Classical Greek and Roman * Elizabethan and Jacobean * French and Spanish Golden Age * Restoration and Eighteenth Century * Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries Also available: Classical Monologues for Women

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Mysterious yet compelling, bewildering yet intoxicating, a play that mixes poetic rhythms with vernacular phrases, rap-song repetitions with complex psychology. 'So what happened to the bitches that gotta conscience? The underclass bitches, the womanist bitches... What about alla them then? Not a one of them would march for me?' A husband and wife row about a prescription. A mother and father row about their son, who has become a child soldier. Two sisters row about which one is superior to the other. It emerges that the younger sister, Mary, has killed the child soldier. She is to be stoned to death... What if all these things were happening here? And what if these people were white? debbie tucker green's play stoning mary was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in April 2005.

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A tough but tender portrait of urban squalor, from the award-winning Siberian-born author of Plasticine. Dima, 19, lives with his alcoholic father. The night before he leaves for the war in Chechnya to do his national service, he throws a party. Lera, 20, lives in the same block. She's convinced that she'll win a fortune if only she can borrow enough money for a lottery ticket. Lera's cousin Yulka, 18, is more interested in seeing just how far Dima will go to prove his devotion to her. Vassily Sigarev's play Ladybird was first performed in this English translation by Sasha Dugdale at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2004.

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A darkly comic fable of brotherly love and family identity, winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Suzan-Lori Parks' play Topdog/Underdog tells the story of Lincoln and Booth, two brothers whose names were given to them as a joke, foretelling a lifetime of sibling rivalry and resentment. Haunted by the past, the brothers are forced to confront the shattering reality of their future. Topdog/Underdog was first performed at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, New York, in 2001. Its UK premiere was at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2003.

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A brilliant and unsettling play from one of the UK's leading dramatists. At the opening of the play, a young girl is questioning her aunt about having seen her uncle hitting people with an iron bar; by the end, several years later, the whole world is at war - including birds and animals. Caryl Churchill's play Far Away is a howl of anguish at the increasing – and increasingly accepted – levels of inhumanity in a world seemingly perpetually involved in conflict. The play was first performed at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, London, in November 2000.

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An unsettling play about infidelity seen from the perspective of the three women involved: the wife, the lover and the daughter. George and Honor have been happily married for thirty-two years. She is a successful writer, he is a revered columnist. They have a perfect understanding of each other. Until a pushy young female journalist - on an assignment to 'profile' George - quite deliberately seeks to undermine that understanding. The fallout is dreadful - but beautifully and convincingly portrayed in all its painful consequences. Joanna Murray-Smith's play Honour was first performed at the Playbox Theatre, Melbourne, Australia, in November 1995. It received its UK premiere, in this revised version, at the National Theatre, London, in February 2003, and was revived in the West End in 2006.

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A gripping play exploring Western guilt towards the Third World, from an author well-known for her award-winning adaptations for Shared Experience and the National Theatre. 'You're not a saint. Saints don't exist. You're just a woman doing her best.' Mark arrives in a village in India to try and find his wife. He doesn't understand what has driven her to abandon her young son. Jane cannot explain why she needed to escape or how she ended up looking after children in India – or what is in the bag she's been holding on to. It is hot, dusty and poor, and a long way from their comfortable life in London. Helen Edmundson's play Mother Teresa is Dead was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in June 2002.

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A darkly comic thriller set in the grim, seething and sometimes hilarious criminal world of Dublin's suburbs. Carl, a youngish but overweight Dublin taxi driver, owes Jackie three grand in gambling debts. Jackie wants the money, and he wants it now, not least because an armed robbery he has master-minded has just gone badly wrong. From there it is all downhill for Carl and his father-in-law George. And not in a good way. Robert Massey's play Rank was first staged by Fishamble: The New Play Company in October 2008 as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival. It transferred to the Tricycle Theatre, London, in November 2008.

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A riotously funny satirical farce in the tradition of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Shakespeare in Love, from the author of The Libertine. Elizabeth I is tottering at death's door. Conspirators are everywhere. Lucius Bodkin, an Elizabethan stand-up comedian, becomes unwillingly involved in the political skullduggery and jiggery-pokery surrounding the ailing queen. The Clink could pass itself off as a long-lost Elizabethan comedy. In fact it is a brilliant political satire offering many sharp parallels with our own times, when art must be sponsored, but to be sponsored it must be 'safe'. Stephen Jeffreys's play was first staged by Paines Plough in 1990 on tour in Britain and Holland.

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A smouldering political allegory about a political protest in a country ruled by a military junta. From the author of Death and the Maiden, written in collaboration with Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America. In a war-torn village the men have disappeared. The women – their mothers, wives, daughters – wait by the river, hope and mourn. Their anguish is unspoken until bruised and broken bodies begin being washed up on the banks and the women defy the military in the only form of protest left to them. Ariel Dorfman’s play Widows is based on his 1983 novel of the same name. The play was first presented by the Traverse Theatre Company at the Cambridge Arts Theatre in March 1997. (An earlier version of the play was first performed at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in July 1991).

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An enchanting collection of witty music and skits about the Bard. Devised for, and first performed by, the Royal Shakespeare Company, this show has been a hit with audiences all over the world. It includes songs and sketches by Alan Bennett, Noël Coward, Stephen Sondheim, Fry and Laurie, Monty Python, Victoria Wood and many more. Christopher Luscombe and Malcom McKee's The Shakespeare Revue was first staged the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1994, later transferring to the West End.

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Two plays, from the award-winning author of Iron. Your Turn to Clean the Stair is a comically sinister study of the tensions in an Edinburgh tenement. Old Mrs Mackie has always been in charge of her stair, the communal stairwell she shares with inhabitants like tough single-mum Kay and brittle young couple Lisa and Brian. And then there's dodgy Bobby who just gets on everyone's nerves. So when – after avoiding his stair-cleaning duties once again – Bobby's body is found at the bottom of the stairs, the question is not did he fall or was he pushed, but whodunnit? Rona Munro's play Your Turn to Clean the Stair was first performed at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in April 1992 and subsequently on tour. Fugue is a psychological horror story about a woman suffering a mental breakdown. Kay, a 24-year-old secretary, encounters her alter ego as she suffers an emotional breakdown in the Grampian Hills. Fugue was first performed at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in April 1983.

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Two compelling and thought-provoking plays from one of the twentieth century's most significant writers. Anna Christie Eugene O’Neill’s epic Pulitzer Prize-winning play about love and forgiveness charts one woman’s longing to forget the dark secrets of her past and hope for salvation. Exiled from her home by the Old Devil Sea to the inland plains, Anna Christie’s life changed for ever at just five years of age. Fifteen years later, she is reunited with the father who sent her away, and sets sail in search of a new beginning. Anna Christie was first staged at the Vanderbilt Theater, New York, in November 1921. Its first London production was at the Strand Theatre in April 1923. The Emperor Jones An expressionistic chronicle of a black dictator's flight from his oppressed subjects. Brutus Jones rules his island's citizens from his opulent palace with tyrannical ease – until the day that they all disappear. They have retreated to the hills, following their former native leader Lem, and plan to revolt. It is time for the Emperor to make good his escape. The Emperor Jones was first performed at the Playwrights' Theater, New York, in November 1920. Its UK premiere was at the Ambassadors' Theatre, London, in September 1925. This edition includes a full introduction, biographical sketch and chronology.

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A collection of seven plays from Scottish writers, reflecting the upsurge in Scottish playwriting in the late twentieth century. Selected and introduced by Alasdair Cameron, the collection draws on adventurous theatres such as the Edinburgh Traverse and touring groups including Wildcat and 7:84, as well as looking further afield. The plays included in this volume are: Writer's Cramp by John Byrne Debut play from the author of The Slab Boys. Losing Venice by John Clifford A parable on the consequences of military adventuring. The Letter-Box by Ann Marie Di Mambro A short play about a woman who's been thrown out of her flat. Saturday Night at the Commodore by Rona Munro A woman remembers a painful teenage betrayal. Elizabeth Gordon Quinn by Chris Hannan Modern classic about an indomitable woman fighting to retain her dignity during the Glasgwegian rent-strikes of 1915. Dead Dad Dog by John McKay A short comedy about a trendy young Scotsman pursued by the ghost of his dad. The Steamie by Tony Roper Celebrates women's work in a Glasgow wash-house.

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When an unhappy estate agent sells a house to Alice, a charismatic social media influencer, the two strike up an unlikely friendship. But as her obsession with Alice's seemingly perfect world intensifies, the lines between online and reality become dangerously blurred. A thrilling, twisted and razor-sharp comedy on the corrosive effects of social media and isolation, Phoebe Eclair-Powell's play Harm premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in May 2021.

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Raffish, urbane and frequently drunk, David Highland has kept a grip on his remote coastal parish through a combination of disordered charm and high-handed determination. When his faith impels him to take a hard line with a bereaved parishioner, he finds himself dangerously isolated from public opinion. As his own family begins to fracture, David must face a future that threatens to extinguish not only his position in the town, but everything he stands for. The Southbury Child is a darkly comic play exploring family and community, the savage divisions of contemporary society, and the rituals that punctuate our lives. It was co-produced by Chichester Festival Theatre and the Bridge Theatre, London, in 2022, starring Alex Jennings and directed by Nicholas Hytner.

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A double bill of plays from the frontline of climate change – an epic portrait of Britain in the grip of unprecedented and catastrophic floods. In On the Beach, glaciologist Will has followed in his father's footsteps, dedicating himself to studying climate change. Back from Antarctica, he visits his parents on the Norfolk coast. With catastrophic flooding growing more likely by the day, he has news that forces long-submerged secrets to rise to the surface. In Resilience, Will, freshly appointed as a scientific advisor, is in Westminster and he's out of his depth. Surrounded by ministers manoeuvring to impress, and with the threat of environmental disaster, can he get them to listen before it's too late? Impressive in scale and chilling as a prediction of our immediate future, the two plays are complementary but can also stand alone. Steve Waters' The Contingency Plan was first performed at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2009, and shortlisted for the John Whiting Award. It was revived, in this fully revised and updated version, at Sheffield Theatres in 2022, directed by Caroline Steinbeis and Chelsea Walker.

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A practical, empowering guide for performers and creatives, helping you navigate and overcome the pressures and demands of a career in the arts.

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‘The end-of-the-world quiz waits for no man, literally. Onwards, ever onwards, to our fiery decline. Round three…’ It's the end of the world. The last night on Earth. An asteroid is heading straight for us and there's nothing we can do about it. Except for maybe host a pub quiz – which is exactly what landlady Kathy and her quizmaster Rav are doing. But, with time ticking, some unexpected guests explode on the scene – Bobby wants to settle old scores, and Fran wants one last shot at love. Alison Carr's play The Last Quiz Night on Earth is an innovative comedy-drama featuring a fully interactive pub quiz for the audience to participate in, complete with real teams, real questions and real swapping each other's answers for marking. It was premiered by Box of Tricks in 2020 on a UK tour, taking in a host of theatres, community venues and pubs. Ideal for performance by amateurs – either in theatres or more unconventional spaces (such as theatre bars and local pubs) – this play offers rich opportunities for audience participation. Quizzing compulsory, alcohol optional.

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This empowering, informative guide explains everything actors need to know about agents – how to find one, what they do, and how to work with them effectively to help you succeed in your career. If you're currently seeking an agent, discover how to research and contact them, and what they're looking for in their clients. And if you already have one, learn how to manage and get the most out of this crucial relationship. Also included are invaluable tips on how to write a great CV; obtain attention-grabbing headshots, showreels and voicereels; prepare for and excel at auditions; embrace social media; protect your mental health; and much more. The Compact Guides are pocket-sized introductions for actors and theatremakers, each tackling a key topic in a clear and comprehensive way. Written by industry professionals with extensive hands-on experience of their subject, they provide you with maximum information in minimum time.

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Award winning playwright Chris Bush reimagines the Faust myth to explore what we must sacrifice to achieve greatness, and the legacy that we leave behind. Faustus: That Damned Woman is a radical new work in which the iconic character of Faustus becomes a woman who makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to traverse centuries and change the course of history. It is premiered at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in January 2020, in a co production with Headlong and Birmingham Repertory Theatre, prior to a UK tour. An epic, ambitious, gothic, baroque fever dream of a piece that takes a well known classic and inverts it to say something truthful about the contemporary female experience.

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It's 1975. The Millgarth Incident Room in Leeds is the epicentre of the biggest manhunt in British history, for one of the most notorious serial killers: the Yorkshire Ripper. With public and political pressure mounting, hundreds of officers must work around the clock and resort to increasingly audacious attempts to end one man's campaign of terror. Olivia Hirst and David Byrne's 'beautifully crafted' (Guardian) play goes behind the scenes to investigate the case that nearly broke the British police force. The Incident Room was first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019, transferring to New Diorama Theatre, London, in 2020, ahead of an Off-Broadway run.

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'I'm not broken. I'm a unique spark of life. We all are.' Jess has a great life: a job she loves, a sharp sense of humour and a close group of friends. When austerity threatens the world she has worked hard to build, Jess makes a stand to protect those she holds most dear. Capturing the humour, sadness and joy of everyday life, Francesca Martinez's play All of Us is a passionate and timely look at the human cost of abandoning those who struggle to fit in. It premiered at the National Theatre, London, in August 2022, in a production directed by Ian Rickson, with an ensemble cast featuring Francesca Martinez in the role of Jess. It was shortlisted for the 2022 George Devine Award.

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‘He’ll look different. My little boy. When I get out. Like… to the picture I’ve got in my head. Be like meeting him all over again. A whole new start.’ Instead of GCSEs, Cain, Riyad and Jonjo got sentences. Locked up in a young offender institution, they trade sweets, chat shit, kill time – and await fatherhood. Grace's job is to turn these teenagers into parents, ready to take charge of their futures. But can they grow up quickly enough to escape the system? Winner of the 2019 Papatango New Writing Prize, Samuel Bailey's Shook is a tender and honest play examining the young men society shuts away. It was premiered by Papatango at Southwark Playhouse, London, in October 2019, followed by a UK tour. Samuel Bailey was the winner of the Times Breakthrough Award at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2021.

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A passionate, illuminating exploration of Shakespeare's greatest plays and characters, by the director of acclaimed theatre company Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory. Combining close textual analysis with practical insights based on his extensive experience of directing Shakespeare's plays, Andrew Hilton delves into a fascinating range of topics such as emotional truth in the comedies, the importance of the plays' social dynamics, the choice of settings and periods, making and withholding moral judgements, working with different versions of the texts, and even adapting them. Throughout, Hilton urges us as audiences and theatre-makers to set aside our preconceived notions, and instead to approach Shakespeare's plays with an open mind, moment by moment, so that we can connect with them in fresh and vital ways. 'The clear-sightedness, wit and depth of knowledge and insight into the plays and their worlds is unparalleled... should be required reading for everyone approaching these plays... A fabulous book, brimful of wisdom and revelations and a gift to anyone interested in Shakespeare or, quite frankly, in people' John Heffernan, actor 'Andrew Hilton's Tobacco Factory Shakespeares were an inspiration... What audiences saw and heard was not a display but an uncovering. His productions did not add to the drama: they revealed it... In Shakespeare on the Factory Floor, Hilton has once again lit up Shakespeare: lucid and penetrating on the page and on the stage' Susannah Clapp, theatre critic of the Observer 'The detail and simplicity of Andrew Hilton's directing is as potent in his writing as it is in the rehearsal room... A wonderful book' Dorothea Myer-Bennett, actor 'Andrew Hilton has used his rich experience of many years to create a penetrating, timely and distinctive study of the plays… I only wish this book had been around when first I read Shakespeare. It would have opened my eyes and my mind much earlier' Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, Former Rector of the Royal College of Art and Chair of Arts Council England 'Andrew Hilton's fascinating book reveals how theatrical performance offers insights into longstanding questions of literary interpretation… Written in an engaging and readable style, it will be of interest to actors, directors, scholars and anyone who enjoys reading Shakespeare's plays or seeing them performed' Lesel Dawson, Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Bristol

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'Your hobbies are limited to Arab Idol and cooking lentils and having sex in fields late at night.' The year is 2043, and Reem and her husband Sayeed are going to share a 'Serious Play about Palestine'. Things are tense. People are on the edge. The Fifth Intifada is right around the corner. But on a contested piece of land near their village of Beit al-Qadir, Reem and Sayeed are about to go dogging. Don't worry, you're allowed to laugh. Sami Ibrahim's play two Palestinians go dogging uses the lens of humour to explore how the everyday becomes political and the political becomes everyday in a conflict zone. The play won the Theatre Uncut Political Playwriting Award in 2019 and was premiered in May 2022 at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, London, directed by Omar Elerian.

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William Thornhill arrives in New South Wales a convict from the slums of London. Upon earning his pardon he discovers that this new world offers something he didn't dare dream of: a place to call his own. But as he plants a crop and lays claim to the soil on the banks of the Hawkesbury River, he finds that this land is not his to take. Its ancient custodians are the Dharug people. A deeply moving and unflinching journey into Australia's dark history, Andrew Bovell's adaptation of Kate Grenville's acclaimed novel The Secret River was first performed by the Sydney Theatre Company in 2013. The play had its UK premiere in August 2019, as part of the Edinburgh International Festival, before transferring to the National Theatre, London. This edition includes an introduction by adapter Andrew Bovell, a foreword by historian Henry Reynolds, and music used in the original production. 'The Secret River is a sad book, beautifully written and, at times, almost unbearable with the weight of loss, competing distresses and the impossibility of making amends' Observer on the novel The Secret River

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Perfect for playwrights and screenwriters of all levels of experience, The Writer's Toolkit will equip you with everything required to kickstart your creativity, develop your craft, and make your writing the very best that it can be. Written by an experienced playwright, screenwriter and producer, this essential book is packed with almost two hundred practical exercises, techniques and ideas for every part of your process, designed to be used either solo or in a group. It includes: Writing warm-ups to focus your mind and get your creative muscles in gear Dozens of exercises to strengthen fundamental elements of your writing such as developing characters, improving dialogue, layering in subtext, creating a strong setting and constructing a compelling plot Immersive-writing techniques to lift the world of your script off the page and allow you to shape it more effectively A blueprint for writing a ten-minute play – a great way to practise your craft, explore a new idea and add to your portfolio A Submission Surgery with exercises and pointers so you can review and fine-tune your completed work before sending it out 101 quick-fire writing prompts to help you warm up, take a break from your current project, or just keep you feeling productive Also included are mindful meditations to use at the beginning and end of your writing sessions, to help you relax, boost your productivity and maximise your creative output. Whatever you need as a writer – whether that’s to crack a problem in your current script, develop ideas for future projects, build up your skills and experience, or bust through writer’s block – this book will give you the right tools for the job. So get writing! 'A generous and inventive book, packed full of the creativity it is bound to inspire' Anna Jordan, playwright and screenwriter (Succession, Killing Eve, Yen) 'An enthusiastic, encouraging guide with endless tips to make every stage of the writing process not only doable but enjoyable too' Diane Samuels, playwright and author (Kindertransport)

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Sarah gets spat at in the street. Frankie doesn't go to her lectures. In the aftermath of the accident that brought them together, neither expects to find solace in the other's company. Between hate mail and novelty teddy bears, the two women become something like friends. They want to punish themselves. They might save each other. Holly Robinson's debut play soft animals is a tender and unflinching story about motherhood, self-destruction and the way women help each other heal. It was shortlisted for the Tony Craze Award in 2017, and premiered at Soho Theatre, London, in February 2019.

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A psychological thriller excavating the fault lines that separate the entitled from the rest, Alys, Always is adapted for the stage by Lucinda Coxon from Harriet Lane's gripping novel. Frances works on the books pages of a Sunday newspaper. She's quiet and capable, but nobody takes much notice: her face is pressed to the window, on the outside, looking in. One evening, driving back to London after visiting her infuriating parents, she comes across an overturned car crumpled on the side of the road. She waits with the injured driver, Alys Kyte, until the ambulance arrives. Later, when Alys's famous family gets in touch, Frances finds herself ushered for the first time into the world on the other side of the window. And she begins to wonder: what will it take to belong? This stage version of Alys, Always was premiered at the Bridge Theatre, London, in February 2019, directed by Nicholas Hytner and starring Joanne Froggatt and Robert Glenister. 'Wonderfully observed… a gripping, psychologically complex achievement, whose greatest success is the lingering sense of unease' Sunday Telegraph on Harriet Lane's novel

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‘Listen!’ In this collection of new essays, the world-renowned director Peter Brook offers unique and personal insights into sound and music – from the surprising impact of Broadway musicals on his famous Midsummer Night's Dream, to the allure of applause, and on to the ultimate empty space: silence. It is studded throughout with episodes from the author's own life and career in opera, theatre and film – including working on many of his most notable productions, and intimate first-hand accounts of collaborating with leading figures including Truman Capote, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh – and ranges across musical styles and cultures from around the world. Playing by Ear is full of Brook's shafts of insight and perception, and written with his customary wit and wisdom. It is a rich companion to his earlier reflections on Shakespeare in The Quality of Mercy and on language and meaning in Tip of the Tongue.

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An anthology of seven of the best plays from VAULT Festival 2019, London's biggest and most exciting arts festival. 3 Billion Seconds by Maud Dromgoole is a hilarious, macabre love story about a pregnant couple of activists attempting to offset the carbon footprint of their unborn baby's life. Alcatraz by Nathan Lucky Wood is a thrilling play about family and social care that follows Sandy on her daring, Christmas mission to emulate Clint Eastwood and bust her gran out of lock-up. Collapsible by Margaret Perry is a funny, furious monologue about navigating a world that cares so much about you keeping it together, it doesn't notice you falling apart. Inside Voices by Nabilah Said blends dark comedy and magic realism in its subversive portrayal of three Singaporean Muslim women challenging the bounds of freedom, feminism and faith in a place that isn't home. Open by Christopher Adams and Timothy Allsop is a frank, refreshing romance that draws on interviews, conversation and private correspondence to explore the authors' real-life open marriage. JERICHO by MALAPROP Theatre is an off-kilter, high-energy, form-pushing play about what pro-wrestling and politics have in common. It asks big questions in weird ways, like what can a pop-culture journalist do to stop the world burning down? Thrown by Jodi Gray sees a child-psychologist attempting to record what she's spent her whole life trying to forget, as the memories of former patients collide with her own. 'A major London festival … showcasing new and rising talent' Independent on VAULT Festival

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'Round ma way, the boys would drive tay the top of the car park; right tay the edge full speed. I wanted tay get involved. They said, "Oh aye Sarah, no bother, if you sit on Gerro's knee, he'll hold you nice an tight." Well, I thought tay mysel, that sounds like a full breach of health an safety regulations. I drive the car now lads. An get paid to do it.' Stationed on the tense border between Estonia and Russia, Cormack, Findlay and Davies are the first generation of women to ever serve in the British infantry. They've aced physical tests only five per cent of female soldiers can pass – they've been trained to shoot, fight and kill. But everyone around them questions whether they should even be allowed to serve. And now they're about to be tested to their limits. Kate Bowen's taut, funny and powerful play follows three pioneering young women in the world's most dangerous workplace. Close Quarters premiered at Sheffield Theatres in 2018, in a co-production between Sheffield Theatres and Stockroom, and directed by Stockroom's Artistic Director Kate Wasserberg. It was chosen as one of the Observer's Top 10 Theatre Shows of 2018.

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‘I just thought it would be a secret I’d have to die with. And now – I think it’ll be what kills me.’ Life as the director of a Muslim funeral parlour isn’t always easy, but Ayesha has things pretty sorted. She and Zeyd share everything: a marriage, a business, a future. Until Tom walks in to organise his boyfriend’s funeral. A snap moral decision, informed by the values of Ayesha’s community and faith, has profound consequences. Forced to confront a secret she has hidden even from herself, Ayesha must decide who she is – no matter the cost. Iman Qureshi's play The Funeral Director is an incisive and heartfelt story of sexuality, gender and religion in twenty-first-century Britain. It won the 2018 Papatango New Writing Prize and premiered at Southwark Playhouse, London, in 2018.

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‘I want to return to my home.’ A Northern British coastal town. Three young men are coming home from war. Their stories, set at different times over a hundred years, are beautifully interwoven in Anna Jordan's The Unreturning, a play that explores the profound effect that war has on young people’s lives, and asks – what does coming home really mean? What is home? And when experience has shattered you into a million pieces, will home help to put you together again, or treat you as an ugly truth it does not want to confront? The Unreturning was premiered at Theatre Royal Plymouth in September 2018, in a co-production between Frantic Assembly and Theatre Royal Plymouth, before touring the UK.

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Two rich and startling monologues from award-winning actor and playwright Karen Cogan. Cork, 1998. An obsessive odyssey through the city. Dancing on tables, 3 a.m. breakfast rolls and waking up, polluted, on the wrong person’s doorstep. Brenda and her ferocious best pal are part of the city furniture. But one of them is realising that she's got it all, all of it, horribly wrong and it might be too late. Drip Feed is an infectious, dark comedy about the messiness of being young(ish), female and queer. The play was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award 2017, and premiered at Assembly George Square as part of the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, in a co-production between Fishamble and Soho Theatre, London. Also included in this volume is Karen Cogan’s first play The Half Of It, a relentless, darkly lyrical work about a life, lived unseen, which won the Stewart Parker Award in 2018 after a sold-out run at the Dublin Fringe Festival, produced by Mommo Theatre. In a London flat, a Cork woman is climbing the walls. She lives alone, eating dry digestives and hiding from the postman. She hasn't stepped outside in six years. Does she definitely still exist?

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‘The history of Manchester jumps off its axis. The history of England jumps off its axis. 2 a.m., 8th July, 1981, all the major cities of England burn.’ Crackling with anger, humour and authenticity, Ed Edwards’ play The Political History of Smack and Crack chronicles the fallout for communities crushed by the heroin epidemic at the height of Thatcherism. Shot through with home truths about the road to recovery, this is an epic love song to a lost generation inspired by the playwright’s own personal experience. The Political History of Smack and Crack was shortlisted for the Theatre503 Playwriting Award. It was first performed in Paines Plough’s Roundabout at Summerhall at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2018, before transferring to Soho Theatre, London, produced by Most Wanted and Offstage Theatre in association with W14 Productions, Alastair Michael and Soho (co-commissioners). ‘A terrific honest, funny, moving firecracker of a play’ Roy Williams OBE

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Two women from very different worlds: Karen has built a picture-perfect life while Gail struggles to keep hers together. When Gail re-enters Karen’s life from out of the blue, she brings with her everything Karen has been running from… Katherine Chandler's tense, revealing play explores what it means to care for one another and asks who, in a time of increasing disconnect, we expect to look after us. Thick As Thieves was premiered at Theatr Clwyd, Mold, in October 2018, in a co-production between Clean Break and Theatr Clwyd. Acclaimed theatre company Clean Break produces ground-breaking plays with women writers and actors at the heart of its work. Founded in 1979 by two women prisoners who needed urgently to tell their stories through theatre, the company today has an independent education programme delivering theatre opportunities to women offenders and women at risk, in custodial and community settings.

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"You've endangered us. You've endangered your family." During an attack on London, 20 year old Imogen joins a campaign offering refuge to victims. Before her family have even had a chance to have a reasonable discussion, John is at their door. He is different to them. He isn't what they expected. And although they'd never admit it to themselves, he isn't necessarily what they want. "You will do anything, in the end, to keep the people you love safe." One for Sorrow is Cordelia Lynn's second play to have its world premiere at London's Royal Court Theatre, following her acclaimed debut Lela & Co.

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‘I want the world to change shape.’ ‘I'm not sure theatre can do that.’ ‘Well then where am I meant to take that impulse because I'm very serious about the endeavour?’ A young writer challenges the status quo but discovers that creative gain comes at a personal cost. The Writer premiered in 2018 at the Almeida Theatre, London, in a production directed by Blanche McIntyre. The Writer was a finalist for the 2019 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. 'A playwright who grabs the zeitgeist' Independent

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When her first play, Eight, transferred from student theatre in Edinburgh to the West End and then New York, Ella Hickson was still in her early twenties. She has since built on that promise with a series of engaged and engaging dramas that pit romanticism and optimism against the realities of life as a young person in Britain. Eight (Edinburgh Fringe, 2008), that astonishing first success, is included here: a state-of-the-nation group portrait in monologues, ‘an interactive Talking Heads for 21st-century teens and twentysomethings’ (Independent). Also included is Hot Mess (Edinburgh Fringe, 2010), a dark and lyrical tale about twins born with just a single heart between them, and Precious Little Talent (Edinburgh Fringe, 2009; West End, 2011), about two young adults graduating into a world that’s sold them down the river. In Boys (HighTide Festival, Nuffield Theatre Southampton and Soho Theatre, 2012), the Class of 2011 faces a tricky transition to adulthood in a play that ‘powerfully captures the mood of a generation’ (Independent). The volume also contains an introduction by the author and two short plays: the previously unpublished PMQ, part of the Coalition season at Theatre503, London, in 2010; and Gift, first seen as part of Headlong’s immersive theatre production Decade in 2011. ‘On the cusp of greatness’ Independent

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‘We talkin’ about life. We talkin’ about being treated as equals. We talkin’ about not being shot down in the streets and motherfuckers gettin’ off scot-free.’ Lynchburg, Virginia, on the former site of a cotton mill. Fourteen-year-old Ruffrino is struggling to make sense of his place in an impoverished world filled with seemingly random killings of young black men. As his anger towards reality grows, he moves further away from his family. Losing himself online, Ruffrino’s world sinks around him while he battles to wake up the zombies and prove by any means necessary that Black Lives Matter. Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm's play Br’er Cotton was first seen at Kitchen Dog Theatre, Texas, in 2017, and received its UK premiere at Theatre503, London, in 2018. It was shortlisted for both the Theatre503 Playwriting Award 2016 and the Relentless Award, and won the 2019 Off-West End Award for Best New Play.

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Essential warm-up exercises for anyone who wants to use their voice more effectively. If you're using your voice in a professional capacity - as a performer, a public speaker, a teacher, or even for long hours over the telephone - then warming up is an essential part of ensuring best practice and vocal health. On this CD, Jeannette Nelson, Head of Voice at the National Theatre, provides three complete and easy-to-use voice warm-ups that she uses with actors and non-actors alike. Simply press play, and follow the instructions, either on your own or in a group. Each warm-up helps you release physical tension and prepare your breathing, open up your voice and improve your resonance, and get the speech muscles in your mouth working freely. There is also a warm-down for after you have been using your voice, to release any tensions, re-establish good muscle action, and keep healthy for the next time. `Jeannette's warm-up sessions are tremendous' Zoë Wanamaker CBE `Jeannette's knowledge is astonishing, and her approach so gentle and effective' Derren Brown `She makes voice production endlessly fascinating and fun. There is no one better' Rory Kinnear

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Two plays showcasing the exciting and distinctive voice of Josh Azouz. Buggy Baby is a horror comedy about trying to build a normal life when nothing about life is normal. Jaden, Nur and baby Aya have escaped another country and ended up in a rotting room in London. While Nur is at college, Jaden chews leaves and has visions of giant rabbits with burning red eyes. He thinks Aya is someone else, someone dangerous. But she’s just a baby. Isn’t she? The Mikvah Project is a playful and poignant play about two men who meet every Friday in a north-west London Mikvah, a traditional Jewish pool used for ritual cleansing. Avi is married but childless. Eitan’s voice is breaking and he’s having wet dreams. At the Mikvah they talk about football, the synagogue choir, women. And as their bond deepens, a transformation begins… Both plays premiered at The Yard, London: Buggy Baby in 2018, directed by Ned Bennett, and The Mikvah Project in 2015, directed by the theatre’s Artistic Director, Jay Miller.

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

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Family, food, music and mourning. Gloria is gravely sick. When her time comes, the celebration begins; the traditional Jamaican Nine Night Wake. But for Gloria's children and grandchildren, marking her death with a party that lasts over a week is a test. Nine nights of music, food, sharing stories - and an endless parade of mourners. Natasha Gordon's debut play Nine Night is a touching and very funny exploration of the rituals of family. It is premiered at the National Theatre in April 2018.

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A celebrated war photographer, whose audience with Osama bin Laden prior to 9/11 shaped his career. A young Syrian, six months pregnant, on an ageing fishing boat in the Mediterranean, sinking fast under the weight of refugees. Through two alternating monologues, Borders provides an urgent, moving and occasionally hilarious commentary on one of the great crises of our time. Henry Naylor's play premiered at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it won the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Fringe Award and a coveted Fringe First, before North American performances at the Spoleto Festival, Charleston, and New York Theatre Workshop in 2018.

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'Destruction never approaches weapon in hand. It comes slyly, on tiptoe, making you see bad in good and good in bad.' The devastation of war is tearing the Bharata family apart. The new king must unravel a mystery: how can he live with himself in the face of the devastation and massacres that he has caused. In Battlefield, the internationally renowned team of Peter Brook, Marie-Hélène Estienne and Jean-Claude Carrière revisit the great Indian epic The Mahabharata, thirty years after Brook's legendary production took world theatre by storm. An immense canvas in miniature, this central section of the ancient text is timeless and contemporary, asking how we can find inner peace in a world riven with conflict. It was first performed at Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris, in 2015, before an international tour including a run at the Young Vic Theatre, London, in 2016.

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