Search results for ""nick hern books""

A deliciously wicked comedy that proves that the female of the species is not only deadlier, but funnier than the male. From the author of the West End-hit, Honour. Thirty years ago Margot Mason, pioneer of the 1970's Women's Liberation movement and fearless academic, wrote her groundbreaking work, The Cerebral Vagina. Numerous best-sellers and international adulation followed, but now she has writer's block. As she sits in her country house struggling with a deadline, in walks Molly Rivers, student, idealist and daughter of one of Margot's most dedicated followers. Initially flattered, Margot is less pleased when Molly handcuffs her to the desk and pulls a gun... Joanna Murray-Smith's play The Female of the Species was premiered in Melbourne, Australia, in 2006. This revised version was premiered at the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End in 2008.

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Nicholas Wright's version of Wedekind's celebrated erotic masterpiece is the first to be based on the author's original text, restoring the clarity, the daring and the sexual explicitness of a modern masterpiece written a hundred years before its time. Lulu is the story of the decline and fall of a young woman possessed of a fatal combination of sexuality and innocence. She passes from German and Parisian high society to the streets of Jack the Ripper's London – destroying, and ultimately destroyed by, her lovers. Wedekind originally wrote his extraordinary 'monster tragedy' a full twenty years before the First World War. Finding no-one prepared to stage it on account of its sexual candour, he toned it down and rewrote it as two full-length dramas, which is how The Lulu Plays were published and produced throughout most of the twentieth century. Nicholas Wright's version, based on Wedekind's original text, reveals the author's original conception for the play. It was premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2001.

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A comedy drama set in the seedily glamorous world of 17th-century London theatre. John Shank is an actor, talent-scout and trainer of boy players in the 1630s, when women's roles are still played by precocious boys. Up to his eyes in debt, Shank's only hope of escaping destitution is an unpromising 14-year-old would-be, Stephen Hammerton. Can he train up Stephen to be the new star of the London stage? Nicholas Wright's play Cressida was first performed at the Albery Theatre, London, in 2000, in a production by the Almeida Theatre.

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A re-invention of George Eliot's classic story of loss, tragedy and the relentless nature of fate. Outgrowing - but still hopelessly devoted to - her family, Maggie befriends the disfigured Phillip Wakem, son of a local lawyer. But their fathers become embroiled in a bitter legal dispute that only the prosperous Wakem can win, and the Tullivers find fate dealing them the first harsh hand of many. With their father dead, the family must face up to their cold future together. Helen Edmundson's stage adaptation of George Eliot's novel The Mill on the Floss was first performed by Shared Experience Theatre Company in 1994.

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Part Two of the two-part Angels in America, Tony Kushner's epic drama set during the Reagan years in America - now recognised as one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century. Perestroika picks up the stories of Prior and Cohn from Part One: Millennium Approaches. Prior, overwhelmed by the responsibilties of 'prophet' placed on him by the angels, wishes that they would leave him alone. Cohn, now dying from the virus, continues to manipulate the system from his hospital bed. But who is left to look after them now? And does anyone still care? With a climax as bittersweet as it is beautiful, we are left wondering who the real angels are in a disparate world. Perestroika was premiered in November 1992 in a production by the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, directed by Oskar Eustis and Tony Taccone. In November 1993 it received its London debut in a National Theatre production on the Cottesloe stage, in repertory with a revival of Millennium Approaches, again directed by Declan Donnellan. Perestroika won the 1994 Tony Award for Best Play.

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An ominous play set in a cruel world of dark realism, an acknowledged masterpiece from one of the twentieth century's most significant writers. Harry Hope's Saloon is a waterfront bar full of life's failures. They exist barely, living on the knowledge that love is a chimera and despair is perpetual; that the desires they cultivate of an impossible future are only ever pipe dreams, because the only thing to look forward to is death. And then one day Hickey walks in with his own personal brand of hope, and his urge to make them face the truth. Written in 1939, Eugene O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh was first staged at the Martin Beck Theater, New York, in October 1946. It had its UK premiere at the Arts Theatre, London, in January 1958. 'A dramatised neurosis, with no holds barred, written in a vein of unsparing implacable honesty' Kenneth Tynan 'O'Neill, the great patriach of Broadway and the playwright who laid out the map on which all contemporary American drama is still written – Iceman is the first truly great epic of the modern American theatre, and its legacy is the intimate stripping of the soul which we now take for granted in drama worldwide' Sheridan Morley This edition of The Iceman Cometh includes a full introduction, biographical sketch and chronology.

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The nineteenth-century French classic about the swordsman-poet with the nose too large to be taken seriously, in an acclaimed English translation by Anthony Burgess. This translation of Edmond Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Theatre, London, in July 1983, with Derek Jacobi as Cyrano. Burgess's translation was subsequently used as the basis of the sub-titles for the 1990 film version of Cyrano de Bergerac starring Gérard Depardieu.

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A controversial work of extraordinary power, remarkable length (9 acts), and use of asides to express the characters' unspoken thoughts. An outstanding, somewhat Freudian play from one of the twentieth century's most significant writers. Nina Leeds is a mercurial woman, haunted and broken by the death of her fiancé Gordon Shaw in the First World War – after her father had convinced him to postpone the marriage until his safe return. Always searching for the ever-elusive happiness Shaw gave her, she flirts with the feelings of the various men in her life: her friend Charles Marsden, deeply in love with her, is nevertheless too shy to confess; her new husband Sam Evans, with his own history of mental illness and inability to give her a child; Edmund 'Ned' Darrell, so desperate for her to leave Sam that he gives her the child she craves so badly. And then finally comes little Gordon, the result of Nina's affair with Ned, ignorant of his parentage – the only man she really dotes on whilst the others orbit around her... Eugene O'Neill's play Strange Interlude opened on Broadway in January 1928, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This edition includes a full introduction, biographical sketch and chronology.

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

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The true story of the flourishing of a theatre in a wartime Jewish Ghetto. Winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best Play and the Critics Circle Award for Best New Play. Set in the Jewish ghetto of Vilna, Lithuania, in 1942, and based on diaries written during the darkest days of the holocaust, Ghetto tells of the unlikely flourishing of a theatre at the very time the Nazis began their policy of mass extermination. Joshua Sobol's play Ghetto was first performed at the Haifa Municipal Theatre in Israel and the Freie Volksbühne, Berlin, in 1984. This English-language version, adapted by David Lan, was first performed in the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre, London, in April 1989, directed by Nicholas Hytner. This edition of Ghetto includes Jeremy Sams' songs and music from the play, as well as extracts from the original ghetto diary.

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Up-and-coming comics Alex and Ben have been booked in the warm-up spot for a beloved but fading double act's comeback tour. Neither is delighted to be playing to a sparse crowd in a sleepy seaside town – but when it's revealed that a Hollywood director is in the audience, both acts glimpse a final chance for their big break. Cue sabotage, mistaken identity and full-on farcical mayhem, as the performance descends into a desperate battle for the limelight. With the action alternating between offstage and on, and the tone between Noises Off and Morecambe and Wise's old-school charm, The Comeback is a heart-warming exploration of bittersweet nostalgia and the enduring power of friendship. It is the joyful and dazzlingly funny debut play by The Pin's award-winning Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen – 'destined to become one of the great comedy duos' (Radio Times). It opened at the West End's Noël Coward Theatre in December 2020.

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Two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Ovid gave voice to a group of inspirational women – queens, sorcerers, pioneers, poets and politicians – in a series of fictional letters called The Heroines. They were the women left in the wake of those swaggering heroes of classical mythology: Theseus, Hercules, Ulysses, Jason, Achilles… Now, drawing inspiration from Ovid, fifteen leading female and non-binary British playwrights dramatise the lives of these fifteen heroines in a series of new monologues for the twenty-first century. 15 Heroines was commissioned by Jermyn Street Theatre, London, and first performed – online and in three parts – in November 2020, presented in partnership with Digital Theatre. This edition of all fifteen monologues is introduced by directors – Adjoa Andoh, Tom Littler and Cat Robey – and writer, broadcaster and classicist Natalie Haynes. The War tells the untold stories of the Trojan War: Oenone, Hermione, Laodamia, Briseis and Penelope, written by Lettie Precious, Sabrina Mahfouz, Charlotte Jones, Abi Zakarian and Hannah Khalil. The Desert is about women going their own way: Deianaria, Canace, Hypermestra, Dido and Sappho, written by April De Angelis, Isley Lynn, Chinonyerem Odimba, Stella Duffy and Lorna French. The Labyrinth is about the women who encountered Jason and Theseus: Ariadne, Phaedra, Phyllis, Hypsipyle and Medea, written by Bryony Lavery, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Samantha Ellis, Natalie Haynes and Juliet Gilkes Romero.

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A girl is locked in a room. A boy brings another boy flowers. A girl has tied herself to a railing. A boy doesn't know who he is. A girl worries about impending catastrophe. A woman jumps in front of a train. A boy's heart falls out his chest. A butterfly has a broken wing. Laura Lomas's play Chaos is a symphony of dislocated and interconnected scenes. A series of characters search for meaning in a complicated and unstable world. Bouncing through physics, the cosmos, love and violence, they find order in the disorder of each other. Written specifically for young people, the play formed part of the 2019 National Theatre Connections Festival and was premiered by youth theatres across the UK. It offers opportunities for a large, flexible cast of any size or mix of genders, and can incorporate chorus work, movement and music.

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When Ronan's former girlfriend Max turns up at his fashionable Dublin restaurant, he's determined to prove to her how far he's come. But Max has something bigger to discuss. Over the course of one winesoaked evening, old wounds are exposed and new truths uncovered. Gillian Greer's play Meat is a story of class, consent and transgressions buried in the past. How can one couple navigate their shared history when their memories don't quite match up? The play was a finalist in Theatre503's International Playwriting Award in 2018. It premiered at Theatre503, London, in February 2020.

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When two souls collide, the impact can resonate for all eternity. So it was – and so it is – with Heathcliff and Cathy. But if they can't be together, the world that struggles to contain them will simply shatter and burn… Andrew Sheridan's gripping reinvention of Emily Brontë's classic novel Wuthering Heights is a searing and ferocious celebration of passion, of desire – and of the female imagination that created this indelible masterpiece. Exposing a very different but essentially truthful side to literature's most electric couple.

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Two plays, both set in contemporary inner-city London, showcasing the remarkable poetic and theatrical imagination of writer/performer Arinzé Kene. Little Baby Jesus is a lyrical triptych of three intertwining, colliding monologues about the life-changing moments when three young people 'grew up'. Joanne is dipped in rudeness, rolled in attitude and is fighting to keep her life afloat. Sensitive and mature he may be, yet Kehinde struggles with an obsession for mixed-race girls as he eyes his place on the social ladder. Rugrat is the class clown and playground loudmouth, and just wants to make it past GCSEs. Estate Walls is the story of Obi, a young writer who dreams of leaving his estate, but with bad boys Myles and Cain for best friends, there are bound to be setbacks… Both plays premiered at Ovalhouse Theatre in south London, directed by Ché Walker, with Estate Walls winning Arinzé the Most Promising Playwright at the Offies (Off West End Theatre Awards) in 2011. Little Baby Jesus was revived at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in 2019, directed by winner of the JMK Young Director Award Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu.

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Ashley is sixteen. She's lived in Medway for fifteen years and six months. She has 2,354 leaflets on sexual health. She knows exactly how many she has, because she's counted them 1,582 times… At 7.48 p.m. tonight, she will have been going out with Ollie for exactly three months, which he thinks means it's time to take their relationship to the next level; especially given her position as their school's resident expert on sexual health. But what if counting leaflets can't protect Ashley from getting hurt when she decides to take her biggest risk yet? Natalie Mitchell's play Germ Free Adolescent is a fierce, funny and irreverent OCD love story that asks: what exactly is 'normal' anyway? It received its first full production at The Bunker, London, in October 2019, having previously toured Kent where the play was researched and developed with young people, youth workers and mental-health services.

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A darkly comic, smashed-up retelling of Richard III, Shakespeare's classic tale about the lust for power, Teenage Dick reimagines the most famous disabled character of all time as a high-school outsider in junior year: the deepest winter of his discontent. Picked on because of his disability (as well as his sometimes creepily Shakespearean way of speaking), Richard is determined to have his revenge and make his name by becoming president of the senior class. But like all teenagers, and all despots, he is faced with the hardest question of all: is it better to be loved, or feared? 'Retells Shakespeare with a much-needed urgency, providing an arch reminder that the voices of the disabled have often been ignored, terrorised or shouted down from the earliest possibility... Lew's writing neatly blends Shakespearean rhetoric with everyday speech... sharp and highly enjoyable... more plays of this calibre, telling the stories they do, are very much needed and welcome to explore our own ingloriousness' - Broadway World

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‘My name is D’Artagnan, musketeer to King Louis the Thirteenth, defender of the Queen’s diamonds, and the man you tried to poison in that bar.’ When the young and naive D'Artagnan sets out on his quest to become a King's musketeer, he immediately encounters the dangerous femme fatale, Milady de Winter. After discovering that the musketeers have been disbanded, he makes it his mission to get them reinstated. But will his feud with Milady thwart him? And who the heck is she? This riotous adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic novel by John Nicholson (Hound of the Baskervilles, Peepolykus) was originally performed by physical-comedy theatre company Le Navet Bete on a UK tour in 2019, with four actors playing over thirty characters. It was co-produced by Le Navet Bete and Exeter Northcott Theatre. The Three Musketeers will suit any theatre company or drama group looking for a funny, high-energy adaptation of a universally loved story, which is suitable for audiences of all ages. Swashbuckling and rollicking adventure guaranteed – convincing French accents, not so much.

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‘Lock up your sons. And your daughters if the mood fits. Tonight we are getting destroyed.’ Nate's coming to the end of his career, Yaz hasn't the means to get herself one, and Josh's injury could finish his before it's even started. Today's been a bad day – and bad days need great nights out. But when things get out of control, someone might get hurt. A fast and wild ride into the darker side of our celebrity-obsessed culture, with three people who share a single goal: to lose themselves in the night. Written as intertwining monologues, Katherine Chandler's play Lose Yourself premiered at Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, in May 2019.

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‘Iago only suspected it. I know.’ Celebrated actor, singer and political campaigner Paul Robeson is touring the United States of America as Othello. His Desdemona is the brilliant young actress Uta Hagen. Her husband, the Broadway star José Ferrer, plays Iago. The actors are all friends, but they are not all equals. As the tour progresses, onstage passions and offstage lives begin to blur. Revenge takes many forms and in post-war America it isn't always purely personal – it can be disturbingly political too. Based on true events, Nicholas Wright's play 8 Hotels was first staged at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, in 2019, in a production directed by Richard Eyre.

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This comprehensive, hands-on guide to making theatre – perfect for any school, college, youth group or amateur-theatre company – gives you the knowledge you need to take your productions to the next level. Curtain Up! is packed with invaluable advice and practical tips on every aspect of putting on your show, including: Direction: from choosing your project to casting, rehearsals and opening night Vocal Direction: give your singers and actors the confidence to deliver great performances Choreography: step-by-step advice on bringing your choreography to life Production Design: use set, costumes and more to realise your vision innovatively (and come in on budget) Puppets & Props: inject some practical magic into your production – and how to make your own puppets Scriptwriting: beat the blank page and pen your own original show Lighting Design: maximise your resources to create a whole world on stage Publicity: identify your audience, reach them and get those bums on seats Each section is written by an experienced theatre professional, laying out the essentials of every role and offering creative, practical ideas to breathe new life into your own theatre projects. Also included is a section on planning, with tips and worksheets to assist with everything from budgeting to selecting your production team. Wherever and however you make theatre, this inspiring, empowering and highly accessible manual will help make your next production your best yet!

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One bitter Christmas Eve, a cold-hearted miser is visited by four ghosts. Transported to worlds past, present and future, Ebenezer Scrooge witnesses what a lifetime of fear and selfishness has led to, and sees with fresh eyes the lonely life he has built for himself. Can Ebenezer be saved before it's too late? Jack Thorne's joyous adaptation of Charles Dickens's timeless classic premiered at The Old Vic, London, in 2017, in a production directed by Matthew Warchus, and starring Rhys Ifans as Ebenezer Scrooge. It was revived at the Old Vic in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

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Jesse is paranoid and frightened, and it's messing up his relationship, his job, his son and his life. But Jesse has every reason to be frightened; he is increasingly feeling the sting of rising prejudice in every part of his life. Stephen Laughton's play One Jewish Boy explores key moments over an eight-year relationship between a nice Jewish boy from North London and the nice, not-so-Jewish woman with whom he falls in love. An urgent response to anti-Semitism, this bittersweet comedy focuses on one young family's struggle against prejudice, and asks if the fear of hatred could be worse than hate itself? It was first produced at the Old Red Lion Theatre, Islington, in 2018, before transferring to Trafalgar Studios in London's West End in 2020. This edition also includes the short play Three.

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`Okay I'm sorry but I don't want to have a meal. I want to talk and find out a bit more about you and ideally have sex. Or maybe not full sex but - I need to be home by 11 p.m.' Dating again after a complex break-up, Jessie is trying to get her personal life in order - before her kids wake up. From actress, comedian, writer and doodler Jessie Cave, Sunrise is an honest, tender-hearted and uproariously funny story about crying in the woods, sexual misadventures at Harry Potter conventions and Instagram espionage - but also about motherhood and trying to get stuff done. This published edition also includes dozens of never-before-seen doodles by Jessie. She's very happy to (over)share it with you. Sunrise was performed as a critically acclaimed live show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, at Soho Theatre, London, and on tour around the UK.

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'Once you’re a woman doing as she pleases with her body, in someone’s eyes you qualify for hoe status.' Bim, Alex and J have been best friends since school. Loud, funny, inseparable – they are the epitome of girls who just want to have fun. But now they’re twenty-five, life is starting to get in the way. Careers, relationships, expectations... What better way to escape than a trip to Ibiza for a week of sun, sea and selfies? But there’s trouble in paradise when reality catches up with them, threatening to derail their holiday as they are forced to accept no amount of partying will let them escape themselves. The Hoes is a riotous celebration of sisterhood, showing that while life may throw up unexpected turbulence, friendships will last the course. It premiered at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, London, in 2018. The Hoes is Ifeyinwa Frederick’s debut play. It was longlisted for the Verity Bargate Award, and shortlisted for the Tony Craze and Character 7 Awards.

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The only two children born in a North Yorkshire village for a generation cannot imagine ever being apart, but as their lives shift, so too do the ties that bind them. A contemporary, lyrical love story, Blackthorn explores the changes and choices that pull us from the places and people we love. First seen at Leeds Playhouse (formerly the West Yorkshire Playhouse) in 2016, the play was a finalist for the 2017 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and was revived at the 2018 Edinburgh Festival.

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Very few playwrights can be identified from a single line of dialogue – debbie tucker green is one of them. This collection of her first six plays, together with a short introduction by the author, shows a dramatic artist in full control of her craft. born bad (Hampstead Theatre, 2003; winner of the Olivier Award for Best Newcomer) dives headlong into the heart of a conflicted family, unleashing wit, ferocity and verbal dexterity on the way. 'One of the most assured and extraordinary new voices we’ve heard in a long while. Electrifying' Independent on Sunday dirty butterfly (Soho Theatre, 2003) is a mesmerising study of voyeurism, power and guilt. 'There is a sly, controlled power in this writing… And now I cannot get it out of my head' Guardian generations (National Theatre Platform performance, 2005; Young Vic, 2007) follows three generations of a Black South African family comparing cooking skills – but food isn’t the only topic and the family numbers are declining. 'Devastating… will last you a lifetime' Guardian stoning mary (Royal Court Theatre, 2005) confronts the reality of global conflicts, transposing them to the West. 'The words fly around the theatre piercing the dark like gleaming shards of shrapnel' The Stage trade (Royal Shakespeare Company, 2005) shines a light on the world of female sex tourism. 'Poetry laced with shards of broken glass' Guardian random (Royal Court Theatre, 2008) is set over one day, following one family and the effects of one random act of violence. 'The writing seems to penetrate the very heart of grief' Telegraph 'debbie tucker green uses language as deftly as a composer might use notes.' Financial Times

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Two plays from the talented and award-winning Izzy Tennyson. Grotty is a dark, savage and unflinching exploration of lesbian subculture in London. It ipremiered at Bunker Theatre, London, in May 2018. Brute, winner of the 2015 IdeasTap Underbelly Award, is a solo show based on the true story of a rather twisted, horrible schoolgirl. It had a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2015, and went on to a London run at Soho Theatre for their Soho Rising Season.

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The Alexander Technique has revolutionised the physicality, presence and professional lives of generations of actors. By first asking you to identify your own acquired habits, the technique enables you to find new and beneficial ways of moving, thinking, breathing and performing, freely and without unnecessary tension. Written by an experienced teacher of the Alexander Technique, this clear, supportive and highly practical book takes you step by step through a series of eleven guided lessons. Each explores different elements and principles of the technique, including: Training yourself to stay present, and mindful of your environment Thinking (but not overthinking!) in new ways Observing and developing your natural poise Sitting, standing and walking easily and effortlessly Breathing and speaking with release and power Applying all of this work to characterisation and performance With dozens of exercises and assignments to help you immediately put what you've learned into practice, and featuring illustrations throughout, this is the ideal introduction to everything the Alexander Technique has to offer – and its potential to benefit not just your work and career, but your entire life. 'Penny O'Connor's approach to the Alexander Technique is mindful and meaningful. She brings great skill, experience, wit and humanity to her work. I have learnt a great deal from her.' Jeannette Nelson, Head of Voice, National Theatre 'This comprehensive and absorbing book is essential reading for actors – and all other performers too. It moves seamlessly between explanation and experiential learning, and takes the reader on a cumulative and developmental journey of self-awareness and change, whether working alone or in a group. A joy to experience!' Niamh Dowling, Head of School of Performance, Rose Bruford College

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New York City - open for business 24/7. Private equity fund manager Rick has just thrown a lavish engagement party – the same week that his firm forced layoffs in a supermarket chain it owns, causing a PR nightmare. His business partner Seth jumps to the rescue with a publicity-friendly investment that will save an American company and promote job growth. But Jenny – the firm's third partner – has other ideas. She wants maximum returns, no matter what the critics say… Dry Powder is a razor-sharp comedy about the people who shape – and skew – the economy. It was first performed at the Public Theater, New York, before its UK premiere at Hampstead Theatre in 2018, starring Hayley Atwell, Aidan McArdle and Tom Riley.

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‘Last night I cut this. It’s a heart. It’s forever. It’s for you.’ Deep in the night, in a lonely motel room somewhere in central Australia, six lost souls collide – haunted by the same tragic crime. Angela Betzien's The Dark Room is an intricately layered psychological thriller, exposing the startling mistreatment of those most vulnerable in our society, at the hands of those who are meant to protect them. The play was first staged by Black Swan State Theatre Company at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts in May 2009. It won the award for Best New Australian Work at the Sydney Theatre Awards in 2011, and had its UK premiere at Theatre503, London, in November 2017.

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Everyone has another face they hide behind… A radical re-imagining by playwright Evan Placey of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, where civilised society meets seedy Soho in a thrilling collision of Victorian England with the here and now. Written for the National Youth Theatre, and first performed by the company at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End in 2017, Jekyll & Hyde offers a full range of parts for schools and youth-theatre groups looking for a contemporary reinvention of a macabre classic. Evan Placey’s other plays include Consensual, Pronoun, Girls Like That (Best Play for Young Audiences at the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Awards), Mother of Him, Banana Boys and Holloway Jones.

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‘It’s England really, isn’t it? A climate without cloud and rain isn’t honest.’ In the ruins of a garden in rural England, in a house which was once a home, one woman searches for seeds of hope. Mike Bartlett's play Albion was premiered in October 2017 at the Almeida Theatre, London, in a production directed by Rupert Goold. It was revived at the Almeida in February 2020.

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‘We’re cosmic scallies, we dance on the off-beat, we’re wonky shopping trollies, we’re forgotten and trod on, we’re gravy-stained and piss-sodden, we’re the breath between coughing fits.’ Shaun and Dent grew up best friends on the same council estate in Skelmersdale. Dent left, full of ambition, but ten years later she’s back. Can Shaun convince her that Skem is an inheritance better than any house? Jackie's Hagan's Cosmic Scallies is a witty and touching play about class, friendship and absence. It premiered at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in a co-production between Graeae Theatre Company and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, before transferring to the Royal Exchange.

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How far would you go for what you believe in? Kat gets up one morning, leaves her family behind and travels to London to carry out an act that will change her life and, she hopes, everyone else’s. Raw, disturbing and compassionate, James Fritz’s searingly powerful play forces a confrontation with some of the most urgent questions we face. What can one individual do to effect change? And where do we draw the line between absolute commitment and dangerous obsession? Parliament Square won the Judges’ Award in the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting. It premiered at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, in October 2017, before transferring to the Bush Theatre, London.

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Two plays by award-winning writer James Fritz, each asking urgent, pointed and complex questions of the times we live in. Ideal for schools, youth theatres and amateur companies to perform, these versatile and incisive plays demonstrate an innovative playwright at the top of his craft. In Comment Is Free, a journalist forms the centre of a devastating media storm. After being staged by Old Vic New Voices in 2015, the version published here was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016, winning both the Tinniswood and Imison Awards for Audio Drama. Start Swimming is a play about occupation, revolution and what the future holds for today’s youth. One step away from disaster, there’s only one thing left to do: start swimming. First staged by the Young Vic Taking Part department, Start Swimming was also performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017.

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'We're not here forever. You've got to take a chance from time to time. Sometimes you've got to see something you like and grab hold. Don't let it go.' Harry feels like life is beginning to tick down, his autumn years spent quietly caring for the community he loves. Denise thinks life begins in retirement and she’s dancing like she’s still at high school. When their paths cross at the village hall, their understanding of the time they have left changes irrevocably. What do community, growing old, and falling in love really mean? And who gets to decide anyway? Stewart Pringle's play Trestle tenderly but truthfully explores love and ageing, asking how we choose to live in the face of soaring life expectancies. It won the 2017 Papatango New Writing Prize and premiered at Southwark Playhouse, London, in November 2017.

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A young soldier returning from the trenches of the First World War recollects a love that dare not speak its name. Almost one hundred years later, a groom-to-be prepares for his gay wedding. Queers celebrates a century of evolving social attitudes and political milestones in British gay history, as seen through the eyes of eight individuals. Poignant and personal, funny, tragic and riotous, these eight monologues for male and female performers cover major events – such as the Wolfenden Report of 1957, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the debate over the age of consent – through deeply affecting and personal rites-of-passage stories. Curated by Mark Gatiss, the monologues were commissioned to mark the anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men over the age of twenty-one. They were broadcast on BBC Four in 2017, directed and produced by Gatiss, and starring Alan Cumming, Rebecca Front, Ian Gelder, Kadiff Kirwan, Russell Tovey, Gemma Whelan, Ben Whishaw and Fionn Whitehead. They were also staged at The Old Vic in London. This volume includes: The Man on the Platform by Mark Gatiss The Perfect Gentleman by Jackie Clune Safest Spot in Town by Keith Jarrett Missing Alice by Jon Bradfield I Miss the War by Matthew Baldwin More Anger by Brian Fillis A Grand Day Out by Michael Dennis Something Borrowed by Gareth McLean

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A tale of friendship, love and rivalry over thirty years from award-winning playwright Elinor Cook. Lorna and Grace do everything together. They share crisps, cigarettes and crushes. That's what happens when you're best friends forever. But when Lorna gets a place at university, and Grace gets pregnant, they suddenly find themselves in starkly different worlds. Can anything bridge the gap between them? Elinor Cook's play Out of Love was first produced in 2017 by Paines Plough in their pop-up theatre, Roundabout, in a co-production with Theatr Clywd and the Orange Tree Theatre. It was shortlisted for the 2018 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

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Funny, fresh and packed with razor-sharp wit, Kevin Elyot’s landmark drama questions the nature of fidelity and the limits of love. Winner of the Samuel Beckett Award. Tony and Greg have love all figured out. They’re in a committed relationship, with room for a little sex-on-the-side whenever it takes their fancy. Their only rule? Never sleep with the same man twice. Then drop-dead gorgeous Robert walks into their lives, and nobody plays by the rules. Coming Clean was first seen at the Bush Theatre, London, in 1982. This edition was published alongside the thirty-fifth-anniversary production, headlining the King’s Head Theatre’s 2017 Queer Season, and directed by Artistic Director Adam Spreadbury-Maher.

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A one-man comedy-drama from critically acclaimed writer Alan Harris. When you're a small-time drug dealer in Cardiff, it's tough living up to your family's expectations. Marc spends his time avoiding his mum, disguising his cannabis plants with fake tomatoes, and bailing out his old man, who owes £6,000 to local loan shark Oggy. When Marc meets Lisa for the first time in years, things get even messier. Lisa wants Marc. Only, Oggy wants Lisa. Marc just wants to survive the day. Sugar Baby premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017, in a production by Dirty Protest in Paines Plough's pop-up theatre, Roundabout.

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Ex-boxer Taylor Flint wants to put the past behind her. Yet back on the Hull estate where she grew up, she is drawn into running a boxercise class. For Lauren, Jazz, Aneta and Grace, boxercise soon becomes more than a way to lose weight and have a laugh. Life is tough and throwing the punches helps them to face their challenges. The class meet in The Six Bells, which landlady Nora runs as her own community hub. When the pub is threatened with closure, the women refuse to throw in the towel. They commit to an unlicensed Fight Night to raise cash and rally the locals. Yet as the countdown begins, it's Taylor who finds herself on the ropes. Inspired by Hull's original Mighty Atom, Barbara Buttrick, Amanda Whittington's play Mighty Atoms premiered at Hull Truck Theatre in 2017, as part of Hull UK City of Culture.

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‘I fall. And run. I fall. With such sheer force that I hurtle through space…’ Yonni is a seventeen-year-old gay Jewish kid. It’s the last day of term and he’s avoiding everything. The only person he wants to be around, think about, be about... is Adam. And as his night unfolds and falls into chaos – some of it real, some of it not – Yonni pulls us into his world. A world filled with school riots, first loves, beached whales, political demonstrations, sunshine, cinema, sex and rebellion. Set over one unforgettable summer and encompassing all of space and time, Stephen Laughton's one-man play Run explores what it means to love, to lose and how to grow from a boy into a man. First produced at VAULT Festival 2016, the play transferred to The Bunker in March 2017, after a national tour.

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A fiercely funny play by the Tony Award-winning author of The Humans. Three misfit teenagers are brought together by a sex scandal in their school, with nobody taking them seriously until they speak out – with hilarious consequences. Living in a social media minefield, where peers are judgmental and adults are dictatorial and condescending, Howie, Solomon and Diwata grapple with homophobia, online privacy and how to get the lead in the school play. Stephen Karam's Speech & Debate was first performed Off-Broadway at Roundabout Underground in 2007. It received its European premiere at the Trafalgar Studios, London, in 2017, produced by Defibrillator.

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Every Wednesday evening, Jimmy calls Kitty. For precisely nine minutes. At £1.20 a minute. Jimmy is thirty-four, lives with his mum and works at Newport's only drive-through doughnut restaurant. Kitty is an adult chatline operator, living in the granny flat of a topiary enthusiast. Things were looking up for Jimmy, but then he loses his job and he begins to disappear, starting with his hands. Will this unlikely duo succeed in turning each other's world upside down? Alan Harris's play How My Light Is Spent is a funny, hopeful drama about loneliness, longing and being left behind. Winner of the Judges' Award in the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, it premiered in 2017 at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, in a co-production with Sherman Theatre and Theatre by the Lake, Keswick.

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A hilarious new spin on the Hollywood romcom featuring two proposals, two weddings, an elopement and a cast of unforgettable characters. Kate likes her men tall, dark and smouldering. She has a fatal attraction to bad men. Then she meets Steve… Steve is a feminist. Can Kate overcome her love of lipstick, cupcakes and Heathcliff? Can Steve forgo the ethical confetti and learn to be a little bit more ravishing in bed? Can the two of them reinvent romance for the twenty-first century? Samantha Ellis's play How to Date a Feminist premiered at the Arcola Theatre, London, in 2016, ahead of a UK tour.

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A play that challenges our understanding of mythology, and forces us to ask vital questions about military occupation. ‘They ask us. When we sign up. We all get asked. “What do you want to do for the Capital State?” And we reply. “Fight. Help. Assist. Do some good.” Do some GOOD. That’s so horrific it’s funny.’ Jacob doesn’t know why he’s here. He’s been at war for six years, but nobody will tell him why. The Moon is upstairs and he wants so desperately to talk to her, but they just won’t let him. Will she be his salvation? Jay Taylor's debut play, The Acedian Pirates premiered at Theatre503, London, in October 2016, produced by Tara Finney Productions and Theatre503. 'Very funny and very powerful' Hilary Mantel

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