Search results for ""Author Martin Crimp""

Martin Crimp's Writing for Nothing collects texts written over the last thirty years. Included here are short plays, unmistakably the work of the internationally acclaimed author of Attempts on Her Life; texts for opera, beginning with the modern masterpiece Written on Skin, created with composer George Benjamin; and two stories that provide a new perspective on Crimp, revealing a writer capable of bringing all of his brilliance to prose. Unsettling, elegant and incisive, Writing for Nothing is a vibrant and varied anthology, celebrating a writer with a rare talent for illuminating the power structures behind our everyday world.

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'Young girl lives on shore of lake since childhood - like you. Loves the lake - like the seagull. Is happy and free - like the seagull. Then one day a man turns up, sees her, and mindlessly destroys her.' Martin Crimp's pared down version of Chekhov's first great play reveals the full force of its comedy and cruelty - whether it's love, sex, incredible fame, or simply a trip into town, each character is denied the thing they most crave. The Seagull, in a new version by Martin Crimp, premieres at the National Theatre, London, in June 2006.

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This collection of early plays confirms Martin Crimp's reputation as one of the most original and exciting talents writing for the theatre today. It includes the plays Dealing with Clair, Play with Repeats, Getting Attention and The Treatment, and is introduced by the author.

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If you think you know what it's like to be me you are seriously deluded.Is it appropriation to invent a voice - or is it an act of empathy? If a playwright's job is to make dialogue, is there a limit to how many characters she / he / they are entitled to invent? Who can these people be? And what if an invented voice says things that even the author would prefer not to hear? With characteristically provocative humour, Martin Crimp's latest work brings 299 unique characters to the stage. Not One of These People, a co-production between the Royal Court Theatre, Carte blanche, and the Carrefour international de théâtre, premiered at Théâtre La Bordée, Québec City, in June 2022, and at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in November 2022.

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

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'It is a stress, yes, to deal, undeniably, to deal with people, yes, but That That That is what I enjoy. That is what I’m good at, okay?' Clair works in real estate. Mike and Liz are selling. James wants to buy. He’ll only deal with Clair. Martin Crimp's play Dealing with Clair premiered in 1988 at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond. This edition was published alongside a new production of the play at the Orange Tree, in October 2018, in a co-production with English Touring Theatre.

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This volume presents two plays written for Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg and not yet staged in English.The Rest Will Be Familiar to You from Cinema rewrites Euripides' Phoenician Women. As Thebes braces itself for civil war, a group of terrifying young women wrest control of the action from the power-players of Greek myth. 'A brilliant new interpretation of Euripides' ancient drama.' Süddeutsche Zeitung'Innovative and gripping theatre.' Hamburger AbendblattThe Rest Will Be Familiar to You from Cinema was voted Best Foreign Play 2013 by Theatre heute magazine. In Men Asleep, the late-night arrival of a younger couple at Julia and Paul's tasteful townhouse apartment exposes the fault line between generations and probes our assumptions about gender and power. 'A mysterious and disquieting "nocturne" about human relationships.' Die Welt'Martin Crimp is less interested in deconstructing the bourgeoisie than in investigating the altered relations between men and women . . . The ending of his intelligent and entertaining play is ambiguous and potentially terrifying.' Der Freitag

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Inspired by the fast-moving scenes and vulnerable, complex characters of Elizabethan drama, this new opera by George Benjamin and Martin Crimp considers what space, if any, exists for love and human affection inside the dangerous machinery of power. A king, compelled to choose between love and political hard-headedness, makes a fatal decision, allowing his country to slide into civil war, and setting his own wife and son implacably against him. Lessons in Love and Violence is Benjamin and Crimp’s third operatic collaboration, following Into the Little Hill and the critically acclaimed Written on Skin.

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Go on then: lock the doors and see what happens. Show me how much power you really have.When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other breaks through the surface of contemporary debate to explore the messy, often violent nature of desire and the fluid, complicated roles that men and women play.Using Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela as a provocation, six characters act out a dangerous game of sexual domination and resistance.When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other premiered at the National Theatre, London, in January 2019.

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Cruel and Tender'A mordantly knowing modernisation of Sophocles's Trachiniae... The approach here manages to be at once lethally level and capable of surges of anguished feeling... Highly recommended.' IndependentFewer Emergencies'A triptych of vicious modern fairy tales that brings the nightmare right back and stabs you through the soul.' GuardianThe City'Although this is the most disquieting play in London, there is a curious exhilaration about both the performance and Crimp's confrontation with our perpetual unease.' GuardianDefinitely the Bahamas'A summation of a life lived vicariously, at the margins of other lives, between suffocating suburban walls; and the play is as unflinching as it is unnerving.' The TimesPlay House'Play House concerns the volatility and vulnerability of love, as a young couple, Simon and Katrina set up home... Unusually for Crimp, the play both begins and ends with moving declarations of love. Suddenly this usually chilly dramatist seems unexpectedly blessed with a warm heart.' Daily TelegraphIn the Republic of Happiness'Crimp goes so far as to call it "an entertainment in three parts," and it rocks along like a dystopian vaudeville... The actors are imprisoned and liberated at once, their strange between-worlds condition a source of joy, intemperateness and above all a care for our diversion... My favourite play of the year.' What's on Stage

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Attempts on her Life 17 scenarios for the theatre by Martin Crimp Attempts to describe her? Attempts to destroy her? Or attempts to destroy herself? Is Anne the object of violence? Or its terrifying practitioner? Martin Crimps 17 scenarios for the theatre, shocking and hilarious by turn, are a rollercoaster of late 20th-century obsessions. From pornography and ethnic violence, to terrorism and unprotected sex, its strange array of nameless characters attempt to invent the perfect story to encapsulate our time. Since its premiere 10 years ago, Attempts on her Life has been translated into more than 20 languages. This is its first major UK revival. Attempts on her Life 17 scenarios for the theatre by Martin Crimp

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This second collection of Martin Crimp's work includes the plays Attempts on Her Life, The Misanthrope, No One Sees the Video and The Country.'Crimp writes with extraordinary precision . . . The outside world is described with almost hallucinatory clarity . . . He has discovered a dramatic form that perfectly reflects the violent, disorienting times in which we live.' Daily Telegraph

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- What're you doing here Robert? - Well to be frank with you, I've really no idea. I thought I would just suddenly appear, so I did. I suddenly appeared. A family Christmas is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Uncle Bob. Who is he? Why has he come? Why does his wife stay out in the car? And what is the meaning of his long and outrageous message? All we can be sure of is that the world will never be the same again.A provocative roll-call of contemporary obsessions, In the Republic of Happiness premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in December 2012.

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A genius with language, but convinced of his own ugliness, Cyrano secretly loves the radiant Roxane. While Roxane is in love with the beautiful but inarticulate Christian.Cyrano's generous offer to act as go-between sets in motion a poignant and often hilarious love-triangle, in which each character is torn between the lure of physical attraction and the seductive power of words.Martin Crimp's adaptation of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac premiered at the Playhouse Theatre, London, in November 2019.

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You could do insane twenty hours shifts in theatre. You could be mother of ten children. You could be toughest whore on the block. You contain all possibilities. You are the ultimate cliché of youth's incredible potential.Promiscuous, pitiless and bored, six sexually entangled medical students restlessly wander in and out of a boarding house, cramming, drinking, taunting, spying. Freder sets about savagely experimenting with the young, pretty maid, with half an eye on his former lover Desiree, a wild, disillusioned aristocrat. Petrell abandons Marie for the ruthless underdog Irene. Marie doesn't waste any time weeping - Desiree wants her. Bourgeois existence or suicide. There are no other choices. Vienna, 1923. A discontented post-war generation diagnose youth to be their sickness and do their best to destroy it. A shocking, erotically charged play by Austrian writer Ferdinand Bruckner, presented in a compelling new version by Martin Crimp.

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Premiered in 2018, the 90-minute opera Lessons in Love and Violence delves into the dark and turbulent events of Edward II’s life and death. George Benjamin and Martin Crimp’s third collaboration, it unfolds as a taut slow-burning arch of seven tableaux. This work boasts particularly rich string textures, and is coloured by basset horn and cimbalom together with a pair of harps, celesta, and percussion (including talking drums and tombak). Several of the opera’s powerful interludes are dominated by braying, sardonic brass – with tuba substituted by the more menacing contrabass trombone. There is also much spectacular ensemble writing: in Scene Three’s play within a play, several strands of independent music collide, and the result is perhaps one of the most complex musical structures Benjamin has ever tackled. The music’s relationship to the drama is often unstable and seemingly very spontaneous, but beneath it all one senses a rigorous architecture, unflinchingly guiding the listener deeper and deeper into the opera’s disquieting emotional world. This full score is a perfect accompaniment to the previously published vocal score and text.

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Are you really surprised to discover that a woman might have a mind of her own?When Lélio thinks he can ditch and cash in on the rich woman he has promised to marry, in order to become the husband of an even wealthier 'girl from Paris', he enlists the help of his attractive new friend, the Chevalier.What he doesn't know is that the Chevalier is none other than this same 'girl from Paris' disguised as a man, and that her project is to publicly expose the depths of his sexual cynicism.A self-declared 'modern', Marivaux is a pioneer in the exploration of human feeling, asking in this play not only what do we hide from others? - but what are we hiding from ourselves?Martin Crimp's version of Pierre Marivaux's The False Servant received its premiere at the National Theatre, London, in 2004 and was revived at the Orange Tree Theatre, London, in June 2022. 'Marivaux's scepticism, irony and fascination with money and sex make him seem peculiarly modern.' Guardian'Thrills, chills, and belly laughs - this addictively adult comedy has got the lot.' Daily Telegraph

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Picture a day like this is the fourth collaboration between George Benjamin and Martin Crimp, whose acclaimed partnership produced Written on Skin, Lessons in Love and Violence, and Into the Little Hill. The 60-minute opera is cast in seven scenes and scored for five voices (S-S-MS-Ct-Bar) and twenty-two instrumentalists. It premiered at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2023, with the composer conducting. Picture a day like this tells the story of a Woman (mezzo-soprano) who has lost her child; if she can meet one truly happy person before nightfall, they will return to life. In her search she meets a pair of lovers, a Composer and their assistant, an Artisan, Collector, and the mysterious Zabelle. Benjamin’s music meets Crimp’s text to create a bittersweet fable on grief and renewal. This product comprises the vocal score.

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In a house on an island a very old couple pass their time with private games and half-remembered stories. With brilliant eccentricity, Ionesco's 'tragic farce' combines a comic portrait of human folly with a magical experiment in theatrical possibilities.

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Libretto Following the enormous success of George Benjamin’s first opera Into the Little Hill (2006), there has been huge anticipation in the musical world at the prospect of his first full-length work in this genre. After a period of intense work and isolation for Benjamin, his much-awaited new opera, Written on Skin, was premiered at the Aix-en-Provence Festival on 7 July 2012. A long standing ovation was the first of many marks of recognition and praise for this extraordinary work which has been hailed by critics as ‘[one of] the best operas of the 21st century so far,’ ‘the birth of a masterpiece.’ An opera tour will be conducted throughout Europe during 2013.

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Shortlisted for Deluxe Edition of the Year at the Presto Music Awards 2023 Picture a day like this is the fourth operatic collaboration between George Benjamin and Martin Crimp, whose acclaimed partnership produced Written on Skin, Lessons in Love and Violence, and Into the Little Hill. This limited edition of the full score is one of only one hundred and fifty, presented in a cloth-bound hard cover. It is signed by George Benjamin and Martin Crimp and includes facsimile reproductions of pages from the manuscript, sketches by Benjamin and Crimp, and a photograph of Benjamin, Crimp and directors Daniel Jeanneteau and Marie-Christine Soma in rehearsal at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. In this bittersweet fable of grief and renewal. Benjamin and Crimp tell the story of a Woman who has lost her child: if, before nightfall, she meets one truly happy person and cuts a button from their sleeve, her child will live again. In her search she meets a pair of lovers, a Composer and their Assistant, an Artisan, Collector, and, in a beautiful garden, the mysterious Zabelle. ‘Benjamin proves with this taut, sharp miniature that he is the finest opera composer of today…a work of depth of feeling, humanistic artistry and expressive rigor…a drama that is miraculously condensed.’ Süddeutsche Zeitung (Reinhard J. Brembeck) 9 July 2023

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