- Table View
- List View
Wuthering Heights (Modern Plays)
by Emily BrontëI am Heathcliff! Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.The Yorkshire moors tell an epic story of love, revenge and redemption.Rescued from the Liverpool docks as a child, Heathcliff is adopted by the Earnshaws and taken to live at Wuthering Heights.He finds a kindred spirit in Catherine Earnshaw and a fierce love ignites. When forced apart, a brutal chain of events is unleashed.Shot through with music, dance, passion and hope, Emma Rice transforms Emily Brontë's masterpiece into a powerful and uniquely theatrical experience.This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at Bristol Old Vic in October 2021.
Force Majeure (Modern Plays)
by Tim PriceStop it. Stop it! Everyone! We're on holiday, we're meant to be having a nice time. What the hell is wrong with you?Tomas and Ebba are determined to have quality family time with their children, so they head to the Alps on a skiing trip.But when disaster strikes, their family unit is tested to breaking point with hilarious and tragic consequences. Ruben Östlund's award-winning comedy about a family falling apart is adapted for the stage by Tim Price. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at London's Donmar Warehouse in December 2021.
I Ain't Dumb (Modern Plays)
by Tom WrightA tough inner-city school, proud of its inclusivity, suddenly explodes in a rapidly escalating culture war.Sex secrets, hip-hop and hope fight for centre stage in a vibrant, loud and proud, real talk rollercoaster.Tom Wright's hard-hitting new play tackles contemporary issues in a school setting, published to coincide with Coventry's year as City of Culture.
The Bodies of Others: Essays on Ethics and Representation (Thinking Through Theatre)
by José A. SánchezAvailable in English for the first time, The Bodies of Others investigates, through a series of close readings of several theatrical and film productions in Europe and South America, the relationship between “representation” (including theatrical representation) and ethics (defined as an ongoing relational negotiation, as opposed to a set of universal moral laws).The main concepts are exposed through a comparative analysis of historical processes, political actions and artistic works from different periods. Thus, the dialogue between the film La carrose d'or by Jean Renoir (1952) and Rosa Cuchillo by Yuyachkani (2006) serves to address the problem of the multiple meanings of representation. The dialogue between the play El Señor Galíndez by Eduardo Pavlovsky (1973), the performance The Conquest of America by Las Yeguas del Apocalipsis (1989) and the novel 2666 (2004) by Roberto Bolaño allows the concept of an 'ethic of the body' to be addressed. Other key concepts such as identity, care, cruelty, violence, memory and testimony are considered through investigation of work such as Angelica Liddel's theatre pieces, Rabih Mroué and Lina Majdalanie's performances, Albertina Carri, Basilio Martín Patino and Apichatpong Weerasethakul's films, and Mapa Teatro's trans-disciplinary creations.
Pinter and Stoppard: A Director's View
by Carey PerloffHarold Pinter and Tom Stoppard, by most accounts the leading British playwrights of our time, might seem to come from very different aesthetic, cultural and political worlds. But as Carey Perloff's fascinating new book reveals, the two have much in common. By examining these contemporaries alongside one another and in the context of the rehearsal room, we can glean new insights and connections, including the impact of their Jewish background on their work and their passion for the details of stagecraft. Readers of Pinter and Stoppard: A Director's View will emerge with a set of tools for approaching their work in a performance environment and for unlocking the mysteries of the plays for audiences.Esteemed theatre director Carey Perloff draws upon her first-hand experience of working with both writers, creating case studies of particular plays in production to provide new ways of positioning the work today. 30 years after major criticism on both playwrights first emerged, this is a ripe moment for a fresh examination of the unique contribution of Pinter and Stoppard in the twenty-first century.
When The Long Trick’s Over (Modern Plays)
by Morgan Lloyd MalcolmI'm doing this for her because this was my sister's dream. This isn't my natural habitat. I wouldn't normally choose this. But she would have.Two sisters. One dream. The hardest open-water swim in the world. This triumphant play from Olivier Award-winning writer Morgan Lloyd Malcolm moves forwards and backwards in time across the 21 miles between Dover and Calais as a young swimmer harnesses her mind and body to make the crossing.Tackling what it means to grieve, both physically and mentally, When The Long Trick's Over encapsulates the fact that love persists whatever the distance and however perilous the journey is to the other side. And that, sometimes, it means swimming against the tide and against the things that hold you back: the old memories and oil tankers, jelly fish and Jelly Babies.This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere production by HighTide and the New Wolsey Theatre, February 2022.
The Collaboration (Modern Plays)
by Anthony McCartenBoxers are like painters, both smear their blood on the canvas.New York, 1984. Fifty-six-year-old Andy Warhol's star is falling. Jean-Michel Basquiat is the new wonder-kid taking the art world by storm. When Basquiat agrees to collaborate with Warhol on a new exhibition, it soon becomes the talk of the city.As everyone awaits the 'greatest exhibition in the history of modern art', the two artists embark on a shared journey, both artistic and deeply personal, that re-draws both their worlds.This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at London's Young Vic Theatre in February 2022.
The Long Walk with Little Amal: The Official Companion book to 'The Walk', 8000 kms along the southern refugee route from Turkey to the U.K.
by Good Chance CompanyFrom July to November 2021, Little Amal, a 3.5m-high puppet created by Handspring Puppet Company ('War Horse') will travel 8,000km from the Syria-Turkey border along the established refugee route through Europe to the UK, ending at the Manchester International Festival. With 100 theatrical events in 65 cities, along the way, 'The Walk' will be the world's largest live performance and its aim is to celebrate the contribution that migrants and refugees make to the cultures and communities through which they pass and to the countries in which they find a new home.With an introduction by Nizar Zuabi (artistic director of Good Chance) and an afterword by David Lan (formerly of The Young Vic and one of the producers of 'The Walk'), The Long Walk with Little Amal is the official companion book to a cross-border collaboration on a magnificent scale. The journey is documented by award-winning photojournalist Andre Liohn and contributing essayists include: PEN International Writer of Courage Samar Yazbek (Syria); prize-winning Turkish-Kurdish novelist Burhan Sonmez (Turkey); Greek-Armenian literary and crime writer Petros Markaris (Greece); Prix Goncourt-winning author and film director Philippe Claudel (France); Children's Laureate Cressida Cowell (UK); crime writer Olivier Norek whose fiction has been set in Calais' The Jungle (France); and bestselling author Timur Vermes (Germany).
Beats and Elements: No Milk for the Foxes; DenMarked; High Rise eState of Mind
by Conrad MurrayThis collection of three hip hop plays by Conrad Murray and his Beats & Elements collaborators Paul Cree, David Bonnick Junior and Lakeisha Lynch-Stevens, is the first publication of the critically acclaimed theatre-maker's work. The three plays use hip hop to highlight the inequalities produced by the UK's class system, and weave lyricism, musicality and dialogue to offer authentic accounts of inner-city life written by working-class Londoners. The plays are accompanied by two introductory essays: The first gives a specific social and historical context that helps readers make sense of the plays, the second positions hip hop as a contemporary literary form and offers some ways to read hip hop texts as literature. The collection also includes a foreword by leading hip hop theatre practitioner Jonzi D, interviews with the Beats & Elements company, and a glossary of words for students and international readers.
Clive Barker and His Legacy: Theatre Workshop and Theatre Games
by Paul Fryer Nesta JonesAn edited collection of essays exploring the work and legacy of the academic and theatre-maker Clive Barker. Together, the essays trace the development of his work from his early years as an actor with Joan Littlewood's company, Theatre Workshop, via his career as an academic and teacher, through the publication of his seminal book, Theatre Games (Methuen Drama). The book looks beyond Barker's death in 2005 at the enduring influence of his work upon contemporary theatre training and theatre-making.Each writer featured in the collection responds to a specific aspect of Barker's work, focusing primarily on his early and formative career experiences with Theatre Workshop and his hugely influential development of Theatre Games. The collection as a whole thereby seeks to situate Clive Barker's work and influence in an international and multi-disciplinary context, by examining not only his origins as an actor, director, teacher and academic, but also the broad influence he has had on generations of theatre-makers.
Making Hip Hop Theatre: Beatbox and Elements
by Katie Beswick Conrad MurrayMaking Hip Hop Theatre is the essential, practical guide to making hip-hop theatre. It features detailed techniques and exercises that can guide creatives from workshops through to staging a performance. If you were inspired by Hamilton, Barber Shop Chronicles, Misty, Black Men Walking or Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster, this is the book for you. Covering vocal technique, use of equipment, mixing, looping, sampling, working with venues and dealing with creative challenges, this book is a bible for both new and experienced artists alike. Additionally, with links to online video material demonstrating and elaborating on the exercises included, it offers countless useful tools for teachers and facilitators of drama, music and other creative arts. Alongside this practical guidance is an overview of hip hop history, giving theoretical and historical context for the practice. From documentation of Conrad Murray's major productions, to commentary from leading practitioners including Lakeisha Lynch-Stevens, David Jubb, Emma Rice, Tobi Kyeremateng and Paula Varjack, readers are treated to a detailed insight into the background of hip hop theatre. Edited by scholar Katie Beswick and genre pioneer Conrad Murray, Making Hip Hop Theatre is a vital teaching tool and provides a much-needed account of a burgeoning aspect of contemporary theatre culture.
Romantic Comedy (Forms of Drama)
by Trevor R. Griffiths'The course of true love never did run smooth' – so says Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and for more than 2000 years the problems faced by young men and women fighting to find and keep an appropriate sexual partner have been a theatrical staple. This book explores the shapes that Romantic Comedy has assumed from Greek New Comedy via Shakespeare to the present. Changing social values have helped to redefine the genre's traditional hetero-normativity, while the recent trend towards more fluid casting has opened up many romantic comedies to radical reinterpretations. Organized chronologically to allow readers to trace the development of the form against changing societal norms, the book features a range of case studies of key works from the British tradition, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Susanna Centlivre's A Bold Stroke for a Wife, Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer, Stanley Houghton's Hindle Wakes, Noël Coward's Private Lives, Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey, Ayub Khan-Din's East is East and David Eldridge's Beginning.
After the End (Modern Plays)
by Dennis KellyA city under attack from a nuclear blast. As the dust settles, Louise wakes to find herself in a fallout shelter with Mark, the colleague who has saved her life. They have enough water and food to last two weeks. Now they just need to find a way of surviving each other. A chilling post-nuclear play that examines what it takes to endure catastrophe.After the End was originally published in 2005. This revised and updated edition was published to coincide with the London production at Theatre Royal Stratford East in February 2022.
Kerbs (Modern Plays)
by Michael SouthanIt doesn't have to be anything more than it is. Let's just be… organic.Lucy and David are dating. Or at least, they're trying to.Faced with first-date disasters, a few crossed wires and Lucy's mum, what they really need is a bit of space, a bitof fun – and ideally some independence. Escaping for the weekend to a caravan park in Somerset, it's time for them to find out if their spark will finally catch, or burn everything to the ground.Written by Graeae's Write to Play graduate Michael Southan, Kerbs gets real about romance, sex and disability, while tackling the universal challenge faced by anyone experiencing a new relationship: letting someone in.A Graeae and Belgrade Theatre coproduction for Coventry UK City of Culture 2021.
work.txt (Modern Plays)
by Nathan EllisHate your job? Come work for us.This is a show about work.But the worker isn't here, so it's down to you.You'll clock in at the beginning.You'll get short breaks at regular intervals.You'll work in a team, and under your own initiative.You will be your own boss.You will be free.work.txt is a show performed entirely by the audience about the gig economy, financial instability and bullshit jobs.This edition was published to coincide with the run at the Soho Theatre in London in February 2022.
Shakespeare's Syndicate: The First Folio, its Publishers, and the Early Modern Book Trade
by Ben HigginsIn 1623 a team of stationers published what has become the most famous volume in English literary history: William Shakespeare's First Folio. Who were these publishers and how might their stories be bound up with those found within the book they created? Ben Higgins offers a radical new account of the First Folio by focusing on these four publishing businesses that made the volume. By moving between close scrutiny of the Folio publishers and a wider view of their significance within the early modern book trade, Higgins uses Shakespeare's stationers to explore the 'literariness' of the Folio; to ask how stationers have shaped textual authority; to argue for the interpretive potential of the 'minor' Shakespearean bookseller; and to examine the topography of Shakespearean publication. Drawing on a host of fresh primary evidence from a wide range of sources, including court records, manuscript letters, bookseller's bills, and the literature itself, Shakespeare's Syndicate illuminates our understanding of how this landmark volume was made and what it has meant to scholars since. Moreover, it models exciting new ways of working with stationers and of reading the event of early modern publication itself. This innovative study demonstrates that despite four hundred years of history, the volume at the centre of Shakespeare's canon continues to generate new stories.
Cock (Modern Plays)
by Mike BartlettThe fact is that some of us like women and some like men and that's fine that's good in fact that's good, a good thing, but it seems to me that you've become confused.John is happy in himself, and with his boyfriend, until one day he meets the woman of his dreams.In a world full of endless possibilities why must we still limit ourselves with labels? Mike Bartlett's razor sharp play about love and identity redefines the battle of the sexes as we know it.Cock premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, on 13 November 2009. This new and revised edition was published to coincide with the West End production in 2022, starring Jonathan Bailey, Taron Egerton and Jade Anouka.
Human Nurture (Modern Plays)
by Ryan Calais CameronI don't agree with everything they say, but we do have a lot in common nowadays; anyway, I can't be racist, my best friend is Black.Roger and Harry's bond is so strong they could be brothers. They share the same food, music, computer games and even dreams... Everything other than their race. Roger is black, and Harry is white. But what does that matter, right? When Roger is re-homed, Harry is left behind in the care system, and these 'brothers' grow up in opposite ends of Britain's social spectrum. Then on Harry's birthday, Runaku (Roger's reclaimed Zimbabwean birth name) returns for a dream reunion that turns into a nightmare situation. Human Nurture is an explosive new play from Ryan Calais Cameron where nothing's off-limits: from innocent primary school humiliations to race, privilege, allyship and male vulnerability.
71 Coltman Street (Modern Plays)
by Richard BeanI want theatre to be sweaty, exciting, unpredictable….Mike Bradwell is on a mission to revolutionise British theatre. He's sick of fancy plays by dead blokes and wants to tell stories about real people, living real lives. And it doesn't get more real than Hull.In a freezing cold house on Coltman Street, a motley crew of unemployed actors gather to improvise a play with no name, no plot, no budget and no bookings.Richard Bean's (The Hypocrite, One Man, Two Guvnors) hilarious and irreverent comedy takes us back to the 70s and Hull Truck Theatre's origin story. It is a roaring combination of comedy, cabaret, farce and drama. Join us for a celebration of where it all began…This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at Hull Truck Theatre in February 2022.
Cherry Jezebel (Modern Plays)
by Jonathan LarkinThe party ain't over yet! As long as that music keeps playing, I'll keep dancing!Raw, rude and raucous, Cherry Jezebel is a dazzling new drama. Hilarious and heartbreaking, it's a champagne blowout and the hangover from hell, a spin under the glitterball that lands in the gutter.The bass is pounding, the audience are cheering, and Cherry Brandy is blinking back tears. Tonight's the night she's finally recognised as the Queen she is, with the crown to prove it. Is this the triumphant moment she's always dreamed of?Behind the mascara, the wigs and the six-inch stiletto heels, all that glitters isn't gold. At least she's always got her best mate Heidi. But growing up queer in Liverpool is grim, and the queer family they've forged is about to slip through Cherry's nicotine-stained fingers.From the boudoirs to the bathrooms of Liverpool's gloriously gobby drag scene, Cherry Jezebel is a riot of lipstick and split lips, of bitching and bruises. It's a play that celebrates queerness while spilling the tea on the pain behind the polish.
The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Adaptation (The Arden Shakespeare Handbooks)
The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Adaptation explores the dynamics of adapted Shakespeare across a range of literary genres and new media forms. This comprehensive reference and research resource maps the field of Shakespeare adaptation studies, identifying theories of adaptation, their application in practice and the methodologies that underpin them. It investigates current research and points towards future lines of enquiry for students, researchers and creative practitioners of Shakespeare adaptation. The opening section on research methods and problems considers definitions and theories of Shakespeare adaptation and emphasises how Shakespeare is both adaptor and adapted.A central section develops these theoretical concerns through a series of case studies that move across a range of genres, media forms and cultures to ask not only how Shakespeare is variously transfigured, hybridised and valorised through adaptational play, but also how adaptations produce interpretive communities, and within these potentially new literacies, modes of engagement and sensory pleasures. The volume's third section provides the reader with uniquely detailed insights into creative adaptation, with writers and practice-based researchers reflecting on their close collaborations with Shakespeare's works as an aesthetic, ethical and political encounter. The Handbook further establishes the conceptual parameters of the field through detailed, practical resources that will aid the specialist and non-specialist reader alike, including a guide to research resources and an annotated bibliography.
British Black and Asian Shakespeareans: Integrating Shakespeare, 1966–2018
by Jami RogersShakespeare is at the heart of the British theatrical tradition, but the contribution of Ira Aldridge and the Shakespearean performers of African, African-Caribbean, south Asian and east Asian heritage who came after him is not widely known. Telling the story for the first time of how Shakespearean theatre in Britain was integrated from the 1960s to the 21st century, this is a timely and important account of that contribution. Drawing extensively on empirical evidence from the British Black and Asian Shakespeare Performance Database and featuring interviews with nearly forty performers and directors, the book chronicles important productions that led to ground-breaking castings of Black and Asian actors in substantial Shakespearean roles including: · Zakes Mokae (Cry Freedom) as one of three black witches in William Gaskill's 1966 production of Macbeth at the Royal Court Theatre. · Norman Beaton as Angelo in Michael Rudman's 1981 production of Measure for Measure at the National Theatre – the first majority Black Shakespearean cast at the theatre. · Josette Simon as Isabella in Measure for Measure at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1987. · Adrian Lester in the title role of Nicholas Hytner's 2003 production of Henry V. · Iqbal Khan on his 2012 production of Much Ado About Nothing – the first production with an all south Asian cast at the Royal Shakespeare Company. · Alfred Enoch and Rakie Ayola as Edgar and Goneril in Talawa Theatre Company's 2016 production of King Lear · Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet in Simon Godwin's 2016 production for the Royal Shakespeare Company. With first-hand accounts from key performers including Joseph Marcell, Adrian Lester, Josette Simon, Lolita Chakrabarti, Noma Dumezweni, Rakie Ayola, David Yip, Ray Fearon, Paterson Joseph, Alfred Enoch, Rudolph Walker and many more, this book is an invaluable history of Black and Asian Shakespeareans that highlights the gains these actors have made and the challenges still faced in pursuing a career in classical theatre.
The Empress (Student Editions)
by Tanika GuptaQueen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, 1887. At East London's Tilbury Docks, Rani Das and Abdul Karim, step ashore after the long voyage from India. One has to battle a society who deems her a second-class citizen; the other forges an astonishing entanglement with the ageing Queen Victoria who finds herself enchanted by stories of an India over which she rules, but has never seen. Through narrative, music and song, The Empress blends the true story of Queen Victoria's controversial relationship with her Indian servant and 'Munshi' (teacher), Abdul Karim, with the experiences of Indian ayahs who came to Britain during the 19th century. With private romance being mapped onto world history, the action cuts between the ship and different royal residences, offering bright contrasts as well as surprising affinities. In doing so, the play uncovers remarkable unknown stories of 19th-century Britain and charts the growth of Indian nationalism and the romantic proclivities of one of Britain's most surprising monarchs.The Empress, which premiered at Stratford-upon-Avon's RSC in 2013, is published here as a Methuen Drama Student Edition with commentary and notes by Professor Jane Garnett, Wadham College, University of Oxford, UK.
The Inequalities: Beyond Caring; LOVE; Faith, Hope and Charity
by Alexander Zeldin'He is a Chekhov of our time: holding his characters with as much humanity, compassion, humor and love - but without holding back his scathing indictment of deeply entrenched, systemic injustices and inequities.' - David SchwimmerThe Inequalities combines three plays from British author and director Alexander Zeldin into a trilogy that tells new stories of love, compassion and resilience for our time of austerity.Contextualised with an essay before each play and an in-depth interview with the author, Zeldin's three pieces present intimate stories of work, home and community in a radical form of realism. Written after extensive research across the United Kingdom, and involving people affected by the central themes of the plays, The Inequalities goes beyond social chronicle, achieving a timeless portrait of humanity under duress. This is theatre that goes behind the mirror of our time to reveal the core of the collective human experience of being alive.Beyond Caring: “This desolate, quietly intense devised drama gets under your skin and into your bones... unforgettable.” (The Times)LOVE: "Gripping, amusing, uncomfortable, desperately moving. Zeldin shows us friction…but also kindness and dignity and lots of love without turning sugary." (The Times) Faith, Hope and Charity: "This is that rare thing: a necessary play that suggests Zeldin has taken on the role of the Victorian Henry Mayhew in compassionately documenting the lives of the urban poor." (The Guardian)
King Lear: Arden Performance Editions (Arden Performance Editions)
by William ShakespeareKing Lear has ruled for many years. As age overtakes him, he divides his kingdom amongst his children. Misjudging their loyalty, he soon finds himself stripped of all the trappings of state, wealth and power that had defined him. Arden Performance Editions are ideal for anyone engaging with a Shakespeare play in performance. With clear facing-page notes giving definitions of words, easily accessible information about key textual variants, lineation, metrical ambiguities and pronunciation, each edition has been developed to open the play's possibilities and meanings to actors and students. Designed to be used and to be useful, each edition has plenty of space for personal annotations and the well-spaced text is easy to read and to navigate. Each edition offers: - Short, clear definitions of words - Information about key textual variants - Notes on pronunciation of difficult names and unfamiliar words - An easy to read layout with space to write your own notes - A short introduction to the play