Bøker i Modern Plays-serien

'I have no name for the thing which is in my head. It is not envy. It is more than envy. It does not scare me. I must look close enough to look at what it is.'A ploughman and his wife live a simple existence in a pre-industrial time until they, along with the hated local miller, are drawn into a struggle of knowledge, power and attraction.David Harrower's haunting play established him as one of the UK's leading contemporary playwrights. This new edition is published to coincide with the new production of this tense modern classic at the Donmar Warehouse in August 2017, directed by Yaël Farber.

Do you know what I believe in? I believe in us. Me and you, right here. This town was once an incredible place. We have to have courage to fight for it again.Hero or enemy? Who can actually tell the difference?Everything is going to be fine, better than fine, in fact there's nothing that can't be achieved if everyone just believes a little. That's what the town's MP, Mick, thinks.He's optimistic, positively boosterish about his plan for the town. He just wants the naysayers to pipe down. But there's a problem. His sister, Dr Rhiannon Powell, has discovered that the project appears to be polluting the town's water supply. Mick sold the town a story about the future, but what will happen when reality looks to tear that story apart?Is Mick a hero of the people, or is he in fact their enemy? Brad Birch's bold new reimagining of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People pits the personal against the political and facts against emotion. A Hero of the People is a gripping contemporary drama for our times.

It's good to see you're alive. Good to know not all the ghosts in the streets are enemies...1921. Russia. Winter. When Nikita returns home from the brutal civil war, he attempts to start a new life with his drunken father Mikhail and his new wife Lyuba, the feisty young girl he remembers from his school days. When Nikita fails to consummate his marriage - all the while aware that he is being haunted by a mysterious figure - escape is the only solution he can find. He finally emerges in a new town further along the Potudan River, only to be accused of an ambiguous crime against the Soviet State.Based on a short story by the Russian writer Andrey Platonov (1899-1951), Bliss is a kaleidoscope of hopes, dreams and realities, as the survivors of years of devastating war and political revolution search for their 'bliss' in post-war Soviet Russia. They quickly learn that a society needs time to recover from catastrophe, and that the future is only built by those who manage to accept their past.This edition of Bliss was published alongside the world premiere at the Finborough Theatre, London in May 2022.

Dress by Ganni. Bra by Coco de Mer. Knife by Stanley. A gripping revenge tale about an actress in her 40s under investigation for the murder of an auteur theatre director whilst rehearsing a stage production of Hitchcock‿s Psycho. A whip-smart take on what it means to be middle-aged and female in an industry captivated by stardust and beauty. This edition was published to coincide with the run at The Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 2022.

'I got my first pair of glasses when I was seven.A nurse came to the school and tested everyone's eyes. And so it was discovered why I'd thrown bread to the floating crisp packets in our local pond and walked into lamp posts and said, 'excuse me'. Until that day the world was a swirl of moving coloured blobs. I thought it was the same for everyone.How wrong I was.'Part memoir, part theatre and part standup comedy this delightful story of a myopic seven year old is brought to you by actor, comedian and playwright Sonya Kelly. Sonya tells her story about growing up with poor vision that went undiagnosed until she was seven years old. Combining several forms of theatre, this delightful story shows us how we can better the world even if we cannot see the world.Winner: Scotsman Fringe First Award 2012Critic's Pick, New York Times

"Kazumi is hunting a sea monster. Arriving on a remote Hebridean island, he meets Coblaith, a local woman whose family have lived there for generations. When she offers to help him find the mythical creature that he believes drowned his family, their relationship blossoms. But there's something strange about Cob's obsessive affection for the lochs and something even stranger about the way the other islanders treat her. Suspicious of his new lover, Kazumi's imagination gets the better of him. Could it be that Coblaith is the mythical creature he has been searching for? Or are humans the real monsters after all?"--Page 4 of cover.

'Do you think I'm a monster?I do sometimes.'There are a few things that we know about Evelyn: we know what she did, we know that we hate her, and we know that she's still out there. Somewhere. She's just not Evelyn anymore. She could be anyone. Even you. Britain is on the hunt, it has been for years. Walton is on high alert . . . and Sandra's just arrived.Inspired by real-life events, Evelyn is a story of mob justice in modern day Britain that interrogates the question: when is justice really served?The edition was published to coincide with the premiere at Colchester's Mercury Theatre and London's Southwark Playhouse in June, 2022.

"After William Shakespeare and John Fletcher."

Think how many others there are like me, hiding in the shadows, operating in the night like foxes, for fear of rejection and a life of ridicule. I've worked too hard to gain my respect only for it to be taken from me because of something I can't control.Foxes follows Daniel, a young Black man trying to keep up with his life, which is moving fast. When his relationship with best friend Leon brings an unexpected change it creates turmoil, bringing a taboo into his family home that has the power to tear the closest and most loving relationships apart.Shortlisted for the 2018 Alfred Fagon Award, Dexter Flanders's debut play Foxes explores masculinity and identity within London's Caribbean community and Black street culture.This updated and revised edition was published to coincide with the premiere at London's Seven Dials Playhouse in May 2022.

'...the history of this pub, the possibilities of what once could have happened in this room in which we're now gathered .Well.The possibilities'.Written as a response to the 50th anniversary celebration of the King's Head Theatre, Mark Ravenhill premieres his first new play as Artistic Director.Drawing on the traditions of a classic ghost story, The Haunting of Susan A explores the power of the mind to make the unseen visible and for the cruelty of the past to haunt a room. Described as "a ghost story", the play is Inspired by Ravenhill's love of the work of M.R. James and is set in the King's Head Theatre itself.Published alongside an introduction from Timberlake Wertenbaker, this text also includes Ravenhill's '101 notes on Playwriting', which caused a sensation on Twitter and appears in print for the first time.

'Eric Argyle was notably surprised when rather unexpectedly his eyes opened again. If truth be told, if he was being honest with himself, he hadn't really expected this type of thing would ever be happening again.'Eric Argyle is having a bad Sunday. It's late. He's still in his pyjamas. A room full of people are staring at him. And he died at 11.42am, two days ago. An issue that people don't seem all that receptive to.Nominated for Best New Play at the Irish Times Theatre Awards, Ross Dungan's The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle premiered at the Pleasance Dome in Edinburgh in August 2012 before transferring to Dublin. It debuted in London at the Soho Theatre on 2 April 2013.

During the Apartheid years in South Africa, a copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare was smuggled around the prison on Robben Island. The book's significance resides in the fact that the book's owner, Sonny Venkatratham, passed it to a number of his fellow political prisoners in the single cells, including Nelson Mandela, asking them to mark their favourite passages with a signature and date. Informally known as "the Robben Island Bible", numerous prisoners selected the speeches that meant the most to them and their experience as political prisoners. In 2008 and 2010, playwright and scholar Matthew Hahn conducted interviews with eight former political prisoners in South Africa. Offering a vivid and startling account of the experience of these political prisoners during Apartheid, this extraordinary verbatim play weaves Shakespeare's words together with first-hand accounts from these men. They offer their reflections on their time as Liberation activists and, twenty years later, on the costs, consequences and whether or not it was all worth it.The play is published alongside a preface by Sonny Venkatrathnam and an introduction by South African actor, director , playwright and cultural activist John Kani.

A village. A dragon. A damsel in distress.Into the story walks George: wandering knight, freedom fighter, enemy of tyrants the world over. One epic battle later and a nation is born.As the village grows into a town, and the town into a city, the myth of Saint George which once brought a people together, threatens to divide them.

I have to believe in the institutions we trust to be fair, and functional. Whether that be the judiciary, the police, the media . That they should all be able to resist the temptations of a more entertaining lie, over a less extraordinary truth.April 2003. Army Major Charles Ingram, his wife and coughing accomplice are convicted for cheating on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?The evidence is damning. The nation is gripped by the sheer audacity of the plot to snatch the £1,000,000 jackpot. But was he really guilty? It's time for you to decide.Question everything you think you know in James Graham's provocative new play.Olivier Award-nominee James Graham returns with a sharp, fictional imagination of one of the most famous quiz show controversies to date. The production premiered at Chichester Festival Theatre and this edition was published this edition was published to coincide with the West End opening at the Nöel Coward Theatre in April 2018.

Charles Dickens' London is reimagined for the 21st century.Twenty-four hours in the life of a city that has 371 people in every square kilometer, where every street and square shelters heroes and villains, emotional turmoil, violent allegiances, adventures, the remarkable and the everyday.Olivier Award-winning playwright James Graham forges a uniquely crowd-sourced play, incorporating scenes by emerging writers into his own sweeping narrative. Dickens' panoply of London and Londoners, his big characters and fantastic stories in Sketches by Boz are updated for the modern age, incorporating the broadest range of voices from across the community in a theatrical whirligig of wonder and imagination.

Last night I tried not to be shy, just as an experiment for one night - and with catastrophic results.17 year old Callum is proud to be shy and he thinks you should be too, because what this noisy, crazy world needs right now is a bit more self-restraint. The Shy Manifesto is a bittersweet coming-of-age comedy drama about a shy boy who is fed up of constantly being told to come out of his shell. Tonight he is to address an audience of radical shy comrades and incite the meek to finally rise up and inherit the earth. But memories of the previous night's drunken escapades at a classmate's end-of-term party keep intruding, and threaten to upend the fragile identity he has created for himself.Callum delivers his manifesto, exploring adolescence, isolation, self-loathing and sexuality. His irreverent lightness of touch, and multi- rolling as the other characters in his story endear him to the audience, encouraging us that we, too, can be proud to be shy.The Shy Manifesto is a solo piece that takes the experience of being shy as its central subject- something which has rarely been explored in drama, and yet which touches on many audience members lives.

In an alternate Ireland, the politicians are young and the Government is seemingly left-leaning. The Health and Wellness Act, hurriedly signed into law just one year ago, has made it illegal to possess or consume unhealthy food or 'junk'. Recent polls suggest support for 'Junk Advocates', a term coined for people who openly acquire and consume illegal foods in protest, is rapidly rising. So when popular 'Junk Advocate' Lila Birch goes missing under suspicious circumstances, the public are outraged and her sister Eadie's world is upended. When Eadie sees an opportunity to get close to high ranking Government officials, she takes it. Can she find out what happened to her sister or will the same fate befall her?Aftertaste is a new play by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth that offers a theatrical exploration into a world full of violence, greed and food.

This is a story that is true for us, you, thousands of others across the world moving across the globe and thousands of others waiting to receive them. It is a story. It's not necessarily ours. It is not necessarily yours. But it is true.Melding lived experience with creative theatre-making, refugees Mo and Hossein share stories - both personal and global - that explore the very different journeys taken by unaccompanied minors as they leave their home countries in search of sanctuary. Honest, reflective, challenging and funny, the young performers - both long-standing participants in Leeds Playhouse's Theatre of Sanctuary programme - combine moments of dream-like wonder with unflinching fact sharing, drawing the audience into a direct dialogue and asking them to consider what life is really like for children fleeing danger and seeking a new home in the UK. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at Leeds Playhouse in September 2021.

Set amongst the vibrant, intense cacophony of North West London, NW Trilogy is a collection of three vivid stories, told over one performance, that remember and celebrate people who changed the course of history. The personal is political in these soulful explorations of what it means to be part of one of the most dynamic communities in the world.First, we reel to a dance hall in 'County Kilburn' in Moira Buffini's Dance Floor where the Guinness flows, the music never stops and for homesick Aoife, there's far more at stake than a dance.In Roy Williams' bittersweet Life of Riley, Paulette is on a journey to connect with her estranged father Riley, a reggae musician once part of the influential Trojan Records scene, who can't seem to let go of the past.And, Suhayla El-Bushra's Waking/Walking introduces us to Anjali, a wife, mother and newly arrived migrant following Idi Amin's expulsion of the Asian minority from Uganda, who is torn between not making a fuss and seizing her moment to take a stand as the Grunwick dispute unfolds.NW Trilogy is powerful, funny and epic and shows us how we can change the world from our doorstep.This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere as NW Trilogy at Kiln Theatre, London, in August 2021.

'Football is all very well as a game for Rough Girls but it is hardly suitable for delicate boys.' Oscar Wilde The making of Belfast's first all-female football team.This is the untold story of the Belfast women who stepped onto a pitch in society-shocking shorts and footie boots, a ball at their feet and a point to prove. They were the suffragettes of soccer. Rebels with a ball, who kept kicking their way through the outraged defence of a male-dominated game to raise thousands for those returning from war. Set in Belfast 1917 - 1921 in a city divided by war but still united by sport, the play chronicles the courage and determination of those girls.This original Belfast story based on true events will resonate with the history of the city and chime with the recent equality movements across the sports industry and the cultural sector. This ambitious, large-scale play features an impressive eleven strong female ensemble with live music creating the heartbeat of the city at the time. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at Belfast's Lyric Theatre in September 2021.

Shortlisted for the Writers' Guild of Great Britain's "Best Play for Young Audiences" Award (2022)"Don't you ever get sick of it?" "Being the only one?" "Yeah. Being the Ambassador of Blackness?" Abeni is new to college. She's putting purple braids in Jasmine's hair and giving her 'the talk', opening Jasmine's mind to new ways of seeing the world - and the world seeing both of them. A new play by Olivia Hannah, about fitting in and standing out. Featured as part of BBC Arts Light Up Festival and played on BBC Radio, Braids was longlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award 2018 and shortlisted for the Writers' Guild of Great Britain 2022 award for Best Play for Young Audiences. "Not that I'm saying I know more about you than you do, I'm not saying, that's not what I'm saying, like, at all! Just that I do know you better than maybe you know yourself."Will and Bean have been friends forever. ?But they're not kids anymore and the adult world is a scary place. In a tent in County Durham, a Duke of Edinburgh Award trip becomes more complicated than either of them planned. Cheer Up Slug is a new play by Tamsin Daisy Rees, about boundaries and behaviour.This double-edition of debut plays by North-East based writers was published to coincide with the premiere at Live Theatre in October 2021.

"It's not just the choiceIt's never just the choiceChoice is a fairytale."Tattoos are forever. Almost. And at Noodle Soup Tattoo there are strict rules: No names unless they're dead. Nothing on the face. Nothing you might get sued for later.When Jodie, a rough sleeper, asks for a free tattoo from apprentice Kit, her request is well within the guidelines. But Kit is still unsure, because they know only too well that getting inked isn't the only decision that stays with you for the rest of your life.Albatross is a small but sweeping story about the past refusing to stay in the past. It was originally commissioned by Plaines Plough in collaboration with Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and is published here to coincide with its production at the Playground Theatre, London in October 2021.

In October 1921, a delegation of the Dáil left by boat and train for London, where they were to negotiate with the British government for peace, unity and a republic. They came back with just one of those; and that peace didn't last long, as war with Britain was replaced by war with their own. Were the Irish outclassed or outgunned? Were they lied to? Did they lie to their own colleagues back in Dublin? Or did they achieve the best that could be achieved, an incremental step on the way to fuller sovereignty?The Treaty tells the story of what happened inside those negotiations, as Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins and colleagues faced off against one of the most formidable negotiating teams ever assembled, headed by David Lloyd George and with Winston Churchill often at his side. This edition is published to coincide with Fishamble's production in November 2021.

A 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.

I 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.

The amazing adventures of a woman with a fist in her head.Clara Darcy is fit! She's also (almost) care-free, (kind of) happily single and joyously dancing through life but, little does she know, her world is about to be turned upside down thanks to the arrival of a fist - slap-bang in the middle of her head.Based on her astonishing real-life story, We Should Definitely Have More Dancing explores the things that define us, that fill us up and make us who we are - a cautionary postcard from the edge of life stuffed full of heart and love and dancing.First produced by Oldham Coliseum Theatre, this edition was published to coincide with the world premiere production at Oldham Coliseum Theatre, followed by a national tour and run at the Assembly Rooms as part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

“Everyone is constructing themselves. I‿m just conscious of doing it. More than that, I‿m a sculptor of it. I am a fucking artist.â€?Finalist: Popcorn Writing Award 2021Alex is a social success. Her Instagram boasts a montage of members-only rooftops, inexplicably sunny days and clinking glasses ‿ like after like after like! When her father dies, Alex reluctantly joins a bereavement group. She shares a little, and then lies... a lot. And it feels good ‿ like the ‿likes‿, but live, and just like that, Alex is hooked. Please, Feel Free to Share by Rachel Causer is a dynamic, darkly comic, one-woman show about our personal addictions, the never-ending pursuit of ‿likes‿ and our growing desire to share all. This play was developed by Scatterjam, a female-led production company that are committed to creating innovative shows that actively challenge commonly held preconceptions and celebrate the comedic potential of doing so. They are the makers of the Offie-Nominated play When It Happens.