The Crump family is adrift. Widowed Godfrey is under the spell of Sweet Father Divine, while his daughters, Ernestine and Ermina, immerse themselves in Hollywood illusions to escape racial prejudice. But things change when free-spirited Aunt Lily shows up.

In Basket Case, dependable Miranda and her ex-husband, the smoothly charming and wholly unreliable Guy are thrown together when their faithful old family pet takes a turn for the worse. Reunited over the dog basket, Guy and Miranda find they haven't 'moved on' quite as they'd imagined. When they are joined by family friend James, who rarely sees a stick without getting the wrong end of it, and Martin, the vet and a long time admirer of Miranda, the scene is set for some startling home-truths as this rapid-fire foursome mines laughter and touching observations in equal measure.

WORLD PREMIERE - October 5th 2011 at the Orange Tree Theatre, RichmondGenre: Comedy. We all want to be happy. We all know what it feels like. But what if it keeps slipping through our fingers? Paul is a former happiness guru. As a young man he wrote self-help books and appeared on the television as 'Mr Happy'. But now his marriage has failed and his career as a serious novelist is faltering, while his ex-wife has remarried a wealthy advertising executive to the dismay of their troubled teenage daughter. Paul is now concerned about the state of his health, the size of his mortgage and the monthly payments on his iPhone. Mr Happy is not happy. But surely if anyone can unlock the secret of perpetual happiness, he must be the man?

This brand new one-man comedy takes us on a journey to a stand-up comedian's firstever public performance to fulfil a lifelong dream. My Dog's Got No Nose is a thought-provoking insight into the world of the comic.

Edited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of English, University of Sussex. The Wordsworth Classics' Shakespeare Series presents a newly-edited sequence of William Shakespeare's works. The textual editing takes account of recent scholarship while giving the material a careful reappraisal. Romeo and Juliet is the world's most famous drama of tragic young love. Defying the feud which divides their families, Romeo and Juliet enjoy the fleeting rapture of courtship, marriage and sexual fulfilment; but a combination of old animosities and new coincidences brings them to suicidal deaths. This play offers a rich mixture of romantic lyricism, bawdy comedy, intimate harmony and sudden violence. Long successful in the theatre, it has also generated numerous operas, ballets and films; and these have helped to make Romeo and Juliet perennially topical.

Hypothermia is set in 1940, in a German hospital for hereditary and incurable diseases. A doctor (Erich) and his assistant (Lisa) discover their patients, who had been sent on to other doctors for further treatment, had really been the victims of the testing of various torture (and often death) methods. It poses the question 'now that you know, what will you do?'

A delightful new holiday series featuring five classic Christmas tales in luxurious hardcover editions
Truly stunning book design has become a Penguin Classics tradition. We now introduce a new must-have, collectible series featuring beautiful hardcover editions of some of the best-loved and bestselling Christmas titles of all time. Available in lovely holiday-themed packages, the series includes "A Christmas Carol "by Charles Dickens, " A Merry Christmas "by Louisa May Alcott, "Christmas at Thompson Hall" by Anthony Trollope, "The Night Before Christmas "by Nikolai Gogol, and "The Nutcracker" by E. T. A. Hoffman--treasured Christmas tales that make perfect stocking stuffers for readers of all ages.

Impressionist Alistair McGowan debuts his first play Timing at the Kings Head Theatre starting from the 30th September, starring Dean Gaffney (Robbie from Eastenders) and regular theatre star Edward Baker-Duly. It seems that McGowan, famed by his sketch show Big Impression on the BBC has decided to return to the theatre after his work in Cabaret (Lyric Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors (New Ambassadors Theatre) and The Mikado (Gielgud Theatre) but this time as a playwright. Teaming up with director Tamara Harvey, Timing is all about a young guy called Julian Mann (Baker-Duly) who sets off to work one morning only to find his ex-girlfriend of 5 years is at his workplace, but the complication arises in that they have not spoken since the break-up in which she broke his heart. It is set to go on until 8th November, and if McGowan's previous work is anything to go by it should be a comic hit. It should also be interesting to see how the comedian tackles more serious topics as well. --Review from spoonfed.co.uk

South Africa, 2019. Twenty-five years since the first post-apartheid democratic elections, two men from contrasting walks of life are thrust together to reflect on a quarter-century of change. Jack Morris is a celebrated classical actor who has just been given both a career-defining role and a life-changing diagnosis. Besides his age, Jack has seemingly little in common with his at-home nurse Lunga Kunene, but the two men soon discover their shared passion for Shakespeare, which ignites this ‘rich, raw and shattering head-to-head’ (The Times).

Written by South African actor, activist and playwright John Kani, this refreshingly funny and vital new play premiered in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon in 2019, before transferring to the Ambassadors Theatre in London. A co-production with the Fugard Theatre, it was directed by Janice Honeyman with moving performances from Antony Sher and John Kani.

Australia 1789. A young married lieutenant is directing rehearsals of the first play ever to be staged in that country. With only two copies of the text, a cast of convicts, and one leading lady who may be about to be hanged, conditions are hardly ideal... Winner of the Laurence Olivier Play of the Year Award in 1988, and many other major awards, Our Country's Good premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1988 and opened on Broadway in 1991. 'Rarely has the redemptive, transcendental power of theatre been argued with such eloquence and passion.' Georgina Brown, Independent It is published here in a new Student Edition, alongside commentary and notes by Sophie Bush. The commentary includes a chronology of the play and the playwright's life and work as well as discussion of the social, political, cultural and economic context in which the play was originally conceived and created.

The Frank Daniels Trio were a singing, dancing, comedy sensation. A Wow Top of the Bill Socko Frank, the manager, was always on the left. Tony, the comedy man, was always on the right. Both men adored the girl in the middle - the beautiful Sarah. The perfect recipe for an entangled triangle. Sarah yearned for the more exciting Tony to declare his love, but it was the stable Frank who made the first move. She accepted. And so they married and lived happily - well, almost - ever after. That was in the 60's. Music changed. Styles changed. The trio disbanded. Sarah often thought about Tony. Tony wondered about Sarah. And when, years later, the three friends re-unite, memories and yearnings return - this time offering a second chance for true happiness. Will they dare to take it? With stand-up comedy and 'grumpy old men', this emotional roller coaster of a play will confirm the old adage that 'truth will out'.