First published in 1971, Poison, Play and Duel explores the dominant symbols of the language and action of Hamlet. The Ghost first reveals that Claudius murdered his brother by poison, and this act of poisoning is then dramatically presented before the King. The ultimate consequence of the 'poison in jest' performed by the actors is the poisoned 'play' with rapiers between Laertes and Hamlet. This representation of violence, and the vengeful response to violence, creates the moral and the psychological problems of Hamlet. Critics naturally question, and disagree about, the way that Hamlet plays his role in this play because the role of Hamlet is a theatrical device designed to bring all human actions into debate and question. It is hardly surprising that audiences have seen mirrored in Hamlet their own most fundamental and inescapable problems. Nigel Alexander shows how Shakespeare, like Raphael, Titian and other Renaissance artists, developed and adapted the imagery inherited from the Christian and classical past. The battle within the soul, the choice of life, the hunt of passion, the triple face of prudence and the dance of the graces are given dramatic habitation in Hamlet's soliloquies, in the inner-play and in the savage contrast of sexuality between Gertrude and Ophelia. This book will be of interest to students of literature, drama, psychology and philosophy.

I exist now. Don't tell me that I didn't exist before. How should a nation apologise for the crimes of its past? Seoul, 1991. She kept her silence for over forty years. Then Sun-Hee spoke out, igniting a fire that burns to this day. Yuna is about to uncover a shameful family secret. Priyanka, the first United Nations investigator into Violence Against Women, probes the harrowing circumstances of the WWII "comfort women". Three women's lives intertwine as they speak truth to power and confront the atrocity of Japanese military sexual slavery during wartime. Based on true accounts by survivors and historical documents, The Apology is a play about what it takes to forgive. This edition is published to coincide with the world premiere at the Arcola Theatre, UK, in September 2022.

A guide to the contemporary London stage as well as an argument about its future, the book walks readers through the city's performance spaces following the Brexit vote. Austerity-era London theatre is suffused with the belief that private ownership defines full citizenship, its perspective narrowing to what an affluent audience might find relatable. From pub theatres to the National, Michael Meeuwis reveals how what gets put on in London interacts with the daily life of the neighbourhoods in which they are set. This study addresses global theatregoers, as well as students and scholars across theatre and performance studies-particularly those interested in UK culture after Brexit, urban geography, class, and theatrical economics.

What is Chekhov's method of ensuring audience participation? What does his stage direction 'through tears' mean? What happens between the first and second acts of The Seagull? Is there any reason for the despondency in Chekhov's drama? This book, first published in 1972, discusses these questions and many other issues around Chekhov's last four plays. David Magarshack, the leading translator and biography of many of Russia's greatest writers, closely examines Chekhov's work for the relevant facts about his writing, and demonstrates that no reliance should be placed on the so-called subtext which can introduce all sorts of irrelevancies arising from pre-conceived ideas about the plays. A careful reading of Chekhov's text itself is all that is needed to correct the familiar distortions of his characters and themes.

If you're a wheelchair-user, you've got a simple choice: either you suck sweets in a corner and watch television all day or you try to change the world around you. There ain't gonna be no magic pill in my day. This is the (mostly) true story of Martin Naughton AKA Michael Collins in a wheelchair. Martin is an agitator. A disruptor. A seeker of justice and planter of (truth) bombs. But will his anarchic quest for equality be derailed by dreams of love and new horizons? Based on the real life of Martin Naughton and his campaign for independence for disabled people in Ireland, No Magic Pill, written by Christian O'Reilly, is a joyful, shameless, no-holds-barred story of one man's fight for justice and love. This edition was published to coincide with the production at Black Box, Galway, and the Civic, Tallaght, for Dublin Theatre Festival in October 2022.

Monograph on Martin Crimp, one of Europe's most celebrated playwrights Covers Crimp's most recent work Takes an internationalist approach Is the first book to address Crimp's work of the past decade

Hear Me Now, Volume Two is a unique collection of over 80 original audition monologues, expressly created by a range of writers including Vera Chok, Josh-Susan Enright and Bea Webster, brought together by producer Titilola Dawudu and Tamasha Theatre Company. They are ideal for actors of colour searching for speeches for auditions or training, writers, teachers, and theatre-makers who are passionate about improving diversity. The volume is introduced by BAFTA-nominated actor Ashley Madekwe, and will also feature a section on Top Tips for auditioning from Tamasha and a host of actors, including Ted Lasso's Kevin 'KG' Garry and Cherrelle Skeete of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Following on from the successful first volume, and featuring a variety of themes, scenes and characters, Hear Me Now, Volume Two is an essential tool for actors of colour to showcase their range, and seeks to inspire, empower, and create a legacy for generations to come.

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.

Winner of New Diorama, Underbelly and Methuen Drama's Untapped Award 2022 Sometimes I'm afraid of this play. Malta: Catholic kitsch, golden sun, deep blue sea, Eurovision - and a blanket ban on abortion. Propelled by three years of interviews with anonymous contributors and their own lived experience, actors and activists Marta and Davinia interrogate Malta's restrictions on the freedom of women. What does it mean for your home to boast the world's most progressive LGBTQIA+ rights, leading transgender laws - and a population that is almost unanimously anti-choice? Blanket Ban is a rallying cry from award-winning Chalk Line Theatre. This edition was published to coincide with the production at Underbelly Cowgate, Edinburgh, in August 2022.

Winner of New Diorama, Underbelly and Methuen Drama's Untapped Award 2022 A new Caligari comes to life - accompanied by a five-piece band. Embracing the long shadows and broad brushstrokes of German expressionism, Caligari exposes parallels between post-war Weimar and the UK today: an ever-widening class divide, a subconscious need for a tyrant, and an unwillingness to rebel against deranged authority. The doctor's victims take centre stage in this minty-fresh take on the German horror cult-classic, written by Georgie Bailey and presented by Off West End Award-winning ChewBoy Productions. This edition was published to coincide with the production at Underbelly Cowgate, Edinburgh, in August 2022.

"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." Finalist: Popcorn Writing Award 2021 Alex 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.

One of the most famous science-fiction stories ever written, "The War of the Worlds" helped launch the entire genre by exploiting the concept of interplanetary travel.
First published in 1898, the novel terrified readers of the Victorian era with its account of an invasion of hostile creatures from Mars who moved across the English landscape in bizarre metal transports, using deadly heat rays to destroy buildings and annihilate all life in their path. Its power to stir the imagination was made abundantly clear when Orson Welles adapted the story for a radio drama on Halloween night in 1938 and created a national panic.
Despite readers' increasing sophistication about space travel and interplanetary invaders, "The War of the Worlds" remains a riveting reading experience. Its narrative energy, intensity, and striking originality remain undiminished, ready to thrill a new generation of readers with old-fashioned storytelling power.

Multi-award-winning Scottish playwright Kieran Hurley has been making waves since the early 2010s with his vivid storytelling and searing honesty, creating plays acutely concerned with society and community, and deeply enmeshed in Scotland's local political context. Tracking the evolution of Hurley's work from his early solo shows to his later large-cast plays and featuring an introduction by Scottish theatre critic Joyce McMillan, this is an exciting collection showcasing one of the UK's most exciting creators of politically-engaged theatre. The plays collected are: Hitch (2010): a previously unpublished solo show about Hurley's hitchhiking trip to the 2009 G8 meeting in L'Aquila, exploring the meaning of political protest. Beats (2012): a coming-of-age story exploring the aftermath of the 1994 Criminal Justice Act outlawing raves. It was adapted into a film in 2019, garnering nominations for BIFA Best Debut Screenplay and WGGB Best Screenplay. Heads Up (2016): a ferocious piece of storytelling asking what we would do if we found ourselves at the end of our world as we know it. (Winner of the Fringe First Award 2016.) Mouthpiece (2018): an unflinching Edinburgh-centric two-hander which examines whether it's possible to tell someone else's story without exploiting them along the way. (Winner of the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award 2019.) The Enemy (2021): a provocative and timely drama offering a uniquely Scottish take on Henrik Ibsen's timeless work An Enemy of the People.

* This book offers an exciting examination of the theatrical functions of medieval English stage directions as records of earlier performance. * Would be recommended reading in for any undergraduate or master's level students studying the medieval period in Performance studies, English Literature or in History (in particular in the UK and the US). * The closest competitors focus on after 1560 so this project is a first in its time period coverage.

First published in 1991, Peter Brook and the Mahabharata is a collection of essays which contextualizes the production of Peter Brook's The Mahabharata. Written by both scholars and collaborators on Brook's production, these essays seek not only to discuss such issues as the politics of theatre interculturalism, but to describe the nature of the working process, and detail the technical problems engendered by touring a production of this size and complexity. Furnished with a new preface by the editor, the book continues to be crucial research work devoted to unravelling the mesmerising as well as the polarising enigma known as Peter Brook's The Mahabharata. Thoroughly heterogenous and controversially irreverent, this book will be of interest to students of theatre, performance art, literature, South Asian studies and media studies.

A psychoanalytic reading of The Suppliant Women with implications extended to contemporary politics. Applies the tragic reading of politics. Considers hubris in public life.

Staging Favorites explores theatrical representations of royal favorites in Spanish, French, and English dramatic production during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. During this time, the courts of Spain, France, and England were dominated by all-powerful ministers who enjoyed royal favor. The politics of royal favoritism gave rise to a significant group of plays which constitutes the subject of this book. While scholars have studied this group partially and separately in national context, Staging Favorites approaches these "dramas about favorites" from a wider European point of view, and performs comparative analyses of a number of plays - including La paciencia en la fortuna; Le Favori, ou la Coquette; and Sejanus His Fall - and adds new detail and differentiation to the early modern perception and representation of the royal favorite. This book will appeal to scholars and students interested in early modern literature, history of theater, and cultural history.

In tracing the course of French comedy from the Renaissance, through the age of Louis XIV and the eighteenth century, to the eve of the Revolution, originally published in 1977, Geoffrey Brereton shows how it evolved from the crude farces and experimental plays of the sixteenth century to become a rich and highly sophisticated dramatic genre. The main emphasis is on the work of the principal dramatists, notably Moliere (whose plays and career are given a detailed and enlightening treatment), Corneille, Scarron, Marivaux and Beaumarchais, with some space devoted to the more neglected writers, such as the 'cynical generation' of Dancourt, Regnard, Lesage and others; and all the plays are seen in the context of the theatrical conventions that helped to shape them. Different types of comedy are analysed, including comedy of character and of manners, as well as the romantic, burlesque and bourgeois forms and the development of the opera-comique. At the same time Dr Brereton examines the influences on French comedy - influences as varied as those of the farce, the Italian commedia dell'arte, the Spanish comedia and the eighteenth century drame - and the way in which these were absorbed and exploited by French comic dramatists. Since comedy, more than any other kind of drama, reflects the contemporary social scene, attention is drawn to social conditions and attitudes, and some of the more striking parallels with modern social preoccupations are pointed out. Written in a very lively and readable style, and containing much stimulating and original comment, as well as providing the basic facts, it gives a considerable insight into the nature of French comedy during its most formative and fruitful period. A substantial bibliography and other reference material increase the usefulness of this book to the student of French drama.

Robert Greene holds a significant place in our understanding of Elizabethan literature. This book offers the most rigorous attempt yet undertaken to determine the scope of the playwright's canon through analyses of Greene's verse style, vocabulary, rhyming habits, and the dramatist's phraseology in his attested plays and in comparison to four plays that have long been on the margins of Greene's corpus: Locrine, Selimus, George a Greene, and A Knack to Know a Knave. The book defines the ranges for Greene's stylistic habits for the very first time and proceeds to identify parallels of thought, language, and overall dramaturgy that reveal a single author's creative consciousness. This volume also casts light on Greene as a more collaborative dramatist than has hitherto been acknowledged. Through emphasizing the immediate surroundings in which Greene was writing - the flourishing of popular theatres in two compact areas of London, in which each theatre company and their dra-matists kept a close eye on what their competitors were producing - Greene emerges as an influential playwright, whose restored oeuvre enables us to establish new ways in which his dramatic methods impacted other writers of the period, including Shakespeare.

Some guys listen to music, some guys like to sing. I like to work people out. Rainer is a solitary delivery rider, moving across London, delivering food to whoever will summon her. From luxury flats to leafy suburbs, she loves to create stories in her head, re-imagining London as one of her favourite sci-fi films or Scorsese's Taxi Driver. She loves her life. Until reality starts to slip and she begins forgetting stuff - even the city she knows so well. And when her one-time lover Jack disappears, when her mum keeps on calling, she has to ask herself: is everything really okay? A one-woman show partly inspired by Dylan Thomas's Under Milkwood, Rainer is a celebration of a city and the people within it, seen and unseen. It was a finalist for Samuel French's Off-Broadway Award, longlisted for Theatre Uncut's Political Playwriting Award and winner of the Prix Royal competition in Paris. This edition was published to coincide with the production at the Arcola Theatre, London, in June 2022.

'You will see no false nothing false tonight' - the Hypnotist Tim Crouch's second play collapses a tale of loss and grief into an exploration of theatrical representation, in a piece of theatre that is at once formally innovative and profoundly moving. Written for two actors, An Oak Tree depicts the fraught meeting of a grieving father and the stage hypnotist who was behind the wheel of the car that killed his daughter, with the father played by a different actor at each performance, walking on stage with no prior knowledge of the play. Catherine Love explores An Oak Tree's connections with conceptual art, the unique process of its creation, its interrogation of stage representation, its relationship with audiences, and its place as part of Crouch's ongoing body of work.

This volume provides an accessible and engaging guide to the study of American dramatic literature. Designed to support students in reading, discussing, and writing about commonly assigned American plays, this text offers timely resources to think critically and originally about key moments on the American stage. Combining comprehensive coverage of the core plays from the post-Revolutionary era to the present, each chapter includes: historical and cultural context of each of the plays and their distinctive literary features clear introductions to the ongoing critical debates they have provoked collaborative prompts for classroom or online discussion annotated bibliographies for further research With its accessible prose style and clear structure, this introduction spotlights specific plays while encouraging students to contemplate timely questions of American identity across its selected span of US theatrical history.

In Salford alone, 34,000 children are caring for someone. Adapted from real-life testimonies, this bold and pertinent piece of documentary theatre examines our failing care system, the impact of austerity and what happens when a child becomes the parent. Jade, Connor and Nicole all care for parents and siblings. They must juggle school and homework with caring for family members, making appointments, collecting prescriptions and running the home. Their hidden lives of caring have impacted their education, social life and health. Their testimonies are woven together, alongside those of social workers and parents, in this hard-hitting play. "It's tear-jerking throughout - accidents, abuse, disability, depression and suicide, all born on the backs of teenagers - and infuriating, too. Woodhead's script, filleted from interviews with real people who really faced these issues, points the finger squarely at austerity and its crippling effects on local councils and the services they can provide." (The Stage) A gripping verbatim theatre production based on a year of interviews that offers a rare insight into a year in the lives of young carers.

Packed full of analysis and interpretation, historical background, discussions and commentaries, York Notes will help you get right to the heart of the text you're studying, whether it's poetry, a play or a novel. You'll learn all about the historical context of the piece; find detailed discussions of key passages and characters; learn interesting facts about the text; and discover structures, patterns and themes that you may never have known existed. In the Advanced Notes, specific sections on critical thinking, and advice on how to read critically yourself, enable you to engage with the text in new and different ways. Full glossaries, self-test questions and suggested reading lists will help you fully prepare for your exam, while internet links and references to film, TV, theatre and the arts combine to fully immerse you in your chosen text. York Notes offer an exciting and accessible key to your text, enabling you to develop your ideas and transform your studies!

Reading and Writing a Screenplay takes you on a journey through the many possible ways of writing, reading and imagining fiction and documentary projects for cinema, television and new media. It explores the critical role of a script as a document to be written and read with both future readers and the future film it will be giving life to in mind. The book explores the screenplay and the screenwriting process by approaching the film script in three different ways: how it is written, how it is read and how it can be rewritten. Combining contemporary screenwriting practices with historical and academic context, Isabelle Raynauld provides key analytical tools and reading strategies for conceptualizing and scripting projects based on the impact different writing styles can have on readers, with various examples ranging from early cinema to new media and new platforms throughout. This title offers an alternative, thought-provoking and inspiring approach to reading and writing a screenplay that is ideal for directors, producers, actors, students, aspiring screenwriters and readers interested in understanding how an effective screenplay is created.