This is an edition of Christopher Marlowe's play Dr Faustus as it was first printed in 1604. This is one of the most celebrated of all Elizabethan plays, famous for its treatment of the damnation of Faustus and his struggles with his divided conscience. It combines spectacular visual effects with sophisticated theological discussion. The edition reproduces the only surviving copy, held in the Bodelian Library, Oxford, in photofacsimile. The introduction offers up-to-date analysis of the authorship, sources, staging and printing of the play. The edition will be invaluable for advanced students and established scholars working on Marlowe, Elizabethan drama generally, demonology, and early modern book production. An edition of the revised text of 1616 will be published by the Malone Society in early 2019. -- .

Since premiering his pioneering linguistic experiment I Love XXX in Beijing nearly twenty-five years ago, Meng Jinghui has been credited with revitalizing Chinese theater by popularizing the avant-garde. Mixing high culture with mass culture, his plays address China's enduring revolutionary nostalgia and current social problems, challenging the artistic status quo from the mainstream rather than the margins. His creations range from new interpretations of canonical Western masters like Shakespeare and Genet to improvisational collaborations with actors on original works. This anthology from China's most influential playwright makes his plays available to an international readership in English for the first time. The collection, chosen by Meng and renowned Chinese theater scholar and translator Claire Conceison, represents the breadth of Meng's work illuminates late twentieth- and twenty-first-century creative practices that transcend the conventional category of playwright. I Love XXX includes the title piece, Longing for Worldly Pleasures, The Bedbug, Head Without Tail, and Two Dogs' Opinions on Life, as well as a DVD featuring selected scenes from each of the plays.

Volumes II and III of the Collected Works of John Ford contain the six plays that Ford wrote at the beginning of his theatrical career in collaboration with other dramatists: The Laws of Candy (1619-20) with Massinger, The Witch of Edmonton (1621) with Dekker and Rowley, The Welsh Ambassador (1623) with Dekker, The Spanish Gypsy (1623) with Dekker, Rowley, and Middleton, The Sun's Darling (1624) with Dekker, and The Fair Maid of the Inn (1626) with Massinger and Webster. This is the first time that Ford's co-authored works have been collected. In Volume II the General Editor, Sir Brian Vickers, contributes two Introductions, 'Co-authorship in Jacobean and Caroline Drama', and 'Identifying Co-Authors'. In the first he reviews collaborative authorship (practiced by every dramatist of this period), in terms of theatrical conditions, the competing companies, the need for new repertoire, the process of assigning individual contributions and assembling the whole play. In the second he discusses the methods that have been applied over the last two centuries to identify co-authors. He then provides separate discussions of the authorship problem in each play, evaluating previous attributions and bringing new evidence to bear. A special feature of this volume is the introduction of a new methodology, based on computer software programs that identify student plagiarism. Used in combination with high-speed search engines and a large electronic database of contemporary plays, this method permits for the first time accurate identification of each co-author's contribution. Volume III contains the text of the plays, edited by a team composed of established and younger scholars. Five of the plays - The Laws of Candy, The Witch of Edmonton, The Spanish Gypsy, The Sun's Darling and The Fair Maid of the Inn - have been freshly edited from the original editions, surviving copies of which have been collated to identify press corrections. The sixth, The Welsh Ambassador, has been edited from the sole extant manuscript. For each work the editors provide an introduction that discusses the play's date and theatrical genesis, its sources, dramaturgy and other features. A full commentary is provided for all texts, giving historical explanations of the vocabulary, parallel passages in other works by Ford, and theatrical annotation, where relevant. This volume provides a unique opportunity for everyone interested in the career of a major playwright to appreciate how he learned his trade by collaborating with more experienced dramatists, a process in which his own distinctive voice was formed.

This Student Edition of Brecht's classic dramatisation of the conflict over possession of a child features an extensive introduction and commentary that includes a plot summary, discussion of the context, themes, characters, style and language as well as questions for further study and notes on words and phrases in the text. It is the perfect edition for students of theatre and literature.
Brecht projects an ancient Chinese story onto a realistic setting in Soviet Georgia. In a theme that echoes the Judgment of Solomon, two women argue over the possession of a child; thanks to the unruly judge, Azdak (one of Brecht's most vivid creations) natural justice is done and the peasant Grusha keeps the child she loves, even though she is not its mother.
Written in exile in the United States during the Second World War, "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" is a politically-charged, much-revived and complex example of Brecht's epic theatre.
This volume contains expert notes on the author's life and work, historical and political background to the play, photographs from stage productions and a glossary of difficult words and phrases. It features the acclaimed translation by James and Tania Stern with W. H. Auden.

1905, New York City. Esther, a black seamstress, sews exquisite lingerie for clients who range from wealthy white patrons to prostitutes. She has saved enough to allow her to dream of one day opening a beauty salon for black women, and at thirty-five years old, longs for a husband and a future. When she begins to receive beautiful letters from a lonesome Caribbean man who is working on the Panama Canal, it looks like life may be about to take a different course. Intimate Apparel won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play when it first opened in the USA in 2004. It received its UK premiere at the Theatre Royal Bath, before transferring to the Park Theatre, London, in 2014.

It's the end of everything in contemporary America. A future without power. But what will survive? Mr Burns asks how the stories we tell make us the people we are, explodes the boundaries between pop and high culture and, when society has crumbled, imagines the future for America's most famous family.

A new, revised edition for the London transfer of Mike Poulton's expertly adapted two-part adaptation of Hilary Mantel's hugely acclaimed novels, featuring a substantial set of character notes by Hilary Mantel. Mike Poulton's 'expertly adapted' (Evening Standard) two-part ad adaptation of Hilary Mantel's acclaimed novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies is a 'gripping piece of narrative theatre ... history made manifest' (Guardian). The plays were premiered to great acclaim by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2013, before transferring to the Aldwych Theatre in London's West End in May 2014. Wolf Hall begins in England in 1527. Henry has been King for almost twenty years and is desperate for a male heir; but Cardinal Wolsey is unable to deliver the divorce he craves. Yet for a man with the right talents this crisis could be an opportunity. Thomas Cromwell is a commoner who has risen in Wolsey's household - and he will stop at nothing to secure the King's desires and advance his own ambitions. In Bring Up the Bodies, the volatile Anne Boleyn is now Queen, her career seemingly entwined with that of Cromwell. But when the King begins to fall in love with self-effacing Jane Seymour, the ever-pragmatic Cromwell must negotiate within an increasingly perilous Court to satisfy Henry, defend the nation and, above all, to secure his own rise in the world. Hilary Mantel's novels are the most formidable literary achievements of recent times, both recipients of the Man Booker Prize. This volume contains both plays and a substantial set of notes by Hilary Mantel on each of the principal characters, offering a unique insight into the adaptations and an invaluable resource to any theatre companies wishing to stage them.

An inventive, fast-paced comedy featuring P.G. Wodehouse's iconic double act. When a perfectly delightful trip to the countryside takes a turn for the worse, Bertie Wooster is unwittingly called on to play matchmaker - reconciling the affections of his host's drippy daughter Madeline Bassett with his newt-fancying acquaintance Gussie Fink-Nottle. If Bertie, ably assisted by the ever-dependable Jeeves, can't pull off the wedding of the season he'll be forced to abandon his cherished bachelor status and marry the ghastly girl himself! Jeeves and Wooster in 'Perfect Nonsense' premiered at the Duke of York's Theatre, West End, in November 2013. It was nominated for the 2014 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.

"We've stood up - we've lain down - we've concentrated. We've sat interminably while that tiresome old woman recited extremely unflattering verses at us. We're endured five ""seances ""- we've watched her fling herself in and out of trances until we're dizzy, and at the end of it all we find ourselves exactly where we were at the beginning."Researching for his new novel, Charles Condomine invites the implausible medium Madame Arcati to his house for a seance. Whilst consumed in a trance, Madame Arcati unwittingly summons the ghost of Charles's dead wife, Elvira. Appearing only to Charles, Elvira soon makes a play to reclaim her husband, much to the chagrin of Charles's new wife, Ruth. One husband, two feuding wives and a whisper of mischief in the air - who will win in Coward's unworldly comedy?Written in 1941, "Blithe Spirit" remained the longest-running comedy in the history of the British theatre for three decades thereafter. Dealing with relationships on both sides of the grave, it is an enduring classic.A new edition of Coward's classic play ""published to coincide with the 2014 new West End revival at the Gielgud Theatre, starring Angela Lansberry as Madame Arcati."

Part One of "Angels in America", subtitled "Millennium Approaches", erupted on to the stage of the National Theatre in January 1992. Part Two, "Perestroika", followed in November 1993. Since then "Angels in America" has become one of the most studied American plays, with over 30,000 copies of both parts sold in the UK alone. It has also been filmed for television by Mike Nichols, with Al Pacino, Meryl Streep - and Emma Thompson as the eponymous Angel. Now, 15 years after that first production, and with Tony Kushner's latest play, "Caroline, or Change", still running - and winning prizes - at the National, both parts of "Angels in America" are available in a single volume. Parts One and Two will also stay in print in separate volumes.

we're still ourselves when we lie Joan and Tom have been married for nearly thirty years. Tara lies alone while Peter works nights. How far will people go to hear their heart beat again? What does it mean to be unfaithful to those you love? A stark and searing glimpse into two tangled relationships, the unspoken desires, the piercing regrets, and the postponed conversations. Owen McCafferty's Unfaithful premiered at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in August 2014.

A funny and tender drama that explores how even if you live on the brink, destiny can have a way of surprising you. In South Boston you're starting on the wrong side of the tracks, so just making ends meet will require all the energy you can muster. And when sharp-tongued single-mother Margie loses yet another job she'll do anything it takes to pay the bills. Hearing that an old boyfriend who has made good is in town, she decides to corner him - with unexpected results all round. Good People received its UK premiere at the Hampstead Theatre in February 2014.

You try your best. Mornin Your team were lucky last night sir. But; it just disnay work. A modern parable set against the backdrop of the first Old Firm clash of the season. Funny, tough and thought-provoking, Scarfed for Life tells the story of two teenage friends caught in the crossfire of polite suburban prejudice and garden equipment. The play draws on what sectarianism and prejudice actually mean to young Glaswegians, and how it affects them and their peers. The Old Firm is the collective name for the Glasgow association football clubs Celtic and Rangers. Scarfed for Life is a hard-hitting play based on the experiences of discrimination and prejudice among the young people of Glasgow.

This selection of six contemporary plays explores a wide range of issues ? familial, social, mythological, political ? with women centre stage. The plays are distinct from each other in structure, theme and style, but are bound together by a common thread ? the position and role of women in family, social and political systems. Issues such as sexual abuse, in-law relationships, the trauma of ageing, the struggle for women's empowerment, love and passion, desire and revenge, and dynastic politics are discussed through the varying perspectives of a number of characters, bringing an immediacy and urgency to the subjects under consideration.

What is significant about the plays is that they highlight the manipulation of the English language resulting with the introduction of an ?Indian? syntax. Multilingualism is used to offset the so-called ?westernisation? that has been the by-product of the systematic globalisation of ?third world? countries. While the plays are meant to be staged, they are also very reader-friendly and will be entertaining as well as educative for the general reader.

Sixty years ago, the University of Chicago Press undertook a momentous project: a new translation of the Greek tragedies that would be the ultimate resource for teachers, students, and readers. They succeeded. Under the expert management of eminent classicists David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, those translations combined accuracy, poetic immediacy, and clarity of presentation to render the surviving masterpieces of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides in an English so lively and compelling that they remain the standard translations. Today, Chicago is taking pains to ensure that our Greek tragedies remain the leading English-language versions throughout the twenty-first century. In this highly anticipated third edition, Mark Griffith and Glenn W. Most have carefully updated the translations to bring them even closer to the ancient Greek while retaining the vibrancy for which our English versions are famous. This edition also includes brand-new translations of Euripides' "Medea", "The Children of Heracles", "Andromache", and "Iphigenia among the Taurians", fragments of lost plays by Aeschylus, and the surviving portion of Sophocles' satyr-drama "The Trackers". New introductions for each play offer essential information about its first production, plot, and reception in antiquity and beyond. In addition, each volume includes an introduction to the life and work of its tragedian, as well as notes addressing textual uncertainties and a glossary of names and places mentioned in the plays. In addition to the new content, the volumes have been reorganized both within and between volumes to reflect the most up-to-date scholarship on the order in which the plays were originally written. The result is a set of handsome paperbacks destined to introduce new generations of readers to these foundational works of Western drama, art, and life.

The traditional story of Jesus' birth is well known and beloved. A long journey from home. A pregnant mother. The crisis of birth. Remarkable visitors. But there is more. For the first time, here is a drama that accurately presents what the Bible actually says rather than what tradition and mistranslations of Scripture have portrayed. This fresh Christmas drama from world-renowned Middle Eastern and biblical expert Kenneth Bailey is full of wonder and hope. Pastors, Christian educators, musicians and others will welcome the opportunity to present to their congregations this drama of hospitality, grace and joy. Five original contemporary folk songs for guitar and a (SATB) choral anthem are also available to give the production delightful musical accents. InterVarsity Press also provides a PDF download musical score as well as a music CD or MP3 download in which all these songs are performed twice, once with vocals and once with accompaniment only. Without music, the drama can be performed in 25-30 minutes. With music, the performance time is 45-50 minutes. Here is a drama that is biblically accurate, heartwarming and perfectly suited for church performance.

Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 2013. New York. Today. Corporate lawyer Amir Kapoor is happy, in love, and about to land the biggest career promotion of his life. But beneath the veneer, success has come at a price. When Amir and his artist wife, Emily, host an intimate dinner party at their Upper East Side apartment, what starts out as a friendly conversation soon escalates into something far more damaging. After taking US audiences by storm in a sold out run in New York, Disgraced transferred to the Bush Theatre in London in 2013.

The BBC commissioned Tariq Ali to write a three-part TV series on the circumstances leading to the overthrow, trial and execution of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the first elected prime minister of Pakistan. As rehearsals were about to begin, the BBC hierarchy--under pressure from the Foreign Office--decided to cancel the project. Why? General Zia ul Haq, the dictator at the time, was leading the jihad against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. He was backed by the USA. According to expert legal opinion, there was a possibility of a whole range of defamation suits from the head of state to judges involved in the case. In consequence, it was decided not to broadcast this hard-hitting and provocative play. The Leopard and the Fox presents both the script and the story of censorship.

Edited by world-renowned classicists Elizabeth Asmis, Shadi Bartsch, and Martha C. Nussbaum, the Complete Works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca offers authoritative, modern English translations of the writings of the Stoic philosopher and playwright (4 BCE 65 CE). The two volumes of The Complete Tragedies presents all of his dramas, expertly rendered by preeminent scholars and translators. The first volume contains Medea, The Phoenician Women, Phaedra, The Trojan Women, and Octavia, the last of which was written in emulation of Senecan tragedies and serves as a unique example of political tragedy. This second volume includes Oedipus, Hercules Mad, Hercules on Oeta, Thyestes, and Agamemnon. High standards of accuracy, clarity, and style are maintained throughout the translations, which render Seneca into verse with as close a correspondence, line for line, to the original as possible, and with special attention paid to meter and overall flow. In addition, each tragedy is prefaced by an original translator's introduction offering reflections on the work's context and meaning. Notes are provided for the reader unfamiliar with the culture and history of classical antiquity. Accordingly, The Complete Tragedies will be of use to a general audience and professionals alike, from the Latinless student to scholars and instructors of comparative literature, classics, philosophy, drama, and more.

Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy is a classic play from Japan's golden age of puppet theater. Written in the eighteenth century, it tells the tale of Sugawara no Michizane, a wronged scholar-official who, in death, joins the Shinto pantheon as a nurturer of scholarship and calligraphy. The story recounts Sugawara's entanglement with the powerful Fujiwara family, who accuse Sugawara of plotting against the emperor, resulting in his exile and death in 903. After a series of misfortunes befall those who conspired against him, Sugawara's enemies appease his spirit through deification. Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy centers on three archetypical brothers and their wives. Their fates unfold against the intrigues surrounding Sugawara and his foes, which reflect the cultural values of the Edo period woven into a stylized past. This annotated translation by Stanleigh H. Jones Jr. replicates the play's poetic and idiomatic language and its original mix of register while also clarifying the drama's complex story and dialogue for students of Japanese literature and drama. An introduction situates the play within its eighteenth-century context and ninth-century setting and describes the relationship between bunraku puppet theater and kabuki. A unique illustrated appendix delves into the construction of puppets and the art of puppetry.

In The Lamplighter award-winning poet and Scottish Makar Jackie Kay takes us on a journey into the dark heart of Britain’s legacy in the slave trade.

First produced as a play, on the page it reads as a profound and tragic multi-layered poem. We watch as four women and one man tell the story of their lives through slavery, from the fort, to the slave ship, through the middle passage, following life on the plantations, charting the growth of the British city and the industrial revolution. Constance has witnessed the sale of her own child; Mary has been beaten to an inch of her life; Black Harriot has been forced to sell her body; and our lead, the Lamplighter, was sold twice into slavery from the ports in Bristol. Their different voices sing together in a rousing chorus that speaks to the experiences of all those brutalised by slavery, and lifts in the end to a soaring and powerful conclusion.

Stirring, impassioned and deeply affecting, The Lamplighter remains as essential today as the day it was first performed. This is an essential work by one of our most beloved writers.

Anyone who needs monologues and/or short two-person scenes for auditions and competitions will find this book to be a valuable resource. Designed for professional actors seeking roles in TV shows, commercials and sgate productions, it may also be used by student performers who wish to work at a profesional level. Most scenes are generic, easily adaptable for use by male or female actors. Emphasis is on believable characters, no cartoon types.

The five plays in this collection are Everyman in his Humour, the tragedy Sejanus, Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair. They represent the full range and complexity of Jonson's art as a playwright. The text is the modernized version of Herford and Simpson's edition (OUP 1925-52), with full annotation. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.