Intended for students and children taking part in speech and drama competitions and exams, this book contains a range of audition speeches. It includes female, male and unisex speeches selected from both plays and children's books. Where relevant the author has indicated how a speech could be shortened for younger children. There is also an introductory section with contributions from Alan Ayckbourn, Carol Schroder (teacher and examiner for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art), Richard Carpenter (TV writer) and Ed Wilson (Director of the National Youth Theatre) and senior casting directors for the RSC, TV and film. This edition has been freshly revised to include 10 new speeches from well known recent productions as well as children's books including Harry Potter. 'A superb compilation' Amateur Stage

The perfect gift for band nerds past and present, The Marching Band Nerds Handbook deftly captures all the humor and inside jokes band nerds love. Hold on to your shirts and plumes! This hilarious and inspiring guide to surviving life in the marching band is for anyone who has taken a step on the marching field or has just driven by a field on the highway. All the best (and funniest) secrets are revealed in this series of rules and illustrations that, if followed strictly, almost guarantees world domination (actual results may vary). Band nerds of all ages are sure to agree with expert rules like:Never give drummers metal sticks-they'll think they're ninjas (but most ninjas are actually clarinet players)Band parents may be adults but that doesn't mean they don't still need supervisionDon't lock your knees while standing at attentionMarching band is an art, not a sport-but if it were a sport, the drummers would winShare The Marching Band Nerds Handbook with all the band nerds in your life!

This collection features four urgent and explosive plays by award-winning playwright Evan Placey, each tackling issues facing young people today. They provide ideal material for teenagers to read, study and perform. Girls Like That explores the pressures caused by technology when a schoolgirl's naked photograph goes viral. Commissioned in 2013 by Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth and West Yorkshire Playhouse, it has subsequently been performed by school and youth-theatre groups across the UK, at the Unicorn Theatre, London, and in the Houses of Parliament. It won the Writers' Guild Award for Best Play for Young Audiences. Banana Boys, published here for the first time, is about the challenges of being on the school football team - and secretly gay. It was commissioned and produced by Hampstead Theatre's heat&light company in 2010. In Holloway Jones, Holloway dreams of being a world-class BMXer, but she is held back by the tough reality of a parent in prison. Also making its debut in print here, the play was commissioned by Synergy Theatre Project, toured schools and the Unicorn Theatre in 2011, and won the 2012 Brian Way Award for Best Play for Young People. Finally, Pronoun is a love story about two childhood sweethearts dealing with the fact that one of them, Isabella, has now become a boy. As one of the plays in the 2014 National Theatre Connections Festival it proved enormously popular with youth theatres and college companies. 'Maybe change starts with plays like this' Lyn Gardner, Guardian, on Girls Like That