Paris in the 1880s. Louise Strandberg has fallen ill visiting her bohemian artist friends. An almost-famous French painter calls round and, somehow inevitably, she falls heavily under his spell. A year later, having run herself deep into debt on his account despite his coolness towards her, she - somehow also inevitably - kills herself. author's own life. Victoria Benedictsson killed herself at the end of a long, unrequited affair. She is said to be the model for two of the most famous suicides in drama: in Miss Julie (published the year of her death) and Hedda Gabler, published two years later. remarkably fresh and fascinating take on the 19th-century obsession with the doomed love affair, which includes La Dame aux Camelias and Therese Raquin.

A harrowing, intense drama about people-trafficking, set inside a container lorry. A freight container, somewhere in Europe. Inside are five people with one common aim: to reach England and start a new life. Can they trust the agent to get them there? Can they rely on each other? And how far will each of them go to get what they want? Clare Bayley's play The Container was first performed (inside an actual container lorry) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2007. It won a Fringe First Award for outstanding new writing on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and an Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award.

Full of inspiration and practical advice, Playwriting: A Writers' & Artists' Companion is a comprehensive companion to writing for the stage. PART 1 includes reflections on the art and the craft of playwriting, guidance on writing for a full range of genres and spaces and a brief history of playwriting itself. PART 2 contains inspiring advice and reflections from leading playwrights:April De Angelis, Bryony Lavery, David Greig, Christina Reid, Dennis Kelly, Frank McGuinness, Lynn Nottage, Howard Brenton, Roy Williams, Tanika Gupta, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Polly Stenham, Tom Stoppard, Jack Thorne, Steve Waters, E.V. Crowe, David Henry Hwang, Lin Coghlan, Zinnie Harris and Anne Washburn. PART 3 offers practical exercises and advice on planning and conducting research, working out plots and characters, mastering authentic but accessible dialogue, navigating the industry and the rehearsal and production process.