HOME explores notions of home from a range of young people's perspectives, both in the physical and emotional senses, examining with humour and passion themes of place, belonging and prejudice. THE BRIDGE tells the story of Aaron, a young man deeply affected by the death of his friend, a young man at risk. He and his family are struggling to come to terms with the impact of guilt and self-doubt and the isolation of rural lives and the pressures of adolescence. THE YUM YUM ROOM was commissioned by The City of Mount Gambier as a response to high rates of youth suicide in the region. Honest, moving and intimate, this country town story goes straight to the heart and reflects all the paradoxical complexities of living in the here and now. CROWDED HOUSE is set in the future when times are troubled. The cities are crowded places where work, food and shelter are hard to find and the streets are patrolled by sweepers, whose purpose is to eliminate the young.

This collection includes three previously unpublished works: Jonah, Top End, and Lost Weekend. They are published together with his best-known play, The Floating World. Romeril's writing conveys an immediacy of the times that stems from his beginnings as an agitprop writer, but he focuses on everyday lives. He sees the larger world reflected in these lives, using domestic detail and personal relationships to illuminate the wider society. The plays in Damage explore the consequences of the stresses and strains of the twentieth century, in the body politic and also on the individual.

The late 1960s were among the most tumultuous years in recent history. Student revolution spread like wildfire around the world as the past-war generation came to adulthood. In Australia protests against the Vietnam War were mixed with rebellious new political awareness. The plays in this volume reflect the radicalism in public and private life which that period has come to represent. Each of these works played a significant part in advancing the horizons of the Australian stage. Included in this volume are: Rodney Milgate's A Refined Look at Existence, an ironical comedy drama set in a NSW country town, which reworks Euripides' 'The Bacchae' (3 acts, 9 men, 3 women); Bill Reed's Burke's Company, a study of the explorer Robert O'Hara Burke and his life and death struggle with the Central Australian desert (2 acts, 9 men); Alex Buzo's The Front Room Boys, a seasonal satire set in a government office (1 act, 7 men, 2 women); and Chicago Chicago by John Romeril, a surreal attack on political exploration set against the 1968 Chicago Democrat Convention (1 act, 19 men, 5 women -- doubling possible).

Miss Tanaka is the beautiful and enigmatic niece of Broome's former Number One pearl diver. Newly arrived from Japan, she captures the hearts of the town's menfolk, but is promised in marriage to two brawling pearl divers. Who will uncover this mysterious young woman's true identity? Based on a story by Xavier Herbert, John Romeril's new play is a magical portrayal of 1930s Broome, weaving an astonishing blend of folk tale, magic and spectacle as it races to its wild conclusion.

Romeril's homage to the 18th century Japanese playwright, Chikamatsu Monzaemon, is a daring blend of cultures, involving the destiny of two lovers -- one from Osaka, the other from Perth. The result is an epic story for our times: audacious in its conception, breathtaking in its vision, passionate in its realisation. Love Suicides is an important new play from a highly original and provocative playwright (3 acts, 3 men, 2 women).