Attempts on her Life 17 scenarios for the theatre by Martin Crimp Attempts to describe her? Attempts to destroy her? Or attempts to destroy herself? Is Anne the object of violence? Or its terrifying practitioner? Martin Crimps 17 scenarios for the theatre, shocking and hilarious by turn, are a rollercoaster of late 20th-century obsessions. From pornography and ethnic violence, to terrorism and unprotected sex, its strange array of nameless characters attempt to invent the perfect story to encapsulate our time. Since its premiere 10 years ago, Attempts on her Life has been translated into more than 20 languages. This is its first major UK revival. Attempts on her Life 17 scenarios for the theatre by Martin Crimp

Sex, work, pregnancy, parents, weird neighbours, cleaning the fridge and dancing: Play House tells - in thirteen fleeting scenes - the story of a young couple's attempts to set up home. In Definitely the Bahamas, Frank and Milly relish the visits of Michael, their charming and successful only child. But what exactly is his relationship to the young student living in their house? Martin Crimp's Definitely the Bahamas was first staged at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in 1987. It was revived there with Play House, a new play, in March 2012.

Fewer Emergencies 'Things are definitely looking up--brighter light--more frequent boating--more confident smile--things are improving day by day--who ever would've guessed?' Fewer Emergencies premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in September 2005.

A genius with language, but convinced of his own ugliness, Cyrano secretly loves the radiant Roxane. While Roxane is in love with the beautiful but inarticulate Christian. Cyrano's generous offer to act as go-between sets in motion a poignant and often hilarious love-triangle, in which each character is torn between the lure of physical attraction and the seductive power of words. Martin Crimp's adaptation of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac premiered at the Playhouse Theatre, London, in November 2019.

Are you really surprised to discover that a woman might have a mind of her own? When Lelio thinks he can ditch and cash in on the rich woman he has promised to marry, in order to become the husband of an even wealthier 'girl from Paris', he enlists the help of his attractive new friend, the Chevalier. What he doesn't know is that the Chevalier is none other than this same 'girl from Paris' disguised as a man, and that her project is to publicly expose the depths of his sexual cynicism. A self-declared 'modern', Marivaux is a pioneer in the exploration of human feeling, asking in this play not only what do we hide from others? - but what are we hiding from ourselves? Martin Crimp's version of Pierre Marivaux's The False Servant received its premiere at the National Theatre, London, in 2004 and was revived at the Orange Tree Theatre, London, in June 2022. 'Marivaux's scepticism, irony and fascination with money and sex make him seem peculiarly modern.' Guardian 'Thrills, chills, and belly laughs - this addictively adult comedy has got the lot.' Daily Telegraph

If you think you know what it's like to be me you are seriously deluded. Is it appropriation to invent a voice - or is it an act of empathy? If a playwright's job is to make dialogue, is there a limit to how many characters she / he / they are entitled to invent? Who can these people be? And what if an invented voice says things that even the author would prefer not to hear? With characteristically provocative humour, Martin Crimp's latest work brings 299 unique characters to the stage. Not One of These People, a co-production between the Royal Court Theatre, Carte blanche, and the Carrefour international de theatre, premiered at Theatre La Bordee, Quebec City, in June 2022, and at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in November 2022.

- What're you doing here Robert? - Well to be frank with you, I've really no idea. I thought I would just suddenly appear, so I did. I suddenly appeared. A family Christmas is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Uncle Bob. Who is he? Why has he come? Why does his wife stay out in the car? And what is the meaning of his long and outrageous message? All we can be sure of is that the world will never be the same again. A provocative roll-call of contemporary obsessions, In the Republic of Happiness premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in December 2012.

You could do insane twenty hours shifts in theatre. You could be mother of ten children. You could be toughest whore on the block. You contain all possibilities. You are the ultimate cliche of youth's incredible potential. Promiscuous, pitiless and bored, six sexually entangled medical students restlessly wander in and out of a boarding house, cramming, drinking, taunting, spying. Freder sets about savagely experimenting with the young, pretty maid, with half an eye on his former lover Desiree, a wild, disillusioned aristocrat. Petrell abandons Marie for the ruthless underdog Irene. Marie doesn't waste any time weeping - Desiree wants her. Bourgeois existence or suicide. There are no other choices. Vienna, 1923. A discontented post-war generation diagnose youth to be their sickness and do their best to destroy it. A shocking, erotically charged play by Austrian writer Ferdinand Bruckner, presented in a compelling new version by Martin Crimp.

Far away a battle rages and an entire city is turned to dust. Amelia can't sleep. She waits for news of her husband. He's a great general and this seems to be a decisive victory. But when the motives for the war start to look disturbingly personal, his wife becomes desperate to hold on to his love. Martin Crimp's new play takes Sophocles' ancient story of marriage and violence - 'The Trachiniae' - and propels it into a modern world of political hypocrisy and emotional terrorism. Cruel and Tender was produced by Wiener Festwochen, Chichester Festival Theatre and the Young Vic, where it opened in London before premiering at the 2004 Vienna Festival.

A reworking of Moliere's comic play. Alceste abhors hypocrisy and the well-rehearsed, sycophantic pleasantries of the chattering classes. He tells the truth, even it hurts. Alceste is in love with Jennifer (Celimene), but thinks she's in love with a theatre critic who thinks he can write plays.

'Young girl lives on shore of lake since childhood - like you. Loves the lake - like the seagull. Is happy and free - like the seagull. Then one day a man turns up, sees her, and mindlessly destroys her.' Martin Crimp's pared down version of Chekhov's first great play reveals the full force of its comedy and cruelty - whether it's love, sex, incredible fame, or simply a trip into town, each character is denied the thing they most crave. The Seagull, in a new version by Martin Crimp, premieres at the National Theatre, London, in June 2006.

Go on then: lock the doors and see what happens. Show me how much power you really have. When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other breaks through the surface of contemporary debate to explore the messy, often violent nature of desire and the fluid, complicated roles that men and women play. Using Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela as a provocation, six characters act out a dangerous game of sexual domination and resistance. When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other premiered at the National Theatre, London, in January 2019.

Martin Crimp's Writing for Nothing collects texts written over the last thirty years. Included here are short plays, unmistakably the work of the internationally acclaimed author of Attempts on Her Life; texts for opera, beginning with the modern masterpiece Written on Skin, created with composer George Benjamin; and two stories that provide a new perspective on Crimp, revealing a writer capable of bringing all of his brilliance to prose. Unsettling, elegant and incisive, Writing for Nothing is a vibrant and varied anthology, celebrating a writer with a rare talent for illuminating the power structures behind our everyday world.

This second collection of Martin Crimp's work includes the plays Attempts on Her Life, The Misanthrope, No One Sees the Video and The Country. 'Crimp writes with extraordinary precision . . . The outside world is described with almost hallucinatory clarity . . . He has discovered a dramatic form that perfectly reflects the violent, disorienting times in which we live.' Daily Telegraph

Cruel and Tender 'A mordantly knowing modernisation of Sophocles's Trachiniae... The approach here manages to be at once lethally level and capable of surges of anguished feeling... Highly recommended.' Independent Fewer Emergencies 'A triptych of vicious modern fairy tales that brings the nightmare right back and stabs you through the soul.' Guardian The City 'Although this is the most disquieting play in London, there is a curious exhilaration about both the performance and Crimp's confrontation with our perpetual unease.' Guardian Definitely the Bahamas 'A summation of a life lived vicariously, at the margins of other lives, between suffocating suburban walls; and the play is as unflinching as it is unnerving.' The Times Play House 'Play House concerns the volatility and vulnerability of love, as a young couple, Simon and Katrina set up home... Unusually for Crimp, the play both begins and ends with moving declarations of love. Suddenly this usually chilly dramatist seems unexpectedly blessed with a warm heart.' Daily Telegraph In the Republic of Happiness 'Crimp goes so far as to call it "an entertainment in three parts," and it rocks along like a dystopian vaudeville... The actors are imprisoned and liberated at once, their strange between-worlds condition a source of joy, intemperateness and above all a care for our diversion... My favourite play of the year.' What's on Stage

Martin Crimp, among the most successful British playwrights and translators of his generation, demonstrates a powerful modern sensibility and control of language that The Sunday Times calls "harsh, elegant and sardonic ... as if Evelyn Waugh and Bret Easton Ellis had collaborated on a horrifying morality play". These qualities are apparent in this volume, which includes Dealing with Clair, in which a routine real-estate deal results in a mysterious assault on the agent, and The Treatment, which focuses on the fantasies -- sexual and otherwise -- among the young and not so young in New York's Tribeca.

'It is a stress, yes, to deal, undeniably, to deal with people, yes, but That That That is what I enjoy. That is what I’m good at, okay?' Clair works in real estate. Mike and Liz are selling. James wants to buy. He’ll only deal with Clair. Martin Crimp's play Dealing with Clair premiered in 1988 at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond. This edition was published alongside a new production of the play at the Orange Tree, in October 2018, in a co-production with English Touring Theatre.

In a house on an island a very old couple pass their time with private games and half-remembered stories. With brilliant eccentricity, Ionesco's 'tragic farce' combines a comic portrait of human folly with a magical experiment in theatrical possibilities.

This volume presents two plays written for Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg and not yet staged in English. The Rest Will Be Familiar to You from Cinema rewrites Euripides' Phoenician Women. As Thebes braces itself for civil war, a group of terrifying young women wrest control of the action from the power-players of Greek myth. 'A brilliant new interpretation of Euripides' ancient drama.' Suddeutsche Zeitung 'Innovative and gripping theatre.' Hamburger Abendblatt The Rest Will Be Familiar to You from Cinema was voted Best Foreign Play 2013 by Theatre heute magazine. In Men Asleep, the late-night arrival of a younger couple at Julia and Paul's tasteful townhouse apartment exposes the fault line between generations and probes our assumptions about gender and power. 'A mysterious and disquieting "nocturne" about human relationships.' Die Welt 'Martin Crimp is less interested in deconstructing the bourgeoisie than in investigating the altered relations between men and women . . . The ending of his intelligent and entertaining play is ambiguous and potentially terrifying.' Der Freitag