1665. As the plague runs rife through London, Reverend William Mompesson arrives in Eyam, Derbyshire, to lead the parish. But Eyam is no sleepy backwater; it is a village at war with itself. The community has dissolved, and neighbour feuds with neighbour under the watchful eye of a ruthless landowner bent on maintaining his grip on the village. When the plague arrives in Eyam, the villagers are tasked with examining their civil responsibility, as they must decide whether to stay quarantined, or flee and risk spreading the deadly disease. Matt Hartley is an award-winning writer whose work has been produced by Hampstead Theatre, Paines Plough, Pentabus and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

A bittersweet and vital play that throws a spotlight on 'Generation Rent' and the lengths they will go to in order to get that first step on the property ladder. Rachel and Ben want to buy a flat in London. And so do their friends, Melanie and Sam. But what with rent, tax, student loans and bills, it's impossible to save for a deposit. So the foursome come up with a fast-track solution to the problem: live together. Sneakily split the rent and bills on a tiny one-bedroom flat for a year. But with paper-thin walls and space growing sparser by the day, which will they sacrifice first - the friendship, the relationship, or the dream of buying their own property? Matt Hartley's play Deposit premiered at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs in 2015, and was revived there (in this revised and updated version) in 2017.

Matt Hartley's moving, funny and charming play, Here I Belong, takes you through decades of history seen through the eyes of one village resident. It's Elsie's ninetieth birthday. Come and join us in the village hall to celebrate. There will be cake. Elsie has lived in the village for sixty years. She has seen elections, weddings, wars, people coming, people going. The village is where her daughter grew up, it's where her husband died and it's where she's going to stay. Travel through time from 1953 to the present day in this play about village life and the right to grow old in your own home. First produced on a UK tour by Pentabus Theatre Company in 2016, performed by two women, Here I Belong provides ideal material for amateur companies for up to eight female performers - especially those performing in their own village halls. This volume also includes Matt Hartley's short monologue play, Last Letters Home.

Sixty Five Miles. The distance between Hull and Sheffield. The distance between a man and the daughter he's never met. Pete and Rich are two very different brothers. Reunited after nine years, both are seeking forgiveness. Rich needs to confront ex girlfriend, Lucy, and the shadows of his recent past...Pete's search is for the one woman in his life he's never known and never knowingly hurt, his daughter. As they each embark on a journey of forgiveness, they soon discover that - even separated by sixty five miles - people never forget. Matt Hartley's electrifying and moving drama about families and the ties that bind. This title was presented as World premiere at Hull Truck Theatre, February 2012.

Drawing together the work of ten leading playwrights - a mixture of established and emerging writers - this National Theatre Connections anthology is published to coincide with the 2014 festival, which takes place across the UK and finishes up at the National Theatre in London. It offers young performers between the ages of thirteen and nineteen everywhere an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study. Each play is specifically commissioned by the National Theatre's literary department with the young performer in mind. The plays are performed by approximately 200 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional regional theatres where the works are showcased. As with previous anthologies, the volume will feature an introduction by Anthony Banks, Associate Director of the National Theatre Discover Programme, and each play includes notes from the writer and director addressing the themes and ideas behind the play, as well as production notes and exercises. The National Theatre Connections series has been running for nineteen years and the anthology that accompanies it, published for the last three years by Methuen Drama, is gaining a greater profile by the year. Some iconic plays have grown out of the Connections programme including Citizenship by Mark Ravenhill, Burn by Deborah Gearing, Chatroom by Enda Walsh, Baby Girl by Roy Williams, DNA by Dennis Kelly, and The Miracle by Lin Coghlan. The series has a recognisable brand and the anthologies continue to be an extremely useful resource, their value extending well beyond their year of publication. This year's anthology includes plays by Sabrina Mahfouz, Simon Vinnicombe, Catherine Johnson, Pauline McLynn, Dafydd James, Luke Norris and Sam Holcroft.

A searing thriller about paranoia, social divisions, and the creeping threat of the intruder, by the Bruntwood Prize-winning playwright. Alex has his flat. His home. He's building a life with Clare. Nothing can derail his happiness - he just wishes those kids would stop hanging round outside his house. But they're just kids, with nothing to do. They're not dangerous, right? Matt Hartley's play Microcosm was first performed at Soho Theatre, London, in May 2014.