I've spent a lifetime in the ebb and flow of power It brings its gifts But then it's an intoxicant One must beware lest one consumes too much The monarch. Her most powerful subject. Two women meet once a week for eleven years. One believes there is no such thing as society. The other has vowed to serve it. Moira Buffini's wickedly funny hit comedy imagines what the world's most powerful women, Margaret Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II, talked about behind closed palace doors. Winner of the 2014 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, Handbagged was first performed in September 2013 and returned to Kiln Theatre, London, in September 2022. 'A phenomenon.' Sunday Telegraph 'Perfectly pitched between the comic and the serious.' Guardian

What on earth is happening to our planet? And who knows what to do? Certainties are few: every living thing is related to every other living thing; our actions have consequences; change is continual and inevitable. The National Theatre asked four of the country's most exciting writers to investigate. The team spent six months interviewing key individuals from the worlds of science, politics, business and philosophy to create a fast-paced and provocative new play. Greenland premiered at the National Theatre, London, in February 2011.

On her tenth birthday, Marianne is forced to bed with a fever. Picking up a pencil she starts to draw a house. That night she dreams. As Marianne sleeps, she finds herself transported to the house she has drawn, and the mysterious world that lies beyond. Together with a strange but familiar boy, she embarks on an adventure that runs between reality and dream. Catherine Storr's classic children's novel is adapted for the stage by Moira Buffini. Marianne Dreams premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in December 2007.

It's my creation - like Frankenstein's monster. An artist, a scientist and a sexpot are coming to dinner. Paige, hostess extraordinaire, is celebrating the publication of her husband's bestseller. The arrival of Mike, marooned in the foggy lane after crashing his van, provides an unexpected addition to the evening's entertainment. A silent waiter, sourced from an obscure website, completes the picture. Primordial Soup is first on the menu. Let the dinner from hell begin. A wonderful comedy chiller, with blood on the carpet before bedtime. Dinner premiered at the National Theatre's Loft space in November 2002.

Hallway-dwelling Semyon is unemployed and disheartened with life. When his last hope at turning his life around disappears he decides to commit suicide, only to find that a number of people would like him to die on their behalf. On the night of the deed, a party grows towards a glorious climax. Moira Buffini has freely adapted Nikolai Erdman's The Suicide, which was banned by Stalin before a single performance, to create Dying For It. Dying For It premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in March 2007.

Aly is struggling with all the pressures of being a teenager: family, school, friends and her own insecurities. Then she discovers wonder.land - a mysterious online world where, perhaps, she can create a whole new life. The web becomes her looking-glass - but will Aly see who she really is? A new musical inspired by Lewis Carroll's iconic story, Moira Buffini's wonder.land was created with Damon Albarn and Rufus Norris and premiered at the Manchester International Festival in July 2015 in a co-production with the National Theatre, London, where it transferred in November of the same year.

Dinner 'A cracking black comedy that has you laughing uproariously one moment and jumping with shock the next . . . For those with strong stomachs, Dinner offers a delicious feast of comedy and the macabre.' Daily Telegraph Dying for It 'A subversive Russian classic: one that addresses the ultimate question of "why live?"' Guardian 'The play, freely adapted by Moira Buffini, presents a glorious gallery of comic types.' Independent Welcome to Thebes 'It's thrilling. Moira Buffini's strange and daring play is moving, wise, funny, horrifying . . . Full of resonances you weren't expecting, jokes you didn't see coming . . . It raises huge questions with wit.' The Times Handbagged Winner of the 2014 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre 'A phenomenon.' Sunday Telegraph 'Perfectly pitched between the comic and the serious.' Guardian

Moira Buffini romps through the centuries from the Romans to the present day, charting the changing fortunes of place, time and people at 29 Trick Street. Buffini brings her usual lightness of touch to this incisive, funny and sharply observed play about changing social, economic and sexual mores.

A collection of wide-ranging and ambitious short plays reflecting the complexities of women and political power in the United Kingdom. The four plays published here look back to the moments in history when women possessed - or achieved - power, and what they did with it. The Milliner and the Weaver by Marie Jones, about the Suffragette movement in Ireland, as the question of Home Rule divides the nation. The Lioness by Rebecca Lenkiewicz is about Queen Elizabeth I, the myth and the reality. Handbagged by Moira Buffini, about the working relationship between Mrs Thatcher and the Queen. Bloody Wimmin by Lucy Kirkwood, about the protests at Greenham Common, a political landmark in the fight for nuclear disarmament. The plays were first performed at the Tricycle Theatre, London, as part of the Women, Power and Politics season in June 2010. The other plays presented in the season are available in the companion volume, Women, Power and Politics: Now.

This place is about to blow. A violent storm sweeps the coast. Diana Stuckley and her daughter are struggling to keep the roof on their run-down manor house, when neighbours and strangers begin to appear on their doorstep, seeking shelter from the floods. One of these unexpected arrivals is Ted Farrier, the charismatic leader of a right-wing organisation: he could be Diana's saviour - or could pull the fragile household to pieces. Stranded together, this explosive mix of people must survive the weather, and each other. Manor by Moira Buffini premiered at the National Theatre, London, in November 2021.

Set amongst the vibrant, intense cacophony of North West London, NW Trilogy is a collection of three vivid stories, told over one performance, that remember and celebrate people who changed the course of history. The personal is political in these soulful explorations of what it means to be part of one of the most dynamic communities in the world. First, we reel to a dance hall in 'County Kilburn' in Moira Buffini's Dance Floor where the Guinness flows, the music never stops and for homesick Aoife, there's far more at stake than a dance. In Roy Williams' bittersweet Life of Riley, Paulette is on a journey to connect with her estranged father Riley, a reggae musician once part of the influential Trojan Records scene, who can't seem to let go of the past. And, Suhayla El-Bushra's Waking/Walking introduces us to Anjali, a wife, mother and newly arrived migrant following Idi Amin's expulsion of the Asian minority from Uganda, who is torn between not making a fuss and seizing her moment to take a stand as the Grunwick dispute unfolds. NW Trilogy is powerful, funny and epic and shows us how we can change the world from our doorstep. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere as NW Trilogy at Kiln Theatre, London, in August 2021.

Gabriel: 'A richly themed, enthralling new play.' The Times Silence (winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn award): 'Silence is a beaut. Buffini is deliciously skilled at crafting lines.' Financial Times Loveplay: 'Delightfully quirky, funny and touching. A hit if ever I saw one. Buffini has an appetite for history, and the most beguiling of dramatic voices.' Daily Telegraph Dinner: 'A cracking black comedy that has you laughing uproariously one moment and jumping with shock the next . . . Dinner offers a delicious feast of comedy at its most heartless and macabre.' Daily Telegraph Blavatsky's Tower: 'A refreshingly dizzying perspective on that cornerstone of dysfunction - the family.' Time Out 'A truly remarkable play. Buffini is a startingly original voice and an outstanding talent.' What's On

He put this gun into my hand and made me human once again. Faced with an impoverished population, a shattered infrastructure and a volatile army, the first democratic president of Thebes, Eurydice, promises peace to her nation. Without the aid of Theseus, the leader of the vastly wealthy state of Athens, she doesn't stand a chance. But Theseus is arrogant, mercurial and motivated by profit. A swaggering opposition circles, impatient for insurrection. The body of the former dictator lies unburied. Set in the present day but inspired by ancient myth, Welcome to Thebes offers a passionate exploration of an encounter between the world's richest and the world's poorest countries in the aftermath of a brutal war. Moira Buffini's Welcome to Thebes premiered at the National Theatre, London, in June 2010.

Together ten chronologically-organised scenes offer a vision of love and sex in England across two millennia, from classical times to the present day via the Renaissance and the Swinging Sixties.3 women, 3 men

Set in a city named Thebes, somewhere in the 20th century, the play is introduced by a militia sergeant named Miletus and two child soldiers under his command, Scud and Megeara. They discover the body of Polynices, a warlord in the recently-ended civil war and brother of Antigone and Ismene. Meanwhile, Ismene and the new female president of Thebes, Eurydice, widow of Creon get ready for the arrival of Theseus, fi rst citizen of the powerful democratic state of Athens, to discuss rebuilding Thebes after the civil war.10 women, 10 men

Two young women arrive in a nameless British small-town. Their names are not their own. They don't declare their ages. Their relationship with each other is not clear. Are they sisters, as their assumed identities declare? Or are they mother and daughter?Large flexible cast

Three remarkable short plays for one (female) actor. Jordan by Anna Reynolds with Moira Buffini The true story of Shirley Jones, who kills her baby boy, Jordan, rather than have him taken away by his abusive father. The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret by Catherine Johnson The alternating stories of two women (played by the same actress), both of whom 'lose' their sons - one murdered, the other a runaway. Unsuspecting Susan by Stewart Permutt The story of Susan - whose life revolves around her dogs, am-dram, bell-ringing and village gossip - and her adult son who's converted to Islam. Also available: Singular Male Voices.