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Childhood polio has left Reggie Rainbow with a limp, but his strong
arms and nimble fingers are perfect behind the scenes of
down-at-heel variety theatres—where he helps illusionist Mr
Brookes ‘disappear’ his glamorous assistants. When Mr Brookes
accepts a booking at the Brighton Grand, Reggie finds himself in a
strange new town. The seaside air works its own magic and the
disappearance boy begins to wonder how much longer he can go on
keeping secrets for a living…
'Nothing is any longer one thing.' From a teenage encounter with
Elizabeth I, through infatuations, voyages and even a change of
gender, Orlando lives out five centuries of life and love before
they finally find the courage to truly be themselves. Neil
Bartlett's sparkling adaptation of Virginia Woolf's famous fantasy
finds powerful contemporary relevance in her vision of equal rights
to love for bodies of every kind - and brings it to life on the
stage with a kaleidoscope of theatrical styles, overseen by the
haunting figure of Woolf herself. It premiered at the Garrick
Theatre in London's West End in November 2022, in a production
directed by Michael Grandage and starring Emma Corrin in the title
role. Written for a diverse ensemble of nine or more actors, this
adaptation will appeal to any theatre or company looking to
entertain their audiences with a bold new take on this iconic tale
of love and transformation.
It is 3 a.m. in The City, and in a dark corner of The Bar, two
lovers collide in the beginnings of a passionate and violent
affair. Boy: nineteen, beautiful, ready for anyone to take him
home, and 'O': the Older Man, cynical, unpredictable, and at the
mercy of his personal demons. Their romance is orchestrated and
observed by the owner of The Bar, Madame, who looks after her boys
and ensures that their haven remains inviolate. At once a joyful
celebration of homosexual love and culture, and a devastating
evocation of the homophobic climate which stemmed from the 80s AIDS
crisis, Ready to Catch Him Should He Fall offers a decisively
contemporary recasting of the traditional love story. First
published in 1990 and immediately acclaimed as the work of a bold
new voice in English fiction, Neil Bartlett's powerful debut
continues to shine with an ageless wisdom and wit.
'If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also.' A
series of random nocturnal assaults in the back streets and
alleyways of Victorian London are spreading fear and panic.
Meanwhile, the friends of a highly respected doctor are beginning
to wonder why he goes missing on exactly the same nights… Neil
Bartlett's inventive, brilliantly theatrical adaptation cuts right
to the heart of Robert Louis Stevenson's darkly fascinating tale of
male violence, guilt and privilege. It premiered at Derby Theatre
in 2022, directed by Artistic Director Sarah Brigham, before
transferring to Queen's Theatre Hornchurch. Written for an ensemble
and with several key roles for women, this adaptation will appeal
to any theatre or company looking to thrill their audiences with a
bold new take on this classic tale of murder and mayhem.
'The life-affirming expression of an artist engaged in living to
the full' The Times Smiling in Slow Motion is Derek Jarman's last
journal, stretching from May 1991 until a fortnight before his
death in February 1994. Jarman writes with his trademark humour and
candour about friends and enemies, as he races through his final
years of film-making, gardening and radical political protest.
Written from Jarman's Charing Cross Road flat, his famed garden at
Dungeness, and finally from his bed in St Bartholomew's Hospital,
Jarman meditates on his own deteriorating health and the loss of
his contemporaries. Yet Smiling in Slow Motion is not simply a
chronicle of illness and regret: it is, at its heart, one of
endeavour, determination and pride. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY NEIL
BARTLETT
In Praise of Disobedience draw on works from a single miraculous
year in which Oscar Wilde published the larger part of his greatest
prose - the year he came into maturity as an artist. Before the end
of 1891, he had written the first of his phenomenally successful
plays and met the young man who would win his heart, beginning the
love affair that would lead to imprisonment and public infamy. In a
witty introduction, playwright, novelist and Wilde scholar Neil
Bartlett explains what made this point in the writer's life central
to his genius and why Wilde remains a provocative and radical
figure to this day. Included here are the entirety of Wilde's foray
into political philosophy, The Soul of Man Under Socialism; the
complete essay collection Intentions; selections from The Portrait
of Dorian Gray as well as its paradoxical and scandalous preface;
and some of Wilde's greatest fictions for children. Each selection
is accompanied by stimulating and enlightening annotations. A
delight for fans of Oscar Wilde, In Praise of Disobedience will
restore and revitalize an often misunderstood legacy.
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The Heart in Exile (Paperback)
Rodney Garland, Adam De Hegedus; Introduction by Neil Bartlett
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R586
Discovery Miles 5 860
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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"So effective is the author's treatment . . . that he manages to
bring home in a remarkable manner the suffering of the homosexual.
. . . It took real courage to write this story, plus a profound
insight into human feelings and sensitivities." - Frank G.
Slaughter, "New York Times"
"A sad, serious first novel called "The Heart in Exile" cannot
fairly be ignored. . . . Its detached picture of barren tragic love
and desire in a furtive fantastic 'underground' sector of London
can arouse no disgust but only a deep pity coupled with a new
understanding." - Marghanita Laski, "The Observer"
"An extremely important book." - "Truth"
"A completely honest story of homosexual life in London. . . . It
makes no attempt to defend or condemn. A well-written work." - John
Betjeman, "Daily Telegraph"
"Written with great competence." - Walter Allen, "New Statesman"
Julian Leclerc, a handsome and talented young barrister, has been
found dead of an apparent overdose of sleeping pills. The verdict
is accidental death, but his fiancee, Ann Hewitt, suspects there's
something more to the story. As the grieving woman recounts the
details of Julian's tragic end to psychiatrist Dr. Tony Page, he
listens with acute interest - but not for the reason she thinks.
Years earlier, he and Julian had been lovers, and now, disturbed by
the circumstances of his friend's demise, Tony sets out to uncover
the truth. His quest will take him from the parties and pubs of the
gay underworld of 1950s London to Scotland Yard and the House of
Commons as he uses his shrewd and penetrating insight to find who
or what was responsible for Julian's death. But he may discover
more than he bargained for - about Julian, and himself. . . .
First published in 1953, Rodney Garland's noir thriller "The Heart
in Exile" is both a groundbreaking classic of gay fiction and the
first gay detective story. Long unavailable, Garland's famous novel
returns to print at last in this edition, which features a new
introduction by Neil Bartlett.
This work contains three masterpieces by one of the most important
French dramatists of the 17th century. "Berenice" is a tale of love
and personal happiness in conflict with public duty. "Phedre"
concerns a princess with an overwhelming infatuation with her
stepson. "Britannicus" lays bare the relationships at the heart of
power as a world slips into moral chaos. These new versions by two
of the country's most distinguished director-translators prove that
Racine is far from untranslatable; they offer blisteringly
effective poetry, urgent plotting and powerhouse roles for both
actors and actresses.
"Tell me, please - is this a dream?' The night before he leads his
troops into battle, the prince of Homburg strips off his uniform
and goes sleepwalking. Moonstruck, his mind races with a young
man's fantasies - love, ambition and victory. But when the morning
comes, a single reckless act of disobediance sets in motion a chain
of events that leads inexorable to the one thing he never dreamt
would happen; his own death. Heinrich von Kleist is one of the most
enigmatic figures in theatre history. Driven to suicide at the age
of 34, he left behind him seven extraordinary plays. Unperformed
during his own lifetime, The Prince of Homburg is now regarded as
von Kleist's masterpiece and is one of the most mysterious and
beautiful plays of the nineteenth century. Neil Bartlett's
production opened at the RSC Stratford in January 2002, and
transferred to the Lyric Theatre."
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The Threesome (Paperback)
Eugene Labiche; Translated by Neil Bartlett
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R363
Discovery Miles 3 630
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Paris, 1870. Adultery ought to be a serious business - but it's
hard to keep your dignity when the cleaning lady has a fireman in
your kitchen and she suspects that something is up. Not to mention
the fact that your lover is not only stuck halfway up a drainpipe
but is also your husband's very best friend. And as for the
blackmailing taxi driver - he knows everything! The Threesome is a
feast of finely tuned extra-marital mayhem from the master of
French farce. This version was produced at the Lyric, Hammersmith
in March 2000.
"What's the odds so long as you're happy?" - Ernest Boulton, 1869
Alone on the darkened stage of an old music hall, a man reflects on
an extraordinary life as he awaits a very ordinary death. Inspired
by the scandalous true story of Ernest Boulton - the infamous
Victorian cross-dresser - this original production from one of
Britain's most individual theatre-makers is a highly personal
meditation on the fine art of living dangerously.
Although his mainstream career has recently included majorwork for
the RSC and the National, the five new pieces collected here show
just how close playwright and director Neil Bartlett has stayed to
the radical queer cultural roots that first brought him to
prominence in the early 1980s. Commissioned to be performed in
spaces as various as South London’s notorious Vauxhall Tavern,
Brighton’s Theatre Royal and the pulpit of Westminster Abbey,
these hit-and-run dramatic monologues bring all of his trademark
wit and passion to bear on the issues that run throughout his work
– the power of love, and the necessity for anger. Together, they
make up a trenchantly personal take on what it feels like to have
spent nearly thirty years standing up and speaking one’s mind.
The collection also includes his 2011 adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s
The Remarkable Rocket, which uses the diamond-sharp text of one of
Wilde’s children’s stories as the springboard for a haunting
meditation on the enduring power of Wilde to inspire, dazzle and
move. A follow on from his earlier collection Solo Voices, this new
collection is vivid, fierce and tender, with five provocative and
highly actable new works from one of British theatre’s most
idiosyncratic voices. www.neil-bartlett.com
In the winter of 2036, in a shabby apartment in Port Elizabeth, two
old men search for a way to say goodbye after a lifetime spent
together. In the perfect summer of 1971, in a very different South
Africa, their handsome younger selves search for the courage to
fall in love. And poised halfway between these two stories - one
imagined, one remembered - their real-life counterparts bear
witness to both the beginning and the ending of an incredible
journey.
Using only Charles Dickens' extraordinary words and a chameleon
ensemble of eight actors, Neil Bartlett's powerful stage version of
this much-loved story brings its settings and characters to
thrilling theatrical life. From its opening image of little Pip,
alone on the windswept marshes, to the haunted darkness of mad Miss
Haversham's cobweb-strewn lair, this brand-new adaptation
especially commissioned by Aberystwyth Arts Centre takes its
audience on a journey right to the heart of Dickens' great
exploration of childhood terrors and hopes - and of adult dreams
and regrets. It opens at Aberystwyth Arts Centre in March 2007,
followed by a national tour.
"""All I ever wanted was a man who wouldn't ask me questions""
Across the foyer of a crowded theatre, a handsome young man catches
sight of the most expensive prostitute in town. When they meet, a
mutual obsession is ignited - one that tears both their worlds
apart. Set amidst the glittering splendours and miseries of 19th
century Paris, Camille has scandalised and fascinated audiences and
theatres, cinemas and opera houses for over a hundred and fifty
years. Neil Bartlett's new version returns to the original novel
for its shockingly frank and emotional portrayal of a woman who can
afford anything - except to fall in love. Camille opened at the
Lyric Hammersmith on 6th March 2003."
I took my tears and turned them into paintings' In the electric
calm of a blue-painted room, a dying woman reassembles the images
of an extraordinary life. The woman is Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.
The life is one of struggle - with love, with the body, with her
country, and most of all, with her art. La Casa Azul is a
collaboration between Quebecois playwright Sophie Faucher, who also
played Frida Kahlo in this production, and internationally
acclaimed director Robert Lepage.
In The Game of Love and Chance, a pair of prospective lovers each
swap places with their servants, while their relatives, fully
apprised of both deceptions, look on in amusement. Neil Bartlett's
adaptation, first performed at the Lyric Hammersmith, finds
incentive modern equivalents for Marivaux's ludic theatricality and
its roots in the Commedia dell'Arte.
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The Dispute (Paperback)
Pierre Carlet de Chamblain Marivaux; Translated by Neil Bartlett
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R350
Discovery Miles 3 500
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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What if four children had been kept locked away in darkness and
complete isolation since birth? What if, tonight, they were to be
released? How would bodies and minds reared in darkness respond to
the first words, the first lies, the first kisses? What if you got
to watch? Cruel, erotic and elegant by turn, The Dispute is rightly
regarded as one of Marivaux's masterpieces.
In Praise of Disobedience draws on works from a single miraculous
year in which Oscar Wilde published the larger part of his greatest
works in prose - the year he came into maturity as an artist.
Before the end of 1891, he had written the first of his
phenomenally successful plays and met the young man who would win
his heart, beginning the love affair that would lead to
imprisonment and public infamy. In a witty introduction,
playwright, novelist and Wilde scholar Neil Bartlett explains what
made this point in the writer's life central to his genius and why
Wilde remains a provocative and radical figure to this day.
Included here are the entirety of Wilde's foray into political
philosophy, The Soul of Man Under Socialism; the complete essay
collection Intentions; selections from The Picture of Dorian Gray
as well as its paradoxical and scandalous preface; and some of
Wilde's greatest fictions for children. Each selection is
accompanied by stimulating and enlightening annotations. A delight
for fans of Oscar Wilde, In Praise of Disobedience will revitalize
an often misunderstood legacy.
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Oliver Twist (Paperback)
Charles Dickens; Adapted by Neil Bartlett
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R336
Discovery Miles 3 360
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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In this powerful new adaptation of Dickens' classic novel, Neil
Bartlett brings back to the theatre one of the angriest, funniest
and most deeply felt stories about childhood ever written. Taking
their inspiration from the vivid world of Victorian music-hall, a
company of thirteen actors conjure up a host of unforgettable
characters - Fagin, Nancy, Bill Sikes, the Artful Dodger and, of
course, little Oliver himself. Dickens' original words bring the
dark underbelly of nineteenth-century London back to thrilling life
- a city teeming with images of danger and fear, of innocence and
of hope - all seen through the eyes of an astonished child. 'Oliver
Twist' opens at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith in February 2004, and
is suitable for ages 10 to adult.
Using only Charles Dickens' extraordinary words and a chameleon
ensemble of actors, Neil Bartlett's powerful stage versions of
Dickens have gathered wide critical acclaim. This collection
includes: Great Expectations: From its opening image of little Pip,
alone on the windswept marshes, to the haunted darkness of mad Miss
Haversham's cobweb-strewn lair, this adaptation takes its audience
on a journey right to the heart of Dickens' great exploration of
childhood terrors and hopes - and of adult dreams and regrets. This
version was recently directed by Bartlett himself to great acclaim
at the Bristol Old Vic. A Christmas Carol: Dickens's story of
solitary miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is taught the true meaning of
Christmas by a series of ghostly visitors, has proved one of his
most well-loved works, and has profoundly influenced our attitude
towards the season. Oliver Twist: Bartlett's powerful version of
Oliver Twist brings the dark underbelly of nineteenth-century
London back to bold theatrical life. The unforgettable characters
inhabit a world filled with images of danger and fear, innocence
and hope; a world seen through the eyes of an astonished child.
Between them, these adaptations have had over a hundred
productions. They have been widely performed by schools,
universities and community theatre groups throughout the
English-speaking world and theatres that have produced them include
London's Lyric Hammersmith, the Bristol Old Vic, the Southwark
Playhouse, the Glasgow Citizens, the American Repertory Theatre in
Boston and the La Jolla Playhouse (USA).
Believe me, no civilised man ever regrets a pleasure... As London
slides from one century into the next, a young man is cursed with
the uncanny ability to remain both young and beautiful while
descending into a life of heartless debauchery. With its glittering
dialogue, provocative imagery and radical questioning of sexual and
moral freedoms all brought sharply into focus by this brand-new
adaptation, Oscar Wilde's infamous parable has lost none of its
power to provoke and disturb. Using Wilde's original words, a
company of sixteen actors and all of adaptor Neil Bartlett's
trademark theatricality, this new stage version of Wilde's
black-hearted parable was commissioned by and first produced at the
Abbey Theatre, Ireland's national theatre in the autumn season of
2012.
Using only Charles Dickens' extraordinary words and a chameleon
ensemble of eight actors, Neil Bartlett's "A Christmas Carol"
brings a boldly theatrical imagination to bear on a classic
story.
"Gets right to the frozen heart of Dickens' classic Christmas tale
. . . one of those rare festive offerings for which no adult will
need the excuse of a child in tow."--"The Guardian"
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