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.

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.

'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

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.

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.

"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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

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 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.

First published in 1947, The Plague was an immediate best-seller, striking a powerful chord with readers who were struggling to understand the fascist 'plague' that had just overwhelmed Europe. Seventy years later, author and director Neil Bartlett has adapted Camus' classic for our own dangerous times. Using just five actors, his frank and gripping new stage version uses Camus' original words to put chaos under the microscope and to find hope in the power of our common humanity.