British theatre of the 1990s witnessed an explosion of new talent and presented a new sensibility that sent shockwaves through audiences and critics. What produced this change, the context from which the work emerged, the main playwrights and plays, and the influence they had on later work are freshly evaluated in this important new study in Methuen Drama's Decades of Modern British Playwriting series. The 1990s volume provides a detailed study by four scholars of the work of four of the major playwrights who emerged and had a significant impact on British theatre: Sarah Kane (by Catherine Rees), Anthony Neilson (Patricia Reid), Mark Ravenhill (Graham Saunders) and Philip Ridley (Aleks Sierz). Essential for students of Theatre Studies, the series of six decadal volumes provides a critical survey and study of the theatre produced from the 1950s to 2009. Each volume features a critical analysis of the work of four key playwrights besides other theatre work, together with an extensive commentary on the period. Readers will understand the works in their contexts and be presented with fresh research material and a reassessment from the perspective of the twenty-first century. This is an authoritative and stimulating reassessment of British playwriting in the 1990s.

Winner of the 1990 Evening Standard Film Award for Best Film Post-war East End London. Ronnie and Reggie Kray are school ground bullies brought up by a domineering mother and two devoted aunts. National Service and spells in prison expose the brutality that helps establish the twin brothers as the kings of 1960s gangland London. Philip Ridley's original, uncut screenplay, almost as notorious as its subject matter is a stylised meditation on maternal love, childhood, violence and homoeroticism and takes its place as one of the masterpieces of contemporary cinema."Ridley...reveals himself most welcomely as a genuinely innovative film maker, untrammelled by conventions and with an individualistic imagination firing on all cylinders." (The Evening Standard)

"My name is Daffodil Scissors. I haven't got any friends. Not one!" Daffodil lives alone with Dad. Dad makes extraordinary hats. The extraordinary hats go on Daffodil's head. Wearing Dad's hats makes everyone at school laugh at Daffodil. How is Daffodil ever going to make friends? Perhaps the mysterious Bag Lady has the answer.

'My name is Scribbleboy and I'm back to scribble!'

Years ago, Scribbleboy had transformed the gloomy grey concrete of the neighbourhood with his fabulous shapes and colours . . . until, without warning, he vanished. Most of the Scribbles were destroyed and only the Scribbleboy Fan Club kept his legend alive.

Then, one night, a strange figure is seen and a mysterious voice heard . . .

Could the impossible have happened? Has the legend come true? Is Scribbleboy really back?

Have you ever struggled to find the perfect monologue? Are you looking to expand your actors toolkit? Do you want an original monologue to impress at your next audition? Philip Ridley's The Vespers offers 100 original monologues for actors of all ages, all genders and all levels of experience. Varying in length, style and structure, this is an essential toolkit for any actor, written by one of Britain's most celebrated contemporary theatre voices. With 100 self-contained monologues to choose from, each monologue is free from context, age specification or character.

“The hallmarks of a Ridley classic; a fast-paced modern fairy-tale that burrows into the dark wormholes of the imagination … reveals how below all that glitters, there’s rarely gold.” Exeunt Ollie and Jill want to tell you about their dream home. Some of the things they did to get it, you might find shocking. But they want you to know they did it all for their baby… A wickedly comic satire about a young couple offered a 'too good to be true' way onto the property ladder. Playful, provocative, and viciously sharp, this outrageous black comedy is a meditation on how far we will go to satisfy - and justify - materialistic greed. Radiant Vermin premiered in 2015 at Soho Theatre, London. This Modern Classics edition features a brand new introduction by Aleks Sierz.

Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child. "You know when you feel a rumbling in the ground, and people tell you it's a tube train going by? Well, it's not a tube train,' Corky said. 'It's the thing that lives in the sewers. It comes up at night, when we're asleep.' 'What is it?' Ruskin asked breathlessly. 'Krindlekrax,' Corky replied. There are plenty of weird and wonderful characters who live on Lizard Street. The hero of our story is Ruskin Splinter. But to be honest, Ruskin is a very unlikely hero. Small and thin, with knock-knees, thick glasses, a squeaky voice, no one at Ruskin's school believes he's capable of anything - all except for Ruskin's only friend Corky, the school caretaker. Ruskin is therefore delighted when Corky tells him the terrifying story of Krindlekrax: the giant crocodile who lives beneath their town's streets. Finally, a chance to prove himself! But can Ruskin really save the day? This witty, off-the-wall story is a classic rip-roaring adventure, from award-winning author Philip Ridley. Packed full of hilarious illustrations, this edition also has fun bonus activities! "Fizzes with life and humour ... outstanding" - Sunday Times

"Now listen to me, my boy. I saved Lizard Street once. And now... now it's your turn. Be the hero you know yourself to be" It is the day for choosing a hero! Ruskin Splinter wants to be that hero! Unfortunately, the very idea he could defeat the Dragon in the school play makes everyone laugh. But in the vast sewers of Lizard Street something is stirring. Something called Krindlekrax. And, before long, Ruskin will be testing his heroic qualities... for real.

'Art's my hobby too.' Hobby?! Sasha was destined to take the art world by storm. At the age of fifteen pop stars wanted his paintings, and a new exhibition was going to make him a rich man. But now he serves in a stationers, and no one's even heard of him... what went wrong? Philip Ridley's darkly comic new play is about art, family, memory, and being haunted by the life we never lived. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere performance at London's Southwark Playhouse, which was performed live and live-streamed around the world in November 2020.

Challenging new play by the enfant terrible of dark, disturbing drama

Elliot is panicking. The party that he and his brother Darren have been planning has been brought forward - to tonight.In a lawless, ravaged city, where memories of the past have been brutally erased, the boys and their team survive by realising their clients' darkest fantasies. But just how far are they prepared to go in trading humanity for information? As the light fades and events spiral out of control it becomes clear that on the success of the evening hangs not just their security, but their existence. The world is at its worst...let the party begin. Mercury Fur is a challenging new work containing some explicit scenes that may cause offence.

Published to tie-in with the play's premier at the Drum Theatre, Plymouth and The Chololate Factory, London in February 2005, produced by Paines Plough."Philip Ridley is a singular writer, a prolific polymath, probably a genius, and the creator of some of the most peculiar, grotesque and compelling British plays (and films) of the last several years" Time Out

This collection brings together Philip Ridley's one-act plays for young people, known as The Storyteller Sequence, ideal for teenagers to either watch or perform. Karamazoo is a fifteen-minute monologue about one of the coolest, most popular kids in the school, whose recent increase in popularity is the direct result of a character make-over following the death of a parent. A witty and moving performance piece for the teenage actor. Fairytaleheart features two fifteen-year-olds, Kirsty and Gideon, who meet for the first time and come to terms with their broken families by sharing their hopes, fears and past experiences - as well as stories - in a derelict community centre. Sparkleshark tells of fourteen-year-old Jake - a victim of bullying and other teenager's mockery - who has to take refuge on the roof of a tower block in order to write his stories. Moonfleece sees Curtis, a young right-wing activist, arrange a meeting in a flat of a derelict tower block where he lived as a child. But his older brother's ghost keeps haunting him. Moonfleece is an intense and thrilling exploration of memory and identity. Brokenville features an unknown disaster, which has left seven characters with little knowledge of who they are or of what has happened. As an old woman and five teenagers begin to act out stories for a mute and frightened child, they begin to discover a little of who they were and what they can be.

If you think I'm threatened by you, you're wrong. I'm Travis Flood. I was threatening people before you were born. Back in the sixties, Travis Flood and his gang terrorised Bethnal Green. Now, after an absence of 25 years, Travis returns and meets Rio, whose haunting beauty leads him to confront a story that bears no relation to his own distorted memory. And then there's the Cheerleaders . . . a present-day gang, more vicious and terrifying that anything Travis led in the past. This edition of Ghost from a Perfect Place was published to coincide with the first major revival of the play at the Arcola Theatre, London, in September 2014.

Beneath a sky full of stars a decision is made. This decision sets off an astonishing chain of events. And a journey involving a talking leopard, a greedy King, a magical bird, a tidal wave, a Sea Witch, a lost soldier, a devious dolphin, a war - and a trail of feathers in the snow . . . "Feathers in the Snow," a family show by acclaimed playwright and children's author Philip Ridley, is an epic story of magic and migration. Covering over five hundred years - and with a huge cast - it explores how stories give meaning to random events and of our constant need to find somewhere we call 'home'. "Feathers in the Snow "reunites director David Mercatali with playwright Philip Ridley, following their collaboration in 2011 on "Tender Napalm" which was named one of the "Guardian," "Observer "and "Time Out"'s best shows of 2011.

Moonfleece is an intense and thrilling exploration of memory and identity, with themes of contemporary resonance: racism, homophobia, and how those in authority distort both the truth and the past. This play is Philip Ridley's most direct representation yet of his hopes and fears for disadvantaged, diverse communities of today's society, as two groups of teenagers are forced to judge for themselves the prejudices and preconceptions of their parents. This is a vital, relevant and compelling story for the whole country and especially young people from all backgrounds. The plot follows Curtis, who has arranged a secret meeting in a flat of a derelict tower block. Years ago, when he was a child, Curtis lived here before tragedy struck in the form of his elder brother's death. Now Curtis is seeing his brother's ghost. With the aid of Gavin and Tommy, fellow members of the right wing political party of which he is a leading figure, and his ex-girlfriend, Sarah, Curtis aims to find out why this ghost is haunting him. Things, however, do not go as planned and a hitherto secret story has to be revealed. A story that will change Curtis's life forever.

On the surface, Steven has everything. A beautiful wife, a successful business, a brand new home. But beneath the glittering veneer lies a monstrous secret . . .
'You believe him cos he wraps all the painful stuff in feathers and flowers. Makes it all safe and cosy. You can't feel the broken glass inside.'
"Leaves of Glass" is a rich, complex play about two brothers and the hold that the past and memory has on them. Haunted by the death of his father and a car accident involving a young child, Steve finds his life unraveling and his pregnant wife unable to comprehend his pain and sense of loss.
Known for his dark disturbing dramas, Ridley's latest play is a deeply human drama that shifts between elegy for the past and a chilling exploration of the power of loss and grief.

"Philip Ridley is a singular writer, a prolific polymath, probably a genius, and the creator of some of the most peculiar, grotesque and compelling British plays (and films) of the last several years" (Time Out) Ridley's film debut The Reflecting Skin caused a sensation at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival and went on to win eleven international awards. Set in the Idaho farmlands of the 1950s, the film follows eight-year-old Seth through a mythical summer where reality is heightened to the level of an hallucinogenic, quasi-fantasy. The Passion of Darkly Noon is a modern fable; echoing the surrealist style of Ridley's dazzling and innovative debut film. A young man roaming the American countryside, the victim of a savage attack on his religious cult, is rescued by Callie, for whom he develops a dangerous obsession. "Provocative, shocking and disturbing, a true original...a masterpiece." (What's On)

Dakota wanted to run but she couldn't move. The monster crawled closer. It's going to kill me, she thought. Then a hand landed on Dakota's shoulder. 'Got you, darling,' hissed Medusa.

Dakota Pink is afraid of nothing - until the day she decides to find out the truth about Medusa's baby monster.

But that is only the beginning of a quest that will lead Dakota and her best friend Treacle away from the White Flats, over the river with its mutant killer eels, to Dog Island and the Fortress.

The Fortress is built of barbed wire and broken glass. with a notice on the door which says 'KEEP OUT ALL CHILDREN AND SIMILAR GERMS'. In this forbidding building lives Lassitter Peach, best-selling author of romantic novels, and total recluse: he never goes out of the Fortress and no one ever goes in. Until Dakota and Treacle come in search of the diamond-studded turtle and find much, much more than they could ever have dreamt of.

Award-winning author Philip Ridley sends his readers on a wild and thrilling voyage of discovery with his fearless heroine, a voyage in which anything can happen...

The story of the infamous Kray twins, Ronnie and Reggie (Gary and Martin Kemp), notorious in Britain for their crimes as controlling gangsters of London's East End in the 1960s. The film begins with their childhood, charting their rise to power through the 1950s, and watching as their unnaturally close relationship crumbles alongside their criminal empire.

Of course - as you've no doubt guessed - there's a big 'But Then' moment heading this way... It's a sunny, spring day in East London. On a street corner, two teenagers kiss. One of them is Toni. This is her first kiss. It makes her very happy. But someone is watching. Someone who doesn't care about her happiness at all. And they're about to change Toni's life... forever. Philip Ridley's thrilling new play is a startling exploration of identity, memory, love, and the lengths it takes someone to free themselves from the web of their past.