Simple recipes offering the best of Middle Eastern food and more. Gathered in Israel and Palestine from ordinary people going about their everyday lives, the author found that each person had a story to tell and a recipe to cook. Robin Soans tells of his moving encounters with the people of the region and provides authentic pictures of those he met, the places he visited and the food he tasted. We bring you their individual recipes handed down through the generations - from carrot cake to kebabs, from falafels to gefilte fish, from tabbouleh to tuna melt ...

Rita, Sue and Bob Too by Andrea Dunbar; A State Affair by Robin Soans

When it first came out, Rita Sue and Bob Too caused a sensation for it's frank portrayal of child sexuality in a Northern Town; the fact that the play was based on the writer's own experience only added to the furore. Max Stafford-Clark originally commissioned Rita, Sue and Bob Too for the Royal Court in 1982. Eighteen years later, he returned with a group of Out of Joint actors to the Bradford estates that Andrea knew. A State Affair is a record of what they found.

"A genius straight from the slums" - Shelagh Delaney (on Andrea Dunbar) Mail on Sunday

"This is life, the facts are there ... these things do go on - maybe not in every circle, but certainly in mine" - Andrea Dunbar, Yorkshire Post, 1986

Out of Joint's production of Rita Sue and Bob Too and A State Affair premiered at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre in October 2000.

The Arab-Israeli Cookbook is a drama created from the everyday realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The project began when the Caird Company sent the writer Robin Soans and directors Rima Brihi and Tim Roseman to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank in 2003. There they sampled a variety of dishes in homes, restaurants, shops and cafes and met dozens of people with different cultures, backgrounds and beliefs. Each person had a story to tell and a recipe to cook. Robin Soans has constructed a verbatim play from the words he collected. Arab and Israeli voices come together to bring insight and understanding to the melting pot of Middle Eastern affairs.

"I looked around the room and I thought, I'm the only person in this room that hasn't killed anyone" Talking to Terrorists is a play commissioned by the Royal Court and Out of Joint. The writer, director Max Stafford-Clark, and actors interviewed people from around the world who have been involved in terrorism. They wanted to know what makes ordinary people do extreme things. As well as those who crossed the line, they met peacemakers, warriors, journalists, hostages and psychologists. Their stories take us from Uganda, Israel, Turkey, Iraq and Ireland - to the heart of the British establishment. Talking to Terrorists was produced Out of Joint Theatre Company at the Royal Court Theatre and on a UK tour in 2005.

Robin Soans reads this original adventure featuring the 12th Doctor and Clara, as played by Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman in the BBC TV series. The TARDIS is summoned to an 'space cathedral' by Shadrak Winter, the High Cardinal of the Cult of the Prime Self. Soon to be relieved of his post by way of assassination, Shadrak has used his family's calling card to bring the Doctor to his aid. His followers have long fled the Sinful, highly contagious slug-like creatures which he himself has succumbed to - and which now imperil the Doctor and Clara. As Clara discovers more about the Cult of the Prime Self - currently the fourth most popular religion - the Doctor becomes infected, all but lost to appalling guilt and self-recrimination. As he seeks to absolve himself of his perceived sins, Clara must use all her survival instincts to escape the Sinful's advances and rescue her vulnerable friend. Robin Soans, who appeared in the 1981 Doctor Who serial The Keeper of Traken as well as in Series 9 in 2015, reads this atmospheric original adventure by James Goss, part of the Tales of Winter quartet of stories. Duration: 1 hour 10 mins approx.

On the eve of one of the most important games of his career, Welsh rugby legend Gareth Thomas received a warning: The Sun newspaper was going to ‘out’ him as gay.This is the story of two Welsh names bruised, but not beaten, by media speculation: Gareth ‘Alfie’ Thomas,100 caps for Wales, now one of the world’s most prominent gay sportsmen; and his hometown,Bridgend, itself a victim of tabloid intrusion following the deaths ofseveral young residents.Working with Alfie himself, and young people in Bridgend, Robin Soans joins forces with some of the UK’s most exciting theatre companies to tell a great story about sport, politics, secrets, life and learning to be yourself.

Against the rising Bajan sun, the Gillard family gathers to lay their mother Grace to rest. Eli, devout follower of the Church of God of Providence and father to three, reluctantly welcomes his wayward son, Josh, back into the fold. London, five years later. The table is set for another family reunion. Tiger Malt for the men, Juiceys for the women and lashings of Madeira cake are washed down with a familiar dose of holy water. But past shadows illuminate old passions and these fragile relationships are tested for the last time. From the vibrant colours of Barbados to the grey skies of Leytonstone, this bittersweet play follows one family's struggle to reconcile their faith in God with faith in one another.

There was an owl sat up an oak;The more he heard the less he spoke;The less he spoke, the more he heard;Oh that we were all like that wise old bird. The verbatim monologues in Deep Heat are drawn from conversations Robin Soans has had or overheard, or are edited versions of interviews he has conducted in the course of research for his plays. Subjects range from people who have held high office to those who have blown them up; from those who live in large country houses to others whose home is two blankets and a pile of leaves in the corner of a disused garage. So much of what is passed on as historical fact is the version of events that those with an ulterior motive choose to project. This book doesn't seek to judge, nor provide solutions; it seeks to redress the balance by giving a fair hearing even to those who may not share the same views as ours. Useful as audition pieces for actors, but equally of interest to the historian and sociologist in all of us. We are after all human, full of contradictions, and we can never inch our way towards greater self-knowledge if we don't see more of the picture than is traditionally the case.