After a few months of being the "new kid" in Cypress City, Texas, Jimmy Stringer thinks he's finally fitting in. Then, his parents start arguing and can't seem to stop. Next thing, his dad, a captain in the Air Force, up and disappears on the night of the Summer Solstice. Rumors abound. Is Captain Stringer AWOL? Did he desert? Jimmy knows better, but he doesn't know where his dad has gone or why he didn't leave a note or some sign, if not for him, at least for his mom. Relying on the help of his two buddies, Lupe and Billy Ray, Jimmy makes it through a tough West Texas summer. Finally, school starts again. Walking home from a high school football game on the Autumnal Equinox, Jimmy sees an unusual shooting star appear to land behind a neighbor's house. The next day, he watches that neighbor's little Chihuahua, Elmer, explode in Mr. Cadwallader's barbershop. Nothing is at it should be, but something tells Jimmy it's all related to his dad disappearing, and, just maybe, he and his friends can put it together and get his dad back.

National Theatre Connections is an annual festival which brings new plays for young people to schools and youth theatres across the UK and Ireland. Commissioning exciting work from leading playwrights, the festival exposes actors aged 13-19 to the world of professional theatre-making, giving them full control of a theatrical production - from costume and set design to stage management and marketing campaigns. NT Connections have published over 150 original plays and regularly works with 500 theatre companies and 10,000 young people each year. This anthology brings together 10 new plays by some of the UK's most prolific and current writers and artists alongside notes on each of the texts exploring performance for schools and youth groups. Salt Life is never plain sailing, but when a new government initiative comes into place offering young people the chance to train and learn skills overseas, droves of teens jump at the chance to secure their future. Once on board the transport ship, the promises of the glossy advert seem a far cry from what lies ahead. A play about generations, choices and hope. Class It's school election time and while most of the school is busy enjoying their lunch break, a deadlock is taking place amongst the members of the school council. Bitter rivalries, secret alliances and false promises are laid bare. As a ruthless battle ensues, who will win and does anyone really care? A play about politics, populism and the 'ping' of a text message. The Sad Club This is a musical about depression and anxiety. It's a collection of monologues, songs and duologues from all over time and space exploring what about living in this world stops us from being happy and how we might go about tackling those problems. Chaos A girl is locked in a room. A boy brings another boy flowers. A girl has tied herself to a railing. A boy doesn't know who he is. A girl worries about impending catastrophe. A woman jumps in front of a train. A boy's heart falls out his chest. A butterfly has a broken wing. Stuff Vinny's organising a surprise birthday party for his mate, Anita. It's not going well: his choice of venue is a bit misguided, Anita's not keen on leaving the house, and everyone else has their own stuff going on. Maybe a surprise party wasn't the best idea? A play about trying (but not really managing) to help. Flesh A group of teenagers wake up in a forest with no clue how they got there. They find themselves separated into two different teams but have no idea what game they are expected to play. With no food, no water and seemingly no chance of escape, it's only a matter of time before things start to get drastic. But whose side are people on and how far will they go to survive? Ageless In a not too distant future, Temples pharmaceutical corporation has quite literally changed the face of ageing. Their miracle drug keeps its users looking perpetually teenage. With an ever youthful population, how can society support those who are genuinely young? The Small Hours It's the middle of the night and Peebs and Epi are the only students left at school over half-term. At the end of their night out, former step-siblings Red and Jazz try to navigate their reunion. With only a couple of hours until morning, Jaffa tries to help Keesh finish an essay. As day breaks, Wolfie is getting up the courage to confess a secret to VJ at a party. Their choices are small yet momentous. The hours are small but feel very, very long. And when the night finally ends, the future is waiting - all of it. terra A group of classmates is torn apart by the opportunity to perform their own dance. As they disagree and bicker, two distinct physical groups emerge and separate into opposing teams. When a strange outsider appears - out of step with everyone else - the divide is disrupted. A contemporary narrative dance piece about individuality, community and heritage. Variations Thirteen-year-old Alice wishes her life was completely different. She wakes up one morning to find that her life is different. In fact, it's so different that all she wants to do is get back to normality. But how does she do that?

A hilarious and heart-warming comedy about football, friendship and finding your way. Luke wants Danny, but Danny's got a secret. Joe's happy in goal, but Geoff wants a headline gig. Viv just wants to beat the lesbians to the league title. Game on. Tom Wells' play Jumpers for Goalposts premiered at Watford Palace Theatre in 2013, before touring the UK, including a run at the Bush Theatre, London. This volume also includes Tom Wells' short play Jonesy, the underdog story of an asthmatic teen who dreams of making a name for himself as a 'Netball Maverick' and earning the respect of the lads from GCSE PE.

'Bit risky though, isn't it? Just sort of turning up to an isolated peninsula in the North Sea without any sandwiches...' Kilnsea, East Yorkshire. Angie and Lauren are closing up the cafe for another winter; the birds have gone south and taken the tourists with them. The last visitor is Dennis, stopping by for his pasty and beans. But there's another arrival - one that's unforeseen and life-changing for them all. Tom Wells' Big Big Sky is a beautifully tender play which explores nature's influence on love, friendship and family - the belief that anyone who's lost can be found, even in the remotest of places. It was premiered at Hampstead Theatre in July 2021, directed by Tessa Walker.

'The point is: we're losers. Nobodies. Carry on like this, we're losers forever. And we don't have to be. Fresh start, two months to completely one hundred per cent reinvent ourselves. And I know exactly how we can do that.' Megan, Holly and Ben are definitely not the cool kids. But Megan has a plan. One long summer holiday to change their lives. One sure path to coolness. One amazing transformation, through the power of song. Holed up in Megan's garden shed, three old friends try to change their fortunes in a beautiful, heart-warming, laugh-out-loud coming-of-age story for our times. Rock on. Tom Wells' play Broken Biscuits was first performed at Live Theatre, Newcastle, in 2016, in a co-production between Live Theatre and Paines Plough, before a UK tour.

Vinny's organising a surprise birthday party for his mate, Anita. It's not going well: his choice of venue is a bit misguided, Anita's not keen on leaving the house, and everyone else has their own stuff going on. Maybe a surprise party wasn't the best idea? Tom Wells's Stuff is a play about friendship and loss - and the way people try to do the right thing for their mates when there isn't really a right thing to do. Written specifically for young people, the play formed part of the 2019 National Theatre Connections Festival and was premiered by youth theatres across the UK. It offers rich opportunities for an ensemble cast of teenagers.

An irresistibly funny and tender play about big dreams and small changes. Amid the dreaming, the dramas and the dirty dishes, something has to give. But will it be Kath or the kitchen sink? Things aren't going to plan for one family in Withernsea, Yorkshire. Pieces are falling off Martin's milk float as quickly as he's losing customers and something's up with Kath's kitchen sink. Billy is pinning his hopes of a place at art college on a revealing portrait of Dolly Parton, whilst Sophie's dreams of becoming a ju-jitsu teacher might be disappearing down the plughole. Tom Wells' play The Kitchen Sink was first performed at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2011. It won its author the George Devine Award and the Most Promising Playwright Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards. This volume also includes the monologue Spacewang, in which a teenage girl roams the streets of Withernsea in search of aliens.

A charmingly offbeat, surreal comedy of knitting, penguins and Battenberg. Stitch is hitting the gay scene of Hull. Or at least dipping his toe in the water, while staying with his heavily pregnant sister Liz and her shabby sofa-loving partner Mark. But why won't Stitch let anyone into the bathroom even though Liz is dying for a pee? And who is the man in the giant penguin costume? Tom Wells' play Me, As A Penguin premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds in 2009 as part of their new-writing season, Northern Exposure. It subsequently went on a regional tour including a run at the Arcola Theatre, London, in 2010. This volume also includes two monologues by Tom Wells, About a Goth and Notes for First Time Astronauts.

Paul Findlay is living his dream, sailing the Great Lakes and writing about his voyages to pay the bills. When Paul gets a cryptic call for help from his old college roommate Rich Perry, the dream quickly turns into a nightmare. A sudden turn of events has Rich targeted for death by a powerful, ruthless adversary, and only Paul is left to help him survive. They set out across Lake Superior to find safety in Canada, but Rich's enemies are closing in. A deadly game of cat-and-mouse across the greatest of the Great Lakes begins . . . and the cat has all the modern advantages.

After a few months of being the "new kid" in Cypress City, Texas, Jimmy Stringer thinks he's finally fitting in. Then, his parents start arguing and can't seem to stop. Next thing, his dad, a captain in the Air Force, up and disappears on the night of the Summer Solstice. Rumors abound. Is Captain Stringer AWOL? Did he desert? Jimmy knows better, but he doesn't know where his dad has gone or why he didn't leave a note or some sign, if not for him, at least for his mom. Relying on the help of his two buddies, Lupe and Billy Ray, Jimmy makes it through a tough West Texas summer. Finally, school starts again. Walking home from a high school football game on the Autumnal Equinox, Jimmy sees an unusual shooting star appear to land behind a neighbor's house. The next day, he watches that neighbor's little Chihuahua, Elmer, explode in Mr. Cadwallader's barbershop. Nothing is at it should be, but something tells Jimmy it's all related to his dad disappearing, and, just maybe, he and his friends can put it together and get his dad back.

'My mam's always saying, the best thing to do with new things is just chuck yourself in at the deep end.' Liam is fifteen and he's just signed up for Bev Road Baths' first ever synchronised swimming team. It's for his best mate Caz really. She needs to get a team together to win the annual Project Prize at school. She tries every year. She always loses. But Liam's an optimist, he's determined to help. There's just one problem. Liam can't swim... A one-man musical comedy by award-winning duo Tom Wells and Matthew Robins, Drip was first seen as part of the Back to Ours programme for Hull UK City of Culture 2017. The play subsequently toured the UK in 2018, including runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Bush Theatre, London, in a production by Boundless Theatre and Script Club. This edition includes Matthew Robins' original sheet music.

The War Within: America's Battle over Vietnam is a painfully engrossing and popularly written account of how the battle on the home front ended America's least popular war. This absorbing narrative, hailed by critics of every persuasion, is the fruit of over a decade's worth of research: the author sifted through mountains of government documents, press coverage, and transcripts of interviews he conducted with virtually all of the key players, both inside the U.S. government and among the dissenters who eventually brought the war to an end. In these pages the antiwar era comes to life through the words of scores of participants, both the famous and the forgotten, who speak with candor and passion about this tumultuous period. A remarkable story of a powerful grassroots movement and its influence on officials in Washington.