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 9 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. Wind / Rush Generation(s) by Mojisola Adebayo This is a play about the British Isles, its past and its present. Set in a senior common room, in a prominent university, a group of 1st year undergraduates are troubled, not by the weight of their workload, but by a 'noisy' ghost. So they do what any group self-respecting and intelligent university students would do in such a situation - they get out the Ouija Board to confront their spiritual irritant and lay them to rest - only to be confronted by the full weight of Britain's colonial past - in all its gory glory. Fusing naturalism, with physical theatre, spoken-word, absurdism, poetry and direct address - this is event-theatre that whips along with the grace, pace and hypnotic magnetism of a hurricane. Tuesday by Alison Carr Tuesday is light, playful and nuanced in tone. And a little bit sci-fi. The play centres on an ordinary Tuesday that suddenly turns very weird indeed when a tear rips across the sky over the school yard. The play touches on themes of friendship, sibling love, family, identity, grief, bullying, loneliness and responsibility. And in the process we might just learn something about ourselves as well as some astronomical theories of the multiverse! A series of public apologies (in response to an unfortunate incident in the school lavatories) by John Donnelly This satirical play is heightened in its naturalism, in its seriousness, in its parody and piercing in its interrogation of how our attempts to define ourselves in public are shaped by the fear of saying the wrong thing. Presented quite literally as a series of public apologies this play is spacious, flexible and welcoming of inventive and imaginative interpretation as each iteration spirals inevitably to its absurdist core. This is a play on words, on convention, on manners, on institutions, on order, online and on point. THE IT by Vivienne Franzmann THE IT is a play about a teenage girl who has something growing inside her. She doesn't know what it is, but she knows it's not a baby. It expands in her body. It starts in her stomach, but quickly outgrows that, until eventually ittakes over the entirety of her insides. It has claws. She feels them. Presented in the style of a direct to camera documentary, this is a darkly comic state of the nation play exploring adolescent mental health and the rage within, written very specifically for today. The Marxist in Heaven by Hattie Naylor The Marxist in Heaven is a play that does exactly what its title page says it's going to do. The eponymous protagonist 'wakes up' in paradise and once they get over the shock of this fundamental contradiction of everything they believe in...they get straight back to work..and continue their lifelong struggle for equality and fairness for all..even in death. Funny, playful, provocative, pertinent and jam-packed with discourse, disputes, deities and disco dancing by the bucketful, this upbeat buoyant allegory shines its holy light on globalization and asks the salient questions - who are we and what are we doing to ourselves?.....and what conditioner do you use on your hair? Look Up by Andrew Muir Look Up plunges us into a world free from adult intervention, supervision and protection. It's about seeking the truth for yourself and finding the space to find and be yourself. Nine young people are creating new rules for what they hope will be a new and brighter future full of hope in a world in which they can trust again. Each one of them is unique, original and defiantly individual, break into an abandoned building and set about claiming the space, because that is what they do. They have rituals, they have rules, together they are a tribe, they have faith in themselves..and nothing and no one else. They are the future, unless the real world catches up with them and then all they can hope for is that they don't crash and burn like the adults they ran away from in the first place. Crusaders by Frances Poet A group of teens gather to take their French exam but none of them will step into the exam hall. Because Kyle has had a vision and he'll use anything, even miracles, to ensure his classmates accompany him. Together they have just seven days to save themselves, save the world and be the future. And Kyle is not the only one who has had the dream. All across the globe, from Azerbaijan to Zambia, children are dreaming and urging their peers to follow them to the promised land. Who will follow? Who will lead? Who will make it? Witches Can't Be Burned by Silva Semerciyan St. Paul's have won the schools Playfest competition, three years in a row, by selecting recognised classics from the canon and producing them at an exceptionally high level, it's a tried and trusted formula. With straight A's student and drama freak, Anuka cast as Abigail Williams in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the school seem to be well on course for another triumph, which would be a record. However, as rehearsals gain momentum, Anuka has an epiphany. An experience resulting in her asking searching questions surrounding the text, the depiction and perception of female characters, the meaning of loyalty, and the values and traditions underpinning the very foundations of the school. Thus, the scene is set for a confrontation of epic proportions as Anuka seeks to break with tradition, before tradition breaks her and all young women like her and reality begins to take on the ominous hue of Miller's fictionalized Salem. Dungeness by Chris Thompson . In a remote part of the UK, where nothing ever happens, a group of teenagers share a safe house for LGBT+ young people. While their shared home welcomes difference, it can be tricky for self-appointed group leader Birdie to keep the peace. The group must decide how they want to commemorate an attack that happened to LGBT+ people, in a country far away. How do you take to the streets and protest if you're not ready to tell the world who you are? If you're invisible, does your voice still count? A play about love, commemoration and protest.
A play which contains an uncompromising depiction of rape, torture and violence in a society at war with itself.
First issued by Methuen in 1959, this play was the first title in the "Modern plays" series aimed at the burgeoning readership of young theatregoer This title and five others are reissued, representing the range and vitality of the list of titles in print .
A play which looks at the political costs of women rising to the top. This volume is published in the Student Edition series and as well as the text of the play there is a chronology of the playwright's life and work, an introduction giving the theatrical and social content of the play and questions for study.
The Yardies are burning up Hackney and Digger's offers of protection for the diner smacks more of threat than promise. How can Deli save his truanting, thieving son when temptation looms so large on Murder Mile?
A play set in London in the 60s reflecting a time of social change. Its subject is the cultural poverty and frustration of a generation of young people on the dole and living on council estate
Love ain't something you just say. Just this word. It's something you do. A twenty-first-century love story. Caneze meets Sully in the college canteen. The heat rises over triple chilli sauce in Nando's. She makes her move in the sweet smoke of a shisha bar. A touchpaper is lit . . . but neither of them bargained on the lengths to which her brother would go to keep them apart. Blood is a heartfelt play by Emteaz Hussain, the writer of Tamasha's Sweet Cider. It received its world premiere in a production by Tamasha Theatre company in March 2015.
if I was gold almighty himself,and destroyed this first attempt at life.what would my second version be?. . . a dead end of endless possibility.A pedlar boy wakes up in a field somewhere in London, surrounded by the remnants of the night before. With no memory of how he has come to be there, he knows he must go back to the start in order to understand it all. His attempts to retrace events from the previous days lead him on a haunting journey where everything comes into question: his life, his world, his future.peddling is Harry Melling's remarkable debut play following a day in the life of a door-to-door salesman as he battles difficult questions and attempts to come to terms with the resulting truths.peddling received its world premiere at Hightide Festival on 10 April 2014, performed by Harry Melling, before transferring to 59E59 Theatre, NY, for a four-week run. It was revived in 2015 by HighTide at the Arcola Theatre, London.
The Arab world's greatest folk stories re-imagined by the acclaimed Lebanese novelist Hanan al-Shaykh, published to coincide with the world tour of a magnificent musical and theatrical production directed by Tim Supple
Christopher, stands beside Mrs Shears's dead dog. It has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight, and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in the book he is writing to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington.
Reissue of a classic Methuen Modern Play in a newly restored version with a new Introduction by Joan Littlewood
Filumena is a former Neopolitan prostitute who has had three sons by three different fathers. As her sons mature she feels the pressing need to become respectable and so begins to look for a man to marry her, ensuring legitimacy for her family.
Kate, Sam and Pete are stuck. The town they live in doesn't have much going on. But they don't really care about that when they've got cheap cider and their whole lives ahead of them.And they're going to break away anyway. Someone's about to get a car. And all roads go somewhere else. Right? Island Town is bittersweet story about friendship, hope and dreams of an escape. Written by Simon Longman, recipient of the 2018 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright (Gundog; Royal Court).
Don't, for God's sake, come back alive 'cause we don't want to see your ugly stumps and your ugly scars. We don't want to hear your midnight screams and tales of hell. We all got along nicely without you, thank you very much, and now you're back you remind us things we'd much rather forget. More convenient, ain't it? To have a dead hero. A dead hero don't have complaints. A dead hero don't even have a voice.Jack stayed on when the guns fells silent, to search the battlefields for the boys that could not go home - for the dead and the missing, for both enemy and friend. And amongst the rusty wire and unexploded bombs, Jack is looking for something - looking for someone. He has a promise to keep and debt to repay, and now there is this strange request from the generals.A story of comradeship, betrayal and of promises both broken and kept following the carnage of World War One from the acclaimed writer of Casualties, Ross Ericson. It received its world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015 before embarking on a UK tour.
That's why we shout and scream at each other. Clears the air. A kind of truth begins to emerge. We see clearer.Pip and Meredith have had a bust-up. It was only about their opinion of a film, but it's led to more significant differences coming to light. Pip has been having an affair for the past three months with a young colleague at work. Meredith's slate doesn't seem to be entirely clean either.As their families and friends become embroiled in Pip and Meredith's separation, past prejudices, harsh judgements and painful truths come to light. The arguments that ensue go beyond just being about Pip and Meredith, and what they should do about their marriage. In nine taut scenes, William Boyd explores what it is to argue with those we love - and those we should love. He looks at our propensity to judge others and our power to hurt. Alongside this, he shows how it can sometimes be the superficial problems in a relationship that keep it going.Both bleak and funny in its tone, The Argument offers a Strindberg-like take on human dynamics and received its world premiere at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs in March 2016.
This is where the world began. This was Caesar's highway. Hannibal's road to glory. These were the trading routes of the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, the Ottomans and the Byzantines . . . We all come from the sea and back to the sea we will go. The Mediterranean gave birth to the world.Step into the shoes of those whose job it is to enforce our harsh new rules: an Italian coastguard and a payday lender from Leeds. How do they do it? And what happens to them? Lampedusa is a powerful play about immigration and welfare. This edition was published to coincide with the premiere at the Soho Theatre, London, on 8 April 2015, as part of the Soho Theatre's season of Politics.
How is it delivered? That's the best bit! Royal Mail. Postman Pat brings your smack to your door with a smile and his black and white cat is none the wiser.Bruce is nineteen, unemployed and living with his Nan. A struggling young Geordie tech-head, he's the unlikeliest international criminal mastermind you can imagine. But sucked into an underworld dark web of new-age pirates, local gangsters and tea-cosies, it isn't long before Bruce discovers how easy it is to buy narcotics online.Prompted by the arrest in October 2013 of the alleged owner of Silk Road, and the first play ever to be funded by bitcoin, Alex Oates's play is a biting black comedy about how simple it is not only to buy, but also sell drugs online. Published alongside Rules For Being a Man, a stirring new play that uses silent disco technology to create a vivid soundscape and take the audience into the head of three generations of men as they struggle with mental health issues and contemplate suicide.Rules For Being a Man depicts the everyday battle of masculinity, whilst these men go about their lives and struggle to hold on.Three different generations of men come to terms with love, life and other peoples expectations. Living in a society where the scars of toxic masculinity are becoming more and more visible on the cultural landscape, Rules For Being A Man looks at the marks men create in themselves, and others. Following three generations of a family centred around one pivotal action, this honest new play attempts to try to come to terms with the different pressures men face going through life trying to be a man and the damaging toll they take on their mental health. Inspired by interviews with survivors of suicide and The Samaritans.
Good evening. I'm Inspector Carter. Take my case. This must be Charles Haversham! I'm sorry, this must've given you all a damn shock. After benefitting from a large and sudden inheritance, the inept and accident-prone Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society embark on producing an ambitious 1920s murder mystery. They are delighted that neither casting issues nor technical hitches currently stand in their way. However, hilarious disaster ensues and the cast start to crack under the pressure, but can they get the production back on track before the final curtain falls? The Play That Goes Wrong is a farcical murder mystery, a play within a play, conceived and performed by award-winning company Mischief. It was first published as a one-act play and is published in this new edition as a two-act play.
The beautiful estate of a once proud Russian aristocratic family is auctioned off to the son of a peasant who has succeeded in industry.
A study of young people and their attitudes towards sex, sexuality and trans-sexuality, by the author of "Blasted". Set in an unnamed city from which voices and images spring, "Crave" charts the disintegration of a human mind under the pressures of love, loss and desire.
Now I''m dead there''ll be changes. I won''t keep rolling over. I won''t wag my tail at every insult and injury!Kathleen Duggan has rushed home to Ireland upon hearing the news that her mother, Maisie, has died.Only when she gets back to the house, she finds that her mother is alive and well. Almost. However, after a routine car accident, Maisie believes that she is now dead and wandering around the homestead, awaiting her funeral. Still able to talk to her childish adult son and her violent, temperamental husband, she will no longer be silenced by the male-dominated, pugnacious atmosphere that has kept her quiet all these years. So when Kathleen comes back for the ''funeral'', Maisie expects to find her final resting place, safe from the threat of domestic violence once and for all. The Remains of Maisie Duggan received its world premiere on the Peacock stage of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in autumn 2016.
In Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series, this edition of Brecht's anti-war masterpiece translated by John Willett features an extensive introduction and Brecht's notes and textual variants.
Play version of this novel that was a hit with adults and teenagers alike
A programme text edition published in conjunction with The Synergy Theatre Project in association with The Forgiveness Project and Soho Theatre, The Long Road runs from 10 - 29 November 2008.
An expertly annotated edition of Joe Penhall's compelling drama: a dark, exhilarating tale of race, madness and power in the midst of a struggling National Health Service.
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