The White Road
Embark on a Frozen Odyssey! Unearth the indomitable spirit of Ernest Shackleton in a gripping tale of survival, courage, and camaraderie, as his Antarctic journey unfolds on stage. The White Road, where the human spirit meets the harshest elements, forging a legacy that transcends the frozen abyss.Award-winning playwright Karen Tarjan's play is the story of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica from sea to sea, via the South Pole. When their ship, The Endurance, is crushed by pack ice over a thousand miles from civilization, Shackleton and his crew have only one path ahead of them: the White Road. An incredible tale of survival in near-impossible conditions when all hope seems lost.
Love
Love Triumphs Despite Tragedy and JealousyDreams are shattered. Bonds are broken. Deception creates chaos and doubt. Will relationships withstand the crush of betrayal when the truth is discovered?A summer wedding promises love and opportunity while an autumn union brings misery and distrust. When lives intertwine, and an affair is uncovered prompted by a malicious motive, Kyle and Casi attempt to rise above the drama, desperate to preserve their unique bond.Casi falls victim to a trauma that crushes her confidence as she is forced to keep secrets and defend the people she loves. As lies unravel, she is pressured to reveal the truth. Overwhelmed by the circumstances and convinced they are each responsible for the treacherous outcome, one brother goes off the rails while the other is caught between loyalty and love. Will the belief in always and forever be enough to protect Casi's and Kyle's marriage or will harsh circumstances finally overcome their faith?The final book in the Catwalk Series finishes with shocking revelations and a triumphant conclusion
The New March
It was a hot day in the Far Northern Coastal Australian Town.The first thing that Mitchell wanted as he walked to the public bar of the sleepy towns hotel was a cool drink.The last thing that Mitchell wanted was an altercation with an angry Australian Aboriginal that resulted in the death of five people.
Now Let Me Fly
The everyday heroes of Brown v Board come alive... The Brown v. Board of Education case jump-started the civil rights movement by overturning the "separate but equal" law of the land. Years before the landmark Supreme Court case, brave citizens held grassroots meetings across the nation in homes, schools, church basements, and barbershops. In honor of their courage, Now Let Me Fly brings to life the unsung heroes and heroines who set the stage for legal action. Marcia Cebulska's inspiring, educational, and entertaining play is based on oral histories and personal interviews with the real people involved in the struggle leading to Brown v. Board.
The Delivering Power of His Presence
Even in the bleakest moments, showing kindness and clinging to the power of the Lord can guide one into the light. Cassandra Littleton faced many traumatic events throughout her life starting at a young age, but God never failed to help her pick up all the broken pieces and put them back together. In this extraordinarily moving piece, Cassandra shares her life story, beginning with the sexual abuse she endured as a child living in a small town in Mississippi. She travels in the past through every stage of her life, sharing the adversity and discrimination she faced as a woman of color, but highlighting the faithfulness of God to help her through every challenge. After joining the Navy and proving herself just as capable as the men, defying all odds through her faith in the Lord, she discovered her purpose: to let God's will be done in her life. The awe-inspiring magnificence of God is revealed in this memoir through Cassandra's experiences. Readers will be inspired by her story, which serves as proof not only of God's existence, but of the devil's as well. The Lord provided Cassandra with visions, warning her of how the Enemy would work before it happened. These visions strengthened Cassandra both spiritually and mentally, instilling in her the idea that God is always there, walking right beside her. Author Cassandra Littleton received a message from the Lord telling her to write a book, but she was unsure what to write about. She felt that God was telling her to write it about her immense struggles, but she was still hesitant. One day, as one of her pastors was praying over her and told her she should write a book about her life, God's message was validated, and she began writing her story with the hope that it would encourage and inspire others.
Romeo and Juliet
Two Postcodes, two streets apartIn dear Merton where our story starts.Beef from the past creates new tension.Innocent blood spilled they need an intervention.A boy and a girl, supposed to be ops;They chat, hold hands, secret meetings by the shops. A remixed tale of star-crossed lovers. How much would you risk for the person you love? Forced apart by generations of hatred, young eyes meet across a South London dancefloor on a fateful night that will change their lives forever. Shakespeare's most famous story is re-told through rap, rhythms, and beautiful harmonies. It's Romeo and Juliet, but as you've never heard it before. Put down your swords and pick up your mics, after all, the course of true love never did run smooth. From Conrad Murray, the creator behind the 2023 Offie award-winning Pied Piper: The Hip Hop Family Musical, comes this hip hop re-telling with contributions from Lakeisha Lynch-Stevens, Khai Shaw, and Kate Donnachie. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at London's Polka Theatre in March 2024.
The Neighborhood
"The Neighborhood" is a compelling narrative set in a tight-knit community, intricately weaving the lives and secrets of its residents. At the heart of the story is George Hobbs, a character burdened by the emotional turmoil following his father's death. The book delves into George's internal struggle as he grapples with memories and unresolved feelings about his father.Each chapter provides a window into the lives of different neighbors, revealing their personal battles, hidden secrets, and complex relationships. The narrative skillfully portrays how these individual stories intersect, impacting one another and the community as a whole. Themes of forgiveness, vengeance, and the enduring influence of the past are central to the plot. As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent how past events continue to shape the present, affecting decisions, relationships, and the community's overall dynamics. The book explores the concept of forgiveness not just as a personal journey, but also as a communal experience, affecting how neighbors interact and support each other.The portrayal of family dynamics is another key aspect of the novel. The characters' family histories, their present interactions, and the evolving nature of these relationships are depicted with depth and sensitivity. The author delves into the complexities of familial bonds, highlighting both the strength and fragility of these ties. Furthermore, the book examines the idea of vengeance, both as a personal vendetta and as a collective sentiment within the neighborhood. This theme is explored through various characters and situations, raising questions about justice, morality, and the consequences of seeking retribution.In summary, "The Neighborhood" is a rich and multi-layered story that captures the essence of a community's interconnected lives. It offers a poignant look at how individuals navigate their personal histories, relationships, and moral dilemmas, all within the microcosm of a neighborhood. The novel is a testament to the complexity of human emotions and the enduring impact of the past on the present.
Quinderella
Six daughters from four wives, King Omah passionately desires a male-child successor.A SINGLE SEED OF ALLIGATOR PEPPER from the Sun God priest, mixed in porridge, will make the LUCKY WIFE who eats it to bear the male heir of Ijezah Kingdom.Selfish queen mother Heziah, fears losing her influence should any of the king's wives, other than her cousin-favorite, beget the heir, and she plots against that. Quinderella (the unwelcome fourth wife) is blocked from freely eating the porridge. She eats the spillovers on the floor and luckily eats the SEED.Heziah plots and renders Quinderella unconscious during labor, swaps the baby boy heir with a girl child, and abandons him (Omalingo) by the riverbank.Rescued, nursed, and nurtured by the hermit of Mother Earth for nearly three years, determining Omalingo's true mother becomes a task that must be done.Christopher and his family from Delta State, Nigeria, currently live in the United States.He read Agricultural Education in college, retired as a Merit Grade School Principal, but has a passion for writing. He edited school magazines and has many articles published in several Nigerian newspapers.A last borne brought up by an aging mother, Amaechi, fondly called, loves tales "by moonlight" and "by the bed," and QUINDERELLA derives from these.
You Are Going to Die and This Is Not Culturally Significant
Existential Figure silently screams. Everything is wiped clean. The fabric of reality starts to fall apart. Grieving Figure finds themself on a hillside.Eyes staring back from the darkness. A dual edition of actor, writer and theatre practitioner Adam Scott-Rowley's most impactful works to date. Performed entirely naked, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE is a nail-biting descent into existential anxiety as humanity stares down the proverbial toilet. A surreal meditation on annihilation that rests on the knife edge between physical theatre and performance art. Ideograms and archetypal forms offer a shared purge illuminating the darkest corners of the human psyche while revealing compassion and humour in the most unlikely of places. THIS IS NOT CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT is a brutally intense and darkly comic piece that unveils the bizarre, compulsive and eccentric nature of humanity. Thunderous and fiercely grotesque, this piece utilises Adam Scott-Rowley's practice of The Sensitised Theatre to create a sharp political comment on contemporary society. This edition was published to coincide with YOU ARE GOING TO DIE playing at Southwark Playhouse, London, in April 2024 produced by The Production Exchange.
Edward Ravenscroft's 竄Mamamouchi, or the Citizen Turned Gentleman罈 (1672)
Mamamouchi, or The Citizen Turned Gentleman (1672) was Edward Ravenscroft's playwriting debut. Its rambunctious comedy and star-studded ensemble earned him spectacular success with the London audiences, quickly turning him into one of the most relevant authors of his time. His unorthodox use of the source material, however, also garnered him the criticism of the literary elites, who accused him of plagiarism because of his adaptation of Moli癡re. In this first-ever critical edition, a fully annotated and modernized version of the text is offered, together with an introduction that examines the social and cultural context in which the play came to exist. This edition looks at how Ravenscroft's adaptative procedure navigates an environment in which key concepts such as nation-building or copyright law are starting to crystallize, and how this work contributed to further their development.
Thank You for Abusing Me
Thank You for Abusing Me: Why Did She Stay? is the second book in the Thank You for Abusing Me series by Coleen Liebsch. The first book subtitled, View From Behind the Couch is a look at domestic violence from the perspective of the child hiding behind the couch. Why Did She Stay? chronicles the author's journey as she learns to turn negative life experiences into positive life lessons.
Easter
Alec Winslow is a teenager with an explosive temper and is often considered confrontational but is actually misunderstood and good at heart. Over the years, bullying and rejection have turned a once sweet boy into a time bomb fueled by insecurities and self-loathing. One of the biggest contributors to his unstable behavior, however, is his own family. On April 1, 2018, Easter, as his mother's kinfolk arrives to celebrate the holiday, Alec is determined to fight his sinister urges despite his family's harassment. As the day goes on, he struggles with these impulses as he avoids becoming yet another rampage killer in American history. Be that as it may, Alec isn't the only one in his family harboring dark thoughts and fighting personal demons.
Women Making Shakespeare in the Twenty-First Century
This Element examines why women makers from equity-owed communities (Indigenous, of colour, Deaf, disabled, trans and non-binary communities among others) choose to work with Shakespeare and his contemporaries at a moment in time when theatres around the world are striving toward equity, inclusion, diversity, and decolonization. It details and explores these creators' processes to learn from them about how to transform plays we know all too well as patriarchy-affirming, ableist, and often racist into vehicles for community storytelling and models for radically inclusive and difference-centred ways of making.
Women Making Shakespeare in the Twenty-First Century
This Element examines why women makers from equity-owed communities (Indigenous, of colour, Deaf, disabled, trans and non-binary communities among others) choose to work with Shakespeare and his contemporaries at a moment in time when theatres around the world are striving toward equity, inclusion, diversity, and decolonization. It details and explores these creators' processes to learn from them about how to transform plays we know all too well as patriarchy-affirming, ableist, and often racist into vehicles for community storytelling and models for radically inclusive and difference-centred ways of making.
A Slice of Happiness
Winter was waving a gentle goodbye and mother Earth was setting the stage for Spring, when Cyrus and Angela set up their lovely abode, far away in the towering hills! Their housemaid Lila unfolds an enchanting tale about the most renowned Paudel family in town. Dominic Paudel loved his wife Julia very much and together they had two sons, Lucas and Albertus. When Julia Paudel fell critically ill, Albertus revived her collapsing school. In a curious twist of fate, Angela makes acquaintance with Albertus, the protagonist in Lila's tale. Under Albert's leadership, the school thrives, but tragedy once again strikes the Paudel family. When Angela meets Lucas to condole his loss, he makes her privy to confidential information about the tragic episode. In a gripping turn of events, distinct lives, diverse yet interconnected, come together amidst challenging circumstances. Delve into the mystery, feel the heartache, and discover the promise that intertwines their destinies together in this compelling tale of trust and friendship.
Rise and Shine
This delightful play is the winner of more than forty awards. Handsome young Philip Grant is dazed when he awakens in a cemetery and finds his name on a headstone. He cheers up enormously, however, when a winsome Hepsibah rises from her grave to join him. When Hepsibah's old husband Henry and his second wife, Jane, turn up, the comedy reaches a terrifically funny conclusion.
The Blow-Ins
A debut novel by Annie Roche.Three unconnected deaths herald a new beginning for three women whose lives become bound by history.An agoraphobe, a young infanticidal mother and a wannabe serious journalist are blown-in from the cold to settle in the same house in different time-streams.What binds them together?Can historic wrongs be resolved?What happens when history is so close you can almost touch it?A debut novel from a historian who wants to lend a voice to the victims of one history's least spoken about and nuanced crimes...new-born child murder.Inspired by a historic case, the Blow-Ins is a unique blend of history woven into a fictional narrative with a supernatural twist. The backdrop of the wild and often tempestuous North Devon countryside sets the scene for a tale of abuse of power and the inevitable tragedy that follows.
The 2024 Off Broad Street Short Play Festival
An anthology of short play by multiple authors.The 2024 OFF BROAD STREET SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL took place at Le Chat Noir Theatre in Augusta, GA. The plays included in this anthology were the top plays selected for the festival from over 700 submissions around the world.
Plantation
Darcy County, Georgia holds a secret...a dark, terrible secret. Scores of its citizens have vanished in plain sight, never to be seen or heard from again. Drake, his sister Indigo, and their brother Tarek are making one final trip to what used to be their homestead to say goodbye to memories that they shared only to find themselves emersed in the "New South" where slavery is carefully hidden on plantations judiciously scattered throughout the states of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Alabama.After the family is abducted on a seemingly innocent carriage ride through a replica of an 1800's version of Darcy County; Drake, Indigo and Tarek find themselves fighting slavery and it's brutal effects.As they encounter characters that want to stay in their life of servitude as well as ones that want to escape, they meet an unlikely ally in "The Lady Onyx"; a transgender woman who practices witchcraft. It isn't until their meeting that they realize that they are neck-deep in a coven of witches immersed in Darcy County."Plantation" tells the story of an integrated family's attempts to escape brutal beatings, lynching, rapes, back-breaking labor, and dark magic. Who will make it home safely with their minds and bodies intact?"Plantation" is "Antebellum" with a deliciously dark twist.
American Sultan
Four beautiful females: a German accountant, a Chinese chef, a Black policewoman, and a Mexican landscaping artist, sign a legal contract to work and live with a recently divorced American millionaire. The four hires not only acquire an enviable job with great benefits, but they also share in the successful businessman's luxurious lifestyle and a promise of a million dollars for each of them after ten years of faithful service. Although legally divorced, the exiled wife still considers herself married because they wedded in the Catholic Church; thus, after bearing (in secret) her ex-husband's third child she uses all her power to restore their sacramental union and rescue him from perdition. Would any young woman be willing to trade 10 years of her life for a million dollars? An exciting story about the legal relationship between a wealthy divorced man and four women open to anything.
Song of the Season
What links the popular songs "You'll Never Walk Alone", "Send in the Clowns", "Memory" and "I Am What I Am"? They all originated in Broadway musicals. Song of the Season is for those who believe that the score is at the heart of a musical and is the essential building block on which the rest of a show is built. Through a systematic historical survey from 1891 to 2023 it argues that the best musicals survive because of their songs, from early 20th century classics such as Show Boat and Oklahoma! through to the contemporary sound of Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton. looking at outstanding songs from each Broadway season, the development and history of the musical is illustrated with a fresh perspective. As song styles and popular music tastes changed throughout the decades this structure charts the progress of American showtunes alongside popular music forms as songs evolved from the waltz and ragtime to jazz, rock, rap and hip-hop. Factual analysis and historical context combine to offer a rich picture of the American songbook from Irving Berlin to Elton John. Song of the Season paints a fresh picture for musical theatre students and fans alike, illustrating significant changes in the form through the music. Analyzed in an accessible and engaging way that doesn't rely on music theory knowledge, and including a link to playlist where all the 'songs of the seasons' can be listened to, it is a must-have for those looking to expand their knowledge of the form and trace the social history of the American showtune.
Euripides
The book is written mainly for students to enable them better to appreciate and enjoy Euripides' Andromache. Its presentation seeks to combine depth of analysis with clarity and accessibility. It discusses Greek theatre and performance, the myth behind the play, and the literary, intellectual, and political context in which it was written and first performed. The book provides analyses of the various characters, and highlights the play's ambiguities and complexities. What makes Andromache of special interest is the fact that, of the 32 extant tragedies, it might have been originally produced outside Athens. This in turn leads the discussion of how the play's scrutiny of the Spartan characters affected the off-stage audience. Andromache is the only play that portrays the human toll caused by the Trojan War to both the Trojan and the Greek sides. After the Fall of Troy, Andromache, former wife of Hector, has been given to Neoptolemus, Achilles' son, as a war-prize. Andromache bore Neoptolemus a son, Molossus, before Neoptolemus married Hermione, the daughter of Menelaus and Helen. While Neoptolemus is away, Menelaus and Hermione attempt to kill Andromache and Molossus, causing a rift between the two families who were the major players in the War: the house of Atreus and the house of Peleus, father of Achilles. Although Neoptolemus is murdered, the play ends with a prophecy for the future of the line of descent of Peleus and Thetis in the form of the blessed kingdom of Molossia.
Reanimating Shakespeare's Othello in Post-Racial America
Othello famously supplicates, 'Speak of me as I am', pleading for the Venetians to 'nothing extenuate', leave out, or make thin (5.2.352). Othello's anxiety about narrative accuracy exposes his fear over his story's potential misrepresentation. As the first monograph to examine Othello's history of contemporary reanimations, Reanimating Shakespeare's Othello in Post-Racial America takes up this question of retelling Othello's story, turning to the play as re-crafted in a time and place imagined as having overcome racial injustice: post-racial America (2008-2016). This book analyses representations of Othello across genres and media including podcasts, television, film, graphic novels and performance, and argues that these representational choices of Othellos perpetuate varying racial frameworks that advance antiblack or antiracist versions of the play. By elucidating the presence and function of these competing frameworks, it illuminates and explains how to wrestle with the intersections between Shakespeare, Othello and the American racial imaginary in appropriations, scholarship, the classroom and beyond.
Abe Koogler Selected Plays
"Koogler's characters are earnest, idiosyncratic, and suspicious of hierarchy. Often bitingly funny, Koogler's plays...reveal larger truths about the economic and racial systems under which we all live." -The Yale ReviewAbe Koogler writes darkly comedic plays about ordinary Americans confronting larger political and economic forces, from small-town residents grappling with environmental change to slaughterhouse workers trying to retain their humanity. Although grounded in realism, Koogler's plays often incorporate imaginary elements and heightened or musical language, creating moving and memorable works of art.In his first play collection, Koogler's work is brought together and introduced by the author, offering an overview of his range in style, from the naturalistic to the absurd.Deep Blue Sound: "If anything links all of these people, it is an aching loneliness. That they are trying to figure out what happened to orcas, which are remarkably social animals, is among the nice touches that Koogler has sneaked into his group portrai" - New York TimesFulfilment Center: "steeped in a luminous and illuminating empathy that feels both uncommon and essential right now" - New York TimesAspen Ideas: A fast-paced and darkly comedic thriller about the poisonous appeal of believing that the best ideas win, and that winners know best.Kill Floor: "never strikes a false or strained note as Mr. Koogler observes the awkward cut-and-thrust of the relationships among the characters" - New York TimesAdvance Man: ripe with experimental language, movement, and absurdism; a dark comedy exploring what it means to be a politically engaged American.
A Doll's House
A Doll's House is a three-act play written by Norway's Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month. The play is set in a Norwegian town circa 1879. The play is significant for the way it deals with the fate of a married woman who at the time in Norway lacked reasonable opportunities for self-fulfillment in a male-dominated world, despite the fact that Ibsen denies it was his intent to write a feminist play. It aroused a great sensation at the time, and caused a "storm of outraged controversy" that went beyond the theatre to the world newspapers and society.In 2006, the centennial of Ibsen's death, A Doll's House held the distinction of being the world's most performed play that year. UNESCO has inscribed Ibsen's autographed manuscripts of A Doll's House on the Memory of the World Register in 2001, in recognition of their historical value.The title of the play is most commonly translated as A Doll's House, though some scholars use A Doll House. John Simon says that A Doll's House is "the British term for what [Americans] call a 'dollhouse'". Egil T繹rnqvist says of the alternative title: "Rather than being superior to the traditional rendering, it simply sounds more idiomatic to Americans."
Children of the Sun
I am attempting to colonise the last frontier. Time, Elena, time. If we could inhabit different iterations of self, we could undo all the mistakes of the past. Don't you see? Hilary Fannin's radical adaptation of Maxim Gorky's classic 1905 dark comedy reworks the original text and draws it into the here and now. Children of the Sun is the story of a small family and their quixotic collection of acquaintances, entertaining and enraging each other while, unseen beyond their fragile walls, their world is being reshaped by unstoppable forces. The play asks how we survive without the benefit of hindsight and whether science, art or love are capable of saving us from uncertainty and destruction. Co-produced by Rough Magic and the Abbey Theatre, Children of the Sun premiered on the Abbey stage as part of Rough Magic's 40th-anniversary year in April 2024. This edition was published to coincide with that production.
See How They Run
The swift action, impossibly hilarious situations and rib-tickling plot in this long-running London hit will leave audiences exhausted with laughter. In an English vicarage, the vicar and his wife are overwhelmed by a barrage of colorful guests, including an American actress, an American G.I. stationed with the Air Force in England, a cockney maid who has seen too many American movies, an old dowager who "touches alcohol for the first time in her life," a sedate Bishop aghast at all these goings-on, and four men in identical clergyman suits, one of whom is an escaped prisoner.
The Great All-American Musical Disaster
Here's an hilarious, fast-paced, eye-popping farce from the author of Destiny and The Butler Did It. Film producer Junior Dover (Jr.) hasn't made a picture since his last flop, "Zombies of the Stratosphere." But his latest project has everything, "from earthquakes to savage lobsters." Junior induces every major Hollywood star, a few has-beens, and even a maybe, to appear by tailoring separate scripts to meet each star's personal requirements. So each star assumes he or she "is" the whole picture, with the other Greats relegated to supporting roles - an assumption that leads to all kinds of madcap stage frenzy. How Junior manages to stay one jump ahead of disaster makes this play a champion laugh-getter! This is Hollywood, after all! Anything can happen, and does! All the parts give a comically ludicrous sweep to the legend that is Hollywood!
Kodachrome (One-Act Version)
Welcome to Colchester, a small town where everybody knows each other and the pace of life allows the pursuit of love to take up as much space as it needs. Our tour guide is Suzanne, the town photographer, who lets us peek into her neighbors' lives to catch glimpses of romance in all its stages of development. A play about love, nostalgia, the seasons and how we learn to say goodbye.
Once upon a Playground
This comedy portrays the cruelty of youth as a total theatre experience, blending realism with theatrical devices like stylized movement, choral chants and expressionism.
Aesop's (Oh So Slightly) Updated Fables
This short play, performed for and with kids, weaves five of Aesop's most famous fables into a show that's fun, fast-paced, and full of surprises. Contains: The Dog and the Bone; The Tortoise and the Hare; The Lion and the Mouse; The Fox and the Grapes; The Miller, His Son And the Donkey, and The Country Maid.
Charley's Aunt
Jack Chesney loves Kitty Verdun and Charley loves Miss Amy Spettigue. They invite the ladies to meet Charley's wealthy aunt from Brazil, "where the nuts come from". Cancelling her visit at the last minute, the millionaire aunt sends the boys into cataclysmic confusion. What do they do now? The problem is solved by drafting their feckless Oxford undergrad pal into a black satin skirt, bloomers and wig. As "Charley's Aunt", this charming frump is introduced to the ladies, to Jack's father and to Stephen Spettigue, Amy's guardian. When the real aunt turns up, classic comic confusion ensues as Fancourt Babberley, posing as "Charley's Aunt", tricks Spettigue into agreeing to the marriage of his ward, the real aunt marries Jack's father, Jack gets Miss Verdun, and Fanny Babs regains the fortune he lost at gambling as well as the girl he loves.
Museum
Museum takes place on the final day of a group show of three fictional contemporary American artists being exhibited in a major museum of modern art. Over the course of the day some forty people walk through the show: art lovers, skeptics, foreigners, students, lost souls, fellow artists, and of course, museum guards. The play is about the movement and yearning of these people.
Merrily We Roll Along
By means of a series of scenes shown in reverse chronological order, we are permitted to see the steps by which a young and ambitious playwright became merely a materialistic symbol of success.
Shakespeare and the Theater of Pity
This volume explores Shakespeare's interest in pity, an emotion that serves as an important catalyst for action within the plays, even as it generates one of the audience's most common responses to tragic drama in the theater.
Isidlamlilo / The Fire Eater
Isidlamlilo / The Fire Eater is a one-woman play inspired by the true story of a woman who served as a political assassin in the build-up to South Africa's first democratic elections. Zenzile Maseko, the protagonist, is a 60-year-old grandmother living in a women's hostel in Durban. Falsely declared dead by the Department of Home Affairs, she finds herself cast into a Kafkaesque nightmare that forces her to confront her past. Flown in on the wings of the Impundulu (the lightning bird), in Zulu folklore a shapeshifting bird associated with witchcraft and the harbinger of storms and death, Zenzile's story weaves a magical and terrifying tapestry. She draws on myth, religious symbolism and traditional beliefs as she shares the realities - at times brutal, at times forgiving - of survival in South Africa. Her story touches on what it means to live through political violence, the transition to democracy, the brutality of inequality, health epidemics like HIV/AIDS, patriarchy, and the apathetic bureaucracy of government departments. Ultimately, Isidlamlilo / The Fire Eater offers a critical and unflinching look at the eddying cycles of violence and revenge that play out across generations. Yet it is most of all a story about regeneration and redemption that speaks to both the country's haunted past and its present-day complexities. Written with pathos and empathy, this playscript will appeal to teachers, high school learners, and tertiary students in theatre, drama and English studies.
The Lonely Londoners
London will do for you for now... And I will do for London. London, 1956. Newly arrived from Trinidad, Henry 'Sir Galahad' Oliver is impatient to start his new life. Carrying just pyjamas and a toothbrush, he bursts through Moses Aloetta's door only to find Moses and his friends already deflated by city life. Will the London fog dampen Galahad's dreams? Or will these Lonely Londoners make a home in a city that sees them as a threat? In the first stage adaptation of Sam Selvon's iconic novel about the Windrush Generation, Roy Williams sweeps us back in time to shine a new light on London, friendship, and what we call home. This edition of The Lonely Londoners is published to coincide with the world premiere at London's Jermyn Street Theatre in February 2024 and the subsequent production at The Kiln Theatre in January 2025.
In Quest of Conscience
Adapted by Robert David MacDonald from Gitta Sereny's Into That Darkness"Robert David MacDonald's In Quest of Conscience, based on Gitta Sereny's Into That Darkness, a record of her interviews with death camp commandant Franz Stangl, takes it for granted that the Holocaust was a shocking crime against humanity; what it wants to know, with an urgency amounting to desperation, is how it happened, and how it can be prevented from happening again." - Joyce Macmillan, Scotland on Sunday"Stangl... bureaucrat of death who administered as massive an evil as the Holocaust in the same routine spirit in which he would have administered butter rationing ... What manner of man can be responsible for the slaughter of 1,200,000 of his fellows in the space of 14 months?" - Joseph Farrell, The Scotsman"Plays such as In Quest of Conscience are messengers of the unspeakable, which is why they should be listened to as this powerful, dignified piece was in complete moral silence." - John Peter, The Sunday Times"A brilliant and important play which is based on the actual interviews with the death camp commandant Franz Stragl by Gitta Sereny searching desperately to discover how the Holocaust happened, how one worked and lived with it, and how to prevent it occurring again" Blanche Marvin
Crisis Theatre and the Living Newspaper
Crisis Theatre and The Living Newspapers traces a history of the living newspaper as a theatre of crisis from Soviet Russia (1910s), through the Federal Theatre Project of the Great Depression in America (1930s), to Augusto Boal's teatro jornal in Brazil (1970s), and its resonance with documentary forms deployed in the final years of apartheid in South Africa (1990s), up until the present day in the UK (2020s). Across this Element, the author is interested in what a transnational and transhistorical examination of the living newspaper through the lens of crisis reveals about the ways in which theatre can intervene in our collective social, economic and political life. By holding these diverse examples together, the author asserts the Living Newspaper as a form of Crisis Theatre.
Crisis Theatre and the Living Newspaper
Crisis Theatre and The Living Newspapers traces a history of the living newspaper as a theatre of crisis from Soviet Russia (1910s), through the Federal Theatre Project of the Great Depression in America (1930s), to Augusto Boal's teatro jornal in Brazil (1970s), and its resonance with documentary forms deployed in the final years of apartheid in South Africa (1990s), up until the present day in the UK (2020s). Across this Element, the author is interested in what a transnational and transhistorical examination of the living newspaper through the lens of crisis reveals about the ways in which theatre can intervene in our collective social, economic and political life. By holding these diverse examples together, the author asserts the Living Newspaper as a form of Crisis Theatre.
James
James is an intriguing, story about a young man living in the South in the 1950s. He is loved by his mother, hated by his father, and despised by his sister. He ignored the relationship of his family and retreated into his own, existing without a care in the world. One day in high school, he meets a beautiful young girl who captures his eye and challenges his character, integrity, and individuality. Upon meeting her, his life spirals into conflict with romance, racism, and conspiracy.
James
James is an intriguing, story about a young man living in the South in the 1950s. He is loved by his mother, hated by his father, and despised by his sister. He ignored the relationship of his family and retreated into his own, existing without a care in the world. One day in high school, he meets a beautiful young girl who captures his eye and challenges his character, integrity, and individuality. Upon meeting her, his life spirals into conflict with romance, racism, and conspiracy.
Pictures from Home
Playwright Sharr White transforms photographer Larry Sultan's landmark photo memoir for the stage in this new three-character play. In the 1980s, Sultan spent a decade photographing and interviewing his parents and unearthing the memories beneath his family's home movies. The result is a deeply intimate and comic portrait of a mother, a father and their son. Though set in the recent past, this poignant and theatrically inventive play is both of-the-moment and timeless.
Storm Lantern
Caught by the Nazis distributing forbidden leaflets, Sophie Scholl is facing execution. Only one route remains: confession and betrayal of everything she stood for... but will she take it?
Mediterranean Labyrinth
Samuel, an introverted engineer who is unable to love, sets out on a journey, fleeing from a broken relationship. However, it will not be a journey like any other, rather, it will an incredible experience within himself, retracing his past to reknit the threads of his lost identity. Between Veneto, Spain and Sicily: an initiatory labyrinth, through which Samuel will finally be able to learn to let go, as well as finally being able to uncover the terrible secrets that have disrupted his childhood.
