All Books

A young girl is trapped in an increasingly tiny world. In the beginning was the mattress. Gradually, other little changes—more bolts on the front door; the gun; the locked cupboard. And she knew in her heart that change was bad. Based on true stories from around the world, this is a startling debut play that looks at the courage, strength, and perseverance of women in conflict zones.

“This exhilarating production ticks all the boxes for families looking for an uplifting treat.”—TimeOut

“Paterson has mastered the art of injecting new zest and color into classic children's stories.”—The London Times

Rudyard Kipling's classic jungle tales in an acclaimed stage adaptation by Stuart Paterson.

Plucked from obscurity to be Hitler’s architect and Minister of War, Albert Speer became the second most powerful man in Nazi Germany and the closest Hitler had to a friend. David Edgar’s panoramic adaptation of Gitta Sereny’s definitive and magisterial biography tells the epic story of a man whose devotion to Hitler blinded him to the worst crime of the twentieth century.

A rich evocation of a world poised on the brink of Stalin's Great Terror, based on the 1994 Oscar-winning film written by Nikita Mikhalkov and Rustam Ibragimbekov.

General Kotov, decorated hero of the Russian Revolution, is spending an idyllic summer in the country with his beloved young wife and family. But on one glorious sunny morning in 1936, his wife’s former lover returns from a long and unexplained absence. Amidst a tangle of sexual jealousy, retribution and remorseless political backstabbing, Kotov feels the full, horrifying reach of Stalin’s rule.

“A neglected landmark of modern theatre that explores the byzantine complexities of marriage with the honesty of genius.”—Guardian

Back in Dublin after nine years abroad, Richard and Bertha have to ask themselves questions about guilt and responsibility as they confront two other people who love them. Will infidelity hold them together? Based in part on James Joyce’s own relationship with Nora Barnacle.

Drawing instances from his own work in theater and from teaching at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, William Gaskill looks at action and intention, stillness and movement, sentences and rhetoric, punctuation and pauses. He pays detailed attention to staging Shakespeare's plays, including chapters on masks and on language as character.

Famed children’s writer Harry Golden went missing five years ago during a cliff walk near the family’s country home in northwest Ireland. Five years later, his remains are discovered, and his two troubled daughters must come to terms with the fact that they are now the grown-ups. Premiered in Dublin by the respected Irish company Rough Magic, who developed the play through their new writing program.

Set in present-day Dublin, Duck follows the doings of Cat, in her late teens and temping as a nightclub hostess. She tries to jolt-start her life by blowing up her boyfriend’s car and hopping into bed with a 50-year-old married man. But for all her Sturm and Drang, she comes to realize that companionship with her best mate Sophie offers the best option after all.

An adaptation for the stage of this modern children's classic by the best-selling author and 2005 Children's Laureate.

For her history project, Charlie hits on the idea of writing the diary of Lottie, a young Victorian serving girl. When Charlie's mother loses her job as a shop manageress and starts work as a cleaner, Charlie's previously happy and comfortable lifestyle is threatened, and she finds her own hardships and struggles are not so different from Lottie's.

First staged at the Polka Children's Theatre in 1999, this adaptation is suitable for young actors as well as young audiences. The adapter, Vicky Ireland, has provided production notes to indicate how the play can be staged even with minimal resources - plus a lot of ingenuity!

We Happy Few follows a seven-woman amateur troupe as it travels the country’s schools and village greens during World War II playing a repertoire of Shakespeare and other classics. Disasters happen, triumphs occur, but above all the show must go on.

Restoration era London: Puritan laws and censorship laws are repealed; theatres re-open; and the cosmopolitan wives are living it up with extravagance, infidelity and impertinence towards their cuckold husbands. But when Margery the country wife comes to town, she arrives with strict handholding from her uptight husband and is promptly locked in a house. But then the door opens to Horner, a reputed womanizer...

Different Every Night is the culmination of a lifetime of work in the theater, the most complete rehearsal methodology in print since Stanislavsky. It offers a vital master class for actors and directors, full of sound practical advice and guidance, and is packed with techniques for bringing the text to life and keeping it alive, both in rehearsal and performance.

A new title in the ever-popular Drama Games series, Thomasina Unsworth (teacher at Rose Bruford College) presents over eighty energizing, instructive, and dynamic games for actors to develop their own performances—by working on themselves, their characters, and their connection to the text.

Mysterious while compelling, bewildering while intoxicating, Stoning Mary is a mix of Caryl Churchill, Sarah Kane, and Edward Bond. Yet Debbie Tucker Green has a voice all her own, one that mixes poetic rhythms with vernacular phrases, rap-song repetitions with complex psychology. In 2004, she won the Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer.

Insightful, empowering and always reassuring, this book provides all the tools actors need to understand, confront, and ultimately overcome stage fright and its effects, thereby regaining control over their lives and careers. It’s also valuable reading for any teacher, director or stage manager working closely with actors, and a fascinating insight for anyone interested in what actors go through.

Originally a 1962 film starring Jack Lemmon, Days of Wine and Roses concerns a young alcoholic who drags his much-loved wife with him into the swamp of addiction, from which only he escapes. Northern Irish writer McCafferty has relocated the action to 1960s London, where the young couple has just arrived from Belfast.

A resource book, packed with 101 lively drama games for use in any classroom or workshop setting, suitable for players of all ages. These games explore a wide range of core drama skills: energy, focus, teamwork, trust, character, storytelling, imagination, and improvisation, as well as warming up and cooling down exercises.

Last week, Andrew was that guy with his girl lunching in KFC and making plans for the future. Today he's in Moscow, on the run and at risk of assassination. Loosely based on the case of CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden, this is a darkly comic play that explores the unexpected and life-changing consequences of challenging the status quo at a global level.

Traditionally seen as either the pawn of an ambitious family maneuvered into the King's bed or as a predator manipulating her way to power, Anne—and her ghost—are seen in a very different light in Howard Brenton's epic play.

A new title in the ever-growing, increasingly popular Drama Games series: another dip-in, flick-through, quick-fire resource book, packed with dozens of drama games that can be used in rehearsals. This latest book from acclaimed playwright, director, and theater educator Jessica Swale is an invaluable resource for directors, teachers, students, and actors.

A muscular version of Sophocles' timeless masterpiece, offering a profound reflection on the nature of power, democracy and human rights.

The war has ended, but with peace comes conflict. Antigone’s brother Polyneices lies on the battlefield where he fell, his burial outlawed by Creon, the new king of Thebes. Should Antigone obey Creon, or must she follow her conscience and lay her beloved brother to rest?

An accessible insider's guide to creating a play from scratch, from the award-winning author of The Reluctant Escapologist. Mike Bradwell serves up a clear and precise analysis of how an improvised play is put together, and how those same techniques can be invaluable even when working on a scripted play.

Fifty monologues for men drawn from across the Shakespeare canon. Each is prefaced with an easy-to-use guide to who is speaking, where, when, and to whom; what has just happened in the play; and what the character’s objectives are. In fact, it contains everything the actor needs to know before embarking on the audition!