The Sanctuary Lamp is set in a church. "Murphy, in the best traditions of Bunuel, takes a hallowed institution and populates it with social misfits who desecrate every convention in both thought and action...Murphy's savage indignation is unbearably true..." (Irish Times)

Six wide ranging classic plays with introduction by the editor

The comedies of the Athenian theatre not only lie at the root of Western drama, they also offer a unique insight into everyday life in ancient Greece. This selection of six wide ranging plays includes the comic fantasies of Aristophanes, which combine the ridiculous with serious satirical comment (Birds, Frogs, Women in Power); Menander's The Woman from Samos, a recognisable forebear of today's situation comedy; Euripides ribald satyr play, Cyclops, the only surviving example of the genre, and his Alkestis, a complex...

A new work from Peter Brook - the contemporary theatre's greatest inventor

Whatever the social and national barriers, we all have a brain and we think we know it. But, the moment we go inside, we find we are on another planet.
Using Oliver Sacks' neurological study The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat as its inspiration, The Man Who offers a series of fascinating Doctor/Patient scenarios that examine our attempts to understand the workings of the brain. In turn, these case studies become Brook's starting point in his search for a new theatre form.

Coward's 'forgotten' play, published to tie in with its world premiere

In his wickedly funny final play, Noel Coward takes us behind the scenes of a new West End production. Conjuring up an authentic backstage world of talent and treachery, Coward creates a gallery of unforgettable characters; temperamental leading lady, ruthless director, jaded old troupers and, caught somewhere between them all, innocent young playwright. From tentative first rehearsal to triumphant opening night, the clash of egos becomes increasingly and hilariously bloody. But what emerges from the mayhem is a...

A collection of fifty audition speeches for men selected from the finest plays of the last thirty years

Annika Bluhm has compiled pieces from mainstream contemporary classics as well as cutting-edge plays from the last ten years. They cover a wide range of mood and character, from comedy to tragedy, from youth to old age. Each piece is accompanied by a synopsis setting the extract firmly in context
Contains an introduction from the editor with a note of advice for those preparing audition pieces.

Annika Bluhm is herself an actress and worked for one year at French's...

The first collection by Sweden's foremost contemporary playwright.

NIGHT OF THE TRIBADES (1975) centres around the triangular relationship between August Strindberg, the actress Marie Caroline David and Siri von Essen. It has been translated into twenty languages including a short run on Broadway. THE IMAGE MAKERS (1998) deals with Selma Lagerlof's father and his alcoholism whilst THE RAIN MAKERS is a fascinating study of Hans Christian Anderson. THE HOUR OF THE LYNX: "Enquist's play, feelingly translated from the Swedish offers a profound exploration of spirituality, love and faith...

A gripping black comedy by an award-winning new voice from the North East

It's the 1960s and we're in the back of a porn cinema in Gateshead, North East England. Young Abel Stein takes a dislike to a cockney punter called Reg, knocks him out with a plastic charity collection box and stuffs him in a cupboard. As Abel, his brother and two associates keep watch over Reg, the grapevine informs them that the Krays are in town. What do you do when you've inadvertently kidnapped England's most scary man? And what will you do when his infamous and psychotic twin brother comes looking for...

A new stage adaptation of one of Pratchett's best-selling novels

The Discworld's most inept wizard has been sent from Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork to the oppressive Agatean Empire to help some well-intentioned rebels overthrow the Emperor.

He's assisted by toy-rabbit-wielding rebels, an army of terracotta warriors, a tax gatherer and a group of seven very elderly barbarian heroes lead by Cohen the Barbarian. Opposing him, though, is the evil and manipulative Lord Hong and his army of 750,000 men.

Oh?Rincewind is also aided by Twoflower - Discworld's first tourist and...

A brilliant new one-man show starring Pete Postlethwaite

It's 11pm on Millennium Eve. The ancient clown, Scaramouche Jones, has given his last performance and retires to his dressing room to wait alone for the stroke of midnight - and his own centenary.

Reflecting on the extraordinary fortunes of his life, his journey spans the furthest reaches of crumbling empires and the darkest episodes of the 20th century in his quest for a father and a homeland. He strips away his seven comic masks and reveals the heart buried deep within: his final confession.

By turns bizarre,...

Six Greek Tragedies, a single-volume edition of the major Greek tragedies

In a period of sixty-six years, three Athenian playwrights produced a series of tragedies which became a touchstone for drama for the next two and a half thousand years. The six plays in this volume include Aeschylus' Persians (472 BC), the earliest surviving Greek tragedy and only surviving 'history' play; his Prometheus Bound, perhaps the most deeply mythological of all tragedies, presenting an archetype of the human condition; Sophocles' Women of Trachis, a deeply poignant piece, portraying Heracles'...