The Lehrstucke (or 'learning-plays') lie at the heart of Brechtian theatre.

Written during 1929 and 1930, years of far-reaching political and economic upheaveal in Germany and the period of Brecht's most sharply Communist works, these short plays show an abrupt rejection of most of the trappings of conventional theatre.

The Lehrstucke are spare and highly formalized pieces intended for performance by amateurs, on the principle that the moral and political lessons contained in them can best be taught by participation in an actual production. There is nothing in the drama of the...

A play by Sue Townsend, one of Britain's best-selling writers

When Sita and her children leave India to join her husband in England, she is forced to sell her cow, but she keeps her milking bucket in the hope that she will be able to buy another cow in Leicester. But England is nothing like she expected: faced with prejudice from the English and restrictions of tradition from her family, Sita clings to the dream of the cow and some sense of her own identity.
"The Great Celestial Cow is a little gem...It's very funny, touching, telling and moving...here is a story with much to...

A new play from an award-winning playwright, published as part of the innovative Abbey Theatre playscript series

On the day of her father's funeral, Eva - a young woman - is still haunted by the betrayal she witnessed from her childhood haven - the treehouse in the garden. On the same day another woman, Magda, relives the ghosts of another hiding place and a different betrayal - ghosts from which she still seeks forgiveness. Interweaving lives and secrets Treehouses is a magical tale of refuge, treachery and of love lost and found.