Shelagh Stephenson's daring and thoughtful new play

1799 - On the eve of a new century, the house buzzes with scientific experiments, furtive romance and farcical amateur dramatics. 1999 - In a world of scientific chaos, cloning and genetic engineering, the cellar of the same house reveals a dark secret buried for 200 years.
An Experiment with an Air Pump was joint recipient of the 1997 Margaret Ramsay Award and premiered at The Royal Exchange Theatre Company, Manchester in February 1997. Due for a major London production in autumn 1998. Her previous play The Memory of Water won...

A new play by the award-winning author of The Memory of Water

London, the 1990s. Jack is afraid of dying, while his 40-something daughter is preparing for her wedding to a black lawyer, Sholto. As the family gathers for the forthcoming festivities, Jack attempts to reconcile himself with the unexpected decisions of those in whom he has always trusted, as well as starting to question his own, not unblemished past. A haunting play about memory, guilt and redemption.

Mappa Mundi is published to tie in with its premiere at the National theatre, London in October 2002

D'you ever look in the mirror and you don't recognise the person looking back at you?

Tom Cavallero, Hollywood actor, and his girlfriend Iona are spending Christmas in England with his oldest friends, Bea and Kitty. Bea's new lover, Tad, would rather hole up quietly with his copy of Pathology For Beginners. Her daughter Joni would rather be in Shepherds Bush. Northumberland in a blizzard isn't quite what Tom was expecting. And how can anyone relax when Iona's filming their every move? She's making a documentary about 'the real Tom'. But who is that exactly? And what's out there in...

What you haven't realised is that I sew to aid my thought processes. Look - needle - stab - stitch - thought. Needle - stab - stitch - thought. So next time you see a woman demurely sewing a sampler, be very, very wary. God knows what she may be planning.

Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) was a social theorist who is often credited as being the first female sociologist. In Harriet Martineau Dreams of Dancing, Shelagh Stephenson depicts the great writer in a period of convalescence, living as an invalid by the sea in Tynemouth.

Shut off from...