Books in the Modern Plays series

Over 21 million copies sold worldwide

The Arab world's greatest folk stories re-imagined by the acclaimed Lebanese novelist Hanan al-Shaykh, published to coincide with the world tour of a magnificent musical and theatrical production directed by Tim Supple

A play which looks at the political costs of women rising to the top. This volume is published in the Student Edition series and as well as the text of the play there is a chronology of the playwright's life and work, an introduction giving the theatrical and social content of the play and questions for study.

A novel for young adults about the complex issue of refugees.

This is a adaptation of Carlo Goldini's 18th century comedy about a wily servant who gets the best of his masters by hook and crook.

A reissue of Nobel Prize-winner Dario Fo's play, Accidental Death of an Anarchist - a sharp satire on police corruption. The play concerns the case of an anarchist railway worker who, in 1969, 'fell' to his death from a police headquarters' window.

Freedom has only ever meant Love. And life lived without loveIs not life enough. Chess is in prison. Facing a lengthy sentence, her cell mate, Serena, becomes her soul mate. But when Serena is given parole, Chess faces total isolation.Hope comes in the form of a music producer looking for a reason to love music again. She finds a powerful voice in Chess. But to harness her talent, Chess must first face her past. Featuring Kae Tempest's trademark lyrical fireworks and live music, this is a story of love and redemption. Hopelessly Devoted received its world premiere on 19 September 2013 at the DOOR, Birmingham Rep, co-produced by Paines Plough and Birmingham Rep. It toured the UK again in 2014.

Good evening. I'm Inspector Carter. Take my case. This must be Charles Haversham! I'm sorry, this must've given you all a damn shock. After benefitting from a large and sudden inheritance, the inept and accident-prone Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society embark on producing an ambitious 1920s murder mystery. They are delighted that neither casting issues nor technical hitches currently stand in their way. However, hilarious disaster ensues and the cast start to crack under the pressure, but can they get the production back on track before the final curtain falls? The Play That Goes Wrong is a farcical murder mystery, a play within a play, conceived and performed by award-winning company Mischief. It was first published as a one-act play and is published in this new edition as a two-act play.

And that's the moment when I leave.The moment when the jokes fail us. When I fail. I fail.This precise moment here, look, see with your ears.The Fool leaves King Lear before the blinding. Before the killing starts. Before the ice-creams in the interval.In his new solo work, playwright Tim Crouch draws on ideas of virtual reality to send the Fool back to the future of the play that he left. Back to a world without moral leadership or integrity; a world where wealth covers vice; where the poor are dehumanised; where the jokes fall flat; where live art has become the privilege of the few.Truth's a Dog Must to Kennel is a daringly unaccommodating piece of theatre that switches between scathingly funny stand-up and an audacious act of collective imagining. King Lear meets stand-up meets the metaverse. Crouch's previous celebrated works include An Oak Tree, The Author, Adler & Gibb, Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation, and Beginners.This edition was published to coincide with the production at The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in August 2022.

Ghosts is published to coincide with the Gate Theatre's production of Amelia Bullmore's new translation of Ibsen's classic.

In this deeply moving and life-affirming tale, a mother must nurture her five-year-old son through an unfathomable situation with only the power of their imagination and their boundless capacity to love.Written for the stage by Academy Award® nominee Emma Donoghue, this unique theatrical adaptation featuring songs and music by Kathryn Joseph and director Cora Bissett takes audiences on a richly emotional journey told through ingenious stagecraft, powerhouse performances, and heart-stopping storytelling. Room reaffirms our belief in humanity and the astounding resilience of the human spirit.This updated and revised edition was published to coincide with the Broadway premiere in Spring 2023.

Tracey Gordon, the 67 bus, friendship, sex, UK garage, school, music, teachers, friendship, periods, emergency contraceptive, arse and tits, friendship, raves, tampons, white boys, God, money. Friendship. Aaron, Candice, sex and Connor Jones. Chewing Gum Dreams is a one-woman play that recalls those last days of innocence before adulthood.Written and performed by Michaela Coel who spent her childhood in Hackney, London, Chewing Gum Dreams won the 2012 Alfred Fagon Award.

Two years after its disastrous opening in 1896, "The Seagull" was successfully revived at the Moscow Art Theatre. Checkhov's self-mocking description of the play was: "A comedy - 3F, 6M, four acts, rural scenery (a view over a lake); much talk of literature, little action, five bushels of love".

This new play explores Emilia Bassano, Shakespeare's `Dark Lady of the Sonnets' in her own right as poet, mother and feminist. For the first time, the focus will be on this brilliant woman who managed to outlive all the men the history books tethered her to. Introducing to the world: Emilia! She's going to make you remember her name.

Elyot Chase and Amanda Prynne, divorced from one another five years previously, arrive coincidentally at the same French hotel. They are both honeymooning with their respective new spouses, but find that the old bond between them cannot be swept aside.

Young Marx is a comedy set in 1850's London, where Karl Marx, is hiding in Dean Street, Soho. Broke and restless, the play portrays the thirty-two-year-old revolutionary as a frothing combination of intellectual brilliance, invective, satiric wit, and child-like emotional illiteracy.Creditors, spies, rival revolutionary factions and prospective seducers of his beautiful wife all circle like vultures. His writing blocked, his marriage dying, his friend Engels in despair at his wasted genius, his only hope is a job on the railway. But there's still no one in the capital who can show you a better night on the piss than Karl Heinrich Marx.Young Marx aims to demystify Karl Marx, and is full of jokes and farce. It was chosen as the first play at the opening of London's Bridge Theatre in 2017, where it played to critical acclaim.

Winner of the 2022 Critics' Circle Award for Best New PlayNominated for the 2022 Olivier Award for Best New Play"A man should never turn down two things. Sex, and appearing on television."1968 - a year of protest that divided America. As two men fight to become the next President, all eyes are on the battle between two others: the cunningly conservative William F. Buckley Jr., and the iconoclastic liberal Gore Vidal. Beliefs are challenged and slurs slung as these political idols feud nightly in a new television format, debating the moral landscape of a shattered nation. Little do they know they're about to open up a new frontier in American politics, and transform television news forever.Best of Enemies is the electric new play by James Graham (Quiz, Labour of Love), directed by Jeremy Herrin, inspired by the documentary by Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon.This revised and updated edition was published to coincide with the West End transfer to the Noel Coward Theatre in November 2022.

Congratulations! Your pain is commercially viable.It's 1991 and the Gulf War rages three thousand, three hundred and twenty miles away. Darlee is 8 years old, crying behind the wheelie bookcase in Miss Stratford's classroom. She's just realised she's Iraqi. Or half. Maybe both. She saw it on the news last night after Neighbours and fish fingers. Heard the fear slipping through the receiver, saw it oozing from Dad's eyeballs and into the living room as he tried to phone home.What she can't process now, she'll be haunted by later; the spirits hounding her will make sure of that.Baghdaddy is a playfully devastating coming-of-age story, told through clowning and memory to explore the complexities of cultural identity, generational trauma and a father-daughter relationship amidst global conflict.This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at London's Royal Court Theatre in November 2022.

THISISPOPBABY & The Abbey Theatre presentIf These Wigs Could Talk by Panti BlissIf These Wigs Could Talk meets Panti, a drag queen at fifty-three, after a lifetime of showbiz, shenanigans and making a show of herself, taking this moment to question what her purpose and place in the world is now. Via salacious stories, impassioned polemics, some seriously funny soul searching and a few unvarnished truths, Panti takes us from rural Mayo to London's glittering West End ,to the Ambassador's residence in Vienna where, along the way, the answer to the question presents itself when she least expects it. Panti warmly invites you to learn from her mistakes, laugh at her failures and revel in her triumphs.Haunted by Tara FlynnWhat happens when you hit the floor and lose all of your marbles? Ask Tara Flynn: a fame-adjacent actor turned advocate for the campaign to Repeal Ireland's Eighth Amendment. The country voted Yes and the whirlwind of publicity and abuse came to an end, and crashing to the floor is where Tara found herself. Down there, she realised the whirlwind had conveniently kept her from dealing with the death of her dad.This is one woman's journey back from the floor. A funny, moving tale of grief, campaigning for civil rights, the offline impact of online abuse, crashing to the ground and fighting to tell your own story.

First, do no harm. How do we defend the "truth" when no one agrees what it is and many have reason to undermine it?Very freely adapting Professor Bernhardi by Arthur Schnitzler, Robert Icke's gripping moral thriller uses the lens of medical ethics to examine urgent questions of faith, belief, and scientific rationality.After a critically acclaimed run at London's Almeida Theatre, The Doctor transferred to the West End in September 2022. This revised and updated edition was published to coincide with the new production.

Well here's the problem Edrina, the law in this country doesn't work with stories.It only works with facts. And to put it simply, your story - look it just isn't credible.Edrina was trafficked from her family home when she was fifteen. She was taken to Italy for three years before being trafficked to the UK, where she was held captive for another three years. She escaped 152 days ago. What's Mine & What's Yours tells a story of survival. Just when Edrina thought she might have a chance at life - she is catapulted backwards by a hostile immigration system that does not believe her story. She is acutely vulnerable and is re-trafficked within weeks. Could this have been prevented?The Helen Bamber Foundation provides all encompassing care to help Survivors access the therapeutic, medical, legal, housing and welfare support they need to recover from the traumas of trafficking. The foundation now seeks to address the systemic problem of re-trafficking in the UK. Dame Emma Thompson, the President of the Helen Bamber Foundation and acclaimed writer and actor, introduces this edition, explaining and contextualizing the organization's mission.Find out about their new central London Trauma Centre and learn how you can help by visiting www.helenbamber.org

The 354 Johnnyarm from Vagland will shortly be arriving in Wombtown, please brace for impact.Three lasses. One lad. And a bucket load of teen angst.When Olivia, Kim and Alisha all take a fancy to the same local lad, friendships and families are torn apart. Lies are told, secrets are spilled and their lives are about to change forever. Pick N Mix is a coming-of-age story of sisterhood, Sex Ed and sanitary pads.Kat Rose-Martin is a Bradford lass born and bred. She was the first winner of Kay Mellor Fellowship, and has written for stage and TV, including BBC's Holby City & Sky's Wolfe. Pick N Mix is her first full-length play.This edition was published to coincide with the UK tour in Leeds and Bradford, in November 2022.

Matthew, I don't give a f*** who's Irish and who's not. I'm just thinking about what's best for your career. And that's how themmuns in London'll see you. Calling yourself British just embarrasses them.The morning after his father's funeral, an unsure and still grief-stricken Matthew prepares to fly to London to audition for the prestigious drama school, RADA.When his painter-decorator Uncle Ray interrupts his private rendition of Richard III's opening monologue to offer some unwanted direction and dubious career advice, Matthew starts to doubt whether he should really be leaving Belfast in the first place.First presented by A Play, A Pie and A Pint at Òran Mór in May 2022. Not Now received its English premiere at the Finborough Theatre, London, in November 2022.Playwright David Ireland is the multi award-winning author of Cyprus Avenue.

Two plays in one volume, written by the same writer as "Peter Pan Man" and "To Be a Farmer's Boy". The first is set in Germany in the '30s and questions how humane people came to be swept along by the Nazi force. The second play is a portrait of a Newcastle working-class family in World War II.

why these bleak thoughts today, the whole world in shadow, everything undercut and suspended in its own deliriumMarcus Conway has come home to his kitchen in Louisburgh, Co. Mayo,. Everything seems normal, yet he is haunted by the feeling that nothing is quite right. Poring obsessively over the details of his relationships, his world and his work as an engineer brings him closer to an understanding of how the things and people he loves have come together, and how they have and must inevitably come apart.Winner of the International Dublin Literary Award 2018, Solar Bones is Mike McCormack's multi-award-winning elegy to the merits of an ordinary life. This adaptation was first presented at the Kilkenny Arts Festival, and subsequently at the Abbey Theatre. The production won Best Actor for Stanley Townsend and Best Director for Lynne Parker at the Irish Times Theatre Awards.