Books in the Modern Plays series

A drama of secrecy, violence and sexual betrayal set in a bleak part of northern England. The strands of two intricate plots and time schemes weave together into a mysterious double helix of actions and counteractions. The author's other plays include "Unsuitable for Adults" and "Insignificance".

"Weldon Rising" is Nagy's debut which takes a surreal look at the soulless poverty of urban life. "Disappeared" won the 1992 Mobil Playwriting competition.

This play about faith, love and the meaning of life was first broadcast on Radio Four in 1997 and is now published in this stage version.

The two monologues in this volume exolore the shattering of childhood innocence. The play opens up a moral minefield. Who can, or should, consent to what? Can anyone consent to something on the behalf of another? What power can anyone have over the mind and life of another?

It's 11pm on Millennium Eve. The ancient clown, Scaramouche Jones, has given his last performance and waits in his dressing room for the stroke of midnight - and his own centenary. Reflecting on the fortunes of his life, his journey spans the 20th century in his quest for a father and a homeland.

Two plays from playwright Kevin Hood. In "The Astronomer's Garden", while the base of the play is the vicious rivalry between Astronomer Royal, John Flamstead and Sir Edmund Halley, its true subjects are sex and class conflict. In "Beached" a couple of young runaways wind up on a bleak sea coast.

The second in McDonagh's Connemara trilogy of plays. Mick Dowd is hired annually to disinter the bones in certain sections of his local cemetery, in order to make way for the new arrivals. As the time comes for him to dig up those of his own late wife, strange rumours also resurface.

Based on Benjamin Britten's life and personal interviews with his sister Beth, this play reveals the composer's sense of humanity and his relationships with W.H.Auden and Peter Pears. It culminates in the premiere of Peter Grimes in 1947. Godfrey also wrote "A Bucket of Eels".

When Mina, alienated from her own culture, visits her old nanny at her home in Soweto, the reunion is not as joyful as she had hoped. What we choose to remember is not necessarily how things really were.

"The finest American playwright of his generation" (Sunday Times)

From the celebrated and controversial writer of Shopping and Fucking

A cult novel, a classic film, a quintessential hit of the 1960s, now Benjamin's disastrous sexual odyssey is brought to life in this world stage premiere production at the Gielgud Theatre.

Brilliant new comedy from Scotland's outstanding contemporary playwright

This volume includes "Blinded by the Sun" and "Sweet Panic". In both plays, Poliakoff draws on the recurrent themes of modern urban life.

Kill the Old Torture their Young is an urban tragi-comedy from the acclaimed writer of Knives in Hens, one of Scotland's most talented new playwrights

One of Britain's greatest living contemporary dramatists, Edward Bond is widely studied by schools and colleges. The collection includes a commentary by the author.

This stunning play from the controversial author of Blasted premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London in spring 1998

A sharp and hilarious biographical play based on the life of Carry On star Sid James

This text offers the two comic plays previously staged in London in February 2000.

Rachel Keats is growing up in a town she doesn't like. Abandoned by her mother, she is left to bring up her younger brother. When her new partner starts to abuse her, and those she loves leave her behind, will she stay or will she find the strength to make her own way in the world?

A group of friends are trying to come to terms with the death of a friend from AIDS. The play addresses their emotions and also those of the dead man as he explores the afterlife.

This work is the last play by Sarah Kane, the controversial contemporary British playwright, who died aged 28 in February 1999. A single voice, dragged through therapy and endless medication, reveals the true experience of clinical depression.

"Breath, Boom" is a play that explores the life of a hardened New York gang member whose chief obsession is the creation of the perfect fireworks display. The author considers this marginal character's attitude to her own perilous existence.

When Derek's girlfriend Kath decides to move in with him she follows the advice of her favourite chat-show host and asks to meet his family. Derek's mother is in a nursing home, resentful of June, the limbless patient who gets all the attention. Her only saving grace is her assistant, Larry.

Lillian, a young clerk in a department store, impulsively steals a watch from the store to replace the one Frederic, her boyfriend, lost. Over the next 24 hours both their lives twist and turn in ways they never expected.

"This is a profound and tragic vision of humanity at its bare, forked basics" (Patrick Marmion, Evening Standard)

In "Down the Line", the Walshes are a middle class suburban Dublin family. It is the 1980s and Eve and James have reared four children. Almost. In "The Hunt for Red Willie" a local landlord meets his end while in pursuit of the notorious Red Willie. Foul play is suspected and the hunt is on.

First staged at the Library Theatre, Manchester, in November 1989, this tragi-comedy is set in a future Britain where only the upper strata of society are allowed to reproduce and all children must be perfect specimens if they are to live. The author also wrote "The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole".