Series:

Play Anthologies

9 total works

Cover of The Methuen Drama Book of 21st Century British Plays
The Methuen Drama Book of 21st Century British Plays showcases five of the best new plays from the first decade of the twenty-first century. A perfect reminder of the relevance, vitality and innovation of British theatre, this collection represents some of the most exciting plays to emerge in recent years. Joe Penhall's multi-award-winning Blue/Orange was heralded as 'one of the best new plays in the National's history' (Sunday Times). Set in a mental hospital it provides a riveting exploration of racism, health and power, and was the winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Play 2001. Elmina's Kitchen by Kwame Kwei-Armah, about gun crime and the struggle to make a living on Hackney's Murder Mile, marked the emergence of a major new writing talent. 'An exquisite tragi-comedy for our times' (Herald) Neilson's Realism dramatises the everyday life and increasingly bizarre fantasies and thoughts of its protagonist with comic zeal and inspired inventiveness. Gone Too Far! explores a London community divided by race and prejudice.
The first play to be written about the London 7/7 terrorist bombings, Simon Stephens' Pornography tells seven entwining stories of people's lives during the day leading up to the catastrophic event.

Cover of The Methuen Drama Book of Royal Court Plays 2000-2010

Cover of The Methuen Drama Book of Royal Court Plays 2000-2010
Five of the best plays from the first decade of the twenty-first century produced by the Royal Court Theatre, London. Royal Court Plays 2000-2010 is an essential anthology for anyone interested in the best work from the most important new writing theatre produced during the last decade. Under the Blue Sky by David Eldridge is a touching and comic play about love, war and teaching. Produced in 2000 it was revived on the West End in 2008 and has become a turn-of-the-century classic. Roy Williams' play Fallout was written in response to the killing of Damilola Taylor and the McPherson report into racism in the Metropolitan Police and is an essential play exploring how black teenagers are drawn into violence and mutual mistrust. Motortown is about the 'war on terror' and the war in Iraq. Described as 'an instant modern classic, the first major anti-anti-war play of this era' (What's on Stage) Simon Stephens' play examines the effects of the war on individuals. Mike Bartlett emerged as one of the most exciting young writers of recent times when his play My Child premiered in 2007.
A play about fatherhood, broken families and what it means to be a good parent, it was heaped with praise: 'Brutal, thrilling...unmissable' (Evening Standard). The final play, Enron, is an epic satire about the notorious rise and fall of Enron and its founding partners, written by Lucy Prebble. A huge hit and acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, the play transferred to the West End in 2010 and opened on Broadway that same year.

Cover of The Methuen Drama Book of Plays by Black British Writers
The Methuen Drama Book of Plays by Black British Writers provides an essential anthology of six of the key plays that have shaped the trajectory of British black theatre from the late-1970s to the present day. In doing so it charts the journey from specialist black theatre companies to the mainstream, including West End success, while providing a cultural and racial barometer for Britain during the last forty years.


It opens with Mustapha Matura's 1979 play Welcome Home Jacko which in its depiction of a group of young unemployed West Indians was one of the first to explore issues of youth culture, identity and racial and cultural identification. Jackie Kay's Chiaroscuro examines debates about the politics of black, mixed race and lesbian identities in 1980s Britain, and from the 1990s Winsome Pinnock's Talking in Tongues engages with the politics of feminism to explore issues of black women's identity in Britian and Jamaica. From the first decade of the twenty-first century the three plays include Roy Williams' seminal pub-drama Sing Yer Hearts Out for the Lads, exploring racism and identity against the backdrop of the World Cup; Kwame Kwei-Armah's National Theatre play of 2004, Fix Up, about black cultural history and progress in modern Britain, and finally Bola Agbage's terrific 2007 debut, Gone Too Far!, which examines questions of identity and tensions between Africans and Caribbeans living in Britain.


Edited by Lynnette Goddard, this important anthology provides an essential introduction to the last forty years of British black theatre.

Cover of Six Ensemble Plays for Young Actors
Six Ensemble Plays for Young Actors is an anthology of work written for actors aged 11-25. Ideal for youth theatre groups, schools and amateur dramatic companies, it contains a diverse selection of plays suited to large casts and ensemble performance. Varying in style and subject matter, the plays offer performers, directors and designers a range of exciting challenges: from recreating the mythological world of The Odyssey to a dramatisation of two hundred years of slavery that will take the audience on a journey from eighteenth century Africa to 1990s London in Sweetpeter. Contemporary urban living is confronted in plays ranging from the starkly realistic to the playful, lyrical and surrealistic. From the innocent and imaginative world of a school playground to issues of racism, peer pressure, crime and communication in a mobile phone obsessed culture, this is a wide-ranging anthology that will enrich the repertoire of youth theatre groups and the curriculum in schools. The volume is introduced by Paul Roseby, artistic director of the National Youth Theatre.

Cover of Contemporary Scottish Plays
To paraphrase Alistair Beaton's Caledonia - the first play in this collection - 'The English have anthologies, the Spanish have anthologies, the French have anthologies . . . why should not Scotland have its anthology?'

Scotland is entering a crucial period in its history, where its identity is being debated daily, from everyday conversation to the national and international press. At the same time, its theatre is resurgent, with key Scottish playwrights, theatres and theatre companies expanding their performance vocabularies while coming to prominence in national and international contexts.

Caledonia is a tale of hubris and delusion, portraying a crucial slice of Scotland's history and its foray into imperial colonialism told with dark humour and creative flair, by award-winning playwright and satirist Alistair Beaton.

Bullet Catch, by Rob Drummond, is a unique theatrical experience exploring the world of magic, featuring mind-reading, levitation, and the most notorious finale in show business.

Morna Pearson's The Artist Man and the Mother Woman is a wickedly funny, deceptively simple, surreal portrait of a spectacularly dysfunctional relationship.

Rantin', by Kieran Hurley draws on storytelling, live music and an unapologetically haphazard take on Scottish folk tradition, in an attempt to stitch together fragmented stories to reveal a botched patchwork of a nation.

First performed at the Royal Court in 2013, Narrative by Anthony Neilson is a theatrical exploration of the the boundaries and possibilities of storytelling.

Featuring plays from Alistair Beaton, Rob Drummond, Morna Pearson, Kieran Hurley and Anthony Neilson, this collection is edited by Dr. Trish Reid, a leading critical voice on Scottish theatre.

Cover of Not Black and White
Not Black and White comprises of three new plays which examine the state of modern day Britain from the perspective of three leading black contemporary playwrights. Roy Williams, Kwame Kwei-Armah and Bola Agbaje tackle the prison system, the mayoralty and immigration in their respective plays. Category B: Roy Williams Saul runs a tip-top wing - the screws love him for it, especially Angela. Prisoners follow his rules, and it's all gravy. But Saul's number two position is vacant, new inmates are flooding in, so everyone's feeling the heat. No-one wants to go to Cat B, but the world on the outside is a different story. Seize the Day: Kwame Kwei-Armah Jeremy Charles could be London's first black mayor. He has the face to represent it - a well-spoken, good-looking Londoner, with an appetite for change. He's sold his pitch on reality TV, but can he be the real people's candidate? Detaining Justice: Bola Agbaje Justice is locked in a cold dark cell, his asylum application pending. His sister Grace would like to help, but has been told to leave it in God's hands.
Crown Prosecutor Mark Cole has an infallible reputation for successful prosecutions - however he has had a change of heart - and job. His first case is for the defence of Justice - but, in his new role, is Cole the man to help? Published to coincide with the Not Black and White season at the Tricycle, where the three dramas played in rep Oct 8 -Dec 19 2009.

Cover of Frontline Intelligence 3
The third volume in an anthology series of the most original and exciting new plays for the nineties Europe, set in an international rail station linking several countries examines the cultural shifts of the post Berlin wall years and is "a fierce, compassionate mightily ambitious drama...There is a sharp analytic intelligence...about this gripping play." (The Scotsman) Uganda is set in a front sitting room but explores children's love of their fathers, it won the Thames Television Best Play Award in 1994 and "confirms my feeling that Johnson is on the threshold of great things" (Guardian). Some Voices by Joe Penhall, looks at mental illness and the love between two brothers (it has since been made into a feature film), it is "haunting and jazzily contemporary. Penhall's post-Pinter is promising" (Observer). Ashes and Sand reflects on the world of school leavers in England's "Deep South" and won the George Devine Award in 1994: "Judy Upton's vicious little hand grenade of a play...takes us into the bleak world of a violent girl gang living in a seaside resort." (Independent)

Cover of Producers' Choice: Six Plays for Young Performers
Producers' Choice: Six Plays for Young Performers showcases some of the best plays for young people produced by the UK's leading theatre companies. The plays are ideal for young performers aged 13-25 and offer a diverse range of challenges, styles and subjects. The volume will prove essential for teachers and students of Drama and for youth drama groups. The plays include modern reworkings of classics, such as Simon Reade's witty and brilliantly inventive adaptation of Lewis Carroll's much-loved fantasy, and DJ Britton's version of Sophocles' Theban plays, the tragic Oedipus/Antigone. Contemporary teenage issues are dealt with in Megan Barker's beautiful and uplifting Promise and Sarah May's The Butterfly Club. Simon Stephens' hit-play Punk Rock set in a grammar school explores dislocation and aggression among sixth form pupils; James Graham's Tory Boyz is a fast-paced, political comedy about prejudice and ambition in Westminster. Each play features production notes and the volume is introduced by Paul Roseby, Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre.
For schools, youth theatre groups and drama colleges this anthology of thematically and stylistically diverse plays will prove an invaluable resource.