Callisto is a swirling constellation of remarkable queer stories. Hurtle across time and space with this scintillating and extraordinary new play. In London, 1680, opera star Arabella Hunt has secretly entered into the first recorded gay marriage in UK history. In Worcester, 1936, Alan Turing pays one final visit to Isobel Morcom, mother of his lost first love, Christopher. In the San Fernando Valley, 1979, Tammy Frazer arrives at Callisto Pornographic Studios, searching for the love of her life. And on the Moon, 2223, Lorn is building a paradise to sleep in, but his A.I. companion Cal is determined to keep him awake.

Three beautifully written plays for young people, by award-winning playwright and poet Glyn Maxwell. Contains the plays Alice in Wonderland, Wind in the Willows, and Merlin and the Woods of Time.

Between light and shadow, science and superstition, fear and knowledge is a dimension of imagination. An area we call the Twilight Zone.

1917. In a remote English village there are rumours of an enchanted wood. One of the inhabitants  a mysterious old man  invites eight strangers to stay. They all have something in common. When, one evening, the wood miraculously appears the guests feel compelled to enter. What happens there has the power to change their lives forever. . .

Join Koko Brown as she considers the concept of mixed-race privilege, tries to connect clashing cultures and explores what it means to be mixed in contemporary Britain. What are you when you are always the other?

Tom and Clem are deep in debt. Alan, Tom's boss, owes big bucks. Meryl, Alan's manager, is mortgaged to the hilt. When The Debt Duck's owner liquidates the company and retires to his luxury chalet, Tom, Clem, Alan and Meryl each decide to crack the safe, steal some cash and put an end to their financial woes. But will they break the cycle of debt? Or is this just another terrible trap? A biting new topical comedy about the perils of a capitalist world from one of the UK's top contemporary playwrights.

The #RhodesMustFall and subsequent student-led movements in South Africa alerted the country and the world to the latent ongoing issues brought about by colonialism and apartheid in South Africa. The Fall details the experiences of seven students within this movement and how they deal with their traumas, while stillmoving towards activism for a free decolonised education.

Thomas, a beleaguered playwright/director, is desperate to find an actress to play Vanda, the female lead in his adaptation of the classic sadomasochistic tale, VeNUS IN FUR. Into his empty audition room walks a vulgar and equally desperate actress - oddly enough, named Vanda. Though utterly wrong for the sophisticated part, Vanda exhibits a strange command of the material, piquing Thomas' interest with her seductive talents and secretive manner. as the two work through the script, they blur the line between play and reality, entering into an increasingly serious game of submission and domination that only one of them can win.

Anyones Guess How We Got Here is a road-trip. A haunted house. A bedtime story. A photo-album. An 80s fantasy film. A demolition project. A riot. Barrel Organs new play about the long-lasting trauma of debt and eviction.

The #RhodesMustFall and subsequent student-led movements in South Africa alerted the country and the world to the latent ongoing issues brought about by colonialism and apartheid in South Africa. The Fall details the experiences of seven students within this movement and how they deal with their traumas, while stillmoving towards activism for a free decolonised education. The Fall is a play collaboratively written by the original cast as a reaction to and reflection on the South African student protests in 2015 and part of 2016.

Righteous indignation boils over into brutal violence, driven along by a riotous soundtrack, as two best friends take aim at a world that has left them behind. Think Thelma and Louise turned up to 11, I Hate Alone is a gig with a story, about injustice, revenge and, above all, friendship.

Society is fuelled by anger; dissatisfaction shapes Twitter feeds, online petitions and protest marches. But is that enough to bring about change? Alejandra and Marcela are planting bombs in the middle of the night. They dont want violence. They just want to be heard. Prisons not much of a threat when most of your friends are inside. Then they meet Jose Miguel. He is from a different generation, a time when revolution was ripe and activism alive. And he offers them a chance to start a war.

Nikolai, an 86 year old retired Ukrainian engineer and tractor historian in Peterborough, has fallen in love with 36 year old Valentina. His daughters, Vera and Nadezhda, unite in horror to defend their father and what remains of his pension. But is Valentina a refugee searching for better opportunities, or a bogus visa seeker trying to cheat a vulnerable old man? Award-winning writer Tanika Gupta has created a wonderful re-telling of this dark family comedy, which continues to have sharp relevance to today's society.

John, Doug, Ste, and Neil work on the railways. They won't sell you a ticket and they dont drive a train. What happens when you have to clean up the worst day of someone elses life? Every 31 hours someone takes their own life on the railways in the U.K rail network. It is ten times more likely to be a man.  Thirty One Hours explores four men's inability to talk about their emotions and the consequence of their silence.

In 1982, two friends Bob and Sigrid opened their new radical lesbian, gay and feminist bookshop, Lavender Menace on Edinburghs Forth Street. On the eve of the shops 5th birthday, sales assistants Paul and David take a look back at its origins, its importance, its celebration of queer culture, and how things have changed. Love Song to Lavender Menace is a beautifully funny and moving exploration of the love and passion it takes to make something happen and the loss that is felt when you have to let it go.

What does it mean to be an adult and when do you become one? Alicia is a hot mess. She doesnt know what shes doing with her life. Swiping left, swiping right to find the perfect match. Even though shes a Londoner, born and bred, the scent of Lagos peppers her existence in the ends. Everyone around her seems to know where theyre going in life, but shes just trying to find ways to cheat growing up and keep her 16-25 railcard.

A thousand people are taking a sip of coffee within the city limits of Johannesburg, each unaware of the other doing it, each one necessarily thinking they are the only one. An attempt to get to grips with the fact that everything happens at once. And to see if theres anything we can do about it. Find the connection between where you are and where I am. Open up the space between us and do something.

Wickedly funny, insightful, often absurd but always true, Clinging to the Iceberg explores the inner workings of the business of writing for hire. Its written by someone whose career has spanned over forty years on stage and on screen, including thirty lucrative and sometimes uproarious ones in Hollywood. Genuinely laugh-out-loud, it will astound and inspire and along the way reveal the REAL tricks of the dialogue writers trade. Hutchinson takes us through his successful career via hilarious anecdotes including a near-death experience on Venice Beach, being paid by Dreamworks to not actually work for them, and struggling to stay sane on location on one of the great movie flops of all time.

Susie, Edwina and Lucy have moved to a new school in a new town. Three very different sisters who will do anything to fit in and yet are desperate to be noticed. But how far will they go to break out of the roles in which they've been cast and will they ever be able to truly change their lives when they're swimming against the tide? A captivating, lively and poignant portrait of the pressures of being a teenager and the fight for acceptance.

A recent study found that 25% of UK homeless and at-risk young people identify as LGBT. Safe is a powerful verbatim theatre piece exploring some of these untold stories via the Albert Kennedy Trust: a charity supporting such youth.  An exploration of what it means to feel truly safe in todays world, and a humour-filled celebration of survival.

Scottee grew up around strong, brave and violent men and boys. Bravado is his memoir of working class masculinity from 1991 to 1999 as seen by a sheep in wolfs clothing. Bravado explores the graphic nature of maleness and the extent it will go to succeed. This show is not for the weak hearted  it includes graphic accounts of violence, abuse, assault and sex.

Daniel and Oliver are about to have their first baby. With their best friend, Priya, acting as surrogate, theyve turned the study into a nursery and the bottles are sterilised. All thats missing is the bundle of joy theyve been pining for. But when Daniels chaotic mother gatecrashes the baby shower with a few home truths, the cracks in Daniel and Olivers relationship begin to show. Are they as ready for this as they think they are? And more importantly, is Priya?

an ex-aviatrix losses speech after a comatose state and slowly regains power of language and life.

In BULLISH, ancient mythology meets modern gender negotiation. Inspired by Ovids Minotaur, a gender fierce ensemble of hopers and renegades try to pass, pack and blag their way out of the labyrinth. JOAN: An earthy story of courage, conviction and hope, this is Joan of Arc. Performed by drag king champion Lucy Jane Parkinson, historys greatest gender-warrior takes to the stage, dragging up as the men she defies in this smash-hit show.

Poet Glyn Maxwell wakes up in a mysterious village one autumn day. He has no idea how he got there but he has a strange feeling there's a class to teach. And isn't that Keats wandering down the lane? Why not ask him to give a reading, do a Q and A, hit the pub with the students afterwards? Soon the whole of the autumn term stretches ahead, with Byron, the Brontes, the War Poets and many more all on their way to give readings in the humble village hall.In this one-of-a-kind novel, Maxwell takes writing exercises that he's used in real classes, and explores them with fictional students and major poets.

Sissay was brought up as a lone black face in Northern children's homes, the piece charts his rocky life story

This book is designed to engage students in active responders to the play DNA by Dennis Kelly. It will incorporate creative and reflective tasks and devices, to help them make sense of the play for themselves. The book will provide individual/ pair or group tasks which are motivating, active and engaging for young people. The text will be accompanied throughout by images/ illustrations related to the play in performance.

Eve tells the story of a child raised as a boy, when she knew all along that was wrong. That child grew up to be one of the 10 Outstanding Women in Scotland in 2017. With trans rights again under threat, legendary playwright, performer, father and grandmother Jo Clifford tells a story both gentle and passionate, intimate and political, to remind us that the journey towards our real selves is one we all need to make.

University College hospital, London, 1949. George Orwell is in the last chapter of his life with a severe case of Tuberculosis. He still believes he has at least three novels in him so to keep his morale up he promptly proposes to friend Sonia Brownell, a 30 year old assistant magazine editor. When Sonia learns that she is his only hope, she must decide whether to succumb to the advances of Lucien Freud or enter a platonic marriage with one of the countries most renowned writers. Based on actual events.

I first met Robin Hood in the Autumn of 1975, as a seven-year-old boy, and we have been good mates ever since. Recently, he's been going crazy about the direction our world is heading. He can't believe there isn't a bigger reaction to all the madness. This show is his idea. He's convinced we need to change the story of money and share the opportunity some of us have been given if we really want to do something about inequality and the growing gap between rich and poor.

The 5th Marquis of Anglesey was one of the Earth's wealthiest men, until he lost it all by being too damn fabulous. A ripped-up, hilarious musical about this gorgeous tragedy. he 5th Marquis of Anglesey burned brightly, briefly and transvestitely at the end of the 19th Century, blowing his family's colossal fortune on diamond frocks, lilac-dyed poodles and putting on simply amazing plays to which nobody came. After he died at 29, his family burned every record of him, and carried on as though he never was. How to Win Against History is a hilarious, ripped-up musical about expectations, manliness, disappointment and being totally fabulous. A frothy, glossy costume drama about the stories we tell to convince ourselves it's all going well, and the moments we realise it's not.

Internationally renowned theatre director Anthony Nicholl has travelled the globe on a life-long quest to discover the true essence of theatre. Today, he gives a masterclass, demonstrating first-hand the methods he cultivated in Africa and throughout the world. Promise, an aspiring actress, has been hand-picked to participate. What unfolds between them forces Nicholl to question all of his assumptions about his life and art. How to Act explores the contemporary realities of personal, cultural and economic exploitation through two individuals drawn together in the theatre. Both believe in truth, but each has their own version of it.

A reclusive children's writer becomes wildly successful. Her books are treasured across the country. But when a troubling narrative starts to unfold, we find ourselves asking: What matters more, the storyteller or the story? Brilliantly imaginative and theatrically original, Heather is a short, sharp play about language, prejudice and the power of stories.

Set in a landscape of memory and dreams, The Inconvenience of Wings tackles the issues of friendship, dysfunction, addiction and angels. This dynamic new drama was inspired by author Abraham J Twerski`s book Addictive Thinking that examines the notion of compulsion, addiction, denial and abuse of self as well as conversations on bipolar disorder that Foot had with celebrated psychiatrist Dr Sean Baumann. It was further stirred by her own father who has suffered from dementia for more than a decade.

It's Dougie's birthday. He just turned 50 and his family are throwing him a party. But it's Dougie who has a surprise for them. A bombshell proposal. He wants his ex-wife Arlene to back his new endeavour. He wants to serve a good cause, a global cause. He wants to make right a terrible wrong, even if it puts their daughter's future at risk. They can all sense a scam, but Dougie won't back down. He is convinced this is his only chance to do something truly glorious, but his motivation may not be as pure as it seems. As the touchpaper under his family is lit, no one escapes the fallout.

A hilarious honest and brutal show about loneliness, with film. 5 years ago in the middle of a shitstorm of life events, artist, single mother and proud Londoner Annie Siddons found herself living in suburbia by accident. This hilarious, brutal and poignant show - combining live performance with films made by Annie and live artist Richard deDomenici, is about her gauche and wrongfooted attempts to fit in, the loneliness that ensued, and her quest to cure it.

A relationship rotting. Purgatory. Is having no reason to stay a reason to leave? At what point does the abuser become the abused? And why aren't we more afraid of women? Two actors, one couple, swapping roles. A savage new play exploring violence in relationships, our expectations of gender and what happens when we're no longer in love but refuse to let go.

The extraordinary Billie Piper plays Her, a woman driven to the unthinkable by her desperate desire to have a child. Simon Stone creates a radical new production of Lorcas achingly powerful masterpiece.

Sad Little Man is a stand-up tragedy set performed by the mind of a young man in shock. Described as "a stunning, bittersweet story" and "theatrically beautiful" by Noises Off Magazine, a combination of performance poetry, physical theatre and projection tell the story of the many lives of Lee and someone he loves

A British financier and his wife host a lavish dinner party for their affluent American friends. It's over a year since the two couples were together and they have plenty to talk about. The food is delicious, the conversation animated and dessert is on its way - when, from one second to another, the evening takes a sinister and alarming turn.

Meet Leah and Chris; raised on Harry Potter, New Labour and a belief that one day they would be as 'special' as their parents promised. But what happens when those dreams don't become reality? Follow Leah and Chris over these twenty years as they realise the future they were promised as children hasn't turned out as they hoped, against the backdrop of an asteroid heading for earth. Told through performance and live music on multiple stages, with support from a different Humber Street Sesh band every night, this is Welly like you've never seen it

Dead Centre's new solo work for an eleven -year-old boy is devoted to Shakespeare's only son, Hamnet, who died in 1596, only eleven himself. A single letter separates Hamnet from the philosophical heights of Hamlet. Unlike the Prince, he cannot ask 'to be or not to be'. Condemned not to be, he now seeks to understand the world from which he has been wrested. Hamnet is too young to understand Shakespeare. We are too old to understand Hamnet. Two generations, asking each other what they want to pass on and receive.

From the award-winning Regent's Park Open Air Theatre comes a new version of the story of Dickens' beloved orphan. The original story of Victorian London's most famous child. Oliver Twist created for everyone aged six and over. It will have you on the edge of your seat and wanting more.

Published to celebrate Dame Beryl's 90th birthday, this is the only autobiography from this famous classical ballerina, and is a must-read for dance and ballet lovers. Dame Beryl's life is defined by her love of dance. Her life and career spanned the period that saw the flowering of British ballet. Knowing and working with virtually everyone in the dance world, she reveals fascinating insights into the people, characters and institutions that made up world dance in the 20th century. Grey began her dancing career with the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1941 at the unprecedented early age of 14. Her natural virtuosity saw her quickly promoted to prima ballerina, dancing her first Giselle at 17, and Princess Aurora at 19. Dame Beryl became the first English dancer to appear as a ballerina at the Bolshoi and the Kirov, as well as with the Peking Ballet. Throughout WWII, Dame Beryl continued to perform throughout the country, despite the dangers. This autobiography provides a fascinating and personal insight into an extraordinary woman, her life and career.

Barber Shop Chronicles is a generously funny, heart-warming and insightful new play set in five African cities, Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala, Lagos, Accra, and in London. Inspired in part by the story of a Leeds barber, the play invites the audience into a unique environment where the banter may be barbed, but the truth always telling. The barbers of these tales are sages, role models and father figures who keep the men together and the stories alive.

A radical new version of Shakespeares classic, reworked and directed by Robert Icke,

Ten years ago, Bella Soroushs life was ruined by one of her pupils  Kane McCarthy. She has gradually rebuilt things  new school, new town, new friends  and finally feels at home in the depths of the countryside. Now Kane is back in her classroom, armed with relics of the past and claiming to want forgiveness. As the truths they've clung to begin to collapse, teacher and pupil are forced to confront their prejudices and the shared history that has bound them together.

Three generations of women. For each, the chaos of what has come before brings with it a painful legacy.

This funny, moving, and thought-provoking new play, written and directed by Lucille Lortel and Obie Award-winner Will Eno, challenges the notion of what really matters and recognizes the importance of lifes simple pleasures. (All of which might sound dreary, but theres a chance this will be a really good experience.)

THE EARTHWORKS: "The universe doesn't care if we know how it works." On the eve of the activation of the Large Hadron Collider, two strangers - a journalist and a scientist - share their experiences of loss and hope in a funny but deeply touching one-act play. MYTH:"I can only see wrong choices. Things that will make everything worse." In one wine-fuelled evening, two couples debate their materialistic lifestyle. As their dinner party descends into chaos, their friendship and their lives are irreparably changed. A play about those things we don't want to see or say.

Part documentary, part poetry, part comedy - mostly lies. Katie Bonna has not spoken to her father for seven years. Well, actually it's more like three years because he did storm that Sunday roast that one time, but seven years sounds more dramatic and she wants you to know that this situation is DRAMATIC. 2016 is the year of two weddings: her brother's and her own. Her dad will be at one of those and it isn't hers. As far as she's aware, he doesn't know she's getting married. As far as she's aware, he doesn't even know she's marrying a woman. All The Things I Lied About is a comic exploration of what estranged Katie from her father in the first place and what she's going to do about it in the face of apparently being a grown-up. Part documentary and part personal experience, the award-winning writer performer will question what makes us all lie, what keeps us lying and why none of us really like honesty as much as we say we do.

Elodie is 17. She's French. She washes her legs before going to church. She believes in God. Otto is 15. He's a German soldier. Bulletproof skin. Eyes that could pierce tanks. He was part of a firing squad today. It's 1944. Outside, the world around them is exploding. Inside, the room shakes. Elodie and Otto's naked bodies touch.

Kidnapped as a teenage girl, Ma has been locked inside a purpose built room in her captors garden for seven years. Her five year old son, Jack, has no concept of the world outside and happily exists inside Room with the help of Mas games and his vivid imagination where objects like Rug, Lamp and TV are his only friends. But for Ma the time has come to escape and face their biggest challenge to date: the world outside Room.

Chick arrives back in Scotland for a reunion with his old mates Gary and Jackson only to find Garys daughter has been the victim of a life-changing car accident. The antiseptic smell of the wards, the relentless beep of the life support and the sterile hospital bed contrast sharply in Chicks eye with the young wild-haired girl lying there unconscious; inspiring this downtrodden man to embark on a quest to save her life.

A wily servant and a pair of wronged young lovers team up to bamboozle a pompous general in this riotous new farce. Dodgy disguises, comic capers and a talking monkey create pandemonium as the tricksters try to save the girl, free the servant and live to tell the tale!

The Student Guide to Playwriting provides access to step-by-step lesson plans for writing a theatre play, written by ten top industry professionals who have led the way in terms of playwriting training in the UK. Suitable for writers, students, teachers, the industry and anyone with an interest in dramatic writing and playwriting, the book offers key advice on getting started, ideas, structure, scenes, characterization, dialogue, theatricality, rewriting, and the business of staging your work.

Three women and two men swim in shame. Everyone's exposed. Everyone wants revenge. No one's talking about it. Five candid stories about revenge porn and all its many victims. Blush is a slap in the face and a call to arms.

A bitter sweet, dark political comedy based on one man's true story and his odyssey in search for identity, And Here I Am is an epic voyage of identity and self-discovery based on Ahmed Tobasi's personal coming of age story. Combining fact and fantasy, tragedy and comedy, spanning both the first Palestinian intifada and the second, we follow the protagonist through his transformation from resistance fighter to artist, his journey as a refugee from the West Bank to Norway and then back again.

A bold new adaptation of Dickens' classic from one of Britain's foremost directors, tying into contemporary issues of global war, refugees, extremism. How much more do those in power think Europes poor can take? When will the people take to the streets of the cities and roar enough is enough?

Isaac is dishonourably discharged from the army and returns home. He finds that things have changed. The house is a dump as his mother no longer does any housework. His father has had a stroke and his mother has put him in a diaper, a dress and a purple fright wig and painted his face like a clown. His sister has had a sex change

Award-winning theatre company PLAY champion a new approach to new writing, with an emphasis firmly on collaboration. They bring together some of the industries brightest and best actors, writers and directors, and starting with a completely blank slate, they have just two weeks to collaborate, devise and create brand new PLAYs. This is a selected collection of some of the best PLAYs.

The U.S. Senate's 2017 confirmation process for President Trump's Cabinet. It forensically reveals the ethics, beliefs and philosophy behind four key Cabinet figures: Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of Exxon, now Secretary of State responsible for America's foreign policy; Attorney-General Jeff Sessions, a leading campaigner for the President and now his chief law officer; Dr Tom Price, a strident critic of Obamacare now Health Secretary and Scott Pruitt, a climate change sceptic confirmed as Director of the Environmental Protection Agency. The appointment of these men will have huge implications. They will lead the administration's policy on Russia, the Middle East, Iran and North Korea, on human rights worldwide, on the Paris Climate control agreement, as well as on the civil rights and the health of millions of Americans.

When reclusive crime writer Daniel Quinn receives a mysterious call seeking a private detective in the middle of the night, he quickly and unwittingly becomes the protagonist in a thriller of his own. As the familiar territory of the noir detective genre gives way to something altogether more disturbing, Quinn becomes consumed by his mission, and begins to lose his grip on reality.

A diverse selection of plays from the nineties, noughties and 2010's from a range of established and up-and-coming playwrights based in Greece. The collection includes a foreword and introductions to each play by prominent academics in Greek Contemporary Theatre. 1. M.A.I.R.O.U.L.A by Lena Kitsopoulou, translated by Aliki Chapple (2012) 2. Angelstate by Nina Rapi, translated by the author (2015) 3. Wolfgang by Yannis Mavritsakis, translated by Christina Polyhroniou (2008) 4. Hungry by Charalampos Giannou , translated by the author (2016) 5. Juliet by Akis Dimou, translated by Elizabeth Sakellaridou (1995)

Eddie and Carol were lovers once, but their lives went in different directions. Now they meet again on a park bench in a town full of memories, and find something still burns between them. On the countrys southern margin where the towns give way to the English Channel, both search for the centre of their lives. Will they find a way to let go of the past for the sake of their futures?

In 1648 India, two Imperial Guards watch from their post as the sun rises for the first time on the newly-completed Taj Mahal - an event that shakes their respective worlds. When they are ordered to perform an unthinkable task, the aftermath forces them to question the concept of friendship, beauty and duty, and changes them forever.

A young man discovers that his girlfriend is dating an ancient African vampire

Escape the Scaffold is a dark and dangerous psychological thriller set against the background of a rapidly changing world. Three best friends hunker down in their student house, forced to make decisions that will mark them for the rest of their lives. Get a job. Get married. Put down the tequila and take the money. Save yourself. Love triangle turns to murderous betrayal. Youthful idealism is tested, paranoia takes hold, and real life melts into a nightmare world. The basement is filling with water and there is a monster in the house.

Wiltshire. 1915. As the shadow of war falls over the Wiltshire landscape, a young couple finds itself caught up in the turmoil of troubled times. For generations, John and Annas families have made a living by working the land. Growing up in back-to-back cottages, everyone expects them to marry. Now, however, with nearly half a million young soldiers pouring into the country, the world seems so much bigger than they had ever imagined and the future feels far from certain.

In Killology, players are rewarded for torturing victims, scoring points for "creativity". But Killology isn't sick. In fact it's marketed by its millionaire creator as a deeply moral experience. Because yes, you can live out your darkest fantasies, but you don't escape their consequences. Out on the streets, not everybody agrees with him. "There is an instinctive revulsion against taking a human life. And that revulsion can be conquered."

A desert. A border. A remote petrol station within earshot of civil war. This vividly imagined twilit zone provides the background for a familial standoff in which the crimes, secrets, and broken loves of one generation make violent claims on the lives of the next as two half-brothers vie for favours and allegiance from their aging father. Examining themes of identity, ambition, and betrayal, this compelling drama from acclaimed Kuwaiti writer/director Sulayman Al Bassam uses the iconic setting of the deserted petrol station as a poetic space to explore the oppressions and aspirations of the Gulf Arab Region.

1968, East London. Over the years and against all the odds, Yetta Solomon has built a thriving business from nothing through sheer grit and passion. Ignoring all the obstacles - insufficient capital, economic downturns, aggressive competition - she has found a way to survive everything adversity could throw at her. Now she faces her toughest challenge: her family. In a rapidly changing Britain, Yetta must protect the shop and keep it in the Solomon family. But her sons, grandchildren and in-laws have other ideas& Always ruthless, how far will she go to keep the business in the family and the family in the business?

Fanatical about protecting his wealth, the paranoid Harpagon (Griff Rhys Jones) suspects all of trying to filch his fortune, and will go to any length to protect it. A matchmaker motivated only by money, he sets his sights on wealthy spouses for his children, so his riches are safe from their grubby hands. As true feelings and identities are revealed will Harpagon allow his children to follow their heart, or will his love of gold prove all-consuming? Passion and purse strings go head to head in this rip roaring comedy, by France's greatest dramatist.

The first-ever biography in English of Pina Bausch: perhaps the most influential performer and choreographer of the 20th century. Meyer has written an accessible, readable account, with a clear journalistic approach that penetrates the mystique and mythology surrounding Pinas life. Bausch was notoriously shy of discussing her work, yet Mayers research is underpinned by several quotes from Pina herself, as well as members of her ensemble. As well as illuminating her personal life and her work ethic; it also takes stock of Bauschs legacy and the future for the Company she created.

A bestseller in hardback, this critically acclaimed collection of short essays and reflections on poetry is now available in paperback. llustrating Maxwells poetic philosophy with examples from canonical poets, this is a beautiful, accessible guide to the most ancient and sublime of the realms of literature.

Big Guns is a play for two actors and a bunch of guns. Or maybe just two actors and an empty stage. The guns are in our heads, maybe, not actually visible. But their presence. Their presence is there. All the things we are // All the things we could have become // We need more time // Everything would have been better // We would have been better // We would have made amends // We would have earned forgiveness // We would have // Started over and // We would have been better // So so much better // If we only had more time // That's the oldest lie in the book. A man enters the stage and // the man has a gun and // the man says, don't worry // Don't worry, I'm not here to harm you // I don't have a message for you or // a threat or // a ransom note written in // cut-out letters from the // Guardian Weekend magazine // I'm not here for any particular reason except // to let you know that I'm here // And that you shouldn't forget about me.

Over the course of seven decades, Jonathan Miller has been at the forefront of developments in theatre, opera, comedy, philosophy and scientific debate. This new collection brings together the very best of his acerbic writing. In keeping with Millers grasshopper mind, One Thing and Another leaps from discussions of human behaviour, atheism, satire, cinema and television, to analysis of the work of M. R. James, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens and Truman Capote, by way of reflections on directing Shakespeare, Chekhov, Olivier and opera. A celebrated conversationalist, the book also features a selection of key interviews focusing on his working method. Jonathan Miller is internationally celebrated as one of the last great public intellectuals. Read One Thing and Another to find out why.

It's the night of the last day of school. And it's over. Finally over! Tom, Mike, Edwina, Sure and Ronny are 17 and they're seriously celebrating. Teetering of the cusp of adulthood, this is the night they say goodbye to adolescence and begin the journey of the rest of their lives. For each of them it's a phoenix moment - exhilarating and sad, scorching and beautiful. Truths are revealed, passions unveiled, relationships are created and fall apart. Everything is changing. Tonight they drink, they dance, they shout and they love. Matthew Whittet's beautiful new play Seventeen is a finely observant, optimistic work about the strains of youth, about transformation and, ultimately, letting go.

n 1965, a researcher lived with a dolphin for ten weeks to try and teach him to speak English  part of a NASA-funded research project into human-animal communication. Condemned by the wider scientific community as an elaborate circus trick, the experiment remains a controversial episode in the space race between the two Cold War superpowers. Inspired by Margarets time with Peter in the Dolphin House, TANK will explore the politics of language, the power of culture  and what happens when you inject a cetacean with LSD.

A diverse selection of contemporary plays from a range of established and up-and-coming playwrights based in France, edited and translated by Chris Campbell, literary manager of the Royal Court, and a foreword by Dr Clare Finburgh of the University of Kent.

Blending theatre, storytelling and killer moves, spoken word artist Maria Ferguson explores her relationship with the F-word (food) with the help of her first love (dance). Questioning how we all look at size, Fat Girls Dont Dance takes us in to the world of performance, where three meals a day is up for compromise and skinny sells well.

A teenage girl boils up in rage in a toilet cubicle. A finance worker preaches doom in a busy train station. An absurd coke-addled celebrity races through town on a mission. A paranoid stoner stares blankly at the endless disasters on the TV news. In just one moment, all their worlds will end.

Two women play two women playing two men. RashDash return with a playful new show about gender and language. A story of power with a strong theme of love running through the narrative. John and Dan keep hearing people say that men have all the power, but it doesn't feel like that to them. Abbi and Helen are making a show about Man and men. They want to talk about masculinity and patriarchy but the words that exist aren't good enough, so there's music and dance too. It's loud and raucous.

Brings together the advice of the professionals who have led the way in dramatic writing training in the UK, including John Yorke, creator of the BBC Writers Academy, Kate Rowland, founder of BBC Writersroom, Ola Animashawun, creator of the Royal Court Theatres world famous young writers programme, Fin Kennedy, winner of the first fringe first ever awarded for a schools production and creator of Schoolwrights and Philip Shelley, creator of Channel Fours screenwriting programme. Suitable for writers, students, teachers, the industry and anyone with an interest in dramatic writing, the book offers key advice on writing for theatre, film, television, radio and digital media.

Charlie has stopped sleeping. His neighbours cat has been dismembered. And worse, hes being haunted by an urban fox. In a haze of neon-soaked insomnia, lines blur between reality and fantasy. A wild hallucinogenic mystery, Run The Beast Down is an exhilarating monologue play, combining elements of storytelling, dark comedy and magical realism.

Bucket List tells the story of the fight for justice against the effects of the corrupt capitalist regime in Mexico affecting some of the world's poorest and most defenceless people. When her mother is murdered for protesting corporate and governmental corruption, Milagros finds herself with only a bloodstained list of those responsible. Determined to make them pay, Milagros embarks on a passionate quest for justice, no matter the cost.

Sh!t Theatre are Louise Mothersole and Rebecca Biscuit. They have lived together for five-and-a-half years now. From their kitchen in Windsor House they've been watching a London and a friendship that's changing. This housing crisis gets personal. Starting with letters they found in the flat they moved in to, this yet again potentially illegal work-in-progress by Sh!t Theatre takes advantage of a loophole in the Postal Services Act that says you can open other people's mail under certain circumstances. This is that certain circumstance. . .. Stories, song, dodgy landlords, detective work and moving on: The Singing Detectives for Generation Rent.

Victoria Frankenstein is a brilliant, visionary young woman. Its an age of enlightenment, a time when old orders begin to crumble and everything seems possible. Provided of course, that you are an English-man. Women are not allowed to study medicine in England, so Victoria travels to Bavaria to fulfil her destiny and become Dr. Frankenstein. Victorias experiments lead her to very brink of human knowledge, the secret of life itself.

A young Shona girl escapes an arranged marriage by converting to Christianity, becoming a servant and student to an African Evangelical. As anti-European sentiments spread throughout the native population, she is forced to choose between her familys traditions and her newfound faith.

Christmas Eve. Bettina and her husband Albert aren't happy. Bettina's mother is staying for the holidays. Which is awkward. Not least because Bettina's mother met a man on the train. And now she's invited him around for drinks... Family, betrayal and the inescapable presence of the past reverberate through the UK premiere of Roland Schimmelpfennig's razor-sharp comedy.

Two queens. One in power. One in prison. It's all in the execution.Schiller's political tragedy takes us behind the scenes of some of British history's most crucial days. Playing both Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, Juliet Stevenson (Duet for One) and Lia Williams (Oresteia) trade the play's central roles, decided at each performance by the toss of a coin.

After October is Ackland's most autobiographical play. It shows a feckless family in the grip of poverty, with a young playwright, Clive, scenting the possibilities of escape to affluence and extravagance. But Clive's play is a failure and his beloved Frances opts for his rival Brian. a loan helps Clive until his novel will be completed and everything will be all right 'after October'. the mood lightens - only the creditors are heavy.

The Royal Ballet Yearbook series is back, with extra editorial features and exclusive behind-the-scenes content  in addition to the usual selection of beautiful ballet images. Featuring lavish photographs of last Seasons performances, a special preview of the new Season and lively and informative articles, The Royal Ballet 2016/17 is a richly illustrated companion to The Royal Ballet, its history, repertory, dancers and staff.

Run. Keep running. You're doing the right thing. Lay low. Head down. Don't look back. Just keep running. And whatever you do, don't tread on the cracks. Leo's world has been turned upside down. Her parents are gone and her bird-loving uncle is getting too close for comfort. She is only sure of one thing, she must get out. In a desperate bid to find the grandparents she never knew, Leo jumps on a train to Glasgow, penniless and stealing food to survive. Will she track down her grandparents, or will her uncle get to her first?

Edith Piaf was one of 20th-century France's brightest stars, an international sensation, and since her death in 1963 has become a legendary figure. Her life story is so compelling that it has become difficult to separate the fact from the fiction, thanks to a wealth of stories, plays, films and biographies designed to lionize: her birth on the pavement of Rue de Belleville 72 on a pile of coats; being raised in a brothel; her role in the French resistance; the near misses with death; the money, the men, the moods, the drugs, the fame. Shrouded by these stories, the 'real' Edith Piaf is often indistinguishable from the legend. Following on from his two bestselling biographies of Edith Piaf, David Bret, in her centenary year, has written an account of the singer's life which centres around previously unpublished interviews he conducted with her friends, lovers, colleagues and songwriters. For the first time, Bret is in a position to reveal the material that was too controversial to publish whilst the interviewees were still alive. This new book will mean a significant revision to the Piaf myth.

Every teenager thinks they're the only one not having sex. But for Alana, it may well be true. She really wants to, but luck is clearly not on her side. Soon she can't help wondering: Is it this tricky for everyone else? Because no one ever said it was going to be this complicated. Skin A Cat follows Alana on an awkward sexual odyssey with a kaleidoscope of off-kilter characters: from getting her first period at nine years old and freaking out her frantic mother, to watching bad porn at a house party with her best friend's boyfriend, to a painful examination by an overly cheery gynaecologist - all in the pursuit of losing her virginity and finally becoming a woman, whatever that means. . . A bracingly candid account of sex and shame, gut-wrenching and side-splitting by turns, this is a truly alternative coming of age story about going all the way.

Monologues are an essential part of every actor's toolkit. Actors need them for drama school entry, training, showcases and when auditioning for roles in the industry. Following on from the bestselling first volume (2008) and second volume (2013) this book showcases selected monologues from some of the finest modern plays by some of today's leading contemporary playwrights. The monologues contain a diverse range of quirky and memorable characters that cross cultural and historical boundaries. The pieces are organised in age-specific groups: 'Teens', 'Twenties' and 'Thirties'. This volume comes in a brand new format, acting as an actor's workbook as well as monologue resource.

Monologues are an essential part of every actor's toolkit. Actors need them for drama school entry, training, showcases and when auditioning for roles in the industry. Following on from the bestselling first volume (2008) and second volume (2013) this book showcases selected monologues from some of the finest modern plays by some of today's leading contemporary playwrights. The monologues contain a diverse range of quirky and memorable characters that cross cultural and historical boundaries. The pieces are organised in age-specific groups: 'Teens', 'Twenties' and 'Thirties'. This volume comes in a brand new format, acting as an actor's workbook as well as monologue resource.

The Arctic is in danger and the only thing that can save it is bureaucracy. Frank Montgomery is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Chief Scientific Advisor to the Arctic Council. Hes in Barrow, Alaska, at the biannual meeting of the Council in Barrow, Alaska to give the speech that will tilt the scales. The only problem is he has spilt yogurt on his suit, left his speech at the breakfast buffet and been kidnapped by militant activists. Can he make it to the back to the podium before its too late?

The latest collection of plays by Howard Barker, one of the most significant and controversial dramatists of our time. Internationally renowned, his plays challenge, unsettle and expose. The latest volume in Oberon's Howard Barker series comprises the plays: Harrowing And Uplifting Interviews; The Cloth Cathederal; In The Depths Of Dead Love; More No Still

The pick of the 2015 Dublin Tiger Fringe, comprised of four critically acclaimed, innovative plays, showcasing the best new writing happening in Ireland. Contains Our Island by Barry McStay, It Folds by brokentalkers and junk ensemble, LOVE+ by Claire O'Reilly, Dylan Coburn Gray, Breffni Holohan and Maeve O' Mahoney and The Windstealers by Jane Madden. Our Island by Barry McStay 'Our Island' deals with contemporary and relevant issues of emigration, homosexuality, relationships and choices with humour, a fresh perspective and a new youthful voice. It Folds by brokentalkers and junk ensemble It Folds takes a surreal look at an assortment of characters who attempt to find a connection through their shared humanity. LOVE+ by Claire O'Reilly, Dylan Coburn Gray, Breffni Holohan and Maeve O' Mahoney What happens to romance when there's a machine who cooks for you, cleans for you, never forgets your birthday or how you like your tea, tells you you're beautiful, holds you when you're crying, and still makes you cum? This show imagines the inevitability of human/robot relationships The Windstealers by Jane Madden A cast of gurriers, property developers and mammies collide in this modern Irish satire on corruption

Wrecking Ball is a new piece by Action Hero, and is presented tonight as a very early work-in-progress. The piece is a text to be read by an audience and two performers, and they're telling a story about a male celebrity photographer and a female celebrity. It's a conversation about consent, authorship and putting words in other people's mouths, about what it really means to say yes'.

An adventure love-story set in Syria in the middle ages. Under the guise of doing Hajj, young lovers Zamurrud and Hussain elope. En route to Mecca, Zamurrud is kidnapped by The Assassins - an extreme sect whose members are prepared to leap to death at a sign from their masters, their reward paradise. Zamurrud is coerced into returning to visit Hussain in what he believes is a dream. She convinces him that she is in paradise, and that if he wants to see her again he must join the Assassins and perform acts of terror against his own beliefs

London. 2016. A strange and unsettled time where men and the violence of gangs rules the streets. In a dangerous world we hear a new voice - Imogen's. Suffocated by her father's aggression - her man kicked out of town, her life under threat, poisoned by the drugs of her step-mother - she strikes out on her own to try and reach the man she loves. A thrillingly raw and modern adaptation of Shakespeare's Cymbeline, re-told and created by young Londoners. This production will employ modern costumes and staging.

The Emperor tells the story of the downfall of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia and with it the end of a three thousand- year-old monarchy that traced its origins back to King Solomon. Based on the extraordinary book by legendary Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, it is told from the unique perspective of the Emperor's former servants, courtiers and ministers. It is a powerful exploration of the nature of power and loyalty