collector of tears is a universal, epic and poetic love story from across four centuries told to us by sunderland born tanya sealt, a woman who cannot age until she has cried. in this magical monologue with live musical accompaniment she collects tears from moments of radical english history and her own sexual history with both men and women. she slowly learns to fight for human rights and comes to understand and name her own bisexuality forged across centuries. she even gifts the original story of king lear to shakespeare. wherever she goes she carries with her and unpacks an amazing collection of glass tear-bottles and tells their stories - the levellers during the english civil war, rescuing mary wollstonecraft from the thames, peterloo massacre, the 1844 northumberland and county durham miners strike, dancing with emma goldman etc. having been moved on from every place and losing every lover, on the day of margaret thatchers resignation (22/11/90) tanya finally stands her ground and fights those who have hunted her and her lovers down through time; finally learning how to cry.

What happens when you want a different life to the one chosen for you? A story of desire, duty, deceit and revenge. An innovative re-telling of an ancient Welsh myth - Blodeuwedd from The Mabinogi - where nothing is quite as it seems. Rose cannot remember what came before the house at the edge of the isolated forest. Gwynne says he magicked her out of the flowers, but she's not so sure. She has played the part of the perfect farmer's wife for Lewis, who is kept firmly in place by his uncle Gwynne, and accepted her lonely existence. Then a stranger is seen in the forest. What lengths will she go to, to escape the life chosen for her? Using a cross-art form approach, this beautiful piece of storytelling will feature live music, dance, video, theatricalised sign and surtitles. .

Missing: A brother desperately searches for his missing sister in a sinister world of deceit and unknown peril. Missing is a modern-day fairytale about two poor children surviving desperate circumstances through a rich mix of imaginative power, loyalty, love and sheer cunning. Nivelli's War: about a six year old German Evacuee and his journey home at the end of WW2. Pirates: about a boy at sea, the play is on the surface a rollicking pirate tale and can be enjoyed as a fantasy adventure - but it is also a story about a childs emotional journey as he sails the tempestuous seas of his parents separation. This was nominated both for the Writers Guild Best Childrens Play and a Helen Hayes Award in America for Outstanding new play. Winner of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education Distinguished Play Award 2012.

Amy, a teenage feminist blogger decides it is time to prove that sex on the web is not just for men. During a rainy summer in a northern seaside town, Amy decides to show that sexual choice is firmly in the hands of women by persuading new love interest Callum to film her first time. Meanwhile, Callum has his own issues to deal with, including a mother on the edge of a nervous breakdown and an obsession with faded porn star Jaze. This dark, romantic comedy is produced and written by Kim Wiltshire ('Joy with Child' Organised Chaos and 'Pages From My Songbook' Manchester Royal Exchange) and Paul Hine. The play explores the mainstreaming of internet pornography, the changing face of technology and its impact on human relationships and a young person's burgeoning sense of self.

An opera heroine. Two interracial marriages. An abused daughter-in-law. An under-aged prostitute. A prime ministers wife. Seven women of diverse Asian backgrounds, perform a series of vignettes about the various predicaments of women from Asia. Women of Asia is a series of theatrical stories presented through a mix of dance, comedy and tragedy. It employs poetic dance theatre to portray a variety of myths, stereotypes, and conflicts facing Asian women today. Different roles are projected which include the roles of wife, mother, daughter and sex workers.

the prosperity of Coketown, dominated by hardline educationalist Thomas Gradgrind and the overbearing businessman Josiah Bounderby, is built on the cotton mills where thousands of men and women slave away. Gradgrind's doctrine, which banishes imagination and trumpets only the importance of facts and material progress, damages his children Louisa and Tom, leading to scandal and disaster. Hard Times will be a promenade production, with the audience being taken through the mill as the performance progresses, and will be performed in the atmosphEric setting of Murrays' Mills, a restored Victorian mill in Ancoats, the old industrial quarter of Manchester.

From the Mouths Of Mothers is a powerful and inspiring drama which tells seven true stories of child sexual abuse using verbatim theatre techniques. the play shares with us the voices of mothers who have had to fight to get the support their children needed in the face of terrifying abuse.

Created from dozens of personal testimonies, this is the story of the changing face of work today. Surrey Docks in South-East London was once a thriving commercial hub, hosting some of the UK's leading commercial brands, including Crosse & Blackwell, Sarson's, Peek Freans and Lipton's. These huge organisations created a myriad of jobs for local people, and the community prospered. But, with the decline of the docks in the 1970s, factories closed down or relocated, work patterns changed and redevelopment began. From Docks to Desktops explores the fascinating story of how one community has survived the 21st-century challenges of urban change and renewal.

A wide ranging collection of plays by women dealing with contemporary subjects such as child abuse, recession, war, poverty and the complexity of modern women's lives. · Many roles for women and girls ; suitable for study for performance or as part of courses in Women's Studies or Feminist Theatre Studies. · All the plays have been produced and performed in the UK to acclaim.

you think you wont survive, but you do'. acclaimed playwright sean burn (time outs play of the year 2004, peggy ramsay award 2006, dadafest shortlisted artist 2009) brings you his latest play : next swan down the river might be black. this is a poetic and personal response to being sectioned under the mental health act. we follow the shifting alliances of three young women on a psychiatric ward over one momentous week. cerys, 19, black and depressive, kay, 26, white and bipolar and zee - a pakistani british student nurse and former service user are all fighting a faceless institution in their own way. at stake are their well-beings and their friendships as they struggle to find creative paths through life. the play examines diversity, friendships, sexualities and power at a time of rising uncertainties. collectively the characters ask if we can summon courage to live through it all, a theme with universal resonances. this hauntingly lyrical play has a fragile hopefulness at its core and is a huge contribution to the diversity of our society in which one in four will experience mental ill-health at some point in their lives.

Blackbirds gives a compelling account of the London Blitz told by a group of Londoners who remained in the city. Here the survivors recount their vivid memories; in their own words. In the first month of the Blitz alone 5,730 people were killed and 9,003 seriously injured. By the end of the Blitz in May 1940, just 9 short months later, 43,000 people had been killed, half of them in London.

At sixteen, she was shell-shocked and caught in the blast. Now the bomber's waiting on the other side of the door. THE BOMB is a journey into the minds of two extraordinary people  one who destroys lives, the other who forgives the unforgivable. Inspired by Jo Berry, whose father was killed in the 1984 Brighton Bomb and Patrick Magee who planted that bomb. In 2000, they met for the first time to promote understanding and conflict resolution. They have continued their dialogue ever since

Inspired by real life experiences of Rwandan refugees in the UK, the play tells the story of two people from entirely different worlds who meet at a Refugee centre in London. Juliette is a young Rwandan asylum seeker, determined to write a book on the genocide that killed her family; Simon is a middle-aged failing novelist, whose job is to help people write. The play follows their funny and touching relationship and tackles issues that face many refugees who live in the UK today

celebrating 10 years of the London New Play Festival

The Arab-Israeli Cookbookis a drama created from the everyday realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The project began when the Caird Company sent the writer Robin Soans and directors Rima Brihi and Tim Roseman to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank in 2003. There they sampled a variety of dishes in homes, restaurants, shops and cafes and met dozens of people with different cultures, backgrounds and beliefs. Each person had a story to tell and a recipe to cook. Robin Soans has constructed a verbatim play from the words he collected. Arab and Israeli voices come together to bring insight and understanding to the melting pot of Middle Eastern affairs