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The Cherry Orchard: A Comedy in Four Acts (Student Editions)
by Anton Chekhov Nick Worrall'Frayn's translation, which strikes me as splendidly lucid and alive . . . will be acted again and again' New Statesman In Chekhov's tragi-comedy - perhaps his most popular play - the Gayev family is torn by powerful forces deeply rooted in history and the society in which they live. Their estate is hopelessly in debt: urged to cut down their beautiful cherry orchard and sell the land for holiday cottages, they struggle to act decisively. Originally published to coincide with Peter Hall's National Theatre production in 1978, this edition features the revised translation staged by Sam Mendes at the Aldwych Theatre, London, in 1989, starring Judi Dench and Ronald Pickup. Commentary and notes by Nick Worrall
The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith: A Drama In Four Acts (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Arthur Wing Pinero‘That is what marriage gives – the right to destroy years and years of life.’ Venice, Easter 1895. In the cafes around St Mark’s Square, all the gossip among the English ex-pat community is about two mysterious arrivals in the city. Agnes Ebbsmith is a young widow with a scandalous past. Travelling with her is Lucas Cleeve, an up-and-coming Tory MP who has abandoned his wife in London. Defying convention, Agnes and Lucas are refusing to marry, and living in a ‘compact’ together. But before long their peace is shattered by the arrival of Lucas’s aristocratic family from London. The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith is a dramatic, entertaining, and utterly enthralling play by one of the greatest Victorian dramatists. This playtext, slightly adapted from the original, was prepared for its first ever revival, presented by Primavera at Jermyn Street Theatre in 2014. The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith was last performed by Mrs Patrick Campbell in the West End in 1895. With an introduction to the play and its historical context by Dr Sos Eltis.
Cymbeline: Aus: [dramatische Werke] [shakspeare's Dramatische Werke], [bd. 32] (Mobi Classics Series)
by William Shakespeare John PitcherThe King of Britain, enraged by his daughter's disobedience in marrying against his wishes, banishes his new son-in-law. Having fled to Rome, the exiled husband makes a foolish wager with a villain he encounters there - gambling on the fidelity of his abandoned wife. Combining courtly menace and horror, comedy and melodrama, Cymbeline is a moving depiction of two young lovers driven apart by deceit and self-doubt.
Othello: Le More De Venise...
by William Shakespeare Tom McAlindonInexorably poisoned against the woman he loves by his trusted friend Iago, Shakespeare's Othello is a timeless tragic figure. This Penguin Shakespeare edition is edited by Kenneth Muir with an introduction by Tom McAlindon.'O! beware, my lord, of jealousy;It is the green-eyed monster which doth mockThe meat it feeds on.'A popular soldier and newly married man, Othello seems to be in an enviable position. And yet, when his supposed friend Iago sows doubts in his mind about his wife Desdemona's fidelity, and his friend Cassio's true intentions, he is gradually consumed by suspicion. In this powerful tragedy, innocence is corrupted and trust is eroded as every relationship is drawn into a tangled web of jealousies.This book contains a general introduction to Shakespeare's life and Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to Othello, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay discussing performance options on both stage and screen, and a commentary.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love-poetry in English.If you enjoyed Othello, you might like Richard III, also available in Penguin Shakespeare.'Uncannily brilliant ... truly fascinating because it makes evil specific and precise and human'Sam Mendes, director of American Beauty
Victor Hugo: Marion de Lorme; Hernani; Lucretia Borgia; Ruy Blas (World Classics)
by Victor HugoFour previously untranslated plays for the World Classics seriesHere are four characteristic and hugely important dramas by one of the most famous and influential European writers of the last two hundred years, translated into English for the first time, and in highly playable versions. An essential collection for students of both French and Drama
The School for Scandal: A Comedy... (New Mermaids)
by Richard Brinsley Sheridan Ann BlakeEnduringly popular less for its plots than for its verbal brillianceand wit, The School for Scandal (1777) was the most frequentlyperformed play of its time. Sir Peter Teazle has made the perennialmistake of elderly bachelors in English comedy and married a muchyounger wife in the hope that she will be too innocent to cross him. Infact, Lady Teazle spends her time with Lady Sneerwell and the worst setof scandalmongers in town, who have a beady eye on Charles Surface, thereckless young libertine, in expectation of seeing him ruined. Charles,however, turns out to possess the sterling virtues of generosity andloyalty to friends and family; and it is his hypocritical brotherJoseph who ends up the villain of the piece. This edition discussesSheridan's earlier drafts for the play and sets it into its theatricalcontext of anti-sentimentalism and its social context of the LondonHigh Society in which Sheridan had begun to move.
Shakespeare's Strangest Tales
by Iain SpraggA fascinating playbill of stories from the weird and wonderful world of Shakespearean theatre through the centuries, including distinguished actors falling off stages, fluffed lines, performances in the dark, and why you must never, ever say the name of that Scottish play, especially if you are Peter O'Toole. Discover a wealth of Shakespearean shenanigans over the years, including the terrible behaviour of the groundlings at Shakespeare's Globe, how the 'rude mechanicals' in A Midsummer Night's Dream got recast as a bunch of ladies from the WI, and how Dame Maggie Smith got even with Sir Laurence Olivier. Published to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, this treasury of curious tales is a must-read for all Shakespeare lovers and theatre fans. Word count: 45,000
Performing Copyright: Law, Theatre and Authorship
by Luke McDonaghBased on empirical research, this innovative book explores issues of performativity and authorship in the theatre world under copyright law and addresses several inter-connected questions: who is the author and first owner of a dramatic work? Who gets the credit and the licensing rights? What rights do the performers of the work have? Given the nature of theatre as a medium reliant on the re-use of prior existing works, tropes, themes and plots, what happens if an allegation of copyright infringement is made against a playwright? Furthermore, who possesses moral rights over the work?To evaluate these questions in the context of theatre, the first part of the book examines the history of the dramatic work both as text and as performative work. The second part explores the notions of authorship and joint authorship under copyright law as they apply to the actual process of creating plays, referring to legal and theatrical literature, as well as empirical research. The third part looks at the notion of copyright infringement in the context of theatre, noting that cases of alleged theatrical infringement reach the courts comparatively rarely in comparison with music cases, and assessing the reasons for this with respect to empirical research. The fourth part examines the way moral rights of attribution and integrity work in the context of theatre. The book concludes with a prescriptive comment on how law should respond to the challenges provided by the theatrical context, and how theatre should respond to law. Very original and innovative, this book proposes a ground-breaking empirical approach to study the implications of copyright law in society and makes a wonderful case for the need to consider the reciprocal influence between law and practice.
The Pres and an Officer
by Harold Pinter'What would Harold have thought of Trump?' People are always asking me that question. (He died in 2008, eight years before Trump's election.) Now we know. As it were.- Antonia Fraser'The foremost representative of British drama in the second half of the twentieth century.' From the Swedish Academy citation on awarding Harold Pinter the Nobel Prize for Literature, 2005The Pres and an Officer was discovered by Antonia Fraser in autumn 2017 on one of the yellow pads Harold Pinter used for writing.
The Short Plays of Harold Pinter
by Harold PinterThis volume contains the complete short plays of Harold Pinter from The Room, first performed in 1960, to Celebration, which premiered in 2000.The book commemorates the tenth anniversary of the playwright's death and coincides with Pinter at the Pinter, a celebratory season staging twenty of his one-act plays at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London, 2018.With a foreword by Antonia Fraser. 'The foremost representative of British drama in the second half of the twentieth century.' Swedish Academy citation on awarding Harold Pinter the Nobel Prize in Literature, 2005.
The 24 Hour Plays Viral Monologues: New Monologues Created During the Coronavirus Pandemic (Audition Speeches)
by The 24 Hour PlaysSince 1995 The 24 Hour Plays have been responding to theatre in the moment. As the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic brought an end to live theatre in the USA and Europe, the company sprang to work to keep the arts alive. Bringing together some of America's most prolific writers for the stage and screen, this unique and contemporary book of monologues collates the responses in dramatic fashion, making for an anthology of work that is timely, moving, irreverent and at its best, transcendent. Featuring original monologues by writers such as David Lindsay-Abaire, Clare Barron, Hansol Jung, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Christoper Oscar Peña, Jesse Eisenberg and Monique Moses this is a rich collection that can be enjoyed by actors, writers and those looking for creative responses to the global COVID-19 crisis. With over 50 monologues from the first three weeks of the project, edited by Howard Sherman, this is an important collection that documents an unprecedented moment in history whilst also offering practical resource for actors and performers.
Cyrano de Bergerac: in a free adaptation
by Martin CrimpA genius with language, but convinced of his own ugliness, Cyrano secretly loves the radiant Roxane. While Roxane is in love with the beautiful but inarticulate Christian.Cyrano's generous offer to act as go-between sets in motion a poignant and often hilarious love-triangle, in which each character is torn between the lure of physical attraction and the seductive power of words.Martin Crimp's adaptation of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac premiered at the Playhouse Theatre, London, in November 2019.