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Upton Plays: Ashes and Sand; Sunspots; People on the River; Stealing Souls; Know Your Rights (Contemporary Dramatists)
by Judy Upton"Judy Upton's a playful writer who likes nothing better than to upset expectations" IndependentAshes and Sand: "Searing, brutal...Judy Upton's vicious little hand grenade of a play explodes onto the stage...her writing blazes with anger about the waste of a generation with no hopes" Independent"Sunspots confirms Upton as one of the most promising writers working in London at present" What's OnPeople on the River: "A skilfully written and entertainingly hard-nosed look at the victim culture of tabloid telly" Time OutStealing Souls: "The writing is diamond hard, slippery and clear like thin ice covering a particularly murky pond" GuardianKnow Your Rights: "A moving and accomplished piece...Upton's play can dispense with arguments and right-on statements because in creating characters she develops situation." The Times
Upton Plays: Ashes and Sand; Sunspots; People on the River; Stealing Souls; Know Your Rights (Contemporary Dramatists)
by Judy Upton"Judy Upton's a playful writer who likes nothing better than to upset expectations" IndependentAshes and Sand: "Searing, brutal...Judy Upton's vicious little hand grenade of a play explodes onto the stage...her writing blazes with anger about the waste of a generation with no hopes" Independent"Sunspots confirms Upton as one of the most promising writers working in London at present" What's OnPeople on the River: "A skilfully written and entertainingly hard-nosed look at the victim culture of tabloid telly" Time OutStealing Souls: "The writing is diamond hard, slippery and clear like thin ice covering a particularly murky pond" GuardianKnow Your Rights: "A moving and accomplished piece...Upton's play can dispense with arguments and right-on statements because in creating characters she develops situation." The Times
Upstart Crow
by Ben Elton"This does indeed deserve comparisons with Blackadder" Radio Times"A knockabout, well-researched take on the working and domestic life of Shakespeare." The GuardianIt’s the 1590s. William Shakespeare – brought to life on screen by the inimitable David Mitchell – is at the start of his career. But no one is taking him seriously. In London, he is mercilessly mocked by his rivals and at home in Stratford he is belittled by his sullen teenage daughter. Yet he is determined to find an ending for his newest creation Romeo and Juliet. Luckily, inspiration is forthcoming. The trials and tribulations of his closest friends and family reveal the plot twists he’d been missing. And not only for this famous tragedy but for many of his finest plays. With sparkling wordplay, hilarious gags and his trademark wit, Ben Elton celebrates the great William Shakespeare and reveals the startling stories behind the playwright’s best-known plays.
The Upstairs Room (Modern Plays)
by David K. O'HaraReally, we don't have to keep worrying about the time, Gordon. Let's just sit here together. Okay? For a little while.London is sinking, there's constant rain, and everyone is trying to escape. Gordon, an American writer, finds himself holed up in the attic room of a half-way house, awaiting forged papers and safe passage back to the States. He becomes trapped with Stella, a mysterious and seductive woman, and a teenage girl called Iris who, between them, take Gordon on an emotional journey through his past and into the present, forcing him to face the painful truth as to why he is there.David K. O'Hara's The Upstairs Room is a modern take on Sartre's play Huis Clos in which a man and two women find themselves confined together in a drawing room for eternity. First produced at the King's Head Theatre from 13 November to 8 December 2012 by Giddy Notion, The Upstairs Room is a compelling and well-written play.
The Upstairs Room (Modern Plays)
by David K. O'HaraReally, we don't have to keep worrying about the time, Gordon. Let's just sit here together. Okay? For a little while.London is sinking, there's constant rain, and everyone is trying to escape. Gordon, an American writer, finds himself holed up in the attic room of a half-way house, awaiting forged papers and safe passage back to the States. He becomes trapped with Stella, a mysterious and seductive woman, and a teenage girl called Iris who, between them, take Gordon on an emotional journey through his past and into the present, forcing him to face the painful truth as to why he is there.David K. O'Hara's The Upstairs Room is a modern take on Sartre's play Huis Clos in which a man and two women find themselves confined together in a drawing room for eternity. First produced at the King's Head Theatre from 13 November to 8 December 2012 by Giddy Notion, The Upstairs Room is a compelling and well-written play.
Upstaged: Making Theatre in a Media Age
by Anne Nicholson WeberFirst Published in 2006. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
The Upside: A Memoir (Movie Tie-In Edition)
by Abdel SellouThe acclaimed true story of an aristocrat, a con man, and the friendship that transformed them both, now the inspiration for a major motion picture starring Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, and Nicole Kidman. Abdel Sellou and Philippe Pozzo di Borgo were two people marginalized by society: Sellou a wisecracking, unemployed immigrant, just out on parole; Pozzo a man born to wealth and privilege, recently paralyzed from the neck down after a paragliding accident. How they came to help each other, and the unlikely friendship that became a lifeline for them both, is an uplifting story that's now been told and retold around the world. In this bestselling memoir, Sellou shows us the irreverent, real-life character behind Kevin Hart's smiling face. The book takes us from Sellou's childhood spent stealing candy from the local grocery store to his career as a pickpocket and scam artist, to his unexpected employment as a companion for a quadriplegic. Sellou tells his story with a stunning amount of talent, humor, style, and--though he denies that he has any--humility. Originally published as You Changed My Life
The Upside: A Memoir (Movie Tie-In Edition)
by Abdel SellouYou Saved My Life tells the extraordinary true story of the charming Algerian con-man whose friendship with a disabled French aristocrat inspired the record-breaking hit film, The Intouchables (the American remake starring Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston coming in 2018). Sellou's fictional reincarnation, Driss, played to critical acclaim by French comedian Omar Sy in the movie Les Intouchables, captured the hearts of millions. Already a bestseller in France and Germany, You Changed My Life shows us the real man behind Sy's edgy charm. The book takes us from his childhood spent stealing candy from the local grocery store, to his career as a pickpocket and scam artist, to his unexpected employment as a companion for a quadriplegic. Sellou has never before divulged the details of his past. In many interviews and documentaries, he has evaded or shrugged off the question of his childhood and his stay in prison, until now. He tells his story with a stunning amount of talent, with humor, style, and-though he denies that he has any-humility. Sellou's idiosyncratic and candidly charming voice is magnificently captured in this memoir, a fact to which his friend Philippe Pozzo di Borgo testifies in his touching preface for the book.
Upper Cut (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Juliet Gilkes Romero‘Seventy percent of my constituents are white, Karen. I have to be a politician, who “happens” to be black. Not a black man who “happens” to be a politician.’ Karen loves politics. She’s a rising star but on the eve of a general election she risks her career and reputation in a bitter and contentious fight over whether to allow short lists for black Parliamentary candidates. Deselected by her party, and betrayed by the men she loves, Karen must embark on a relentless road to power and political redemption. Provocative and raw, Upper Cut unravels the fight for diversity and black representation through today’s coalition politics, the hope and rebirth of New Labour and delves into the troubled heart of a Labour party struggling under the might of Thatcher’s Tory revolution. Upper Cut is inspired by true political events.
Upfront Theatre: Why Is John Lennon Wearing A Skirt?; Arsehammers; The Year of the Monkey; Hard Working Families (Plays for Young People)
by Claire DowieAn anthology bringing together a selection of Claire Dowie's plays for young people, which are ideal for performance with a large cast.The anthology includes the following plays and an introduction by the author.Why Is John Lennon Wearing A Skirt? (Stage2 version, large cast) portrays a 14-year-old girl who dresses like a boy and would rather play football than anything else. This version can be performed by a cast of up to 100.Arsehammers (Stage2 version, large cast) is about a boy's relationship with his grandfather, who is suffering from Alzheimer's (or "Arsehammers", as the boy hears it). He believes his grandad to have superpowers on account of his routine disappearances. A brilliant tale of living with, and understanding, mental illness. It has been reimagined for a cast of around 20.The Year of the Monkey (Stage2 version, large cast) shows a mother dreaming of injecting some excitement into her humdrum life. The play has been revised the play for around 25 young people.Hard Working Families (original version, large cast), which hasn't previously been published, is a satirical play with music that exposes the true impact that earning a living has on young people in modern-day society. It is a response to politicians' visions of 'ordinary people', set against the reality of earning a living and the way this impacts on young people's lives. It can be performed by a cast of up to 50.
Upfront Theatre: Why Is John Lennon Wearing A Skirt?; Arsehammers; The Year of the Monkey; Hard Working Families (Plays for Young People)
by Claire DowieAn anthology bringing together a selection of Claire Dowie's plays for young people, which are ideal for performance with a large cast.The anthology includes the following plays and an introduction by the author.Why Is John Lennon Wearing A Skirt? (Stage2 version, large cast) portrays a 14-year-old girl who dresses like a boy and would rather play football than anything else. This version can be performed by a cast of up to 100.Arsehammers (Stage2 version, large cast) is about a boy's relationship with his grandfather, who is suffering from Alzheimer's (or "Arsehammers", as the boy hears it). He believes his grandad to have superpowers on account of his routine disappearances. A brilliant tale of living with, and understanding, mental illness. It has been reimagined for a cast of around 20.The Year of the Monkey (Stage2 version, large cast) shows a mother dreaming of injecting some excitement into her humdrum life. The play has been revised the play for around 25 young people.Hard Working Families (original version, large cast), which hasn't previously been published, is a satirical play with music that exposes the true impact that earning a living has on young people in modern-day society. It is a response to politicians' visions of 'ordinary people', set against the reality of earning a living and the way this impacts on young people's lives. It can be performed by a cast of up to 50.
Up On Roof: Harvest - In The Night Club - Up On Roof (Oberon Modern Playwrights)
by Richard BeanFour plays by Richard Bean with an introduction by Chris Campbell. Includes: Harvest, In the Club, The English Game and Up on Roof.'Funny, poignant with a heart as big as a house, this is a rich Harvest indeed.' The Daily Telegraph on Harvest'It is rare to spend two hours of unadulterated pleasure in a theatre, even for somebody who occupies theatre seats on a constant basis. This play...is beautifully crafted, well written and as funny as anything currently on stage.' British Theatre Guide on In the Club'There have been many good plays about cricket before...but none that told us so much about our splintering land.' The Guardian on The English Game'Wonderful lightness of touch...[his dialogue] takes your breath away.' The Daily Telegraph on Up on Roof
Up in Lights: The Memoirs of a 1920s Chorus Girl
by Marjorie GrahamThe touching true story of a young 1920s ‘flapper’, who dreamed of becoming a chorus girl ‘Early that January, there was snow on the ground, and Victoria Carmen took a violent chill. I played Principal Boy in her place. At last! MARJORIE GRAHAM was all alone in electric lights outside the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh!’ Born into an ordinary Edinburgh family in 1904, Marjorie Graham was expected to grow up like any other respectable girl. But her childhood dance classes with friends instilled a burning desire in her: to be a star. She couldn’t have chosen a better time. As the roaring Twenties of jazz, Gatsby and glamour flared into life, young Marjorie got her first break as a chorus girl. But the glamour of being a ‘flapper’ brought with it hidden dangers, an altogether darker world of failed love affairs, poverty and addiction to drink… From chorus girl, to actress, to raconteur and everything in between, this is the touching, tragic story of an ordinary woman with an extraordinary zest for life, whose name was destined to be up in lights.
Up Against the Real: Black Mask from Art to Action
by Nadja Millner-LarsenA history of 1960s activist art group Black Mask. With Up Against the Real, Nadja Millner-Larsen offers the first comprehensive study of the group Black Mask and its acrimonious relationship to the New York art world of the 1960s. Cited as pioneers of now-common protest aesthetics, the group’s members employed incendiary modes of direct action against racism, colonialism, and the museum system. They shut down the Museum of Modern Art, fired blanks during a poetry reading, stormed the Pentagon in an antiwar protest, sprayed cow’s blood at the secretary of state, and dumped garbage into the fountain at Lincoln Center. Black Mask published a Dadaist broadside until 1968, when it changed its name to Up Against the Wall Motherfucker (after line in a poem by Amiri Baraka) and came to classify itself as “a street gang with analysis.” American activist Abbie Hoffman described the group as “the middle-class nightmare . . . an anti-media phenomenon simply because their name could not be printed.” Up Against the Real examines how and why the group ultimately rejected art in favor of what its members deemed “real” political action. Exploring this notorious example of cultural activism that rose from the ruins of the avant-garde, Millner-Larsen makes a critical intervention in our understanding of political art.
Unusual Stories, Unusually Told: U.S. Drag; Slavey; Dot; Baby Screams Miracle; Men on Boats; Of Government; Plano
by Sigrid GilmerUnusual Stories, Unusually Told celebrates some of the boldest contemporary American voices with seven plays from Clubbed Thumb's Summerworks. Spanning 2001 to 2019 and accompanied by artist interviews and reflections on the work, this anthology presents a vital survey of formally inventive 21st century playwriting, and is a perfect collection for study and performance. U.S. Drag by Gina GionfriddoA serial killer named Ed stalks the city, luring his victims by asking for help. To protect themselves, a group of New Yorkers form SAFE, “Stay Away From Ed.” The first rule: don't help anyone. It's a matter of urban survival. Slavey by Sigrid GilmerIn which Robert and Nora, a couple on the rise, get a big promotion, a bigger house, and a brand new slave. Dot by Kate E. RyanIn which old Dot and the weird kid from the neighborhood become friends. Set in that kind of Florida town that makes you wonder: is this TV, a book, or maybe even a cabaret? Baby Screams Miracle by Clare Barron In which a freak storm knocks down all the trees in town and a prodigal daughter is taught a new way to pray. But the weird weather's not over yet. Men on Boats by Jaclyn BackhausTen explorers. Four boats. One Grand Canyon. Men On Boats is the true(ish) history of an 1869 expedition, when a one-armed captain and a crew of insane yet loyal volunteers set out to chart the course of the Colorado River. Of Government by Agnes BorinskyThe adventures of Barb the Teacher, Deb the Seeker, Heidi the Helper, Tawny the Addict and a host of others. With songs! Presented by Miss Marjorie Blain, her students, and members of the community. Light refreshments will be provided. Plano by Will ArberyTonight, and later, and earlier, three sisters (no, not those ones) are stricken with a series of strange plagues. Let's talk about family nightmares. I mean, uh, memories.
Unusual Stories, Unusually Told: U.S. Drag; Slavey; Dot; Baby Screams Miracle; Men on Boats; Of Government; Plano
by Sigrid GilmerUnusual Stories, Unusually Told celebrates some of the boldest contemporary American voices with seven plays from Clubbed Thumb's Summerworks. Spanning 2001 to 2019 and accompanied by artist interviews and reflections on the work, this anthology presents a vital survey of formally inventive 21st century playwriting, and is a perfect collection for study and performance. U.S. Drag by Gina GionfriddoA serial killer named Ed stalks the city, luring his victims by asking for help. To protect themselves, a group of New Yorkers form SAFE, “Stay Away From Ed.” The first rule: don't help anyone. It's a matter of urban survival. Slavey by Sigrid GilmerIn which Robert and Nora, a couple on the rise, get a big promotion, a bigger house, and a brand new slave. Dot by Kate E. RyanIn which old Dot and the weird kid from the neighborhood become friends. Set in that kind of Florida town that makes you wonder: is this TV, a book, or maybe even a cabaret? Baby Screams Miracle by Clare Barron In which a freak storm knocks down all the trees in town and a prodigal daughter is taught a new way to pray. But the weird weather's not over yet. Men on Boats by Jaclyn BackhausTen explorers. Four boats. One Grand Canyon. Men On Boats is the true(ish) history of an 1869 expedition, when a one-armed captain and a crew of insane yet loyal volunteers set out to chart the course of the Colorado River. Of Government by Agnes BorinskyThe adventures of Barb the Teacher, Deb the Seeker, Heidi the Helper, Tawny the Addict and a host of others. With songs! Presented by Miss Marjorie Blain, her students, and members of the community. Light refreshments will be provided. Plano by Will ArberyTonight, and later, and earlier, three sisters (no, not those ones) are stricken with a series of strange plagues. Let's talk about family nightmares. I mean, uh, memories.
Untold Stories: Collected Untold Stories (Bbc Radio Collection)
by Alan BennettAlan Bennett's first collection of prose since Writing Home takes in all his major writings over the last ten years. The title piece is a poignant family memoir with an account of the marriage of his parents, the lives and deaths of his aunts and the uncovering of a long-held family secret. Bennett, as always, is both amusing and poignant, whether he's discussing his modest childhood or his work with the likes of Maggie Smith, Thora Hird and John Gielgud. Also included are his much celebrated diaries for the years 1996 to 2004. At times heartrending and at others extremely funny,Untold Stories is a matchless and unforgettable anthology. Since the success of Beyond the Fringe in the 1960s Alan Bennett has delighted audiences worldwide with his gentle humour and wry observations about life. His many works include Forty Years On, The Lady in the Van, Talking Heads, A Question of Attribution and The Madness of King George. The History Boys opened to great acclaim at the National in 2004, and is winner of the Evening Standard Award, the South Bank Award and the Critics' Circle Award for Best New Play.'Perhaps the best loved of English writers alive today.' Sunday TelegraphUntold Stories is published jointly with Profile Books.
Untitled (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Inua EllamsTo name something is to call it into life, to determine its future. If we let our children name themselves, will they author their own destinies? Will the nameless ones be free? Untitled is a magical realist story set in Nigeria and England, of identical twin boys separated at infancy. In the quarrel after the marred naming ceremony, the mother grabs the titled child and flees, leaving the unnamed brother to lead an impetuous, chaotic, blasphemous existence until the spirits of the land make their stand.
Until The Flood: A New Play Based On Interviews Conducted In St. Louis In The Spring Of 2015 (Oberon Modern Plays)
by Dael OrlandersmithMissouri, 2014. Michael Brown, a black teenager, is shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. In this gripping and revelatory drama based on interviews from the aftermath of the shooting, Dael Orlandersmith journeys into the heart and soul of modern-day America – confronting the powerful forces of history, race and politics, and embodying the many faces of a community rallying for justice, and a country still yearning for change.
An Untidy Career: Conversations with George Hall
by Lolly SusiLolly Susi's interviews with the actor and teacher George Hall are a unique insight into the mind of a great all-round theatre practitioner. It is a must read for actors,academics, students and theatre buffs. George Hall trained at Old Vic Theatre School and worked as an actor at the Old Vic, in regional theatre, on radio, television and film. He has worked in cabaret, as writer, composer, performer and director. He has composed scores for the Old Vic, Royal Shakespeare Company and for plays for film and television. George was director of the Acting Course at Central School of Speech and Drama for many years. He is currently on the staff of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Unspeakable Shaxxxspeares: Queer Theory and American Kiddie Culture (PDF)
by Richard BurtUnspeakable ShaXXXspeares is a savvy look at the wide range of adaptations, spin-offs, and citations of Shakespeare's plays in 1990s popular culture. What does it say about our culture when Shakespearean references turn up in television episodes of The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island, films such as In and Out and My Own Private Idaho, and hardcore porn adaptations of Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet? Burt reads the reception of these often quite bad replays in relation to contemporary youth culture and the "queering" of Shakespeare.
Unspeakable: Literature and Terrorism from the Gunpowder Plot to 9/11
by Peter C. HermanUnspeakable: Literature and Terrorism from the Gunpowder Plot to 9/11 explores the representation of terrorism in plays, novels, and films across the centuries. Time and time again, writers and filmmakers including William Shakespeare, Joseph Conrad, Henry James, Gillo Pontecorvo, Don DeLillo, John Updike, and Steven Spielberg refer to terrorist acts as beyond comprehension, “a deed without a name,” but they do not stop there. Instead of creating works that respond to terrorism by providing comforting narratives reassuring audiences and readers of their moral superiority and the perfidy of the terrorists, these writers and filmmakers confront the unspeakable by attempting to see the world from the terrorist’s perspective and by examining the roots of terrorist violence.
Unspeakable: Literature and Terrorism from the Gunpowder Plot to 9/11
by Peter C. HermanUnspeakable: Literature and Terrorism from the Gunpowder Plot to 9/11 explores the representation of terrorism in plays, novels, and films across the centuries. Time and time again, writers and filmmakers including William Shakespeare, Joseph Conrad, Henry James, Gillo Pontecorvo, Don DeLillo, John Updike, and Steven Spielberg refer to terrorist acts as beyond comprehension, “a deed without a name,” but they do not stop there. Instead of creating works that respond to terrorism by providing comforting narratives reassuring audiences and readers of their moral superiority and the perfidy of the terrorists, these writers and filmmakers confront the unspeakable by attempting to see the world from the terrorist’s perspective and by examining the roots of terrorist violence.
Unsettling Space: Contestations in Contemporary Australian Theatre (Studies in International Performance)
by Joanne TompkinsThis study investigates contestations over spatiality in one culturally composite nation, Australia, where contemporary theatre stages competing cultural and political agendas through space and place. Covering a wide range of plays it will have wide appeal for issues of space, spatiality and territory in all forms of theatre, in all nations.
Unsettled Toleration: Religious Difference on the Shakespearean Stage
by Brian WalshUnsettled Toleration: Religious Difference on the Shakespearean Stage historicizes and scrutinizes the unstable concept of toleration as it emerges in drama performed on the Elizabethan and Jacobean stages. Brian Walsh examines plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries that represent intra-Christian conflict between mainstream believers and various minorities, analyzing the sometimes explicit, sometimes indirect, occasionally smooth, but more often halting and equivocal forms of dealing with difference that these plays imagine can result from such exchanges. Through innovative and in some cases unprecedented readings of a diverse collection of plays, from Chapman's An Humorous Day's Mirth, Middleton's The Puritan Widow, Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, and Pericles, and Rowley's When You See Me You Know Me, Walsh shows how the English stage in the first decade of the seventeenth century, as a social barometer, registered the basic condition of religious "unsettlement " of the post-Reformation era; and concurrently that the stage, as a social incubator, brooded over imagined scenarios of confessional conflict that could end variously in irresolution, accommodation, or even religious syncretism. It thus helped to create, sustain and enlarge an open-ended public conversation on the vicissitudes of getting along in a sectarian world. Attending to this conversation is vital to our present understanding of the state of religious toleration the early modern period, for it gives a fuller picture of the ways religious difference was experienced than the limited and inert pronouncements on the topic that officials of the church and state offered.