nick hern books united kingdom london (365 results)

Paperback. Condition: Good. A fiercely funny look at the rocky relations between our press and politicians in a world of spin doctors and phone hacking. Michael is moving into 10 Downing Street and there will be no charm offensives with this Prime Minister, not with a country to run. There's no time for lunches with the press while there are children living in poverty. And there's certainly no time to comment on a minister's illicit affair while the country needs more nurses. But when his family's private life looks set to be the next big story, Michael seeks help from a press secretary who advises, 'Feed the beast before it turns on you.' Can Michael keep politics centre stage or will he become the big story himself? Steve Thompson's play Feed the Beast was premiered at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in April 2015. The book has been read but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Some minor wear to the spine.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The third in David Edgar's post-Cold War trilogy, which also includes Pentecost and The Shape of the Table. An urgently topical account of a bloody conflict on Europe's Eastern borders. Beginning in early 1989 and spanning some twelve years, the play follows a team of peace negotiators attempting to resolve an ethnic conflict occurring within a fictional former Soviet republic. The Prisoner's Dilemma was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, in July 2001, transferring to the Pit Theatre, Barbican, London, in January 2002. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. An intensely practical account of the way Hamlet actually works on stage. Writing with the benefit of inside experience of many productions, actor and director Michael Pennington takes us through Hamlet scene by scene, and character by character. He also gives a personal account of his own encounters with the play, and of its staging through the ages. 'A wonderful book' Ronald Harwood 'Racy, vivid, well informed, and continuously entertaining' Stanley Wells 'An insider's guide par excellence' Simon Callow. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Stella Feehily brings her trademark wit and emotional insight to this revealing play that goes behind the public face of charities, journalists and NGOs, and is drawn directly from workshops and interviews with aid workers, doctors, human rights defenders, government advisers, journalists and photographers. A seasoned human rights defender and her idealistic young colleague embark on a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. For Mathilde, it's an induction into a life less ordinary. For Sadhbh it's back to madness and chaos away from her lover and London - exactly as she likes it. But while Mathilde lets off steam with a photographer and a spliff, Sadhbh has her own encounter: tea with a smart but brutal young warlord she's investigating. Stella Feehily's play Bang Bang Bang was first performed at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, in 2011, in a production by Out of Joint that subsequently toured the UK, including performances at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in October 2011. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A serious comedy from the author of East is East, about the dying breed of Anglo-Indians living in Calcutta in 1985. They are a vividly memorable gang of eccentrics and exotics who are attempting to come to terms with their pasts and their fears for the future. Their world is filled with Violet's hilarious obsession with all things British, Elliot's questionable dress sense, Daphne's weakness for French records and the confrontational outbursts of the slightly mad Muriel who would do anything to defend their territory - because just outside the jasmine-coloured walls of Dum Dum, the dark reality of hatred and bigotry is creeping closer and closer. Ayub Khan Din's play Last Dance at Dum Dum was first performed in July 1999 at the New Ambassadors Theatre in the West End in a production by the Royal Court Theatre. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Middleton and Rowley's masterpiece, a tale of murder, lust, seduction and blackmail in the seventeenth century. Alsemero has fallen in love with the beautiful Beatrice after a chance meeting in a church but Beatrice has already been promised to another man. Unable to marry the man she loves, she employs the hated De Flores, her father's servant, to murder the man her father bids her marry. As payment, De Flores demands Beatrice. And then things get worse. Thomas Middleton and William Rowley's play The Changeling was mostly likely first performed in 1622. This edition of the play in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series is edited and introduced by Trevor Griffiths. Set Text >> The Changeling is a set text for AQA Drama and Theatre Studies A/AS Level, AQA English Literature A/AS Level, OCR English Literature A/AS Level and WJEC English Literature A/AS Level. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Do you feel lucky, Monk? Luke left his high-flying City life to discover serenity in the Scottish Highlands, but he can't escape his past. Is Tony, his brother, everything that's wrong with Luke's old life, or is he the only one who can really see into his soul? Sam Bain's play The Retreat premiered at Park Theatre, London, in 2017, in a production directed by Kathy Burke. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. In the aftermath of civil war, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, resolves to claw his way to political power at any cost. A master of manipulation, subtle wit and beguiling charm, he orchestrates his unlawful ascent by spinning a ruthless web of deceit and betrayal. His staunch ambition has horrifying consequences when, finding himself utterly alone and steeped in dread, he is forced to answer for his bloody deeds. This official tie-in edition of Richard III was published alongside director Jamie Lloyd's new production for his Trafalgar Transformed season at the Trafalgar Studios, London, in 2014. It starred BAFTA Award-winning Martin Freeman as Richard III and Gina McKee as Queen Elizabeth. This volume includes the version of Shakespeare's text performed in the production, as well as additional material including an exclusive rehearsal diary and an interview with the director. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Poet, playwright and novelist Blake Morrison evokes the lives of the Bronte sisters, with a nod to Chekhovs Three Sisters. Against the backdrop of a windswept northern village, three remarkable young women live their lives brightly. In Haworth in the 1840s, in a gloomy parsonage, where there are neither curtains nor comforts, Charlotte, Anne and Emily Bronte light up their world with outspoken wit, aspirations, dreams and ideas. And throughout their confined lives intensely lived they write. With a touch of poetic licence, Morrison shows us the overwhelming humanity, charged emotions and brooding unease which characterise the Bronte household - and that of Chekhov's Three Sisters. Blake Morrison's play We Are Three Sisters was first performed at the Viaduct Theatre, Halifax, in 2011. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A simple and delightfully inventive re-telling of the stories from the Arabian Nights. It is wedding night in the palace of King Shahrayar. By morning the new Queen Shahrazad is to be put to death, like a thousand young brides before her. But she has one gift that could save her - the gift of storytelling. Can the young Queen transport the vengeful King to the mystical land of her stories? On her side she has a rich array of characters including Ali Baba, Es-Sinbad the Sailor and Princess Parizade - adventurers in strange and magical worlds populated by giant beasts, talking birds and crafty thieves. Will her silver-tongued storytelling save her life? This edition was published alongside the Young Vic's production in 1998. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Two brothers share the house they grew up in, and then share the woman they both love. They have a daughter, but who is the father? Spanning thirty years and offering a new slant on the eternal triangle, Simon Gray's funny, sardonic new play Japes is driven by involuntary cruelties, damaging accidents of fate of the terrible ravages of time. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Henrik Ibsen's revolutionary play about a woman's awakening to her need for a life of her own. A Doll's House was premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 1879. This English version of A Doll's House is translated and introduced by Kenneth McLeish. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Two linked plays - Mothers Against and Daughters of the Revolution - by the UK's leading political playwright, investigating the machinations of the Democratic and Republican parties in America. In this two-play cycle set against the background of a bitterly fought American governor's election, David Edgar explores what has happened to the revolutionary fervour which took hold of both the Right and the Left in the 1960s, and how it has been carried over into the politics of today. The plays were jointly commissioned and produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. They were first performed in Ashland, Oregon, as part of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in March 2003 before transferring to Berkeley Repertory Theatre in November 2003. Continental Divide received its UK premiere at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in March 2004. It subsequently played at the Barbican, London, as part of the BITE Festival, in March 2004. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This play was first seen in July 1997 in a studio production at the Royal Court. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A guide to the hidden workings of plays and the trade secrets that govern their writing - by the acclaimed playwright Steve Waters. Drawing on a wide range of drama, both historical and modern, Waters takes the reader through the key elements of dramatic writing scenes, acts, space, time, characters, language and images to show how a play is more than the sum of its parts, with as much inner vitality as a living organism. Almost uniquely amongst accounts of playwriting, Waters' book looks at the ways in which good plays move their audiences, generating powerful emotional responses that often defy conventional analysis. The Secret Life of Plays is for playwrights at any stage of their career, and will inspire and inform drama students as well as working actors and directors. Most of all it is for anyone who has ever laughed or cried in the theatre and wants to know why. 'Theatre is a live medium, about bodies, sweat and feeling, even if it is informed by ideas and reason. How a thing composed of words manages to carry within it the currents of energy that generate that impression of life is what I want to explore' Steve Waters 'Steve Waters' book is like his plays: clear, elegant and stimulating throughout' David Edgar. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A darkly comic and freewheeling epic that gets to the heart of small-town politics and what it means to please all of the people all of the time. A provincial town is in search of a hero. A shell-shocked soldier downs vodka on his return from the frontline in Chechnya. As Ilya arrives home he stumbles into the epicentre of an extraordinary power struggle that threatens to tear the town apart. Mikhail and Vyacheslav Durnenkov's play The Drunks was first performed, in this English version by Nina Raine, by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2009. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Can you remember your first time? In this hilarious and heartbreaking true story, theatre-maker and activist Nathaniel Hall can't seem to forget his. To be fair, he's had it playing on repeat for the last fifteen years but now he's ready to lift the lid on his life-changing secret. First presented by Dibby Theatre and Waterside Arts, First Time went on to critical and audience acclaim on tour of the UK and at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It smashes through the stigma and shame of HIV, to present an uplifting and inspirational guide to staying positive in a negative world. This edition features the full script of First Time, alongside extensive material about HIV/AIDS and the themes and issues explored in the play, including several workshop plans which can be used with students and community groups. 'A truly remarkable story of triumph. I was in awe' Russell T Davies. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A riotous comedy about love, death and responsibility. For forty-something Hildy, political activism comes easier than dealing with the disorder of her family life: her druggie son; her philandering soon-to-be-ex husband; her father, misbehaving in a hugely expensive retirement home. Then there's Shirley, Hildy's charismatic mother a former pop star with a fondness for booze who sets up camp in Hildy's spare room to belittle her from close range. By day, Hildy leads the City's cleaners in revolt against the bankers. But by night, she dreams of unsettling acts of violence. Stella Feehily's play Dreams of Violence was first performed at Soho Theatre, London, in July 2009, in a co-production with Out of Joint. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Moliere's comic masterpiece about an irreclaimable hypocrite - one of the most famous French plays of all time. The pious Tartuffe is lodging with Orgon and his family, ingratiating himself with both his host and his host's mother to such a degree that both are blinded to his true rather less virtuous designs. Like marrying Orgon's daughter Mariane, whilst seducing his wife, Elmire. This English version of Tartuffe, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is translated and introduced by Martin Sorrell. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Good. This play is an account of two sisters, one who has made her home in East Berlin, and one who stayed on in their native London. Following the downing of the Berlin Wall, the exile returns home - shadowed by Berlin Bertie, a mysterious ex-member of the East German Secret Police. The book has been read but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Some minor wear to the spine.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A dark and wickedly funny farce about one man's twisted attempts to find a woman he can control completely. Adapted from Moliere's classic comedy The School for Wives by Liz Lochhead, 'Scotland's greatest living dramatist' (Scotland on Sunday). He's old, rich and determined to find the perfect wife. She's young, innocent and in debt to him. He'll have her by any means possible. 'Wives like your one, those with all the smarts, The ballbreakers, they're the ones to break our hearts. So pick a simple girl - it's not rocket science!' Liz Lochhead's play Educating Agnes was first staged by Theatre Babel at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, in 2008. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a great Little Price Racine's reworking of Euripides' Hippolytus, celebrated for its tragic construction and the richness of its language. Consumed by an uncontrollable passion for her young stepson and believing Theseus, her absent husband, to be dead, Phedre confesses her darkest desires and enters the world of nightmare. When Theseus returns, alive and well, Phedre, fearing exposure, accuses her stepson of rape. Unable to see beyond her impassioned words to his own son's protestations, heartbroken and overcome, Theseus banishes Hippolytus and wishes him dead. But when the gods are always listening, you should be careful what you wish for. This English version of Jean Racine's play Phedra (Phedre), in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is translated and introduced by Julie Rose. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. An epic dramatic trilogy set during the American Civil War, by one of America's leading playwrights. America, 1862, during the Civil War. Hero, a slave, is promised his freedom if he joins his master in the ranks of the Confederacy against the Union. In a nation at war with itself, he must fight against those striving to abolish slavery. The family he leaves behind debates whether to escape or await his return, and they fear that, for Hero, freedom is an empty promise that may come at a great cost. Suzan-Lori Parks' Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) received its UK premiere in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2016, directed by Jo Bonney. The trilogy premiered at The Public Theater, New York, in 2014, was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and won the Edward M Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price J.M. Synge's extraordinary play about a young man on the run, and his unexpected elevation to folk hero. A stranger, Christy Mahon, arrives in a village bar in County Mayo in the West of Ireland, claiming to have killed his father. The locals are impressed some can even directly relate to the deed and Christy is lauded as a folk hero. He can't believe his luck, and confidently pursues the affections of the barmaid Pegeen, until the arrival of his not-so-dead father takes the winds out of Christy's sails. The Playboy of the Western World was first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in January 1907, causing riots across the city. This edition of the play, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is introduced by Margaret Llewllyn Jones. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. How do I get a job as a dancer? Where and when should I train? How can I protect my body from injury? How do I become a choreographer? These and many more such questions asked by young or aspiring dancers are answered in this book the most revealing and instructive book yet on what it means to be a dancer. Here is advice from some of the best dancers and choreographers in the world, crossing the fields of ballet, contemporary, South Asian dance, musical theatre and hip hop, and covering subjects both motivational and mundane, from tapping into your own reserves of creativity and resilience, to the important matter of when to eat your pre-show banana. The twenty-five experts in these pages have performed with the likes of the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Rambert, Matthew Bournes New Adventures and BalletBoyz; they range from stars of the West End stage to TV talent-show successes and Kylies backing dancers as well as some of Britains leading choreographers. They are Carlos Acosta, Matthew Bourne, Teneisha Bonner, Darcey Bussell, Lauren Cuthbertson, Maxine Doyle, Tommy Franzen, Adam Garcia, Jonathan Goddard, Matthew Golding, Melissa Hamilton, Wayne McGregor, Steven McRae, Stephen Mear, Cassa Pancho, Seeta Patel, Arlene Phillips, Arthur Pita, Kate Prince, Matthew Rees, Tamara Rojo, Kenrick H2O Sandy, Hofesh Shechter, Aaron Sillis and Marlon Swoosh Wallen. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A sparky and moving first play about female friendship, set in contemporary Dublin. Cat and Sophie are Dublin teenagers on the brink, growing up in the face of everything a city can throw at them. How can you learn to be good when your elders are no longer your betters? Somehow, the girls must cope - or find a way of escaping. Stella Feehily's play Duck was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, in July 2003, in a production by Out of Joint. This production went on national tour, including a run at the Royal Court Theatre, London, from November 2003. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The classic manifesto on popular theatre by the founder of the 7:84 Theatre Companies. John McGrath's manifesto is as relevant today as it was when first published in 1981. Looking at the ways different classes take their entertainment, he puts the case for what theatre could be doing for the populace instead of walling itself up in subsidised fortresses for the well-to-do. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A riotously funny satirical farce in the tradition of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Shakespeare in Love, from the author of The Libertine. Elizabeth I is tottering at death's door. Conspirators are everywhere. Lucius Bodkin, an Elizabethan stand-up comedian, becomes unwillingly involved in the political skullduggery and jiggery-pokery surrounding the ailing queen. The Clink could pass itself off as a long-lost Elizabethan comedy. In fact it is a brilliant political satire offering many sharp parallels with our own times, when art must be sponsored, but to be sponsored it must be 'safe'. Stephen Jeffreys's play was first staged by Paines Plough in 1990 on tour in Britain and Holland. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price A classic Restoration-era comedy about the sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, as they go about their task of recruiting soldiers in the town of Shrewsbury. George Farquhar's play The Recruiting Officer was first staged at Drury Lane in 1706. It was an immediate hit and went on to become one of the most frequently performed plays of the 18th century. This edition in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series is edited and introduced by Simon Trussler. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.