LITMIR.BIZ

Gotthold Lessing (1729-81), playwright, critic, humanist philosopher and polemicist was a leading figure of the German enlightnement era. From his immense literary output two plays stand out – The Jews and Nathan the Wise – for the passion of the writing and the timeless urgency of the message. Though differering greatly in form and content, both plays are eloquent pleas for human beings to desist from mutual persecution on racial or religious grounds. The relevance of Lessing's thinking in today's world is all too clear. They are published here in new English versions by the award-winning translator, Noel Clark.

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The Spanish Golden Age celebrated one of the most dynamic, energetic and stylish periods of world drama which exploded onto the stages of Madrid at the turn of the seventeenth century. It was a decisive period in world drama, similar to the periods of great national drama which occurred in seventeenth century London and fifth century Athens. The Spanish Golden Age was big business – professional, commercial theatre with plays touring all over Spain and Europe Lope de Vega was one of the Spanish Golden Age's best known playwrights. In his classic The Dog in the Manger , Diana, Countess of Belfor, a beautiful and headstrong young woman, is beset by aristocratic suitors urging marriage but refuses them all. One-night she discovers her handsome young secretary seducing her favourite lady in waiting and is consumed with jealousy. A heartbreaking love triangle is forged and so begins a tale of forbidden love, envy and passion. The Dog in the Manger is a painful and hilarious comedy for anyone who has ever fallen in love with someone they shouldn't have'

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In a crumbling Calcutta home, two sisters are forced to come to terms with their mother’s secret history. In this funny and moving play, award-winning writer Shelley Silas examines how family and culture, time and distance, influence our sense of who we are. Set in the Indian Jewish community, it explores conflicts between old and new, east and west, tradition and truth. If the past is another country, where is home? Calcutta Kosher was produced by the Kali Theatre Company and toured the UK in February and March 2004.

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A mysterious stranger appears in a Moscow park. Soon he and his retinue have astonished the locals with the magic show to end all magic shows. But why are they really here, and what has it got todo with the beautiful Margarita, or her lover, the Master, a silenced writer? A carnival for the senses and a diabolical extravaganza, this most exuberant of Russian novels was staged in this adaptation at Chichester Festival Theatre.

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Includes the plays The Samson Riddle and Essay; The Bespoke Overcoat; The Hebrew Lesson; It Should Happen to a Dog; and The Mighty Hunter.When The Bespoke Overcoat was first performed in 1953, Wolf Mankowitz was immediately hailed as one of Britain's most exciting young playwrights. From the poverty of the East End to the conflict in Northern Ireland to the society and politics of biblical Palestine, his plays are famous for their poignant wit and outstanding dialogue, depicting acts of humanity and brutality, goodwill and violence, in a flawed but fascinating world. Spanning the full twenty-five years of Mankowitz's career as a dramatist, this volume provides a selection of his best work for the stage. Alongside Mankowitz's longest and most challenging play The Samson Riddle, it also includes the full text of his powerful accompanying essay, as well as an introduction by his official biographer Anthony Dunn.

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Includes the plays The Neighbour, The Editing, Faith, Her Mother and Bartok, Shadowmouth, Glide and The Mind of the MeetingTwo highly regarded early plays, The Neighbour and The Editing Process (here presented in a revised version) present a study in contrasts: the first a battle of wills between two young men on a housing estate; the second an urbane but despairing comedy set in a publisher's offices.Faith provides a vision of military conflict as a testing ground for English values, while Her Mother and Bartok focuses on a husband and wife as they discuss their first meeting from the perspective of the less-than-inspiring present. In Shadowmouth a troubled teenager is thrown out by his single mother and is taken in by a middle-aged single man. Glide and The Mind of the Meeting are short radio plays.

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Emile Zola’s own stage adaptation of his taut, psychological thriller. An intense story of adultery, murder and revenge, streaked with social satire.

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Set amongst the whores, alcoholics, cynics and doss house dreamers of a Russia on the brink of revolution, The Lower Depths is a harrowing, violent and uncompromising portrayal of the human spirit at its lowest ebb, with destitution and death an ever present spectre.

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Elma is a singer in a sleazy 1930s Berlin nighclub. Having suffered an appalling assault during the First World War, she has no memory of her former life. A man appears and tells her that she is, in fact, the wife of an Italian aristocrat, and a new life awaits her. But when she goes to Italy to pursue this dream, she is greeted only by problems and disappointments. Pirandello uses this story to explore the mysteries of identity and memory, themes that preoccupied him throughout his life. Hugh Whitemore's version premiered in London's West End in 2005 in a production starring Kristen Scott Thomas and Bob Hoskins. His other plays include Stevie, Pack of Liars, Breaking the Code and A Letter of Resignation. He has also written many film and TV scripts.

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Ten years after the end of their affair in New York, two lovers meet in a hotel room far from their homes. Both are now married, both have children and both have been wondering about the road not taken. What begins as a casual meal and an evening of catching up turns into a painful, hilarious, passionate and moving voyage towards a moment that could change both their lives forever. Uncompromising in its attitude to modern marriage and infidelity, What the Night is For poses timeless questions – Am I with the right person? Or is my real soul mate still out there, living another life?

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