LITMIR.BIZ

Chris Mullin’s witty and irreverent take on contemporary politics adapted for the stage, reflecting three worlds during a time of crisis and change – the febrile political village of Westminster, the flash points of Africa which he toured as a minister, and the fragile community he served as an MP.‘Fast paced and very funny… Blending gossip, insight and details of the frustrations of ministerial and backbench life alike… [an] exhilarating adaptation…I cannot recommend it too highly.’ 4* Michael Billington - Guardian ‘[an] absorbing evening…a bit of a must.’ 4* The Telegraph ‘Anyone with even a passing interest in how this country has been governed over the past 15 years is advised to walk on in. Mullin’s decency and ideological conviction – not to mention a wonderful sense of humour, directed at himself as well as his colleagues – guides our journey safely. It’s impossible not to feel politics is the poorer without Mullin.’ 4* Evening Standard

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Includes the plays The Last Supper, Seven Lears, Hated Nightfall and Wounds to the FaceHoward Barker is one of the most significant and controversial dramatists of his time. His plays challenge, unsettle and expose.Both The Last Supper and Seven Lears exemplify Barker's way with great religious and literary stories, the first placing the wilful suicide of a Christ-like prophet, Lvov, in the context of modern chaos, illuminating his moral ambiguities with comic or painful parables, the second taking its inspiration from the significant absence in Shakespeare's play, that of Lear's wife, the queen whose murder is here discerned as the origin as the great family tragedy.The execution of the Russian royal family remains shrouded in mystery – not least that of the identity of two bodies discovered in the mass grave years after the event. In Hated Nightfall Barker's speculative imagination leads him to identify these as the children's tutor, Dancer, and a recalcitrant servant, Jane. Dancer is perhaps Barker's archetypal hero, febrile, iconoclastic, yet in search of a self-sacrifice nothing appears to justify. In Wounds to the Face, our complex and sometimes violent relations with our own physiognomy form the psychological link between related scenes of wounding, notoriety, shame and vanity in a play of kaleidoscopic energy and imagery.

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1951. Hollywood. Songwriter Ernie Case has an Oscar on the shelf, an aspiring actress in his bed, and a screenplay getting the green-light from Studio. Life, it seems, is looking up.Only two hurdles lie ahead: he needs the mysterious Diva as his leading lady and he needs to keep well clear of Senator McCarthy's anti-communist witch hunt. But, as his relationship with Diva deepens, he realises that some things are more important than hit songs sung by Sinatra.

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Craftsmanship has again become fashionable in high places, just as it did in the last few recessions.The concept of craftsmanship has never been as relevant and timely as it is today. Assailed on all sides by – among many other tendencies – flexible working, short-termism, portfolio careers, quick-fix training and the cult of celebrity, it has recently re-entered public debate with a new sense of urgency. Why? This series of linked essays by the man who ran the Royal College of Art for many years explores the crafts in education, in history and literature, in the contemporary arts landscape, in the language, in the digital age, and takes an unsentimental, hard-headed look at craftsmanship today. Only when the romantic cobwebs have been blown away, it argues, can the key importance of the crafts be fully understood.

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‘That is the story of our beginning. And this is the story of…the end’ Lovesong is the story of one couple, told from two different points in their lives – as young lovers in their 20s and as worldly companions looking back on their relationship. Their past and present selves collide in this haunting and beautiful tale of togetherness. All relationships have their ups and downs; the optimism of youth becomes the wisdom of experience. Love is a leap of faith.‘As tender as the bruised peaches that fall to the ground in the garden of the elderly couple's US home… only the hard of heart will remain completely unmoved’ – Guardian ‘An atmospheric, gentle, humorous tear-jerker… a good supply of tissues may be needed’ 4 stars – What’s On Stage ‘Compelling, understated perfection. both poignant and uplifting… [a] beautifully constructed piece’ – The Stage ‘Deeply moving, potently mixing memory and desire’ – Telegraph ‘This portrait of ageing and enduring love tugs at the heartstrings’ – Independent ‘Like love itself, Lovesong can take your breath away’ – Observer

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‘I don’t tingle anymore. I used to. To tingle. Everything I feel, feels like it’s in my hands. Rest of me’s totally….numb.’In a world of systematic, high-speed technology, some people expect to live life as efficiently as the machines they depend on… and when a machine breaks down, there is usually someone with the skills to fix it. But in an age where things that don't work and can't be mended are thrown away, what do we do with something as human and messy as love?Laura Wade’s plays, Colder Than Here and Breathing Corpses played simultaneously at Soho Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre respectively, and are both published by Oberon Books. Breathing Corpses earned her the Pearson Best Play Award 2005 and she was joint winner of the 2005 George Devine Award.

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Don Juan’s back from the War and he’s got some catching up to do. Berlin is crumbling, but after years of abstinence, the Don is ready for more of the debauchery that once made his name. Amidst political and economic upheaval, Don Juan finds himself increasingly at odds with the man he used to be. Is this notorious lothario about to experience a sudden change of heart?Ödön von Horváth’s startling tale of displacement and isolation in the aftermath of the Great War is presented in a bold new adaptation by award-winning playwright Duncan Macmillan.Five Stars WhatsOnTheFringe Four Stars, The Public Reviews Ödön von Horváth’s startling tale of displacement and isolation in the aftermath of the Great War is presented in a bold new adaptation by award-winning playwright Duncan Macmillan. Fringe Report In Duncan MacMillan's new version the writing is gritty, grimy, and powerful, while director Andrea Ferran's production has some mesmerising moments and beautifully acted memorable scenes that liberate a raw sensuality. Jo Sutherland, The Stage

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In these four lectures Peter Hall reveals a lifetime of discoveries about classical theatre, Shakespeare, opera and modern drama. The central argument is that form and structured language paradoxically give freedom to power of thought and feeling, much as the masks of early Greek drama enabled actors to express extreme emotion. The mask may take many forms – the precise language of Beckett and Pinter, the classical form of Mozart’s operas, or Shakespeare’s verse. Reprinted to form part of the Oberon Masters series, a brand new collection of attractive hardbacks on key themes within the arts written by leading lights in each subject. ‘The wisest and most stimulating short book about theatre since Peter Brook’s The Empty Space – Charles Spencer, Sunday Telegraph

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A four character thriller. Two east-end chancers, George and Lennie, have kidnapped wealthy heiress Charlotte Chamberlain and taken her to a remote farmhouse. George is confident her father will pay five million to get her back safely. But why did he insist on renting the farmhouse in Lennie's name? Does he plan to double cross Lennie, frame him for the crime and keep all the money himself? Will slow-witted Lennie work out what's going on in time to save himself? Or is the kidnap only a feint to disguise an infinitely more devious scheme? And who is really pulling the strings?This intriguing new drama will chill and thrill you and keep you guessing until the last nailbiting moment.‘It is rare indeed top find oneself totally committed to a play and mesmerised from the very first word. Total concentration from start to finish makes this first thriller by Roger Mortimer-Smith all the more remarkable. Add to that moments of sheer comedy, bringing roars of laughter, and you have something truly unique.... guaranteed to hold audiences spellbound’ – The Stage

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Cardboard Citizens presents the story of an entire nation made homeless, starting in the age of Cold War secrets and ending in the era of global warming. A Few Man Fridays unearths an inglorious episode of British history. Between 1967 and 1973, the population of the Chagos Islands was evicted to make way for a US military base. For forty years they have fought for justice in an epic struggle that is unlikely to end even when the European Court of Justice delivers a ruling later this year. A Few Man Fridays traces the displacement of these 'unpeople' and the successive denial of their right to nationhood.Cardboard Citizens has worked with homeless people and the marginalised for 20 years, marrying personal stories and historical subjects into an epic theatre that challenges public perceptions of social exclusion. This new play explores the fantasies of the powerful, set against the dreams of the powerless.‘Impassioned… The script spins out in all sorts of intriguing ways… an increasingly riveting evening that wraps hard facts in a parcel of fiction’ 4 stars – Evening Standard ‘If you like your theatre political then A Few Man Fridays is definitely one to see… a rich tapestry woven of injustice, hypocrisy and loss; a tale of the powerful against the powerless, the big silencing the small, and in this case, a tale made for theatre to tell.’ – A Younger Theatre ‘Has the daring sweep of Complicite’s Mnemonic and is almost as suspenseful as it is richly, hauntingly elegiac.’ – Sunday Times ‘This is a play that punches you hard even as it enchants you. It wakes up a social conscience you may have never known you had.’ – BroadwayBaby.com

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