Methuen Drama Book of 21st Century British Plays: "Blue/orange"; "Elmina's Kitchen"; "Realism"; "Gone Too Far!"; "Pornography" (Play Anthologies) - Softcover

Anthony Neilson; Bola Agbaje; Joe Penhall; Kwame Kwei-Armah; Simon Stephens

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1408123916 ISBN 13: 9781408123911

Publisher: Methuen Drama, 2010

Synopsis

The Methuen Drama Book of Twenty-First Century British Plays showcases five of the best new plays from the first decade of the twenty-first century. A perfect reminder of the relevance, vitality and innovation of British theatre, this collection represents some of the most exciting plays to emerge in recent years.

Joe Penhall's multi-award-winning Blue/Orange (National Theatre and West End, 2000/1) was heralded as 'one of the best new plays in the National's history' (Sunday Times). Set in a mental hospital it provides a riveting exploration of racism, health and power, and was the winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Play 2001.
Elmina's Kitchen by Kwame Kwei-Armah (National Theatre and West End, 2003) about gun crime and the struggle to make a living on Hackney's Murder Mile, marked the emergence of a major new writing talent. The play was the first of a tryptch of plays commissioned and produced by the National Theatre. 'An exquisite tragi-comedy for our times' (Herald)
Neilson's Realism (Royal Lyceum, 2006) dramatises the everyday life and increasingly bizarre fantasies and thoughts of its protagonist with comic zeal and inspired inventiveness.
Gone Too Far! explores a London community divided by race and prejudice. The debut play by Bola Agbaje, it was produced to great acclaim as part of the Royal Court's Young Writers Festival 2007.
The first play to be written about the London 7/7 terrorist bombings, Simon Stephens' Pornography tells seven entwining stories of people's lives during the day leading up to the catastrophic event.

About this title

About the Author:

Joe Penhall is the author of screenplay Enduring Love for Film Four, based on the Ian McEwan novel, the three-part TV drama Moses Jones besides a number of stage plays. Penhall Plays: 2 published in 2008. Kwame Kwei-Armah's most recent play, Let There Be Love was produced at the Tricycle Theatre, London, in 2008, and his first collection of plays will be published in July 2009. Anthony Neilson is an Artistic Associate of National Theatre of Scotland and a creator of pioneering, taboo-breaking new work. Neilson Plays: 2 published in 2008. Bola Agbaje had her first play Gone Too Far! produced at the Royal Court in 2007. It was revived owing to its success later that same year. Simon Stephens won the Olivier Award for Best New Play 2005 for On the Shore of the Wide World. Stephens Plays 2 published in 2009. Editor Aleks Sierz is the theatre critic of Tribune and a freelance theatre reviewer. His seminal study, In-Yer-Face Theatre, defined a new generation of writers and their work. In 2006 Methuen Drama published his guide, The Theatre of Martin Crimp.

About this edition

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1408123916
• ISBN 13: 9781408123911
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480
• Editor: Aleks Sierz