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On Theatre

This selection of Bertolt Brecht's critical writing charts the development of his thinking on theatre and aesthetics over four decades. The volume demonstrates how the theories of Epic Theatre and Alienation evolved, and contains notes and essays on the staging of The Threepenny Opera, Mahagonny, Mother Courage, Puntila, Galileo and many others of his plays. Also included is A Short Organum for the Theatre, Brecht's most complete statement of his revolutionary philosophy of the theatre.With over 32 pages of photographs of Brecht's productions and workshops, this is a key volume for Literature and Theatre Studies alike.

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The Empty Space (Penguin Modern Classics)

In The Empty Space, groundbreaking director Peter Brook draws on a life in love with the stage to explore the issues facing any theatrical performance. Here he describes important developments in theatre from the last century, as well as smaller scale events, from productions by Stanislavsky to the rise of Method Acting, from Brecht’s revolutionary alienation technique to the free form Happenings of the 1960s, and from the different styles of such great Shakespearean actors as John Gielgud and Paul Scofield to a joyous impromptu performance in the burnt-out shell of the Hamburg Opera just after the war. Passionate, unconventional and fascinating, his book shows how theatre defies rules, builds and shatters illusions and creates lasting memories for its audiences.

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The director's craft: A handbook for the theatre

Written by one of the UK’s most respected working directors, this book is a practical guide to directing in theatre and includes specific advice on every aspect of working with actors, designers, and the text.

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Taking Stock: The Theatre of Max Stafford-Clark

Inside accounts of the making of some of the most influential theatre productions of the last four decades. Max Stafford-Clark has been at the cutting edge of theatre in Britain for more than thirty years. Taking Stock draws on diaries, photos and interviews to recreate the evolution of nine of his most famous and influential productions: Fanshen by David Hare Epsom Downs by Howard Brenton Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill Rita, Sue and Bob Too by Andrea Dunbar Serious Money by Caryl Churchill Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker The Steward of Christendom by Sebastian Barry Some Explicit Polaroids by Mark Ravenhill Macbeth by William Shakespeare The result is one of the richest, most intimately informative books on the making of theatre.

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The Royal Court Theatre Inside Out

'The Royal Court has been at the centre of British cultural life for the past 50 years, an engine room for new writing and constantly transforming the theatrical culture' - Stephen Daldry. For half a century the Royal Court has been at the cutting edge of British theatre. Established by George Devine as a 'writers' theatre', the Court has consistently provided a platform for the most vital dramatic talents of the day. Illustrated throughout with photographs from the plays, and reproduces documents and rehearsal notes from the original productions, "Inside Out" considers the most notable productions from the tenure of each successive artistic director since the Court opened, and includes interviews with actors, writers, designers, technicians, and directors themselves.It lays bare the truth about controversies over productions like Look Back in Anger, Saved, Perdition, and Shopping and F**king, the closely fought battles over funding, and remarkable internal struggles between huge and competitive personalities at the heart of the Court. "Inside Out" combines a probing history with a unique collection of original and revealing anecdotes from everyone involved in the story of this most influential and important of cultural institutions.

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The History Boys

An unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university. A maverick English teacher at odds with the young and shrewd supply teacher. A headmaster obsessed with results; a history teacher who thinks he's a fool. In Alan Bennett's new play, staff room rivalry and the anarchy of adolescence provoke insistent questions about history and how you teach it; about education and its purpose.

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Fat Chance

In February 1995, Simon Gray's Cell Mates opened at the Albery Theatre, London, starring Stephen Fry and Rik Mayall. A few days later, Stephen Fry mysteriously - and famously - vanished, leaving in his wake a mixture of anger and incomprehension, turmoil and gallantry. Fry's understudy stepped in, a replacement was found, but just three weeks later, the play closed. Fat Chance is Simon Gray's intimate story of how a West End play was made and unmade, a classic account of theatrical misadventure.

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Harold Pinter

During the past ten years, Harold Pinter has written a new play, three film scripts, sheaves of poems, several sketches and created, with composer James Clarke, a pioneering work for radio, Voices. He has acted on stage, screen and radio, he has appeared on countless political platforms, and his work has been extensively celebrated in festivals at Dublin's Gate Theatre and New York's Lincoln Center. In 2005, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and in 2006, the European Theatre Prize. As if this were not enough, he has in the last five years twice come close to death. But he has faced hospitalisation with stoic resilience and his spirit remains as fiercely combative as ever. He wrote in 2005 to Professor Avraham Oz, one of Israel's leading internal opponents of authoritarianism: 'Let's keep fighting.'

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The Crafty Art of Playmaking

With over 60 plays written and staged, many playing in the West End or the Royal National Theatre, Alan Ayckbourn's expertise on writing and directing plays is unsurpassed. Here, he shares his tricks of the trade. From helpful hints on writing (Where has your play come from? Where is it going? How does it get there? What is comedy and how do you write it? What is tragedy and how does it work?) to tips on directing (working with actors and technicians, when to listen to the experts, how to cope with rehearsals), the book provides a complete primer for the tyro and a refresher for the more experienced.

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The Overwhelming

Seizing the opportunity to research a book, Jack Exley uproots his family from Illinois to Rwanda in early 1994. Alarmingly out of depth, Jack begins a fervent search for his dear and missing friend while his wife and teenage son find trouble of their own. As Jack involves himself in the local politics, he discovers a pattern of brutality and beliefs that jeopardizes the lives of everyone around him. This is a gripping story of a country on the brink of genocide.