Other books that might interest you

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  Antony and Cleopatra

  William Shakespeare

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  Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Life of Marcus Antonius and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony from the time of the Parthian War to Cleopatra's suicide. The major antagonist is Octavius Caesar, one of Antony's fellow triumviri and the future first emperor of Rome. The tragedy is a Roman play characterized by swift, panoramic shifts in geographical locations and in registers, alternating between sensual, imaginative Alexandria and the more pragmatic, austere Rome.

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  Second Place Rosette - Poems...

  Richard O'Brien

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  Second Place Rosette is a calendar of the customs, rituals and practices that make up life in modern Britain. The poems take in maypole dancing, mehndi painting, and medical prescriptions. Some events, like the Jewish Sabbath, happen every week; some, like the putting away of Christmas decorations, thankfully come only once a year. The subjects range from the universal to the personal: every family might have its own ritual, and each culture its own important figures to remember and commemorate. In the introduction, co-editor Emma Wright notes how, as the daughter of a refugee, she felt 'deeply disturbed by current discourse about Britishness and how it seems impossible to separate talk of national identity and pride from talk of exclusion and isolation.' Against that divisive rhetoric, Wright and co-editor Richard O'Brien have assembled a refreshingly inclusive take on national identity. Poets from different cultural backgrounds speak to their sense of what Britain means through their own daily lived experience, through what they care about on a grass-roots level. The nation which emerges from the poems is a patchwork quilt of betting tips and TV dinners, nights out on Bold Street and strolls in the park. While the years pass, the seasons cycle, and the people who make up the country change, these poets reveal how much stays the same. In Britain, there will always be a man running late who really should have been allowed to get the bus, and a warm spot by the fire in a pub in December. Much of the book displays an ambivalence towards the land and its rituals, but there is also love, affection and pride. Mixed feelings: what could be more British than that?

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  Stories From The Faerie Queene

  Edmund Spenser

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  "Stories From The Faerie Queene" is a retelling or abridged version of Edmund Spenser's epic poem "The Faerie Queene," which is a richly imaginative allegorical work dedicated to celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. The poem, originally published in the late 16th century, weaves tales of knights, dragons, maidens, and quests to represent virtues and human struggles. The stories within are adaptations of Spenser's intricate stanzas into prose or shorter narratives that make the text more accessible while maintaining its magical and moral complexity.

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  The Last Witch (NHB Modern Plays)

  Rona Munro

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  A play about the last woman to be executed for witchcraft in Scotland, The Last Witch explores the psychological rifts that can divide close communities and drive families apart.
  Dornoch, northern Scotland, 1727. In the claustrophobic heat of summer, a woman's apparent ability to manipulate the power of land and sea stirs suspicion. Janet Horne can cure beasts, call the wind and charm fish out of the sea. Or can she? Her refusal to deny the charge of witchcraft puts her in dangerous opposition to the new sheriff. Her defiance threatens not only her own life but that of her daughter...
  Rona Munro's play The Last Witch is based on the historical account of Janet Horne, the last woman to be executed for witchcraft in Scotland.
  The play was commissioned by Edinburgh International Festival and co-produced by the Festival and the Traverse Theatre Company. It opened at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, in August 2009.
  'Thrilling... seethes with poetry and emotion and is entirely gripping' - Guardian
  'A powerful, poetic and unsettling supernatural thriller' - Scotsman

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  The Quiet House (NHB Modern Plays)

  Gareth Farr

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  'It's passing on your thoughts, your personality, a part of yourself, your DNA. If we don't do that what are we? We're just dust.'
  Jess and Dylan are in love. They want a family. That's all they have ever wanted.
  When diagnosed with infertility, this ordinary couple find themselves on an extraordinary journey. They enter the world of IVF treatment where intimacy is replaced by injections.
  Forced to fight for the family they so desperately want, they put their faith in science and their relationship through the ultimate test.
  An exploration of infertility and the taboo that surrounds it, The Quiet House is a funny, moving and unswervingly honest love story, inspired by true events. It premiered at Birmingham Rep in May 2016 before playing at Park Theatre, London.

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  Oscar Wilde: The Importance of...

  Oscar Wilde

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  This is a solo recording of the play, meaning that all parts including stage directions are performed by one person, me, who incidentally enjoyed doing it immensely. Little needs to be said about the play itself, a sparkling example of Wilde's amazing ability to poke fun at almost everyone while making you laugh out loud at the witty sayings sprinkled throughout the acts. As to the plot, if you don't know it already, let me just say that it involves two young English men who fall madly and instantly in love with two young English women who of course love them back mainly because their name is Earnest. Unfortunately, that is not their names and there are many bumps and crashes on the road to the happy wedding bells. Listen and enjoy !

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