The hope is what matters.In a disused bunker on the edge of an imaginary city in the aftermath of an apocalypse, Ashton and Reece have spent years looking for hope in the stories they act out. And then one day, from nowhere, a stranger arrives. He has a generator. He has fresh meat. And he has a gun.The staggering new play from Tony and Olivier award-winning playwright Simon Stephens is part thriller, part excavation of the soul.This edition was published t...

“When we travel abroad we see our home with a clarity that we may never have been offered before.” (Simon Stephens)In this compelling international collection, Olivier and Tony Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens continues his bold interrogation of human fragility, connection, and transformation across cultures and continents.From the haunting intimacy of A Dark, Dark, Dark, Dark Blue, to the lyrical solitude of Maria, the existential ...

There's a hole running through the centre of my stomach. You must have all felt a bit awkward because you can probably see it.Sea Wall is a delicate monologue, completely devastating and beautifully powerful.Alex's story, spoken directly to the audience, begins full of clear light and smiles, as he speaks about his wife, visiting her father in the South of France, having a daughter, photography, and the bottom of the sea. His tone is natural, happy and eng...

My name is Christopher John Francis Boone. I know all the countries of the world and the capital cities. And every prime number up to 7507.Christopher, fifteen years old, stands beside Mrs Shears's dead dog. It has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight, and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in the book he is writing to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain and is exceptional at maths, bu...

This schools' edition of Mark Haddon's multi-award-winning novel adapted for the stage of the National Theatre by Simon Stephens is perfect for Key Stages 3 and 4. Featuring the play script from the Modern Plays edition but with the language adjusted for school use*, this edition includes a wealth of classroom activities for the English and drama classrooms.Christopher, fifteen years old, stands beside Mrs Shears's dead dog. It has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minut...

2014 was a spectacular year for playwright Simon Stephens, who has been described by the Independent as 'a brilliant writer of immense imagination' and by the Financial Times as having 'emerged in this millennium as an outstanding playwright'.2014 was a year for Simon Stephens which featured a high number of world premiere plays including one for the theatre of his birthplace, Manchester's Royal Exchange, a major new play for the Downstairs space at London's Royal Court, and a Chek...

'Everything human beings do finishes up bad in the end. Everything good human beings ever make is built on something monstrous. Nothing lasts. We certainly won't...'Based on his experience as a teacher, Stephens describes his play as 'The History Boys on crack'. It explores the underlying tensions and potential violence in a group of affluent, articulate seventeen year old students. Contemporary and unnerving, with elements of The Catcher in the Rye, Punk Rock...

"Stephens writes dramas set in uncaring, uncompromising worlds, whose characters speak in a language at once naturalistic and yet artificially pared-down and whose uncertain attempts to assert their own identities sometimes lead to gratuitous and brutal acts of violence." - Financial TimesA fifth collection of plays by one of Britain's most prolific contemporary playwrights, Simon Stephens, charting his work from 2011-2016, ranging from London's Royal Court Theatre...

A beautifully illustrated history of the early ship models of the Royal Navy that are prized today as works of art.From about the middle of the seventeenth century, the Royal Navy's administrators began to commission models of their ships that were accurately detailed and, for the first time, systematically to scale. These developed a recognized style, which included features like the unplanked lower hull with a simplified pattern of framing that emphasized the sha...

Take your clothes off. That's better than a magazine...A love story set in the back room of a butcher's shop with a brutal bastard of a dog howling in the yard next door.Charlie's faith in the possibility of love can't be dimmed. No matter what deranged brutalities life throws at her. Victor doesn't take his builder's boots off for dinner, has a rule to never go to a woman's flat in case she gets 'ideas', and doesn't like secrets . . . or dogs . . ....

Don't panic.Don't be scared.This must feel strange to you.It felt strange to me…From quiet sorrows to breathtaking beauty, the mystery of human experience unfolds before you. In An Ark, four guides shepherd you into an understanding of the human condition, encompassing the joy of first love and the inevitability of death.The first play created for mixed reality, this genre-defying collaboration between Tony A...

Rediscover Anton Chekhov's acclaimed works in radical, creative new ways.The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard: Chekhov's major plays have been perennially popular since the late 19th century. But, as a new wave of diverse, contemporary theatre makers engage with his legendary works, these classics are transformed and reimagined by bold new approaches. In doing so, Chekhov's original drama is not only explored but reanimat...