As Edward IV lay on his deathbed he had no knowledge of the dark conspiracy which was to surround his son & his brother Richard after his death. He decreed that Richard should act as protector to the young Edward but his wish was honoured for just a short time
- until Edward was named a bastard & the crown placed on Richards unwilling head. This is the story of the two tumultuous years of his reign
- told by the Man of Keen Sight who befriended & then betrayed him & by the Nun who had known him in happier times. Here is the story of the last Plantagenet who died a king on Bosworth Field...

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First published in 1938 The Theatre & Its Double" is a collection of essays detailing Antonin Artauds radical theories on drama which he saw as being stifled by conservatism & lack of experimentation. It contains the famous manifestos of the Theatre of Cruelty analyses the underlying impulses of performance provides some suggestions on a physical training method for actors & actresses & features a long appreciation of the expressive values of Eastern dance drama. Also included is Seraphims Theatre in which Artaud attempts an actors application of the Taoist principles of fullness & emptiness. This groundbreaking text is widely read throughout the world for the beauty of its style & as a source of inspiration for new drama & will appeal to those in search of the essence of theatre." ...

In this cutting-edge text Trish Reid offers a concise overview of the shifting roles of theater & theatricality in Scottish culture. She asks important questions about the relationship between Scottish theater history & identity & celebrates the recent emergence of a generation of internationally successful Scottish playwrights. ...

This indispensable student guide to the study of drama is the first to explain in detail the relationship between the drama text & the theory & practice of theatre in performance. The study of semiotics is an increasingly important area of critical practice & a vital component in any up-to-date drama course yet it poses a number of tricky & tantalising questions for the student approaching it for the first time. What is the relationship between theory & practice? How can an understanding of the text as a system of signs be related to the semiotics of stage performance? Can the performance of drama also be read as a sign-system? Beginning at the beginning with accessible explanations of the meanings & methods of semiotics Theatre as Sign-System addresses key drama texts from Sophocles to Caryl Churchill & offers new & detailed information about performance theory which can be related to textual practice. ...

This sequel to the popular The Theatre Audition Book" features over 130 monologues from classical Shakespeare period modern & contemporary plays & a new chapter on musical theatre & the medium including commercial & film auditions. The monologues -- some taken from non-dramatic sources like novels & poems -- are organised by historical times & provide an overview of acting styles & audition expectations for playing each time period. The collection features well-known playwrights including Ntozake Shange Athol Fugard Christopher Durang John Patrick Shanley Edward Albee August Wilson Beth Henley Terrence Mc Nally & Paula Vogel -- & a number of exciting new writers who have contributed original monologues written especially for classroom study & performance. There are also a number of original duologues & musical monologues from standard classics -- The Man of La Mancha Big River & You're a Good Man Charlie Brown." ...

It is 1942. The theatres of war are North Africa & Italy. All eyes follow the front but behind the scenes a messier war continues an improvised game of snatched triumphs terrible mistakes & terrifying uncertainty. Cabaret singer by night spy by day Richard risks his life to help British servicemen escape occupied France & get back to Engl&. Rose leads a group of dancers with mixed morals high-kicking to entertain the troops as Hitler's bombers roar in the skies above. Then she is given orders to join the forces in the field destination unknown. Meanwhile a phantom pianist who has lost the love of his life is following Montys soldiers across the African desert mocking the enemies guns by playing Beethoven between the lines. ...

The legends surrounding the royal house of Thebes inspired Sophocles to create a powerful trilogy of mankind's struggle against fate. King Oedipus" tells of a man who brings pestilence to Thebes for crimes he doesn't realise he has committed & then inflicts a brutal punishment on himself. It is a devastating portrayal of a ruler brought down by his own oath. " Oedipus at Colonus" provides a fitting conclusion to the life of the aged & blinded king while " Antigone" depicts the fall of the next generation through the conflict between a young woman ruled by her conscience & a king too confident in his own authority." ...

When Janie at sixteen is caught kissing shiftless Johnny Taylor her grandmother swiftly marries her off to an old man with sixty acres. Janie endures two stifling marriages before meeting the man of her dreams who offers not diamonds but a packet of flowering seeds.. .' For me THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD is one of the very greatest American novels of the 20th century. It is so lyrical it should be sentimental; it is so passionate it should be overwrought but it is instead a rigorous convincing & dazzling piece of prose as emotionally satisfying as it is impressive. There is no novel I love more' Zadie Smith ...

Forbidden but not forgotten... As Molly Drummonds new boss Lucas Banning poses a challenge
- hes brooding demanding & far too goodlooking.
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THEM began as a book about different kinds of extremists but after Jon had got to know some of them -- Islamic fundamentalists neo-Nazis Ku Klux Klansmen -- he found that they had one oddly similar belief: that a tiny shadowy elite rule the world from a secret room. In THEM Jon sets out with the help of the extremists to locate that room. The journey is as creepy as it is comic & along the way Jon is chased by men in dark glasses unmasked as a Jew in the middle of a Jihad training camp & witnesses international CEOs & politicians participate in a bizarre pagan ritual in the forests of northern California. THEM is a fascinating & entertaining exploration of extremism in which Jon learns some alarming things about the looking-glass world of 'them' & 'us'. Are the extremists on to something? Or has Jon become one of THEM? ...