Download or read book Edward Gant s Amazing Feats of Loneliness written by Anthony Neilson and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2014-05-01 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Ladies and gentlemen, as some of you may know, my name is Edward Gant: prodigy, soldier, traveller, poet - but always and ever a showman.' In 1881, the famed and enigmatic impresario Mr Edward Gant presented his renowned travelling show for the final time. The opiate-addicted actor manager showcased his troupe creating a spectacle of grotesquery, black comedy, mystery and magic realism. Over a century later, playwright Anthony Neilson has reconstructed this intriguing and fantastic historical event in a theatrical piece that combines the melodrama and extravagance with the painful loneliness that characterised a Victorian freak show. Neilson's play offers a strange and beautiful exploration of sadness and mortality, probing even the nature of theatre itself. 'Without further ado, I present for your astonishment the Extraordinary! The Terrible! The AMAZING FEATS OF LONELINESS.' Edward Gant's Amazing Feats of Loneliness was first produced at the Drum Theatre, Plymouth, in 2002, and was revived by Headlong Theatre and the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, in February 2009.
Download or read book Edward Gant s Amazing Feats of Loneliness written by Anthony Neilson and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bizarre series of sketches inspired by Victorian travelling shows, 'Edward Gant's Amazing Feats of Loneliness' is a curious miscellany of tricks, jokes and melancholy. In 1881, the famed and enigmatic impresario Mr Edward Gant presented his renowned travelling show for the final time: a spectacle of grotesquery, tastelessness, black comedy, mystery and magic realism presided over by an opiate-addicted actor. Neilson has reconstructed this intriguing and fantastic historical event, offering a strange and beautiful exploration of sadness and mortality and probing the nature of theatre and spectacle. With a cast that includes a girl whose face sprouts pearls and a teddy bear desperate for an imaginary cup of tea, it is a theatrical piece combining the melodrama, extravagance and painful loneliness that characterised a Victorian freak show. It was first performed in 2002 at The Theatre Royal, Plymouth.
Download or read book Neilson Plays 1 written by Anthony Neilson and published by Methuen Drama. This book was released on 2009-03-16 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anthony Neilson's plays collected in one volume Includes the plays: Normal "a tight, powerful, three-hander...achieved with a sense of discipline and thematic energy" (Guardian), Penetrator "This is one of the blackest, funniest and most shocking comedy dramas you will ever see" (Sunday Times), Year of the Family "His writing is as tight and courageous as ever...highly recommended for those who like to think" (What's On), The Night Before Christmas "is a smutty, dangerously funny but ultimately warm-hearted cri de coeur against the Christmas Industry" (Stage); The Censor "is a profound and tragic vision of humanity at its bare forked basics" (Evening Standard).
Download or read book Neilson Plays 2 written by Anthony Neilson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-10-10 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1990s playwright Anthony Neilson garnered a reputation for hard-hitting, morally disturbing plays that saw him labelled as one of the 'In Yer Face' dramatists who emerged from that decade. This second volume of plays showcases the comic, surreal and gloriously off-kilter side of his more recent work. Edward Gant's Amazing Feats of Loneliness! (Theatre Royal, Plymouth, 2002) mixes Victorian melodrama with a catalogue of grotesque comic tales; The Lying Kind (Royal Court, 2002), a black farce set at Christmas involving two hapless policeman who must break news of tragedy to an elderly couple, 'often reduced much of the audience to tears of laughter' (Financial Times). Produced originally for the 2004 Edinburgh International Festival, The Wonderful World of Dissocia wowed critics and audiences alike. A hugely original play inspired by Alice in Wonderland, it is both magical and moving and confirmed Neilson as one of the major voices in contemporary British Theatre. Realism premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2006. It follows the life of one man during an ordinary day but veers off to become a deliriously surreal trip inside his wayward imagination. It was described by the Guardian as a 'bold and utterly distinctive all-singing, all-dancing show, like nothing else you'll ever see'.
Download or read book The Theatre of Anthony Neilson written by Trish Reid and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-07-27 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anthony Neilson is one of the most exciting and challenging voices in contemporary British theatre. For more than two decades he has been in the vanguard of new writing and has acquired a formidable reputation for innovation and experimentation. His major stage plays include Penetrator, The Censor, Stitching, Realism, Unreachable and his 2004 masterpiece The Wonderful World of Dissocia, arguably one of the finest Scottish plays of the new millennium. This volume provides the first full-length study of Neilson's plays and his innovative rehearsal methodology. As well as providing a detailed account of each play Trish Reid includes an extensive new interview with Neilson and additional contributions from important scholars and commentators in the field. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to develop a better understanding of one of British theatre's most original artists.
Download or read book Neilson Plays 1 written by Anthony Neilson and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-06-06 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anthony Neilson's plays collected in one volume Includes the plays: Normal "a tight, powerful, three-hander...achieved with a sense of discipline and thematic energy" (Guardian), Penetrator "This is one of the blackest, funniest and most shocking comedy dramas you will ever see" (Sunday Times), Year of the Family "His writing is as tight and courageous as ever...highly recommended for those who like to think" (What's On), The Night Before Christmas "is a smutty, dangerously funny but ultimately warm-hearted cri de coeur against the Christmas Industry" (Stage); The Censor "is a profound and tragic vision of humanity at its bare forked basics" (Evening Standard).
Download or read book Stitching written by Anthony Neilson and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2014-02-17 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We will fix it. We will mend it... In the light of a pregnancy, a faithless couple pick apart their relationship, stitch by painful stitch. Can it be mended? Anthony Neilson's dark and intimate new play is a love story set at the extremes of brutality, banality and tenderness. Stitching opened at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, on 2 August 2002 and transferred to the Bush Theatre, London, on 12 September 2002."Explodes with power, discipline, integrity and sheer cruel psychological accuracy ... Neilson's writing has a terrible beauty" Sunday Times "Startlingly rich and challenging, Neilson depicts with aching precision a relationship in which love is undermined by distrust" Time Out "Shattering, shocking...a serious, persuasive account of the blind alleys love can lead us down" Daily Telegraph "A characteristically brave and brutal offering" Independent "A deeply mesmerising, if shocking, experience as a couple smashes through taboo after taboo in a harrowing sexual tug of war" Evening Standard
Download or read book The Wonderful World of Dissocia written by Anthony Neilson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-07-27 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Anthony Neilson's 2004 play is half a lark, half deadly serious' TIME OUT 'A profane, madcap, Alice-in-Wonderland trip morphs into something much more profound in Anthony Neilson's weirdly compelling 2004 study of mental instability' EVENING STANDARD Lisa Jones is on a journey. It's a colourful and exciting off-kilter trip in search of one lost hour that has tipped the balance of her life. The inhabitants of the wonderful world she finds herself in – Dissocia – are a curious blend of the funny, the friendly and the brutal. This Student Edition of Anthony Neilson's 2004 play, which premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival, features a commentary and notes by anna six. It introduces students to debates surrounding mental health and situates Neilson within a British theatrical tradition, including through an interview with him.
Download or read book Rewriting the Nation written by Aleks Sierz and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2011-01-25 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an essential guide for anyone interested in the best new British stage plays to emerge in the new millennium. For students of theatre studies and theatre-goers Rewriting the Nation: British Theatre Today is a perfect companion to Britain's burgeoning theatre writing scene. It explores the context from which new plays have emerged and charts the way that playwrights have responded to the key concerns of the decade and helped shape our sense of who we are. In recent years British theatre has seen a renaissance in playwriting accompanied by a proliferation of writing awards and new writing groups. The book provides an in-depth exploration of the industry and of the key plays and playwrights. It opens by defining what is meant by 'new writing' and providing a study of the leading theatres, such as the Royal Court, the Traverse, the Bush, the Hampstead and the National theatres, together with the London fringe and the work of touring companies. In the second part, Sierz provides a fascinating survey of the main issues that have characterised new plays in the first decade of the new century, such as foreign policy and war overseas, economic boom and bust, divided communities and questions of identity and race. It considers too how playwrights have re-examined domestic issues of family, of love, of growing up, and the fantasies and nightmares of the mind. Against the backdrop of economic, political and social change under New Labour, Sierz shows how British theatre responded to these changes and in doing so has been and remains deeply involved in the project of rewriting the nation.
Download or read book The Methuen Drama Book of 21st Century British Plays written by Joe Penhall and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2010-02-26 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection showcases the five best new plays from the first decade of the twenty-first century and perfectly reflects why British theatre is regarded as the epicenter of vitality, relevance and innovation in drama and the performing arts. Blue/Orange, Elmina's Kitchen, Neilson's Realism, Gone Too Far! and Pornography.
Download or read book The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary British Playwrights written by Aleks Sierz and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-10-17 with total page 545 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary British Playwrights is an authoritative guide to the work of twenty-five playwrights who have risen to prominence since the 1980s. Written by an international team of scholars, it will be invaluable to anyone interested in, studying or teaching contemporary drama. Among the many playwrights whose work is examined are Sarah Daniels, Terry Johnson, Martin Crimp, Sarah Kane, Anthony Neilson, Mark Ravenhill, Simon Stephens, Debbie Tucker Green, Tanika Gupta and Richard Bean. Each essay features: A biographical sketch and introduction to the playwright A discussion of their most important plays An analysis of their stylistic and thematic traits, the critical reception and their place in the discourses of British theatre A bibliography of texts and critical material
Download or read book Heritage Nostalgia and Modern British Theatre written by Benjamin Poore and published by Springer. This book was released on 2011-11-15 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The stage portrayal of the Victorians in recent times is a key reference point in understanding notions of Britishness, and the profound politicisation of that debate over the last four decades. This book throws new light on works by canonical playwrights like Bond, Edgar, and Churchill, linking theatre to the wider culture at large.
Download or read book The Lying Kind written by Anthony Neilson and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-12-30 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brand new comedy by the writer of the hit play Stitching, published to tie in with the Royal Court's Christmas production from November 2002 Constables Blunt and Gobbel have one last duty to fulfil before they can finish their Christmas eve shift; telling the old couple at No. 58 some terrible news. But what if the shock is too much for them? Blunt and Gobbel didn't join up in order to ruin people's lives. Maybe they'd be happier not knowing. And maybe it would all be much easier if the two constables weren't also stuck in the middle of a full-scale village lynch-mob.
Download or read book Contemporary Scottish Plays written by Alistair Beaton and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2014-09-25 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To paraphrase Alistair Beaton's Caledonia - the first play in this collection - 'The English have anthologies, the Spanish have anthologies, the French have anthologies . . . why should not Scotland have its anthology?' Scotland is entering a crucial period in its history, where its identity is being debated daily, from everyday conversation to the national and international press. At the same time, its theatre is resurgent, with key Scottish playwrights, theatres and theatre companies expanding their performance vocabularies while coming to prominence in national and international contexts. Caledonia is a tale of hubris and delusion, portraying a crucial slice of Scotland's history and its foray into imperial colonialism told with dark humour and creative flair, by award-winning playwright and satirist Alistair Beaton. Bullet Catch, by Rob Drummond, is a unique theatrical experience exploring the world of magic, featuring mind-reading, levitation, and the most notorious finale in show business. Morna Pearson's The Artist Man and the Mother Woman is a wickedly funny, deceptively simple, surreal portrait of a spectacularly dysfunctional relationship. Rantin', by Kieran Hurley draws on storytelling, live music and an unapologetically haphazard take on Scottish folk tradition, in an attempt to stitch together fragmented stories to reveal a botched patchwork of a nation. First performed at the Royal Court in 2013, Narrative by Anthony Neilson is a theatrical exploration of the the boundaries and possibilities of storytelling. Featuring plays from Alistair Beaton, Rob Drummond, Morna Pearson, Kieran Hurley and Anthony Neilson, this collection is edited by Dr. Trish Reid, a leading critical voice on Scottish theatre.
Download or read book First Love is the Revolution written by Rita Kalnejais and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-10-26 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'I’m not tame 'cause I want to be with you' Basti and Rdeca are pulling all-nighters. When their paths cross, the sparks fly and an impossible bond spirals dangerously out of control. A viciously funny and unforgettable play about first love, teenage lust and nature vs nurture. Rita Kalnejais’s audacious new play directed by Steve Marmion is a Soho Theatre commission written whilst on attachment to the Soho Six
Download or read book Mongrel Island written by Ed Harris and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2011-07-14 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marie is losing herself in her grey office existence, trapped by endless piles of paperwork and the same people saying the same things every single day. But as she is forced to work later and later into the night, she discovers a deeply strange twilight world where a new possibility for rescuing her sanity is illuminated by the fluorescent office lights. Commissioned by Soho Theatre and written by up-and-coming writer Ed Harris, Mongrel Island explores the mind and memory, offering a perspective of how the workplace can strip away our humanity. Combining madcap, surreal humour with an indictment of the corporate world's subjugation of individualism, Mongrel Island is a bittersweet, touching and darkly humourous play.
Download or read book Contemporary Rehearsal Practice written by Gary Cassidy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-02-22 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides the first comprehensive study of Anthony Neilson’s unconventional rehearsal methodology. Neilson’s notably collaborative rehearsal process affords an unusual amount of creative input to the actors he works with and has garnered much interest from scholars and practitioners alike. This study analyses material edited from 100 hours of footage of the rehearsals of Neilson’s 2013 play Narrative at the Royal Court Theatre, as well as interviews with Neilson himself, the Narrative cast and actors from other Neilson productions. Replete with case studies, Gary Cassidy also considers the work of other relevant practitioners where appropriate, such as Katie Mitchell, Forced Entertainment, Joan Littlewood, Peter Brook, Complicite’s Simon McBurney, Stanislavski and Sarah Kane. Contemporary Rehearsal Practice will be of great interest to scholars, students and practitioners of theatre and performance and those who have an interest in rehearsal studies.
