Contemporary English Plays

James Graham is a multi award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His play This House gained critical acclaim, enjoyed a sell-out run at the National Theatre's Olivier in 2013 and its 2017 West End revival was Olivier-nominated. It was chosen by popular vote as the best play of the 2010's by Methuen Drama. James created theatre history when his two plays Ink, about the early days of Rupert Murdoch, and Labour of Love, a romantic political comedy, played in theatres next to each other in the West End in 2017. James won an Olivier award in 2018 for Labour of Love and Ink transferred to Broadway in 2019, receiving six Tony award nominations. James' play The Vote (Donmar Warehouse) aired in real time on TV in the final 90 minutes of the 2015 polling day and was BAFTA-nominated. His most recent television film, Brexit: An Uncivil War (Channel 4/HBO) is nominated for a 2019 Emmy Award.DC Moore's plays include Alaska (Royal Court), The Empire (Royal Court and Drum Theatre, Plymouth), Honest (Royal & Derngate, Northampton, Edinburgh Festival & Soho Theatre), Town (Royal & Derngate), The Swan (as part of Double Feature - National Theatre, Paintframe) and Straight (Sheffield Theatres and Bush Theatre).Anders Lustgarten is Pearson Playwright-in-Residence at the Finborough Theatre, where his first two plays, The Insurgents (2007) and Enduring Freedom (2008), were produced. Other work includes The Punishment Stories, (shortlisted for the 2007 Verity Bargate Award), an adaptation of Slawomir Mrozek's The Police (BAC 2007), The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie (2010) for the National Theatre Studio and If You Don't Let Us Dream Then We Won't Let You Sleep (Royal Court, 2013). Anders is a political activist, has taught on Death Row, been arrested by the Turkish secret police, and holds a PhD in Chinese politics from the University of California. He also won the inaugural Harold Pinter Playwrights Award with a commission from the Royal Court in 2011.Alia Bano studied English at Queen Mary, University of London, and taught A Level and GCSE English in Haringey. She joined the Royal Court's Young Writers' Programme in 2004. Her early work was read at Theatre Royal, Stratford East during the BritAsia Festival in 2005. She was subsequently invited to join Soho Theatre's Core Writing Group, and took part in the Royal Court's Unheard Voices programme in 2008. Her verbatim play Behind the Image, developed with Nina Raine, was presented during the Royal Court Rough Cuts season in 2008. Her work for the stage includes Gap, Hens, Rough Cuts, and Shades.Rachel De-Lahay is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her debut play, The Westbridge, produced at the Royal Court Theatre, went on to win a Writers' Guild award for Best Theatre Play, as well as coming joint first for the Alfred Fagon Award. Her second play, Routes, opened Vicky Featherstone's first season, also at the Royal Court Theatre, and garnered her an Evening Standard Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright. She was given the Pearson Award to write for Birmingham Rep, where her play Circles won the Catherine Johnson Award from Channel 4. As a screenwriter, her credits include the BAFTA-nominated Kiri (Channel 4); the BAFTA-nominated The Last Hours of Laura K, a multi-platform, 24-hour murder mystery for the BBC; Amazon's The Feed, based on Nick Clark Windo's novel; an episode of the American drama The Eddy for Netflix, to be directed by Damien Chazelle; and the final episode of Noughts & Crosses, based on Malorie Blackman's young adult novel.Aleks Sierz is the theatre critic of Tribune and a freelance theatre reviewer. He is a lecturer in modern British theatre whose seminal study, In-Yer-Face Theatre, defined a new generation of writers and their work. In 2006 Methuen Drama published his guide, The Theatre of Martin Crimp, which was followed up by 2012's Modern British Playwriting: the 1990s. Sierz's journalism has featured in the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph and the Independent. He is a widely read, highly regarded critic of modern British theatre.Aleks Sierz FRSA is Visiting Professor at Rose Bruford College, London, UK, and author of In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today (Faber, 2001), John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (Continuum, 2008), Rewriting the Nation: British Theatre Today (Methuen Drama, 2011) and Modern British Playwriting: The 1990s (Methuen Drama 2012). He alsoworks as a journalist, broadcaster, lecturer and theatre critic.

Edited and introduced by leading cultural and theatre critic Aleks Sierz, this bold and urgent collection of contemporary plays by England's newest and most relevant young writers explores the various cultures and identities of a nation that is at once traditional, nationalistic and multicultural.Eden's Empire, by James Graham is an uncompromising political thriller exploring the events of the Suez Crisis, and the tragic story of its flawed hero - Churchill's golden boy and heir apparent, Anthony Eden.Alaska, by D. C. Moore features Frank, an ordinary bloke who likes smoking, history and playing House of the Dead 3. He can put up with his job on a cinema kiosk until a new supervisor arrives who is younger than him. And Asian.A Day at the Racists, by Anders Lustgarten is a timely examination of the rise of the BNP which attempts to understand why people might be drawn to the BNP and diagnoses the deeper cause of that attraction.Shades, by Alia Bano shows Sabrina, a single girl-about-town, who is seeking Mr Right in a world where traditional and liberal values sit side-by-side, but rarely see eye-to-eye.The Westbridge, by Rachel De-lahay begins with the accusation of a black teenager which sparks riots on South London streets. Among it all, a couple from very different backgrounds navigate the minefield between them and their disparate but coexisting neighbourhood.

A bold and urgent collection of contemporary plays by writers from England, exploring the various identities of a nation that is at once traditional, nationalistic and multicultural.

Features some of the most highly respected and cutting-edge playwrights writing today.

Introduction, by Aleks SierzEden's Empire, by James GrahamAlaska, by D. C. MooreA Day at the Racists, by Anders LustgartenShades, by Alia BanoThe Westbridge, by Rachel De-lahay