Bruce McLeod – författare

Between 1580 and 1745, a period that saw Edmund Spenser's journey to an unconquered Ireland and the Jacobite Rebellion, the first British Empire was established. The intervening years saw the cultural and material forces of colonialism pursue a fitful, often fanciful endeavour to secure space for this expansion. With the defeat of the Highland clans, what England in 1580 could only dream about had materialised: a coherent, socio-spatial system known as an empire. Taking the Atlantic world as its context, this ambitious 1999 book argues that England's culture during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries was saturated with a geographic imagination fed by the experiences and experiments of colonialism. Using theories of space and its production to ground his readings, Bruce McLeod skilfully explores how works by Edmund Spenser, John Milton, Aphra Behn, Mary Rowlandson, Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift imagine, interrogate and narrate the adventure and geography of empire.

Between 1580 and 1745, a period that saw Edmund Spenser's journey to an unconquered Ireland and the Jacobite Rebellion, the first British Empire was established. The intervening years saw the cultural and material forces of colonialism pursue a fitful, often fanciful endeavour to secure space for this expansion. With the defeat of the Highland clans, what England in 1580 could only dream about had materialised: a coherent, socio-spatial system known as an empire. Taking the Atlantic world as its context, this ambitious 1999 book argues that England's culture during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries was saturated with a geographic imagination fed by the experiences and experiments of colonialism. Using theories of space and its production to ground his readings, Bruce McLeod skilfully explores how works by Edmund Spenser, John Milton, Aphra Behn, Mary Rowlandson, Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift imagine, interrogate and narrate the adventure and geography of empire.

Young Blood is a collection of plays for young people with the following aims:•to publish some of the most interesting, challenging, contemporary writing for young performers in one volume.•to extend the life of the plays beyond their first production.•to make them available to young people throughout the UKTo develop performing skills young people need to work on the best scripts available; to have the opportunity to explore the ideas, form and language of exceptional writers. Young people in schools, youth theatres and colleges need to work on plays that excite, stretch and inspire them. The response from young people to the final selection has been remarkable. Several have been chosen by students to be performed as part of their GCSE practical exams.This collection doesn’t include production or teachers' notes. There are no fixed rules about how to use the plays. Produce the whole play to a paying audience or work on scenes. Play about with the casting. Double parts or have six people playing the same character. The most important thing is to have fun with the language, characters and staging so that young people enjoy working on the plays. All of the plays in this collection have a unique theatrical vision. Combine that with the energy, commitment and imagination of a group of young people and the results will definitely be worth watching!Includes the plays The Girl who fell through a hole in her jumper by Naomi Wallace and Bruce Mcleod, The Search for Odysseus by Charles Way, Darker The Berry by J.B.Rose, Geraniums by Sheila Yeger, and, Out of their Heads by Marcus Romer.