Bryony Lavery – författare

For the first time, Bryony Lavery's plays back in print in one volume Includes the plays Her Aching Heart, Nothing Compares to You, The Two Marias and Origin of the Species. Her Aching Heart is "a deliciously irreverent parody of the historical romance, better known as the bonk-buster...Georgette Heyer never wrote anything quite like it, however and Barbara Cartland would be more than confused by this lesbian romance...hilarious" (Guardian); Nothing Compares to You is an evocation of a woman experiencing the loss of a loved one in the aftermath of a car accident "The characters may be touched by death but laughter is never far away...A haunting show of hidden depth" (Birmingham Post); "In Bryony Lavery's quirky Origin of the Species, an ardent archaeologist digging for prehistoric man finds instead a four-million-year old woman...a telling allegory of the loss of innocence...Lavery's wit and imagination are unquestionably present." (Obersver)Introduced by the author, Bryony Lavery's last play Goliath (adapted from Bea Campbell's book) was a hit at the Bush Theatre in 1997. Bryony Lavery is one of Britain's foremost female playwrights.

A Wedding Story'A spry if wintry comedy about a lesbian, a wedding-day bonk, and a mother who contracts Alzheimer's... It dares to find failure and frivolity (a sure sign of dramatic honesty) in the face of domestic hell. Funny, frank and churning by turns, this struck me as a lyrical new play about the unlyrical business of coping when real life knocks on the door.' Daily ExpressFrozen Winner of the TMA Best New Play award and Eileen Anderson Central Television Award for Best Play.'Bryony Lavery's big, brave, compassionate play about grief, revenge, forgiveness and bearing the unbearable.' Guardian'A major play... thrilling, humane and timely.' The Times'Consistently surprising and even bravely comic... The almost thriller-like promise of the play's climactic confrontation is like a time-bomb ticking in the back of your head. IndependentIllyriaA young war reporter gets abducted and finds herself in the midst of a cycle of violence, in a land crippled by hate.More Light 'Triumphant... A startlingly metaphorical play about the creation of art.' Independent

Keep your guard up. Protect yourself at all times. Protect your boy. Keep him safe. Keep him close. That is all that matters.Cameron is going places. He's going to see lights. He's going to make the world take notice and kneel at his feet. He's fighting for his club, his mum, his place in the world. And this boy is a natural. He has an affinity with the violence, the balance, the ritual, the grace and the power. He is indestructible.Beautiful Burnout is about the soul-sapping three-minutes when men become gods and gods, mere men. It's about the second when the guard drops, that moment when the eyes blink and miss the incoming hammer blow.Beautiful Burnout premiered at the Pleasance Forth as part of the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2010 before touring the UK in a co-production between Frantic Assembly and the National Theatre of Scotland.

He has an affinity with the violence, the balance, the ritual, the grace and the power. He is indestructible.Beautiful Burnout is about the soul-sapping three-minutes when men become gods and gods, mere men. It's about the second when the guard drops, that moment when the eyes blink and miss the incoming hammer blow.Beautiful Burnout premiered at the Pleasance Forth as part of the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2010 before touring the UK in a co-production between Frantic Assembly and the National Theatre of Scotland.

Name one certainty . . . one sure thing . . . one thing you truly believe . . .Two families are flung together on a night of cataclysmic weather. Bruised, tired and seduced by the flow of alcohol, they wrestle with their differences until, suddenly, the unthinkable happens. Something unbelievable. As their versions of what happened begin to fall apart and their perspectives become clouded by suspicion, they turn on each other in a desperate fight to understand the truth.Frantic Assembly and Bryony Lavery follow the success of their previous collaborations (Stockholm and Beautiful Burnout) with this thrilling and highly visceral exploration of love and loss.Bryony Lavery's The Believers premiered at The Drum Theatre in February 2014, before touring the UK in a co-production between Frantic Assembly and Theatre Royal Plymouth, in association with Curve Theatre, Leicester.

Name one certainty . . . one sure thing . . . one thing you truly believe . . .Two families are flung together on a night of cataclysmic weather. Bruised, tired and seduced by the flow of alcohol, they wrestle with their differences until, suddenly, the unthinkable happens. Something unbelievable. As their versions of what happened begin to fall apart and their perspectives become clouded by suspicion, they turn on each other in a desperate fight to understand the truth.Frantic Assembly and Bryony Lavery follow the success of their previous collaborations (Stockholm and Beautiful Burnout) with this thrilling and highly visceral exploration of love and loss.Bryony Lavery's The Believers premiered at The Drum Theatre in February 2014, before touring the UK in a co-production between Frantic Assembly and Theatre Royal Plymouth, in association with Curve Theatre, Leicester.

Not one of us must breathe a word of what we've found.It's a dark and stormy night. Jim, the inn-keeper's granddaughter, opens the door to a terrifying stranger. At the old sailor's feet sits a huge sea-chest, full of secrets. Jim invites him in - and her dangerous voyage begins. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story of murder, money and mutiny, premiered at the National Theatre, London, in December 2014, in a thrilling adaptation by Bryony Lavery.

Not one of us must breathe a word of what we've found.It's a dark and stormy night. Jim, the inn-keeper's granddaughter, opens the door to a terrifying stranger. At the old sailor's feet sits a huge sea-chest, full of secrets. Jim invites him in - and her dangerous voyage begins.Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story of murder, money and mutiny, premiered at the National Theatre, London, in December 2014, in a thrilling adaptation by Bryony Lavery.

My theme is memory, that winged host? that soared about me one grey morning of wartime.Billeted to Brideshead during the Second World War, Captain Charles Ryder is overwhelmed by memories of his Oxford days and holidays spent in the fine stately home under the privileged spell of the dazzling Marchmains. As past and present blur, Charles recalls his enchantment with the beguiling Sebastian, his beautiful sister Julia and the doomed Catholic family, and considers how they would change his life for ever.Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, reimagined for the stage by Bryony Lavery, was co-produced by English Touring Theatre and York Theatre Royal. The show premiered at York Theatre Royal in April 2016 and then toured the UK.

ONE OF THE FORTY BEST PLAYS OF ALL TIME, INDEPENDENTFour days agophone call from the policeThey think they have some news for usCan they come over?A psychological thriller about a mother whose child goes missing; a play about retribution, remorse and redemption and the interwoven lives of three strangers as they try to make sense of the unimaginable.Frozen premiered at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1998. The play was revived at the National Theatre, London, in 2002 and at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, in February 2018.'Bryony Lavery's big, brave, compassionate play about grief, revenge, forgiveness and bearing the unbearable.' Guardian'Lavery examines matters with candour and sympathy from a range of angles in what is surely her masterpiece . . . Easy assumptions, sentimentality and mythologising are rigorously avoided, and one leaves both emotionally affected and wrapped in thought.' Financial Times'Through first monologues, and then dialogue, this modem classic has much to say about the extremes of human anguish, but also our capacity for change, and for forgiveness. It's a dark and thorny work, but a deeply humane one too.' Independent

Four days agophone call from the policeThey think they have some news for usCan they come over?A psychological thriller about a mother whose child goes missing; a play about retribution, remorse and redemption and the interwoven lives of three strangers as they try to make sense of the unimaginable. Bryony Lavery's Frozen was winner of the TMA Best New Play award and the Eileen Anderson Central Television Award for Best Play. Frozen premiered at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1998. The play was revived at the National Theatre, London, in 2002 and at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, in February 2018. 'Bryony Lavery's big, brave, compassionate play about grief, revenge, forgiveness and bearing the unbearable.' Guardian

One sunny evening, ten-year-old Rhona goes missing. Her mother, Nancy, retreats into a state of frozen hope. Agnetha, an American academic, comes to England to research a thesis entitled "Serial Killing: A Forgivable Act?". Then, there's Ralph, a loner with a bit of previous who's looking for some distraction...Drawn together by horrific circumstances, these three embark upon a long dark journey which finally curves upwards into the light. This award-winning play was first produced at Birmingham Rep in 1998, and revived at the Cottesloe Theatre at the National Theatre, London, in 2002.

Clean Break is a British theatre company set up in 1979 by two women in prison. It exists to tell the stories of women with experience of the criminal justice system and to transform women’s lives through theatre.Over 40 years, Clean Break has commissioned some of the most progressive and brilliant women writers to write ground-breaking plays, alongside developing the writing skills of the women they work with in its London studios and in prisons. This is a collection of monologues from this canon.Rebel Voices: Monologues for Women by Women celebrates the opportunities inherent when women represent themselves. Offering female performers a diverse set of monologues reflecting a range of characters in age, ethnicity and lived experience, the material is drawn from a mix of published and unpublished works. This book is for any performer who does not see themselves represented in mainstream plays, for lovers of radical women’s theatre and for rebels everywhere who believe that the act of speaking and being heard can create change.

Meet the couple every couple wants to be. Attractive and immaculately turned out, they are the perfect team. Tomorrow they will be in Stockholm, a city where, in summer, the sun shines 24/7 and sometimes it’s dark all day long. Today it’s his birthday and she’s going to give him all his presents and treats and surprises.Treading a fine line between tenderness and cruelty, Stockholm reveals a relationship unravelling. It’s beautiful, but it’s not pretty.Stockholm unites leading physical theatre company Frantic Assembly with award-winning playwright Bryony Lavery and designer Laura Hopkins (Black Watch, Mercury Fur) to deliver an extraordinary perspective on the nature of modern love.Stockholm opened at the Theatre Royal Plymouth in September 2007.

Drawing together the work of 12 leading playwrights, this National Theatre Connections anthology celebrates highlights from 21 years of the Connections festival with a retrospective selection of plays. Featuring work by some of the most prolific playwrights of the 20th and 21st centuries, and together in one volume, the anthology offers young performers between the ages of 13 and 19 an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study.Each play has been specifically commissioned by the National Theatre's literary department over the years, with the young performer in mind. In 2016, these plays were then performed by approximately 500 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional partner regional theatres at which the works were showcased. The anthology contains all 12 of the play scripts; notes from the writer and director of each play, addressing the themes and ideas behind the play; and production notes and exercises for the drama groups.This year's anniversary anthology includes plays by Snoo Wilson, Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt; Simon Armitage; Jackie Kay; Patrick Marber; Mark Ravenhill; Bryony Lavery & Frantic Assembly; Davey Anderson; James Graham; Katori Hall; Carl Grose; Stacey Gregg; and Lucinda Coxon.

Drawing together the work of 12 leading playwrights, this National Theatre Connections anthology celebrates highlights from 21 years of the Connections festival with a retrospective selection of plays. Featuring work by some of the most prolific playwrights of the 20th and 21st centuries, and together in one volume, the anthology offers young performers between the ages of 13 and 19 an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study.Each play has been specifically commissioned by the National Theatre''s literary department over the years, with the young performer in mind. In 2016, these plays were then performed by approximately 500 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional partner regional theatres at which the works were showcased. The anthology contains all 12 of the play scripts; notes from the writer and director of each play, addressing the themes and ideas behind the play; and production notes and exercises for the drama groups.This year''s anniversary anthology includes plays by Snoo Wilson, Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt; Simon Armitage; Jackie Kay; Patrick Marber; Mark Ravenhill; Bryony Lavery & Frantic Assembly; Davey Anderson; James Graham; Katori Hall; Carl Grose; Stacey Gregg; and Lucinda Coxon.

Drawing together the work of 12 leading playwrights, this National Theatre Connections anthology celebrates highlights from 21 years of the Connections festival with a retrospective selection of plays. Featuring work by some of the most prolific playwrights of the 20th and 21st centuries, and together in one volume, the anthology offers young performers between the ages of 13 and 19 an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study.Each play has been specifically commissioned by the National Theatre''s literary department over the years, with the young performer in mind. In 2016, these plays were then performed by approximately 500 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional partner regional theatres at which the works were showcased. The anthology contains all 12 of the play scripts; notes from the writer and director of each play, addressing the themes and ideas behind the play; and production notes and exercises for the drama groups.This year''s anniversary anthology includes plays by Snoo Wilson, Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt; Simon Armitage; Jackie Kay; Patrick Marber; Mark Ravenhill; Bryony Lavery & Frantic Assembly; Davey Anderson; James Graham; Katori Hall; Carl Grose; Stacey Gregg; and Lucinda Coxon.

One evening, ten-year old Rhona goes missing. As her mother retreats into a state of frozen hope, a psychologist studies the brain of a serial killer to find out if what he does is pure evil, or simply beyond his control. Drawn together by horrific circumstances, these three embark on a long, dark journey that ends in the discovery of a common humanity in Bryony Lavery's play. Runtime: 1:37

Nothing's newEverything's old.I'm exactly the same as everOnly more lazyMore aimlessMore curmudgeonly...'One of the high points of world drama, Chekhov's bittersweet tale of frustrated lives and unrequited loves - by turns witty, playful, nostalgic and tragic - is captured in all its complexity by Bryony Lavery's spirited, sharply-written adaptation, first produced at Birmingham Rep in 2007.

Mary Webb's glorous tale of loves lost and found in the wild countryside of early19th century England. A new world of industry and riches invades the idyllic peace of young Prue and Gideon Sarn's family farm, upsetting lifelong dreams and making wishes come true.Bryony Lavery brings this classic novel to life in a brand new stage adaptation, originally produced by Pentabus Theatre, incorporating large-scale choirs, in outdoor settings.

Meet the couple every couple wants to be. Attractive and immaculately turned out, they are the perfect team. Tomorrow they will be in Stockholm, a city where, in summer, the sun shines 24/7 and sometimes it’s dark all day long. Today it’s his birthday and she’s going to give him all his presents and treats and surprises.Treading a fine line between tenderness and cruelty, Stockholm reveals a relationship unravelling. It’s beautiful, but it’s not pretty.Stockholm unites leading physical theatre company Frantic Assembly with award-winning playwright Bryony Lavery and designer Laura Hopkins (Black Watch, Mercury Fur) to deliver an extraordinary perspective on the nature of modern love.Stockholm opened at the Theatre Royal Plymouth in September 2007.

"Nothing's new Everything's old. I'm exactly the same as ever Only more lazy More aimless More curmudgeonly...' One of the high points of world drama, Chekhov's bittersweet tale of frustrated lives and unrequited loves - by turns witty, playful, nostalgic and tragic - is captured in all its complexity by Bryony Lavery's spirited, sharply-written adaptation, first produced at Birmingham Rep in 2007."

A play by Bryony Lavery in collaboration with Sound&Fury.A submarine is on patrol in the arctic. The crew sleep, eat, drill, long for word from home, and silently shadow their target. Their lives, at once extraordinary and mundane, are shattered by a global crisis from which uniquely personal stories emerge.Inspired by the Russian submarine disaster of August 2000, in collaboration with Sound&Fury, Bryony Lavery's play imagines the life of submariners, deep below the icy seas on the fraying front line of the cold war. Kursk was iproduced at the Young Vic Theatre 2009 and revived to great acclaim in 2010.

Dracula and Frankenstein: Two Horror Plays brings together two classic horror tales updated for the 21st century and adapted for the stage by two of Britain’s leading playwrights.Bram Stoker’s Dracula adapted by Bryony Lavery: This is the modern world. Its inhabitants can go anywhere, even toTransylvania. They can communicate globally in the blink of an eye. But their feet, in their modern shoes, walk upon the gravestones of a vast cosmic graveyard. Count Dracula is still alive. He could always come through walls, arrive on a moonbeam but, in the modern world, he has emails, smartphones, webcams and the worldwide web…Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein adapted by Lisa Evans: Mary is imprisoned in a present-day psychiatric hospital, convicted of murdering her baby daughter. During her incarceration she becomes obsessed with Mary Shelley’s famous novel. The novel comes to lifewithin her imagination, and we are left to question just who the realmonster really is, Mary or Frankenstein himself…

Dracula and Frankenstein: Two Horror Plays brings together two classic horror tales updated for the 21st century and adapted for the stage by two of Britain’s leading playwrights.Bram Stoker’s Dracula adapted by Bryony Lavery: This is the modern world. Its inhabitants can go anywhere, even toTransylvania. They can communicate globally in the blink of an eye. But their feet, in their modern shoes, walk upon the gravestones of a vast cosmic graveyard. Count Dracula is still alive. He could always come through walls, arrive on a moonbeam but, in the modern world, he has emails, smartphones, webcams and the worldwide web…Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein adapted by Lisa Evans: Mary is imprisoned in a present-day psychiatric hospital, convicted of murdering her baby daughter. During her incarceration she becomes obsessed with Mary Shelley’s famous novel. The novel comes to lifewithin her imagination, and we are left to question just who the realmonster really is, Mary or Frankenstein himself…