Matthew Bulgo – författare

Drawing together the work of 10 leading playwrights, this National Theatre Connections anthology features work by some of the most exciting and established contemporary playwrights. Gathered together in one volume, the plays collected offer young performers between the ages of 13 and 19 an engaging selection of material to perform, read or study.Each play has been specifically commissioned by the National Theatre's literary department with the young performer in mind. The anthology contains 10 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 Suhayla El-Bushra, Anders Lustgarten, Robin French, Tim Etchells, Patrick Marber, Kellie Smith, Lizzie Nunnery, Harriet Braun and Alistair McDowall.

She used to be everywhere, all at the sametime, do you know what I mean?And now she’s nowhere.She was always there,that’s what I’m trying to say.A fractured trio of sisters are pulled back together with news that turns their worlds upside down. Tensions from the past and worries about the future leave them feeling paralysed. When it feels like your world has come to a stop, how do you find a way to keep moving forward?Soaring music by Atlantic Records artists The Staves, combines with dynamic movement and bold new writing in this compelling, intimate reflection on grief and the invisible bonds within families. Blood Harmony is a play with songs that’ll make you want to pull your family a little closer and hold them a little tighter.

Matthew Bulgo’s debut full-length play, Last Christmas was produced in 2012 to critical acclaim by Clwyd Theatr Cymru and Dirty Protest, and was nominated in the Best Production category at the inaugural "Theatre Critics in Wales Awards". Marking its London premiere at Soho Theatre in December 2014, the script is revised for publication with Oberon Books.Stuck in the city, in a life he hates, Tom is to return home for Christmas and be confronted with his past. Forced to face his demons, loss and the unstoppability of time, he attempts to rescue his family and his future. Will Tom be able to save it all in time?

'Place like this – you know this – place like this gets in your blood. Once it's in your blood, you can't get it out.'One night under Cardiff skies, four lost souls go looking for answers. After dark, when the world is quiet, their paths weave and collide as they all go in search of salvation. When dawn breaks, life will go on but there will be another night to contend with soon enough. As the sun rises over the Taff, can anyone break free from the past?

Lily's like a lot of other 20-somethings - working a dead-end job, stuck in a cycle of one-night stands and not where they expected to be at the age of 27. Her friends all feel like their lives are falling apart…except Lily's really is. Can she stop the rot before she crumbles away to nothing? The Awkward Years will fuse a muscular text with frenetic movement and an evocative sound and lighting design to produce a breakneck-speed show about grief, hope and staying alive.