These plays cover a range of disasters appalling enough to turn any show into a coarse one. A Fish in Her Kettle by David Pearson; Present Slaughter by Jane Dewey and Don Starkey; The Vagabond Prince by Simon Brett with music and lyrics by John Gould; Stalag 69 by Michael Green and Julius and Cleopatra by Michael Green.-Large flexible cast

Characters: Various males and females, extras

In each of these masterpieces from the authors of Four Plays for Coarse Actors, sets collapse, actors fail to appear and props fall to pieces while the casts carry on, believing that the audience won't notice. Moby Dick is an ambitious attempt to reduce the epic novel to a series of quick fire scenes. The Cherry Sisters, a previously undiscovered Chekhov fragment, is a desperately sincere piece with a teary ending (spoiled by a faulty prop that necessitates a standing death). Last Call for Breakfast is an avant garde play shortened because an actor is in the wrong place during a black out. Henry the Tenth (Part Seven) is a rarely performed tragedy with battle scenes that would amaze the bard.

Characters: Various males and females, extras

Includes: Trapped, Oedocles, King of Thebes, Pride at Southhanger Park by Rupert Bean, and Cinderella.

A coarse actor is... - One who can remember their lines but not the order in which they come - One whose eyebrows are attached to their feet (so every facial expression involves the whole body as well) - One who limps on both legs simultaneously - One who knows everybody else's lines better than their own

For 50 years, Michael Green's The Art of Coarse Acting has been essential reading for anyone with a passion for theatre. It's an outrageous spoof that punctures pretentiousness, pokes fun at incompetence, revels in disaster and lifts the lid on life backstage.

As this special 50th anniversary edition proves, however much the theatre may change, Coarse Actors don't. Green's acerbic yet affectionate work remains one of the funniest books about acting ever written.

These plays cover a range of disasters appalling enough to turn any show into a coarse one. A Fish in Her Kettle by David Pearson; Present Slaughter by Jane Dewey and Don Starkey; The Vagabond Prince by Simon Brett with music and lyrics by John Gould; Stalag 69 by Michael Green and Julius and Cleopatra by Michael Green.-Large flexible cast

Characters: Various males and females, extras

In each of these masterpieces from the authors of Four Plays for Coarse Actors, sets collapse, actors fail to appear and props fall to pieces while the casts carry on, believing that the audience won't notice. Moby Dick is an ambitious attempt to reduce the epic novel to a series of quick fire scenes. The Cherry Sisters, a previously undiscovered Chekhov fragment, is a desperately sincere piece with a teary ending (spoiled by a faulty prop that necessitates a standing death). Last Call for Breakfast is an avant garde play shortened because an actor is in the wrong place during a black out. Henry the Tenth (Part Seven) is a rarely performed tragedy with battle scenes that would amaze the bard.

Characters: Various males and females, extras

Includes: Trapped, Oedocles, King of Thebes, Pride at Southhanger Park by Rupert Bean, and Cinderella.

A coarse actor is... - One who can remember their lines but not the order in which they come - One whose eyebrows are attached to their feet (so every facial expression involves the whole body as well) - One who limps on both legs simultaneously - One who knows everybody else's lines better than their own

For 50 years, Michael Green's The Art of Coarse Acting has been essential reading for anyone with a passion for theatre. It's an outrageous spoof that punctures pretentiousness, pokes fun at incompetence, revels in disaster and lifts the lid on life backstage.

As this special 50th anniversary edition proves, however much the theatre may change, Coarse Actors don't. Green's acerbic yet affectionate work remains one of the funniest books about acting ever written.