Sara Freeman – författare

'In its revelation of mother-daughter emotions over the years, the play is without rivals. It is a classic' The Times 'This is a landmark play. The theatrical equivalent of breaking the four-minute mile; like Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, pointing the way for the next generation of playwrights in form and content' Guardian Charlotte Keatley's first main stage play My Mother Said I Never Should was premiered in 1987 at Contact, Manchester, and in 1989 at the Royal Court Theatre, London. It has been translated into twenty-two languages and is performed across the world. The play moves back and forth through the lives of four women, and sets the enormous social changes of the twentieth century against the desire to love and to be loved. In 2000 it was chosen by the Royal National Theatre as one of the hundred Significant Plays of the Twentieth Century. Commentary and notes by Charlotte Keatley.

A Methuen Student Edition of Chekhov's classic play in Michael Frayn's acclaimed translation 'The play has been flooded with light, like a room with the curtains drawn back' John Peter, Sunday Times'The direct simplicity of this new translation ...uncovers not only the nerve endings of Chekhov's restless malcontents but also their comic absurdities. It is, as he always intended, actually funny ...' Jack Tinker, Daily MailWhen it opened in St Petersburg in 1896, The Seagull survived only five performances after a disastrous first night. Two years later it was revived by Nemirovich-Danchenko at the newly-founded Moscow Art Theatre with Stanslasky as Trigorin and was an immediate success. Checkhov's description of the play was characteristically self-mocking: "A comedy - 3F, 6M, four acts, rural scenery (a view over a lake); much talk of literature, little action, five bushels of love".Michael Frayn's translation was commissioned by the Oxford Playhouse Company.

Blood Wedding is set in a village community in Lorca's Andalusia, and tells the story of a couple drawn irresistibly together in the face of an arranged marriage. This tragic and poetic play is the work on which his international reputation was founded. Like many of Lorca's passionate and intensely lyrical plays that focus on peasant life and the forces of nature, Blood Wedding combines innovatory dramatic technique with Spanish popular tradition. Methuen Drama Student Editions are expertly annotated texts of a wide range of plays from the modern and classic repertoires. As well as the complete text of the play itself, the volume contains a chronology of the playwright's life and work; an introduction giving the background to the play; a discussion of the various interpretations; notes on individual words and phrases in the text; and questions for further study.

Essays in part one of Theatre History Studies, Vol. 35 address theatrical production in very specific historical contexts, among them German theatre “from the rubble of Berlin” and German nationalist mass spectacles. Essays in part two are devoted to the theme of “Rethinking the Maternal” in contemporary and historical theatre. Also included is the Robert A. Schanke Award-winning essay “Whispers from a Silent Past: Inspiration and Memory in Natasha Tretheway’s Native Guard,” a keynote essay by Irma Mayorga, and eighteen reviews of new book publications of note.Theatre History Studies, published since 1981 by the Mid-American Theatre Conference (MATC) is a leading scholarly publication in the field of theatrical history and theory. The conference encompasses the states of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. The purpose of the conference is to unite persons and organizations within the region with an interest in theatre and to promote the growth and development of all forms of theatre.

A peer-reviewed journal of theatre history and scholarship published annually since 1981 by the Mid-American Theatre Conference. Theatre History Studies is devoted to research in all areas of theatre studies, with special interest in archival research, historical documentation, and historiography. Many issues feature a special section curated around a special theme or topic; for 2017 that special section focus on histories of new writing for the theatre. Featured in Theatre History Studies 2017, Volume 36 : �Resisting Arlecchino's Mask: The Case of Marcello Moretti� by Gabrielle Houle �Making Space for Performance: Theatrical-Architectural Nationalism in Postindependence Ghana� by David Afriyie Donkor �Preparing Boys for War: J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan Enlists in World War I's ‘Great Adventure'� by Laura Ferdinand Feldmeyer �Not Just Rock ‘n' Roll: Chicago Theatre, 1984–1990� by Julie Jackson �New Writing and Theatre History� by Sara Freeman �New Plays in New Tongues: Bilingualism and Immigration at the New Italian Theatre in France� by Matthew McMahan �The Waterloo Summer of the Prince of Wales's Theatre: New Writing, Old Friends, and Early Realism in the Victorian Theatre� by Shannon Epplett �Chekhov's Three Sisters: A Proto-Poststructuralist Experiment� by Sarah Wyman �Historicizing Shakesfear and Translating Shakespeare Anew� by Lezlie C. Cross �A New Noble Kinsmen: The Play On! Project and Making New Plays Out of Old� by Martine Kei Green-Rogers and Alex N. Vermillion �Making New Theatre Together: The First Writers' Group at the Royal Court Theatre and Its Legacy Within the Young Writers' Programme� by Nicholas Holden �New Writing in a Populist Context: A Play,a Pie, and a Pint� by Deana Nichols �American Playwriting and the Now New� by Todd London The Robert A. Schanke Award-Winning Essay: �Black Folk's Theatre to Black Lives Matter: The Black Revolution on Campus� by La Donna L. Forsgren

Theatre History Studies (THS) is a peer-reviewed journal of theatre history and scholarship published annually since 1981 by the Mid-America Theatre Conference.

A peer-reviewed journal of theatre history and scholarship published annually since 1981 by the Mid-American Theatre Conference. Theatre History Studies is devoted to research in all areas of theatre studies, with special interest in archival research, historical documentation, and historiography.

Theatre has come back to text, but with perspectives shifted by the experimental practices of the twentieth century across performance forms. Contemporary playwriting brings its scenographic engagement to the foreground of the text, reflecting the spatial turn in theory and practice. In production, this spatiality has renewed and enlivened the status and impact of text-based theatre. Theatre studies needs to better describe the artfulness of contemporary text-based theatre, bringing to it the same sophisticated lenses scholars and critics have used for performance-based theatre and other experimental theatre practices. This Element does that by presenting the work of Caryl Churchill, Naomi Iizuka, and Sarah Ruhl as exemplary of the way text-based theatre, both its scripts and productions, now creates and expects a spatialized imaginary and demonstrates the potentials of text-based theatre in an increasingly visual and spatial field of cultural production.

Theatre has come back to text, but with perspectives shifted by the experimental practices of the twentieth century across performance forms. Contemporary playwriting brings its scenographic engagement to the foreground of the text, reflecting the spatial turn in theory and practice. In production, this spatiality has renewed and enlivened the status and impact of text-based theatre. Theatre studies needs to better describe the artfulness of contemporary text-based theatre, bringing to it the same sophisticated lenses scholars and critics have used for performance-based theatre and other experimental theatre practices. This Element does that by presenting the work of Caryl Churchill, Naomi Iizuka, and Sarah Ruhl as exemplary of the way text-based theatre, both its scripts and productions, now creates and expects a spatialized imaginary and demonstrates the potentials of text-based theatre in an increasingly visual and spatial field of cultural production.

I think I’d sleep a lot easier if I knew none of us would wake up tomorrow.Ollie’s sister is missing. Searching Manchester in desperation, she finds all roads lead to Pomona - an abandoned concrete island at the heart of the city.Here at the centre of everything, journeys end and nightmares are born.Pomona premiered in 2014 and has subsequently become a much-produced and widely studied drama text. It is published here as a Student Edition alongside commentary and notes by Dan Rebellato. The ancillary material is geared at students and includes:- an introduction outlining the play's plot, character, themes context and performance history- the full text of the play- a chronology of the playwright's life and work- extensive textual notes- questions for further studyThis play includes some strong language.

No, Alice, I don't want to become a man, I just want to stop trying to be a woman.It’s New Year in Rotterdam, and Alice has finally plucked up the courage to email her parents and tell them she’s gay. But before she can hit send, her girlfriend reveals that he has always identified as a man and now wants to start living as one.Now Alice must face a question she never thought she’d ask . . . does this mean she's straight?A bittersweet comedy about gender, sexuality and being a long way from home.Rotterdam received its world premiere at Theatre503, London, in October 2015, before transferring to Trafalgar Studios, London, in May 2016. This volume contains introductory commentary and notes by Stephen Farrier from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London. METHUEN DRAMA STUDENT EDITIONS are expertly annotated texts of a wide range of plays from the modern and classic repertoires. As well as the complete text of the play itself, this volume contains:- an introduction outlining the plays themes, context and performance history- the full text of the play- extensive textual notes- questions for further study.

Written in 1836, Woyzeck is often considered to be the first truly modern play.The story of a soldier driven mad by inhuman military discipline and acute social deprivation is told in splintered dialogue and jagged episodes, which are as shocking and telling today as they were when first performed, almost a century after the author's death, in Munich 1913.This edition contains introductory commentary and notes by Laura Martin from the University of Glasgow. METHUEN DRAMA STUDENT EDITIONS are expertly annotated texts of a wide range of plays from the modern and classic repertoires. A well as the complete text of the play itself, this volume contains:· A chronology of the play and the playwright’s life and work· an introductory discussion of the social, political, cultural and economic context in which the play was originally conceived and created· a succinct overview of the creation processes followed and subsequent performance history of the piece· an analysis of, and commentary on, some of the major themes and specific issues addressed by the text· a bibliography of suggested primary and secondary materials for further study.

The Mountaintop is published here as a Methuen Drama Student Edition, featuring notes and commentary by Harvey Young, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, Boston University, USA. The introduction offers a discussion of key themes including race, identity, politics, magical realism, one-act plays, historical figures and martyrs.The night before his assassination, Martin Luther King, Jr. retires to room 306 in the now-famous Lorraine Motel after giving an acclaimed speech to a massive church congregation. When a mysterious young maid visits him to deliver a cup of coffee, King is forced to confront his past and the future of his people.Portraying rhetoric, hope and ideals of social change, The Mountaintop also explores being human in the face of inevitable death. The play is a dramatic feat of daring originality, historical narration and triumphant compassion.

A fierce and excoriating portrait of British racism, Roy William's Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads premiered in 2002 at the National Theatre.Set in a south-west London pub during the 2000 England vs. Germany match, tempers are running high. As England lose again, their supporters in The King George lose it too – at full time, patriotism has become unapologetic racism.This Methuen Drama Student Edition of the play includes commentary and notes by Gemma Edwards, University of Manchester, UK, which explore the production history of the play as well as the historical, social and cultural contexts that surround it, such as the rise of Nationalism and far-right groups in the UK. Also featuring an interview with Roy Williams about the play and its relevance 20 years on, this edition is a must-have resource for any student exploring Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads.

Through a series of arresting vignettes and a collection of nameless characters, Alice Birch examines the language, behaviour and forces that shape women in the 21st century. The play asks what's stopping us from doing something truly radical to change them?Written in response to the provocation that well-behaved women seldom make history, the play is an assault on the language that has fueled violence against women throughout history. Problematic language frequently attached to women is interrogated, from lazy sexist clichés to the conventions around a marriage proposal. Through doing so, the play rails against the conventions of work, sex, motherhood, aging and love. Revolt. She said. Revolt again was first performed at the 2014 Midsummer Mischief Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon. It transferred to the Royal Court Upstairs and was more recently produced at New York's Soho Rep.It is published here in a Student Edition alongside commentary and notes by Marissia Fragkou, who locates the play in our contemporary political and cultural context (including second- and third-wave feminism, and the #MeToo movement).

There's no decent way to say an indecent thingAn industrial port of a war-torn city. Women survivors wait to be shipped abroad. Officials come and go. A grandmother, once queen, watches as her remaining family are taken from her one by one. The city burns around them. First performed in 415BC, the play focuses on the human cost of war and the impact of loss.This new Student Edition of The Women of Troy includes a commentary and notes by Emma Cole, which looks at the Trojan War as represented in Greek literature and myth; the context in which Euripides was writing and within which the play was first performed; how it would have been originally staged and dramaturgical challenges met; as well as recent performance history of the play, including Katie Mitchell's iconic 2007 production at the National Theatre. Euripides' great anti-war play is published here in Don Taylor's classic translation.

A Student Edition of Lucy Prebble's acclaimed 2012 play, which looks at two people on a clinical drugs trial and investigates questions around sanity, neurology, physical attraction and the possibilities of medicine. The edition includes commentary and notes by Paulette Marty, which look at the context around depression and anti-depressant medication; as well as delving into major questions posed by the play, such as "is love real?" and "what is chemistry when applied to human beings?". Her commentary also looks at the play in production, the implications of the playwright having written the roles for particular actors, and the opportunities that arise from the playwright encouraging future actors to "mould the text around themselves".

Willy Russell’s 1983 play with music tells the story of twin brothers separated at birth because their mother cannot afford to keep them both. One of them is given away to wealthy Mrs Lyons and they grow up as friends in ignorance of their fraternity until the inevitable quarrel unleashes a bloodbath.After its premiere at the Liverpool Playhouse, the musical has gone on to receive productions around the world and ran for decades in London’s West End, as well as extensively touring the UK.This revised Student Edition includes a commentary by Rebecca Hillman, which offers accessible and vivid insights into the play and the context in which it was written through a 21st-century lens. As well as helping us appreciate the play today, it also conveys how how ground-breaking Blood Brothers was at the time in representing working-class lives on stage, as well as explicitly exposing the flaws of the British class system.

Iphigenia in Splott is a one-woman play, first seen in 2015, loosely adapted from the ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis. The title character, Iphigenia (or "Effie"), finds escape from the harsh reality of her life in drink, drugs and one-night stands. The ancient Greek play is re-told against the backdrop of a crumbling welfare state and reveals the impact of austerity and social injustice on those who have little to lose.The play has enjoyed international acclaim, having been performed in Cardiff (Sherman Cymru ), London (Lyric Hammersmith & National Theatre), Berlin (Schaubühne) and in New York (59E59 Theatres). In the UK, it won Best New Play at the UK Theatre Awards, 2015. This Student Edition of Gary Owen's critically celebrated play includes a commentary by Lucy Jackson, which considers:* The rules of Greek drama and how they inform this play;* Its basis in the Greek myth of Iphigenia and the Euripidean play Iphigenia at Aulis;* The context that unites a 21st-century audience with an audience in ancient Greece;* Modern and ancient notions of tragedy;* Owen's use of poetic verse compared with that used in ancient drama;* Various modern interpretations of the Iphigenia myth in theatre and literature; * Owen's representation of marginalised voices in the play and his portrait of working-class lives;* The notion of female sacrifice * Key productions of the play to date and notable staging choicesNotes to the play are included at the back of the edition to help students de-code some of the play's references.

Owerri, Nigeria, 1967, on the brink of the Biafran Civil War. Sisters Lolo, Nne Chukwu and Udo are grieving the loss of their father. Months before, two ruthless military coups plunged the country into chaos. Fuelled by foreign intervention, the conflict encroaches on their provincial village, and the sisters long to return to their former home in Lagos.This Student Edition of Inua Ellams’s adaptation looks at how Anton Chekhov’s original play has been transposed to an African context, the background to the Biafran War and how its politics and people’s experiences are represented in the play.

‘Chakrabarti has crafted a rich psychological study that’s also a shrewd portrait of the theatre as an institution — its vanities and strange conventions, its politics and sense of community, the opportunities it presents for both progress and blinkered traditionalism.’ EVENING STANDARDTheatre Royal, Covent Garden, 1833. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage while playing Othello. A young Black American actor has been asked to take over the role. But as the public riot in the streets over the abolition of slavery, how will the cast, critics and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theatre?Red Velvet uses imagined experiences based on the true story of Ira Aldridge, a Black American actor who, in the nineteenth century, built an incredible reputation on the stages of London and Europe.This Student Edition contains commentary and notes by Lydia Valentine, Research Fellow and Lecturer at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Alongside Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park, Beneatha's Place imagines a life for Lorraine Hansberry's characters from A Raisin in the Sun beyond the confines of her play. Beneatha moves from 1950s America to Lagos with her Nigerian husband and then, in the second act, set in contemporary America, has become a college Dean of Social Sciences. Through this journey, Beneatha’s Place challenges today’s culture wars about colonial history and reckoning with the past.This Student Edition, with an introduction and notes by Oladipo Agboluaje, offers a lens on the play's relationship to Hansberry's 1959 play and Clybourne Park; unpacks its engagement with the post-independence politics in Africa and pan-Africanism; considers how other plays to have dealt with these themes; and compares responses to the US and UK productions.The edition includes original interviews with Kwame Kwei-Armah and actor Cherelle Skeete, who played the character of Beneatha in the UK premiere of the play.

Sophocles’ great tragic play dramatises the clash between family and the city and, through high poetry and deep tragedy, presents an irreconcilable but equally balanced conflict.Sophoclean heroine Antigone has become a cultural archetype - the personification of personal integrity and political freedom, and the play has been staged and adapted numerous times over the centuries.It is published here in Don Taylor’s classic translation with commentary and notes by David Bullen. The commentary looks at the original performance conditions that would have shaped the impact of Antigone in 441 BCE; key choices made by the translator; key ideas in the play taken up by philosophers such as Hegel and Butler; and more recent translations and adaptations.

Told against the backdrop of Dublin's burgeoning gay rights movement of the 1980s and 1990s and the contemporary LGBTQ+ community of today, Once Before I Go explores the bonds of Irish queer lives across three decades in Dublin, London and Paris.This Student Edition includes commentary and notes by Fintan Walsh, Birkbeck, University of London, UK, which look at the play's themes of sexuality, emigration, time and relationships, as well as its style as a realistic three-part drama that draws on queer performance aesthetics, such as drag, camp, music, idioms and queer culture references. It also considers the cultural context of the world of the play for the gay community compared to today's world in which queer rights and representation have become the relative norm. The edition includes an original interview with the playwright.

Written during the 1970s, John McGrath’s winding, furious, innovative play tracks the economic history and exploitation of the Scottish Highlands from the post-Rebellion suppression of the clans to the story of the Clearances: in the nineteenth century, aristocratic landowners discovered the profitability of sheep farming, and forced a mass emigration of rural Highlanders, burning their houses in order to make way for the Cheviot sheep. The play follows the thread of capitalist and repressive exploitation through the estates of the stag-hunting landed gentry, to the 1970s rush for profit in the name of North Sea Oil. Described by the playwright as having a “ceilidh” format, The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil draws on historical research alongside Gaelic song and the Scots’ love of variety and popular entertainment to tell this epic story. A totally distinctive cultural and theatrical phenomenon, the play championed several new approaches to theatre, raising its profile as a means of political intervention; proposing a collective, democratic, collaborative approach to creating theatre; offering a language of performance accessible to working-class people; producing theatre in non-purpose-built theatre spaces; breaking down the barrier between audience and performers through interaction; and taking theatre to people who otherwise would not access it. The play received its premiere in 1973 by the agit-prop theatre group 7:84, of which John McGrath was founder and Artistic Director, and toured Scotland to great critical and audience acclaim.