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JB Priestley described Johnson Over Jordan as an adventure in theatre. Robert Johnson, a timid, meek man lived the most ordinary of lives - until he dies. Suddenly he is capitulated into the strangeness of his afterlife and begins a frightening, lurid and emotional journey. Past memories, secret desires and present regrets and longings mingle with the real, surreal and sublime, threatening to overwhelm him. Johnson Over Jordan is an ambitious, dreamlike piece of theatre and ultimately, a deeply moving account of a very ordinary man's life. Jude Kelly's production opened at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds on 28 August 2001.

"Romeo and Juliet" sets the jewel of young romantic love in the mud of a bustling, realistically drawn society. Then, with tragic inevitability, it shows its destruction. This is a new edition prepared by English Touring Theatre's Artistic Director Stephen Unwin and actor Michael Cronin, which radically simplifies both punctuation and stage direction, allowing directors, actors and readers to approach this most familiar of plays with a fresh and open mind.

The year 2004 marked the centenary of the birth of Frederick Ashton, founder-choreographer of The Royal Ballet, whose work defined the English style of ballet. Ashton's career as a dancer, choreographer and director spans the company's history from its earliest days.

"Worlds Apart" is a devastating play about political asylum, even more relevant today than when it was written ten years ago. In "Crusade" a bus-load of very different individuals are stranded in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and its not long before the tensions overflow. "This Other Eden" examines a mismatched string quartet, riven by social and political differences, as it gradually falls apart.

"Adriano Shaplin is set to join Arthur Miller and David Mamet in the pantheon of great modern American dramatists . . . a playwright destined to leave a lasting impact on 21st century theatre."-Scotland on SundayThis collection includes Wreck the Airline Barrier, Victory at the Dirt Palace, and Pugilist Specialist.

An irreverent comedy set in the court of Charles II.

"A hilarious rendition of paranoia" - The New York Times

A gripping piece based on interviews and documented evidence of police brutality.

The Annunciation: the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. A known story, a miracle, and a done deal. Or was it that simple? Marcelo Bertuccio imagines the argument that may have taken place that day and explores the stakes and the consequences for mankind. Translated from the Argentinian by the author of Frozen for the National Theatre.

A country comedy from the author of Nice Dorothy

"as the damaged, defiant stories unravelit is impossible to remain unmoved."--Lucy Powell, TimeOut

Witty and resourceful adaptation of the Oscar Wilde classic

The National had never before staged Shakespeare's two most admired history plays. Bella Merlin follows the production from pre-rehearsal planning to opening night, charting the processes that make up two major productions in the Olivier Theatre, and provides a unique insight into the staging of two great Shakespeare plays.

Nicholas Dromgoole tells the story of performance from a fresh and unusual point of view, describing the development - from ancient Greece to contemporary stages and film - of western Europe's surprising and largely unknown variety of acting styles. Using the idea of a culture's shared 'language of gesture', he explores the growth, evolution and impact these languages have had on our engagement with and understanding of theatre.

Notorious - and highly popular - because of its supposed immorality, Daudet's semi-autobiographical novel "Sapho" (1884) became the basis of Massenet's opera of the same name and has given rise to a number of films, including "Inspiration with Greta Garbo". Meeting at a party thrown by the sculptor Caoudal, the young Jean Gaussin and the artist's model Fanny LeGrand (known as Sappho) embark on a doomed love affair.

Glyn Maxwell's "Plays One" saw this internationally-renowned poet's historical plays collected together for the first time. In "Plays Two", the settings are highly contemporary, and the plays are young and adventurous. "Best Man Speech" (a monologue) and "The Last Valentine" are published alongside "Broken Journey" ("Time Out" Critics' Choice), described in the "Independent" as "a bit like watching an Alan Bennett monologue being hijacked by Marilyn Manson."

A new life beckons for Lucy Snowe, who leaves behind her past and flees from England. She finds work as a school teacher in the town of Villette, but her struggle to remain independent is overshadowed by despair and desire. Lucy's fevered imagination drives her to the edge, enduring fire, storms and callous rejection before pushing her teasingly close to a happy ending. "Villette" was Charlotte Bronte's last completed novel, and her most autobiographical. It thinly disguises her own life when she ventured away from the infamous Yorkshire parsonage to study but fell passionately - and dangerously - in love. This powerful, classic masterpiece is given a distinctive twist by the Stephen Joseph Theatre and award-winning theatre company Frantic Assembly. Production opens at SJT in October 2005.

Thirty days before the dawn of the Atomic Age at Trinity, and less than two months before Little Boy is dropped over Hiroshima, the great Jewish physicist Richard Feynman makes a wrong turn out of Albuquerque and finds himself entangled in an unlikely tale of espionage, the Atomic Bomb, and a Couch's Spadefoot Toad in Crispin Whittell's new comedy. "Clever Dick" opens at the Hampstead Theatre in May 2006.

Howard Barker is one of the most significant and contraversial dramatists of his time. His plays challenge, unsettle and expose. The plays in this volume examine collisions of culture, gender and creed at moments of turmoil, developing the tragic form Barker defines as Theatre of Catastrophe. "Claw" concerns an underprivileged young man watching his so-called superiors. "Ursula" is Barker's typically intriguing take on the legend of St Ursula. "He Stumbled" is a fable concerning an anatomist and a dying king. "In The Love of a Good Man" we witness the mass burial of the dead.

Love, loneliness and longing in the twilight hours - in cities which never sleep, night hawks are falling in love, out of love and over the edge. Inspired by the photography of Nan Goldin, "Shadowmouth" is about people trying to connect in a landscape of disconnection, the power of desire, and being alone late at night. Combining hypnotic language with arresting dance theatre, this bold and thrillingly new show salutes the underbelly of urban life. "Shadowmouth" opens at the Sheffield Crucible on 1st June 2006, directed and choreographed by Dominic Leclerc, Resident Director at Sheffield Theatres in 2005, where he assisted on many productions, including "Don Carlos" and "Ain't Misbehavin'". Meredith Oakes's plays include "The Neighbour for the National Theatre" and "Faith at the Royal Court", both published by Oberon.

It is Cambridge, 1915, and Tom, and awkward American graduate, meets Viv. Enchanted with each other, the couple are sucked into a whirlwind romance, but as Tom begins to become successful in the field of literature, Viv's volatility becomes a problem rather than a quirk. Their swift marriage turns into an impossible love story. Tom and Viv explores the complex relationship between T.S Eliot and his wife, Vivienne. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 1984, and was made into a major motion picture starring William Defoe and Miranda Richardson in 1994. A new production opens at the Almeida Theatre, London in September 2006.

At a time of turmoil, wise Tobit is struck blind. Suddenly penniless, he sends his son Tobias to reclaim an old debt. Tobias is afraid but a stranger arrives and offers to guide him ...An orchestra, a company of singers, a choir and two choruses drawn from Lambeth and Southwark accompany Tobias across mountains towards love and self-knowledge in this joyous musical tale. "Tobias and the Angel" opens at the Young Vic, London, in October 2006.

'White people in their big shiny cars drive many kilometres with their sickness which I heal; sickness of the mind, body and of the soul. I charge a bit more for the soul'. At night, a young black boy is 'questioned' by a white South African policeman...36 years later, when the truth is dug up, a tortured Jennifer watches over her dying husband. But does her maid Beauty have the power to 'save' him, and is the price of remembering a dreadful secret one that Jennifer is prepared to pay? "Bones" is a ruthless excavation of South Africa in 2005, and in an age of threats, retribution and bloody revenge, it is an anthem for hope. It is a production directed by Adshead opens at the Bush Theatre in October 2006.

A fast, furious, funny and action-packed modern verse drama, "Two Graves" is a bloody tale of murder, revenge and retribution, set in an East End underworld of betting-shops, back-room gambling, debt collection and working-class skulduggery. Jack Tops sets out to avenge the murder of his father, drawing him deep into London's violent underworld. It's a dark and dangerous place but Jack is a survivor..."Two Graves" opens at the Arts Theatre, London in November 2006.

Using only Charles Dickens' extraordinary words and a chameleon ensemble of eight actors, Neil Bartlett's powerful stage version of this much-loved story brings its settings and characters to thrilling theatrical life. From its opening image of little Pip, alone on the windswept marshes, to the haunted darkness of mad Miss Haversham's cobweb-strewn lair, this brand-new adaptation especially commissioned by Aberystwyth Arts Centre takes its audience on a journey right to the heart of Dickens' great exploration of childhood terrors and hopes - and of adult dreams and regrets. It opens at Aberystwyth Arts Centre in March 2007, followed by a national tour.

Rena is 17 and nothing gets to her. Not even when her parents kick her out and her older brother has to take her abroad with him. In Uganda, at a school for ex-child soldiers, she meets Alice, a girl her own age who has seen and done worse than Rena ever did. As friendship develops, so does the risk of betrayal. And even Alice is terrified of her mysterious 'uncle' and what he may reveal about her past. A sharp, explosive new play about family, friendship and the fears that lie behind doing the right thing, "Bulletproof Soul" opens at The Door (Birmingham Rep) in March 2007.

Dylan Singer needs to leave London. With his alcoholic ex-fiancee, he heads to Central Asia, to research the book he's always dreamt of writing. But it's 2002, the height of the War on Terror, and Uzbekistan isn't the belly-dancing opium den they have been led to believe. From 11th Century Samarkand, through the Great Fire of London, to a disused weapons facility in the remotest place on earth, "Salt Meets Wound" is an epic odyssey spanning a thousand years. Tom Morton-Smith's debut is a magnificent delve into the jigsaw pieces of modern events and history. It opens at Theatre 503 in May 2007.

What I'm asking is, can you really erase things? Wipe them completely? Peter wants to know how to erase a hard drive. Harry wants to learn the guitar. Tim wants a change in the law. In an increasingly punitive society, have we lost the capacity to forgive? Or is forgiveness the biggest con of all? "Furture Me" opens at Theatre 503 in June 2007.

To coincide with the centenary of his birth in December 1907, Oberon is pleased to be publishing three volumes of plays by Christopher Fry, one of the most influential playwrights of Britain in the twentieth century. Fry's autumn and winter plays - "Venus Observed" and "The Dark is Light Enough" - are joined by the historical play "Curtmantle", about Henry II. All three focus on a compelling central character who dominates those around them.