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Legendary music producer, Gordon Raphael has spent four decades working with musicians, performers and songwriters to create unique genre-defining sounds. His work with THE STROKES, REGINA SPEKTOR and THE LIBERTINES has made him one of the world’s most sought-after music producers. What’s his secret? This book gives an insider’s view into how music is created and recorded, sharing insights into the artistic discoveries that happen when a group of talented musicians find the right studio, the right producer and the right sound. Like sitting on the purple velvet couch at New York’s fabled Transporterraum Studio, this rock ‘n’ roll memoir gives an All Access Pass to the processes and techniques, the people and the performances. It’s the early 2000s and, for the first time, young people who’ve grown up hating their parent's rock music, have found a reason in the songs of NYC newcomers THE STROKES to drop their electronica, house and techno for guitars, Converse, leather jackets—to form their own bands.Focussing on the eight-year period from the demise of the Seattle grunge scene to the rebirth of a thrilling cultural shift in New York and London that reimagined rock 'n’ roll. Gordon Raphael shares his tales of musical glory and loss, creative triumphs and breakups.It’s a bumpy ride with a killer soundtrack.

“I am more than what has happened to me.”With the world’s politics in a mess, with an American President leading that charge, American playwright, Richard Nelson, wrote and directed a play for Theater on Podil in Kyiv, Ukraine. Throughout the ten weeks of rehearsals for When the Hurlyburly’s Done, he kept a diary.  Day after day he was inspired by his six young actresses, some as young as twenty-one, and so they had lived half their lives  in wartime.  They laughed and cried as the play, their characters, their lives and the war entwined. An inspiring and very human story about making art when everything else feels out of one’s control.

It’s 2013. Cara and Kelly are 14 and in the prime of their lives! Kelly is smashing it on the netball team. Cara is certain that love is blossoming with her dream crush. Most importantly, they know they’ll be best friends forever. For life. But, when things start to go wrong, they know exactly who to blame: a new face who changes everything. But quickly, things that once seemed so certain are no longer quite so clear. Cara and Kelly, who’ve never had to doubt each other before, start to question how far they’re willing to go for their friendship.This play is about coming of age in a country that has left you behind, whether that is true, or not. “This gripping two-hander peels back the veneer of teen innocence to reveal complicity, denial and the long tail of ideology. A vital and viscerally performed piece of new writing that lingers long after lights down.”- London World CAST: 2 female actorsDURATION: 60 minutes

“Voices, shouts, stories, days and nights, Edina echoing through theages, for time shall be the only marker.”Alan is late for his daughter’s concert, Liam has fallen in love, and Maureen just wants to get home. Athens of The North is a love letter to Edinburgh and the small cosmic ways we impact each other’s lives.Told across three monologues, the lives of Edinburgh residents and visitors interweave across a single day in Scotland’s capital. Set against a UNESCO World Heritage backdrop of over-tourism, gentrification and eroded communities, each of them examine what home means to them in their pasts, their presents as well as theirfutures.“three interlinking monologues rich in the culture and place namesof the city. Punchily written and powerfully performed, these portraitshold the audience spellbound.”—The Guardian“Hannah thus explores the complexities and beauty of human nature,using his magic ability to suddenly switch from buoyant banter to raw,dark emotion. He lucidly communicates a powerful message aboutone’s intertwined connection to one’s past, present, and future in thisstunning poetic tribute to the Athens of the North.”—Corr BlimeyCAST: 1-3 actorsDURATION: 60 minutes

The Birth of a Ghost TownMaxine, the spirited owner of the only diner in Possum Trot, Nebraska, is on a mission to save her town from disappearing off the map. Facing down relentless agricultural giants, battling climate disasters like droughts, floods and tornadoes (and yes, even a flying cow), and navigating the chaos of her own family’s dramas, Maxine fights tooth and nail to keep the soul of her town alive.But with young people fleeing to the big city and corporate powers knocking at the door, can Maxine hold Possum Trot together? Or will it fade into memory like so many small towns before it?CAST: 5 actorsDURATION: 90 minutes

“If there’s one thing worse than classism and the disparity of wealth in this country… it’s FOMO.”Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x) is a darkly funny, politically sharp solo show about class, survival and double standards in modern Britain.Inspired by real events, it follows Jade, a working-class Scouser who gets into Cambridge and takes a cleaning job to get by, secretly scrubbing the toilets of the very people she studies alongside.As she wrestles with code-switching, inherited shame and the exhausting mental gymnastics of trying to belong in an institution built to exclude people like her, the show lays bare the absurdities of Britain’s class system and the cost of learning to navigate it.At a time when arts funding is being slashed and working-class voices are pushed further to the margins, Eat the Rich refuses to flatten class struggle into easy binaries. Instead, it asks: what happens when you ‘make it out’ and is the cost always a quiet betrayal of where you came from?CAST: 1 actorDURATION: 60 minutesThis edition contains a Q&A with Jade Franks (writer) and Ellie Fulcher (dramaturg), along with questions to use for study and discussion.

“The king of poisons and the poison of kings.It’s useful for so many things”A new musical inspired by a sensational murder trial in 19th century Glasgow. Madeleine Smith, a Glasgow socialite living in Blythswood Square, was accused of a secret affair and poisoning her lover to death.The trial ended with a rare ‘Not Proven’ verdict, but now Plume, an aspiring pamphleteer, is working out which version of the story to tell. Was Madeleine innocent or guilty?Inspired by the scandalous real-life story, The Glasgow Poisoner is a new musical by Tom Cooper and Jen McGregor that explores our obsession with true crime and female killers, then and now.CAST: 3 ActorsDURATION: 60 minutes

You are invited to the party of your dreams! Or at least the dreams of a painfully shy girl.This hilarious tale follows Shy Girl’s ambitious attempt to open up (emotionally, spiritually… physically) and to extend her social life beyond the secluded realm of her imaginary friends.Shy Girl is about to make her first friends ever. And not just any friends. We’re talking legends: people who have tattoos, smoke cigarette, and spin records…“Unfalteringly funny… laughing the whole way through”Theatre Weekly ★★★★★“The script is genius”EdFringe Review ★★★★★CAST: 1 actorDURATION: 1 hour 10 minutes

If By Magic collects the lyrics and ‘baffling ned punk’ lore of cult Glasgow band The Girobabies from 2008-2025. Frontman Mark McGhee takes us on a journey from the banks crashing right up to the spiralling revelations of our times. Here lies the lyrical lovechild of an 8am job centre queue and a Gallowgate jukebox in the 80s. The reader relives the gigs, the friendships and the mystical moments that made things happen over an 18-year evolution from Ayrshire to international notoriety.A beautiful, chaotic and cathartic collage, The Girobabies are a constant reminder that revolution happens in a gaff at 5am, fuelled by Bucky, good intentions and a pair of banging speakers. Moving through four eras—Social Not Working, Bus Stop Apocalypse, Who Took Utopia? and Dreams Are Mental—these lyrics make you feel everything you’ve been trying to ignore since Thatcher: McGhee’s words detonate truth in working-class Scots.Part songbook, part memoir, this book is an ode to the strange alchemy that turns life into lyrics.

It’s tough being fifteen, right?Imagine what happens when your raging teenage hormones are further complicated by the sudden death of your mother and the reappearance of your absent father.Based on Ollie Maddigan’s real life story, the olive boy is forced to change schools and move in with a man he barely knows. In a hopeless attempt to stay sane, he decides that the only way to move forward is to pursue the chances of finally getting a real girlfriend.Like most things in his life, it does not go to plan…“Fantastic… Ollie Maddigan is one to watch” Steve Pemberton (‘The League of Gentlemen’, ‘Inside No. 9’)

Five late-19th-century “Little Comedies” reveal Chekhov at his sharpest: lovers quarrel, creditors threaten, weddings unravel and a harried lecturer can’t stay on topic. In this collection, Richard Nelson, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky’s translations reveal these short plays to be rich human portraits: funny, bruising and unexpectedly tender. Adapted by Nelson to form a single evening, these plays honour vaudeville speed while digging into Chekhov’s deeper themes of pride, longing, panic and the comedy of being alive.With a preface by Pevear and a director’s note by Nelson.Includes:The BearThe ProposalThe WeddingThe Harmfulness of TobaccoSwan SongRichard Nelson, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky have co-translated Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya, The Seagull, Three Sisters, Ivanov, and Platonov as well as plays by Turgenev, Gogol and Bulgakov. Pevear and Volokhonsky are the foremost translators of classical Russian literature into English; they have been awarded the PEN translation Award twice. Nelson is a Tony and Olivier Award winning playwright and director and an Honorary Associate Artist of The Royal Shakespeare Company.The Salamander Street Classics series offers classical plays in fresh, contemporary versions that preserve the writer’s structure, tone and imagery while connecting anew with today’s actors and audiences.

Hope Is a Silhouette is a body of intimate and introspective poetry with accompanying illustrations, both written and painted by Lana McDonagh. Observations on love, inner demons, lies, routine-the everyday facets and feelings of human experience that forever fascinate. This collection of sensitive poetry and captivating illustrations marks the exciting debut of a talented poet.Original artwork illustrates each poem."Precise yet bursting with submerged emotion, Hope Is a Silhouette allows you into a deeply personal inner migration of beauty and bruised hope". - NICKY WIRE, Manic Street Preachers "The marriage of art and poetry has rarely been so gloriously exhibited in one unique debut volume. That the protagonist of both is one and the same person is both remarkable and utterly perfect, as it should be. Poems that tell of those magical and unforgettable moments of deep love and sensuality, of the joys and complexities of becoming a mother, the confusion despair and frustration of the uncaring world and the damage we sometimes seem unable to avoid inflicting on each other, are all addressed so succinctly and so elegantly that it is hard to fathom that this is Lana's first published work. Apart, each illustration, each poem, hits a nerve and tells a truth. Together they make for a deeply compelling experience. A major new talent." - SIMON RAYMONDE, Cocteau Twins & Bella Union Founder

Celine's Salon is a literary cabaret famous in London since 2016. This collection of poetry, short stories and lyrics gathers work from 29 inspirational writers from Glasgow, Derry, Tenby and London. Sharing poetry with a strong sense of place and character, this anthology includes Welsh-language poetry, Glaswegian poetry as well as English verse and song lyrics. Representing the most interesting writers in each of these cultural melting pots, Celine's Salon - The Anthology Vol 2 is a literary road trip, hosted by writer and performer Celine Hispiche. With new writing from established poets as well as original new voices, this is the second in the series of Celine's Salon - The Anthology. With work from 29 individual contributors. Sit back and enjoy the show.

In a maze of inequality, unemployment and gang culture, it’s a struggle to know where to make a right turn and how to undo a wrong one.Hamlin, Quinn and Nic are young friends trying to get ahead in inner city London.After his dad dies, Hamlin’s goal is to finish school, get a good job and build a better life for himself and his mum, Mama H. When live-wire Quinn and troubled Nic offer Hamlin easy money in return for some county-line drug trafficking, his dreams, his mother’s hopes and the friendship of the three are put to the test.King Hamlin is the winner of best full-length stage play at 2022 Scriptwriters & Co International Festival. It premiered at London’s Park Theatre on 19th October 2022.CASTING: 3 men 1 woman

Will she stop the baby crying, exact revenge on the school bully, fall in love and be loved, protest to change the world, accept advice from her mother’s friends, come to terms with an unexpected illness, and grow old with dignity?Loosely inspired by The Seven Ages of Man speech in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, SHE is an enthralling play, comprised of seven short plays, for two versatile actors playing over fourteen characters.Charting the experiences of different women from childhood to old age, these stories, each with an intriguing twist, are visceral, poignant,and laced with humour.SHE, comprising seven duologues, was first produced by Theatre Accord in association with The Production Exchange, and first performed at the Tara Theatre, London on 9 February 2023 . Then on tour to Cheltenham Everyman, Midlands Arts Centre, The Belgrade Coventry, The Theatre Royal Winchester, Swindon Arts Centre, The Lighthouse Poole, The Merlin Frome, The Phoenix Exeter, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford and the Omnibus in Clapham.CASTING 2 women

Renowned music manager, Rikki Stein, has spent nearly six decades moving musicians around the world, and this book recounts a lifetime of adventure on the road. Always in the right place at the right time, Rikki was part of the great countercultural moments of the last century, from Woodstock and the Vietnam War Moratorium March to the launch Glastonbury Festival.Throughout this extraordinary time, Rikki has toured some of the world's most iconic musicians and groups, from The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Kinks, The Animals, The Yardbirds,The Moody Blues, Grateful Dead to managing the Nigerian superstar, Fela Kuti and many other iconic artists.Full of extraordinary, sometimes hilarious, stories of life on the road, this memoir recounts the joys, frustrations and surprises of juggling logistics, local politics and the whims of his creative clients to deliver true, life-enhancing moments of moving music.

WINNER: 2022 THEATRE BOOK PRIZEWritten by the Crucible Theatre's first Artistic Director, Colin George, and his son, Tedd, 'Stirring Up Sheffield' is the extraordinary story of a group of visionaries who came together to build a revolutionary thrust stage theatre in Sheffield. The radical design they proposed for the auditorium - which redefined the actor/audience relationship - aroused fierce opposition from Sheffield's conservative quarters and several of the era's theatrical luminaries. But it also galvanised a new generation of Britain's actors, directors, designers and playwrights who launched a passionate defence of the thrust stage and its theatrical potential.

Since 2016, Celine's Salon has gathered together writers from all genres, to showcase new work in poetry, prose, song writing, spoken word and performing arts. The literary cabaret attracts professional writers and first-timers, and its loyal audiences enjoy a raucous show that's difficult to categorise. This book is the first collection of work from Celine's Salon regulars, and includes poetry, song lyrics, short stories and humour. With tales that will make your hair curl, rhymes that bring a tear to your eye, Celine's Salon The Anthology is a mixed-up mash-up of work from some of our most intriguing artists-sit back and enjoy the show.

Of Love and Other Maladies is Douglas Graham Wilson’s first collection of poetry. A tender reflection of fluid sexuality and love, this poetry anthology captures sensual experiences, from instant attraction to heart ache and hopefulness. A touching exploration of romance that resonates, with the beauty of nature, to discover what it means to love.