NHB Classic Plays – serie

'She's chucked out like an old coat that nae langer fits him…'Medea and Jason, clinging together as refugees in Corinth, have struggled to bring up their beloved offspring in this alien and unsympathetic society. Now Jason has a plan to better integrate himself. Unfortunately, this involves abandoning his wife, the mother of his children…Spurned, destitute, desperate, Medea exacts her terrible retribution.Liz Lochhead's Scots-inflected version of Euripides' classic revenge tragedy was first performed by Theatre Babel in 2000 and won the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award. It was revived by the National Theatre of Scotland as part of the 2022 Edinburgh International Festival, with Adura Onashile as Medea, directed by Michael Boyd.

John Gabriel Borkman, once an illustrious entrepreneur, has been brought low by a prison sentence for fraud. As he paces alone in an upstairs room, bankrupt and disgraced, he is obsessed by dreams of his comeback.Downstairs, his estranged wife plots the restoration of the family name. When her sister arrives unannounced, she triggers a desperate showdown with the past.Henrik Ibsen's most contemporary play and his penultimate, John Gabriel Borkman is gripping, penetrating and savagely funny. This version by Lucinda Coxon premiered at the Bridge Theatre, London, in September 2022, directed by Nicholas Hytner, with a cast led by Clare Higgins, Simon Russell Beale and Lia Williams.

Frantic Assembly's electrifying take on Shakespeare's tragedy of paranoia, sex and murder, firmly rooted in a volatile twenty-first century.In a world of broken glass and shattered promises, of poisonous manipulation and explosive violence, Othello's passionate affair with Desdemona becomes the catalyst for jealousy, betrayal, revenge and the darkest intents.As relevant today as it ever was, Othello exposes the tension, fear and paranoia buried beneath the veneer of our relationships and how easily that can be maliciously exploited.Frantic Assembly's touring production was first performed in 2008, with revivals in 2014 and 2022. This edition of Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett's muscular, radically adapted text also features articles and interviews about the production and Frantic Assembly's revolutionary work.

'O, full of scorpions is my mind.'The spellbinding story of love and murder, power and paranoia, and the internal struggles of a married couple as they try to control their destiny, and one another…This official tie-in edition to the Donmar Warehouse's acclaimed 2023 revival of Shakespeare's extraordinary psychological drama features rich and revealing behind-the-scenes material exploring how the production was conceived and developed.Starring David Tennant and Cush Jumbo, and directed by Donmar Associate Director Max Webster, this bracingly fresh version used binaural sound technology to place the audience inside the minds of the Macbeths, asking us: are we are ever really responsible for our actions?It was first staged at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in December 2023, and transferred to the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End in October 2024.In addition to the version of Shakespeare's text performed, this volume also includes a fascinating rehearsal diary, colour photos, and interviews with its leading cast and creative team: Tennant, Jumbo and Webster, plus designer Rosanna Vize, sound designer Gareth Fry and composer and musical director Alasdair Macrae.

When Dr Stockmann makes a disturbing discovery about the healing waters in his local baths, he holds the future of the whole town in his hands. But doubt spreads faster than disease, and those with everything to lose refuse to accept his word. Soon, a battle is raging – and it goes far beyond contaminated water… Ibsen's provocative play about truth in a society driven by power and money is given a startling contemporary spin in Thomas Ostermeier and Florian Borchmeyer's acclaimed version, which premiered at the Avignon Festival followed by the Schaubühne in Berlin in 2012. It has since toured to more than thirty cities around the world.This edition of An Enemy of the People was published alongside the first English-language production, in a version by Duncan Macmillan. It opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End in 2024, starring Matt Smith and Jessica Brown Findlay.Thomas Ostermeier is a German theatre director, acclaimed for his innovative and often iconoclastic productions of classic and contemporary plays. He is the Artistic Director of the Schaubühne. 'Thrilling… Ibsen's drama scales new heights of excitement and fascination' Guardian 'Ostermeier is the most important theater director of his generation' New Republic

The crown meets the criminals. Welcome to England.Hal wasn't born to be king. Only now, it seems, he will be. His father longs for him to leave behind his friends in the taverns of Eastcheap, most notably the infamous John Falstaff. War is on the horizon. But will Hal ever come good?Adapted by award-winning writer and director Robert Icke, Player Kings brings together two of Shakespeare's great history plays, Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, in a visionary new version.It opened at the Noël Coward Theatre, London, in 2024, before embarking on a UK tour. It was directed by Robert Icke, with a cast including Toheeb Jimoh, Richard Coyle and Ian McKellen as Falstaff.'Robert Icke is the great hope of British theatre' Time Out

'Nobody in this house knows what I'm capable of.'With a comfortable home, successful husband and two beautiful children, Nora Helmer is the envy of many. But her happy home is built on false foundations. As long-buried secrets begin to surface, Nora wonders if what she has is the same as what she wants.Chris Bush's taut and gripping adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's classic play is a powerful exploration of friendship, betrayal, dependency and liberation. It premiered at the Crucible, Sheffield Theatres, in 2024, directed by Elin Schofield.

'Vengeance will be taken on the killer, then the land will be clean. The contamination will be washed away. The rains will come and the people will be healed.'According to the Oracle, if the murderer of old King Laius is found and punished then all will be well. The people turn to their new ruler, Oedipus, the man who solved the riddle of the Sphinx, to hunt down the perpetrator and bring salvation.He vows to succeed whatever the cost – and so begins an unstoppable pursuit of the truth through a harrowing labyrinth of fear and love.Intimate and revelatory, Ella Hickson's version of Sophocles' transcendent tragedy premiered at The Old Vic, London, in 2025, produced by The Old Vic in association with Hofesh Shechter Company. It was co-directed by Matthew Warchus and Hofesh Shechter, and starred Rami Malek and Indira Varma.

'There is something bad here, growing. Day and night I watch it. Growing.'Elektra, haunted by her father's assassination, is tormented by grief; a fierce instinct for survival; and a thirst for vengeance. When her long-lost brother Orestes at last returns, she urges him to take savage and terrifying action, but at what cost?This edition of Sophokles' electrifying and timeless play features the magisterial translation by award-winning poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson.It was published alongside Daniel Fish's production starring Brie Larson, Stockard Channing, Greg Hicks and Patrick Vaill, which opened at the Theatre Royal Brighton in 2025, before transferring at the Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End.

'He's a vampire. He sucks the life out of people because his own life bores him so much.'A plague rages across Europe. On a remote island, former actress Alice and army officer Captain Edgar are quarantined together – locked in a bitter, brutal and compulsive marriage.When an old friend arrives to help celebrate their wedding anniversary, it's the perfect excuse for the couple to take their games to a terrifying new level.Filled with wit and savagery, Richard Eyre's thrilling version of August Strindberg's Dance of Death is a darkly comic portrait of psychological warfare. It premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre, London, in 2026.

'I feel like, soon, the day after tomorrow, some other people are going to come, a strong, bold race, and sweep us off the face of the earth like litter.'It's a hot, beautiful summer in 1905, and Russia's elite retreats to the countryside to swim, sip champagne and start affairs. When you're having this much fun, why care about anything else? But Vavara can't shake the feeling that they're living on stolen time. How long can they go on ignoring the storm that's gathering on the horizon?A razor-sharp portrait of class, privilege and denial, Summerfolk was written by Maxim Gorky in 1904. This adaptation by Nina Raine and Moses Raine premiered at the National Theatre, London, in 2026, directed by Robert Hastie.

'In a minute there are many days.'In Verona, in the height of summer, two young people meet at a party. The rest is tragedy.Shakespeare's electrifying and timeless tale of love was brought to life in a new production directed by Robert Icke, which premiered at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London, in 2026. It was produced by Empire Street Productions and starred Sadie Sink and Noah Jupe in their West End debuts.This edition features the version of the text used in that production, alongside an introduction by the director and an essay by author and academic Daniel Swift.

A classic from the Spanish Golden Age, Calderón's richly poetic, epic masterpiece explores illusion, reality, fate and destiny against the backdrop of a mythical Polish kingdom.'If I'm asleep, don't let me wake. If this is real, don't let me dream.'To protect the country from the horrors prophesied, the young Prince Segismundo is condemned for all eternity to be shut away from his country and his birthright. Banished to a secret world high in the mountains and cut off from the sun, he can only dream of a life reversed: of palaces, empires, freedom – revenge…Helen Edmundson's version of Calderón's Life is a Dream was premiered at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in 2009.

Richard Eyre's version of Ibsen's Ghosts is a fresh and vivid depiction of a woman who yearns for emotional and sexual freedom, but who is too timid to achieve it.Helene Alving has spent her life suspended in an emotional void after the death of her cruel but outwardly charming husband. She is determined to escape the ghosts of her past by telling her son, Oswald, the truth about his father.But on his return from his life as a painter in France, Oswald reveals how he has already inherited the legacy of Alving's dissolute life.Richard Eyre's version of Ghosts was first staged at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2013.This edition contains an introduction to the play by Richard Eyre.

Betrayed by a husband she sacrificed everything for, Medea unleashes a horrific vengeance on her enemies, by murdering her own children.Featuring one of the most powerful female roles in the history of drama, Euripides' tragedy Medea is reworked by poet Tom Paulin into lithe and sinewy modern English that conveys the shocking story - and our conflicted loyalties as spectators to the tragedy - more strongly than ever.This version of Medea was first staged by Northern Broadsides on a UK tour in 2010.

The savage power of ancient myth collides with twentieth-century decadence in Oscar Wilde's astonishing tragedy.Salome, stepdaughter of King Herod, agrees to perform the mysterious and erotic Dance of the Seven Veils – but demands in return the head of the King's most infamous prisoner, Iokanaan (John the Baptist).To avoid censorship by the Lord Chamberlain, Wilde originally wrote Salome in French, and it premiered in Paris in 1896, while he was in prison. The play was finally seen in London in 1906, but has yet to gain the massive popularity of his comedies.This edition of Salome, published alongside a UK tour by Headlong in 2010, includes new introductions by the academic Trevor R. Griffiths and Ben Power of Headlong.

A masterpiece of power and politics that explores the battle between honour and corruption, between truth and betrayal.Born into ancient nobility and son of the most powerful statesman in the land, Ferdinand is willing to forsake his fortune for the love of Luise, daughter of a humble musician. But in a world governed by deception and greed, where power is everything, their future happiness and liberty are beyond their control.Adapted from Friedrich Schiller's 1784 play Kabale und Liebe, Mike Poulton's Luise Miller was first staged at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in 2011.

Ibsen's political comedy in a crisp and satirical version by Andy Barrett.Bratsberg is a man of tradition. He thinks manners, knowledge and education are the foundations of a good society, but are his values dated? Monsen is an entrepreneur who believes success comes from hard work, but can he be trusted? Stensgard is a radical. He can see that change is beckoning and that he should be the man to drive progress forward. But when real power becomes a possibility how will he respond?A play about political ambition and opportunism, the conflicts of class, the difficulties of breaking open long established systems, and the ways in which political expediency can lay waste to idealism.Written as a response to political change in Norway, The League of Youth was Henrik Ibsen's first truly successful play, and is a clear precursor to The Pillars of Society, A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People. Its vivid characters are instantly recognisable as the prototypes for many of his greatest creations.This English version by Andy Barrett was first staged at Nottingham Playhouse in 2011.

Eugene O’Neill’s epic Pulitzer Prize-winning play about love and forgiveness charts one woman’s longing to forget the dark secrets of her past and hope for salvation.Exiled from her home by the Old Devil Sea to the inland plains, Anna Christie’s life changed for ever at just five years of age. Fifteen years later, she is reunited with the father who sent her away, and sets sail in search of a new beginning.Anna Christie was first staged at the Vanderbilt Theater, New York, in November 1921. Its first London production was at the Strand Theatre in April 1923.This edition of Anna Christie was published alongside the 2011 revival at the Donmar Warehouse, London.

This collection features Chekhov’s best-known short plays in brand new translations: three farces, two comic duologues and a monologue, all of them referred to by Chekhov as ‘vaudevilles’ and all written in the late 1880s before any of his great full-length plays. ‘I don’t much care for theatre,’ he wrote at the time, ‘but I do enjoy vaudevilles.’The Bear, The Proposal and The Wedding are all farces on the preposterous business of courtship and marriage. A Tragic Figure and Swansong are comic duologues: one about a civil servant sweltering in Moscow coping with the incessant demands of his family from their summer dacha, the other about a melancholy old actor perked up by memories of past glories. On the Evils of Tobacco is a bittersweet monologue in which a scientific lecture is hijacked by thoughts of domestic misery.These accurate and actable translations by Chekhov expert Stephen Mulrine reveal a dramatist revelling in the broad comedy of human behaviour, a comedy which was refined in his later masterpieces.Highly entertaining, these comic shorts offer a fascinating insight into Chekhov’s development as a dramatist, and will provide actors at any level – student, amateur or professional – with an ideal showcase.This edition also includes an introduction, a chronology of key dates, and a pronunciation guide.

A funny and touching new version of Pirandello's high-spirited drama, set at the heart of a rural community where property and family unleash fierce passions.Sicily, summer 1916. The women gather to harvest old Simone's almond crop. He's the richest landowner in the district but he has no heir. Local lad Liolà, untroubled by convention, has fathered three boys, each with a different mother. When another of the girls falls pregnant, Simone is persuaded he might recognize the baby as his own, much to his young wife, Mita's, despair. But he underestimates the power of Liolà, who has his own unusual sense of what's right and wrong - and a way with women to make your hair curl.Tanya Ronder's version of Luigi Pirandello's 1916 play Liolà was first performed at the National Theatre, London, in 2013.

A hilarious city comedy by the authors of A Mad World, My Masters and The Shoemaker's Holiday.Sebastian has a problem. He's in love with a girl but his father won't agree to their marriage. In desperation he turns to the one person who can help him, the fearless and feisty 'roaring girl' Moll Cutpurse.In a London fuelled by greed and desire, the charismatic, cross-dressing heroine Moll has the world wrapped around her little finger, and she has a plan. Cutting a joyously independent path through the underhand scheming and petty vendettas of the London underworld, Moll proves more than a match for any man.This Prompt Book edition of The Roaring Girl was published alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company's revival of the play in 2014, and features the text edited for the RSC production, and introductions by key members of its creative team.

A violent tragedy, regarded as one of the great works of Jacobean theatre.Duke Bracciano is besotted by the beautiful Vittoria. When he makes her an indecent proposal she can't refuse, she enlists the help of Flaminio to fool her husband, and begins an illicit affair.But Vittoria and Flaminio soon find themselves snared in a web of corruption, passion and retribution as their single-minded pursuit of personal gain reaches an epic and bloody conclusion.This Prompt Book edition of The White Devil was published alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company's revival of the play in 2014, and features the text edited for the RSC production, and introductions by key members of its creative team.

In the village of Edmonton, Elizabeth Sawyer is shunned by her neighbours. A poor and lonely old woman, she is harassed and accused of being a witch. In her abject misery, she wishes that she really were bewitched and so able to have her revenge. Unluckily for Elizabeth and the villagers of Edmonton, someone with the power to grant that wish is listening.First performed in 1621, The Witch of Edmonton was based by its authors Thomas Dekker, John Ford and William Rowley on a real-life case of a woman accused of witchcraft. The play was revived by the Royal Shakespeare Company as part of its 2014 Roaring Girls season, in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, directed by RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran and with Eileen Atkins as Elizabeth Sawyer.This Prompt Book edition of the play features the text edited for the RSC production, and introductions by key members of its creative team, including Doran.

A wife, a muse, a coward, a heretic. Hedda Gabler is something to everyone, yet has no idea who she is to herself. Trapped by convention and by her own irreconcilable nature, will she have the courage to shape her own destiny?Mark O'Rowe's fluid yet faithful adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's masterpiece Hedda Gabler was premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in April 2015.

Ibsen's forensic examination of a marriage as it falls apart, in a version by Richard Eyre.How is a life well-lived? Alfred Allmers comes home to his wife Rita and makes a decision. Casting aside his writing, he dedicates himself to raising his son. But one event is about to change his life forever.Little Eyolf was first performed in 1894. This new version, adapted and directed by Richard Eyre, premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2015.The third in a trilogy of revelatory Ibsens, Little Eyolf follows Richard Eyre's multi-award-winning adaptations of Ghosts (Almeida, West End and BAM, New York), and Hedda Gabler (Almeida and West End).

Ellida, the lighthouse-keeper's daughter, is trapped in her marriage and longs for the sea. When a former lover returns from years of absence, she is forced to decide between freedom and the new life she has made for herself. Relocated to the Caribbean in the 1950s, Elinor Cook's version of Henrik Ibsen's shattering 1888 play about duty and self-determination premiered at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in 2017, in a production directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah.

‘Do you ever wonder what would happen if we could live our lives all over again but be fully conscious of it the second time?I bet we’d try to do everything differently, or at least would know to create a different world for ourselves.’In a room in a house in a provincial town, three sisters wait for their lives to begin. Olga, the eldest. Masha, the middle child. Irina, the youngest.The clock strikes. A candle is lit. The clock stops. Something catches fire. The clock strikes. They wake up.Cordelia Lynn's version of Chekhov's Three Sisters, from a literal translation by Helen Rappaport, was first performed at the Almeida Theatre, London, in April 2019, in a production directed by Rebecca Frecknall.

In the heat of summer, Sonya and her Uncle Vanya while away their days on a crumbling estate deep in the countryside, visited occasionally by the only local doctor Astrov.However, when Sonya's father, Professor Serebryakov, suddenly returns with his restless, alluring, new wife, declaring his intention to sell the house, the polite façades crumble and long-repressed feelings start to emerge with devastating consequences.Olivier Award-winner Conor McPherson's stunning adaptation of Anton Chekhov's masterpiece, Uncle Vanya, is a portrayal of life at the turn of the twentieth century, full of tumultuous frustration, dark humour and hidden passions. It premiered at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End in January 2020, directed by Ian Rickson.A film of the production, made by Sonia Friedman Productions/Angelica Films and shot on the stage of the Harold Pinter Theatre after the West End run was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was screened on BBC Four and went on to win the Theatre Award in the South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2021.