Bøker i Modern Plays-serien

Written in 1926 and originally entitled Ritz Bar, Semi-Monde was considered too daring for its time. A visually daring comedy that provides a metaphor for Coward's own sexuality.

Set amongst the ruins of post-war Berlin, this play follows a young soldier, sent for a weekend to guard a deserted British army office. In the corrosive atmosphere of Cold War power struggles, he finds his conscience is on trial.

Saturday night, small town Wales, one pub, one party and three lads stuck with their school reputations - the gimp, the geek and the bully. Their dream - to get the hell out. A Paines Plough production directed by Vicky Featherstone.

Displaying his characteristic disdain for bourgeois hypocrisy, in "The Good Hope" Heijermans takes up the cause of exploited fisherman. Set in Whitby, this fresh adaptation by Lee Hall aims to breathe new life into a European classic.

It's the 1960s and we're in the back of a porn cinema in Gateshead. Abel Stein takes a dislike to a cockney punter, knocks him out and stuffs him in a cupboard. Then they find out that the infamous Kray twins are in town. What do you do when you've inadvertently kidnapped England's scariest man?

Angel Cruz, a poor Puerto Rican, isn't sure why he's in jail after shooting Reverend Kim, the born-again Christian who brainwashed his best friend. But when the Reverend dies in hospital, Angel lands in solitary confinement next to Lucius, a card-carrying Christian serial-killer.

A new executive breed is emerging on the outskirts of Dublin - where once there was a sense of history and socialism, the corporate moguls have enslaved the idealists and turned them into entrepreneurs. But Marion and Kevin find their emotional prosperity threatened by an economic squall.

A stunning new play by the award-winning writer of The Glee Club ("Dramatic Dynamite" - Evening Standard)

Set against the inexorable march of progress in contemporary London, Kwame Kwei-Armah's second play for the National explores race and roots with verve and wit.

A darkly humorous look at the flip side of home-sweet-home

Gripping drama of teenage struggle by talented new writer

Alistair Beaton's new play, part farce, part biting satire, on modern politics, New Labour and the fine art of spin is set in the plush seaside hotel of a party conference as anti-capitalist riots rage in the streets below.

"You will come back though won't yer, Darren? Yer will come back? Say yer'll come back. Come back." Lucy is 17. She dreams of love, security and a bright future. However, first she must confront reality - and reality means deciding who to trust.

Shepard's play, "State of Shock", turns an anniversary party into a reopening of the wounds of war, sex and family betrayal. This volume includes his screenplays for the films "Far North", which explores the gap between generations and genders, and "Silent Tongue", about white settlers in America.

A play by the author of "The Furtive Nudist", "Clown Plays" and "Skungpoomery".

A new, uncompromising political thriller exploring with electrifying theatricality the events of the Suez Crisis, and the tragic story of its flawed hero - Churchill's golden boy and heir apparent, Anthony Eden.

Musical drama of Judy Garland's "come-back" concerts

Days of Significance is the new work by Roy Williams commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and staged at the Swan Theatre in January 2007.

Written in the 15th century by Johannes Von Saaz, "Death and the Ploughman" is a dialogue between Death and a widowed farmer. West has dramatized it here as an adversarial duel where the farmer's defence of mankind is as strong as Death's ruthless prosecution of his own cause.

Presents the tale of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, one of Britain's finest comedy double-acts. This is a comedy bringing to life the comic genius and flawed relationship of Moore and Cook.

Lauren's come back for Christmas dinner, she's pregnant at fifteen, but she's not staying. They've found her a place with a creche so she can do her exams. This publication shows a harsh slice of life from "What's in the Cat" premiered at Contact Theatre, Manchester, in November 2005.

When one man goes to war he leaves the city, his wife and brother. A year later only the wife and brother remain. This work asks what happens when people and events apparently thousands of miles away affect the heart and soul of a city.

Frayn's sparkling comedy about a university reunion, currently revived in the West End

The play revolves around the aftermath of a military coup d'etat in a "fictional" Trinidad and Tobago. The playwrights other work includes "Play Mas", "Independence" and "Meetings".

Danny returns from Basra to a foreign England and a different kind of battle. He visits an old flame, buys a gun and goes on a blistering road trip through the new home front. Written during the London bombings of 2005, this work is a response to the anti-war movement - and to the war itself.

When his fingers slip away from his father's hand, one boy's destiny changes forever. In the chaos of border crossing between India and the newly formed Pakistan, a small boy called Pali suddenly finds himself lost and alone. Taken in to a Muslim family he is given a new name, and a new faith - Islam.

Set in a mythical Chicago, Saint Joan of the Stockyards tells the story of a Salvation Army lieutenant who challenges the power of Pierpoint Mauler, the meat king. The play, which was never staged in Brecht's lifetime, is published here with a new translation and introductory notes.

"A poet of the theatre, shaping a new language out of broken words: an emotional seismograph registering the tremors which shake the substratum of human life" (The Times)

This monologue features Cathar heretics, a mysterious female French book thief and an oriental violinist who does pig impressions.