Discover the Most-Performed Plays of 2022

January 31, 2023January 31, 2023 / nickhernbooks / Leave a comment

Every year, we license thousands of amateur performances of NHB-published plays, helping amateur groups, schools, youth theatres and others create their own brilliant productions.

With over 1,500 titles on our list, there’s no shortage of options to choose from. However, there are certain shows we see companies are drawn to time and time again. We’ve looked back at the stats from the past twelve months, and put together a list of the shows we most often licensed for amateur performance in 2022. Can you guess which plays might feature? Read on to find out…

**10. Wendy & Peter Pan by Ella Hickson**

Cast: 4f 17m doubling (up to 6f 22m); version for smaller cast also available

Wendy & Peter Pan, performed by Bedford Girls School in July 2022

First seen at the Royal Shakespeare Company, this delightful version of J.M. Barrie’s much-loved story puts the character of Wendy firmly centre stage, in an adaptation that is refreshingly modern but never loses the charm of the original.

With large and smaller cast versions available, it’s perfect for any theatre company or youth group looking to stage a classic tale, full of magic, adventure and strong female roles.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Swallows and Amazons, adapted by Helen Edmundson (with songs by Neil Hannon) from the novel by Arthur Ransome

**9. Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales, adapted for the stage by Philip Wilson**

Cast: first set: 4f 4m, doubling; second set 8f 8m doubling (entire script offers roles for 42f and 100m)

Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales, performed by Chichester Festival Youth Theatre (photo by Johan Persson)

Full of deliciously dark twists and turns, master-storyteller Philip Pullman’s version of the classic tales brings them life in all their glittering, macabre brilliance. They’re a delight for children and adults alike.

The script offers dramatisations of twelve different tales arranged in two complementary groups – enough material for two complete productions – with the option to license as many as you want for your production.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Arabian Nights, adapted by Dominic Cooke

**8. Machinal by Sophie Treadwell**

Cast: 10f 14m, doubling

Machinal, performed by Boston Conservatory of Music in February 2022 (photo by Max Wagenblass)

First seen on Broadway in 1928 – with numerous major professional revivals since – this is a powerful expressionist drama about the dependent status of women in an increasingly mechanised society. The author was a campaigning journalist in America between the wars, and this play is based on one of her assignments: a sensational murder involving Snyder, who with her lover, Judd Gray, had murdered her husband and gone to the electric chair.

In addition to the full-length version, authorised one-act and ten-minute abridgements of the play are also available for performance.

Loved this play? Take a look at: The Thrill of Love by Amanda Whittington

**7. Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons by Sam Steiner**

Cast: 1f 1m

Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, performed by ADC Theatre, Cambridge, in October 2022 (photo by Tian Chan)

The average person will speak 123,205,750 words in a lifetime. But what if there were a limit? A huge hit every year with student companies, this clever, funny play about language, relationships and connection is the perfect easy-to-stage, easy-to-love studio show for any group.

First seen at Warwick Arts Centre and the National Student Drama Festival, it has gone on to draw sold-out audiences at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, in London and elsewhere – with a West End transfer, starring Jenna Coleman and Aidan Turner, opening in January 2023.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Lava by James Fritz

**6. The Hound of the Baskervilles, adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson from the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle**

Cast: 3m (playing various roles)

The Hound of The Baskervilles, performed by Stockport Garrick Theatre in March 2022 (photo by Ian M Butterfield)

Packed full of verbal and visual ingenuity, this gloriously funny makeover of the most celebrated Sherlock Holmes story always ranks amongst our most popular shows for amateur performance!

It’s easy to see why: with three actors playing multiple roles, and offering abundant opportunities for silly comedy and slapstick, this perennially popular show is a guaranteed good time for groups and audiences alike.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Jeeves & Wooster in ‘Perfect Nonsense’, adapted by The Goodale Brothers from the works of P.G. Wodehouse

**5. Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale**

Cast: 5-7f 7m

Nell Gwynn, performed by Mountview, London, in March 2022 (photo by Steve Gregson)

London, 1660. King Charles II has exploded onto the scene with a love of all things loud, extravagant and sexy. And at Drury Lane, a young Nell Gwynn is causing stirrings amongst the theatregoers. This exhilarating play charts the rise of an unlikely heroine, from her roots in Coal Yard Alley to her success as Britain’s most celebrated actress, and her hard-won place in the heart of the King.

First seen at Shakespeare’s Globe, London, later transferred to London’s West End – where it won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. It’s been beloved by amateur groups ever since its release.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Anne Boleyn by Howard Brenton

**4. Brainstorm by Ned Glasier, Emily Lim and Company Three**

Cast: flexible – as big or small as required

Brainstorm, performed by The Ivy Players, Croydon High School, London, in September 2022

Created by an award-winning youth-theatre group in collaboration with neuroscientists, this is a unique theatrical investigation into how teenagers’ brains work, and why they’re designed by evolution to be the way they are. The play is designed to draw directly on and incorporate the personal experiences of the young people taking part – meaning no two productions are ever the same!

The published version contains a series of exercises, resources and activities to help your school, youth-theatre group or young company create and perform your own, unique Brainstorm. It also features the complete script of Company Three’s original production which played at Park Theatre and the National Theatre, London.

Loved this play? Take a look at: The Changing Room by Chris Bush

**3. Around the World in 80 Days, adapted by Laura Eason from the novel by Jules Verne**

Cast: 3f 5m, doubling (very large cast possible)

Around the World in 80 Days, performed by Weymouth Drama Club’s Curtain Raisers in October 2022

Join fabulously wealthy Victorian gentleman Phileas Fogg and his hapless valet Passepartout as they set out on a dazzling, dizzying journey around the globe – from the misty alleys of London to the exotic subcontinent and on to the Wild West – on a succession of trains, steamers, a wind-propelled sledge and an elephant.

Packing in more than fifty unforgettable characters, this imaginative version of the classic novel was originally written for an ensemble cast of eight, but can be performed by a much larger cast – making it perfect for any theatre company or drama group looking for a high-spirited adventure.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Dracula: The Bloody Truth by Le Navet Bete and John Nicholson, adapted from the novel by Bram Stoker

**2. Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale**

Cast: 8-10f 8-14m (plus 2 extras)

Blue Stockings, performed by Altrincham Garrick Society in October 2022 (photo by Martin Ogden)

A regular fixture near the top of our Most-Performed list, this is a moving, comical and eye-opening story of young women fighting for education and self-determination against the larger backdrop of women’s suffrage. Set in 1890s Cambridge, the play follows the course of one tumultuous academic year as Tess and her fellow first years at Girton College battle for the right to graduate – and overcome the hurdles in their way.

First seen at Shakespeare’s Globe, London, Blue Stockings is regularly performed by amateur groups, schools and others around the world. Accompanying music by Laura Forrest-Hay is also available for companies to license.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Emilia by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm

**1. Ladies’ Day by Amanda Whittington**

Cast: 4f 1m (doubling, or up to 6m)

Ladies’ Day, performed by Bartholomew Players in May 2022 (photo by Cereta Drewett)

This exuberant comedy, about four likely lasses from the Hull fish docks on a day trip to the races, has been a permanent fixture on the amateur-theatre scene for fifteen years now – and returned to the top of our Most-Performed list in 2022.

Audiences and groups have long loved following the exploits of fish-filleting foursome Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda – and in addition to the hilarious sequel Ladies Down Under (which also ranks in our top 20 most-performed shows!), a third play in the series, Ladies Unleashed, is now available for performance.

Loved this play? Take a look at: Di and Viv and Rose by Amelia Bullmore

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A word from NHB’s Performing Rights Manager, Tamara von Werthern…

Nobody loves a Top Ten more than me, but this one is especially exciting for a number of reasons. Firstly it rounds off the first year since the lockdowns of the pandemic and gives us a clear indication that amateur theatre is back and thriving. Secondly, it’s such a wonderful selection of plays, which shows off the variety and range that exists in the amateur community.

From fairy tales to neuroscience, slapstick humour to state-of-the-nation, historical drama, to finger-on-the-pulse present-day commentary, there’s something here for everyone. Thank you to everyone who staged one of our plays in 2022! It’s been a pleasure working with you, looking forward to hearing from you in 2023.

Congratulations to all of the NHB authors whose shows made our Top 10 Most-Performed plays. To see the full, extended list – featuring lots more well-known names, plus some exciting new entries – head to our website.

Thanks so much to all of the ambitious, passionate amateur companies whom we helped create fantastic productions in 2022. We’re always inspired to see your incredible work, and can’t wait to help you stage more brilliant shows this year, too.

VAULT 2023: the best new work at London’s VAULT festival

January 25, 2023January 25, 2023 / nickhernbooks / Leave a comment

Vault festival

VAULT Festival, London’s biggest arts and entertainment festival, is now underway in Waterloo, where it runs until 19 March. With hundreds of events taking place throughout the eight weeks of the festival, including theatre, comedy, cabaret, immersive and VR experiences, family shows, late-night parties and more, there’s something for everyone. And to celebrate the publication of Plays from VAULT 6, an exciting collection of five of the best plays from the festival, we asked the authors whose work is featured in the anthology to tell us a bit about their play, and what VAULT means to them – plus, at the bottom, a few handy tips on what to see at this year’s festival…

Joe Sellman-Leava on his play Fanboy:

I’ve always loved Nintendo games. And superheroes. In my early teens I got into The Lord of the Rings and Warhammer in quite a big way. For some, such childhood obsessions fade away, but I continued to be very into one or other of them. In late 2019, I started to wonder why this might be. Why was I so readily giving my time and money to play, watch or read the things I loved as a kid, or the various remakes, reboots, spin-offs and adaptations of them? Why were so many other adults doing the same? Why was talking about these things, with such passion and in such depth, the closest thing men like me got to discussing our feelings with one another? And why did those discussions so often become hateful or abusive online?

Fanboy tries to answer some of these questions. It begins as a sort of fan letter to all the things I love to geek-out about – Star Wars, The Muppet Christmas Carol and Donkey Kong Country, to name a few – and then asks why my generation is so obsessed with its own childhood. It examines the force of nostalgia, not just in entertainment but in our politics too (‘Take Back Control’ and ‘Make America Great Again’ are both slogans that invite people to think back to an imagined vision of the past). It also examines heroes, why and how we worship them, as well as loneliness, mental health, and male friendship.

Fanboy is a solo show – with a twist! I don’t want to spoil anything (I hate spoilers), but there’s a device in the show which is used to play with our experience of time and the theme of nostalgia, and the creative team and I are really proud of it.

It means a lot to bring Fanboy to VAULT Festival, because this is where the show first found its feet. It had a series of work-in-progress performances at VAULT 2020, before that festival had to close due to Covid. The team and I were busy tweaking things during the day, performing in the evenings, then chatting to audiences afterwards over a pint – it was a great way to learn more about what worked in the show, and what needed further work. Like lots of others, we had to pause development on the show. The festival has been sorely missed over the last few years, so it feels great to bring the finished show back here for VAULT 2023.

Click here to book for Fanboy, 7–12 March

Fanboy

Saul Boyer and Eloka Obi on their play Five Years with the White Man:

Five Years with the White Man is the first theatrical adaptation of the life and work of Augustus Boyle Chamberlayne Merriman-Labor (or ABC), a Sierra-Leonean satirist who came to London at the beginning of the twentieth century to make his name as the greatest writer of his generation. Navigating heartbreak, prejudice and financial destitution, he published the deliciously urbane and gloriously funny Britons Through Negro Spectacles in 1909, detailing his experiences in London. His observations about British culture and all its contradictions feel as prescient now as ever.

Saul first stumbled across ABC’s story while researching an original TV project set in Edwardian Soho. The story seemed too big to play a bit-part in that original project – it demanded a starring role. So Saul brought the story to the team. At that point, ABC’s book Britons had not yet been marked for republication by Penguin – and we all felt this real sense of injustice. Here was a comic work, a witty work, by such an urbane and confident voice, dealing virtuosically with first-hand experience of structural and economic racial injustice, gender-based prejudice – frankly, ignorance in all its forms. And it had been forgotten. Lost to the record. Invisible to the canon. It really felt like the authorial perspective was a twenty-first-century one – which was striking, particularly given the edition of the book that we had then was published by Forgotten Books, which specialises in the publication of obscure and out-of-print works.

That discovery was the real jumping-off point. It led us to Danell Jones’ wonderful biography of ABC, and then to research his other works. As we began to write the play, we quickly realised that our take on ABC’s story could never be a straightforward, biopic-style adaptation – his work is far too mischievous and genre-defying for that. We felt strongly that we wanted to do something innovative – something that spoke more directly to the present. We discussed a lot of genre-defying shows – seven methods of killing kylie jenner and many others – and felt there was room for a little metatheatricality in the storytelling. We wanted some kind of modern mediation of these complex themes – it seemed only fair to the wonderfully variegated source material. Competing with the bravura comic style and emotional depth of Merriman-Labor is a challenge – one that forced us to dig deep as writers. Our play begins as a straightforward story, but as the piece progresses we see another layer emerge: that of the performer himself. Soon these two stories – one modern, one historical – begin to respond to and coincide with each other in unexpected ways. The play is like an epic in miniature, touching on deep themes of love, loss and identity. It’s certainly a challenge for the performer, really putting them through their paces!

VAULT festival has always been such a vibrant exhibition of emerging voices in our national theatre ecology. The sheer energy, excitement, and progressive quality of the work makes it a bubbling cauldron of creativity. You feel that the spirit of fringe theatre is alive and well. The work feels fresh, artistically engaged and on the experimental side. In short: it’s a destination for the curious. A place to be inspired. Artists at VAULT are genuinely experimenting and pushing the envelope, in terms of form – and the kinds of stories platformed and told are ahead of the curve. As a company, we discussed long and hard where would be the best place to showcase this work on its very first outing. In the end, there was no other choice – and we can genuinely think of no better place for this show to debut than at VAULT!

Click here to book for Five Years with the White Man, 28 Feb–5 March

Five Years

Zahra Jassi on her play Honour-Bound:

My play Honour-Bound is a solo show about honour-based violence (HBV) and anti-Blackness in South Asian communities. It follows Simran, on her way to City Airport because she’s fleeing HBV, and the journey she’s been on over the last two years from meeting her now-boyfriend, her relationship with her family, and the friend she lost to HBV.

I was inspired to write the play during my time at drama school, after my teacher asked us to write 10-minute solo shows over Christmas. I enjoy making theatre that focuses on race and culture and working with Black and Brown artists, and this was difficult to do within the curriculum as the only student of colour on my course. So Honour-Bound was born and was, for me, an exploration of a South Asian issue, even though HBV and anti-Blackness occur in other communities.

I feel very grateful to be at VAULT 2023. Having such a fantastic opportunity straight after graduating has been incredible and has allowed me to keep up the creative momentum from drama school that I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to. I feel very privileged to be at the festival among 500+ fantastic shows, and hopefully this experience will allow me to connect with artists, especially Black and Brown artists, also bringing shows to VAULT.

Click here to book for Honour-Bound, 7–10 March

Honour Bound

Elisabeth Lewerenz

Elisabeth Lewerenz on her play How We Begin:

My play How We Begin is about two women, Helen and Diana, who’ve been friends since uni, have settled into their adult lives – and then fall in love with each other. Neither of them expected that to happen, and Diana already has a boyfriend, so they kind of try to explore that new part of their lives in secret – which, as you can imagine, does not go entirely smoothly.

It’s not strictly speaking an autobiographical play, but it’s based on a situation from my own life. I’m bisexual myself and I didn’t figure that out until my mid-twenties. I think that’s not uncommon for queer women, but it’s not spoken about that often, so I really wanted to dig deeper into what it means to come out (to yourself and to the people around you) when you’ve already settled into your adult life a little bit – and how it throws things off-balance for a while.

I wrote the first scene of How We Begin when I was applying for the VAULT New Writers Programme in 2019, so it’s an absolute joy to have it programmed at the festival this year. I love the intimacy of the VAULT tunnels, so it feels like a very natural home for the play, which really relies on the performers’ connection to the audience.

Click here to book for How We Begin, 14–19 Feb

How We Begin

Louis Emmitt-Stern on his play I Fucked You in My Spaceship:

Part romantic comedy, part psychological thriller, part science fiction, my play I Fucked You in My Spaceship follows two couples: Leo & Dan, and Anna & Emily. For different reasons, they both invite a third person into their relationship. What happens next depends on how you choose to read the story. Fundamentally, I think the play is interested in the idea of abduction. Someone coming into your life and invading your home, your relationship, your sense of self. Whether that’s literal or metaphorical is up to each audience.

When relationships have to reject traditional or heteronormative ways of navigating children or sex or family or intimacy, the rule book goes out the window. There’s new uncharted territory, and we’re not exactly sure what the boundaries are yet – which can be hilarious, but also quite scary. I think these characters walk that tightrope between funny and fearful. In many ways, it’s my anti-nuclear family play. But it’s not presenting a utopian or dystopian alternative. It’s just as lonely and messy and awkward and farcical.

Live theatre wasn’t accessible to me growing up. My love and enthusiasm for drama was encouraged largely through reading plays. I so vividly remember reading Lucy Burke’s Glitter Punch in Plays from VAULT 3; the way the narrative gripped me, the twist at the end that knocked me out, the rawness and inventiveness of the storytelling that feels unique to the shows at VAULT Festival.

To have my show on at VAULT Festival now, and to be published in the anthology that introduced me to it all? Yeah, it’s pretty immense. I just feel very grateful.

Click here to book for I Fucked You in My Spaceship, 7–10 Feb

I Fucked You

What to see at VAULT Festival 2023…

With the festival opening this week, we asked our authors which shows from this year’s programme they were most excited to see. Check out their picks:

Joe Sellman-Leava: I’m excited to see lots of other things at VAULT 2023. Particularly the other plays in Plays from VAULT 6, as well as Liv Ello’s Swarm (7–10 Feb), Joz Norris’ Blink (3–4 Feb), and Hexenhammer (10–11 Feb).

Saul Boyer and Eloka Obi: There are so many shows to pick from, but a few honourable mentions: we’re really looking forward to Strange Fruit Cabaret, written and performed the wickedly talented Black Venus in Furs and Mars De Lite (11 Mar), Wonder Drug written and performed by the brilliant Charlie Merriman (15 Feb–3 Mar) and Hildegard Von Bingen by Kristen Winters and BoundByTheatre (21–26 Feb).

Zahra Jassi: I’m excited to see Right of Way by Beth Bowden (21–26 Feb), Hear Me Now by Burnt Orange Theatre (14–17 Feb), Under Heaven’s Eyes by Resistance Theatre Company (7–12 Feb), Asian Girls in Therapy by Gurjot Dhaliwal and Megan Soh (28 Feb), The Ballerina by Khaos (31 Jan–5 Feb), Patient Vultures by Daydreamer Productions (14–17 Mar), Maud by Sic Theatre (21–25 Feb) and For A Brief Moment and Never Again Since by Judi Amato (28–29 Jan).

Elisabeth Lewerenz: I’m super-excited about all the other plays from this volume, what a selection! My friend Matt Neubauer, who did the VAULT New Writers Programme with me, is bringing his genre-bending western play Spur to the festival (4–9 Mar), which I can’t wait to see. And as a lover of drag, I’m also excited about drag king collective Pecs’ Icons (25 Feb) (shoutout to my drag dad, Loose Willis!) and the drag wrestling show Fist Club – Beyond Vaulterdome (26 Feb). And so, so many plays, including SNAIL by Bebe Sanders (28 Feb–5 Mar), in Good Spirits by KT Miles, Ana Smoleanu & Greta Rilletti-Zaltieri (18–19 Feb) and Thirsty by Stephanie Martin (31 Jan–5 Feb).

Louis Emmitt-Stern: Aside from the other four fantastic plays included in Plays from VAULT 6, I’m excited to see the work of this year’s Tony Craze Award shortlist: GUSH by Abby-Vicky Russell (7–12 Mar), and Mwansa Phiri’s new play Waiting for a Train at the Bus Stop (29 Jan–5 Feb). James McDermott returns to London with his new show Acid’s Reign (14–19 Mar), a drag-cabaret about climate change and the queerness of nature. Actor and writer Sanjay Lago’s debut stand-up show Love Me like a Chai Tea Latte (7–8 Feb). Finally, Con-Version (14–19 Mar) by Rory Thomas-Howes, the multi-hyphenated and multi-talented actor-writer-producer who is going from strength to strength at the moment.

Plays from VAULT 6, containing five of the best plays from this year’s festival, is published by Nick Hern Books. To buy your copy for just £13.59 (RRP £16.99), visit our website now.

Collections from previous VAULT Festivals are also available on our website here.

VAULT Festival 2023 runs from 24 January – 19 March at the Vaults, Waterloo, London. Visit the festival website here.

Thank you to the authors of Plays from VAULT 6 for their contributions to this blog.

In dark times: Two Ukrainian playwrights on life in the midst of the conflict

August 18, 2022August 18, 2022 / nickhernbooks / Leave a comment

It has been six months now since Russia invaded Ukraine, but as a double-bill of Ukrainian plays – published this week and currently showing at the Finborough Theatre in London – makes clear, the conflict really began much earlier than that, when Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014. For the two leading Ukrainian playwrights whose work is being staged, and who both still live and work in Ukraine, the war there is as devastating as it was foreseeable. Here, Natal’ya Vorozhbit and Neda Nezhdana (together with their translators, Sasha Dugdale and John Farndon) write about the anger, dismay and horror that has fed into their work, as well as the extraordinary human resilience in the face of outrageous Russian aggression.

Natal’ya Vorozhbit writes: ‘When I wrote Take the Rubbish Out, Sasha in 2014, the war in Ukraine had already begun. It continued in the east of the country, and it was impossible to believe. I tried to wear this war, as did my family; I wrote about my fears and premonitions and hoped that they would never come true, that humanity would be horrified and stop the war at that stage. But humanity pretended that nothing was happening and bought gas from Russia. Eight years have passed and everything that I described in the play, only much worse, has happened to the whole of Ukraine, hit all of us and touched all of you.

For eight years, neither Ukraine nor the world has coped with the evil that came without hiding. It really hurts me that this text is only now so relevant. Can it change anything? It seems that art does not become a warning and does not change the world at all. And only the human ability not to lose hope moves us further, makes us write, fight, and believe that good and truth will win.’

Take The Rubbish Out, Sasha. Amanda Ryan and Alan Cox Credit Charles Flint 2

Amanda Ryan and Alan Cox in Take the Rubbish Out, Sasha by Natal’ya Vorozhbit at the Finborough Theatre, 2022 (Photograph by Charles Flint)

Sasha Dugdale writes: ‘I translated Take the Rubbish Out, Sasha in late 2014 for A Play, A Pie and A Pint at Òran Mór in Glasgow, directed by Nicola McCartney. The war in Donbas had begun earlier that same year, so by the time Natalka wrote her short play the initial shock of war and invasion had worn off. In her lithe, funny and poignant work, Natalka looks back to the Soviet period, and the confusion of the nineties, and shows how ideas of masculinity have shifted over a period of turbulent change. With her “sly writer’s heart” (a phrase she uses in her 2017 classic Bad Roads) and her abundant compassion and humour, she depicts a family operating under all sorts of strains: the burden of alcoholism, divorce, poor health, death, financial constraints, and the various toxins of a corrupt and venal late- or post-Soviet military system.

It is a surprise when war interrupts this mess of ordinary lives and their tensions – as much a surprise to the viewer as it appears to be for the characters. They are wrenched backwards into a time when masculinity counted for something – and yet paradoxically it is women now managing, holding the fort, buying the supplies: the men turn out to be absent, shadowy or supernatural.

I have translated Natalka’s work for many years and it has been a privilege and a responsibility. Over the period of our collaboration she has documented the emerging Ukraine and its process of self-definition, through protest and uprising, into the woeful period of Russian aggression which has dominated Ukraine’s recent history. I love and relish her deft, wry dialogue and its humour, and the power female protagonists have in her writing. Most of all I love her joy in humanity, in all its forms, and I take this into my translating, often laughing aloud at her sheer cleverness and wit as I strive to find English equivalents.’

Take The Rubbish Out, Sasha. Issy Knowles and Amanda Ryan Credit Charles Flint 2

Issy Knowles and Amanda Ryan in Take the Rubbish Out, Sasha by Natal’ya Vorozhbit at the Finborough Theatre, 2022 (Photograph by Charles Flint)

Neda Nezhdana writes: ‘Since the Revolution of Dignity, I have “mobilised” my “literary soldiers”; all my texts have been related to the Maidan and the war. At the beginning of 2014, my native city of Kramatorsk in Donetsk region was occupied by Rashists (Russian fascists) for several months. My relatives managed to escape, and I wanted to write a play about it: what it is like to become a refugee. They had had their whole world stolen from them: home, work, friends, city… And the total lies of Russian propaganda – about the Maidan, Donbas, Ukraine in general – were outrageous. Nothing to do with reality. On the contrary, they called the Maidan’s international goal of association with the EU “Nazism”, and described their own aggression, terror and looting as “liberation”. Time has shown that their hybrid occupation brought only grief: tens of thousands killed, wounded, orphaned, millions of refugees, destroyed houses and destinies… And people, provoked by propaganda, became murderers, executioners and traitors…

I searched for a long time to find the right form for my play, Pussycat in Memory of Darkness. The impetus was the true story of Iryna Dovgan, a beauty-salon worker who was captured and tortured by the Russians. Her words suggested the title of the play: she saw “darkness” in the eyes of her executioner. This is what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to warn the world about this “darkness” – the impunity of criminals turning into a “tsunami” that can engulf all of us in a terrible nightmare of terror… Yet “in dark times, bright people are clearly visible,” as Erich Maria Remarque wrote. The second impetus for the play was photos of our retreating soldiers rescuing dogs, cats and parrots. Animals, whose owners had been killed or captured, sensed where they would be helped, and went to Ukrainian soldiers. I believe that humanity begins with our attitude towards animals. This is how the eventual image of a volunteer heroine who helps soldiers and saves kittens was born. White, grey and black are the three steps in the war of light and dark… Documentary stories from relatives and friends, my own memories and news, such as the shooting down of a passenger plane by the Russians in Donbas, were intertwined with fantasy. It was a cry for help: people, stop this horror before it’s too late… But millions of crimes in the Russian Federation remain unpunished, and unpunished evil is growing progressively.

Pussycat In Memory Of Darkness. Kristin Milward Credit Charles Flint 4

Kristin Milward in Pussycat In Memory of Darkness by Neda Nezhdana at the Finborough Theatre, 2022 (Photograph by Charles Flint)

Since 24th February 2022, this “darkness” has spread over the whole of Ukraine. When I wrote this play, I didn’t know, like my character, how it was to be with children and animals under fire from rockets and bombs, what it meant to be a refugee. But now I know this from my own experience in the Kyiv region, and my relatives in Kramatorsk live next to the train station that was hit by Russian rockets on 8th April… Tens of millions of people are going through this now, dozens of countries around the world are helping displaced people and the wounded from Ukraine. More than two-thirds of Ukrainian children are refugees, others are under fire, in infiltration camps, deported, wounded, killed… Now refugees are a problem for the whole world. Rashists destroy entire cities and villages, especially schools, hospitals, museums, theatres, churches, burn books… And they also “denazify” animals: horses are burned in stables and cows are blasted by “hail”… They even attack plants – mining forests and burning grain fields… This is not only the most terrible war in terms of weapons, it is genocide, the attack of barbarism on civilisation, slavery on freedom. It is important to understand: leaving the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation means condemning people to death and torture. Unfortunately, this play has only grown in relevance. I believe that such texts help those traumatised by the war and those who want to understand what is really happening. All over the Earth, which is becoming absorbed by the “darkness”. However, I remain in Ukraine and continue to write, because I believe in the victory of light. Thanks to all “warriors of light” in the world.’

John Farndon writes: ‘The ongoing Russian attack on Ukraine is a horror which no one can ignore. What can theatremakers do? The very painful answer is not much. But since the beginning of March 2022, I’ve been working with the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings project, in collaboration with Theatre of Playwrights in Kyiv, to bring the words of Ukraine’s amazing and courageous playwrights to the world by translating dozens of their plays, many written almost from the frontline – raw, immediate and powerful.

For me, the most extraordinary discovery has been the writing of Neda Nezhdana, and it’s been a privilege to translate her work. She is something of a legend in Ukraine yet her work has never been staged in English until now. It should have been. Neda has an extraordinary ability to distil the most challenging aspects of Ukraine’s situation into bold, provocative, thrilling drama.

Pussycat in Memory of Darkness is set in 2014, when Russia occupied Crimea and began its ongoing attempts to destabilise the Donbas, in revenge for Ukraine’s Maidan revolution to rid the country of Russian influence. It tells the story of the nightmare life that develops for one woman in the Donbas in the face of the insidious violence stirred up in her home town by the Russian-backed militia and propaganda. It is a beautifully crafted, yet uncompromising drama that takes us right into the heart of darkness that is Russia’s war on Ukraine. Yet the message is not just about Ukraine, but for us all.’

Pussycat In Memory Of Darkness. Kristin Milward Credit Charles Flint 3

Kristin Milward in Pussycat In Memory of Darkness by Neda Nezhdana at the Finborough Theatre, 2022 (Photograph by Charles Flint)

Cover image for blog

This is an edited version of the introduction to Voices from Ukraine: Two Plays published by Nick Hern Books. Save 20% on your copy when you order direct from the Nick Hern Books website here. 10% of the proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation, a Ukrainian charity providing urgently needed psychological and psychosocial support to children affected by the war in Ukraine.

The plays Take the Rubbish Out, Sasha and Pussycat in Memory of Darkness are in production at the Finborough Theatre, London, until 3 September. For more information, and to book tickets, visit the Finborough Theatre website.

Three plays, one cast, all at the same time: Chris Bush on her ambitious dramatic triptych Rock / Paper / Scissors

June 23, 2022June 23, 2022 / nickhernbooks / Leave a comment

For the fiftieth anniversary of the Crucible, Sheffield Theatres commissioned playwright Chris Bush to write three plays that could be performed by the same cast, simultaneously, in all three of their spaces (the Crucible, the Lyceum, and the Studio). Nothing quite like it had ever been attempted before. As the resulting plays Rock / Paper / Scissors are premiered in Sheffield, Chris explains how the idea came about…

This is a very silly idea.

We first started dreaming up these shows in February 2021. Directors Rob Hastie and Anthony Lau, designer Ben Stones and myself were making The Band Plays On at the Crucible and going slightly insane through the pressures of creating work during a global pandemic, trying to imagine a brighter future while struggling to navigate the strange new realities of the day to day. The fiftieth anniversary of the Crucible was coming up in November, and who knew how we were going to mark it, or even if the theatre would be open at all by then? While I went home to work on rewrites and do deep dives into lesser known Sheffield Britpop acts, the directors were putting together funding applications and drawing up bold new seasons with a combination of blind hope and bloody-mindedness that all theatre professionals know only too well.

One morning, Rob met me outside my digs to walk with me to the theatre. He had an idea. What if we threw caution to the wind and thought big – even bigger than usual? What if we tried to do something never attempted before – something that could more or less only be done here, within a complex of three world-class stages all only a few metres from each other? What if we took over every inch of Sheffield Theatres with three brand-new standalone shows with a shared a cast, playing simultaneously in the Crucible, Lyceum, and Crucible Studio? Alan Ayckbourn’s House and Garden had done the same thing with two plays, but no one had ever tried it with three (arguably for good reason). The concept was absurd. Would we even be open in a year’s time? What was the story? How do you even begin to plan something like this? I had no idea. Of course I said yes immediately.

Denise Black in Rock by Chris Bush at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 2022 (Photograph by Johan Persson)

We started kicking ideas around straight away. What was the hook, beside the sheer audacity of attempting it? What if each show had a distinct genre – one farce, one murder mystery, one musical, all linked by the same set of characters? What if we showed the same character at different points in their life?

A christening, a wedding, a funeral (Birth, Marriage and Death as your three titles)? Time travel was definitely discussed at one point. Then for a while we settled on the idea of two weddings, one in the Crucible, one in the Lyceum, and the caterers in the studio (working titles of Bride, Groom and Cake). What if two childhood sweethearts were now getting married on the same day to different people, next door to each other, and hilarity ensued? This concept evolved into one real wedding in the Crucible, and a local am-dram production of a wedding-themed musical in the Lyceum, with all the potential for mistaken identities that might entail. I even came up with the fake show-within-a-show, Wits ’n’ Weddings, a 1980s mega-flop based on the works of Philip Larkin with a book by a young Richard Curtis… alas, it was not to be.

As fun as some of these ideas were, I was never quite sure why we wanted to tell any of these stories, beyond the technical challenge they presented. We all agreed some kind of ‘farce engine’ felt useful, but then a lot of the comedy in farce comes from the audience knowing more than the characters onstage – this is difficult when any given audience might only be getting a third of the overall story at any given time, and these shows needed to be entirely self-contained, as well as forming part of a greater whole. We were all enjoying ourselves, but I felt like I needed to go back to the dramaturgical drawing board.

Paper by Chris Bush at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield, 2022 (Photograph by Johan Persson)

What makes good drama?

All drama fundamentally revolves around conflict. All stories are about a hero (protagonist) who wants something (a goal) but there’s something or someone (an obstacle) in their way. Sometimes that obstacle is physical, or psychological, or elemental, but often it takes the form of an antagonist – a villain – a character whose dramatic function is to stop our hero from getting what they want. This might be because the antagonist despises the hero, and wishes them to suffer, but equally it could just be because they have goals of their own, and those goals are incompatible. The crucial takeaway is this: we are all protagonists in our own stories, but we could very easily be antagonists in someone else’s, whether we’re trying to be or not.

‘Main Character Syndrome’ is a contemporary term for a timeless condition. It describes someone who believes that they are the centre of the universe, and anyone else is of little or no significance. It’s a twenty-first-century form of solipsism, and something we can all be guilty of. Three standalone plays with a shared company – three distinct viewpoints on a common event – is the theatrical antidote to this. Each play would have its own protagonist(s), but said protagonist might become a primary or secondary antagonist when they step off one stage and onto another. It doesn’t mean any of these people are monsters, they just want different things. Theatre, at its best, is a machine for generating empathy – it can transport us to strange and unfamiliar worlds and populate them with characters we’ll come to care deeply for, and learn to understand, despite the fact that they might appear to be nothing like us. This simultaneous-trilogy structure offers a unique opportunity for further experiments in empathy: we can watch villains become heroes and vice versa when we watch the same events from a different angle. Our sympathies may shift entirely depending on what order we watch the shows in. A traditional ‘hero’s journey’ three-act saga can often get a bit black-and-white in terms of its morality, in part due to the necessary primacy it places on the hero’s perspective – here we can gently remind an audience, through the theatrical form, that life is messy and complicated and we rarely have the full picture.

Scissors by Chris Bush at the Studio Theatre, Sheffield, 2022 (Photograph by Johan Persson)

However, I still didn’t know what the plays were about. I wanted to write about intergenerational conflict, and how each generation might have a legitimate reason to feel uniquely hard done by. The next trilogy concept was Work, Rest and Play – a young generation of school-leavers facing an uncertain future, their parents representing the squeezed middle, and their grandparents in retirement. Was this a family saga of three spaces within the same house? The granny annex, the grown-up dinner party downstairs, the teenagers getting high in the garage? What event would throw them all into crisis? ‘No one wants to see a play called Work,’ said Rob Hastie. And a play called Play felt a little sub-Beckett. Fair enough. Keep thinking. What about a properly Sheffield trilogy, using local placenames as generational markers? Intake (the youth), Halfway (middle-aged), and Endcliffe (for the OAPs)? Was that a bit niche? Furthermore, I felt like we’d explored intergenerational family dynamics in the domestic realm quite thoroughly in Standing at the Sky’s Edge, so maybe this should move into the world of work. At this fiftieth anniversary moment of reflection, it was a chance to think about what cities are for, what civic/public spaces are for, who owns our heritage, who owns our future? Where have we come from and how does that inform where we’re going?

For all this intellectualising, we also just brainstormed a lot of three-part lists. What words went together and did any of them mean anything? How about…

Hop, Skip, Jump
Stop, Look, Listen
Ready, Set, Go
Red, Yellow, Green
Faith, Hope, Charity (the National Theatre got there first)
Snap, Crackle, Pop (almost definitely trademarked)

Then, on 3 September 2021, with time rapidly running out and a season announcement due very soon, Rob and I had the following exchange over WhatsApp (edited only for clarity).

Chris Bush, 17:29
‘I feel like Rock, Paper, Scissors could be a good name for something (and hints at three competing forces of equal strength) but I don’t know what they mean by themselves.’

Chris Bush, 17:30
‘Scissors = stainless steel, Sheffield history etc etc, Paper = office work? Or press? Rock = rock music? Teenage rebellion? Dunno…’

Rob Hastie, 17.31
‘Oo that’s quite fun’

Chris Bush, 17:37
‘Could be something in whatever they’re competing over – an inherited building, for instance – could it stay testament to industrial heritage (scissors), become a cool music venue (rock), or just bland but commercially lucrative office space (paper)?

Rob Hastie, 17:44
‘Oh that’s VERY good’

Chris Bush, 17:46
‘I wonder if then (another rethink) do we want our stages to all be different parts of the same building/complex – the factory floor, the old manager’s office, the break room or something? And lean into that idea of everyone milling around the same space in real time?’

And that was that. Of course this was still only the sketchiest of ideas, but in just over fifteen minutes something had crystalised. It now felt like we had the bones of a story (or multiple stories) worth telling. Something that spoke to intergenerational conflict, about heritage, about legacy, about autonomy, and how much any of us are in control of our destiny at any given time. What has been done here, and how does that inform what we should do next? How can we work together when no one really has enough? No heroes, no villains, just a group of people trying to survive in difficult circumstances. An exercise in empathy – which is, after all, the best reason to make theatre in the first place.

This is an edited version of Chris Bush’s introduction to Rock / Paper / Scissors published by Nick Hern Books. Save 20% on your copy when you order direct from the Nick Hern Books website here.

The plays are in production at Sheffield Theatres until 2 July. For more information, and to book tickets, visit the Sheffield Theatres website.

Great new drama from the US and Canada

May 26, 2022May 31, 2022 / nickhernbooks / Leave a comment

This month we’re bringing you a selection of fantastic plays from our North American partners, Theatre Communications Group and Playwrights Canada Press.

They include an updating of the myth of Eurydice by Pulitzer-finalist Sarah Ruhl, a fabulously anarchic ‘sequel’ to Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus by performance artist Taylor Mac, Wajdi Mouawad’s award-winning play about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a collaborative exposé of modern motherhood.

They join our growing list of the best plays from the US and Canada, including recent additions such as Michael R. Jackson’s Tony Award-nominated musical A Strange Loop, Lynn Nottage’s powerful indictment of the ivory trade, Mlima’s Tale, and, from Canada, Jordan Tanahill’s brilliant supernatural thriller Concord Floral. All are available direct from Nick Hern Books, and from good bookshops.

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl

Eurydice for blog

Alice in Wonderland meets Greek myth in this playful, heart-breaking take on a timeless tale of loss, grief and redemption, from the author of The Clean House and In the Next Room.

Eurydice is in love with Orpheus. Her dead father has advice for her wedding but his letters can’t get through to the land of the living. At last one does. With her father’s words in her hand, she crashes down a flight of stairs and wakes in the underworld, her memory wiped as clean as glass. How will she ever get home?

‘The most moving exploration of the theme of loss that the American theater has produced’ New York Times

10. Wendy & Peter Pan by Ella Hickson

9. Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales, adapted for the stage by Philip Wilson

8. Machinal by Sophie Treadwell

7. Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons by Sam Steiner

6. The Hound of the Baskervilles, adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson from the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle

5. Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale

4. Brainstorm by Ned Glasier, Emily Lim and Company Three

3. Around the World in 80 Days, adapted by Laura Eason from the novel by Jules Verne

2. Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale

1. Ladies’ Day by Amanda Whittington

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**10. Wendy & Peter Pan by Ella Hickson**

**9. Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales, adapted for the stage by Philip Wilson**

**8. Machinal by Sophie Treadwell**

**7. Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons by Sam Steiner**

**6. The Hound of the Baskervilles, adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson from the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle**

**5. Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale**

**4. Brainstorm by Ned Glasier, Emily Lim and Company Three**

**3. Around the World in 80 Days, adapted by Laura Eason from the novel by Jules Verne**

**2. Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale**

**1. Ladies’ Day by Amanda Whittington**