Theatre Centre: plays for young people

Theatre Centre: Plays for Young People

Edited and Introduced by Rosamunde Hutt, Foreword by Pam St. Clement

A challenging and culturally diverse collection of new plays for young people by some of the UK’s foremost writers aimed at young people. Beautifully written and tested in performance, these plays which deal with topics such as domestic violence, eating disorders, mother/daughter relationships and sibling rivalry, has become essential texts for teenagers, theatres, schools, colleges and drama groups.

Introduction by Rosamunde Hutt | On the Road with Theatre Centre

The Plays

Listen To Your Parents by Benjamin Zephaniah: Winner of the Commission of Racial Equality Race in the Media Award. Gives us a teenager’s view of domestic violence through poetry and football.

Precious by Angela Turvey: How do you stop being a graffiti artist and become a real one?

Look At Me by Anna Reynolds: Uses theatricality to explore behaviour in and out of school.

Gorgeous by Anna Furse: Considers Victorian values and how they affect young women today.

Glow by Manjinder Virk: A teenage girl becomes a boxing champion and learns to face the loss of her mother.

Souls by Roy Williams: Sibling rivalry conspires to set 3 brothers against each other following the death of their mother.

 

About the authors

Benjamin Zephaniah born in Handsworth, Birmingham. His poetry is strongly influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica. Page One Books published his first book Pen Rhythm, when he was 22, and since then he has written 7 plays, 7 books for adults and 5 books for children, as well as performing his poetry, acting and presenting on radio, television and the stage. His plays include: Playing the Right Tune (1985), Job Rocking (1987), Delirium (1987), Streetwise (1990), Mickey Tekka (1991) Radio: Hurricane Dub won the BBC’s Young Playwright’s Award (1989) Our Teachers Gone Crazy (1990), TV: Dread Poets Society, BBC (1991). His poetry and novels include: Talking Turkeys (Puffin/Penguin), Funky Chickens (Puffin/Penguin), Wicked World (Puffin/Penguin), Face (Bloomsbury), Refugee Boy (Bloomsbury).

Angela Turvey was born in East London and grew up in Hornchurch, Essex. She studied German at University and worked for Lufthansa before embarking on her career as a writer. Her play A Fine Example toured with Theatre Centre in 1995. She has written several plays for radio including Barrel Boy, which won a RIMA Award (2002) and The Moon is Mine (both BBC Radio 4). Work for television includes Eastenders and Doctors. She has created and co-created drama series for Scottish Media Group and Grundy International. She is currently working on commissioned projects in radio, theatre and television.

Anna Reynolds’ work includes the multi-award-winning Jordan, Red for Clean Break, Precious for West Yorkshire Playhouse, Wild Things for Salisbury Playhouse /Paines Plough and an awardwinning short film, The Winding Sheet, for Channel 4.
Recent work: Skin Hunger for BAC, A Certain Age, adapted from the best-selling novel by Rebecca Ray with Welsh Screen (Sgrin Wales). She also runs a popular website for writers: www.writewords.org.uk

Anna Furse is an award-winning director and writer. She has created over 50 performance works internationally – devised, text-based and multi-media. Artistic Directorships include bloodgroup in the 1980’s and Paines Plough in the 1990’s for whom she developed international co-productions and site-based works. In 2003 she founded Athletes of the Heart launching with Yerma’s Eggs (Riverside Studios / Explore@Bristol). Other recent productions include: Ultraviolet (DooCot), Kaspar – Speech Torture (Cankarjev Dom, Slovenia), The Peach Child (The Little Angel Theatre / Japan Festival). Her play Augustine (Big Hysteria) has been produced internationally. Gorgeous toured the UK and Malaysia with Theatre Centre and was produced by the New Conservatory Theater, San Francisco in 2003.

She is Visiting Professor at Princeton University, USA and Lecturer at Goldsmiths College where she runs the MA in Performance.

Manjinder Virk writing credits include: Leaving Turnpike Lane, Goodnight  Butterfly and My Mood Today (Royal Court Young Writers Programme), Mr Sagoo lives at No.9 (Leicester Haymarket/Comedy Festival), Forgive (Kali Theatre Co.), Tonight I Write (BBC Radio 4). Writer in Residence – Red Ladder Theatre Company (2002). Acting credits include: Ready when you are Mr Mcgill (Working Title), Unsuitable Girls (Leicester Haymarket / Pilot Theatre Company), Workers Writes (Royal Court), Midsummer Night’s Dream (Belgrade Theatre), Trial by Jury (BBC), Millennium Mysteries (Teatro Biuro Podrozy / Belgrade Theatre). Artistic Director of Pangran Dance Theatre (1995-98) Choreographed: Tanz (International tour), Exploration of Loss (Dance Festivals, UK), Fear of Glass (Arts Alive Festival).

Roy Williams
Theatre: No Boys Cricket Club (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Starstruck (Tricycle), Lift Off, Clubland, Fall Out (Royal Court), Local Boy (Hamptead), The Gift (Birmingham Rep), Souls (Theatre Centre), Sing yer heart out for the lads (National Theatre), Night & Day (Theatre Venture), Josie’s Boys (Red Ladder). Awards: 31st John Whiting Award, Alfred Fagon Award (1997), Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright for Clubland (2001), BAFTA / Best Schools Drama for Offside (2002).