Our Country's Good

Our Country's Good PDF Author: Timberlake Wertenbaker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1474274463
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description
Observed by a lone, mystified Aboriginal Australian, the first convict ship arrives in Botany Bay, 1788, crammed with England's outcasts. Colony discipline in this vast and alien land is brutal. Three proposed public hangings incite an argument: how best to keep the criminals in line, the noose or a more civilised form of entertainment? The ambitious Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark steps forward with a play. But as the mostly illiterate cast rehearses, and a sense of common purpose begins to take hold, the young officer's own transformation is as marked and poignant as that of his prisoners. A profoundly humane piece of theatre, steeped in suffering yet charged with hope, Timberlake Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good (based on a true story) celebrates the redemptive power of art. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, london, in 1988, winning the Laurence Olivier Play of the Year Award. This edition was published to coincide with a major revival production at the National Theatre, which opened on 19 August 2015.

Our Country's Good

Our Country's Good PDF Author: Timberlake Wertenbaker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1474274463
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 120

Get Book Here

Book Description
Observed by a lone, mystified Aboriginal Australian, the first convict ship arrives in Botany Bay, 1788, crammed with England's outcasts. Colony discipline in this vast and alien land is brutal. Three proposed public hangings incite an argument: how best to keep the criminals in line, the noose or a more civilised form of entertainment? The ambitious Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark steps forward with a play. But as the mostly illiterate cast rehearses, and a sense of common purpose begins to take hold, the young officer's own transformation is as marked and poignant as that of his prisoners. A profoundly humane piece of theatre, steeped in suffering yet charged with hope, Timberlake Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good (based on a true story) celebrates the redemptive power of art. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, london, in 1988, winning the Laurence Olivier Play of the Year Award. This edition was published to coincide with a major revival production at the National Theatre, which opened on 19 August 2015.

The Playmaker

The Playmaker PDF Author: Thomas Keneally
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504026772
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
An English lieutenant is ordered to stage a play starring prisoners of the Australian penal colony he supervises in this phantasmagoric historical fiction masterwork from the author of Schindler’s List In the penal colony of Sydney Cove, Australia, at the farthest reaches of the late-nineteenth-century British Empire, Lieutenant Ralph Clark has received a bizarre commission. In honor of the king’s birthday, Clark is charged with staging a production of the George Farquhar comedy The Recruiting Officer using as cast and production crew the highwaymen, whores, cutpurses, killers, and other assorted disreputables exiled there from the British Isles. Pining over the family he left behind, Clark must work miracles with only two printed scripts, a company of unstable and largely illiterate “actors,” and the dubious assistance of his colleagues. But the success—or failure—of the mammoth enterprise rests largely on the shoulders of lead actress Mary Brenham, the mesmerizing and enigmatic female convict to whom Clark finds himself strangely and dangerously attracted. Based on the lieutenant’s real diaries, The Playmaker is a truly remarkable achievement. Atmospheric, dreamlike, and richly evoking time and place, featuring a monumental cast of magnificently drawn, unforgettable characters, it is a work of insight, imagination, and true genius by one of the most notable names in historical fiction.

The Children

The Children PDF Author: Lucy Kirkwood
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
ISBN: 0822237482
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 74

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Book Description
Two retired nuclear scientists reside in an isolated cottage by the sea as the world around them crumbles. Together they are going to live forever on yogurt and yoga, until an old friend arrives with a frightening request.

Our Country's First Ladies

Our Country's First Ladies PDF Author: Ann Bausum
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 9781426300066
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
Short biographies of our nation's fascinating first ladies.

The Theatre Arts Audition Book for Women

The Theatre Arts Audition Book for Women PDF Author: Annika Bluhm
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135871299
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
First published in 2003. The Theatre Arts Audition Books offer one hundred speeches from plays of the past twenty-five years, fifty in a volume for men, fifty in a volume for women. Each excerpt is preceded by a note situating the play and the selection. Speeches come from a wide range of plays, including David Mamet's Oleanna, Caryl Churchill's Serious Money, Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Jim Cartwright's Road, and Timberlake Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good, as well as plays by Anthony Minghella, Mark Ravenhill, Sue Townsend, Alan Ayckbourn, and others. Annika Bluhm has assembled two sparkling collections of monologues that will challenge and inspire the actor

The Fastest Clock in the Universe

The Fastest Clock in the Universe PDF Author: Philip Ridley
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408126710
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 113

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Book Description
It's Cougar's birthday. He's having a party. And the gift he'd kill for is youth… In a strange room in East London the party preparations are under way. Everything has been planned to the last detail. Surely nothing can go wrong? After all, there's the specially made birthday cake, the specially written cards, the specially chosen guest of honour… and a very, very sharp knife. Philip Ridley's edgy and provocative drama caused a sensation when it premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 1992, winning the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Newcomer to the Stage and the Meyer Whitworth Prize. It is now regarded as a contemporary classic. 'A bit like a ride on a ghost train… you find yourself shuddering with shock and laughing uproariously… horror has rarely been so much fun' Daily Telegraph 'Scorchingly nasty… fingers an age and its icons with terrifying accuracy' Guardian

Our Country's Good

Our Country's Good PDF Author: Timberlake Wertenbaker
Publisher: Dramatic Publishing
ISBN: 9780871293428
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description
Based on a historical incident. In the early days of the settlement of Australia by British prisoners, as supplies grow short and hope dwindles, Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark decides to raise morale by staging a comedy, using illiterate prisoners as actors. The project takes on political dimensions and meets with opposition among the other officers. As opening night nears, Clark struggles to ready the play amidst a storm of questions about the possibility of redemption and the transforming powers of theatre.

Caste

Caste PDF Author: Isabel Wilkerson
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 0593230272
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 545

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Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NEW YORK TIMES READERS PICK: 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • “An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions—now with a new Afterword by the author. #1 NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, O: The Oprah Magazine, NPR, Bloomberg, The Christian Science Monitor, New York Post, The New York Public Library, Fortune, Smithsonian Magazine, Marie Claire, Slate, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist • Winner of the Carl Sandburg Literary Award • Dayton Literary Prize Finalist • PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist • PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Finalist • Kirkus Prize Finalist “As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power—which groups have it and which do not.” Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Isabel Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.

Recursion

Recursion PDF Author: Blake Crouch
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 1524759791
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Dark Matter and the Wayward Pines trilogy comes a relentless thriller about time, identity, and memory—his most mind-boggling, irresistible work to date, and the inspiration for Shondaland’s upcoming Netflix film. “Gloriously twisting . . . a heady campfire tale of a novel.”—The New York Times Book Review NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • NPR • BookRiot Reality is broken. At first, it looks like a disease. An epidemic that spreads through no known means, driving its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. But the force that’s sweeping the world is no pathogen. It’s just the first shock wave, unleashed by a stunning discovery—and what’s in jeopardy is not our minds but the very fabric of time itself. In New York City, Detective Barry Sutton is closing in on the truth—and in a remote laboratory, neuroscientist Helena Smith is unaware that she alone holds the key to this mystery . . . and the tools for fighting back. Together, Barry and Helena will have to confront their enemy—before they, and the world, are trapped in a loop of ever-growing chaos. Praise for Recursion “An action-packed, brilliantly unique ride that had me up late and shirking responsibilities until I had devoured the last page . . . a fantastic read.”—Andy Weir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian “Another profound science-fiction thriller. Crouch masterfully blends science and intrigue into the experience of what it means to be deeply human.”—Newsweek “Definitely not one to forget when you’re packing for vacation . . . [Crouch] breathes fresh life into matters with a mix of heart, intelligence, and philosophical musings.”—Entertainment Weekly “A trippy journey down memory lane . . . [Crouch’s] intelligence is an able match for the challenge he’s set of overcoming the structure of time itself.”—Time “Wildly entertaining . . . another winning novel from an author at the top of his game.”—AV Club

The 101 Greatest Plays

The 101 Greatest Plays PDF Author: Michael Billington
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 1783350326
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Having surveyed post-war British drama in State of the Nation, Michael Billington now looks at the global picture. In this provocative and challenging new book, he offers his highly personal selection of the 100 greatest plays ranging from the Greeks to the present-day. But his book is no mere list. Billington justifies his choices in extended essays- and even occasional dialogues- that put the plays in context, explain their significance and trace their performance history. In the end, it's a book that poses an infinite number of questions. What makes a great play? Does the definition change with time and circumstance? Or are certain common factors visible down the ages? It's safe to say that it's a book that, in revising the accepted canon, is bound to stimulate passionate argument and debate. Everyone will have strong views on Billington's chosen hundred and will be inspired to make their own selections. But, coming from Britain's longest-serving theatre critic, these essays are the product of a lifetime spent watching and reading plays and record the adventures of a soul amongst masterpieces.