'Shall I tell you a secret? Anyone can be a queen, but a real queen wears the crown, she doesn't let the crown wear her.'It's 1908. Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Princess Dinubolu of Senegal is about to enter the beauty contest at the iconic Kursaal, Europe's largest entertainment complex. Meet Princess Essex.But how exactly did she get here? And is she all that she seems?Anne Odeke's play Princess Essex is a riotous, satirical comedy based on the amazin...

Four inspirational tales of Essex resilience intertwine to make an unmissable world premiere by the region’s most exciting playwrights.The Essex Princess by Anne OdekeIt’s 1908 and Joanna’s planning to provoke the attention of Southend and the whole of the nation, by becoming the first black woman to compete in a beauty pageant.Fiza by Guleraana MirFiza’s moved home with her parents. Under dire circumstance...

Sir Michael Morpurgo retells ten of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays in this stunning audio collection in association with the RSC, featuring readings by members of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Michael himself.This collection includes Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, Henry V, Twelfth Night, Taming of the Shrew, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest.Translating these iconic plays into thrilling prose, ...

Megamonster, from Children's author David Walliams.On a volcanic island, in the middle of shark-infested waters, stands The Cruel School. The lessons are appalling, the school dinners are revolting and the teachers are terrifying – especially the mysterious Science teacher Doctor Doktur.When Larker is sent to the school, she quickly realises something very odd is going on… something involving Doctor Doktur, a pair of strange spectacles, and a ‘Monsterfication Machine’. And ...

Written by Anne Odeke, Guleraana Mir, Kenny Emson, Sadie Hasler.Four inspirational tales of Essex resilience intertwine to make an unmissable world premiere by the region's most exciting playwrights.The Essex Princess by Anne OdekeIt's 1908 and Joanna's planning to provoke the attention of Southend and the whole of the nation, by becoming the first black woman to compete in a beauty pageant.Fiza by Guleraana Mir

Sir Michael Morpurgo retells two of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer’s Night Dream, in this stunning audio collection in association with the RSC, featuring readings by members of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Michael himself.Translating these iconic plays into thrilling prose, the nation’s favourite storyteller preserves all the imaginative genius and spark of the originals, while bringing a contemporary and vi...