'Both heart-rending and gorgeous. He teaches us humanity' MIRIAM MARGOLYES'Thank you, Joey, for getting your dad off his arse to write this book' HUGH BONNEVILLE'A beautiful book - powerful, persuasive, illuminating, moving' GYLES BRANDRETH'Full of pain and joy, concern and celebration' SIMON RUSSELL BEALE'A powerful, multi-faceted, myth-busting account' SIMON JARRETT

This practical guide uncovers the roots of Brecht's lifelong obsession with Shakespeare and makes the case for reading the two together today. By connecting these two great playwrights, Stephen Unwin imagines new possibilities for Brechtian productions of Shakespeare and outlines practical suggestions for how to stage such productions.Drawing on directing and performance experience in over 60 productions, Unwin's knowledge of Brecht provides students, teachers, and...

A hands-on, step-by-step guide to directing plays – by one of Britain's leading theatre directors.Stephen Unwin has worked with hundreds of different actors in a multiplicity of different venues. He is the ideal author of a 'how to' guide to directing.As Unwin himself says: 'Directing plays is difficult. The aim of this book is to lay out what skills are needed, and to give some sense of how you might develop them. The emphasis is on the professional theatre, but the book i...

'I used to be scared of them. They seemed so different. They don't scare me any more. They're just children, aren't they? Just children.'January 1941. A terrible crime is taking place in a clinic for disabled children. The perpetrators argue that it will help struggling parents and lift the financial burden on the mighty German state. One brave voice is raised in objection. But will the doctor listen?A moving examination of a terrifying moral dilemma, and a powerfu...

A practical, hands-on guide - for actors, directors, teachers and students - to Brecht's theory and practice of theatre, with a full set of exercises to help put theory into practice.The Complete Brecht Toolkit examines, one by one, Brecht's many, sometimes contradictory ideas about theatre - and how he put them into practice. Here are explanations of all the famous key terms, such as Alienation Effect, Epic Theatre and Gestus, as well as many others which go to make up wh...

'Both heart-rending and gorgeous. He teaches us humanity' MIRIAM MARGOLYES'Thank you, Joey, for getting your dad off his arse to write this book' HUGH BONNEVILLE'A beautiful book - powerful, persuasive, illuminating, moving' GYLES BRANDRETH'Full of pain and joy, concern and celebration' SIMON RUSSELL BEALE'A powerful, multi-faceted, myth-busting account' SIMON JARRETT

The Well Read Play, deepens our appreciation and enjoyment of drama. Clear and practical guidance helps the reader to understand the workings of a play, spot clues that the playwright has planted, imagine how it can be staged, and decide whether it will stand the test of time. Absorbing and informative, whether for purposes of study, staging or simply leisure, it is the ideal guide for students, directors, teachers and anyone who loves the theatre.

The Nick Hern Books Page to Stage series – highly accessible guides to the world's best-known plays, written by established theatre professionals to show how the plays come to life on the stage.Director Stephen Unwin takes you scene by scene through the action of Ibsen's play A Doll's House, analysing moment by moment what is actually said and done, and how the staging of these moments affects our understanding of them.Also included in this volume: a conci...

Was Shakespeare a snob? Poor Naked Wretches challenges the idea that our greatest writer despised working people, and shows that he portrayed them with as much insight, compassion and purpose as the rich and powerful. Moreover, they play an important role in his dramatic method.Stephen Unwin reads Shakespeare anew, exploring the astonishing variety of working people in his plays, as well as the vast range of cultural sources from which they were drawn. Unwin argues that the...

Stephen Unwin's A Guide to the Plays of Bertolt Brecht is an indispensable, comprehensive and highly readable companion to the dramatic work of this challenging and rewarding writer. Besides providing detailed accounts of nineteen key plays, it explores their context and Brecht's dramatic theory to equip readers with a rich understanding of how Brecht's work was shaped by his times and by his evolving thinking about the function of theatre.Bertolt Brecht's work as a direct...

'So much magic. So much love. So much laughter. So much work. So much rage. And so many tears.'Connor is, well, Connor. He loves buses, Eddie Stobart and Lego. He also has learning disabilities. When he dies an entirely preventable death in NHS care, his mum, Sara, can't get a straight answer as to how it happened.But Sara and her family won't stop asking questions and soon an extraordinary campaign emerges. Demanding the truth, it uncovers a scandal of neglect and...

A timely debut novel from an exciting new voice in women's fiction about cancel culture and appearance versus reality.'A riveting debut: thoughtful, compassionate, nuanced and so very topical.' Liane Moriarty, author of Here One Moment'As compulsive as any app. Clare Stephens creates a cautionary tale for our times, full of wit and nuance.' Jane Harper, author of The Dry and Exiles...