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...

'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...

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 ...

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...

The Boy In The Dress, from Children's author David Walliams.Dennis was different.Why was he different, you ask?Well, a small clue might be in the title of this book…

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The award-winning author of Life after Life transports us to a restless London in the wake of the Great War—a city bursting with money, glamour, and corruption—in this spellbinding tale of seduction and betrayal.A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: WASHINGTON POST, TIME, THE GUARDIAN, BOOKLIST"Set during Jazz Age London, in all its fizzy madness and desperation.... As dark as [Atkinson's] stories can get, within them always shine...

THE HILARIOUS, TOUCHING LIFE STORY OF THE ICONIC COMEDIAN AND NATIONAL TREASURE'Fabulous? Yes. Funny? Absolutely' Mail on SundayJennifer Saunders' comic creations have brought joy to millions. From Comic Strip to Comic Relief, from Bolly-swilling Edina in Ab Fab to her takes on Madonna or Mamma Mia, her characters are household names.But it's Jennifer herself who has a place in all our hearts. This is her funny, moving and ...

A mystery from one of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction's four Queens of Crime: a suspicious death and a treasured heirloom spell trouble for the gentleman sleuth."Wonderfully plotted…. A marvelous mixture of witchcraft, sacred relics and ancient oaths. [Allingham was a] rare and precious talent."— The Washington Post"Margery Allingham stands out like a shining light."—Agatha ChristieEstranged from his fathe...

A haunting and moving debut, The Midwife by Tricia Cresswell is perfect for fans of The Familiars and The Binding.After a violent storm, a woman is found alone, naked, near death on the Northumberland moors. She has no memory of who she is or how she got there. But she can remember how to help a woman in labour, how to expertly dress a wound and can speak fluent French.With the odds against her – a pennil...