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  Medea (NHB Classic Plays) -...

  Euripides Euripides

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  Medea and Jason, clinging together as refugees in Corinth, have struggled to bring up their beloved offspring in this alien and unsympathetic society. Now Jason has a plan to better integrate himself. Unfortunately, this involves abandoning his wife, the mother of his children…
  Spurned, destitute, desperate, Medea exacts her terrible retribution.
  Liz Lochhead's Scots-inflected version of Euripides' classic revenge tragedy was first performed by Theatre Babel in 2000 and won the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award. It was revived by the National Theatre of Scotland as part of the 2022 Edinburgh International Festival, with Adura Onashile as Medea, directed by Michael Boyd.

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  The Heart of It - Hamlet and...

  Elizabeth McNamer

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  Hamlet and Macbeth are two dramas by William Shakespeare that have been thrilling audiences for centuries. Both have been adapted to radio and film and continue to be taught in high schools and universities. But as with most of Shakespeare'             s works, modern audiences sometimes need some help absorbing elements of both plays. In a series of lectures, literary scholar Elizabeth McNamer provides engaging insights into these two Shakespeare classics. Providing glimpses into each play'             s most compelling moments, Dr. McNamer first focuses on Hamlet, regarded by many as the greatest drama ever written. Because he is given much to philosophizing, the Danish prince fails to act—             and this procrastination becomes Hamlet'             s downfall. McNamer then tackles Shakespeare's most gruesome tragedy. Macbeth, who has murdered his way to the crown, finds there only a murderer's reward—             no peace, no love, no honor, no friends—             only curses. While these lectures are grounded in scholarly research, they are also accessible for contemporary audiences, helping them appreciate more fully these two great works.

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  The Onward Song - Poems

  K. J. Paradis

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  The Onward Song is poet K.J. Paradis's stunning debut collection—six dozen exquisitely crafted poems that are at once classical and wonderfully contemporary, poems made remarkable by their effortless musicality and unexpected metaphors. Paradis crafts verse that celebrates old boots, sharp pencils, first kisses, freckled constellations, the complex pleasures of a daughter's dance recital, and much more. A lawyer, entrepreneur, jazz musician, and a devoted student of the classics, Paradis's work also limns the lives and passions of luminaries like Einstein and van Gogh, Gertude Stein and Frank Lloyd Wright, Edward Hopper and Dave Brubeck. Often brief yet always deeply evocative, these are poems that are tender and mysterious, laced with curiosity and feeling, and they can also be a bit irreverent. A major new talent emerges in these pages, and The Onward Song is a collection of gems that often delight, sometimes surprise, and always amaze, poems as expansive as they are precise and delicate.

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  MALAPROP: plays (NHB Modern Plays)

  Theatre Malaprop, Carys D. Coburn

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  MALAPROP Theatre is an award-winning collective of Irish theatremakers, who seek to challenge, delight and speak to the world we live in (even when imagining different ones). This volume brings together four of their bold, playful and genre-spanning plays, all premiered at the Dublin Fringe Festival between 2017 and 2023.
  In Everything Not Saved, ex-lovers argue about when they were happiest, police officers rewrite history, and Rasputin dances like no one's watching. Oh, and also the Queen is there.
  Before You Say Anything questions how everyone can be safe at the same time. A time-travelling set of interweaving stories exploring injustice, freedom and bravery.
  
  Where Sat the Lovers is about codes, hallucinations, Isaac Newton, war crimes, seeing meaning where there's none and vice versa. In an age of misinformation, how do you know if you know the right things?
  HOTHOUSE tackles climate breakdown with big ideas, a lot of laughs, and some truly grotesque cabaret numbers. Cruise ships, horny/murderous songbirds, fecund/fatalistic rabbits, loving/bruising parents and Minnie Riperton all make an appearance in this play with songs, which asks if things can ever get better.
  MALAPROP Theatre are Carys D. Coburn, John Gunning, Breffni Holahan, Molly O'Cathain, Maeve O'Mahony, Claire O'Reilly and Carla Rogers.
  'MALAPROP have quickly distinguished themselves as one of Ireland's most exciting emerging companies' Ruth McGowan, Director, Dublin Fringe Festival (2018-23)
  'A company of real ambition. One which is using theatrical form to grapple with the complexities of a world where the ground is constantly shifting beneath our feet and where what we believe can be recalibrated not just on a daily basis but minute by minute' Lyn Gardner, Stage Door
  'Reminiscent of early Caryl Churchill… this is thinking theatre at its best' Irish Independent

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  The Poetry of Letitia Elizabeth...

  Letitia Elizabeth Landon

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  Letitia Elizabeth Landon was born on 14 August 1802 in Chelsea, London.  A precocious child she had her first poem published is 1820 using the single ‘L’ as her marker.  The following year her first volume appeared and sold well.  She published a further two poems that same year with just the initials ‘L.E.L.”  It provided the basis for much intrigue. She became the chief reviewer of the Gazette and published her second collection, The Improvisatrice, in 1824. By 1826, rumours began to circulate that she had had affairs.  For several years they continued to circulate until she broke off an engagement when her betrothed, upon further investigation, found them to be unfounded.  Her words reflect the lack of trust she felt  “The mere suspicion is dreadful as death”. On June 7th 1838 she married George Maclean, initially in secret, and a month later they sailed to Cape Coast.  However the marriage proved to be short lived as on October 15th Letitia was found dead, a bottle of prussic acid in her hand. Her reputation as a poet diminished until fairly recently; her work felt to be simplistic and too simply constructed.  However when put into context it is more rightly seen as working on many levels and meanings as was needed for those more moral times.

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  The Two Gentlemen of Verona

  William Shakespeare

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  Two close friends, Proteus and Valentine, are saying their goodbyes in the streets of Verona. Valentine plans to travel to Milan and discover the world, but Proteus wants to stay with Julia, a woman he loves. While in Milan, Valentine falls in love with the duke's daughter, Sylvia, and plans to elope with her. Antonio, Proteus' father, later orders his son to join Valentine in Milan. Before leaving, Proteus exchanges rings and vows of undying love with Julia. When Proteus enters the aristocratic courts of Milan, he instantly falls in love with Sylia and forgets all about Julia. The love triangle between Sylvia, Proteus, and Valentine will test the loyalty of friendship.

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