Other books that might interest you

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  The Dead Queen of Bohemia - New...

  Jenni Fagan

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  A collection of poetry from “the patron saint of literary street urchins” (The New York Times).The Dead Queen of Bohemia is a journey through a life lived on the edge. With a poetic style influenced by Gertrude Stein and William Burroughs, this collection is woven with surrealistic imagery that is both unflinching and dislocating. Jenni Fagan’s poetry is raw and tough yet beautiful and tender, and with themes of loss and recovery, hope and defiance, represents a clarion call from a self-taught poet who started writing at the age of seven and so far has not stopped. “Full of desire and guitars and witches” (Sunday Herald), The Dead Queen of Bohemia documents the progression of a voice and a life written over the last twenty years, opening with Fagan’s most recent work and including her previous two collections.

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  The Sonnets

  William Shakespeare

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  A collection of the Bard’s beautiful, and often surprising, poetry.   In addition to his numerous dramatic and comedic masterpieces for the stage, William Shakespeare is also famed for his sonnets. These poems, usually consisting of fourteen lines in iambic pentameter, address not only traditional themes of romantic love but also darker subjects including lust, hatred, and infidelity, and featuring a risqué series referring to the poet’s mysterious “Dark Lady.” While the sonnet existed long before Shakespeare’s time, he, as usual, put his own mark of genius on the form.</

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  After Mrs Rochester (NHB Modern...

  Polly Teale

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  The hit show from Shared Experience Theatre Company based on the tortured and passionate life of Jean Rhys and her most famous book, Wide Sargasso Sea, the prequel to Jane Eyre.
  In Wide Sargasso Sea - 'one of the works of genius of the 20th century' Times - Jean Rhys first gave voice to Bertha Mason, Mr Rochester's first wife in Jane Eyre. Placing Bertha on stage throughout as Jean's alter ego, this dramatization of Rhys' life gives full vent to her obsession with the "mad woman in the attic".
  'a revelation, a rare feat of theatrical imagining' - Evening Standard
  'true dramatic dynamism - breathes new life into both subject and form' - Independent
  'has the imaginative fluency and depth of feeling that audiences have come to expect from Shared Experience at its best - a major success' - Sunday Telegraph
  'stunning... total theatre' - Mail on Sunday

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  Bound to the Wings of a Butterfly

  Zachary Phillips

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  Bound to the Wings of a Butterfly is a collection of poetry, written as an act of writing therapy. It is about healing, recovery, and self-acceptance. About the journey of discovery that comes with true internal healing, and about transforming our lives, towards positivity, beauty, and love.It introduces the process of writing poetry to heal. Breaking down the barriers to artistic expression, empowering the reader to pick up a pen, look inside, and let the words flow. Encouraging them to brave the darkness and to discover the light. From the author, ‘I called this book, ‘Bound to the Wings of a Butterfly’, as a play on the old chaos theory adage, that suggests that small events can have large scale and unpredictable impacts upon the future. Each of the poems within, harks back to such events: childhood neglect, abuse, fear, and confusion. On a universal scale, these events are so personal as to be seemingly irrelevant. Yet, in my small world, they left a lasting mark that continues to reverberate into the future. They are the direct, or indirect, cause of the poems within this book. They are also responsible for me choosing to share it publicly. I write to heal. I share my work to help others recover, connect, grow, and create for themselves. I share to reduce the stigma around mental illness. I share to normalise the exploration of the complex mazes that are our inner worlds. Thus, there is a direct causal link between the events of my past, and you reading these words right now. If this book moves, compels, encourages, changes, or impacts you in any way, however subtly, that impact will reverberate outwardly and forever into the future. Who knows what impact those butterfly wings will have?’

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  The Merchant of Venice

  William Shakespeare

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  Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, agrees to lend Antonio, a Venetian merchant, three thousand ducats so that his friend Bassanio can afford to court his love, Portia. However, Shylock has one condition: should the loan go unpaid, he will be entitled to a pound of Antonio’s own flesh. Meanwhile in Belmont, according to the terms of her father’s will, Portia’s many suitors must choose correctly from three caskets. Bassanio arrives at Portia’s estate and they declare their love for one another before he picks the correct casket. Antonio falls into bad fortune and finds he cannot repay Shylock: a dramatic trial ensues to decide his fate.

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  Big Big Sky (NHB Modern Plays)

  Tom Wells

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  Kilnsea, East Yorkshire. Angie and Lauren are closing up the café for another winter; the birds have gone south and taken the tourists with them. The last visitor is Dennis, stopping by for his pasty and beans. But there's another arrival – one that's unforeseen and life-changing for them all.
  
  Big Big Sky is a beautifully tender play by Tom Wells, who was originally from Kilnsea. The play explores nature's influence on love, friendship and family – the belief that anyone who's lost can be found, even in the remotest of places. It was premiered at Hampstead Theatre in July 2021, directed by Tessa Walker.

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