Playscripts - Australian

ISBN: 9780868195186
Title: AFTER DINNER
Author: BOVELL ANDREW
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

In a suburban pub bistro on a Friday night three office workers – Dympie, Paula and Monika – are desperately seeking a good night out. At an adjoining table are Gordon, recently abandoned by his wife, and Stephen, looking for something more than the usual one night stand. As the night proceeds, inhibitions and social restraint disappear, exposing the foibles, pain and humour of the characters' inner lives.

An acutely observed but tender-hearted account of relationships and behaviour.

Imprint: Currency Press
RRP: $23.99

ISBN: 9780868195377
Title: AFTER THE BALL
Author: WILLIAMSON DAVID
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

Stephen and Judy live on opposite sides of the world. Their lifestyles and outlooks could not be further apart. But they are brother and sister and when they are reunited at the bedside of their dying mother, family memories painfully and mercilessly return. David Williamson has created a family scenario that is frighteningly recognisable. At times hilarious, at times tortuous, this is a frank, critical look at Australian suburban life from the 1960s to the 1990s (2 acts, 3 men, 6 women).

Imprint: Currency Press
RRP: $22.99

ISBN: 9780868194318
Title: ALL SOULS
Author: KEENE DANIEL
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

All Souls, or the Day of the Dead, is when the dead return to the world of the living. All Souls evokes a vision of our dreams and nightmares. The writing is poetic, without compromise and a truly remarkable work (2 acts, 2 men, 5 women).

Imprint: Currency Press
RRP: $22.99

ISBN: 9780868197463
Title: AMIGOS
Author: WILLIAMSON DAVID
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

Of the Four Amigos who won a rowing bronze at the Mexico Olympics, three are still alive: Jim, an investment banker who thinks an AC after his name might legitimise a life of squalid dealing; Dick, a heart surgeon, who can, if he chooses, put in a good word with the Honours Committee; and Stephen, the least successful, grieving the death of his son. They and their wives come together for a two-week holiday in paradise. Sure, there's a bit of bad blood between them and a few old scores to settle, but when it all comes down to it, mates are mates, right?

Imprint: Currency Press
RRP: $21.95

ISBN: 9780868199047
Title: AND NO MORE SHALL WE PART
Author: HOLLOWAY TOM
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

After a long and successful marriage, Pam and Don are still very much in love. But Pam is ill and has to make a heartbreaking decision that will transform both their lives. She does so in the only way she knows how – quickly, pragmatically, and resolutely. Don behaves in the only way he knows how – struggling to keep up but desperate not to lose touch.

And No More Shall We Part follows Pam and Don’s halting, humorous and devastating attempt at the impossible – to begin to say goodbye to each other after a lifetime together.

Imprint: Currency Press
RRP: $22.99

ISBN: 9780868192116
Title: AWAY
Author: GOW MICHAEL
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

Three Australian families set out separately but are driven together by a storm (5 acts, 6 men, 4 women).

Commencing with a school performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Shakespearean themes of suffering and reconciliation persist as three families on separate holidays are united during a fierce storm.

Featuring introductions by May-Brit Akerholt and Richard Wherrett and a critical essay by Hilary Bell.

Imprint: Currency Press
RRP: $22.99

ISBN: 9781783199457
Title: BENEDICT ANDREWS : COLLECTED PLAYS
Author: ANDREWS BENEDICT
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

A multi-award-winning director of theatre and opera, over the past decade, Andrews has built up a remarkable and singular body of work in Australia and Europe. His work has been described as visionary and praised for its innovative staging, arresting visual style and visceral performances. Includes the plays Like a Sun, Every Breath, Dream Girl and Geronimo.

Imprint: OBERON
RRP: $36.99

ISBN: 9781760627331
Title: BERLIN
Author: MURRAY-SMITH JOANNA
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

Charlotte is a Berliner through and through. Tom is a foreigner, travelling around
Europe. After meeting in a bar, sparks fly between them and she invites him to spend the night at her place. As they navigate the ritual of seduction, their desire gives way to secrets that cannot be ignored and questions neither of them can answer. Does young love stand a chance against the suffocating reach of the past?

Joanna Murray-Smith is one of Australia’s most celebrated playwrights, captivating audiences from Melbourne to Broadway and the West End. This riveting NEXT
STAGE commission premiered for Melbourne Theatre Company as part of its 2021 season

Imprint: Currency Press
RRP: $23.99

ISBN: 9781760527341
Title: BLACK IS THE NEW WHITE
Author: LUI NAKKIAH
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

'Nakkiah Lui's writing is, as always, on point: hold-your-belly funny; pumping with politics that prompts visible discomfort.' Maxine Beneba Clark, Saturday Paper

'Her writing, whether devastating or hilarious, has always shown a great deal of accessible humanity and relentless intelligence.' Guardian

'We needed a new David Williamson, someone who speaks to Australia and Australians now. We've found her in Nakkiah.' Alex Broun, playwright

'Mount Druitt's answer to Lena Dunham.' Belvoir Theatre

'If there is such a thing as a rockstar playwright, Nakkiah Lui is it.' Fran Kelly, RN

Love, politics and other things you shouldn't talk about at dinner

Charlotte Gibson is a lawyer with a brilliant career ahead of her. As her father Ray says, she could be the next female Indigenous Waleed Aly. But she has other ideas. First of all, it's Christmas. Second of all, she's in love.

The thing is, her fiance, Francis Smith, is not what her family expected - he's unemployed, he's an experimental composer... and he's white! Bringing him and his conservative parents to meet her family on their ancestral land is a bold move. Will he stand up to the scrutiny? Or will this romance descend into farce?

Love is never just black and white. It's complicated by class, politics, ambition, and too much wine over dinner. But for Charlotte and Francis, it's mostly complicated by family. Secrets are revealed, prejudices outed and old rivalries get sorted through. What can't be solved through diplomacy can surely be solved by a good old-fashioned dance-off. They're just that kind of family.

Award-winning writer Nakkiah Lui shows why she is one of this country's most in-demand young voices, delivering cutting satire that is both seductively subversive and thoroughly delightful.

Imprint: Allen and Unwin Publishers
RRP: $24.99

ISBN: 9780868197517
Title: BOMBSHELLS
Author: MURRAY-SMITH JOANNA
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

Bombshells is a series of outrageous portraits of six women barely coping with the stresses of modern life.

Imprint: Currency Press
RRP: $23.99

ISBN: 9780868193717
Title: BRILLIANT LIES
Author: WILLIAMSON DAVID
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

To survive the 90s you've got to be lucky, rich or able to tell Brilliant Lies (2 acts, 4 men, 3 women).

Imprint: Currency Press
RRP: $22.99

ISBN: 9781760621919
Title: BRUMBY INNES AND BID ME TO LOVE : TWO PLAYS
Author: PRICHARD KATHARINE SUSANNAH
Format: PAPER COVER
Publishing status: ACTIVE TITLE

'I consider Brumby Innes to be in a class by itself' wrote theatre director Gregan McMahon in 1927. 'It is a very remarkable work, comparable to some of the best of Eugene O'Neill's, and it is, moreover, essentially Australian.'

Written in the 1920s, Brumby Innes confronts the turbulent relations between the sexes and the races in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is published with another Prichard play from the 1920s, Bid Me To Love, set in fashionable white rich society in the lush hills outside Perth.

The two plays are compelling for their dramatic styles and for their insight into the novels which followed: Coonardoo and Intimate Strangers.

This new edition includes introductions from Maryrose Casey and Jacqueline Wright.

Imprint: CURRENCY
RRP: $29.99