By Roland Shimmelfenwick

Synopsis

Synopsis to follow.

Playing the Victim (Royal Court/Traverse/tour)

By

Synopsis

A young man drops out of University and goes to the police.
He's done nothing wrong, he just wants a job.
He gets one.
Playing the victim in murder reconstructions.
Maybe by getting close to death he can manage to cheat his own?

From the writers of the acclaimed hit Terrorism ("What is startling is the surreal humour that these two brothers bring to their task" The Guardian) comes a superb, unsettling, and shocking new work, where philosophy collides with farce.

In this unique show, the skill and tradition of Britain's leading home for new writing will be fused with the theatrical, anarchic spirit of 'Britain's barmiest theatre ensemble'.

Under the Whaleback (Royal Court)

By Richard Bean

Synopsis

The life of Darrel Ascough, a Hull trawlerman, is played out in three acts in the crew's quarters of a distant water trawler: First, at sixteen, Darrel is a deckie learner on the Kingston Jet. Here he meets Hull's "one man circus" Cassidy, and is introduced to his legacy. On the James Joyce, and as a young but skilled trawlerman, Darrel is the only survivor when the trawler capsizes when heavy with ice. In the final act, on the heritage museum ship the Arctic Kestrel, Darrel meets the confused and rootless youth Pat, and is forced to address the meaning of his legacy and his true heritage.

A Day in Dull Armour/Graffiti (Royal Court)

By Richard Leighton/Chloe Moss

Synopsis

Synopsis to follow.

Where Do We Live (Royal Court)

By Christopher Shinn

Synopsis
In an apartment in lower Manhattan, Stephen spends most of his time writing, looking out of his window and noticing his neighbours. He knows that the black family across the hall survive off benefits and drugs, but now there seem to be more mysterious comings and goings from their apartment. Across town his friend Patricia, works part-time in a bar where she serves right-leaning stockbrokers looking for the next break in the market. A political argument blows up when Stephen's boyfriend Tyler chats up white trash Billy in a club and brings him back to Stephen's party.

Set in a post-September 11 world, this searching play asks to what extent is New York's liberal multicultural society under threat and how much should we care about the state in which our neighbours live.

Nightingale and Chase (Royal Court)

By Zinnie Harris

Synopsis

"Played this game. Inside, with the other girls. The 'he is going to meet you' game. The he is going to meet you with flowers game. The he is going to turn up in a limo game. The he is going to bring champagne game. The he is going to cover you in kisses, or cum, or bloody Belgian chocolate, doesn't matter but when you walk out of those gates. He is going to be there, that is the game."

Chase is waiting to be released from prison. And Nightingale is there to meet her. Everything is under control, and they're both going to get it right. This time.

I Just Stopped By to See the Man (Royal Court)

By Stephen Jeffreys

Synopsis

Jesse Davidson, last of the Delta blues singers, died fourteen years ago. But legends continue to surround him - like the story about him selling his soul to the devil so that he could play guitar. And the story that he isn't dead at all. When an English rock band hits town, their leader comes looking for the truth and triggers a confrontation of mythic proportions.

Mr Kolpert (Royal Court)

By

Synopsis

Synopsis to follow.

Toast (Royal Court)

By Richard Bean

Synopsis

Seven men come together to bake enough bread to feed the population of Hull. It's just another Sunday. Nellie's so worn down from a lifetime making dough, he loses his vest in the mix. First, Owen Man's on a promise. The ovens are cranked up and running, and the wholemeal's pleasingly big going in. But there's a spanner in the works which threatens bread production in Hull for good, and life as they know it for the men on the shift.

Four (Royal Court)

By Christopher Shinn

Synopsis

Synopsis to follow.

Four Knights in Knaresborough (Tricycle at the New Vic)

By Paul Webb

Synopsis

Synopsis to follow.

Tom and Clem (West End/tour)

By Stephen Churchett

Synopsis

It's the mid 1940's and Britain's Prime Minister, Clement Atlee, is in negotiations regarding the future of Europe after the Second World War, and Tom Driberg, the radical Labour MP is threatening to cause problems....
Michael Gambon plays Tom Driberg, the radical Labour MP, and Alec McCowen plays Clement Atlee, the Prime Minister.

Simply Disconnected (Chichester)

By Simon Gray

Synopsis

Synopsis to follow.

The Lodger (Hampstead Theatre/Royal Exchange, Manchester)

By Simon Burke

Synopsis

Somewhere in the bleak anonymity of suburbia, Andrew Wise has a room to let. When the enigmatic Lois turns up an awkward bargain is struck which leads them into a brutal, tender and darkly comic relationship.

Women Laughing (Royal Exchange, Manchester/Royal Court)

By Michael Wall

Synopsis

Couples Colin and Stephanie, and Tony and Maddy meet for dinner al fresco. In the garden the husbands make awkward attempts at men's talk but are disconcerted by raucous women's laughter from indoors. What is the reason for such hilarity? We soon discover things are not as they seem. There is a disturbing secret about the men. The plot unfolds with a surprise twist, as the men's anguish is exposed with hilarious dialogue and dark humour, culminating in a wild musical comedy finale. Studio

Imagine Drowning (Hampstead Theatre).

By Terry Johnson

Synopsis

Imagine your husband
disappearing without trace.

Imagine walking on the moon.

Imagine never walking.

Imagine Drowning.

A journalist disappears while covering a protest at Sellafield. When his wife sets out to find him two weeks later, she stays at the same guesthouse and encounters the same bizarre collection of characters including the wife of a mass murderer, an ex-astronaut beach bum and a wheel-chair bound activist.

Inspector Calls

By J B Priestly

Synopsis

Written at the end of the Second World War, and set before the First, An Inspector Calls is a brilliantly compelling and haunting thriller. It is also one of the country's most popular plays which, in Stephen Daldry's superb production, has now been hailed by The Daily Mail as a modern "masterpiece."

When Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the properous Birling family, his startling revelations not only shatter the very foundations of their lives, but challenge us all to examine our consciences

A Wholly Healthy Glasgow

By Iain Heggie

Synopsis

In the award-winning A Wholly Healthy Glasgow, smooth operator Charley Hood and seedy masseur Donald Dick's scams at the Spartan Health Club are jeopardised by the arrival of an idealistic new instructor who aims for a wholly healthy Glasgow.