Tender Napalm

I could squeeze a bullet between those lips. Point first. Press it between those rosebud lips. Prise it between your pearly whites. Gently. I wouldn't break a single tooth. Philip Ridley's first new play since 2008 marks a change of direction for the acclaimed, ever-restless and maverick writer. Tender Napalm is a high-impact, high-concept two-handed play which explores the landscape that is a relationship between a man and a woman. Explosive, poetic, brutal and ultimately redemptive, the play weaves a compelling theatrical tapestry to re-examine and re-define the language of love. This volume also contains five poems from the performance sequence Lovesongs for Extinct Creatures: Your Love, Dark Sky Craving, The Silver Hat, I'm Waiting to be Killed and The Seams, publishing for the first time extracts from Philip Ridley's cycle of love poetry.

The Routledge Companion to Michael Chekhov brings together Chekhov specialists from around the world - theatre practitioners, theorists, historians and archivists – to provide an astonishingly comprehensive assessment of his life, work and legacy. This volume aims to connect East and West; theatre theory and practice. It reconsiders the history of Chekhov’s acting method, directing and pedagogy, using the archival documents found across the globe: in Russia, England, America, Germany, Lithuania and Switzerland. It presents Chekhov’s legacy and ideas in the framework of interdisciplinary theatre practices and theories, as well as at the crossroads of cultures, in the context of his forays into such areas as Western mime and Asian cosmology. This remarkable Companion, thoughtfully edited by two leading Chekhov scholars, will prove invaluable to students and scholars of theatre, theatre practitioners and theoreticians, and specialists in Slavic and transcultural studies. Marie-Christine Autant-Mathieu is Director of Research at the National Center For Scientific Research, and Assistant-Director of Sorbonne-CNRS Institute EUR’ORBEM. She is an historian of theatre and specialist in Russian and Soviet theatre. Yana Meerzon is Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre, University of Ottawa. Her book publications include Adapting Chekhov: The Text and Its Mutations, co-edited with Professor J. Douglas Clayton, University of Ottawa (Routlegde, 2012).

It was a very hot day – dazzling sunshine! – and Mum – she was wiping sweat from her neck. No, not wiping. Dabbing . . . Dab . . . Dab. Mum was a beauty. Not like me. And don't tell me I am because you'll be lying and I won't thank you for it. Not today. Not when this whole thing – us, here - is about me telling the truth. The latest from Philip Ridley is a beautiful, breathtaking new drama about one girl's craving for family and home, and the lengths she will go to achieve them. Dark Vanilla Jungle embarked on a national tour of Great Britain in spring 2014. This edition also features a selection of previously unpublished monologues by Philip Ridley alongside the play.

Have you ever struggled to find the perfect monologue? Do you want to lose yourself in an unforgettable story? Do you want to be...transported? Philip Ridley's The Vespers is a major work by a major writer. 100 original, self-contained monologues for actors (and readers) of all genders, all ages, and all levels of experience. Varying in length, style and structure – from the surreally comic to the heartbreakingly tragic – this is an essential toolkit for any actor (or anyone who enjoys a good story) with an introduction by Cath Badham, Lecturer in Performance at the University of Derby, UK.

'That's the way it works in this family. Believe what you wanna believe. Twist this. Ignore the other. That's how we survive.' Steven has always tried to be a good person. He works hard. He looks after his family. But, suddenly, everyone starts accusing him of things. His wife accuses him of being unfaithful. His mother accuses him of being coercive. And his brother, Barry, accuses him of...what exactly? Barry won't say. Or can't. Or perhaps... Steven hasn't done anything at all. Following its critically acclaimed premiere at Soho Theatre in 2007, Philip Ridley's gripping narrative of memory, manipulation, and power – now regarded as a modern classic – returns in a new production by long-time collaborators, Lidless Theatre. This edition was published alongside the production at the Park Theatre, London, in May 2023.

It's at times like this I'm inspired by The Stupendous Santini. He toured the mid-West during the 1930s, entertaining farmers affected by the Dust Bowl. No one would have remembered him were in not for the fact that during his most famous trick – sword swallowing – he accidentally punctured a lung and died on the spot. He became a legend. Donny has committed an act that shocked everyone. Tabloids called him The Most Hated Boy Alive. But Donny doesn't want forgiveness. All Donny wants is . . . his own television show. Written by internationally acclaimed writer Philip Ridley, Tonight With Donny Stixx is the companion piece to Ridley's 2013 Fringe First-winner Dark Vanilla Jungle, and received its premiere at the Soho Theatre, London, on 27 July 2015 before premiering at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

“The hallmarks of a Ridley classic; a fast-paced modern fairy-tale that burrows into the dark wormholes of the imagination ... reveals how below all that glitters, there's rarely gold.” Exeunt Ollie and Jill want to tell you about their dream home. Some of the things they did to get it, you might find shocking. But they want you to know they did it all for their baby... A wickedly comic satire about a young couple offered a 'too good to be true' way onto the property ladder. Playful, provocative, and viciously sharp, this outrageous black comedy is a meditation on how far we will go to satisfy - and justify - materialistic greed. Radiant Vermin premiered in 2015 at Soho Theatre, London. This Modern Classics edition features a brand new introduction by Aleks Sierz.

Feathers in the Snow, a family show by acclaimed playwright and children's author Philip Ridley, is an epic story of magic and migration.