A watchman on top of the house, reporting that he has been lying restless there like a dog for a year, for so rules the expectant manly-willed heart of a woman (that woman being Clytemnestra awaiting the return of her husband, who has arranged that mountaintop beacons give the signal when Troy has fallen). He laments the fortunes of the house, but promises to keep silent: 'A huge ox has stepped onto my tongue.' However, when Agamemnon returns, he brings with him Cassandra, the enslaved daughter of the Trojan king, Priam, and a priestess of Apollo, as his concubine, further angering Clytemnestra.

Orestes arrives at the grave of his father, accompanied by his cousin Pylades, the son of the king of Phocis, where he has grown up in exile; he places two locks of his hair on the tomb. Orestes and Pylades hide as Electra, Orestes' sister, arrives at the grave accompanied by a chorus of elderly slave women (the libation bearers of the title) to pour libations on Agamemnon's grave; they have been sent by Clytemnestra in an effort to ward off harm. Just as the ritual ends, Electra spots a lock of hair on the tomb which she recognizes as similar to her own; subsequently she sees two sets of footprints, one of which has proportions similar to hers. At this point Orestes and Pylades emerge from their hiding place and Orestes gradually convinces her of his identity.

The Persians takes place in Susa, which at the time was one of the capitals of the Persian Empire, and opens with a chorus of old men of Susa, who are soon joined by the Queen Mother, Atossa, as they await news of her son King Xerxes' expedition against the Greeks. Expressing her anxiety and unease, Atossa narrates what is probably the first dream sequence in European theatre.

The Knights is a satire on political and social life in 5th-century BC Athens, the characters are drawn from real life and Cleon is clearly intended to be the villain. However it is also an allegory, the characters are figures of fantasy and the villain in this context is Paphlagonian, a comic monstrosity responsible for almost everything that's wrong with the world.

A group of women, led by the wise and redoubtable Praxagora, has decided that the women of Athens must convince the men to give them control of the city, as they are convinced they can do a better job. Disguised as men, the women sneak into the assembly and command the majority of votes needed to carry their series of revolutionary proposals, even convincing some of the men to vote for it on the grounds that it is the only thing they have not tried.

When Sheherazad is brought to the palace to be the Sultan’s new bride, her very life depends upon her skill as a storyteller. She tells him tales of lost cities and buried treasure, of slave girls and robbers, of genies in bottles and evil sorcerers. But will it be enough to save her? The stories of the Arabian Nights date back more than a thousand years and originate from Persia, India and Arabia. Neil Duffield has combined elements of many of them, keeping alive the excitement and humour to produce a show which will transport the audience into a world of myth and legend where fantasy and reality can never be separated.

Bradford, in the month of Ramadan. Shaz, a local garage mechanic, is trying to keep his business going despite the terrible scandal of Asian men involved in grooming young girls for sex in the area. A protest march through the city is planned and Samina, Shaz’s sister wants to make a speech at a counter-demonstration for Peace. Shaz just wants a quiet life so that his prospective in-laws will let him marry their beautiful daughter, but as the city gets swept up in the protest, his world gets turned upside down. Asif Khan’s debut play is a fabulously comic take on the combustion surrounding young British Muslim lives.

The Oresteia, a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus. The name derives from the character Orestes, who sets out to avenge his father's murder. The only extant example of an ancient Greek theater trilogy, the Oresteia won first prize at the Dionysia festival in 458 BC. Principal themes of the trilogy include the contrast between revenge and justice, as well as the transition from personal vendetta to organized litigation.

The Danaids form the chorus and serve as the protagonists. They flee a forced marriage to their Egyptian cousins. When the Danaides reach Argos, they entreat King Pelasgus to protect them. He refuses pending the decision of the Argive people, who decide in the favor of the Danaids. Danaus rejoices the outcome, and the Danaids praise the Greek gods. Almost immediately, a herald of the Egyptians comes to attempt to force the Danaids to return to their cousins for marriage. Pelasgus arrives, threatens the herald, and urges the Danaids to remain within the walls of Argos. The play ends with the Danaids retreating into the Argive walls, protected.

The story is based around incident when Apuleius was accused of using magic to gain the attentions and fortune of a wealthy widow. He declaimed and then distributed a witty tour de force in his own defense before the proconsul and a court of magistrates convened in Sabratha, near ancient Tripoli, Libya.

Lysistrata is a comedy originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. A comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata persuades the women of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands and lovers as a means of forcing the men to negotiate peace—a strategy, however, that inflames the battle between the sexes. The play is notable for being an early exposé of sexual relations in a male-dominated society.

Two middle-aged men stumbling across a hillside wilderness are guided by a pet crow and a pet jackdaw. One of them advises the audience that they are fed up with life in Athens, where people do nothing all day but argue over laws, and they are looking for Tereus, a king who was once metamorphosed into the Hoopoe, for they believe he might help them find a better life somewhere else.

Today the women at the festival are going to kill me for insulting them!' This bold statement by Euripides is the absurd premise upon which the whole play depends. The women are incensed by his plays' portrayal of the female sex as mad, murderous, and sexually depraved, and they are using the festival of the Thesmophoria (an annual fertility celebration dedicated to Demeter) as an opportunity to debate a suitable choice of revenge.

A singular fatality has ruled the destiny of nearly all the most famous of Leonardo da Vinci's works. Two of the three most important were never completed, obstacles having arisen during his life-time, which obliged him to leave them unfinished; namely the Sforza Monument and the Wall-painting of the Battle of Anghiari, while the third—the picture of the Last Supper at Milan—has suffered irremediable injury from decay and the repeated restorations to which it was recklessly subjected during the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. Nevertheless, no other picture of the Renaissance has become so wellknown and popular through copies of every description.

Leviathan is one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory. A classic western work on statecraft comparable to Machiavelli's The Prince. Written during the English Civil War (1642–1651), Leviathan argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign.

Orestes arrives at the grave of his father, accompanied by his cousin Pylades, the son of the king of Phocis, where he has grown up in exile; he places two locks of his hair on the tomb. Orestes and Pylades hide as Electra, Orestes' sister, arrives at the grave accompanied by a chorus of elderly slave women (the libation bearers of the title) to pour libations on Agamemnon's grave; they have been sent by Clytemnestra in an effort to ward off harm. Just as the ritual ends, Electra spots a lock of hair on the tomb which she recognizes as similar to her own; subsequently she sees two sets of footprints, one of which has proportions similar to hers. At this point Orestes and Pylades emerge from their hiding place and Orestes gradually convinces her of his identity.

Red Red Shoes was commissioned by the Unicorn Theatre for Children and The Place. Based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale, this play uses dance, music and drama to explore the inner world of a traumatised child fleeing from war in Eastern Europe. (Ages 9+) Eye of the Storm offers a contemporary version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, exploring father/daughter relationships and the need for independence. (Ages 12+) Playing From the Heart, commissioned by the Polka Theatre, is a poetic piece which follows the travails of the young Evelyn Glennie to become a professional musician despite her profound deafness. (Ages 8+)

Over a small bridge on an island in the middle of the Thames, a great 60s club played host to acts that would later make a global name for themselves, including the Rolling Stones, Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart, the Small Faces, the Yardbirds and David Bowie. Jazz greats such as Cyril Davies, Ken Colyer and Acker Bilk also played at the legendary Eel Pie Hotel during its 50s and 60s heyday. This collection of essays traces ‘Eelpiland’s’ long-overlooked contribution to the British music scene.

In any military operation throughout history, few 24-hour periods have been as crucial as that of 6th June 1944. With the aid of specially commissioned maps, D-Day: The First 24 Hours series gives the dramatic history of the first 24 hours of the Normandy landings, and explains in detail the events that occurred in each landing zone. In this fourth volume of the series, the book describes the British and Canadian landings on Gold, Juno and Sword beaches. The book also includes details of the human cost of the first day, and a full order of battle for both sides. With colour and black & white photographs, the book is a guide to key events in the first 24 hours of the D-Day landings that saw the Allies successfully achieve a foothold in Northern Europe.

A topical collection of new plays by popular UK playwright Nick Wood 'I am not a lone voice, I am many.'?Malala ? Yousafzai A Girl with a Book and?Other Plays ?brings together four plays for young people by acclaimed playwright Nick Wood. Topical and wide-ranging, they concern refugees, friendship, loss and courage. 'You know those sente nces that start I'm not sexist/racist/homophobic and the speaker sticks in the word 'but' and goes on to prove that's exactly what they are?' The title play, ? A Girl with a Book ?is an honest response to the story of Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban. Produced many times in Germany and the UK, the play raises serious questions about the West's complex relationship with and attitudes to the Muslim world. 'a journey into empathy and imagination...'?Stephen Lowe Plays Nick Wood's poignant political drama A Girl with a Book is based on the true story of Nobel Peace Prize-Winner Malala Yousafza. In 2012, gunmen stopped a bus in Pakistan and shot three young girls. Their crime? Wanting to go to school. Knowing nothing about the situation, able to offer little more than outrage, the writer is forced out from behind his desk and in the search for answers to help him tell the story of a brave young woman's fight for girls' education, but when his research uncovers attitudes at odds with his liberal convictions he has to face what he learns about himself. Achieving international acclaim after its opening in Hamburg, A Girl with a Book examines Malala's story through a series of questions - Wood asks how a girl who wanted to go to school could become such a target. Bird boy:?Eddie and Tim create their own den up on the Knoll, a secret place for heroes. The only problem is, winter is setting in and Eddie won't come down. As the snow falls, Tim must decide whether to take food to Eddie or betray him by telling the grown ups where he is. Mia:?Mia is a refugee who has lost her home, and most of her family. She has odd bits and pieces in her bag, which have stories attached to them. Mia is searching for her sister, Sofia, can they help? Dream of White Horses: ? ?Paul wants two things - to find out whether his father's death was an accident or not. He climbs the same cliff, to discover what happened to his father, and a great deal about himself. '...invites us to better understand Malala, her father, and her kinsmen.'? On Religion '...a journey into empathy and imagination coolly and cleanly done. A crucially important tale well told with great humanity.' ? Stephen Lowe, playwright '...there's plenty of scope here for schools, colleges and youth theatre groups. The title play... has a cast of one... The remaining three plays use larger casts and explore asylum seeking, friendship, loss and courage.' ?Susan Elkin, The Stage

The first ever comprehensive collection of plays ?in English from Southeast Asia. Features work by eight playwrights from seven countries in Southeast Asia, a region which is experiencing profound change:?Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia.? Southeast Asian Plays ?explores the rich variety of dramatic work that is only beginning to be translated into English. Theatre scripts are merely blueprints for productions, especially in this region. As elsewhere, second productions and revivals are rare, so publication is key to allowing play texts to find a wider international readership. Topics include the global financial crisis, sex workers, traditional v modern values, the role of faith in society, corruption in high places and journalistic ethics. The plays have been selected for performance. Plays: The Plunge by Jean Tay (Singapore) An Evening At the Opera by Floy Quintos (Philippines) Night of the Minotaur by Tew Bunnag (Thailand) Tarap Man by Ann Lee (Malaysia) Dark Rac e by Dang Chuong (Vietnam) Frangipani by Chhon Sina (Cambodia) Picnic by Joned Suryatmoko (Indonesia) Nadirah by Alfian Saat (Singapore) "The editors have done an excellent job of opening up our chances of reading and learning about plays from all over Southeast Asia. ...editorial choices are significant for opening up spaces to voices which are otherwise heard less often. All in all the plays are interesting for the ways in which they grapple with key concerns in their respective societies."? --The Asiatic