The Understudy


David Nicholls - 2005
    McQueen (no relation, unfortunately) seems to have a knack for bad luck. But a failed marriage, a stalled career, a judgmental ex-wife, a distant daughter, a horrid little studio apartment in the far reaches of the London suburbs-all these pathetic elements seem to pale in the chiseled face of his newest tormentor: the Twelfth Sexiest Man in the World, Josh Harper.Josh is the star of Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know, a biographical play about Lord Byron-and Stephen is his understudy. Not only is Josh fantastically, infuriatingly good-looking, internationally renowned, and remarkably talented, he's also frustratingly healthy. No matter how many all-night booze-and-coke benders Josh goes on, he always shows up at the stage door for his call like clockwork. Stephen doubts he'll ever get his chance to slip on the puffy shirt and tight breeches of Byron and tread the boards in the role that would certainly be the break he's always waited for.And just when Stephen's sure he couldn't resent Josh more, he meets Josh's witty, restless American wife, Nora . . . and discovers he likes her a little too much. Another man might curse his luck at finding that his potential dream woman is a rival's wife, but at this point, Stephen would expect nothing else. Caught between his stirring feelings for Nora, the demands of an insistent and secretive Josh, and his lifelong desire for a real career in show business, Stephen must make a terrible decision: Will it be the girl or the fame?A hapless, bumbling bloke in love, an arrogant megastar with a potpourri of addictions, a sexy married woman out of her element in the fast lane-David Nicholls brings them all together in this knockout romantic comedy.From the Hardcover edition.

Sea Wall / A Life


Simon Stephens - 2019
    Meet Abe, a music producer with a baby on the way. Two men - both fathers, husbands, and sons - take us on a journey you will never forget. The finest actors of their generation, Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal (Sunday in the Park with George) and Tony Award nominee Tom Sturridge (1984), had audiences roaring to their feet during the sold-out Broadway engagement. Now Sea Wall / A Life, a dramatic exploration of transformative love and devastating loss, comes to Audible.

The End of the Affair


Graham Greene - 1951
    Now, a year after Sarah's death, Bendrix seeks to exorcise the persistence of his passion by retracing its course from obsessive love to love-hate. At first, he believes he hates Sarah and her husband, Henry. Yet as he delves deeper into his emotional outlook, Bendrix's hatred shifts to the God he feels has broken his life, but whose existence at last comes to recognize.

Emma: An Audible Original Drama


Anna Lea - 2018
    Before she began writing, Jane Austen wrote, 'I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like' and thus introduces the handsome, clever, rich - and flawed - Emma Woodhouse. Emma is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage; nothing, however, delights her more than matchmaking her fellow residents of Highbury. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. This lively comedy of manners, with its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, is often seen as Jane Austen's masterpiece.Public Domain (P)2018 Audible, Ltd.

The Complete Plays


Christopher Marlowe
    In the victories of Tamburlaine, Faustus's encounters with the demonic, the irreverence of Barabas in THE JEW OF MALTA, and the humiliation of Edward II in his fall from power and influence, Marlowe explores the shifting balance between power and helplessness, the sacred and its desecration.

(500) Days of Summer: The Shooting Script


Scott Neustadter - 2009
    Weber, an 8-page color section, production notes, and the complete cast and crew credits.

Casablanca: Script and Legend


Howard Koch - 1973
    This volume contains the complete screenplay as well as a behind-the-scenes look at how the Oscar-winning movie was made, by one of its writers, Howard Koch. Charles Champlin, Roger Ebert, Umberto Eco, and others contribute incisive analyses of the movie's timeless appeal, and twenty-five beautifully reproduced stills capture the dramatically charged scenes of this true American classic.

The King's Speech: The Shooting Script


David Seidler - 2011
    With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), the future Queen Mother, arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). After a rough start, the two delve into an unorthodox course of treatment and eventually form an unbreakable bond. With the support of Logue, his family, his government and Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall), the King will overcome his stammer and deliver a radio-address that inspires his people and unites them in battle.As David Seidler writes in his introduction, "The King's Speech is about a great deal more than a speech impediment. It is about friendship. I'm talking about mentoring and support and a great deal of humor. We lose these deep, meaningful friendships at our peril."The Newmarket Press Book includes:A fascinating introduction by screenwriter David Seidler about how and why an idea that came to him almost thirty years ago evolved into the award-winning screenplayComplete Shooting ScriptComplete cast and crew credits

Rushmore


Wes Anderson - 1999
    It is a refreshingly offbeat comedy about young Max Fish, a precocious pupil at a conservative private school. He is a live wire, a teenager full of madcap entrepreneurial schemes that usually in failure. His personal life becomes similarly complicated when he falls for his elegant teacher, Rosemary Cross, and finds himself vying for her favor with Herman Blume-who is portrayed in the film by Bill Murray-the wealthy father of two of his classmates. Max ultimately proves himself a figure of some tenacity as he negotiates the minefield of love, desire, and adolescence.At the Toronto Film Festival, Screen International called Rushmore "a real charmer filled with surprise twists and emotions that avoid sentimentality . . . A little gem."

Girls & Boys


Dennis Kelly - 2018
    Before long they begin to settle down, buy a house, juggle careers, have kids – theirs is an ordinary family.But then their world starts to unravel and things take a disturbing turn.A tragic, violent look at parenthood and trauma.

True West


Sam Shepard - 1981
    Sons of a desert dwelling alcoholic and a suburban wanderer clash over a film script. Austin, the achiever, is working on a script he has sold to producer Sal Kimmer when Lee, a demented petty thief, drops in. He pitches his own idea for a movie to Kimmer, who then wants Austin to junk his bleak, modern love story and write Lee's trashy Western tale.

My Dear I Wanted to Tell You


Louisa Young - 2011
    Just a few years later, romance and these differences erupt simultaneously with the war in Europe. In a fit of fury and boyish pride, Riley enlists in the army and finds himself involved in the transformative nightmare of the twentieth century.While Riley and his commanding officer, Peter Locke, fight for their country and their survival in the trenches of Flanders, Peter's lovely and naive wife, Julia, and his cousin Rose eagerly await his return. But the sullen, distant man who arrives home on leave is not the Peter they knew. Worried that her husband is slipping away, Julia is left alone with her fears when Rose joins the nursing corps to work with a pioneering plastic surgeon treating wounded and disfigured soldiers.Only eighteen at the outbreak of the war, Nadine and Riley want to make promises to each other—but how can they when their future is out of their hands? Youthful passion is on their side, but then their loyalty is tested by terrible injury, and even more so by the necessarily imperfect rehabilitation that follows.Moving among Ypres, London, and Paris, this emotionally rich and evocative novel is both a powerful exploration of the lasting effects of war on those who fight—and those who don't—and a poignant testament to the power of enduring love.

The Life of Brian: Screenplay


Graham Chapman - 1979
    But, with its unforgettable songs and its infinitely quotable script it has gone on to become an enduring cult classic.

Cyrano de Bergerac: in a free adaptation


Martin Crimp - 2019
    While Roxane is in love with the beautiful but inarticulate Christian.Cyrano's generous offer to act as go-between sets in motion a poignant and often hilarious love-triangle, in which each character is torn between the lure of physical attraction and the seductive power of words.Martin Crimp's adaptation of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac premiered at the Playhouse Theatre, London, in November 2019.

What Every Woman Knows


J.M. Barrie - 1908
    Years later, following his successful bid for a seat in Parliament, Shand keeps his word.But trouble lies ahead. Attractive woman are drawn to the Scottish politician — in particular, the lovely Lady Sybil Tenterden. Moreover, Shand's speeches in Parliament, which had won him great popularity for their flashes of humor, begin to suffer when his wife no longer helps write them. Soon, both Shand's career and marriage are in jeopardy.First produced in 1908, What Every Woman Knows is considered one of Barrie's most realistic and important theatrical works. Graced with bursts of sly wit and dramatic irony, it will delight a new generation of readers and theater lovers alike.