Book picks similar to
Topsy-Turvy by Mike Leigh
historical-fiction
british
films-screenplays
on-shelf
Hangmen
Martin McDonagh - 2015
But what's the second-best hangman in England to do on the day they've abolished hanging? Amongst the cub reporters and sycophantic pub regulars, dying to hear Harry's reaction to the news, a peculiar stranger lurks, with a very different motive for his visit.
Don't worry. I may have my quirks but I'm not an animal. Or am I? One for the courts to discuss.
Martin McDonagh's Hangmen premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in September 2015.
Reversal of Fortune: Inside the Von Bulow Case
Alan M. Dershowitz - 1986
If Only They Could Talk
James Herriot - 1970
From the author whose books inspired the BBC series "All Creatures Great and Small", this first volume of unforgettable memoirs chronicles James Herriot's first years as a country vet, with the signature storytelling magic that has made him a favourite the world over. Here is a book for all those who find laughter and joy in animals, and who know and understand the magic of wild places and beautiful countryside.
The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays
Oscar Wilde - 1898
Manners and morality are also victims of Wilde's sharp wit in Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband, in which snobbery and hypocrisy are laid bare. In Salomé and A Florentine Tragedy, Wilde makes powerful use of historical settings to explore the complex relationship between sex and power. The range of these plays displays Wilde's delight in artifice, masks and disguises, and reveals the pretentions of the social world in which he himself played such a dazzling and precarious part.Richard Allen Cave's introduction and notes discuss the themes of the plays and Wilde's innovative methods of staging. This edition includes the excised 'Gribsby' scene from The Importance of Being Earnest.
Rob Roy MacGregor
Nigel Tranter - 1965
Scott's romantic image is however, far from the rogue which Nigel Tranter portrays in this classic work.
The Dog at the Gate: Murder in the Cotswolds
James Ignizio - 2015
Just as it seems that all hope has vanished, he's informed that he is the heir to his great aunt's estate in the bucolic English village of Chambury. Once there, he discovers that his inheritance also includes his late aunt's grieving dog, a vintage typewriter, a mysterious key, and an entanglement in a series of unsolved murders. *****James Ignizio is the author of more than a dozen books, several short stories, and over 350 articles. Included among his novels are "The Dog at the Gate" and the award-winning "The Last English Village," two cozy mysteries that take place in the Cotswold region of England.
One Step at a Time
Beryl Matthews - 2006
She is intelligent, but has trouble with words. How is she going to survive when her father is hanged for murder and her mother dies, leaving her alone?
Ben Scott, an artist she has met only once, finds her at this crucial time and takes her back to his landlady, who gives her a home. The people living in the house become her family, and, step-by-step, the past is put behind her. In 1939 she marries a young doctor, John Sterling, and her happiness is complete. Then war comes to tear her family apart. John is killed during an air raid, and Ben is reported missing.
Is she destined to lose the two men she adores? And how many painful steps will it take to regain her happiness?
The Country Wife and Other Plays
William Wycherley - 1971
This edition includes Love in a Wood, The Gentleman Dancing-Master, The Country Wife, and The Plain Dealer. The texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. In addition, there is a scholarly introduction, a note on staging, and detailed annotation.
Same Time Next Year
Bernard Slade - 1975
It remains one of the world's most widely produced plays. The plot follows a love affair between two people, Doris and George, married to others, who rendezvous once a year. Twenty-five years of manners and morals are hilariously and touchingly played out by the lovers. "Delicious wit, compassion, a sense of humor and a feel for nostalgia."-The New York Times "Genuinely funny and genuinely romantic."-The New York Post
94 Maidens
Rhonda Fink-Whitman - 2012
They are innocent schoolgirls ranging in age from 14 to 22. Under normal circumstances they should be learning, laughing, and playing. Unfortunately, the year is 1942 and the place is Nazi-occupied Poland. Nothing is normal. On the night of August 11, dressed only in cotton nightgowns, they await their fate at the hands of their Nazi captors. They are no match for the Nazi beast- or are they? Meanwhile, a young Jewish family is caught in a perilous game of cat and mouse with the Nazis in Berlin. How long can they possibly remain among the living? It's getting harder to run, more dangerous to hide. The Nazis are hot on their trail, and time is running out for both the hunters and the hunted. Rhonda is a successful television personality and a well-respected Jewish educator. With her aging mother still suffering scars left by the Holocaust some 70 years later, she decides it's time to go to Germany, where she pitches her way inside the largest Nazi archive the world has never seen in an attempt to discover the truth about what happened to her mother during WWII. Will the secrets she unveils help heal her mother's wounded soul? Or will the answers to her questions change everything she ever thought she knew about her family, her mother, and herself? Inspired by true events, 94 Maidens is an unforgettable story of heroism, resistance, martyrdom, and survival. "Total Inspiration! Never before has an account of the atrocities of Nazi Germany struck such a chord. 94 Maidens will send chills up your spine and bring tears to your eyes, but Rhonda Fink-Whitman's brilliant depiction of valiancy strengthens the inner soul." Lorraine Ranalli, author of Gravy Wars/South Philly Foods, Feuds & Attytudes and host of the Cucina Chatter Radio Network "Chillingly authentic. It's as if Rhonda dipped her paintbrush into a can of history and used her potent words to paint us a picture that is spot on. I would know." David Tuck, Auschwitz survivor, speaker, educator Meet Dave and hear other eyewitness accounts @ www.94maidens.com. "Heartfelt and moving...a great reminder to all of us about our obligation to share and preserve our own family history, the courage of ancestors, and their impact on our world." Tim Chambers, screenwriter, director, and producer of The Mighty Macs "It wasn't my choice to write this story...it was my responsibility." Rhonda Fink-Whitman RHONDA FINK-WHITMAN is a veteran TV and radio personality as well as an award-winning screenwriter, longtime Jewish educator and the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. 94 Maidens is her first novel. She lives in a suburb of Philadelphia with her husband, two children, and two cats. In their free time, for which they thank our troops, Rhonda and her family volunteer for the USO. Visit Rhonda online at www.94Maidens.com, at www.Facebook.com/94Maidens, and on Twitter @94Maidens. Serious filmmakers interested in the screenplay of 94 Maidens can contact the writer at Rhonda@94Maidens.com.
Disgusting Bliss: The Brass Eye of Chris Morris
Lucian Randall - 2009
Morris first came to national prominence at the heart of a group of virtually unknown comedians brought together by Armando Iannucci. This book follows them from their 1991 news satire On the Hour, which transferred from radio to television where it was reinvented as the equally successful The Day Today. It became impossible to watch bulletins without thinking of Morris's Paxmanesque anchor character chastising a reporter -- 'Peter! You've lost the news!' -- or authoritatively delivering nonsense headlines: 'Sacked chimney worker pumps boss full of mayonnaise.' Meanwhile co-star Steve Coogan created a lasting anti-hero in Alan Partridge, imbued with a horrible life all of his own. But Morris himself was always the most compelling character of all. Drawing on exclusive new interviews and original research, this book creates a compelling portrait of Morris from his earliest radio days and of the comedians and writers who frequently took on the industry they worked in, polarising opinion to such a degree that government ministers threatened to ban them entirely. THIS IS THE NEEEWWWWS!
Noises Off
Michael Frayn - 1982
The two begin to interlock as the characters make their exits from Nothing On only to find themselves making entrances into the even worse nightmare going on backstage. In the end, at the disastrous final performance, the two plots can be kept separate no longer, and coalesce into a single collective nervous breakdown.
Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare - 1601
The Countess Olivia, a woman with her own household, attracts Duke (or Count) Orsino. Two other would-be suitors are her pretentious steward, Malvolio, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek.Onto this scene arrive the twins Viola and Sebastian; caught in a shipwreck, each thinks the other has drowned. Viola disguises herself as a male page and enters Orsino’s service. Orsino sends her as his envoy to Olivia—only to have Olivia fall in love with the messenger. The play complicates, then wonderfully untangles, these relationships.