Course Texts
Blood Brothers
By Willy Russell
A Liverpudlian West Side Story: twin brothers are separated at birth because their mother cannot afford to keep them both. She gives one of them away to wealthy Mrs Lyons and they grow up as friends in ignorance of their fraternity until the inevitable quarrel unleashes a blood-bath. 'Willy Russell is less concerned with political tub-thumping than with weaving a close-knit story about the working of fate and destiny ...it carries one along with it in almost unreserved enjoyment" Guardian One of the longest-running and most successful ever West End musicals, Blood Brothers premiered at the Liverpool Playhouse in January 1983.
Girls Like That
By Evan Placey
When a naked photograph of schoolgirl Scarlett goes viral, rumours spread across smartphones like wildfire and her reputation becomes toxic, threatening to shatter the fragile unity of the girls she has grown up with. But how long can Scarlett remain silent? And why isn't it the same for boys?
The Memory of Water
By Shelagh Stephenson
Three sisters; Teresa, Mary and Catherine, come together before their mother's funeral, each haunted by their own demons. The play focuses on how each sister deals with the death and how it directly affects them. The three each have different memories of the same events, causing constant bickering about whose memories are true. As the three women get together after years of separation, all their hidden lies and self-betrayals are about to reach the surface.
Teachers
By John Godber
Join Gail, Hobby and Salty, three fifth form students who, through their end of term play, tell the hilarious story of an idealistic new teacher in his perilous first days inside a local comprehensive school.
Bouncers
By John Godber
Staged with extreme simplicity, the play takes place in a provincial discotheque--the Saturday night haunt of England's disaffected youth.
Find Me
By Olwen Wymark
Find Me is a play based on a true story. The central character is a girl named Verity Taylor who suffers with mental health problems. The play studies the effects that her condition has on her family and questions the treatment she receives by the healthcare system.
Blackout
By Davey Anderson
Inspired by the true stories of a young offender from Glasgow, a 15 year old who had committed a violent crime, this short play was part of the National Theatre's New Connections programme which commissions plays about and for young people and was presented to critical acclaim at the Royal National Theatre. It's a hard-hitting play about 'getting bullied, fighting back, trying to make a name for yourself, turning vicious, doing something stupid, losing everything, then finding your way again.