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It's 1991 in West Belfast. With their husbands either locked up or killed, Marie, Cassie and Nora are just trying to get on with their lives, despite the bombs, burning buses and soldiers trampling the flower beds. Life must go on - after all, there's still laundry to do and kids to feed. But when a mysterious young woman turns up on Marie's doorstep and disrupts their girls' night out, the devastating revelations which ensue will shatter dreams and threaten their friendship irrevocably. Sharply funny, moving, yet never shying from the harsh realities of life during the Troubles, Bold Girls is a celebration of women's strength under siege. It was first performed by 7:84 Scottish People's Theatre at Cumbernauld Theatre in 1990 and on tour. The play announced Rona Munro as one of the best playwrights of her generation, winning her the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for 1990-91. This new edition was published alongside the revival at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, in June 2018.
Scotland, 1504, seen fresh through the eyes of new arrivals Ellen and Anne, two Moorish women who were expected to take their place at a royal court... but not this one. Both women now have to fight to find and keep a place in the dazzling, dangerous world of the Scottish court of James IV. It's a world where war is never far away, words of love and promises of peace are not what they seem, and where poets might turn out to be more dangerous than any assassin. Rona Munro continues her journey through an uncharted period of Scottish history with James IV: Queen of the Fight, which was first presented in 2022 by Raw Material and Capital Theatres in association with National Theatre of Scotland, and directed by Laurie Sansom. It follows the spectacular success of Munro's plays about James I, II and III, which were first performed by National Theatre of Scotland, transferred to the National Theatre, London, and were named Best New Play at the Evening Standard Awards. The original three-play cycle is available in the volume The James Plays: James I, II and III.
An epic exploration of the history and shaping of Scotland from one of the country's most successful playwrights.
Rona Munro's 'The Indian Boy' is a play about the discovery of a 'wild child' in a forest and society's attempts to understand and control him. It was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, with the brief that it should be loosely inspired by Shakespeare; Munro chose to re-imagine the life of the 'Indian boy' who is the main cause of the rift between the fairies Oeron and Titania in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
The two Scottish plays fronting the Traverse Theatre's 2002 Edinburgh Festival Programme Each year the Traverse Theatre produces two original plays as its own contribution to the Edinburgh Festival. Each year the Traverse plays are the most widely reviewed and nearly always the most highly praised. Like Liz Lochhead's Perfect Days or Gregory Burke's Gagarin Way, they often subsequently transfer to London. This year the Traverse is premiering two plays both by Scottish women writers. Linda McLean's previous work has been seen almost exclusively at the Traverse - and includes One Way Beating and Riddance Rona Munro's work has been seen more widely, notably at Hampstead Theatre, London - and includes Bold Girls and The Maiden Stone.
Following the gangland execution of her husband, the formidable matriarch Bernarda Alba will do anything to safeguard her family's dubious fortune and the future of her five daughters. A deal is struck - a marriage of convenience between her eldest girl and the son of a business rival. All Bernarda has to do is ensure that the wedding happens, and quickly. Five headstrong daughters cooped up in the family home in an emotionally charged atmosphere of bitter rivalry and repressed sexuality make that an epic challenge. One of the most celebrated European dramas of the 20th century, the play was finished by Lorca shortly before he was executed in Spain for his left-wing politics. He described it as a "drama of women in the villages of Spain" - a theme that is electrifyingly transposed in this version to the tough communities of Glasgow's East End. Faithfully preserving Lorca's sense of boiling tension and impending tragedy, this adaptation brings a classic text thrillingly up to date. This text was published to coincide with the world premiere of the adaptation, a production by the National Theatre of Scotland in 2009.
A thrillingly fast-paced play about youthful disaffection, protest and violence, drawing on the history of youth gangs of nineteenth-century Manchester.
A powerful, poetic and unsettling supernatural thriller.-Scotsman
The travails of Harriet, an early 19th century actress and her family. Set in the north-east of Scotland.
The stage debut for the legendary detective John Rebus in this brand new, original story by Ian Rankin, written alongside the award-winning playwright Rona Munro. John Rebus is not as young as he was, but his detective instincts have never left him. And after the daughter of a murder victim turns up outside his flat, he's going to need them at their sharpest. Enlisting the help of his old friend DI Siobhan Clarke, Rebus is determined to solve this cold case once and for all. But Clarke has problems of her own, problems that will put her at odds with her long-time mentor and push him into seeking help from his age-old adversary: 'Big Ger' Cafferty. This haunting story takes Rebus to places he has never been before, sets him and his long-time foe on a collision course and takes us deeper into one of the most satisfying conflicts in modern fiction. Featuring an introduction from Rankin himself, a Q&A between writers Ian and Rona, an interview with the director, and behind-the-scenes production materials, this book is one Rebus fans will not want to miss out on.