Rona Munro

Survival

Doctor Who

Rona Munro's vividly imagined trilogy brings to life three generations of Stewart kings who ruled Scotland in the tumultuous fifteenth century. Charismatic, cultured, and obsessed with grandiose schemes that his nation can ill afford, James III is by turns loved and loathed. Scotland thunders dangerously close to civil war, but its future may be decided by James' resourceful and resilient wife, Queen Margaret of Denmark. Her love and clear vision can save a fragile monarchy and rescue a struggling people. Each play stands alone as a unique vision of a country tussling with its past and future; viewed together the trilogy creates an intricate and compelling narrative on Scottish culture and nationhood, full of playful wit and boisterous theatricality.

The James Plays

Rona Munro's 'The Basement Flat' is a short play for two performers, an unsettling depiction of daily life in a disturbing world not too far in the future.

The Basement Flat

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 Indian Boy

A thrillingly fast-paced play about youthful disaffection, protest and violence, drawing on the history of youth gangs of nineteenth-century Manchester.

Scuttlers

Strawberries in January

Fifty years after Yuri Gagarin's first orbit around the Earth, Little Eagles tells the fascinating and little-known story of Sergei Korolyov, chief designer and unsung hero of the Soviet space programme. Under Korolyov's leadership the 'little eagles' of the USSR beat the Americans in the early stages of the space race, achieving a series of firsts, including the first human in space. Rona Munro's gripping play illuminates the life and work of a brilliant engineer who struggled to meet the military demands of his ruthless political masters, whilst devoting as much time as possible to his real passion, exploring outer space. Little Eagles was first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 2011.

Little Eagles

Two plays by the winner of the 1991 Susan Smith Balckburn Award for the best play by a woman in the English speaking world.

& Fugue

Your Turn to Clean the Stair

A romantic-comedy-thriller about the heat of love and the magic of changing perspectives. Lin Han and Jie Hui have exchanged 536 emails and 72 jpegs, though they've only just met. She's sure he's the man she could fall in love with, if only he'd do it first. But Jie Hui's a little distracted. When his business partner gets shot, things start to get very complicated - especially when he realises his heart is broken. Meanwhile, Madeleine finds herself falling for James, the most attractive man she's met in years. And the feeling seems to be mutual. It's just a pity he's the policeman questioning her about the shooting of her ex-boyfriend... Rona Munro's play Pandas was first staged at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 2011.

Pandas

Mabel O'Donnell

Philippa Murray

Orange Group

Kathy and Mark Little Books

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.

Iron

Genre: Drama Characters: 4 females Scenery: 2 interiors, exteriors or unit set The drama of everyday life in Belfast: burning buses, ravaged blocks, gunfire are but off-stage events in this stirring play about three women whose men have been killed or imprisoned for their political activities. Chilling themes are off set by many humorous and heart warming moments in this play about people, not politics, which offers excellent acting opportunities. 1991 Winner, Susan Smith Blackburn Award; Evening Standard's Most Promising Playwright Award.

A Play

Bold Girls

A gripping and darkly humorous play about the camaraderie of a trio of obsessive mountaineers. Grizzly, Dog and Gnome live to climb mountains. They're good at it. They're not looking for death. They love what they do and they do it to the limit. But they're climbing up to places where death is only one mistake away. Suffused with black humour, Rona Munro's play Long Time Dead is an expedition into ghosts frozen in time, immediate bonds of camaraderie and horizons yet to be discovered. Long Time Dead was first performed by Paines Plough at The Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth, in October 2006. The production was revived at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in August 2007 as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Long Time Dead

Donny's Brain

Ian Rankin

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.

Rebus: Long Shadows

A wild and fantastical tale set in nineteenth-century north-east Scotland. Winner of the first ever Peggy Ramsay Award Down-on-her-luck, out-of-work actress Harriet and her family are wandering the roads of Scotland looking for food, shelter, and the opportunity to perform. But they are not the only ones travelling the highways and byways – there's tinker and storyteller Bidie along with her family, always looking for a break; and the dangerously beguiling stranger Nick, whose presence on the road just might be more of a curse than a blessing... 'a wild rumbustious mix of fantasy and fable, it has all the rough edges and monstrous scope of a work of genius – frighteningly good' - Scotsman 'a vigorous and appealing play about the travails of Harriet, an early 19th-century actress, and her family – this play reveals the life of an actress as an astonishing test of physical stamina' - Observer

The Maiden Stone (NHB Modern Plays)

The Janet and John books emerged as a popular way to help children learn to read in 1949. These average English children of the 1950s are icons in the minds of the generations who grew up with them. Summersdale are thrilled to be bringing these classic bestsellers from yesteryear back into print as beautifully illustrated hardcover editions that make the perfect nostalgia gift items.

Janet and John: Off to Play

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.

A 'wild child' is found in the last clump of woodland left on a building development. The builder, Peter, wants him out of the way. The psychologist, Julius, wants to protect him. His wife, June, wants to understand him. Their daughter, Sara, wants to be close to him and all the time something wilder than the boy seems intent on escaping from the forest. Written as a response to A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Rona Munro's The Indian Boy takes us into our mythic struggles with the dark, the wilderness and with ourselves.

Rona Munro

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