{"title":"Books by Peter Shaffer","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780141188904","title":"Modern Classics Equus","description":"Self-consciously staging itself in the psychotherapy sessions of a disturbed young man, Peter Shaffer's \u003ci\u003eEquus\u003c\/i\u003e is a shocking exploration of the limits of faith, of the intersecting worlds of the sacred and profane, and of the paltry value of a 'mundane' life, published in Penguin Modern Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen a deranged boy, Alan Strang, blinds six horses with a metal spike he is sentenced to psychiatric treatment. Dr Dysart is the man given the task of uncovering what happened the night Strang committed his crime, but in doing so will open up his own wounds. Dysart struggles in secret to define sanity, to justify his marriage, to account for his career, and finds himself questioning the 'normality' of his way of life. Ultimately, he must ask himself: is it patient or psychiatrist whose life is being laid bare? The most shocking play of its day, \u003ci\u003eEquus\u003c\/i\u003e uses an act of violence to explore faith, insanity and how the materialism of modern life can destroy humanity's capacity for pain and passion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePeter Shaffer (b. 1926), born in Liverpool, is an English playwright. Among his plays are \u003ci\u003eThe Salt Land\u003c\/i\u003e (1954), \u003ci\u003eEquus\u003c\/i\u003e (1973) which won Shaffer the 1975 Tony Award for Best Play, as well as the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and \u003ci\u003eAmadeus\u003c\/i\u003e (1979) which won the Evening Standard Drama Award and the Theatre Critics Award for the London production, as well as being adapted into a 1984 film starring F. Murray Abraham and Simon Callow.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you enjoyed \u003ci\u003eEquus\u003c\/i\u003e, you might like Tennessee Williams's \u003ci\u003eA Streetcar Named Desire\u003c\/i\u003e, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Sensationally good'\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A very important play'\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43399588708530,"sku":"9780141188904","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141188904_4f1bd5e0-6220-458a-9c7a-9891c0ab9d17.jpg?v=1786011552"},{"product_id":"9780141188898","title":"Amadeus","description":"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a genius, the most brilliant musician the world will ever see. But the court of eighteenth-century Vienna doesn’t recognize his talents - only Antonio Salieri, the Court Composer, does, and he is tortured by what he hears. Seething with rage at the genius of this flippant buffoon and suddenly aware of his own mediocrity, Salieri declares war and sets out to destroy the man he sees as God’s instrument on earth. Peter Shaffer’s award-winning play is a rich, exuberant portrayal of a God-like man among mortals, and lives destroyed by envy.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43399588872370,"sku":"9780141188898","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141188898_f7015ded-b345-4437-a15f-7fd24dc7581f.jpg?v=1786011551"},{"product_id":"9780573023033","title":"Black Comedy","description":"\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56291790422389,"sku":"9780573023033","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780573023033_80b8adff-b546-4ee0-8631-3db544a09b8f.jpg?v=1786033345"},{"product_id":"9780573018237","title":"Lettice and Lovage","description":"\u003cp\u003eDaughter of an actress who toured France with an all-female company playing only Shakespeare's history plays, Lettice Dourret has inherited both theatricality and eccentricity. Now employed as a tourist guide in a shabby stately home, she attempts to enliven its dull history with her own over-imaginative fantasies, until she is caught in the act and promptly sacked. She retreats to her basement at in Earl's Court, where she is visited by the starchy Preservation Trust o cial who red her. An unlikely friendship develops as they discover a shared loathing for the carbuncles of modern architecture and the stern, sensible Lotte is drawn into Lettice's attractive world of historical romance. This almost ends in tears after a nasty accident when the two ladies are enacting the execution of Charles I. But they manage to rise above this minor setback and continue their crusade to \"enlarge, enliven and enlighten\" with\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003erenewed vigour. This delightful and witty play commenced a long run at London's Globe Theatre in 1987, starring Maggie Smith and Margaret Tyzack, and won the 1988 Evening Standard Best Comedy Award.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56292094706037,"sku":"9780573018237","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780573018237_fb18cd34-e0d0-4560-9f09-3eabb0eda952.jpg?v=1786015110"},{"product_id":"9780582097124","title":"Equus","description":"Teenager Alan, fought over by a religious mother and an atheist father, finds release in horses, until he is driven to blind them with a spike. Why? While treating the boy, a psychiatrist discovers his own life is paradoxically in the witness box.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56292187799925,"sku":"9780582097124","price":18.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780582097124_f2a8cf7a-4f81-47f3-93b7-abec635012f4.jpg?v=1786014977"},{"product_id":"9780573013881","title":"The Royal Hunt of the Sun","description":"This is the story of the conquest of Peru, the defeat by 167 men of a highly organised, communistic empire of over ten million people. It is also the story of two men, Francisco Pizarro, the embittered, defiant commander of the invading Spanish forces, and Atahuallpa, the young king, Sun god-upon-earth, ruler of a vast empire. Between the two, both illegitimate usurpers, there grows a deep and understanding friendship.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56293051564405,"sku":"9780573013881","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780573013881_fddccf97-d8c9-41a4-9bde-fc0b635945d4.jpg?v=1786015093"},{"product_id":"the-royal-hunt-of-the-sun","title":"The Royal Hunt of the Sun","description":"In the rich, humid air of sixteenth-century Peru, Atahuallpa, the Sun-God King, meets Pizarro the Conquistador, representative of the Spanish Empire at its most insatiable. While the Inca King is convinced of his own immortality, the Spaniard is cynical and greedy, leading to a collision of power and authority. Soon both men are locked in a struggle for survival; one of them must die and the survivor must face mortality, and the terrible truth of the world he lives in. Moving and atmospheric, \u003ci\u003eThe Royal Hunt of the Sun\u003c\/i\u003e is an unforgettable drama of pride, empire and the conquest of bodies and souls.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466623295861,"sku":"9780141188881","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141188881.jpg?v=1785654681"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-peter-shaffer.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}