{"title":"Books by Simon Stephens","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781350111530","title":"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Abridged for Schools","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis abridged edition is designed for schools and has been adapted for 10 actors playing all of the roles. With a running time of just 90 minutes it is suitable for performance in non-theatre spaces, with minimal technical requirements.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time\u003c\/i\u003e brings Mark Haddon's best-selling novel to life on stage, adapted by two-time Olivier Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWinner of seven Olivier Awards including Best Play, along with the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and Tony Awards for Best Play, this remarkable and exhilarating \"theatrical masterpiece\" originated at London's Royal National Theatre in 2012 before going on to transfer to the West End for multiple seasons, followed by its acclaimed Broadway run. The play has now been seen on five continents around the world with major productions ranging from Mexico, Australia, Canada, Seoul and Japan. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis brand new edition of the play has been abridged specifically with schools in mind and published following a 12-week tour of 60 secondary schools in the UK.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe play tells the story of Christopher John Francis Boone, who is fifteen years old. He stands besides Mrs Shears' dead dog, Wellington, who has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in a book he is writing to solve the mystery of who killed Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain and is exceptional at maths while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and distrusts strangers. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56297585213813,"sku":"9781350111530","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781350111530_b7b99df4-4d68-4c3b-919f-e80fd2d19adc.jpg?v=1786018281"},{"product_id":"9781350235670","title":"Simon Stephens Plays 5","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Stephens writes dramas set in uncaring, uncompromising worlds, whose characters speak in a language at once naturalistic and yet artificially pared-down and whose uncertain attempts to assert their own identities sometimes lead to gratuitous and brutal acts of violence.\" - Financial Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA fifth collection of plays by one of Britain's most prolific contemporary playwrights, Simon Stephens, charting his work from 2011-2016, ranging from London's Royal Court Theatre, Manchester's Royal Exchange and Broadway. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWastwater\u003c\/b\u003e (2011) \u003ci\u003e\"Metaphoric, allusive, and thoroughly disturbing in its evocation of suspicion and uncertainty, Wastwater is a thought-provoking play whose quiet intensity stays with you for days — its effect is like that of a ugly stone dropped into a pool, which results in constant ripples of dirty water lapping at your subconscious\"\u003c\/i\u003e (Aleks Sierz)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBirdland \u003c\/b\u003e(2014) \"\u003ci\u003eMega-fame and limitless cash can turn a man into a monster, and Simon Stephens's new play excellently evokes its hero's spiritually shrunken world\"\u003c\/i\u003e (Michael Billington, Guardian) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBlindsided \u003c\/b\u003e(2014) \u003ci\u003e“the dialogue has a rare quality of moment-by-moment intensity\"\u003c\/i\u003e (Telegraph)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSong From Far Away\u003c\/b\u003e (2015) \u003ci\u003e\"a meditative monologue – a searching study of impotently self-aware emotional insufficiency\" \u003c\/i\u003e(Independent) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHeisenberg\u003c\/b\u003e (2016)  \u003ci\u003e\"Mr. Stephens ... is an uncannily subtle dramatist who never wears his depths on the surface ... he probes clichés until they fall apart, before reassembling them into solid but transformed shapes, reminding us why such clichés have become enduring elements of our collective mythology.\"\u003c\/i\u003e (Ben Brantley, New York Times)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56297978265973,"sku":"9781350235670","price":20.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781350235670_2478a667-4456-49a0-948f-ff0199c75055.jpg?v=1786034016"},{"product_id":"9781408113912","title":"Stephens Plays: 2","description":"This second collection of plays by Simon Stephens, winner of the 2005 Olivier Award for Best New Play for On the Shore of the Wide World, perfectly showcases the development of one of the most exciting and impressive theatre talents of recent years. The range of plays in this volume displays a tough sensibility and a courage to confront the more unsettling challenges of our times. One Minute, first produced in 2003 and revived in London in 2008, has an uncomfortable resonance as it follows five characters variously affected by the disappearance of Daisy, an 11-year-old girl, from Seven Dials, Covent Garden.  Country Music spotlights four fateful moments in the life of Jamie Carris during and after the prison sentences he has served for glassing one man and for killing another.  Motortown, written in response to the War on Terror, is a blistering account of a young soldier's return home from Basra to an England he no longer recognises or connects with.  Pornography captures Britain as it crashes from the euphoria and promise of the 2012 Olympics announcement into the devastation of the London bombings of 7\/7.   The final play, Sea Wall, is a one-act monologue about grief, following the drowning of a young child.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56299097555317,"sku":"9781408113912","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781408113912_6fa631f5-17e0-4bd0-8b80-bec8ddbf3803.jpg?v=1786019222"},{"product_id":"9781408173350","title":"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMy name is Christopher John Francis Boone. I know all the countries of the world and the capital cities. And every prime number up to 7507.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChristopher, fifteen years old, stands beside Mrs Shears's dead dog. It has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight, and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in the book he is writing to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain and is exceptional at maths, but he is ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and he distrusts strangers. But Christopher's detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that turns his world upside-down.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSimon Stephens's adaptation of Mark Haddon's bestselling, award-winning novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time\u003c\/i\u003e offers a richly theatrical exploration of this touching and bleakly humorous tale.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis edition contains some strong language and may not be suitable for all school curricula. Other editions are available.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56299101127029,"sku":"9781408173350","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781408173350_8451dba4-92a3-479c-b7e6-a81af6fb4b4a.jpg?v=1786019286"},{"product_id":"9781408185216","title":"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis schools' edition of Mark Haddon's multi-award-winning novel adapted for the stage of the National Theatre by Simon Stephens is perfect for Key Stages 3 and 4. Featuring the play script from the Modern Plays edition but with the language adjusted for school use*, this edition includes a wealth of classroom activities for the English and drama classrooms.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChristopher, fifteen years old, stands beside Mrs Shears's dead dog. It has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight, and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in the book he is writing to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain and is exceptional at maths, but he is ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and he distrusts strangers. But Christopher's detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that turns his world upside-down.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis educational edition in Methuen Drama's Critical Scripts series has been prepared by national Drama in Secondary English experts Ruth Moore and Paul Bunyan. Building on a decade of highly effective work and publications endorsed by national organisations and supported by teachers and consultants across Britain, each book in the series: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026gt; meets the requirements at KS3 and GCSE\u003cbr\u003e\u0026gt; features detailed, structured schemes of work utilising drama approaches to improve literary and language analysis \u003cbr\u003e\u0026gt; places pupils' understanding of the learning process at the heart of the activities \u003cbr\u003e\u0026gt; will help pupils to boost English GCSE success and develop high-level skills at KS3\u003cbr\u003e\u0026gt; will save teachers considerable time devising their own resources.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSimon Stephens's adaptation of Mark Haddon's bestselling, award-winning novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time\u003c\/i\u003e offers a richly theatrical exploration of this touching and bleakly humorous tale.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e* The instances of stronger language have been tempered in this edition specifically for school use. Teachers may still wish to satisfy themselves that it is suited to the age of their pupils.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56299101258101,"sku":"9781408185216","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781408185216_c4435738-f38b-4958-aa04-ae14d5f02ed4.jpg?v=1786019301"},{"product_id":"9781474240314","title":"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time GCSE Student Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003eWritten specifically for GCSE students by academics in the field, the Methuen Drama GCSE Student Editions provide in-depth explanatory material alongside the play texts frequently studied at Key Stage 4. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhether for use in the classroom or independent study, these editions offer a fully comprehensive and lightly glossed play text with accompanying notes specifically directed towards readers of this age, which unravel essential topics and challenge all students to delve further into literary analysis. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn Simon Stephens's multi-award-winning stage adaptation of \u003ci\u003eThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time\u003c\/i\u003e, based on Mark Haddon's novel, Christopher's investigation into the death of the neighbour's dog tears his world apart and confronts him with the struggle to survive when everything feels foreign.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn addition to some on-page explanatory notes and the play text itself, this edition contains sub-headed analyses of themes, characters, context and dramatic devices, as well as background information on the playwright. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Methuen Drama GCSE Student Editions never lose sight of their readership, and offer students the confidence to engage with the material, explore their own interpretations, and improve their understanding of the works.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56300426690933,"sku":"9781474240314","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781474240314_d6b4c8d0-d43d-447e-8426-779a16df4460.jpg?v=1786020664"},{"product_id":"9781526701114","title":"Navy Board Ship Models","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom about the middle of the seventeenth century the Navy's administrators began to commission models of their ships that were accurately detailed and, for the first time, systematically to scale. These developed a recognised style, which included features like the unplanked lower hull with a simplified pattern of framing that emphasised the shape of the underwater body. Exquisitely crafted, these were always rare and highly prized objects-indeed, Samuel Pepys expressed a profound desire to own one-and today they are widely regarded as the acme of the ship modeller's art. Today examples form the highlights of collections across the world, valued both as art objects and as potential historical evidence on matters of ship design.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHowever, it was only recently that researchers began to investigate the circumstances of their construction, their function, and the identities of those who made them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book, by two curators who have worked on the world's largest collection of these models at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, summarises the current state of knowledge, outlines important discoveries, and applies this new-found understanding to many of the finest models in the collection. As befits its subject, \u003ci\u003eNavy Board Ship Models\u003c\/i\u003e is visually striking, with numerous colour photographs that make it as attractive as it is informative to anyone with an interest in modelmaking or historic ships.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303077294453,"sku":"9781526701114","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781526701114_acd6e25b-ab87-42b9-b6c5-fca2caf4e671.jpg?v=1786034745"},{"product_id":"9781408126363","title":"Punk Rock","description":"'Everything human beings do finishes up bad in the end. Everything good human beings ever make is built on something monstrous. Nothing lasts. We certainly won't...'  Based on his experience as a teacher, Stephens describes his play as 'The History Boys on crack'. It explores the underlying tensions and potential violence in a group of affluent, articulate seventeen year old students. Contemporary and unnerving, with elements of The Catcher in the Rye, Punk Rock follows the story of seven sixth-formers as they face up to the pressures of teenage life, while preparing for their mock A-level exams and trying to get into Oxbridge. They are a group of educated, intelligent and aspirational young people but step-by-step, the dislocation, disjunction and latent violence simmering under the surface of prosperity is revealed.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56312293294453,"sku":"9781408126363","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781408126363_ed7910ae-8547-423c-b847-40a6aedaacfa.jpg?v=1786019236"},{"product_id":"stephens-plays-1","title":"Stephens Plays: 1","description":"First collection from the 2004 Pearson Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens Plays: 1 brings together four of the early plays from the winner of the 2002 Pearson Best New Play Award. Since Bluebird in 1998, Stephens has gained recognition for humane plays that display a sharp observation and compassionate response to the lives of ordinary people in urban locations. Bluebird: Cabbie Jimmy overhears the weird, wonderful and violent tales of his passengers he confronts his past and his estranged wife. 'A rough gem of a play' - The Times Christmas: One night in an East end pub, four men confront their past and brace themselves for an uncertain future. 'Beautifully crafted' - What's On Herons: The disturbing story of one teenager on a violent estate in London, which saw Stephens nominated for an Olivier Award for Most Promising Playwright in 2001. Port: One woman's struggle to cope with and finally escape her life in Stockport. (Winner of Pearson Award for Best New Play.) 'A brilliant writer of immense imagination with an acute observation of people's foibles' - Independent","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466728317301,"sku":"9780413775474","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780413775474.jpg?v=1785654788"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-simon-stephens.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}