Kirjahaku

This is the first collection from critically acclaimed playwright Duncan Macmillan, containing the plays Monster, Lungs, 2071, Every Brilliant Thing and People, Places and Things.

‘I could fly to New York and back every day for seven years and still not leave a carbon footprint as big as if I have a child. Ten thousand tonnes of CO2. That’s the weight of the Eiffel Tower. I’d be giving birth to the Eiffel Tower.’In a time of global anxiety, terrorism, erratic weather and political unrest, a young couple want a child but are running out of time. If they over think it, they’ll never do it. But if they rush, it could be a disaster.They want to have a child for the right reasons. Except, what exactly are the right reasons? And what will be the first to destruct – the planet or the relationship?

You’re six years old. Mum’s in hospital. Dad says she’s ‘done something stupid’. She finds it hard to be happy.So you start to make a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world. Everything that’s worth living for.1. Ice Cream2. Kung Fu Movies3. Burning Things4. Laughing so hard you shoot milk out your nose5. Construction cranes6. MeYou leave it on her pillow. You know she’s read it because she’s corrected your spelling. Soon, the list will take on a life of its own.A new play about depression and the lengths we will go to for those we love.

"Macmillan doesn’t shy away from difficult questions about addiction and recovery and, rightly, doesn’t answer them ... this is a bold, timely and searching play" - Financial TimesEmma was having the time of her life. Now she’s in rehab. Her first step is to admit that she has a problem. But the problem isn’t with Emma, it’s with everything else. She needs to tell the truth. But she’s smart enough to know that there’s no such thing. When intoxication feels like the only way to survive the modern world, how can she ever sober up?People, Places & Things premiered at the National Theatre in 2015 before transferring to London’s West End and St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York. This edition is published to coincide with the return to the West End in June, 2024

When reclusive crime writer Daniel Quinn receives a mysterious call seeking a private detective in the middle of the night, he quickly and unwittingly becomes the protagonist in a thriller of his own. As the familiar territory of the noir detective genre gives way to something altogether more disturbing, Quinn becomes consumed by his mission, and begins to lose his grip on reality.

"You put it in the freezer, so when you transfer it to the boiling water it doesn't feel a thing. I suppose that this is how I've felt recently. I've been in some deep freeze and suddenly I can feel steam in my face, I'm falling headlong into scalding water."It's 2005, the sun is shining and Loretta is planning to make her daughter's favourite meal. But when Sophie stops talking to her, children start vanishing, and rooms begin to cry, Loretta can't help feeling that something is up and that she might have something to do with it.A play about one woman's journey back to her childhood, to stop her past flooding into the present.

"He's got zero empathy. You could be having a conversation and start choking to death and he'd just think, 'Well, this conversation's over. He'd probably just sit there and finish eating whatever you were choking on."An inexperienced teacher is given the job of saving a disturbed and violent fourteen-year-old boy from permanent exclusion. Alone in the classroom, an intense battle of wills takes place. But what can be done when a child cares for no one and is afraid of nothing? Monster won two awards at the inaugural Bruntwood Playwriting Competition and was first performed in 2007 at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, where Duncan MacMillan was Writer-in-Residence.

A discussion of sensibility, sensation, perception and painting, Scotland and the Origins of Modern Art is an original work which argues that the eighteenth-century Scottish philosophy of moral sense played a central role in shaping ideas explored by figures such as Cézanne and Monet over one hundred years later.Proposing that sensibility not reason was the basis of morality, the philosophy of moral sense gave birth to the idea of the supremacy of the imagination. Allied to the belief that the imagination flourished more freely in the primitive history of humanity, this idea became a potent inspiration for artists. The author also highlights Thomas Reid's method in his philosophy of common sense of using art and artists to illustrate how perception and expression are intuitive. To be truly expressive, artists should unlearn what they have learned and record their raw sensations, rather than the perceptions that derive from them.Exploring the work of key philosophical and artistic protagonists, this thought-provoking book unearths the fascinating exchanges between art, philosophy and literature during Enlightenment in Scotland that provided the blueprint for modernism.

Exploring the development of Elizabeth Blackadder’s art in all its richness, this revised edition of Duncan Macmillan's 1999 book expands the account of an important artist and her significant body of work. With her oeuvre ranging through still life, landscapes and flower painting, Elizabeth Blackadder (1931-2021) was one of the best known and respected artists in the British painting tradition. The first woman to be elected to both the Royal Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy, she exhibited widely from the 1960s and her work has been reproduced extensively. Updated to include new imagery, Duncan Macmillan's expert text is essential reading for Blackadder's legion of fans.

If you live a long life and get to the end of it without ever once feeling crushingly depressed, then you probably weren’t paying attention. You’re seven years old. Mum’s in hospital. Dad says she’s ‘done something stupid’. She finds it hard to be happy. You start a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world. Everything worth living for. You leave it on her pillow. You know she’s read it because she’s corrected your spelling. A child attempts to ease their mother’s depression by creating a list of all the best things in the world. Through adulthood, as the list grows, they learn the deep significance it has on their own life. From Olivier Award-nominated writer Duncan Macmillan (People, Places and Things), Every Brilliant Thing is a comedy about the lengths we will go for those we love. This edition was published to coincide with the West End premiere at @sohoplace in August 2025. Co-directed by Jeremy Herrin (Best of Enemies), this production featured Lenny Henry, Ambika Mod, Sue Perkins, Minnie Driver, and the show’s original performer Jonny Donahoe.

If you live a long life and get to the end of it without ever once feeling crushingly depressed, then you probably haven't been paying attention. You’re seven years old. Mum’s in hospital. Dad says she’s ‘done something stupid’. She finds it hard to be happy. You start a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world. Everything worth living for. You leave it on her pillow. You know she’s read it because she’s corrected your spelling. A child attempts to ease their mother’s depression by creating a list of all the best things in the world. Through adulthood, as the list grows, they learn the deep significance it has on their own life. From Olivier Award-nominated writer Duncan Macmillan (People, Places and Things), Every Brilliant Thing is a comedy about the lengths we will go for those we love. This edition was published to coincide with the long-awaited Broadway premiere at the Hudson Theatre with Tony Award winner Daniel Radcliffe.