Stephen Unwin

'This book is both heart-rending and gorgeous. It crosses the line many times but ultimately, it's about love. He teaches us humanity.' MIRIAM MARGOLYES 'Thank you, Joey, for getting your dad off his arse to write this book.' HUGH BONNEVILLE 'A beautiful book - powerful, persuasive, illuminating, moving.' GYLES BRANDRETH 'This is a wonderful and important book. Beautifully written, of course; but full of pain and joy, concern and celebration.' SIMON RUSSELL BEALE 'A powerful, multi-faceted, myth-busting account of the most marginalised and belittled out-group in modern society.' SIMON JARRETT, author of Those They Called Idiots For much of history, people with learning disabilities have been regarded as unworthy of interest - often seen as a threat to the social order and sometimes dismissed as barely human. While recent years have seen an improvement, learning-disabled people are still treated as fundamentally different. Beautiful Lives is a personal and pragmatic account, told through the eyes of a father whose son has severe learning disabilities. From early civilisation to the chilling realities of twentieth-century eugenics, this powerful book uncovers a startling and rarely told history - one deeply embedded in the challenges still faced today. Unwin shapes this history into a powerful story of love, lived experience and the long struggle for a better future.

This practical guide uncovers the roots of Brecht’s lifelong obsession with Shakespeare and makes the case for reading the two together today. By connecting these two great playwrights, Stephen Unwin imagines new possibilities for Brechtian productions of Shakespeare and outlines practical suggestions for how to stage such productions.Drawing on directing and performance experience in over 60 productions, Unwin’s knowledge of Brecht provides students, teachers, and practitioners with practical exercises for use in the classroom and rehearsal room. The book charts a chronology of Brecht’s engagement with Shakespeare before delving into his core theories and practices which detail a Brechtian approach to reading, performing and staging Shakespeare that is still pertinent today. Unwin also provides an in-depth look at five of Shakespeare’s plays through Brecht’s own words and imagines a Brechtian staging for them. In simple, non-theoretical language Shakespeare and Brecht reveals how Brecht can help us understand Shakespeare, but also how an understanding of Shakespeare can help explain Brecht for a new chapter of Brechtian Shakespeare in the 21st century.

This practical guide uncovers the roots of Brecht’s lifelong obsession with Shakespeare and makes the case for reading the two together today. By connecting these two great playwrights, Stephen Unwin imagines new possibilities for Brechtian productions of Shakespeare and outlines practical suggestions for how to stage such productions.Drawing on directing and performance experience in over 60 productions, Unwin’s knowledge of Brecht provides students, teachers, and practitioners with practical exercises for use in the classroom and rehearsal room. The book charts a chronology of Brecht’s engagement with Shakespeare before delving into his core theories and practices which detail a Brechtian approach to reading, performing and staging Shakespeare that is still pertinent today. Unwin also provides an in-depth look at five of Shakespeare’s plays through Brecht’s own words and imagines a Brechtian staging for them. In simple, non-theoretical language Shakespeare and Brecht reveals how Brecht can help us understand Shakespeare, but also how an understanding of Shakespeare can help explain Brecht for a new chapter of Brechtian Shakespeare in the 21st century.

'This book is both heart-rending and gorgeous. It crosses the line many times but ultimately, it's about love. He teaches us humanity.' MIRIAM MARGOLYES'Thank you, Joey, for getting your dad off his arse to write this book.' HUGH BONNEVILLE'A beautiful book - powerful, persuasive, illuminating, moving.' GYLES BRANDRETH'This is a wonderful and important book. Beautifully written, of course; but full of pain and joy, concern and celebration.' SIMON RUSSELL BEALE 'A powerful, multi-faceted, myth-busting account of the most marginalised and belittled out-group in modern society.' SIMON JARRETT, author of Those They Called IdiotsFor much of history, people with learning disabilities have been regarded as unworthy of interest - often seen as a threat to the social order and sometimes dismissed as barely human. While recent years have seen an improvement, learning-disabled people are still treated as fundamentally different.Beautiful Lives is a personal and pragmatic account, told through the eyes of a father whose son has severe learning disabilities. From early civilisation to the chilling realities of twentieth-century eugenics, this powerful book uncovers a startling and rarely told history - one deeply embedded in the challenges still faced today.Unwin shapes this history into a powerful story of love, lived experience and the long struggle for a better future.

'So much magic. So much love. So much laughter. So much work. So much rage. And so many tears.' Connor is, well, Connor. He loves buses, Eddie Stobart and Lego. He also has learning disabilities. When he dies an entirely preventable death in NHS care, his mum, Sara, can't get a straight answer as to how it happened. But Sara and her family won't stop asking questions and soon an extraordinary campaign emerges. Demanding the truth, it uncovers a scandal of neglect and indifference that goes beyond Connor's death to thousands of others. Sara Ryan's impassioned, frank and surprisingly funny memoir Justice for Laughing Boy is adapted for the stage by Stephen Unwin. It was first performed at Jermyn Street Theatre, London, in 2024, in a co-production with Theatre Royal Bath.

Was Shakespeare a snob? Poor Naked Wretches challenges the idea that our greatest writer despised working people, and shows that he portrayed them with as much insight, compassion and purpose as the rich and powerful. Moreover, they play an important role in his dramatic method.Stephen Unwin reads Shakespeare anew, exploring the astonishing variety of working people in his plays, as well as the vast range of cultural sources from which they were drawn. Unwin argues that the robust realism of these characters, their independence of mind and their engagement in the great issues of the day, makes them much more than mere ‘comic relief’.Compassionate, cogent and wry, Poor Naked Wretches grants these often-overlooked figures the dignity and respect they deserve.

A practical, hands-on guide - for actors, directors, teachers and students - to Brecht's theory and practice of theatre, with a full set of exercises to help put theory into practice. The Complete Brecht Toolkit examines, one by one, Brecht's many, sometimes contradictory ideas about theatre - and how he put them into practice. Here are explanations of all the famous key terms, such as Alienation Effect, Epic Theatre and Gestus, as well as many others which go to make up what we think of as 'Brechtian theatre'. The book also explores the practical application of these theories in Acting, Language, Music, Design and Direction. Also included are fifty exercises contributed by Julian Jones, to help student actors investigate Brecht's ideas for themselves, becoming thoroughly familiar with the tools in the Brecht toolkit.

The Well Read Play, deepens our appreciation and enjoyment of drama. Clear and practical guidance helps the reader to understand the workings of a play, spot clues that the playwright has planted, imagine how it can be staged, and decide whether it will stand the test of time. Absorbing and informative, whether for purposes of study, staging or simply leisure, it is the ideal guide for students, directors, teachers and anyone who loves the theatre.

The Nick Hern Books Page to Stage series – highly accessible guides to the world's best-known plays, written by established theatre professionals to show how the plays come to life on the stage. Director Stephen Unwin takes you scene by scene through the action of Ibsen's play A Doll's House, analysing moment by moment what is actually said and done, and how the staging of these moments affects our understanding of them. Also included in this volume: a concise introduction to Ibsen and the historical background of the play; a discussion of the characters and setting; and an exploration of the possibilities for staging, lighting, costumes, props and furniture, and the sound and music. Ideal for anyone studying, teaching or performing A Doll's House, as well as anyone interested in how the play works on stage.

A guide to all of Brecht's key plays that sets them in their historical, dramaturgical and political contexts Stephen Unwin provides a clear and readable guide to Brecht's plays that will prove invaluable to the student, teacher and theatre practitioner. Grouping and analysing plays chronologically according to their context, Unwin also considers Brecht's theory and looks at his impact and the legacy that he left. The Guide covers: * Three Early Plays and Expressionism * Two Music Theatre Pieces and Kurt Weill * Marxism and the Theatre * Opposition Plays * Five Great Plays * A Late Masterpiece * Theory and Practice * Brecht's LegacyWritten by the Artistic Director of English Touring Theatre and the author of a range of theatre studies books, this is a perfect companion to the plays of Brecht for the student and theatre practitioner.

An abbreviated version of Shakespeare's play, edited for English Theatre's 2003 production, is accompanied by notes about the company.

The essential, concise and readable guide to the plays of Ibsen, Chekhov and Strindberg.Are you looking for an overview of the major work of these three leading playwrights?Are you going to see a play by Ibsen, Chekhov or Strindberg and want a run-down of the storyline?Do you want to know why these three are considered major writers?A Pocket Guide to Ibsen, Chekhov and Strindberg gives you all this and more:An introduction to each playwrightHistorical and theatrical context to their playsA synopsis for and analysis of each of the major playsDetails of productions around the worldA chronology of plays during the periodHenrik Ibsen (1828-1906), Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) and August Strindberg (1848-1912) are acknowledged masters of their craft. This handy reference book aims to tell you why they should be considered as such, as well as giving you a snapshot view of the plays and a considered view of the writers.Faber's 'Pocket Guide' series includes: A Pocket Guide to Shakespeare's Plays, A Pocket Guide to the 20th Century Theatre, A Pocket Guide to Opera and A Pocket Guide to Alan Ayckbourn's Plays.

A hands-on, step-by-step guide to directing plays – by one of Britain's leading theatre directors. Stephen Unwin has worked with hundreds of different actors in a multiplicity of different venues. He is the ideal author of a 'how to' guide to directing. As Unwin himself says: 'Directing plays is difficult. The aim of this book is to lay out what skills are needed, and to give some sense of how you might develop them. The emphasis is on the professional theatre, but the book is useful for directors in other contexts - amateur dramatics, university drama, school plays and so on. Directing is directing, wherever you do it.' Starting at the very beginning, Unwin takes us step by step through: * Choosing the play * Casting * Design * Rehearsal - Establishing Facts, Improvisation, Language, Character, Blocking, Using Specialists and so on * Running the Play * Putting it on the Stage * Opening Night