Books published by publisher Oberon Books

This stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's acclaimed children's novel, winner of the Blue Peter Book of the Year prize, relives the life of Private Tommo Peaceful, a young WWI soldier awaiting the firing squad at dawn. During the night he looks back at his short but joyful past. Features an introductory essay by Morpurgo. Published to coincide with the release of a feature film version of Private Peaceful in fall 2012.

In Byrony Lavery's new adaptation of one of Ibsen's finest plays, A Doll's House emerges as a thoroughly modern and edgy thriller for our times. Previously Lavery has adapted to the stage Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Musuem and Angela Carter's The Magic Toyshop, as well as Jouko and Juha Turkka's Cherished Disappointments in Love and Mary Webb's Precious Bane.

Jonathan Munby’s explosive revival of Shakespeare’s epic tragedy transferred to the West End following its sold-out run at Chichester Festival Theatre, performed by a celebrated cast led by Ian McKellen as the embittered monarch in a fractured kingdom. This version of the text was edited and curated specially for the production.Two ageing fathers - one a King, one his courtier - reject the children who truly love them. Their blindness unleashes a tornado of pitiless ambition and treachery as family and state are plunged into a violent power struggle with shocking ends.Tender, brutal, moving and epic, King Lear is considered by many to be the greatest tragedy ever written.

Three fun-packed plays for children. In I’m the King of theCastle!, King Boris and King Morris have to take it in turns to sit on the throne and rule over their kingdom. One day it’s archery and spaghetti bolognese, the next it’s fencing and steak and kidney pie. But the queens and princesses are getting pretty fed up with all the arguing between the brothers, so along with the Jester they concoct a plan to bring back harmony to the royal castle.Sam S mith is a reporter with a knack for busting crime, but now he has to foil the plans of gangster Johnny O and rescue nightclub singer Roxie Hart along the way.Thomas Mead doesn’t think he needs to learn how to read,so when his classmates are learning he refuses to join in. Butduring one hectic day of adventures and accidents he finds out just how helpful – or harmful – words can be.

Adapted for stage, Apples is set on a Middlesbrough council estate, this astonishing piece of writing by 23 year old Richard Milward, is an electrifying collision of Irvine Welsh and Virginia Woolf. Streams of poetic, impassioned and often hilarious words pour from five fifteen year olds as they negotiate a world where the adults are absent, drugs are everywhere, sex is desperate and life is both terrifying and thrilling. A dazzling, tragicomic love story of adolescence based on the astonishing debut novel by Richard Milward. Shameless, ruthless and intensely poetic, Apples articulates what it is like to be young.Apples was the winner of the coveted Bank of Scotland Herald Angel Award at the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The prize is awarded for excellence in the Edinburgh Festival.

Sadler’s Wells is the world’s leading dance house. Sadler’s Wells has developed new audiences for dance, this powerful and emotive art, for performances shown within its theatre spaces and outside – in fact around the world. What makes Sadler’s Wells different is its determination to nurture world class artists like Akram Khan, Sylvie Guillem, Wayne McGregor, Matthew Bourne, Jasmin Vardimon, the Ballet Boyz and Hofesh Shechter, using its unique vision, style and creativity to put together choreographers, dancers, lighting and stage designers, composers and other artists to make dance that is wildly exciting, new and different.Sadler’s Wells Dance House looks at the making of some of the most iconic dance works of this century and into the mix of dancers, choreographers and creators Sadler’s Wells has helped inspire. Including insightful analysis of this phenomenon by Sarah Crompton, arts editor in chief and dance critic for the Sunday Telegraph, and color photographs of many of those works, Sadler’s Wells Dance House gives a clear view both of the creative process of the Sadler’s Wells artists and of the role this legendary theatre has played in remaking and reshaping dance for the 21st century.Selected as a 'Illustrated Book of the Week' by the Daily Mail (May 2013)"A fascinating guide to the state of contemporary dance in Britain... Reading Crompton’s thoughtful, immensely knowledgeable descriptions of the conception and production of successful works as diverse as Sylvie Guillem and Russell Maliphant’s astonishing Push and Matthew Bourne’s witty Nutcracker feels like having an informed chat with her in the interval... On almost every page of Sadler’s Wells: Dance House there is a description of a performance that makes one want to race to buy tickets for something – anything – at Sadler’s Wells; there cannot be a higher recommendation for the book." - Telegraph"[Sadler's Wells'] role at the cutting edge of modern dance is expertly traced in this beautiful book." - Daily Mail"[A] great summer read." - Ballet Bag

A guidebook for child and teen actors and their parents on the UK and US TV and Film industries from top Hollywood talent manager Frederick Levy.• Training• The Tools (Headshots, CV)• The Players (Agents, Managers)• Audi tions• Booking the Job• Working on set• Publicity• Child Labor Laws• Education• Parents in the Biz• Building a CareerFilled with anecdotes about working in the business, the book is an entertaining and informative read, offering firm, practical advice not just from the author but also from other actors, acting coaches, agents and casting directors from both sides of the Atlantic.

Mowgli was still a toddler when he was lost in the jungle – his parentsfleeing the tiger, Shere Khan. There, Mowgli was brought up bywolves, and educated by the bear Baloo and the panther Bagheera.He was happy while growing up and learning the ways of the jungle –and his name was soon known amongst all the animals. But Mowgli’sgrowing fame provoked resentment and envy, and his life was soonthreatened from all sides…First published in the late 1890s, Rudyard Kipling’s two Jungle Bookshave enchanted generations of children and adults. Often describedas an allegory for the society and politics of the time, The JungleBook has now been adapted by critically-acclaimed South Africanplaywright, Craig Higginson. The play asks: Who is your family?Those who look the same as you or those who love and nurtureyou? Here, the tales become a powerful examination of an emergingdemocracy, and the forces that threaten it.Based on a version by the celebrated director Tim Supple, thisadaptation was first staged at Johannesburg’s Market Theatre in2008. This powerful and magical version of a much-loved classic isas resonant now as it was when it first appeared – both within SouthAfrica and beyond its borders.

Teachers' Notes by Anthony BanksSensation Nation is a vocal group founded and led by the unstoppable DD. Her grand plan is for the group to storm next year’s Britain’s Got Talent. But first they need a gig, and more importantly a heartbreaking backstory that will win them votes later on down the line. So she’s booked them in to sing at a funeral. And not just any funeral either. Sensation Nation is to sing at the funeral of Ali Monroe, an older girl from their school who was killed in a car crash.Too Fast is an ensemble comedy for young performers with a strong emotional heart and a huge theatrical reveal in the final scene. It was originally produced as part of National Theatre Connections 2011.

Sam is a good person. But what makes someone a good person? How far would you go to convince others you are?When your mind can’t differentiate between the truth and a lie, facts become irrelevant and the only thing that matters is the story you are telling. Whatever the cost.Sam. The Good Person is a startling black comedy that examines just how easy it is for a lie to spiral out of control and change your life forever.

Susie Salmon is just like any other young girl. She wants to be beautiful, adores her charm bracelet and has a crush on a boy from school. There's one big difference though – Susie is dead. Now she can only observe while her family manage their grief in their different ways. Her father, Jack is obsessed with identifying the killer. Her mother, Abigail is desperate to create a different life for herself. And her sister, Lindsay is discovering the opposite sex with experiences that Susie will never know. Susie is desperate to help them and there might be a way of reaching them…