After the breakout success of his early work for stage and screen, Jack Thorne turned for inspiration to his own family for a series of plays about hope, idealism and domestic politics. The work in this collection – five full-length plays and two shorts – showcases his extraordinary ability to combine electrifying dialogue with heartfelt warmth, candour and humour.
Hope (Royal Court Theatre, 2014) is a funny and scathing fable about the leaders of a local council faced with savage funding cuts. ‘A surprisingly entertaining state-of-the-nation drama’ The Stage
The Solid Life of Sugar Water (Graeae/Theatre Royal Plymouth, 2015) is an intimate, tender play about loss, hurt and rediscovery. ‘Startlingly good… an adult play in the very best sense’ The Times
Junkyard (Headlong, 2017) is a joyful celebration of imaginative play, a musical drama about a group of young people tasked with building a playground out of junk. ‘Genuinely funny and poignant’ WhatsOnStage
the end of history… (Royal Court, 2019) is a moving and sophisticated portrait of the impact of political idealism on a family. ‘Clever and highly intriguing’ Independent
Also included are Burying Your Brother in the Pavement, written for the National Theatre Connections Festival in 2008, which tackles complex themes of grief, violence and sexuality with fierce compassion and wild imagination; and two short plays: Whiff Whaff and Boo.
‘I think these plays are about love, about heroes, about trying to understand how to be heroic, about trying to understand how to lead a good life’ Jack Thorne, from his Introduction
‘Jack Thorne is Britain’s hottest playwright and screenwriter’ The Times
‘Jack Thorne never ceases to stimulate and entertain’ Evening Standard
‘Thorne is a writer of immense emotional intelligence and his dialogue regularly devastates’ The Stage
