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TheatreBooks stocks plays in English from around the world and, of course, all
plays published in Canada. We stock and sell plays from Dramatists Play Service and Dramatic Publishing Co., and the leading play publishers
in Great Britain. We carry books on all aspects of theatre production, as well
as opera and dance.
If you don't find the title or playwright you are looking for, please stop by the
store and ask, or contact us at action@theatrebooks.com,
by phone at 416.922.7175, toll-free at 1.800.361.3414 or by fax at 416.922.0739.
Classical Drama
 The Oedipus Cycle
Sophocles
Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Kolonus; Atnigone. Sophocles' three great masterpieces gatherered here in one volume, dramatize the inexplicable animosity directed at three generations of Thebes' royal family by Apollo, the inscrutable god who terrifies and decieves his victims into acts of incest, betrayal and kin murder. Softcover, 405 pp. $16.99.
 Medea
Euripedes & Tom Paulin
Euripides' classic story of a woman who, betrayed by her husband, unleashes a horrific revenge on her enemies by murdering her own children. This new version. which toured the UK in 2010, is adapted by writer and voice of the BBC Tom Paulin. Softcover, 66 pp. $22.95.
 Phaedra and Other Plays
Seneca
A collection of plays by Seneca in new translation. Includes Hercules Insane, Trojan Women, Oedipus, Thyestes, Octavia, and Phaedra. Softcover, 330 pp. $18.50.
 An Oresteia
Anne Carson
In An Oresteia, the classicist Anne Carson combines three different versions of the tragedy of the house of Atreus -- Aiskhylos' Agamemnon, Sophokles; Elektra and Euripides' Orestes. Carson's translation combines contemporary language with the traditional structures and rhetoric of Greek tragedy, opening up this ancient tale of vengeance to a modern audience and revealing the essential wit and morbidity of the original plays. Softcover, 255 pp. $33.95.
 Oedipus
Sophocles, in a version by Frank McGuiness
The people of Thebes look to Oedipus to lift a terrible curse from them and their city. He consults the oracle and learns that he must root out the late king's murderer. But his relentless interrogation of one man after another leads inexorably, and in the space of a single day, to his own savage conclusion. Softcover, 66 pp. $22.99.
 The Complete Euripedes Volume IV
Euripedes
Based on the conviction that only translators who write poetry can properly re-create the celebrated classics of Greek tragedy, this new series offers specially comissioned translations that go beyond the literal meaning of the Greek in order to evoke the poetry of the originals. Collected in this volume are Herakles (translated by Tom Sleigh and Christian Wolff), Phoenician Women (translated by Peter Burian and Brian Swann), and Bacchae (translated by Reginald Gibbons and Charles Segal). Softcover, 364 pp. $13.95.
 Electra
Sophocles
Classical Greek drama is brought vividly to life in this wonderful new translation by Eric Dugdale. This version remains faithful to the original Greek, yet the language has all the immediacy of contemporary English. Students are encouraged to engage with the text through detailed commentaries, which include suggestions for discussion and analysis. Softcover, 120 pp. $11.95.
 Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripedes
Euripedes
Euripedes, the last of the three great tragedians of ancient Athens, reached the height of his renown during the disastrous Peloponnesian War. Four of his greatest works -- Herakles, Hekabe, Hippolytos, and Alkestis -- are presented here in new translations by the contemporary poet and classicist Anne Carson. Softcover, 312 pp. $16.95.
 Antigone
Methuen Student Edition
Sophocles, translated by Don Taylor
Antigone, defying her Uncle Creon's decree that her brother should remain unburied, challenges the morality of man's law overruling the laws of the gods. The clash between her and Creon with its tragic consequences have inspire continual reinterpretation. This translation by Don Taylor, accurate yet poetic, was made for a BBC TV production of the Theban plays in 1986, which he also directed. Softcover, 66 pp. $18.00.
 Paradise Lost
John Milton, adapted by Ben Power
Defeated in battle and exiled from Heaven, Satan burns in a lake of
fire with his army of rebels around him. Consumed with envy, he plots
his bitter revenge - to destroy God's delight in his newest creation.
During his hunt for paradise on Earth, Satan sweet-talks his way
out of Hell, and tricks his way across the universe to tempt Eve
and seduce
humanity. Milton's extraordinary masterpiece is brought to life in
Ben Power's acclaimed adaptation. Softcover, 85 pp. $22.99.
 The War That Still Goes On
Thucydides, adapted by John Barton
The history of the Peloponnesian War was written by Thucydides, an Athenian
general sent into exile by his countrymen. He was the first man to
attempt an objective history of the political complexities of his
time, and
to make a model of political behavior that may be useful for times
to come. Here, John Barton has adapted the writings of Thucydides
to create
a compelling piece of drama that still bears relevence today. Softcover,
58 pp. $19.99.
 The Greek Plays
Ellen McLaughlin
The Greek Plays presents new versions of eight classical Greek dramas
by acclaimed playwright Ellen McLaughlin. McLaughlin's provocative
scripts are a mixture of highly poetic and often almost timeless
language with
pointed anachronisms. It collects under one cover a number of beautiful
plays, hard to stage, hard to perform and entirely worth the challenge.
Softcover, 394 pp. $28.95.
 Greek Tragedy
Marianne McDonald, Kenneth McLeish & Frederic Raphael
Three of the most famous tragedies from Ancient Greece, all featuring
female protagonists, are presented here in modern, much-performed
translations. Antigone by Sophocles, Medea by Euripedes and Bacchae by Euripedes. Softcover, 134 pp. $14.95.
 Rome and the Mysterious Orient: Three Plays by Plautus
Amy Richlin
Still funny after two thousand years, the Roman playwright Plautus wrote
around 200 B.C.E., a period when Rome was fighting neighbors on all fronts
including North Africa and the Near East. These three plays -- originally
written for a wartime audience of refugees, POWs, soldiers and veterans,
exiles, immigrants, people newly enslaved in the wars, and citizens --
tap into the mix of fear, loathing, and curiosity with which cultures,
particularly Western and Eastern societies, often view each other, always
a productive source of comedy. Translated by Amy Richlin. Softcover,
288 pp. $18.95.
 Aristophanes: The Complete Plays
Aristophanes
With a signature style that was at once bawdy and delicate, as well as a
fearless penchant for lampooning the rich and powerful, Aristophanes
was among the first to make comedy a serious business. Though much of
his work
is lost, his surviving plays continue to challenge and entertain audiences.
Collected here are all eleven, as translated by the distinguished poet
and translator Paul Roche. Softcover, 715 pp. $23.00.
 Elektra
Translated by Kenneth McLeish
Euripedes
Euripides takes the old myth of Orestes' and Elecktra's revenge on their
mother Klytemnestra for their father Agamemnon's murder and reinterprets it in
realistic, human terms. Kenneth McLeish offers a fresh colloquial translation.
Softcover, 49 pp. $19.95.
 The Oresteia
Aeschylus
Aeschylus' Oresteia, the only ancient tragic trilogy to
survive, is one of the great foundational texts of Western culture.
This new translation is faithful to the strangeness of the original
Greek and to its enduring human truth, expressed in language remarkable
for poetic intensity, rich metaphorical texture, and a verbal density
that modulates at times into powerful simplicity. Softcover, 285 pp.
$15.95.
 Four
Roman Comedies
Plautus & Terence
The Haunted House; Casina, or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the
Wedding; The Eunuch; Brothers. Softcover, 280 pp. $29.95.
 The Birds and Other Plays
Aristophanes
Softcover, 336 pp. $16.50.
 Oroonoko, The Rover and Other Works
Aphra Behn
Softcover, 385 pp. $15.99.
 Antigone
Sophocles
Translated by David Franklin. Softcover, 118 pp. $14.95.
Oresteia
Aeschylus
A new version by Ted Hughes. This translation
is brilliant. Written in Hughes's most pared down and powerfully driven verse, it
captures Aeschylus tragic vision and speaks directly to modern audiences and readers.
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