Ridley Plays: 2: Vincent River; Mercury Fur; Leaves of Glass; Piranha Heights

by Philip Ridley

Overview

This second volume of Ridley's stage plays confirms him as one of the
most imaginative, daring and unique voices currently working in
theatre. All four plays collected here resonant with Ridley's trademark
themes - East London, storytelling, moments of shocking violence,
memories of the past, fantastical monologues, and that strange mix of
the barbaric and the beautiful he has made all his own.

Vincent River: '... a grieving mother and a traumatized teenager
meet as adversaries, rough each other up and eventually bond over a
barbaric act of cruelty...Ridley asks
questions, lots of them, about how people respond to the loss of
innocence in their lives, how they hold onto their sanity in the face
of savagery and how they fight to keep the bonds of humanity intact in
a mad, mad world.' Variety


Mercury Fur: '...depicts a scary, post-apocalyptic London where, in
their struggle to survive, a group of youths are reduced to organising
parties that cater for the most perverted tastes.' Independent



Leaves of Glass: 'There is a different kind of murder going on here:
the murder of truth that goes on in all families to a lesser or greater
degree. As with nations, a family's history is written by the victors.' Guardian


Piranha Heights: 'The extravagance of Ridley's dark vision suggests a
dangerously confused society in which individuals seize on random
gobbets of semi-digested information and use them to construct their
own personal narrative.' The
Times

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472517364
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	06/13/2013
Series:	Contemporary Dramatists
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Philip Ridley was born in the East End of London where he still lives
and works. He studied painting at St Martin's School of Art. He has
written novels for both adults and children, screenplays, librettos,
poems and lyrics. He is also a photographer and film director of some
repute.
Philip Ridley was born and grew up in the East End of London. He studied painting at St Martin's School of Art. He has written many highly regarded and hugely influential stage plays: the seminal The Pitchfork Disney (now published as a Methuen Modern Classic), The Fastest Clock in the Universe (winner of a Time Out Award, the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, and the Meyer-Whitworth Prize), Ghost from a Perfect Place, Vincent River (nominated for the London Festival Fringe Best Play Award), the highly controversial Mercury Fur, Leaves of Glass, Piranha Heights (nominated for the WhatsOnStage Mobius Award for Best Off West End Production), Tender Napalm (nominated for the London Fringe Best Play Award), Shivered (nominated for the OffWestEnd Best New Play Award), Dark Vanilla Jungle (winner of an Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award), Radiant Vermin (now published as a Methuen Modern Classic), Tonight With Donny Stixx, Karagula (nominated for the OffWestEnd Best New Play Award), The Beast of Blue Yonder, The Poltergeist (winner of the OffWestEnd OnComm Award for Best Live Streamed Play) and Tarantula; plus several plays for young people (collectively known as The Storyteller Sequence): Karamazoo, Fairytaleheart, Moonfleece (named as one of the 50 Best Works About Cultural Diversity by the National Centre for Children's Books), the seminal Sparkleshark (the first of the Connections Festival plays – all written for young people – to be staged professionally by the National Theatre), and Brokenville; also, Feathers in the Snow (shortlisted for the Brian Way Best Play Award).

Table of Contents

Vincent River; Mercury Fur; Leaves of Glass; Piranha Heights