The Storyteller Sequence

This collection brings together Philip Ridley's one-act plays for young people, known as The Storyteller Sequence, ideal for teenagers to either watch or perform. Karamazoo is a fifteen-minute monologue about one of the coolest, most popular kids in the school, whose recent increase in popularity is the direct result of a character make-over following the death of a parent. A witty and moving performance piece for the teenage actor. Fairytaleheart features two fifteen-year-olds, Kirsty and Gideon, who meet for the first time and come to terms with their broken families by sharing their hopes, fears and past experiences - as well as stories - in a derelict community centre. Sparkleshark tells of fourteen-year-old Jake - a victim of bullying and other teenager's mockery - who has to take refuge on the roof of a tower block in order to write his stories. Moonfleece sees Curtis, a young right-wing activist, arrange a meeting in a flat of a derelict tower block where he lived as a child. But his older brother's ghost keeps haunting him. Moonfleece is an intense and thrilling exploration of memory and identity. Brokenville features an unknown disaster, which has left seven characters with little knowledge of who they are or of what has happened. As an old woman and five teenagers begin to act out stories for a mute and frightened child, they begin to discover a little of who they were and what they can be.

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 PlayAward), Dark Vanilla Jungle (winner of an Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award), Radiant Vermin (nowpublished as a Methuen Modern Classic), Tonight With Donny Stixx, Karagula(nominated for the OffWestEnd Best New PlayAward), 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).