Big night for Ollie Maddigan and The Olive Boy at the Fringe Theatre Awards.
Nominated in the Solo Stories category, Ollie’s extraordinary play continues to reach audiences with its wit, honesty and huge heart.
Wishing Ollie the very best of luck tonight from all of us at Salamander Street.
Good luck, Ollie — we’re rooting for you.
#TheOliveBoy #OllieMaddigan #FringeTheatreAwards #SoloStories #NewWriting #Theatre #SoloShow #FringeTheatre #ContemporaryDrama @fringetheatreawards
POPPIES comes to Brighton.
A very funny, unexpectedly moving new play about friendship, stubbornness, identity — and the poppy that starts an argument neither man is quite ready for.
Jim Spencer Broadbent and Johnjoe Irwin bring their acclaimed two-hander to The Rotunda Theatre, Regency Square, from Sat 23 May – Mon 25 May.
Sharp, surreal and full of heart, POPPIES digs into history, heritage and the things we think we know about each other.
Book tickets now via The Rotunda Theatre.
#Poppies #BrightonTheatre #TheRotundaTheatre #NewWriting #Theatre #FringeTheatre #BritishTheatre #IrishTheatre #TwoHander #politicaltheatre
Coming soon from Salamander Street: JUDAS EXCLUSIVE by Will McDowell.
A liar. A traitor. A thief. Tonight, Judas Iscariot tells his side of the story.
Mere days after the death of Jesus Christ, Judas makes his first public appearance on 'Simona Tonight', a failing late-night talk show desperate for one last ratings miracle. What begins as an exclusive interview spirals into a psychedelic, channel-changing comedy about fame, betrayal, public shame and the dying days of broadcast television.
Wickedly funny, surreal and sharply satirical, JUDAS EXCLUSIVE reimagines the world’s most infamous betrayal through the lens of celebrity culture and media spectacle.
Available to pre-order now from Salamander Street.
Cast: 3 actors
Duration: 60 minutes
Publication: 1 July 2026
#JudasExclusive #WillMcDowell #NewWriting #ContemporaryTheatre #SmallCastPlay #ComedyDrama #TheatreBooks #EdinburghFringe #NewPlay #Playscript @judasexclusive
Explore art through words with Frank Rafferty.
This month, Salamander Street poet Frank Rafferty — author of Rafferty’s Rules — leads a creative writing workshop at Strule Arts Centre, Omagh, inspired by Rachael Johnson’s current exhibition, Pareidolia.
The workshop will introduce participants to ekphrastic writing: poetry and prose created in response to visual art. After exploring examples from writers including W. H. Auden and Carol Ann Duffy, participants will spend time with the exhibition before developing their own creative responses with guidance from Frank.
No writing experience needed — just curiosity.
Creative Writing Workshop
23 May 2026
2–4pm
Strule Arts Centre, Omagh
Book your place via Strule Arts Centre.
#CreativeWriting #PoetryWorkshop #EkphrasticWriting #Omagh #StruleArtsCentre #RaffertysRules #FrankRafferty #WritingWorkshop #PoetryCommunity
WORDPLAY: Mark Wheeller on adapting *Game Over* for touring
In the latest Salamander Street author blog, Mark Wheeller reflects on the new touring edition of GAME OVER — the powerful verbatim play based on the true story of Breck Bednar.
Mark discusses the challenge of reshaping the play for a smaller cast, why true-life theatre can be so compelling for young performers, and how directors and drama teachers can approach the work with care, clarity and theatrical imagination.
As Mark says, the play is not only about online safety: it is also “a demanding piece of theatre” — one that asks students to think deeply about testimony, responsibility, ensemble work and staging.
Read the full Q&A in WORDPLAY, link in profile.
#GameOver #MarkWheeller #WORDPLAY #DramaTeachers #SchoolDrama #YouthTheatre #VerbatimTheatre #OnlineSafety #Safeguarding #GCSEDrama #ALevelDrama #DramaEducation
Anton Chekhov’s Little Comedies — newly adapted by Richard Nelson — is out now in the Salamander Street Classics series.
Bringing together The Bear, The Proposal, The Wedding, The Harmfulness of Tobacco and Swan Song, this sharp, funny and unexpectedly tender collection reveals Chekhov in miniature: lovers quarrel, weddings unravel, pride gets bruised and no one behaves quite as well as they think they do.
Translated by Richard Nelson, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, and adapted by Nelson to form a single evening, these five short plays offer rich material for actors, directors, students and lovers of classic comedy.
Paperback £9.99
eBook £7.99
Available now from Salamander Street.
#Chekhov #AntonChekhov #ClassicPlays #TheatreBooks #DramaStudents #TheatreStudents #Actors #Directors #PlayTexts #PlaysInTranslation #RussianDrama #ComedyPlays
Join playwright Helen Jeffery at Unity Theatre, Liverpool on 27 May for the launch of Buckled, published by Salamander Street, as part of WoWFEST26.
A darkly funny and compassionate play about addiction, denial and recovery, Buckled is a stark reminder of the consequences of going too far.
The event includes an author discussion and a chance to hear more about the writing of the play.
27 May | 5.30–7.30pm
Unity Theatre, Liverpool
Tickets free
#Buckled #HelenJeffery #WoWFEST26 #UnityTheatre #LiverpoolEvents #NewWriting #Playwriting #TheatreBooks #ContemporaryDrama #recovery @wow_fest
I Joke Too Much – The Theatre Director’s Tale by Michael Rudman is now republished by Wordville, with a new foreword by Simon Callow.
From provincial playhouses to the National Theatre, Broadway and the West End, Rudman’s memoir takes readers behind the scenes of a remarkable life in theatre — full of brilliance, chaos, panic, sharp comedy and the occasional catastrophic audition.
A funny, frank and unexpectedly tender portrait of an artist at work, this is a memoir for anyone who loves theatre, rehearsal rooms, backstage stories, great actors, bad auditions and the strange alchemy of making a production work.
The stories behind some of the theatre's greatest productions.
#MichaelRudman #IJokeTooMuch #TheatreBooks #TheatreMemoir #SimonCallow #Wordville #TheatreHistory #BritishTheatre #NationalTheatre #WestEnd #Broadway #BooksForTheatreLovers
Coming soon from Salamander Street: POPPIES by Jim Spencer Broadbent & Johnjoe Irwin.
Jim is English. Johnjoe is Irish. They’re best friends. They live together, drink tea together, take the piss out of each other — and then Jim says he wants to wear a poppy.
What begins as a conversation between two mates quickly spirals into a sharp, funny and increasingly surreal exploration of friendship, masculinity, Britishness, Irishness, memory, colonialism and the emotional weight carried by a small paper flower.
A fierce, fast-moving two-hander with wit, theatricality and heart.
Cast: 2 | Duration: 75 minutes
Available soon from Salamander Street.
#Poppies #NewPlay #TwoHander #SmallCastPlay #ContemporaryTheatre #PoliticalTheatre #FringeTheatre #DramaStudents #TheatreMakers
Possum Trot by Kathy Rucker
A character-rich comedy drama set in a storm-battered Nebraska diner, where family tensions, rural decline and one extremely unexpected cow collide.
With a cast of 5 and strong roles across generations, Possum Trot offers theatre companies, drama students and directors a sharp, funny and heartfelt ensemble piece about community, change, belonging and what happens when the place you call home begins to disappear.
Available from Salamander Street.
#PossumTrot #KathyRucker #NewWriting #ContemporaryDrama #TheatreCompanies #DramaStudents #DramaTeachers #SmallCastPlay #EnsemblePlay #ComedyDrama #PlaysForPerformance #TheatrePublishing
Published today: Game Over – Touring Edition by Mark Wheeller.
This powerful adaptation of Mark Wheeller’s acclaimed play has been created for schools, youth theatres, touring companies and one-act festivals, with a cast of 6 and a running time of 50 minutes.
Based on the true story of Breck Bednar, who was groomed online and murdered by someone he believed was a friend, Game Over is a vital drama about coercion, trust, manipulation and the hidden dangers of online relationships.
A compelling choice for drama departments, safeguarding conversations and educational touring.
Available now from Salamander Street or any bookseller.
#GameOver #MarkWheeller #SchoolDrama #DramaTeachers #YouthTheatre #PlaysForSchools #OnlineSafety #Safeguarding #TheatreEducation #SmallCastPlay #OneActPlay #TouringTheatre #NewPlay #DramaEducation
Still under wraps — but not for long.
Queer Plays Volume One: An Anthology of Scottish LGBTQ+ Drama is coming soon from Salamander Street, and is now available to pre-order.
This landmark new collection brings together eight plays exploring queer lives, identities, histories and experiences in Scotland — spanning 50 years of Scottish theatre.
Featuring work by John Binnie, Ian Brown, Jo Clifford, Christopher Deans, Hannah McGregor, Kathy McKean, Laila Noble and Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh, the anthology celebrates the range, complexity and theatrical force of writing about the queer experience on Scottish stages.
Pre-order now from Salamander Street.
#QueerPlays #ScottishTheatre #LGBTQDrama #QueerTheatre #DramaBooks #PlayAnthology #ContemporaryDrama #TheatrePublishing #SalamanderStreet
