Rotterdam

Description

No, Alice, I don't want to become a man, I just want to stop trying to be a woman. It's New Year in Rotterdam, and Alice has finally plucked up the courage to email her parents and tell them she's gay. But before she can hit send, her girlfriend reveals that he has always identified as a man and now wants to start living as one. Now Alice must face a question she never thought she'd ask . . . does this mean she's straight? A bittersweet comedy about gender, sexuality and being a long way from home. Rotterdam received its world premiere at Theatre503, London, in October 2015, before transferring to Trafalgar Studios, London, in May 2016. This volume contains introductory commentary and notes by Stephen Farrier from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London. METHUEN DRAMA STUDENT EDITIONS are expertly annotated texts of a wide range of plays from the modern and classic repertoires. As well as the complete text of the play itself, this volume contains: - an introduction outlining the plays themes, context and performance history - the full text of the play - extensive textual notes - questions for further study.

Jon Brittain is a playwright, comedy writer and director. His play Rotterdam won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre and was nominated for the Evening Standard's Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright. His other plays include the Fringe First Award-winning A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) and the critically acclaimed musical adaptation of David Walliams' children's book Billionaire Boy. He co-wrote and directed the cult hit Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho and its sequel Margaret Thatcher Queen of Game Shows. He has directed all of John Kearns' stand-up shows including the Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning Sight Gags for Perverts and Shtick. He has also directed shows for Tom Allen, Tom Rosenthal and Mat Ewins. Most recently he directed the world premiere of Richard Gadd's Fringe First Award-winning play Baby Reindeer. For television he has worked as a staff writer for Cartoon Network's The Amazing World of Gumball and Netflix's The Crown. Stephen Farrier is Reader in Theatre and Performance, at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, UK. With Alyson Campbell has co-edited Queer Dramaturgies: International Perspectives on Where Performance Leads Queer (2015) as well as a themed edition of RIDE, The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance named the 'Gender and Sexuality Issue'.

(Rotterdam) speaks eloquently about a complex issue while at the same time being properly laugh-out-loud funny * Stage magazine *