I saw this play for the first time five years ago. I distinctly remember sitting next to my English teacher, Mr Thomas. I went straight to a book shop after the play, but the book shop was shut. I went back the next day and bought the play. Truly magnificent.

Faust is an epic poem penned by the incomparable Goethe. He, the German Shakespeare, writes brilliantly of the universal scheme including God, Satan, and all manner of other creatures. At the center, however, is the good Dr. Faust. Faust is the subject of a bet between God and Mephistopheles. The story is thus set and Faust and Mephistopheles take to the world on a journey which leads the doctor into lewd affairs, titanic conflicts, and, eventually, introspection and self-discovery. It is a tale which any can relate to and through Faust's journey the reader discovers much about himself. This is an excellent poem rivalling anything written by Shakespeare or even Dante.

Although littered with 80's references which may trip up the reader at first, Pravda is the tale of an honest journalist who see's his profession debased through the growth of tabloids, the sensational shocking headlines and the British public's lust for sex, royalty and nationalism. Into this arena walks La Roux, cunning, devious and calculating, a very thinly veiled Murdoch his personality turns everyone towards him, controlling the worlds of royalty, sports, politics and at the end the world of journalism, forcing even the "hero" of the book to give up his honest journalistic instincts and start calling for smut.

This dramatic redition of that "Haunted Summer" when Lord Byron and Percy Shelly met on the shores of Lake Geneva is well researched and deftly crafted. The play is well paced and perfect for a small company or college workshop. The dialogue carries the story alog without the distractions of Edwardian slang allowing the actors to truely revel in their roles. Some creativity must be excersised in set design and lighting but the compactness of the action will hold the audience's focus. I have played many roles on stage and Byron in "Bloody Poetry" was, by far, the most enjoyable.

This is a collection of three of Howard Brenton's early works. He is a playwright who deals in simplicity, and with that simplicity comes a very confronting style. 'Christie in Love' deals with an imagined police interview with John Christie, the infamous serial killer. 'Heads' is a play about a girl who loves two men for very different reasons, and her extreme solution to her problem. 'The Education of Skinny Spew' is a play about the early life of a very naughty boy beginning with his birth (literally!). Definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but, wow, if you like your theatre as dark as a Kafka novel with a sense of humour like South Park, order this book!!