Arlington (NHB Modern Plays)

A strange, tender love story from the author of Disco Pigs and The Walworth Farce.

In a waiting room, inside a tower, Isla waits for her number to be called. A young woman finally understands her fate. And a young man faces a stark decision.

In the midst of a bleak and terrifying world, Arlington is a compelling ode to the human spirit and its power to endure. It premiered at Galway International Arts Festival in 2016 in a production by the festival and Landmark Productions, directed by the playwright.

Arlington is published in this edition alongside three short theatre installations - Kitchen, A Girl's Bedroom and Room 303 - performed at Galway International Arts Festival under the collective title Rooms.

Auteur

Enda Walsh was born in Dublin and now lives in London. His plays include a radical adaptation of A Christmas Carol (Corcadorca, 1994), The Ginger Ale Boy (Corcadorca, 1995), Disco Pigs (Corcadorca, 1996, then Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 1997; winner of the 1997 Stewart Parker Award and the 1997 George Devine Award), Sucking Dublin (Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 1997), Misterman (Corcadorca, 1999; Galway Arts Festival and St Ann's Warehouse, New York, 2011, and National Theatre, 2012), bedbound (The New Theatre, Dublin, 2000, then Traverse Theatre, 2001, and Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 2002), two short plays, How These Desperate Men Talk (Zu rich Schauspielhaus, 2004) and Lynndie's Gotta Gun for Artistas Unidos (Lisbon's National Theatre, 2005), The Small Things (Paines Plough at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London, 2005), Chatroom (National Theatre, 2005), The Walworth Farce (Druid Theatre, Galway, 2006, then Traverse Theatre, 2007, and National Theatre, 2008; winner of Fringe First Award, 2007), The New Electric Ballroom (Kammerspiele, Munich, 2005, then Druid Theatre, Galway, and Traverse Theatre, 2008; winner of Theater Heute's Best Foreign Play, 2005, Fringe First Award, 2008, Best New Play, Irish Times Theatre Awards, 2008), Delirium, an adaptation of Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov (for Theatre O, Abbey Theatre and Barbican, 2008), My Friend Duplicity (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2010), Penelope (Traverse Theatre, 2010, then Hampstead Theatre, 2011; winner of Fringe First Award, 2010), Room 303 (an installation for Galway International Arts Festival, 2014), Ballyturk (Galways International Arts Festival and National Theatre, 2014); The Twits (Royal Court, 2014). Disco Pigs and bedbound have been translated into eighteen languages and have had productions throughout Europe.

His plays for radio include Four Big Days in the Life of Dessie Banks for RTÉ, which won the IPA Radio Drama Award, and The Monotonous Life of Little Miss P for the BBC, which was commended at the Grand Prix, Berlin. His 2008 biopic Hunger told the story of the final days of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands and won awards including the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Heartbeat Award at the Dinard International Film Festival. It was nominated for seven BIFAs (including Best Screenplay), six British Film and Television Awards (including Best Screenplay and Best Independent Film) and BAFTA's Outstanding British Film Award 2009.