Knives in Hens

by David Harrower, Mark Fisher

Overview

The village has lied. William has lied. It is not because I am undeserving. Not because I am young and they are old. God has given them nothing. I know this now.

Knives in Hens is a brutal fable set in a timeless spartan rural community. First staged at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in June 1995, before transferring to the Bush Theatre, London, in November 1995, the play was playwright David Harrower's first professionally produced work. It has been staged in twenty-five countries around the world and is widely acknowledged as a modern Scottish classic.

A remarkable play about the transformative power of knowledge and an emerging consciousness as the world moves from rural to the urban and industrial.

With an introduction by Mark Fisher.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472574336
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	05/21/2015
Series:	Modern Classics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	64
File size:	219 KB

About the Author

David Harrower is a Scottish playwright, based in Glasgow. His first play, Knives in Hens, was premiered at Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre in 1995. Subsequent plays include Kill the Old Torture Their Young, Presence, Dark Earth, Blackbird, and 365. Harrower has also written adaptations including The Chrysalids, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Ivanov, and Woyzeck. Translations include The Girl on the Sofa, a translation of the Jon Fosse play as well as Schiller's Romantic tragedy Mary Stuart.
David Harrower is a Scottish playwright, based in Glasgow. His first play, Knives in Hens, was premiered at Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre in 1995. Subsequent plays include Kill the Old Torture Their Young, Presence, Dark Earth, Blackbird, and 365. Harrower has also written adaptations including The Chrysalids, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Ivanov, and Woyzeck. Translations include The Girl on the Sofa, a translation of the Jon Fosse play as well as Schiller's Romantic tragedy Mary Stuart.
Mark Fisher is one of Scotland's foremost commentators on the arts. With over 25 years' experience, he is the Scottish theatre critic for The Guardian, a former editor of The List and a freelance contributor to Variety, The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday. He is the author of The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide ("A wonderfully practical but also inspirational book full of good advice" - Lyn Gardner, The Guardian) and the co-editor of Made in Scotland, an anthology of plays published by Methuen Drama.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Play

Editorial Reviews

An outstanding . . . play, David Harrower's Knives in Hens is set in a God-fearing, pre-industrial world and deals, passionately and intelligently with a woman's discovery of a language that corresponds with her feelings . . . A remarkable debut.” —Guardian

“David Harrower's remarkable debut as a professional dramatist creates a haunting, poetic and entirely individual world of its own. I have never seen a play quite like it. . . You leave the theatre in no doubt that you have watched one of the year's most heartening and accomplished debuts. Harrower already seems like a writer built to last.” —Daily Telegraph

From the Publisher

David Harrower's remarkable debut as a professional dramatist creates a haunting, poetic and entirely individual world of its own. I have never seen a play quite like it. . . You leave the theatre in no doubt that you have watched one of the year's most heartening and accomplished debuts. Harrower already seems like a writer built to last.

Daily Telegraph

An outstanding . . . play, David Harrower's Knives in Hens is set in a God-fearing, pre-industrial world and deals, passionately and intelligently with a woman's discovery of a language that corresponds with her feelings . . . A remarkable debut.

Guardian

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