Christopher Shinn

""Mr. Shinn is among the most provocative and probing of American playwrights today."-The New York Times"Chris Shinn explores politics and ethics without moralizing and finds justice and beauty in intimate life, keenly observed and rendered scrupulously, unapologetically, fearlessly. I admire his work enormously."-Tony KushnerWhen a campus tragedy makes national headlines, Gabe, a senior who runs the Queer Students Group, discovers that events surrounding the tragedy aren't as straightforward as they seem. A Pulitzer Prize finalist's searing play about what happens when a tragedy sparks a movement - and the truth gets lost along the way. World Premiere at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in winter 2013.Christopher Shinn's works include Where Do We Live, Four, Other People, What Didn't Happen, On the Mountain, and The Coming World. He has received the Obie Award for playwriting and a Guggenheim Fellowship in Playwriting, and has also been shortlisted for the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play and nominated for an Olivier Award for Most Promising Playwright. "--

Teddy Ferrara

“Its brilliance lies in the way Shinn marries ideological debate to psychological complexity, shedding light, laser-bright and precise, on the way in which political discourse informs and shapes individual experience.” The Times Election night in the U.S. and things are looking rosy for the Democratic Party as the likely President-elect, his wife, advisors, and twenty-year-old son John Jnr prepare for victory. When controversial photos of John Jnr begin gathering momentum on the internet, his father's advisors are forced into damage limitation leaving father and son to try and reach an agreement. Christopher Shinn's potent play examines religion, freedom of expression and personal responsibility. It premiered at London's Royal Court Theatre in September 2008. This new Modern Classics edition features an introduction by Dominic Cooke.

Now or Later

THE STORY: Ed, struggling to make ends meet, loses ten thousand dollars and calls on his ex-girlfriend, Dora, for help. On a New England beach at night, he explains his situation to her and tries to seduce her back into his life. After a terrible t

The Coming World

THE STORY: In the summer of 2001 in New York City, two young men from the same apartment building find their lives intersecting, as each struggles to make sense of a changing world.

Where Do We Live

Go where there's violence. Silicon Valley. The future. A rocket launches. Luke is an aerospace billionaire who can talk to anyone. But God is talking to him. He sets out to change the world. Only violence stands in his way. Christopher Shinn's gripping play received its world premiere at the Almeida Theatre on 12 August 2017 in a production directed by Ian Rickson and featuring Ben Whishaw as Luke.

Against

THE STORY: When his lover, literary adversary and a sympathetic colleague gather at Dave Ardith's upstate retreat for a midsummer barbecue, the acclaimed author is forced to confront his demons--the novel he is loath to finish and the life he is loa

What Didn't Happen

Lucy Prebble

Inua Ellams

Tanika Gupta

Vinay Patel

Philip Ridley

Simon Stephens

Tim Crouch

Alistair McDowall

Zoe Cooper

Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig

Chris Thorpe

Hannah Khalil

Edward Bond

James Graham

Sudha Bhuchar

Laura Wade

Mojisola Adebayo

Anne Washburn

Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti

Morgan Lloyd Malcolm

Theatre has a complex history of responding to crises, long before they happen. Through stage plays, contemporary challenges can be presented, explored and even foreshadowed in ways that help audiences understand the world around them. Since the theatre of the Greeks, audiences have turned to live theatre in order to find answers in uncertain political, social and economic times, and through this unique collection questions about This anthology brings together a collection of 20 scenes from 20 playwrights that each respond to the world in crisis. Twenty of the world's most prolific playwrights were asked to select one scene from across their published work that speaks to the current world situation in 2020. As COVID-19 continues to challenge every aspect of global life, contemporary theatre has long predicted a world on the edge. Through these 20 scenes from plays spanning from 1980 to 2020, we see how theatre and art has the capacity to respond, comment on and grapple with global challenges that in turn speak to the current time in which we are living. Each scene, chosen by the writer, is prefaced by an interview in which they discuss their process, their reason for selection and how their work reflects both the past and the present. From the political plays of Lucy Prebble and James Graham to the polemics of Philip Ridley and Tim Crouch. From bold works by Inua Ellams, Morgan Lloyd Malcom and Tanika Gupta to the social relevance of Hannah Khalil, Zoe Cooper and Simon Stephens this anthology looks at theatre in the present and asks the question: “how can theatre respond to a world in crisis?” The collection is prefaced by an introduction from Edward Bond, one of contemporary theatre's most prolific dramatists.

20 Scenes for the Stage in Troubled Times

Theatre in Times of Crisis

You lie there in the dark and the thoughts won't stop – you think of everything you could have done better... A meticulous and respected stationmaster struggles to overcome his guilt when he finds himself suddenly culpable for a violent train crash that results in eighteen deaths. As the community come together to grieve, they succumb to a mob mentality that threatens to ostracize anyone who challenges the collective definition of morality and truth. An intriguing hybrid of theatrical genres, Ödön von Horváth's 1937 play is part moral fable, part socio-political commentary and part noir-ish thriller. Adapted by Obie Award-winner and Pulitzer Prize nominee Christopher Shinn, this thrilling new take on a classic play asks contemporary questions that resonate in our current political climate. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at New York's Park Armory in December 2019.

Judgment Day

THE STORY: Stephen, a struggling playwright and website movie critic, invites his ex-boyfriend, Mark, to spend Christmas with him and his roommate, Petra, a poet and stripper. Mark, who's recently completed making an independent film and is fresh o

Christopher Shinn

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