Mark O'Rowe Plays: One (NHB Modern Plays)

Five plays from the sensational voice of new writing for Irish theatre. Since winning the George Devine Award for Howie the Rookie in 1999, Mark O'Rowe has electrified audiences with his distinctive dramatic style and dark, dangerous storytelling. In O'Rowe's first play, The Aspidistra Code (1995), Brendan and Sonia, head over heels in debt, are forced to hire their own protection against a volatile loan shark. From Both Hips (1997) sees Paul, a Dublin man shot in the hip during a bungled police raid, embark on a violent journey of revenge. In Howie the Rookie (which also won the 'Rooney Prize for Irish Literature'), brutal events take on mythical significance in a white-knuckle ride through a nightmare Dublin. In Made in China (2001), a dreadful accident sparks a savage tug-of-war between two criminal foot soldiers. And Crestfall (2003) - so dark that all but the tiniest glimmer of light has been extinguished, depicts three women trapped between nightmares and waking. 'A writing force to contend with... outstanding' - Irish Independent'Gripping, grotesque and deliriously good' - Sunday Times