Double Feature: One (NHB Modern Plays)

Double Feature brings together – in two volumes of paired short plays – four of the most exciting new voices in UK theatre, in their first commissions for the National Theatre.

This volume contains:

– Edgar & Annabel by Sam Holcroft

– The Swan by D C Moore In Edgar & Annabel a young couple prepare dinner – but something isn't right. In a city not so different from our own capital, a group of freedom fighters attempts to stand up to an Orwellian establishment in increasingly perilous circumstances. The story that unfolds brings into question relationships, identities and the nature of reality itself'

The Swan is an examination of the ties that hold us together in a fractured society.

In a decaying pub in South London, preparations are being made for a wake. With only an hour before their guests arrive, a family begin to settle their accounts. The ghosts of lives lived and opportunities missed are laid to rest as new and ancient betrayals are confronted and forgiven.

The plays premiered in a specially converted space at the National Theatre in July 2011. They were performed alongside There is a War by Tom Basden and Nightwatchman by Prasanna Puwanarajah, published in the companion volume Double Feature: Two.

'startlingly imaginative… Clever, funny and disturbing' – Evening Standard

'Moore is one of the best thirty-something playwrights around, an expert analyst of half-truths and human weakness' – Evening Standard