100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

🎉 Meet Toy Hero - our brand-new toy store, built by the team behind Book Hero

Alistair McDowall Plays 2

X; The Glow; All of It; Northleigh 1940; Zero For the Young Dudes
Brief Description
ALISTAIR MCDOWALL uses language with virtuosity. He folds it, unfolds it, dirties it, mishandles it, and in doing so, he celebrates it. It is as a poet that he uses writing to honour its promises: to excite the imagination, to stimulate play, to provoke staging and... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$4399
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

The second collection of plays from one of Britain's most important playwrights, featuring plays on the theme of violence, purpose, perception, and reality.

The second collection of plays from one of Britain's most important playwrights, featuring plays on the theme of violence, purpose, perception, and reality.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

ALISTAIR MCDOWALL uses language with virtuosity. He folds it, unfolds it, dirties it, mishandles it, and in doing so, he celebrates it. It is as a poet that he uses writing to honour its promises: to excite the imagination, to stimulate play, to provoke staging and to elevate the theatre. Le Monde

McDowall’s plays are portals to the extraordinary. Guardian

X: McDowall masterfully plants ideas that grow until they explode into extraordinary shapes. Filthy humour breaks down into a cracked algorithm of letters and loss … a play that will gnaw away at you. The Stage

The Glow: A mind-bending, ambitious play, which attempts impossible things, demonstrating the power of theatre to bridge the gap between imagination and reality. Exeunt

all of it: Genius...an epic of inner life...McDowall brilliantly captures how febrile consciousness scribbles around our spoken half-truths. Guardian

Northleigh, 1940: Quietly devastating...McDowall is extraordinary at channelling his disturbing, poetic vision of the characters’ hidden worlds. The Times

Zero for the Young Dudes! A play for youth groups commissioned by the National Theatre and performed around the country in 2017.

Series: Contemporary Dramatists

View all
  • Kane: Complete Plays
    When Blasted was first produced at the Royal Court in 1995, it was hailed jointly as a masterpiece and a "disgusting piece of filth" (Daily Mail). Subsequently, that play, and the others that followed, have been produced all over the world. This anthology includes Kane's never-before-published Channel 4 screenplay, Skin.
    Paperback
    $5199
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Fo Plays: 1
    Fo Plays: 1 by Dario Fo is a captivating collection that showcases the playwright's unique style and poignant commentary on societal issues. Mistero Buffo, or The Comic Mysteries, is based on research into mediaeval mystery plays. It offers a rich exploration of traditional narratives, revealing their enduring relevance. The Accidental Death of an Anarchist tackles the controversial incident involving the...
    Paperback
    $4999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • McDonagh Plays: 1
    Martin McDonagh's plays have been produced in Galway, Dublin, London, and New York. They have created excitement and have won numerous awards. In individual editions, the plays have been among Methuen's most popular sellers. Martin McDonagh's The Leenane Trilogy is hailed as "one of the great events of the contemporary Irish theatre" (Irish Times). This volume contains: The Beauty Queen...
    Paperback
    $5199
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Alistair McDowall Plays 2
    ALISTAIR MCDOWALL uses language with virtuosity. He folds it, unfolds it, dirties it, mishandles it, and in doing so, he celebrates it. It is as a poet that he uses writing to honour its promises: to excite the imagination, to stimulate play, to provoke staging and to elevate the theatre. Le Monde McDowall’s plays are portals to the extraordinary. Guardian...
    Paperback
    $4399
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Lucy Prebble Plays 1
    Lucy Prebble is one of Britain's foremost writers for the stage and screen. This eagerly anticipated play collection brings together her landmark plays for the first time, showcasing her work from 2003 to 2019. Beginning with her George Devine Award-winning play The Sugar Syndrome, it continues through her explosive look at the biggest financial scandal in history, concluding with her...
    Paperback
    $4399
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Mamet Plays: 3
    "The finest American playwright of his generation" (Sunday Times) Glen Garry Glen Ross (also made into a film starring Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino) is "his superb play about real estate salesmen in a cut-throat sales competition" (New Society). In Prairie du Chien, a railway carriage speeding through the Wisconsin night is the setting for a violent story of obsessive...
    Paperback
    $4999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Barnes Plays: 1
    A selection of plays by one of the most original and biting comic writers working in Britain (The Times). The Ruling Class is a scorching and savage tragedy, yet its jokes are innumerable... they throw wide open the windows of your mind, they enlarge your field of vision and they blow away the accumulated dust of ages (Sunday Times). Leonardo's...
    Paperback
    $4999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Churchill Plays: 1
    In Traps, a set of characters meet themselves and their pasts to create "plenty of sinewy lines and joyous juxtapositions" (Plays and Players). Vinegar Tom "is set in the world of seventeenth-century witchcraft, but it speaks, through its striking images and its plethora of ironic contradictions, of and to this century" (Tribune). Light Shining in Buckinghamshire is set during the...
    Paperback
    $4999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Churchill Plays: 2
    Churchill Plays: 2 includes four groundbreaking plays by Caryl Churchill, each offering a unique and compelling theatrical experience. Softcops transforms the philosophy of Foucault into a music-hall performance and Victorian freakshow. As noted by the Times Literary Supplement, "theatre and history combine to give such intelligent fun." Top Girls gathers five remarkable and not-so-remarkable women from history for a dinner...
    Paperback
    $4999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • David Ireland Plays 1
    'Playwright David Ireland challenges people to draw lines between what they find funny and what they find outrageous' (Sydney Morning Herald). This first collection of plays by David Ireland brings together three of his most successful hits that have enjoyed numerous productions around the world, alongside two previously unpublished plays: Half a Glass of Water: 'The dialogue is brutal and...
    Paperback
    $4999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Isley Lynn Plays 1
    The first collection of plays from Olivier-nominated playwright Isley Lynn, whose award-winning work uplifts their deeply human characters through stories that are unexpected, radically intimate, and profoundly theatrical. Lean (2013): "It's not just powerful but it's incandescent. There is a profound intensity... that truly keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way through. Sensitively written... Exemplary theatre...
    Paperback
    $9100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Levy Plays: 1
    ____________________ THE FIRST COLLECTION OF PLAYS BY ONE OF BRITAIN'S LEADING WRITERS ____________________ This stunning collection of plays from the talented Deborah Levy includes Pax; Clam; The B File; Pushing the Prince into Denmark; Honey, Baby; and Macbeth: False Memories. '[Levy] does not deal with realism, she does not deal with magic realism, rather she draws out a new territory,...
    Paperback
    $5199
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781350547407

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 18 September 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Methuen Drama

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 34.0mm

Width: 126.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 420g

Pages: 400

About the Author

Alistair McDowall grew up in the North East of England. Plays include: The Glow (Royal Court Theatre 2022); all of it (Royal Court Theatre 2020); Zero for the Young Dudes! (National Theatre Connections 2017); X (Royal Court Theatre 2016); Pomona (RWCMD/Gate 2014; Orange Tree Theatre/Royal Exchange/National Theatre 2014/5); Talk Show (Royal Court Theatre 2013); Brilliant Adventures (Royal Court Young Writers’ Festival 2012; Royal Exchange, Manchester and Live Theatre, Newcastle 2013) and Captain Amazing (Live Theatre, Newcastle and Edinburgh Fringe 2013; UK tour 2014). He is a MacDowell fellow, and a recipient of the Harold Pinter Commission. His work has been translated and produced internationally.

Also by Alistair McDowall

View all
  • Pomona
    I think I’d sleep a lot easier if I knew none of us would wake up tomorrow. Ollie’s sister is missing. Searching Manchester in desperation, she finds all roads lead to Pomona - an abandoned concrete island at the heart of the city. Here at the centre of everything, journeys end and nightmares are born. A sinister and surreal thriller...
    Paperback
    $5800
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

More from Arts & Culture

View all
  • Dylan's Pick
    Bold Types
    A tribute to 32 truly independent bookshops throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, from north of Auckland down to Dunedin, and coast to coast. Jane Ussher's photographs show every bookstore in its unique nature - including behind the counter, smoko rooms, the mess which tells the hardworking story behind the joy of matching books with customers. Jemma Moreira's careful editing has crafted...
    Hardback
    $5999
    Elsewhere:
    $7000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Disney Moana: The Official Cookbook
    New Release
    Disney Moana: The Official Cookbook
    Embark on a culinary adventure with Moana of Motunui with Pacific recipes inspired by Moana and Moana 2! After a long day of sailing to see how far you’ll go or keeping the demigod Maui out of trouble with Te Fiti, catch a break with the delicious dishes in Moana: The Official Cookbook! Featuring more than 50 recipes spanning the...
    Hardback
    $4499
    Elsewhere:
    $5299
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • This Angry Pen of Mine
    This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...
    Hardback
    $7299
    Elsewhere:
    $8999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • They Bloom Because of You
    Bestselling author and Instagram sensation Jessica Urlichs returns with a new collection of beautifully observed poems about the ever-evolving journey of motherhood - the hard, the magic and the fleeting. ‘A raw and honest read that makes you feel seen and understood in a way that will bring you to tears.’ - Hilary Swank ‘A book to keep close and...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3600
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Leaves of Grass
    A collectible new Penguin Classics series offers beautiful, slim, clothbound editions of ten favourite poets. In 1855, Walt Whitman published his first collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. The volume received great praise from leading Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This encouragement led to what would become a lifelong project, as Whitman expanded and rewrote the volume until his death...
    Hardback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Great Writers and the Cats who Owned Them
    Throughout history, cats and writers have bonded together in a magical combination of comfort, companionship and inspiration. The famous authors featured here range from Samuel Johnson, whose cat Hodge dined on oysters, and Edward Lear, whose charismatic cat Foss was missing half his tail, to Margaret Mitchell, L. M. Montgomery and Dorothy L. Sayers, who rescued her kitten Blitz from...
    Hardback
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Beautiful Chaos
    The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller Selected poems from bestselling author and Instagram poet, Jessica Urlichs. 'These words awaken the magic of life by celebrating the ordinary.' - Giovanna Fletcher Motherhood is messy and beautiful, and hard and humbling. We adore our children and sometimes we miss ourselves. Beautiful Chaos is a collection of raw, honest poems about motherhood, capturing everything...
    Paperback
    $2900
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • To the Women - The New Collection of Wise Words Every Woman Needs
    THE COMPLETELY UPDATED COLLECTION WITH OVER 70 BRAND NEW POEMS, FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WILD HOPE AND WORDS TO LIVE BY 'Amazing . . . Donna's words speak to my heart' Davina McCall To the Women is a celebration of the beauty, strength, and joy of being a woman. A love letter to our deep capacity...
    Hardback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Odyssey
    Composed at the rosy-fingered dawn of world literature almost three millennia ago, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty and power; about marriage and family; about travellers, hospitality, and the yearning for home. This fresh, authoritative translation captures the beauty of this ancient poem as well as the drama of its narrative....
    By Homer
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3599
    Backorder
    Ships late August
  • Wreck This Journal: Now in Colour
    The creative journey continues with Wreck This Journal: Now in Colour by Keri Smith, the latest and most vibrant edition of the groundbreaking series that redefined journaling. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, this edition brings the playful destructiveness of the original to life in dazzling full colour, adding a dynamic new dimension to the beloved prompts. Whether you're a seasoned Wreck-er,...
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Did I Ever Tell You This?
    In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion. By his own account, his...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    Backorder
    Ships 1 Week
  • A Thousand Feasts
    THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER From award-winning writer Nigel Slater, comes a new and exquisitely written collection of notes, memoir, stories and small moments of joy. 'Nigel Slater’s prose is the rarest delicacy of all: exquisite yet effortless, filled with heart, tenderness, yearning and humour' ELIZABETH DAY For years, Nigel Slater has kept notebooks of curiosities and wonderings, penned...
    Paperback
    $2999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.