Red Ellen (NHB Modern Plays)

A powerful biographical drama of political passion and personal struggle. A world premiere.

Essential for audiences interested in biographical theatre.

About the Ebook

Forever on the right side of history, but on the wrong side of life, Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson is caught between revolutionary and parliamentary politics as she fights for a better world. Battling to save Jewish refugees in Nazi Germany; campaigning for Britain to aid the fight against Franco's Fascists in Spain; leading two hundred workers in the Jarrow Crusade against unemployment and poverty... she pursues each cause with a passionate, reckless conviction. And yet – despite a life spent running into the likes of Albert Einstein and Ernest Hemingway, serving in Churchill's cabinet, having affairs with communist spies and government ministers – she still finds herself, somehow, on the outside looking in. Caroline Bird's play Red Ellen is the remarkable true story of an inspiring and brilliant woman. It was first produced by Northern Stage, Nottingham Playhouse and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in 2022.

Why You'll Love This Ebook

• Compelling portrait of political commitment.
• Exploration of activism and sacrifice.
• Published by Nick Hern Books, leading contemporary theatre publisher.
• Theatre that illuminates lives of conviction.

Reviews

An inspiring and remarkable new play... deeply compelling, often humorous and very moving... It will blow you away' WhatsOnStage

'Not just a tribute to a pioneering woman, independent and sexually liberated, but also an analysis of the left's fraught struggle for equality. Red Ellen crackles with modern day resonances' Guardian

'Often moving and not afraid to tackle big subjects, with humour and playfulness' The Stage

'You'd go a long way to beat Caroline Bird's new play about the legendary North East politician and heroine of the Jarrow March, Ellen Wilkinson... It brings to life the flesh and blood of the woman, her strengths and foibles, her personal triumphs and disasters' British Theatre Guide

'A three-dimensional portrait that is as believable as it is compelling... Funny, fiery and compassionate' Reviews Hub

About the Author

Caroline Bird is an award-winning poet and playwright. She won The Forward Prize for best poetry collection in 2020, and was shortlisted for the Costa Prize 2020, the TS Eliot Prize 2017, the Ted Hughes Award 2017, and the Dylan Thomas Prize twice in 2008 and 2010. She was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2014. She was the youngest ever member of the Royal Court Young Writer's Programme, tutored by Simon Stephens. Her plays include: Red Ellen (Northern Stage, Nottingham Playhouse and Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, 2022); The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Northern Stage, 2015); Chamber Piece (Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, as part of the Secret Theatre season, 2013); and The Trojan Women (Gate Theatre, 2012). Her Beano-inspired musical, The Trial of Dennis the Menace, was performed in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre in 2012. She was short-listed for Most Promising New Playwright at the 2013 Off-West-End Awards.

Publication Details

Publisher: Nick Hern Books

Publication Date: 08 April 2022

Print Length: 112 pages (Ebook edition)

ISBN (Ebook): 9781788505260

Format: Ebook

Language: English

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