Market plays (Paper books)

Six plays of power and persuasion - here is the range and variety of the best in theatre in South Africa - by South Africans for South Africans.

This collection comes from Johannesburg's Market Theatre, a unique meeting place of talents, styles and subjects. For a decade the Market has been the single most exciting, and provocative, venue for experimental drama. This cross-section of its plays celebrates that energy and originality. Included are:

This is for Keeps: an award-winning two-hander about marital violence, workshopped by Vanessa Cooke, Janice Honeyman and Danny Keogh.

Pula: the mime and musical drama by Matsemela Manaka, which shuffles roles to talk of a community with plaintive force and unforgettable spectacle.

Shades of Brown: the long-running confrontation play between a folk psychiatrist and a policeman, tensely rich in dialogue that reveals as much as it would conceal, by Michael Picardie.

Hey, Listen...: three witheringly satirical and compassionate maono-logues on city life, written by Barney Simon, that set the tone for many Company performances.

Appassionata: the experimental recital-play by the ever-inventive Pieter-Dirk Uys, written for a pianist-actress, that takes the front-stage passion backstage.

National Madness: an ensemble piece by James Whyle that talks of young people's problems in South Africa today.

rBy (author): Gray.