STEVEN BERKOFF

This is a collection of three history plays, each displaying the sparkling muscularity of language that marks Berkoff out as one of the foremost wordsmiths in the English language. Set in thirteenth-century England, Ritual in Blood looks at the persecution of the Jews. Messiah begins with the image of Christ on the cross and pits His humanity and transcendent goodness against the evil of those who would kill Him. Finally, Berkoff offers a sharp and accessible adaptation of Sophocless Oedipus tragedy.

How a certain Jewish family mourns a dead patriarch. The term is sitting Shiva (mourning for seven days), when friends and relatives commiserate, usually in the home of the deceased. As children, we always understood this to be sit and shiver, which also seemed most appropriate. While death has claimed the old man and triggered the usual inflated eulogies - how important a man becomes when they die - it has also brought to the surface hidden anxieties and grievances, only exacerbated when a visitor shows up bearing strange news that threatens to tear the family apart. A Jewish black comedy in the Berkoff tradition.Sit and Shiver was first presented at the Odyssey Theater, Los Angeles, in March 2004. The European premiere was held at the New End Theatre, London, in association with Saw Productions, in May 2006.

Written with characteristic Berkoff flair and an understanding of the subtle power and violence of the English language, this second collection of his plays includes Decadence, described by the Guardian as being enthused with Berkoffs violent, imagist, vivid wordplay. The collection also includes Kvetch, Acapulco, Harrys Christmas, Brighton Beach Scumbags, Dahling You Were Marvellous, Dog and Actor, and is introduced by the author.

Steven Berkoff is a phenomenon. Among the artists working in the theatre today he is probably the most theatrical - his special combination of speech, movement and spectacle is uniquely powerful. This first collection of his plays includes East, described by Berkoff as an outburst or revolt against the sloth of my youth and a desire to turn a welter of undirected passion and frustration into a positive form. Also included in this collection are the plays West and Sink the Belgrano!

Hamlet and Ophelia express the infinite variety of their passion in a work which takes the form of an epistolary play in verse. Steven Berkoffs startlingly original drama charts the lovers story beneath the surface of Shakespeares play. With a muscularity of language tempered with tenderness, Berkoffs play is shot through with images of courtly love, sexual desire and intimations of future tragedy. The chill of the ending perfectly offsets the preceding violent heat in what is another unique piece of work from the individual talent that is Steven Berkoff.The Secret Love Lifeof Ophelia was first performed at the Kings Head Theatre, London, on 25 June 2001.

Con las cinco piezas que integran este volumen, Losada continúa la publicación de uno de los dramaturgos británicos más relevantes. ¡Hundan el Belgrano! (1986) es una sátira feroz sobre uno de los episodios mas tragicos de la Guerra de Malvinas. Una escritura sin concesiones pone a la luz los intereses mas espurios que llevaron al gobierno de Margaret Thatcher y a la dictadura militar argentina a embarcarse en un conflicto belico irresponsable e innecesario. La secreta vida amorosa de Ofelia (2001) es un ejercicio audaz y preciosista: escrita en versos de resonancias shakespeareanas, Berkoff imagina aqui el epistolario amoroso entre Hamlet y la joven hija de Polonio. Las tres piezas breves que completan el volumen incursionan en diversas formas de la soledad, el fracaso y la violencia. La Navidad de Harry (1985) propone la parabola de un hombre abrumado por su incapacidad para entablar vinculos afectivos; Perro (1993), la inquietante identificacion de un hombre con un animal entrenado como una maquina de matar; y Actor (1984), las penurias de un interprete sin trabajo.

En ambas obras, campea una ferocidad que está en la superficie de las palabras porque, en la obra de Berkoff, el lenguaje siempre pone en evidencia los conflictos de clase y las ideologías de un mund