A humane, funny and ultimately haunting play that explores masculinity, identity and what it means to be English.

Over the course of a single day, two men share their solitude and unfold their secrets. They disagree with each other about women, about lust and about guilt. They question the power of magic, of redemption and the price of freedom, each seeing himself more clearly through the eyes of the other.

Robert Holman's play Jonah and Otto premiered in 2008 at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. This edition was published alongside its London premiere at the Park Theatre in 2014.

About the Author
Robert Holman (1952-2021) was a British playwright whose work has been produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court Theatre, as well as in the West End and elsewhere. He is celebrated for the passionate humanity and quiet intensity of his plays, especially for his triptych of short plays, Making Noise Quietly, which was first seen at the Bush Theatre, London, in 1986, and has since been revived and adapted as a film (2019). His plays include: Mud (Royal Court Theatre, 1974); German Skerries (Bush Theatre, 1977, and revived at the Orange Tree Theatre, 2016); Rooting (Traverse Theatre, 1979); Other Worlds (Royal Court Theatre, 1980); Today (Royal Shakespeare Company, 1984); The Overgrown Path (Royal Court Theatre, 1985); Making Noise Quietly (Bush Theatre, 1987, and revived at the Donmar Warehouse, 2012); Across Oka (Royal Shakespeare Company, 1988); Rafts and Dreams (Royal Court Theatre, 1990); Bad Weather (Royal Shakespeare Company, 1998); Holes in the Skin (Chichester Festival Theatre, 2003); Jonah and Otto (Royal Exchange Theatre, 2008, and revived at the Park Theatre, 2014); A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky, co-written with David Eldridge and Simon Stephens (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, 2010); A Breakfast of Eels (Print Room at the Coronet, 2015); and The Lodger (Coronet Theatre, London, 2021). He also wrote a novel, The Amish Landscape, published in 1992.

Reviews

'The writing is crystalline but tender, meaty as well as stark... poetic, vivid yet often enigmatic language... hypnotic and never less than compelling'

* Time Out *

'Extraordinary... achingly beautiful... a recklessly courageous play about two men struggling to find the courage to live, love and to be the best possible version of themselves'

* Guardian *

'[Has] a quiet power... Robert Holman's plays rumble and reverberate in the mind long afterwards'

* The Times *

'Astonishing... Brimming with emotional wonder, Jonah and Otto is an intricately layered creation that hums hypnotically'

* Independent *



Book Information
ISBN 9781848424586
Author Robert Holman
Format Paperback
Page Count 90
Imprint Nick Hern Books
Publisher Nick Hern Books