A hard-hitting play about the collapse of idealism in contemporary politics.

The founder members of a radical think-tank meet to toast their success - fifteen years of second-guessing the next big idea; fifteen years of shaping politics on the left; fifteen years of thinking the unthinkable. But there's a spectre at the feast, and a scandal is about to break that will ruin more than just the party.

Steve Waters' play The Unthinkable was first staged at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield, in 2004.

About the Author
Steve Waters is a playwright whose plays include: The Last King of Scotland, adapted from the novel by Giles Foden (Sheffield Theatres, 2019); Limehouse (Donmar Warehouse, 2017); Temple (Donmar Warehouse, 2015); Why Can't We Live Together? (Menagerie Theatre/Soho/Theatre503, 2013); Europa, as co-author (Birmingham Repertory Theatre/Dresden State Theatre/Teatr Polski Bydgoszcz/Zagreb Youth Theatre, 2013); Ignorance/Jahiliyyah (Hampstead Downstairs, 2012); Little Platoons (Bush Theatre, 2011); The Contingency Plan (Bush Theatre, 2009; revived in a new version at Sheffield Theatres, 2022); Fast Labour (Hampstead, in association with West Yorkshire Playhouse, 2008); Out of Your Knowledge (Menagerie Theatre/ Pleasance, Edinburgh/East Anglian tour, 2006-8); World Music (Sheffield Crucible, 2003, and subsequent transfer to the Donmar Warehouse, 2004); The Unthinkable (Sheffield Crucible, 2004); After the Gods (Hampstead Theatre, 2002); and English Journeys (Hampstead Theatre, 1998). His writing for television and radio includes Safe House (BBC4), The Air Gap, The Moderniser (BBC Radio 4), Scribblers and Bretton Woods (BBC Radio 3). He ran the MPhil in Playwriting at Birmingham University between 2006 and 2011, and is now Professor of Scriptwriting at the University of East Anglia, where he convenes the MA in Creative Writing: Scriptwriting programme. He is the author of The Secret Life of Plays, published by Nick Hern Books.

Reviews

'Steve Waters has a refreshing willingness to embrace contemporary life... The Unthinkable embraces many big ideas, global and local, philosophical and political, as well as personal'

* Independent *

'Steve Waters' excellent new play is about the death of idealism, the killing of a political dream. It's a fascinating study of the way the Left has been increasingly influenced by the Right without anybody really appreciating what has happened. The story is told in broad strokes, often funny and always hugely theatrical'

* Sheffield Star *



Book Information
ISBN 9781854598264
Author Steve Waters
Format Paperback
Page Count 96
Imprint Nick Hern Books
Publisher Nick Hern Books
Weight(grams) 160g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 130mm * 8mm