Young Blood: Five Plays for Young Performers : The Girl Who Fell Through a Hole in Her Jumber,the Search for Odysseus, Darker th

A highly popular collection much used by teachers and youth theatre practitioners. Includes plays such as: ’The Girl who fell through a hole in her jumper’ by Naomi Wallace and Bruce Mcleod. ’The Search for Odysseus’ by Charles Way. ’Darker The Berry’ by J.B.Rose. ’Geraniums’ by Sheila Yeger. ’Out of their Heads’ by Marcus Romer.

Naomi Wallace was born in Kentucky, and presently lives in North Yorkshire, England. Her plays include Things of Dry Hours, One Flea Spare, The Trestle of Pope Lick Creek, In the Heart of America, Slaughter City, The War Boys, The Inland Sea and Birdy (an adaptation for the stage of William Wharton’s novel). Wallace’s work has been produced internationally and has been awarded the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Fellowship of Southern Writers Drama Award, the Kesserling Prize, the Mobil Prize, an NEA grant, a Kentucky Arts Council Grant, a Kentucky Foundation for Women grant, and an Obie Award for best play. Wallace is also a recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, the grant popularly known as the genius award. Her award-winning film, Lawn Dogs, was produced by Duncan Kenworthy. A film of The War Boys (adapted from her play of the same name, with Bruce Mcleod) is currently in production. Other plays published by Aurora Metro: In the Fields of Aceldama (in the anthology Best of the Fest).

Charles Way has written over 40 plays, many of them for children and young people. He was commissioned by the National Theatre to write Alice In The News, which children all over Britain have performed. He has also written many plays for radio, and a TV poem for BBC 2, No Borders, set in the Welsh borders, where he lives and has spent most of his creative life.

J.B. Rose started her career in 1983 as a vocalist and actress. Her strong interests in working with young people, moved on to teaching drama and singing, as well as directing and producing plays for various youth groups, theatres and schools. In 1994, she was commissioned to write Darker the Berry for Second Wave. Her writing soon progressed to television, with the pilot sitcom Striking Out for Chrysalis TV (95) and episodes of Brothers and Sisters (UK’s first black soap drama) for the BBC. In the summer of 1997, J.B. once again took on the role of director, where It’s all about Us was performed at the Brixton Shaw. Throughout her career, she never strayed too far from her first love - singing. Having completed a vocal teaching course at London Music College, she continues coaching singers and released her debut album in 1998.

Sheila Yeger has written extensively for the theatre, radio and television. She is a published poet and the author of The Sound of One Hand Clapping (Amber Lane Press.) Theatre includes Self Portrait (Amber Lane Press), Variations (Methuen) and two community plays: The Ballad of Tilly Hake and A Day by the Sea.

Radio includes Heart of England and Yellow Ochre. She is the mother of Ben and Sam and the grandmother of Naomi Starr and lives near Bristol with her partner Roger Stennett. There she teaches meditation, embroiders, practises T’ai chi ... and grows geraniums.

Marcus Romer born in Blackburn, following his degree from Leeds University he has worked as an actor, director and writer for a variety of companies.
He is currently the artistic director of Pilot Theatre in the U.K., and his plays Taken Without Consent and Out of Their Heads have been translated and performed in Europe and the United States. His award-winning production of Lord of the Flies toured extensively (1998-2002) was nominated for a TMA award and won the Manchester Evening News award for best touring production. His productions of Road and Rumble Fish toured extensively to great critical acclaim. Also recently a new adaptation of Bloodtide by Melvin Burgess and a new Internet theatre project.
Romer lives and works in York, England, with Susie Hargreaves and their two children, Christy and Millie.