Most Popular Books by Tanya Ronder

Six generations, nine performers, thirty characters and one very special piece of furniture. A bold, epic and intimate new play.

A raucous family drama about the cost of living the life of our dreams. Gordon and Serena have worked hard to get where they are. He''s on the verge of a massive promotion at an energy giant. She''s preparing for a move into the house of their dreams. The family appear to be cooking on gas. But behind their perfect front door, light bulbs are blowing, the drains keep blocking, and a phone inexplicably refuses to charge. Not to mention that daughter Rachel''s adored toy polar bear is nowhere to be found. F*ck the Polar Bears premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in September 2015.

A rip-roaring new version of a Spanish play from the age of Shakespeare.

"Sicily, summer 1916. The women gather to harvest old Simone''s almond crop. He''s the richest landowner in the district but he has no heir. Local lad Liola, untroubled by convention, has fathered three boys, each with a different mother. When another of the girls falls pregnant, Simone is persuaded he might recognize the baby as his own, much to his young wife, Mita''s, despair. But he underestimates the power of Liola, who has his own unusual sense of what''s right and wrong - and a way with women to make your hair curl."--Back cover.

A remolding of Macbeth into a tragic farce which takes human folly to wild extremes.

Filumena is Eduardo de Filippo''s best-known work and arguably his finest comedy, drenched in Neapolitan atmosphere and full of entanglements at once romantic and cynical. Set in the balmy heat of late 1940s Naples, Filumena Marturano lies on her deathbed waiting to marry Domenico Soriano, the man who has kept her as his mistress for twenty-five years. But no sooner has the priest completed the ceremony, than Filumena makes a miraculous recovery. As he reels in shock, Domenico discovers that this brilliant, iron-willed woman has a few more surprises for him. With masterful ambiguity, de Filippo depicts his characters with subtlety and balance: is Filumena a simple, illiterate woman who wants to create respectability for her children, or a ferine, opportunistic prostitute? And will Domenico, the selfish aged gigolo, learn to repent and accept his responsibility to his past and his family? Eduardo de Filippo was one of Italy''s leading popular dramatists, a fearless social critic, a supreme man of the theatre, and a humane and compassionate writer. Exploring themes of motherhood, age and respectability, Filumena portrays de Filippo''s trademark moral optimism and affection for his characters which underscores the drama''s humour. This new translation by Tanya Ronder is contemporary, fluent and accessible, and tackles de Filippo''s comedy with deftness and verve.

An intense domestic drama of global consequence - for India then and for our world now. 1659, Mughal India. The imperial court, a place of opulence and excess; music, drugs, eunuchs and harems. Two brothers, whose mother''s death inspired the Taj Mahal, are heirs to this Muslim empire. Now they fight ferociously for succession. Dara, the crown prince, has the love of the people and of his emperor father - but younger brother Aurangzeb holds a different vision for India''s future. Islam inspires poetry in Dara, puritanical rigour in Aurangzeb. Can Jahanara, their beloved sister, assuage Aurangzeb''s resolve to seize the Peacock Throne and purge the empire?

Gordon has worked hard to get where he is. He''s on the verge of a massive promotion at one of the ''big six'' energy companies. His wife Serena has worked hard too, and now dreams of a bigger house, a slimmer body, a happier life. The family appear to be cooking on gas. But behind their perfect front door, light bulbs are blowing, the drains keep blocking, and a phone inexplicably refuses to charge. Not to mention that daughter Rachel''s adored toy polar bear is nowhere to be found. As Gordon chases the spectres behind these mysterious events, he spirals out of control and the family are forced to ask whether the life they desire is worth its cost.