This volume contains Ridley's first three plays, which heralded the arrival of a unique and disturbing voice in the world of contemporary drama. They are seminal works in the development of the 'in yer face' theatre that emerged in Britain during the mid-1990s.The three plays here all manifest Ridley's vivid and visionary imagination and the dark beauty of his outlook. They resonate with his trademark themes: East London, storytelling, moments of shocking violence, memories of the past, fantastical monologues, and that strange mix of the barbaric and the beautiful he has made all his own. The Pitchfork Disney was Ridley's first play and is now seen as launching a new generation of playwrights who were unafraid to shock and court controversy. This unsettling, dreamlike piece has surreal undertones and thematically explores fear, dreams and story-telling. The Fastest Clock in the Universe is a multi-award-winning play which caused a sensation when it premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 1992. An edgy and provocative drama, it is now regarded as a contemporary classic. Ghost from a Perfect Place is a scorchingly nasty blend of comedy, spectacle and terror where a monster from the past meets the monsters of the present. The volume contains the definitive version of the plays, plus an extended and updated introduction and three monologues (Bloodshot, Angry and Voosh), published here for the first time.

The Pitchfork Disney heralded the arrival of a unique and disturbing voice in the world of contemporary drama. Manifesting Ridley's vivid and visionary imagination and the dark beauty of his outlook, the play resonates with his trademark themes: East London, storytelling, moments of shocking violence, memories of the past, fantastical monologues, and that strange mix of the barbaric and the beautiful he has made all his own. The Pitchfork Disney was Ridley's first play and is now seen as launching a new generation of playwrights who were unafraid to shock and court controversy. This unsettling, dreamlike piece has surreal undertones and thematically explores fear, dreams and story-telling. First produced in 1991, it has gone on to be recognised as the annunciation of Ridley's dark and seductive world.

I feel this . . . thing inside me. Just here. Next to my heart. It's small. The size of sparrow. I don't know what it looks like. But I know it's got claws because it scratches. And I imagine it to be dark blue - mauve almost - like the veins on my mum's hands. I hear it talking. Its voice is high pitched and screeching. It's talking about all the things we've done. A wickedly comic satire about a young couple offered a way out of the housing crisis, and just how far they're prepared to go for it. Ollie and Jill want to tell you about their dream home. Some of the things they did to get it, you might find shocking. But they want you to know they did it all for their baby . . . A hilarious and outrageous black comedy from internationally acclaimed 'master of modern myth' (Guardian) Philip Ridley. Playful, provocative and viciously sharp, Radiant Vermin is a meditation on how far we will go to satisfy our materialistic greed. The play received its world premiere on 10 March 2015 at Soho Theatre, London.

'That's the way it works in this family. Believe what you wanna believe. Twist this. Ignore the other. That's how we survive.' Steven has always tried to be a good person. He works hard. He looks after his family. But, suddenly, everyone starts accusing him of things. His wife accuses him of being unfaithful. His mother accuses him of being coercive. And his brother, Barry, accuses him of...what exactly? Barry won't say. Or can't. Or perhaps... Steven hasn't done anything at all. Following its critically acclaimed premiere at Soho Theatre in 2007, Philip Ridley's gripping narrative of memory, manipulation, and power – now regarded as a modern classic – returns in a new production by long-time collaborators, Lidless Theatre. This edition was published alongside the production at the Park Theatre, London, in May 2023.

It's Cougar's birthday. He's having a party. And the gift he'd kill for is youth… In a strange room in East London the party preparations are under way. Everything has been planned to the last detail. Surely nothing can go wrong? After all, there's the specially made birthday cake, the specially written cards, the specially chosen guest of honour… and a very, very sharp knife. Philip Ridley's edgy and provocative drama caused a sensation when it premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 1992, winning the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Newcomer to the Stage and the Meyer Whitworth Prize. It is now regarded as a contemporary classic. 'A bit like a ride on a ghost train… you find yourself shuddering with shock and laughing uproariously… horror has rarely been so much fun' Daily Telegraph 'Scorchingly nasty… fingers an age and its icons with terrifying accuracy' Guardian

'Tender Napalm' is a high-impact, high-concept two handed play which explores the landscape that is a relationship between a man and a woman. Explosive, poetic, brutal and ultimately redemptive, the play weaves a compelling theatrical tapestry to re-examine and re-define the language of love.

Challenging new play by the enfant terrible of dark, disturbing drama Elliot is panicking. The party that he and his brother Darren have been planning has been brought forward - to tonight. In a lawless, ravaged city, where memories of the past have been brutally erased, the boys and their team survive by realising their clients' darkest fantasies. But just how far are they prepared to go in trading humanity for information? As the light fades and events spiral out of control it becomes clear that on the success of the evening hangs not just their security, but their existence. The world is at its worst...let the party begin. Mercury Fur is a challenging new work containing some explicit scenes that may cause offence. Published to tie-in with the play's premier at the Drum Theatre, Plymouth and The Chololate Factory, London in February 2005, produced by Paines Plough. "Philip Ridley is a singular writer, a prolific polymath, probably a genius, and the creator of some of the most peculiar, grotesque and compelling British plays (and films) of the last several years" Time Out

Bailey's new neighbourhood was ultra - mega - boring concrete until Scribbleboy covered it with eye - scorching colours. Ziggy, Ma Glamrock, Levi and Tiffany Spangle show Bailey how to create the best shape of all: a circle of friends.

Lieutenant Lou Boldt, the Seattle cop who stars in Ridley Pearson's deservedly popular series, is a sharp and touching figure--perhaps the most believable police officer in current fiction. Early in this ninth book about his public and private life, Lou has to put on a bullet-resistant vest to lead a raid against some dangerous criminals. "The vest was not physically heavy, but its presence was," Pearson tells us. It meant battle; it meant risk. For Boldt, a vest was a symbol of youth. It had been well over a year since he had worn one. Ironically, as he approached the hangar's north door at a light run behind his own four heavily armored ERT personnel, he caught himself worrying about his hands, not his life. He didn't want to smash up his piano hands in some close quarters skirmish. . . . Boldt plays jazz piano one night a week in a local bar, and despite his concern for his hands, he takes every opportunity he can to get away from his desk and into the streets. But money pressures, caused by his wife's recent illness, also make him think about the possibility of a better-paying job in the private sector. Meanwhile, some extremely ruthless people are murdering illegal Chinese immigrant women and leaving their bodies buried in newly dug graves. An ambitious local TV journalist named Stevie McNeal and the young Chinese woman she thinks of as her "Little Sister" risk their lives to investigate the killings, while Boldt and his team round up a most unusual array of suspects. This combination of hard-edged realism and softer sentiment has become Pearson's trademark, and once again it works smoothly. --Dick Adler

'We can't all just be hurtling through nothing towards nowhere...can we?' A young couple are moving into their new home. A soldier is being held hostage. Two boys are searching for monsters. All these things are connected by both family and time but what story can be told when family and time are broken? Set over the course of twelve years, Shivered unpicks the story of two families and then re-weaves it into something new and startling. Seven people, one war, a derelict car plant and mysterious lights in the sky come together in the Essex new-town of Draylingstowe, where the view from green hills once offered hope and prosperity for all. An oblique and startlingly anachronistic piece, the timeframe is an emotional, rather than linear sequence, reflecting the characters' broken memories and shattered lives. Depicting a panorama of people and time, connecting links of friendship, family and encounters eddy around each other in a tantalising, surprising and intelligent way. Shivered is a state of the nation play meets a dreamlike memory play.