

performing arts in print
NEW RELEASE
In the midst of war, spending nine weeks directing his play, Conversations in Tusculum, in Kyiv, Ukraine, American playwright and director Richard Nelson kept a diary. Here the mundane, the artistic and the ongoing war entwine in a visceral account of making theatre in a different world at a time and a place where it has come to have a very special meaning.
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A profoundly moving, exceptional, essential story, full of humor, self-questioning, confusions, doubts, fears, heartbreak, and joy, set in the middle of a beautiful, magical city under attack.

Published by Wordville on 15th October 2024
“In this deeply stirring chronicle of making theater in a time of war, Richard Nelson deploys the same sensibility that shapes his plays, moving from curiosity to empathy to invaluable insight. Drama, for Nelson, has always been about creating an endlessly evolving conversation – on the stage, yes, but also with the time and place and people it reflects. Here, that dialogue echoes with a thrilling new urgency. Nelson's Kyiv diaries radiate hope for the endurance and necessity of theater.” - Ben Brantley
"I have never read a theatrical diary before like Richard Nelson's. In describing the process of staging his play, Conversations in Tusculum, in Kyiv, Mr Nelson gives a deeply moving picture of the grit, determination and heroism required to create theatre in a time of war:” - Michael Billington
Wordville is an award-winning independent publisher with offices in London and Barcelona. We publish exceptional written works
about the performing arts.
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Upcoming Events

On Stage


Tending by El Blackwood
Tending is an award-winning play that shines a light on the day-to-day lives of NHS nurses. Following a critically-acclaimed run at Edinburgh Fringe 2024, it is now returning for a national tour.
Thursday 1st May - Friday 2nd May
The North Wall Arts Centre
South Parade, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7JN
Little Wimmin by Figs in Wigs
An unorthodox, apocalyptic, cosmically catastrophic adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel.
Thursday 24th April - Friday 25th April
Loading Bay
1 Duke St, Bradford BD1 3QR
Moving Music by Rikki Stein
Join renowned music manager Rikki Stein in conversation with Shain Shapiro about his brilliant memoir "Moving Music"
The Wanstead Tap
352 Winchelsea Road
London E7 0AQ