The Astronaut's Chair (NHB Modern Plays)

By Rona Munro

A thrilling play about the race to be the first woman in space.

Renee Coburg is a gritty, glamorous aviator, the fastest, highest, bravest woman in the world. Jo Green is a determined, brilliant and much younger pilot with her eye on all Renee's records. They both want to be the first woman in space but there's only one chair at the top of the rocket.

The Astronaut's Chair is Rona Munro’s second ‘space’ play following Little Eagles, which is about the space race in Russia.

'a beautifully written and sensitively executed docudrama' - Whatsonstage.com

'the play shows the impact global politics and the whims of leaders can have on individual lives. It doesn't shirk from examining how personal rivalries are exacerbated when women have to compete for a single chair at a table where every other seat is occupied by men' - The Guardian

'the dialogue is so elegant, so perfectly crafted and authentic... it's rare to see female power dynamics handled as subtly as they are here' - Exeunt Magazine

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: Jan 26, 2015
• ISBN: 9781780017013

Rona Munro

Rona Munro is a writer who has written extensively for stage, radio, film and television. Her plays include: James V: Katherine (Raw Material and Capital Theatres tour, 2024); Mary (Hampstead Theatre, 2022); James IV: Queen of the Fight (National Theatre of Scotland, 2022); a stage adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (UK tour, 2019); a stage adaptation of Louis de Bernières' novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin (UK tour & West End, 2019); Scuttlers (Royal Exchange, Manchester, 2015); The James Plays trilogy (National Theatre of Scotland, the Edinburgh International Festival and the National Theatre of Great Britain, 2014); Donny's Brain (Hampstead Theatre, 2012); Pandas (Traverse, 2011); Little Eagles (Royal Shakespeare Company, 2011); The Last Witch (Traverse Theatre & Edinburgh International Festival, 2009); Long Time Dead (Paines Plough & Drum Theatre Plymouth, 2006); The Indian Boy (RSC, 2006); Iron (Traverse Theatre, 2002; Royal Court, London, 2003); The Maiden Stone (Hampstead Theatre, 1995); and Bold Girls (7:84 and Hampstead Theatre, 1990). She is the co-founder, with actress Fiona Knowles, of Scotland’s oldest continuously performing, small-scale touring theatre company, The Msfits. Their one-woman shows have toured every year since 1986. Film and television work includes the Ken Loach film Ladybird Ladybird, Aimee and Jaguar and television dramas Rehab (directed by Antonia Bird) and BAFTA-nominated Bumping the Odds for the BBC. She has also written many other single plays for television and contributed to series including Casualty and Dr Who. Most recently, she wrote the screenplay for Oranges and Sunshine, directed by Jim Loach and starring Emily Watson and Hugo Weaving. She has contributed several radio plays to the Stanley Baxter Playhouse series on BBC Radio 4.