Delirium (NHB Modern Plays)

By Enda Walsh

Hilarious, brutal and tragic, Delirium is a radical re-interpretation of The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky's classic and compelling tale of family rivalries. The play is the result of a collaboration between acclaimed company theatre O and award-winning playwright Enda Walsh.

The Karamazovs are a train wreck waiting to happen. A hated father and his sons battle it out over women, money and God. They don't so much live as burn up. Behind them lurks a servant, taking note of it all; and to the side, two beautiful women, clinging onto impossible loves.

This volume includes illustrations by Paddy Molloy.

'a heady brew of lush phrasemaking, puppetry, rock music and whirling physicality that distils Dostoevsky's battle of good and evil into a couple of hours of demented theatrics. Not everyone's cup of tea, to be sure, but it catches how life can be petty, grubby and profound - often all the same time' - Telegraph

'unmissable... as brave, as searingly true and as epic as the original' - Sunday Independent, Ireland

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: May 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781780017464

Enda Walsh

Enda Walsh is a multi-award-winning Irish playwright. He lives in London. His work has been translated into over twenty languages and has been performed internationally since 1998. His recent plays include: Medicine at the 2021 Edinburgh International Festival and Galway International Arts Festival; Arlington at the 2016 Galway International Festival; an adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Twits for the Royal Court (2015); Ballyturk and Room 303 at the 2014 Galway International Arts Festival; Misterman, presented by Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival in Ireland, London and New York (2011–2012); and several plays for Druid Theatre Company, including Penelope, which has been presented in Ireland, America and London, from 2010–2011, The New Electric Ballroom, which played Ireland, Australia, Edinburgh, London, New York and LA from 2008–2009, and The Walworth Farce, which played Ireland, Edinburgh, London and New York, as well as an American and Australian tour, from 2007–2010. He collaborated with David Bowie on the musical Lazarus (New York Theatre Workshop, 2015, and West End, 2016), and won a Tony Award in 2012 for writing the book for the musical Once, seen on Broadway, in the West End and on a US tour. His other plays include Delirium (Theatre O/Barbican), which played Dublin and a British tour in 2008; Chatroom (National Theatre), which played at the National Theatre and on tour in Britain and Asia (2006–2007); and The Small Things (Paines Plough), which played London and Ireland (2005). His early plays include Bedbound (Dublin Theatre Festival) and Disco Pigs (Corcadorca). His film work includes Disco Pigs (Temple Films/Renaissance) and Hunger (Blast/FILM4), winner of the Camera d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.