About the Plays:

HARD TO FIND BOOK, only a very limited number of copies are still available.

The Tiger in Winter contains six of the best best plays to come out of Ireland this century. The plays by contemporary Irish writers have all won the Stewart Parker Trust New Playwright Bursary for best new play by an emerging Irish writer and have subsequently enjoyed productions in Ireland, the UK, and further afield.

The volume is edited with an introduction by John Fairleigh. This exciting anthology includes several fringe festival hits, such as Hurricane, the first play written by future Game Of Thrones star Richard Dormer at the age of 33. He gave up on acting twice before his big break when his portrayal of controversial Irish sporting legend Alex "Hurricane" Higgins garnered rave reviews and accolades over its three-year run.

The six plays in the volume are:

Take Me Away by Gerald Murphy: A dark but very funny comedy about Eddie and his three sons who all work nights. It could be said that they're a pretty dysfunctional family, but they don't care because they don't like each other very much. And when Eddie arranges for them all to pay a visit to their mother, the whole family starts to disintegrate in spectacular fashion. Won a 2004 Edinburgh Fringe First Award. (Premiered in 2004 at Project Arts Centre during the Dublin Fringe Festival and won a coveted "Fringe First" at the 2004 Edinburgh Festival; Cast: 4 men)

Trad by Mark Doherty: A five-star hit at the Edinburgh Festival, Trad tells the hilarious story of Thomas and his father who set off across the Irish countryside to discover the son they never knew he had, with nothing more than a hobble and a limp to help them. (Premiered at the 2004 Galway Arts Festival and won a coveted "Fringe First" at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival; Cast: 3 men)

Eden by Eugene O'Brien: Billy and Breda haven't had a night out together in years. Tonight, Breda's lost the weight that's always troubled her and intends to sweep her husband, Billy, off his feet down at the local disco. But Billy is fixated on Imelda Egan. This hilarious and heartbreaking two-hander is the portrait of good times gone bad for two people who have promised to be together forever. (Premiered in 2001 at the Peacock Theatre in Dublin and won an Irish Times award for best new play; Cast: 1 woman, 1 man)

Tillsonburg by Malachy McKenna: Mac and Digger, two Irish lads, are working for five weeks on an Ontario tobacco farm. Jon, the owner of the farm, is in dispute with "Pete the Indian" about land rights, while Billy, a farm labourer, seems trapped in a life of hard labour and alcohol. As the play progresses, all is not as it seems between the two Irish friends as they revisit the truth behind their departure from New York the previous summer. (Premiered in 2000 at the Focus Theatre in Dublin and had its North American premiere with the Canadian Stage Company in Toronto; Cast: 5 men)

The Good Father by Christian O'Reilly: A love story of how two people starting at the end try to reach a new beginning. Tim, a house painter, and Jane, a lawyer, are from different sides of the class divide, but after a random meeting at a New Year's Eve party leads to an unexpected pregnancy, they attempt to form a relationship against all the odds. (Premiered in 2002 at The Mick Lally Theatre as part of the Galway Arts Festival; Cast: 1 woman, 1 man)

Hurricane by Richard Dormer: The wild but true story of the life of Alex "Hurricane" Higgins, the legendary snooker (a pocket billiards game) champion who won a fortune, lost it, and his headline-making lifestyle. He turned professional at 22 and was one of the biggest box-office draws snooker has known, attracting crowds of thousands and becoming world champion at his first attempt in 1972. But Higgins' genius at the table was offset by his self-destructive behaviour away from it. (Premiered in 2002 at the Old Arts Museum in Belfast. The play enjoyed sold-out performances at the Edinburgh Fringe before a run on London's West End and transferring to New York to a rave reception off-Broadway; Cast: 1 man)

About the Playwrights:

Gerald Murphy is a Dublin based writer and actor. He has written more than thirty plays and musicals, many of which have been performed in over twenty countries.

Mark Doherty is a Dublin-based writer who previously worked as a stand-up comic around Ireland, England and in Edinburgh, Adelaide and New York between 1995 and 2000.

Eugene O'Brien is a Dublin-based writer and actor.

Malachy McKenna trained at Focus Stanislavski Studio. He has worked extensively as an actor, and has written for film and theatre.

Christian O'Reilly is a Galway-based writer for theater, film, television and radio. His plays have been produced by the famed Druid Theatre Company, and appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe and Dublin Theatre Festivals. His plays and film scripts have received national playwright and screenwriting awards in Ireland and in Europe.

Richard Dormer is an actor based in Belfast. Best known for playing Lord Beric Dondarrion, the Lightning Lord and leader of Brotherhood Without Banners in Season 3 of HBO series Game Of Thrones, he has also written a number of plays.