Spokesman Books

Press launch Thursday 28 April at 3pm , at the Marx Memorial Library , Clerkenwell Green, EC1R 0DU (Farringdon tube) Bad News – The Wapping Dispute tells the poignant and timely story of an ordinary group of people who were thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and the effects these circumstances had on their lives. By Graham Dodkins and John Lang Foreword by Tony Benn Published by Spokesman on 1st May 2011 On 24th January 1986, some 5,000 workers employed by four of Britain’s national newspapers were sacked: The Sun , News of the World , The Times and The Sunday Times were owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News International Limited, and the bitter industrial dispute that followed was to last 13 months. As the 25th anniversary of the dispute nears, Bad News – The Wapping Dispute is published at a time when there is renewed public anger at a Conservative-led government, and unemployment, police handling of demonstrations, and Rupert Murdoch’s hold over the British press and media dom...

"Set in a Manchester working-class evening centre in the mid-1970s, the date of its writing, Comedians eschews political theory, professional ideologues and historically sourced discourse on political revolution – all the perceived hallmarks of my earlier pieces – in favour of a more or less unmediated address on a range of particular contemporary issues including class, gender, race and society in modern Britain." Trevor Griffiths writing in Theatre Plays (published in two volumes by Spokesman Books, price £15 each) An acclaimed new production of Comedians , directed by Sean Holmes, continues at the Lyric Hammersmith until 14th November 2009. Some reviews can be read via our Trevor Griffiths page. Theatre Plays One includes Comedians , The Wages of Thin , Occupations , Sam Sam , Apricots , Thermidor , The Party , The Cherrry Orchard Theatre Plays Two includes Oi for England , Real Dreams , Piano , The Gulf between Us , Thatcher’s Children , Who Shall Be Happy? , C...

THESE ARE THE TIMES – TOM PAINE REMEMBERED Readings and Discussion to mark the 200th anniversary of Tom Paine’s death 9 – 10.30pm, Monday 8th June 2009, Old Red Lion Theatre, Angel, London. With Tony Benn, sculptor Michael Sandle, publisher Tony Simpson, musician Elizabeth Green and Neil Sheppeck of Love and Madness Theatre, alongside contributions from actor and playwright Jack Shepherd and writer Mike Marqusee. * An intimate event, on the 200th anniversary itself of Tom Paine's death , to celebrate and discuss the enduring legacy of one of the most influential radical writers and thinkers in history, at Islington's Old Red Lion Theatre, where Paine actually wrote some of his profoundly important work The Rights of Man. Featuring a rehearsed reading, directed by and featuring Neil Sheppeck of Love and Madness Theatre, of Jack Shepherd’s play In Lambeth, imagining a meeting between William Blake and Tom Paine. * Tickets: £7, £5 (concs. Please provide or bring evidence when book...