I directed his play Port at the Exchange, and I think it's one of the best things I've ever done. His writing is so detailed, so psychologically rich, so daring in terms of his emotion. He's not very English in that way." Marianne Elliot, director It explores the discontents of puberty, how hard those years are and the pressures (external and internal) we are under. It shows or better say it makes us remember how difficult it is to come to terms with the adult world and to admit that whether you like it or not you are going to become one of those beings you don't understand at all and who sometimes you even despise and you are going to be thrown into the real life (which somehow looks phony and unreal to you) It is not surprising, given Stephens's zest for what he does, that he has been a natural choice for theatres wising to acquire a dramatist. He was resident dramatist at the Royal Court in 2001, a tutor on the Royal Court's Young Writers Programme between 2001 and 2005 and the first resident dramatist at the National. He has also taught in prisons. What has teaching taught him about writing? 'Dramatic narrative needs present tense action,' he says, almost without hesitation. He makes me laugh by describing the common tendency in apprentice playwrights to write about ancient family secrets which are revealed 'four fifths through the play, often in a drunken confessional speech.' This is 'theatrically inert' he says. Another problem is that people see life as 'something that happens to them'. It is the playwright's task, as he sees it, to change the question from 'Why is this happening to me?' to 'Why am I doing this?' It is a lesson that offers a commentary on Stephens's own work which is nothing if not immediate. They are a typical bunch. We first meet ordinary, shy William and the more worldly new girl Lily, played by the evening's best actors Tom Sturridge and Jessica Raine in a tyro cast with virtually no previous stage experience. They form part of a gang that comprises three boys, three girls and a mildly autistic, effectively genderless genius.

Speaking of the characters, these are good too. It is clear how they all fit into the little group even though some characters have a much bigger role in the story than others. The interaction between them is great though, funny at times, angering and just plain tense at others.He achieves his goal in spectacular fashion in a play that initially appears drawn from the History Boys/ Spring Awakening stable. The Australian premiere was on 27 July 2012 performed by pantsguys Productions in association with the Australian Theatre for Young People [4]

He writes so passionately and soulfully for ordinary people who are in really difficult predicaments. People who are violent, or whatever, can have immense humanity in them as well - Simon writes about that very well." Daniel Mays, actor

School theater DISK of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague produced the play from 3 April 2012, directed by Ivo Kristián Kubák. [9] Another California group, blink-182, rode their blend of traditional punk guitar style and chords with skater and emo pop lyrics to MTV airplay and strong sales around the turn of the millennium. Founding guitarist Tom DeLonge became one of the leading pop-punk guitarists of the new generation.

From 14 to 16 March March 2012, a production of the play was performed at the Doncaster Little Theatre in Doncaster. [7] The Fortune Theatre (Dunedin, New Zealand) produced this play, opening 27 June 2015, directed by Lara Macgregor. [13]

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Manchester School of Theatre produced the play in April 2012, directed by Chris Honer, starring Lucas Smith as William Carlisle. Lots of traditional punk players frown upon solos, perceiving them as just one more facet of the bloat that pervaded the pop music of the early 1970s. Different guitarists, however, took different strategies to fight against that excess. Johnny Ramone (born John William Cummings) practically created the early punk guitar sound with the Ramones. He became known for using only downstrokes in his playing — a radical technique that gave the Ramones a much more aggressive sound than their contemporaries, as well as helping Johnny keep consistent time. His reliance on full barre chords is also notable; when combined with the Ramones’ high distortion it created a forceful “wall of sound” effect. Manchester Royal Exchange's Artistic Director Sarah Frankcom works wonders in this co-production with a highly talented but inexperienced cast, several of whom get great monologues. The New Wolsey Young Company performed the play from 3 to 7 December 2013. Tom Chamberlain played William Carlisle and Gemma Raw played Lilly Cahill.