Rose

This powerful one-woman play is a moving reminder of some of the harrowing events that shaped the century and remains sadly relevant today with racial tensions and allegations of antisemitism continuing to dominate the news.

Blending the personal with the political, this sharply drawn portrait of a feisty Jewish woman traces Rose’s story from the devastation of Nazi-ruled Europe to conquering the American dream. Rose reflects on what it means to be a survivor. Her remarkable life began in a tiny Ukrainian village, took her to Warsaw’s ghettos and a ship called The Exodus, and finally to the boardwalks of Atlantic City, the Arizona canyons, and salsa-flavoured nights in Miami beach.

This revised edition was published to coincide with the new production at London’s Park Theatre starring Maureen Lipman as Rose.

Martin Sherman was born in Philadelphia, educated at Boston University and now lives in London. His early plays include Passing By, Cracks and Rio Grande, all originally presented by Playwrights Horizons in New York. Bent premiered at the Royal Court in 1979, transferred to the Criterion Theatre and was then presented on Broadway, where it received a Tony nomination for Best Play and won the Dramatist Guild’s Hull-Warriner Award. Bent has been produced in over forty-five countries, and has been turned into a ballet in Brazil, and, in 1989, was revived at the National Theatre. It has been voted one of the NT2000 One Hundred Plays of the Century.