This volume contains six plays by Ted Hughes which are particularly suitable for performance by children. Four of them were published originally under the title, The Coming of the Kings and Other Plays. Added to these are Orpheus and The Pig Organ, the former only ever published in America, the latter (which was written as a libretto) never before published. Hughes enters the timeless world of folklore and fable and brings home a wonderful haul, managing to produce comedy, tragedy and magic from the same net, and then to move effortlessly between them. He makes stories from familiar elements (the Nativity, or Beauty and the Beast or a quest to save a sickening king), but approaches them from unexpected angles and sets them off in different directions. What characterizes the pieces is the energy Hughes generates not only in the unfolding action but in the drama of the language itself, which is as robustly up-to-date as it is lyrical.

 

This book is aimed at children in primary school.

There are 144 pages in this book. This is a play book. This book was published 2001 by Faber & Faber .

Ted Hughes was appointed Poet Laureate in 1994. His many volumes of poetry for adults include HAWK IN THE RAIN, ELMET, and MOORTOWN DIARY, and he has written widely for children, including three collections of stories, the first of which, HOW THE WHALE BECAME & OTHER STORIES, is published simultaneously in Penguin Audiobooks. QUENTIN BLAKE is Britain's leading illustrator, and was chosen as the first Children's Laureate.