Stephens Simon Stephens 
Rage 

Simon Stephens’ explosive play Rage was written as a counterpoint for Elfriede Jelinek’s Wut. Composed as 31 high-energy scenes, each one is based on a series of photos by Joel Goodman which captured the excitement and the mayhem of New Year’s Eve 2015/16 in Manchester city centre. Published in the Manchester Evening News the photos quickly went viral in capturing a vital cross-section of a country on the edge. As the clock strikes twelve the celebratory mood turns into violence, racism, marriage proposals and the opening of portals. Enter the madness and get whisked into the hedonism of youth.Rage premiered at the Thalia Theatre, Hamburg in Autumn 2016 and had its UK premiere at the Royal Welsh School of Music and Drama in 2018.