A collection of five plays (one of them, "The Coat", published for the first time in the UK) drawing on black urban experience, conceived by the author in active collaboration with people from the townships of South Africa.

The five plays collected here offer a unique insight into the role of theatre in a situation of oppression. They were produced in close collaboration with their original black amateur casts, drawing on their lives and everyday experiences in the townships. They range from the early apprentice work of the brash but vital Sophiatown plays, No-Good Friday and Nongogo, to the freer, more urgent, and profound New Brighton plays, including the most famous Sizwe Bansi is Dead and The Island, and the previously unavailable The Coat.

'They are the wonderfully moving and amusing "Sizwe Bansi is Dead", ... "The Coat" (previously unavailable), the urgently profound "The Island" ... Anyone interested in freedom or drama should buy this book.' Day by Day