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Four full-length plays and two previously unpublished shorts from the multi-award-winning author of Jerusalem.The collection includes: Mojo, The Night Heron, The Winterling, Leavings (previously unpublished), Parlour Song, The Naked Eye (previously unpublished).
320 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 20, 2025
The first decade-and-a-half of Butterworth's writing life is generally considered to start with a banger - Mojo - and then he sets about working through and towards something that defines his plays of 2009 and beyond. I pretty much feel the same - except to say The Winterling was an unexpected thrill.
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Mojo: 4/5 - A vicious, funny play that's more about the 90s than the 50s in which its set. It's so of its time it's caught in aspic.
The Night Heron: 3.5/5 - You really do feel with these plays that Butterworth is working his way towards something, and with the benefit of hindsight we know that's his plays of 2009 and beyond. This is a curious stop on the journey, mostly notable for Bolla Fogg - the verse-loving ex-con, a character I now totally love.
The Winterling: 5/5 - I loved this one. Stranger and more dangerous than his more violent work that precedes it. The Pinter is worn consciously but carefully. The rhythms hit in the guts. And also, to be really clear, Butterworth is fucking funny.
Parlour Song: 4/5 - This feels in many ways like the smallest of Butterworth's plays, even including The River, the landscape of which gives it a sense of the mythical. This is all the claustrophobia of suburbia, and doesn't it send everyone a little crazy. It's also, possibly, the most consciously theatrical.
There are two shorts in this collection but Butterworth is almost too defined by scale and the full-length-ness of his work for these to really register.
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Mojo: 4/5 - A vicious, funny play that's more about the 90s than the 50s in which its set. It's so of its time it's caught in aspic.
The Night Heron: 3.5/5 - You really do feel with these plays that Butterworth is working his way towards something, and with the benefit of hindsight we know that's his plays of 2009 and beyond. This is a curious stop on the journey, mostly notable for Bolla Fogg - the verse-loving ex-con, a character I now totally love.
The Winterling: 5/5 - I loved this one. Stranger and more dangerous than his more violent work that precedes it. The Pinter is worn consciously but carefully. The rhythms hit in the guts. And also, to be really clear, Butterworth is fucking funny.
Parlour Song: 4/5 - This feels in many ways like the smallest of Butterworth's plays, even including The River, the landscape of which gives it a sense of the mythical. This is all the claustrophobia of suburbia, and doesn't it send everyone a little crazy. It's also, possibly, the most consciously theatrical.
There are two shorts in this collection but Butterworth is almost too defined by scale and the full-length-ness of his work for these to really register.
December 11, 2018
OVERALL 3.5 stars
**Mojo - 3 stars - crime play -
**The Night Heron - 4 stars - odd ending but very good to that point.
**The Winterling - 4 stars - originally with Sally Hawkins - would have been great to see - very mysterious, keeps you on edge.
**Leavings - 2 stars - short monologue.
**Parlour Song - 4 stars
**The Naked Eye - very short
**Mojo - 3 stars - crime play -
**The Night Heron - 4 stars - odd ending but very good to that point.
**The Winterling - 4 stars - originally with Sally Hawkins - would have been great to see - very mysterious, keeps you on edge.
**Leavings - 2 stars - short monologue.
**Parlour Song - 4 stars
**The Naked Eye - very short
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews