A Beginner’s Guide to Devising Theatre by Jess Thorpe and Tashi Gore

This is the kind of book I like. It's full of ideas from the rehearsal room, which can be easily adapted for any theme. Written by the co-Artistic Directors of Junction 25 (from Tramway, Glasgow), it charts their working processes with the award-winning young people's theatre company. It provides ideas on finding a starting point, fun ways to generate raw, honest and provocative material and how to develop a style. It provides really practical help including sample tech specs to pass on to theatres, ways to manage your budget and interviews with leading international practitioners.

The ideas and examples are inspiring and fun: '...if you want to play with a sack of feathers, it might make sense not to work in a space full of felt curtains...'

It's an easy to browse and handy guidebook for anyone wanting to start devising contemporary theatre or looking for new and practical ways to inspire themselves, their companies or students.