The rich and varied 21st-century playwriting scene of Uruguay is showcased in this eclectic and fascinating collection, bringing together the work of established figures with that of provocative emerging artists, all published in English for the first time. Spanning several generations, the six award-winning dramatists featured in this volume are leading figures in shaping Uruguay's vibrant contemporary theatre landscape. Rooted in their experiences in Uruguay, while also looking out to the world beyond, their plays encompass styles ranging from realism to autofiction, and engage with themes including the challenges of parenthood, the search for identity, the legacies of Uruguay's literary giants, the processes and risks of making art, the limits between fiction and reality, and violence against women in contemporary society. The result of extensive research by co-editors Sophie Stevens and William Gregory, and featuring a comprehensive introduction by Stevens and foreword by translator and academic Adam Versényi, The Methuen Drama Book of Contemporary Uruguayan Plays offers an insight into a new-writing ecology of extraordinary range and depth that resonates far beyond the Río de la Plata. In Ana Versus Death by Gabriel Calderón, translated by Stephen Brown, the eponymous protagonist embarks on a dangerous mission to save her son's life when he is diagnosed with cancer; in They All Sleep at Siesta Time by Leonor Courtoisie, translated by William Gregory, three young friends take a road-trip across rural Uruguay to rescue a dying armadillo and, perhaps, themselves; in Basic Notions for the Construction of Bridges by Jimena Márquez, translated by Catherine Boyle, a group of actors struggles to devise a play in honour of the revered Uruguayan writer Mario Benedetti; in I Will Give You Verses, Not Children by Marianella Morena, translated by Kate Eaton, the life and death of pioneering poet Delmira Agustini is the starting-point for an exploration of ongoing misogyny; in Prelude to Anne by Sandra Massera, translated by Rachel Toogood, a playwright wrestles with the responsibility of writing a play about Anne Frank, and in Emotional Terror by Josefina Trías, translated by Sophie Stevens, a break-up leads a dramatist to delve into the writing process itself, and its capacity to heal. This anthology has been published within the framework of the IDA Translation Support Programme. “Curated by Sophie Stevens, one of the foremost scholars and translators of Uruguayan theatre, and William Gregory, foremost translator and dramaturg of Latin American theatre, this collection of 21st century Uruguayan playwrights is long overdue and most welcome. The range of renowned playwrights, most of them female-identified, internationally produced and hailed, and the diversity of approaches and themes undertaken makes this a collection that practitioners and scholars will return to again and again for illumination and inspiration.” ― Olga Sanchez Saltveit, Middlebury College William Gregory has been translating plays since 2003. He has translated over 100 plays, many of them new works, for theatres and organisations including Royal Court Theatre, the BBC, the Old Vic and the Edinburgh International Festival, and performed around the world. Find out more at www.williamgregory.co.uk. Stephen Brown's work includes Filter Theatre's Faster and Elephant and adaptations of The Master and Margarita and Bleak House. He was previously publisher of Prospect magazine. Catherine Boyle is Professor of Latin American Cultural Studies at King's College London. She was a co-founder of the Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies . She is the director of the Ibero-American theatre and translation collective, Out of the Wings. She is a translator of Spanish and Spanish American theatre and poetry. Her translations have been performed internationally and she has published widely on questions of Latin American cultural and gender studies and translation. She is the Director of the Centre for Language Acts and Worldmaking which is dedicated to regenerating and transforming approaches to teaching and research in Modern Languages. Kate Eaton is a UK-based literary translator, theatre practitioner and researcher. She has been a member of the Ibero-American theatre and translation collective, Out of the Wings, since 2016, and has translated a wide variety of plays from Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, and Spain amongst other countries, including multiple works by the renowned twentieth-century Cuban playwright Virgilio Piñera. She holds an MA in Literary Translation from the University of East Anglia and a PhD in Collaborative Translation Practices and Cuban Theatre from Queen Mary, University of London. She participated as a translator on the 2022-24 Royal Court-Autonomous University of Mexico new playwriting project, and is currently co editing an anthology of Cuban and diasporic adaptations of Ancient Greek theatre.