What new trends and themes have emerged in the last 25 years of playwriting? What changes have occurred in the way plays reach the stage?

A panel event and Q&A with playwrights Alecky Blythe, Lucy Kirkwood, Conor McPherson and Nicholas Wright, chaired by Michael Attenborough.

On the panel are:

• Alecky Blythe, whose work includes the recent National Theatre hit, London Road
• Lucy Kirkwood, whose latest play Chimerica premieres at the Almeida Theatre, 17 May-29 June
• Conor McPherson, whose highly acclaimed play The Weir has just been revived at the Donmar Warehouse, prior to his new play The Night Alive premiering at the same venue from 13 June
• Nicholas Wright, is the author of many original plays as well as adaptations, and co-author with Richard Eyre of Changing Stages: A View of British Theatre in the 20th Century

All four playwrights are published by Nick Hern Books. The panel is chaired by Michael Attenborough, former Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre.

Tickets are free but must be booked in advance at www.almeida.co.uk or from the Almeida Theatre box office, tel. 020 7359 4404.

Conor McPherson on 'Having a play'...

'Recently Sebastian Barry told me that Brian Friel told him that for a playwright to 'have a play' is everything. What 'having a play' means is that you have an idea you are thinking about, wondering about. You have a world whose chaos you can comprehend and even seek to control - a prism whereby the lunacy and violence of life is transformed into a beautiful poetic painting, full of motion and feeling...'

From My First Play: An Anthology of Theatrical Beginnings, published by NHB to celebrate 25 years of theatre publishing.