DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

Brokeback Mountain

Annie Proulx author Ashley Robinson editor Dan Gillespie Sells editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Nick Hern Books

Published:25th May '23

Should be back in stock very soon

Brokeback Mountain cover

'I been lookin at people on the street. This happen a other people? What the hell do they do?'

Wyoming, 1963. A wild, unforgiving land where people live simple, unforgiving lives.

When ranch hands Ennis and Jack take seasonal jobs on the isolated Brokeback Mountain, they find companionship in each other. And then they find something more.

Brokeback Mountain tells the heartbreaking tale of an irresistible and hidden love spanning twenty years, and its tragic consequences. Based on a short story by Annie Proulx, this stage adaptation by Ashley Robinson, with songs by Dan Gillespie Sells, opened at @sohoplace in London's West End in 2023. It was directed by Jonathan Butterell, and featured Mike Faist and Lucas Hedges as Jack and Ennis, with Eddi Reader performing the songs.

As Annie Proulx said of the adaptation, 'Brokeback Mountain has been recreated in several different forms, each with its own distinctive moods and impact. Ashley's script is fresh and deeply moving, opening sight lines not visible in the original nor successive treatments.'

'A potent, subtle piece of dramatic alchemy... a gem of a show'

* Evening Standard *

'Beautiful... the play packs a punch... with a herd of achingly lovely country ballads'

* Telegraph *

'A finely drawn musical miniature of quiet compulsion... has its own delicate, stirring power'

* The Stage *

'Tender and beautiful... like Bob Dylan/Conor McPherson's Girl from the North Country, this is a "play with music", and lightning strikes twice here... a notably superior musical offering'

* iNews *

'Stunning... a story fraught with emotion, tenderness, and heart... truly beautiful'

* Broadway World *

'An impossibly moving tale for our times... the music has a melancholy beauty that conjures the spirit of freedom and natural glory that is part of Brokeback's story... Robinson's adaptation sticks pretty close to Proulx's language, and honours the taciturn quality of the story'

* WhatsOnStage *

'A faithful and loving recreation of Proulx's original story, bringing with it a tenderness that could only be found in live performance... very special indeed'

* Theatre Weekly *

'Perfectly pitched and desolately poignant... Ashley Robinson's stage adaptation returns Annie Proulx's short story to a distilled purity... heartbreaking'

* Guardian *

'A memorable evening, beautifully judged. Don't miss it'

* British Theatre Guide *

'Heartbreaking and incredibly poignant... the most satisfying of theatrical experiences'

* The Upcomi

ISBN: 9781839042485

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 5mm

Weight: 83g

64 pages

stage version