Howard Brenton is one of the UK's most respected dramatists. His acclaimed plays include The Romans In Britain, Bloody Poetry, Weapons of Happiness, Pravda with David Hare and, more recently, In Extremis, Anne Boleyn and Doctor Scroggy's War for Shakespeare's Globe, Paul and Never So Good for the National Theatre, and 55 Days, The Arrest of Ai Weiwei, Drawing the Line and Lawrence After Arabia for Hampstead Theatre. He also wrote fourteen episodes of BBC spy drama Spooks.

These five short plays date from Brenton's early involvement in such 'shoestring' groups as Portable Theatre. They are deliberately intended for the 'poor theatre' - as relevant today as when they were first written - since each play requires a small cast and minimal set, yet yields maximum theatricality.
Christie in Love, Gum and Goo, Heads and The Education of Skinny Spew, were all first staged in 1969. The Saliva Milkshake was first staged in 1975.