|
|
|
A
Little Box Of Oblivion (1f, 4m/f) |
|
Finalist
- 34th British All
Winners Festival (NDFA) 2007 (Rushen
Players) Winner
- Warwickshire Play
Festival, 2007, (Abbey
Players) Winner
- BEST COMEDY : Sunshine
Coast Theatre Festival 2006, Queensland,
Australia (Jally
Productions) Winner
- BEST ORIGINAL PLAY
: All England Theatre Festival (North
East Heats) 2005 |
|
|
A woman puts a box down next to a stranger in
a park, giving strict instructions before she rushes
off, not to move, knock, tilt or open it. Passers-by
offer suggestions as to what's inside, and what
should be done with it - is it a bomb, a packet
of deadly anthrax or perhaps a severed head? At
last, exasperated by these highly opinionated people,
the stranger shakes and rattles the box, only to
be berated by the returning woman, who reveals all,
much to their embarrassment. |
Loving
Chopin (2m, 1f), 55min |
|
A struggle for intellectual (and occasionally
physical) supremacy between a bigoted old judge,
his long-suffering and manipulative wife, and their
smooth, but somewhat subversive, butler. |
mediocrity
(4m, 1f, 1m/f), 35min |
|
Winner
- BEST COMEDY
: Sunshine Coast
Theatre Festival 2007, Australia
(Jally Productions)
Finalist
- British All Winners
NDFA, Woking, 2006 (Phoenix Theatre
Company)
Finalist
- British One Act
Drama Festival, Perth, 2006 (Phoenix
Theatre Company)
Winner - Welsh
National Drama Festival, 2006 (Phoenix
Theatre Company)
Winner
- AMFEST Festival:
Wits Theatre, Johannesburg, South Africa,
2002 |
|
|
Kenaf has just learnt that he's about
to die and his life changes dramatically as he finally
stands up to his domineering wife, the bullying
brute and the condescending Doctor. |
|
|
Dancing
With Auntie (3m, 4f), 70 mins |
|
When teenager Barry invites his new
girlfriend to the family Christmas party, she has
a catalytic effect on the rest of the household,
bringing to the fore a secret that has been hidden
for many years. Barry's father has some explaining
to do to his niece and his son in an attempt to
atone for his actions. A beatifully crafted, wickedly
humorous play. |
A
Woman Of Uncertain Age (1f), 35 mins |
|
Winner: Best
New Writing, Buxton
Festival Fringe 2003 |
|
Ruth is in her forties. She travels with baby
Eve, a slowly dwindling mountain of baggage and
a distinct lack of self-esteem on a somewhat fraught
train journey to see her grown-up son. We hear the
story of Eve through Ruth’s inner thoughts
and outer utterances in this bitter-sweet comedy
of lost love and lost luggage. |
A
Bit Of A Do (1f), 35 mins |
|
Maggie is happily settled into
her life. Settled with husband, Harry; settled
into their comfortable house in a small cul-de-sac;
settled with her circle of friends and settled
with her high standards of behaviour. When something
unsettling though happens to one of her friends,
the effect of it builds up a tidal wave around
her which smashes through her comfy existence,
destroying it forever. |
Bye-bye,
Mr Heim! (4m, 7f, 1m/f), 45 mins |
|
Walter Heim is a bigamist and a money
launderer who has been embezzling from his criminal
friends to support his extravagant lifestyle. Lying
in a hospital bed, he is visited by his two wives,
who walk out on him, and a messenger from the Mob
who reveals that the 'accident' won't be botched
next time - he's living on borrowed time. Who can
Walter turn to for help? His Doctor and Nurse agree
to secretly get him out of hospital and hide him
in exchange for a large sum of money. Why does the
Nurse though, get the cheque made out in her name
only? Does Walter survive? |
Digs
(4m, 4f), 45 mins |
|
Sara catches Ben with her drunk sister
wrapped round him and throws him out. Forced to
take lodgings, Ben arrives at the house of Mrs Schiller.
With spartan accomodation and an ageing Austrian
landlady, Ben is plunged into a bizarre series of
conversations and flashbacks. His wild imagination
portrays her as a Teutonic prison warder after she
takes away all his clothes, and his inability to
leave the room until she returns them lets him take
stock of his married life. |
Ladies
On The Costa (1f), 20 mins each |
|
A compelling series of 12 monologues telling
the amusing, acerbic and utterly absorbing stories
of the lives of twelve female ex-pats living in
Spain, each with a diffferent reason for emigrating
there. |
Two
Sisters (2f), 60mins |
|
Nominated - Manchester
Evening News Award (Best Play) : 24/7 New Writing
Festival 2006 |
|
Dark secrets hidden in the grey mists
of time are reluctantly revealed in this excellent
black comedy. Set in a small village in 1880's Russia,
Anya and Sonia are goaded into recollecting some
things they'd rather forget from their earlier years,
upon the bizarre discovery of an empty coffin in
Anya's lodgings. |
|
|
Butter
Side Up (2m, 3f), 55 mins |
|
Breakfast is served at Chuckfarthing House. Which
is tough when you have hangover and you’re
the one who has to serve it. Will the organic grapefruit
be worth the wait? Will the newly-weds ever make
it down to breakfast? Will the past always come
back to haunt you? Find out in this poignant comedy. |
Exit
Right, Running (4m,3f), 45 mins |
|
Runner
Up - BEST
OVERALL PLAY : Drama Association of Wales
Annual Competition 2000 |
|
|
England in 1642 sees two actors fleeing
from persecution as Royalists by Cromwell's men.
As they try to meet their friend who will help them
escape, they run into two 'ladies of the night'
who recognise them as actors. Will they hold their
tongues? Can they be bought? What revelation is
one of the actors forced to make to the other? |
Flumes
And Fumes (5m, 6f), 60 mins (Strong
language & content) |
|
Madcap mayhem, debauchery, lust
and mistaken identity, all this and more! The
play is set in 'Floaters Leisure Centre' just
prior to an inspection by the local senior councillor,
Mr Pantalone. Isabella, the Centre's Manageress,
is in a flap; however her dysfunctional staff
are not perturbed in the slightest, add a good
measure of lunacy to this theatrical pot of nonsense
and you have all the ingredients for a crazy rollercoaster
ride that builds and builds into an insane, ludicrous,
climax that would not be amiss within the walls
of Bedlam! |
Sharks
In The Custard (3f, 4m/f) 45 mins |
|
Winner -
Drama Association of Wales Annual Playwriting Competition
1997 |
|
The cleaning ladies in the municipal art gallery
enjoy their work, but rumours of government cut
backs threaten to upset their cosy regime. In
the face of adversity they come up with a solution
that not only secures their futures and helps
to save the gallery, but also ensures that their
lives will never be quite the same again. |
Slap
And Tickle At The Pig And Whistle (5m, 3f),
60 mins (Strong language
& content) |
|
A story concerning the misappropriation
of private love letters belonging to Isabella
and Lelio and the debauched selfish interest of
Pulcinella, the publican of 'The Pig and Whistle'.
The crazy antics of Arlecchino, Colombina's quick
thinking paramour and the thwarted, elicit love
affair between Isabella and Lelio, all add up
to a rollicking, uproarious comedy that crashes
like a comic avalanche to it's ultimate conclusion. |
The
Ladybirds (9f), 45 mins |
|
The village drama group has lost all
their men. The future looks bleak until a bright,
young director agrees to help them out. The suggested
solution at first shocks the straitlaced villagers,
but then becomes the vehicle which gets the cash
flowing back into the groups desperate bank account. |
The
Village Hall (9m, 8f), four 30 min linked
one-act plays (or play 2, 3 or 4 in combination) |
|
That hallowed institution - the Village
Hall, scene of unparalleled local country dramas
is the setting for these four comedy plays. Each
play stands up in its own right, but the quartet
could be played together in many combinations. Each
play features one or two main characters and their
particular use of the Hall, a Jumble Sale, the Amateur
Dramatics group, the scout's Gang Show and the Wedding
Reception.. |
Time
For Ben (3m, 3f) 45 mins |
|
A highly unusual play in that the
title role has no words to speak. Ben is a disabled
teenager, severely handicapped and wheelchair-bound,
having his eighteenth birthday complete with visiting
relatives. Mark, Ben's father gets annoyed with
Ben's uncle who doesn't appreciate both the sacrifices
Mark has made, nor Ben's sense of humour which shines
out like a beacon through the family quarrels. |
Vanessa
& The Vanguard (2m, 1f) 45 mins |
|
Nominated
-
AMFEST Festival : Wits Theatre, Johannesburg,
South Africa 2000 |
|
|
The action for this unlikely comedy
occurs in the sultry, smoky setting of a private
and intensely personal investigation into the wherabouts
of a missing person. The client is a remarkably
beautiful woman, however, instead of the suave,
gravel-voiced detective we may have come to expect,
we encounter Orton T. Norton - a frenetic, obsessive,
and somewhat eccentric private eye. |
|
|
|
Axis
(4m plus 1m, 1f, 8m/f support), 45 mins |
|
The title of this play comes from
George W. Bush’s declaration soon after the
attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, that there
exists an “Axis of Evil”, a shadowy
conspiracy which is, presumably, out to destroy
the “Allies of Good”. The play explores
the role the media play in terrorist activity, and
is set around a rather absurd, but plausible, situation
of terrorists setting up a talk show between a hostage
and his kidnappers. With a topical and tense plot,
'Axis' is very much a story of our time. |
For
The Love Of Sara (3m, 1f plus 1m, 2f support),
45 mins |
|
Ben is a patient in a psychiatric
ward. As he is being questioned by Carl, a psychiatrist,
the landscape of Ben's family life emerges. The
centre of his life is his love for his daughter,
Sara, who was born brain damaged. There is a horror
in Ben's life that he can't face up to, but ironically,
it is this same horror that has the effect of dramatically
changing Sara's life. |
Honeymoon
Suite 3x1 Act or 1x3 Act Plays (either 2m,
1f or 4m, 3f), 40 mins each |
|
Three plays that explore the reasons
why three couples have booked into the honeymoon
suite at a country hotel. Two of the three are just
married - for one it's barely six weeks since they
met, the other couple though have known each other
for twenty years. Why so soon? Why so long? The
third couple are not married, at least, not to each
other. This and a secret discovered, casts a shadow
over their weekend. Francis, the genial, Irish hotel
porter links all three plays with his homespun philosophy
and his 'see nothing', 'get you anything' attitiude
to his valued guests. |
Ladies
On The Costa (1f), ~10 mins each |
|
A compelling series of twelve monologues telling
the amusing, acerbic and utterly absorbing stories
of the lives of twelve female ex-pats living in
Spain, each with a diffferent reason for emigrating
there. |
Lucy
In The Sky (4f), 45 mins |
|
Finalist
- NDFA All Winners
Drama Festival, Woking 2009 (Wilstead
Players) |
Winner
- BEST ONE ACT PLAY
(Female Cast) : Drama Association of Wales
Competition, 2002 |
|
|
Three women seek shelter in an inner
city hostel for the homeless. On this cold winter
night, each has a different reason for being there.
Two of them are having to come to terms with recent
events which have shattered their lives. The other
cannot forget her failing because once a year for
fifty years she has been vividly reminded. |
Movers
(4m, 2f), 40mins |
|
Four removal men are clearing the
large Cartwright house on the hill, a once powerful
industrial dynasty, now reduced to bankruptcy. The
play is a symbol of all our destinies - the great
can crumble and the weak can survive, especially
if they are sustained by a sense of humour. We all
have our tragedies, we usually survive, and life
moves on. If you have the ability to laugh at yourself,
it helps. |
Once
An Actress (1f), 35 mins |
|
Bored with her factory job, Sara attends
an audition and is amazed when she gets a part.
Through this catalyst she attends drama school and
afterwards lands an acting job touring Welsh schools,
both of which provide her with valuable new life
skills. Her bubble is burst though, when she gets
no more acting jobs and has to retrun to the factory.
A superb single-hander for a competent actress. |
Remembrance
Day (5f), 40mins |
|
Leanora - a 'difficult' patient, has
been moved from one nursing home to another, and
the new staff are not too happy with her. During
a visit by her daughter and grand-daughter, some
family skeletons are revealed. Forced into a corner
by all around her, Leanora decides it is time to
tell the 'truth' behind the rift. |
Ship
Of Fools (4m, 1f), 40mins |
|
In the middle of the 19th century,
a desperate group of starving villagers wreck
a ship that holds no food or money, just society's
unwanted - a ship full of fools. This sharply
dramatic play tells their story. It was initially
envisaged as an allegory of the arguments against
Care in the Community (ie the abandonment of seriously
ill patients and the lack of round the clock care)
however the period setting allows for various
other readings. |
Something
Beginning With C (3m, 3f), 40mins |
|
Mike is a 'Jack-the-lad', living
his life in pubs, each night with a different
girl. One day he is diagnosed with cancer. To
start with he carries on as before, but the decision
whether to change his lifestyle or carry on as
before, weighs heavily on him. |
The
Brown Felt Hat (6f), 45mins |
|
Ann (and her daughter, Beth) arrive
in 1942 from Wales, to escape the bombing and work
in her sister Pat's hotel. The work is demanding,
and Pat works them hard. Each of the women has a
battle to fight and fears to conquer. The brown
felt hat is a symbol of good times, of well-being,
of self esteem and of magical escape. It is a prop
which helps the wearer to escape the ugliness of
war. |
The
Cafe Sirocco (3m, 2f, 1m/f) One Act |
|
Henry and Melissa, an unhappily
married middle-aged couple, have each arranged
a secret rendezvous with would-be lovers. Unfortunately,
not only have they chosen the same restaurant,
but their new lovers work together in the same
office. Lying and deceit are used by the couple
to bolster their hum-drum lives, tactics which
soon unravel when the two couples inevitably encounter
each other. |
|
|
A
Quiet Life (1m, 3f) |
|
Winner
- BEST ORIGINAL PLAY
: All England Theatre Festival (North
East Heats) 2003 |
|
|
Ten thousand pounds in grant money
has been stolen from the Village Hall committee
and although Fred Jackson is a retired policeman,
his instincts are still razor-sharp. It's unlikely
to be Allison, the recently arrived newcomer to
the village, but has Joan, the treasurer, dipped
her fingers in the till, or does Audrey, the 'local
girl made good' and now Chair of the Committee know
more than she's letting on? |
Fate's
Thread (1m, 4f) |
|
Winner
- BEST ORIGINAL PLAY
: All England Theatre Festival (North
East Heats) 2004 |
|
|
Susan suffers a fatal accident
caused by her husband, Jack. She meets Alice and
Harriet in the graveyard who, also being dead,
have to persuade Susan to reconcile herself to
the fact that she has been been murdered. Can
they do this, or will Susan be forced to spend
the rest of eternity in the Sea Of Lost Souls?
Fates Thread is a ghost story. It's a murder mystery,
and a light comedy. It's a race against time to
save a soul. |
|
|
|