Writing is becoming the most important part of my professional career. The last few years have seen the creation of a biography, one and a half musicals, an opera libretto, four one-act plays for students, an adaptation of Peter Pan, a new school play, a handful of poems and an ever-increasing catalogue of choral and solo works for singers with my collaborator, Ben Parry. Writing is for me a place where everything seems to make sense - as difficult as it is at times to actually put pen to paper and write a single bloody word!
A New School Play
School Rules! or All You Ever Wanted To Know About Education But Couldn't Be Bothered To Ask
Premiere - Dauntsey's School, Wiltshire - 3,4,5 July 2012
Written to be as inclusive as possible (and a little bit bored of seeing another school production of Grease!), School Rules! has a staggering 71 roles ranging from Neanderthal man to microchip-implanted pupils of the future. Along the way we visit Roman Britain, take a mediaeval school trip, discover the truth about Shakespeare and witness women’s demands for educational equality. And there are original songs with music by Ben Parry sung (and danced) by the entire company. The play, aimed at 11-18 year olds, is designed to fit the needs of every school and can be performed by as few as 16 players. The parts vary in size from one line to an audition piece for RADA (!) and there are plenty of opportunities for the ensemble players to be very silly indeed - there really is something for every student! You can even cut the thing up so that you do as much or as little of it as is required - with the songs or without. Moreover, School Rules! is ever so slightly educational – but don’t tell the kids!
School Song - DemoSong for Girls - Demo |
Song To End The Show - DemoSong About A Song - Demo |
Three One Act Plays for Large Casts
'These 60-90 minute works are intense pieces of miniature theatre mimicking human life that are absorbing, transporting and certainly dramatic; perfect material for Performance Studies and Drama Programmes in senior schools, Higher Education and beyond.'
The three plays below - City Living, Gestus & Eating Out - were written for acting students aged between 19 - 25. The plays can be performed with a good deal of doubling of roles making the plays accessible to groups as small as 8 (Eating Out 12) and as large as 24. Each play has been performed to a public audience at the Royal Northern College of Music (June 09, 10 & 11) and each was very well received - thank crikey! I make a point of chatting with the audience post-show to get feedback all of which has been very positive indeed. I know that there is a dearth of such material and these will be of interest to high school and higher education institutions as well as other drama groups. Each of the plays contains a wide variety of characters, some of whom have substantial monologues, duologues etc. and each play has full company moments aimed to teach the performers certain styles of ensemble acting.
City Living
A One Act Play for up to 24 Players
City Living was written for students as part of their performance/acting training. The play is suited for any environment from black box to proscenium arch and can be performed by an ensemble numbering between 8 & 24. There are a variety of performance styles featured including monologues, duologues, naturalistic scenes, to audience speeches, ensemble pieces and an extended prose in rhyming couplets. The play deals with aspects of city living from the very rich to the very poor, the very young to the very old.
City Living was first performed at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in June 2011.
City Living was first performed at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in June 2011.
Gestus
A One Act Comedy for up to 23 Players
Gestus is a post-Absurdist piece of theatre with clear references to Stoppard, Pinter, Shaffer, Aykbourn, Ken Hill et al – it is a play within a play within..... The play takes place in a theatre or black box studio – no set is required. The action moves quickly requiring a great deal of fluidity between the players. The play ends the only way a play should end - with the death of every character!
Gestus was first performed at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in June 2010.
Gestus was first performed at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in June 2010.
Eating Out
A One Act Comedy for 13 Players
Eating Out, set in a restaurant, is very much about relationships - old and new, lovers and friends, gay and straight. The characters' stories intertwine and some relationships are not quite what they seem. The proceedings are observed by a waiter with aspirations philosophical.
Eating out was first performed at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in June 2009
Eating out was first performed at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in June 2009
Peter Pan - Adapted from the book by J M Barrie
This was a new adaptation commissioned by the Blewbury Players in Oxfordshire which I also directed last summer. Adapted from Barrie's book, the play has a cast that includes both children and adults (the age of the actors in my production ranged from 8 to75). It is most definitely a comedy (not a pantomime) but it also has a serious underlying theme that looks into the nature of parenting and the business of children growing up and flying the nest. This production featured music by award winning composer, Richard Blackford.
Peter Pan received its first performance in July 2011
Peter Pan received its first performance in July 2011
Travel! An Entertainment in Words and Music
Book and Lyrics by Garth Bardsley Music by Julian Kelly
Travel! was originally conceived as a one-act student performance project and was first performed at the RNCM in Manchester, UK and again at SUNY Potsdam, USA. The present two-act version below has additional original songs and music sequences and received its first successful public performances at the Alexandra Theatre in Bognor Regis in March 2009.
Travel! is, as described, an entertainment. It comments on all aspects of life’s journeys – physical and metaphysical - through a variety of songs and scenes, both comic and sad. Characters come and go amidst scenes that turn upon a sixpence; the unabated excitement that fills the departure lounge is juxtaposed against a father’s voice recalling the very first journey of his newborn daughter. Travel! offers talented actors/singers the challenge and joy of playing multiple characters (of all ages) as well as demanding excellent ensemble skills. The music and songs, with their unique and eclectic mix of styles, require excellent and substantial voices. In addition there are opportunities for complex musical-staging and choreography. Travel!is an ensemble piece and is deliberately varied in its content and style. It can be performed with 8 players or as many as 24 and should be cross cast as required.
Travel! is designed to be performed with few props. Lighting cues should be kept to the minimum as one of the features of the piece is for the players to segue from one scene to another and from one characterization to another with minimal interruption. The players remain on stage throughout either as a part of the action, as onlookers or forming a silent wall etc. They can also speak directly to the audience where appropriate. Each player, dressed to complement the main character he or she is playing, has a suitcase which can be used as parts of the set and to create sound effects. Travel! An Entertainment in Words & Musicis the perfect vehicle for a varied company of Musical Theatre actors.
Travel! is, as described, an entertainment. It comments on all aspects of life’s journeys – physical and metaphysical - through a variety of songs and scenes, both comic and sad. Characters come and go amidst scenes that turn upon a sixpence; the unabated excitement that fills the departure lounge is juxtaposed against a father’s voice recalling the very first journey of his newborn daughter. Travel! offers talented actors/singers the challenge and joy of playing multiple characters (of all ages) as well as demanding excellent ensemble skills. The music and songs, with their unique and eclectic mix of styles, require excellent and substantial voices. In addition there are opportunities for complex musical-staging and choreography. Travel!is an ensemble piece and is deliberately varied in its content and style. It can be performed with 8 players or as many as 24 and should be cross cast as required.
Travel! is designed to be performed with few props. Lighting cues should be kept to the minimum as one of the features of the piece is for the players to segue from one scene to another and from one characterization to another with minimal interruption. The players remain on stage throughout either as a part of the action, as onlookers or forming a silent wall etc. They can also speak directly to the audience where appropriate. Each player, dressed to complement the main character he or she is playing, has a suitcase which can be used as parts of the set and to create sound effects. Travel! An Entertainment in Words & Musicis the perfect vehicle for a varied company of Musical Theatre actors.