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Simon Armitage

SIMON ARMITAGE

  (1963 - )
Nationality:    English
email:    n/a     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    DGA (David Godwin Associates)  

Simon armitage (born in Huddersfield on May 26, 1963) is a British poet, playwright, and novelist. armitage studied at the University of Portsmouth, and has lectured on creative writing at the University of Leeds in West Yorkshire, where he lives, and at the University of Iowa's writers' workshop. He currently teaches at the Manchester Metropolitan University. He has published nine volumes of poetry, including all Points North (1999), a collection of essays on the north of england, and two novels, Little Green Man and the Dead Sea Poems (2001) and White Stuff (2004). He has also produced a Dramatised version of Homer's Odyssey and a collection of poetry called Tyrannosaurus Rex vs the Corduroy Kid, both of which were published in July 2006. Most recently he wrote the libretto for an opera scored by Scottish composer Stuart MacRae, the assassin Tree, based on a Greek myth recounted in the Golden Bough. the opera premiered at the 2006 Edinburgh International Festival on the 25th of august, before moving to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden on the 6th of September

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below is a list of Simon Armitage's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Assassin Tree, The         Black Roses: the Killing Of Sophie Lancaster         Coming Home         Death Of King Arthur         Eclipse         Homer's Odyssey         House         I Am Thomas         Jerusalem         Killing Of Sophie Lancaster, The         Last Days of Troy, The         Mister Heracles         Odyssey, The: Missing Presumed Dead
Assassin Tree, The

Synopsis:
The sun is setting and the goddess Diana is waiting in her grove to see who will triumph in the latest challenge to be her lover and her priest. Only one man can survive, only one will succeed - will age and experience or youth and strength win out?

Notes:
music by Stuart MacRae, lyrics by Simon Armitage

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
60 min operetta

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Black Roses: the Killing Of Sophie Lancaster

Synopsis:
A moving response to the death of young gap-year student Sophie Lancaster. On 11 August 2007, Sophie Lancaster was beaten unconscious in Stubbeylee Park, Bacup and later died from her injuries in hospital. She was 20 years old, had just passed her A-Levels and was working out what to do with her life. She was killed because she dressed differently. BLACK ROSeS is an elegy for Sophie in which she tells her own story through a series of poems by the award-winning poet Simon Armitage, alongside the words of her mother, Sylvia Lancaster, remembering her daughter s shortened life. the piece provoked an unprecedented response when it premiered on Radio Four last year, winning the BBC Audio and Music Best Speech Programme of the Year Award.

Notes:
Words by Sylvia Lancaster; Poetry by Simon Armitage

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
45 min verbatim piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Coming Home

Synopsis:
A drama based on ancient Greek myth and the wanderings of Odysseus.

Notes:
devised by Simon Armitage and Derek Weeks

1st Produced:
Taunton: Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre     23 Apr 2004

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Death Of King Arthur

Death Of King Arthur
Narrated by the poet himself, with the help of actors and a musician, Armitage's masterly translation of the anonymous Middle English poem will bring the final chapters of the warrior-king Arthur's legend darkly and vividly to life.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse Shakespeare's Globe, London     14 Jul 2015

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Faber & Faber; Main edition (1 Nov. 2012)   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
verse adaptation

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Eclipse

Synopsis:
A girl mysteriously appears then disappears in front of six friends witnessing an eclipse.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Shell Connections

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 1997   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Youth Youth audience

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Homer's Odyssey

Synopsis:
Handcart ensemble presents Homer's Odyssey as adapted for BBC Radio by British poet Simon armitage. the production incorporates acrobatics, puppetry, and shadow effects.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
The Green Room, NY     2009

Organisations:
Handcart ensemble

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
110 min adaptation

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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House

Synopsis:
This is a promenade play in Huddersfield which takes an expedition around a real house marooned in a forgotten corner. A fusion of poetry, performance, music and visual art.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Goldthorpe's Yard, Huddersfield     10 Nov 1998

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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I Am Thomas

Synopsis:
Edinburgh; a cold town on the edge of civilisation, in very much the Year of Our Lord, 1696. The church has spies everywhere. Here, you keep your counsel and choose your words with care . . . unless you are Thomas Aikenhead - a loud-mouthed, smart-arsed and likable student at the university. A man in the wrong place at absolutely the wrong time. . .trouble is brewing for Thomas. A rich vein of black humour is exploded in this account of the last person in Britain to be executed for blasphemy. Using Told by an Idiot's internationally celebrated theatrical invention, we glimpse into Edinburgh's dark past to reveal this true story with universal resonance. A riotous and unsettling drama which swings between 1696 and the present day, I Am Thomas is performed with an original live score. Inspired by fact, fantasy and an original short story by James Robertson

Notes:
music by Iain Johnstone; lyrics Simon Armitage

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Told by an Idiot, the National Theatre of Scotland, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
musical theatre

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Jerusalem

Synopsis:
Radio Castle, the voice of Jerusalem. Your local news broadcast from the bed of housebound ex-fireman, John Edward. His son refuses to join the family business, and his wife is in love with the town's ex-policeman, but transmission never falters. and when the coveted position of entertainment Secretary at the Jerusalem Social Club comes up, only one man stands between John Edward and his dream - a certain ex-policeman. Two old adversaries square up, but who will get the girl and who will get the job?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Leeds, Wyp Courtyard     12 Nov 2005

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 2005   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
dark musical comedy

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Killing Of Sophie Lancaster, The

Synopsis:
in which the murder of teenager Sophie Lancaster is told through a series of emotional poems written by Simon armitage and the reminiscence of her mother Sylvia

Notes:
This radio play was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 And has sparked debates About its subject matter since then

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Black Roses

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Drama-documentary

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Last Days of Troy, The

Synopsis:
The Greeks are laying siege to Troy to win back their abducted queen, Helen. But as the conflict drags on, and despite battlefields scarlet with blood, opposing forces have reached a bitter stalemate. Desperate and exhausted, both Gods and mortals squabble amongst themselves for the spoils of war and the hand of victory. The Last Days of Troy completes Homer's Iliad, with award-winning poet and author Simon Armitage's dramatisation bringing the war to a brutal conclusion. It reveals a world locked in cycles of conflict and revenge, of east versus west, and a dangerous mix of pride, lies and self-deception.

Notes:
after The Illiad by Homer and the Aeneid by Virgil

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
dramatisation

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Mister Heracles

Synopsis:
a modern interpretation of the euripedes play "Heracles".

Notes:
Original Playwright - Euripides

1st Produced:
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, Uk     21 Feb 2001

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Faber & Faber, London   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  chorus & children

Further Reference:

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Odyssey, The: Missing Presumed Dead

Odyssey, The: Missing Presumed Dead
A high-ranking government minister with a colourful past is sent on a diplomatic mission to Istanbul. When his trip ends up in a bar room brawl, he becomes Europe's most wanted man overnight. Chased by the authorities, damned by religious leaders, pursued by those looking for vengeance and head-hunted by fanatics, his odyssey begins. Plunged into the ancient past, Odysseus must now contend with all the unworldly beings and unnatural phenomena that stand in his way. The Cyclops, the Sirens, witches, whirlpools and flesh-eating armies must all be overcome in the struggle for survival and the long voyage back home.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
English Touring Theatre

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  3            Other:  with doubling

Further Reference:
-

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