doollee banner
The Playwrights Database
contact doollee



Arch Brown

ARCH BROWN

  (1936 - 2012)

Nationality:    USA
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    n/a

Filmmaker, photographer, playwright, and philanthropist Arch Brown died of natural causes at his home in Palm Springs, California, on September 3, 2012. He was 76 years old. Brown gained famed during the 1970s and early 1980s as the director of a series of feature-length gay pornographic films, including, among others, the Night Before (1973), Five Hard Pieces (1977), Harleys Angels (1977), Dynamite! (1978; starring Jack Wrangler), So Many Men, So Little Time (1979) and All Tied Up (1981). During this period, he also worked as photographer, taking erotic photographs that appeared in gay slicks such as Mandate and Honcho. In the late 1970s, Brown began writing plays, which he continued to do until very recently. His first play, News Boy, was his most successful, receiving an Off Broadway production in 1979; centering on the coming-out of the gay son of a conservative politician, the play was later produced by numerous community Theater groups around the country. A 1998 comedy by Brown, FReeZe!, received the eric Bentley Playwriting Prize that year and has been produced several times. During the last decade of his life, Brown founded and ran the Thorny Theater, in Palm Springs, which mounted several gay-themed plays each season; the Theater closed in 2010. Born Arnold Krueger in Chicago on June 2, 1936, Brown attended Northwestern University before moving to New York City in the late 1950s. there, he met his life partner, Bruce Brown, whose last name he used professionally. Following Bruce Browns death in 1993, Arch Brown established the Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation, which gives grants to LGBT playwrights and to Theater groups mounting LGBT-themed plays and which has sponsored periodic literary competitions awarding prizes to playwrights and fiction writers whose works are based on, or inspired by, a historic person, culture, event, or work of art. Among the works the Foundation awarded recognition through its literary grants were plays by Carolyn Gage (the Last Reading of Charlotte Cushman), David Brendan Hopes (St. Patricks Well), David Johnston (CAndy & Dorothy), Quiara Alegria Hudes (Pennsylvania for Stargazers), and novels by Jameson Currier (Where the Rainbow ends), Harlan Greene (the Lost Light), Raymond Luczak (Men With their Hands), and Merlyn A. Hermes (the Lunatic, the Lover and the Poet). Browns remains will be interred at a cemetery in Charlotte, Michigan, in a grave next to that of Bruce Brown. there are no survivors. (Photo via the Arch and Brown Brown Foundation) Obit: http://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/rem/09/22/arch-brown-filmmaker-and-playwright-is-dead-at-76/

Buy Plays with Doollee

Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.
AbeBooks.co.uk   AbeBooks.com   Stageplays.com   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template

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

        Bottom Drawer, The         Brut Farce         Church Island Woman         Comebacks         Doubletalk         Frank Lee, My Dear         Freeze         Living Arrangements         News Boy         Pantheon         Pas De Cinq         Peace By Peace         Samson         Seeing Red         Sex Symbols         Ships That Piss In the Night         Two Married Men         Variations On A Scheme: A Comic Fugue For Five Unaccompanied Voices



Bottom Drawer, The

Bottom Drawer, The
a son finds a letter from his late cruel mother. even in death she wont let go

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Staged Reading Palm Springs, Ca    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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Family Tragedy One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Brut Farce

Brut Farce
a gay bedroom farce for four actors playing their own love interest

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Artists Unlimited New York    1985

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:
Gay Ole Farce One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  -            Other:  four actors eight characters

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Church Island Woman

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

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:
Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Comebacks

Comebacks
-

Notes:
part of For the Love Of Sam! - A play in three parts

1st Produced:
-    1991

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:
a search for spotlights One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Doubletalk

Doubletalk
Milt's lover is out. Jean has left his leathers out. Rod's feelers are out. Sam's lenses are out

Notes:
a comedy of errors in two Acts

1st Produced:
Wings Theater, 154 Christopher Street, Basement, New York, Ny 10014    -

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:
Farce One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  -            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Frank Lee, My Dear

Frank Lee, My Dear
-

Notes:
to be performed with Ships That Piss In the Night

1st Produced:
-    1978

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:
Comedy of Violence and Vaporub One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Freeze

Synopsis:
Paul and adopted son Philip hire a house in the country for the spring and summer. But the unseasonable weather turns everything upside dowwn.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
TnT Classic Books (www.TnTClassicBooks.com),    -

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:
comedy. - - Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Living Arrangements

Living Arrangements
a pansy, faded rose, tigerlily, bird of paradise and a snapdragon all face eviction

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Workshop Production Phoenix, Az    2003

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:
Mellow Drama One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

News Boy

News Boy
Tim confused about his sexuality comes to New York to discuss it with his ex-college room mate Hank. Hank is out with his latest boyfriend but his flatmate Bill is in. they are attracted to each other and end up in bed. Tim comes to New York each weekend now to stay with Bill and they fall in love. Meanwhile, Tim's mother Barbara is running for political office. She makes a speech condeming homosexuals. then the media find out about Tim. Barbara tries to force Tim to publicly deny his sexuality.

Notes:
could be performed with Sex Symbols. From A concept by Bruce Allen Brown

1st Produced:
Shandoi Theater, New York    1979

Organisations:
the Glines

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:
political and parental comedy One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  1            Other:  1 m/f

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Pantheon

Pantheon
Various gods from different religions judge who is to get into Heaven or who wont

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Loa Angeles, Ca    2001

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:
Un-Godly Comedy One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  5            Other:  doubling possible

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Pas De Cinq

Pas De Cinq
-

Notes:
part of For the Love Of Sam! - A play in three parts

1st Produced:
-    1986

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:
a dance for five One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Peace By Peace

Peace By Peace
-

Notes:
a cruel comedy of comeuppance

1st Produced:
-    1997

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:
One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  -            Other:  1

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Samson

Samson
the letters sent between three men over the period of a year

Notes:
part of For the Love Of Sam! - A play in three parts

1st Produced:
14th Street Theatre, 344 East 14th Street, New York, Ny 10003    1988

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:
a play in the third person One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Seeing Red

Seeing Red
-

Notes:
a prologue And An epilogue for Peace by Peace

1st Produced:
-    1993

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:
One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Sex Symbols

Sex Symbols
Gay reporter has a crush on a soap opera star

Notes:
could be performed with News Boy

1st Produced:
Glines At The Shandol Theatre New York    -

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:
love, lust, lies or libel One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Ships That Piss In the Night

Ships That Piss In the Night
Four men look for love in all the wrong places

Notes:
to be performed with Frank Lee, My Dear

1st Produced:
14th Street Theatre, 344 East 14th Street, New York, Ny 10003    -

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:
black(leather) comedy One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Two Married Men

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Gay Theatre of New York    1981

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:
Gay full length

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Variations On A Scheme: A Comic Fugue For Five Unaccompanied Voices

Synopsis:
Tina works for ari and loves Pierre. ari lives with Pierre but loves Ben. Ben is married to angie and seduces Pierre

Notes:
-

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:
Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page