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David French

DAVID FRENCH

  (1939 - 2010)
Nationality:    Canadian
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    Core Literary Inc  

David French, OC (January 18, 1939  December 4, 2010) was a Canadian playwright. Among his works are the semi-autobiographical Mercer plays: Leaving Home, Of The Fields, Lately, Salt-Water Moon, 1949, and Soldier's Heart. Leaving Home, first produced at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre in 1972, was named one of Canada's 100 Most Influential Books (Literary Review of Canada) and one of the 1,000 Most Essential Plays in the English Language (Oxford Dictionary of Theatre). The Mercer plays have received productions in every region of Canada and throughout the United States (including a Broadway production of Of The Fields, Lately.) This quintet of plays about a Newfoundland family has also touched audiences in Europe, South America and Australia. French's other works include the smash-hit backstage comedy Jitters, the pool-hall drama One Crack Out, the memory play That Summer, and translations of Chekhov's The Seagull, and Strindberg's Miss Julie. In 1989, French was inducted into the Newfoundland Arts Hall of Honour, and in 2001 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. Born in Coley's Point, Newfoundland, French made his home in Toronto, but spent thirty-nine summers at his cottage in Cable Head, PEI.

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

         1949         Forest, The         Jitters         Leaving Home         Miss Julie         Of the Fields, Lately         One Crack Out         Riddle Of the World, The         Salt-Water Moon         Seagull, The         Silver Dagger         Soldier's Heart         Swan Song         That Summer
1949

1949
Newfoundland is about to join the Canadian Federation. In the Mercer family there is sadness at their loss of independence

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Toronto     1989

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Talonbooks, Vancouver, 1989   

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:  6            Female:  2            Other:  2 boys

Further Reference:
-

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Forest, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Toronto     1987

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:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Jitters

Jitters
a new play is about to open - unfortunately the leading man is drunk and a New York producer is coming to see the play

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Tarragon Theatre, Toronto     1979

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playwrights, Toronto, 1979   

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:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Leaving Home

Synopsis:
inter family warfare as patriarchal Father is obsessed with making his two sons good reflections of himself

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Tarragon Theatre, Toronto     1972

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
New Press, Toronto, 1972   

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Miss Julie

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - August Strindberg

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Talonbooks, Vancouver,    

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Of the Fields, Lately

Of the Fields, Lately
Ben returns home when his Father is dangerously ill. His mother and his father's best friend are caring for him

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Tarragon Theatre, Toronto     1973

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
anansi, Toronto 1991   

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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One Crack Out

One Crack Out
Charlie evans a pool shark has two days to pay a $3,000 debt or have his legs broken.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Tarragon Theatre, Toronto     1975

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playwrights, Toronto, 1975   

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Riddle Of the World, The

Riddle Of the World, The
an ex-priest and a stockbroker find themselves adrift in the world of singles and dating

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Taragon Theatre, Ontario     1981

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Talon Books, Vancouver, BC,    

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 drama full length

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Salt-Water Moon

Salt-Water Moon
1926 and eighteen year old Jacob is trying to win back his sweetheart

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Toronto     1984

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playwrights, Toronto, 1985   

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Seagull, The

Synopsis:
Can the young people's dreams be realised or will their desires turn sour when confronted by the cruelties of the adult world?

Notes:
Original Playwright - Anton Chekhov

1st Produced:
Tarragon Theatre, Toronto     1977

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playwrights, Toronto, 1977   

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:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Silver Dagger

Silver Dagger
a crime writer finds that his life has started to imitate one of his novels as he becomes entangled with blackmail, adultery and murder

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Toronto     1992

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Talonbooks, Vancouver, 1993   

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

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Soldier's Heart

Soldier's Heart
after a violent argument with his Father Jacob plans to leave home. He is at the railway station when his Father arrives to persuade him to stay. Jacob agrees but only if his Father talks about the terrible things that happened to him during the Great War

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Talonbooks 2002   

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Swan Song

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - Anton Chekhov

1st Produced:
Du Maurier Theatre Centre, Toronto     03 Sep 2002

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:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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That Summer

That Summer
Margaret looks back on events in her life 32 years previously

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Talon Books   

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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