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Emma Gibson

EMMA GIBSON

  
Nationality:    Australian
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Emma Gibson is a playwright from Canberra. Her work has been performed across Australia and in the UK, Iceland, Sweden and the USA. Her most recent play, Bloodletting, won the Bread and Roses Theatre 2015 playwriting award, premiering in London in September 2015. Emma was a member of the Street Theatre's writing development program, a recipient of an Australia Council's JUMP Mentorship, and a delegate at the Women Playwrights International Conference where her work was presented. She is also a theatre critic and performs as a storyteller. Emma's previous works include War Stories, Johnny Castellano is MINE, The Pyjama Girl, Dead Beauty Queens, Widowbird and Love Cupboard.

Research:    http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/407550

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

         Bloodletting         Dead Beauty Queens         Grief Eaters         Johnny Castellano is MINE         Love Cupboard         Pyjama Girl, The         Snowflakes         War Stories         Widowbird

Bloodletting

Bloodletting
In the next generation from now the divide between 'have' and 'have not' has grown ever starker. Abi is an underprivileged young woman who dreams of going to university and changing the world, but the only way she can afford the prohibitive cost of education is to sell her blood. Wealthy older people who want to prolong their lives purchase 'young blood' via direct transfusion. Bea is one of these women, and Abi persuades her to sign on as a regular client. But the blood-letting agency Abi works for takes a hefty commission. Despite her full client list, Abi can't get ahead financially. Abi needs to find a way to make more money and turns to Caleb, a charismatic, self-proclaimed entrepreneur for help. They are determined to get what they want - but the price is high.

Notes:
Bloodletting was selected out of more than 140 submissions as the Winner of The Bread & Roses Playwriting Competition 2015 and is produced by The Bread & Roses Theatre Company (BRTC), in-house company at the Bread & Roses Theatre and organisers of the Clapham Fringe.

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

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Dead Beauty Queens

Synopsis:
Dead Beauty Queens is a site-specific monologue cycle, exploring violence against women and the expectations and exploitations our culture places on beauty. Each piece is situated in a different physical location, from a different erapast, present and futureand from a different perspective: victim, killer, escapee, wannabe& Where does that situate you, the audience, as you bear witness?

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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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Grief Eaters

Synopsis:
Three journalists report tragic events for tabloid television and meet at a karaoke bar to drown their sorrows. Each becomes affected by the stories they report and a destructive course of action is set as these consumers of grief become consumed by it. A post-modern take on Greek tragedy, exploring the tension of our private selves existing within the public sphere of civilisation  and whether we can ever achieve freedom, from fate, and from society.

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1st Produced:
work-in-progress reading at The Street Theatre (Canberra)    Jun 2014

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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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Johnny Castellano is MINE

Synopsis:
This is more than love. This is more than rebellion. This is a twisted tale of pain and perfection. Acclaimed Canberra playwright Emma Gibson re-imagines Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid as a supernatural psychological thriller in this sharp-edged, full-throttled ride into the limits of human torment. Johnny Castellano is Mine follows Alice across time to on her quest to find a way to reach town heart-throb Johnny Castellano and escape the prison of unreliable memories she finds herself trapped in.

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1st Produced:
Street 2, Acton, ACT    02 Apr 2014

Organisations:
Canberra youth theatre

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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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Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

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Love Cupboard

Synopsis:
Warren has a secret. Two years ago his schoolgirl girlfriend Annabel went missing, and her family and friends fear she is dead. But Warren knows the truth. Having run away to be with him, she hides in his cupboard by day and spends her nights with him. But with the outside world closing in on them, Annabel cant stay hidden forever and the truth will come out. Part whimsical fantasy, part comedy and part drama and all love story, Love Cupboard explores the darkness and light we all hold within, and the conditions and abuses perpetrated in the name of love.

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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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Pyjama Girl, The

Synopsis:
On September 1, 1934 the body of a young woman was found near the Howlong Road, about 8 kilometres out of Albury, NSW. She had been bashed and shot and her body set alight. No one knew who she was, so the body was preserved in formalin solution. She was found wearing only silk pyjamas so the newspapers named her the Pyjama Girl. The mystery ignited local gossip and, for a time, put Albury on the map as the sensational story played out in the national tabloids. In 1944 the woman was identified as Linda Agostini, and her husband Antonio arrested for the murder. But Linda Agostini had brown eyes, while the Pyjama Girl had blue eyes. This and other evidence suggests the mystery remains unsolved to this day. There is much, much more to the story than the official records suggest. This research-informed play, framed in the vaudeville era, provides a fresh, theatrical twist.

Notes:
Can be played by 7 with doubling or up to 20, including ensemble roles

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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:
Tragicomedy drama 75 min

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  4            Other:  -

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Snowflakes

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Notes:
part of Short + Sweet Festival, Sydney 2010

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ACT

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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:
short play

Parts:
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War Stories

Synopsis:
This exciting project further cements the unique collaboration between two festivals on opposite sides of the world. Two writers, one from Australia and one from the UK, collaborate on an original piece of writing, exploring the impact of the First World War.

Notes:
written by Rob Johnston and Emma Gibson

1st Produced:
[Rehearsed Reading] The Basement, Manchester    22 Jul 2014

Organisations:
Manchester 24:7 Theatre festival

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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:
short drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Widowbird

Synopsis:
There once was a bird. A sad, magical bird, doomed to never stop flying. Every beat of its wings caused it pain. But the bird flew. It flew until its useless legs dropped off. It flew ceaselessly towards its death. A young woman, living in a kingdom divided by class, war and plague, discovers her tears have the power to heal. A knowing Storyteller spins the fable as the orphan Atajarah sets out on her mission to help others. Atajarah's good intentions are undermined by the King and his alchemist, Darius, who exploit her to heal soldiers wounded in the country's ceaseless war. When she refuses to continue healing, she is forced to kill her best friend and she grows old overnight. She is sent to the war front, where it seems all hope is lost. She has given so much of herself and wrung dry, she escapes. Years later, Atajarah must decide how to prevent her daughter's exploitation. . .

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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:

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