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James Ley

JAMES LEY

  
Nationality:    Scottish
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

James Ley is a young, Edinburgh based writer

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

         Gaslighter         I Heart Maths         Leithtivity         Love Song to Lavender Menace         QF4         Spain         Up         Viewings at a Leith Flat

Gaslighter

Synopsis:
Desperate to escape his mother's latest breakdown, Joe threatens to kill himself if he doesn't get driving lessons for his birthday. When the driving lessons aren't forthcoming, viewing a 1950s Noir film gives him another idea which works at first, then backfires horribly.

Notes:
part of Life of the Mind: 4 Plays. Playwrights James Ley, Mairead Martin, John McCann And Rachel Clive have recently completed the Playwrights' Studio Scotland mentoring scheme, And Are delighted to present extracts of their work in this collaborative event between the Playwrights' Studio And the Scottish Mental Health Arts And Film Festival with support of the Arches. the event will present rehearsed readings of extracts from the following four plays:

1st Produced:
Cca Glagow     02 Oct 2010

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:
extract reading

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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I Heart Maths

I Heart Maths
a heartbroken statistics lecturer goes on a quest to find his ideal man using a pseudo-Darwinian theory. Undeterred by his ball-busting colleague and blind to the affections of a love struck student he journeys into the abyss. But no matter where science takes you, love will always find you.

Notes:
the theme of self-indulgence unites the three plays in the ego Plays collection. At the heart of each is A gay man Asking A lot of questions. . . About himself. these questions range from scientififIc And philosophical musings to Angst-ridden pleas for enlightenment. they come from men who have become so trapped in their own situations that they can no longer successfully connect with the outside world. Up is A play About despair, I Heart Maths is A play About love And Spain is A play About moving on. Together they present the cognitive processes of three men who have Allowed personal problems to grow to monstrous proportions. In each of these plays excessive self Analysisleads to the main characters taking desperate measures, though frequently Also leading to humorous consequences. But while these plays Are comedies, exploring the perils of taking oneself too seriously, they Are not intended to be cruel. Instead they set their characters free by making their worst fears come true And then taking them somewhere new. I heart Maths was initially developed by Glasgay!, Ros Philips And students of the Ma Classical And contemporary Text And Ba Acting courses At RSaMD.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
part of a Play, a Pie and a Pint

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:
short play. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Leithtivity

Synopsis:
Heavily pregnant Mary and the ineffectual Joseph cannot get a room at the Leith Holy Day Inn because superstar Clifton John is switching on the Christmas lights and has taken them all for himself and entourage. Donkey - a talking donkey offers to take them to the Village Pub. When they get there they find that a group therapy session for talking animals is taking place

Notes:
Written by Colin Bell; Sophie Good; Catherine Grosvenor; Louise Knowles; James Ley; Morna Pearson

1st Produced:
The Village Pub, Leith     16 Dec 2013

Organisations:
Village Pub 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:
Pantomime

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Love Song to Lavender Menace

Love Song to Lavender Menace
In 1982, two friends Bob and Sigrid opened their new radical lesbian, gay and feminist bookshop, Lavender Menace on Edinburghs Forth Street. On the eve of the shops 5th birthday, sales assistants Paul and David take a look back at its origins, its importance, its celebration of queer culture, and how things have changed. Love Song to Lavender Menace is a beautifully funny and moving exploration of the love and passion it takes to make something happen and the loss that is felt when you have to let it go.

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:
LGBT love story

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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QF4

Synopsis:
Humane monologues from inside the world of retail banking. Separately these tell the stories of individuals as we meet them or as they choose to share themselves with us. Collectively they tell the story of a workforce, an industry and a nation.

Notes:
part of a presentation by the Village Pub Theatre (VPT), a lo-fi, writer-led theatre collective based in the Village Pub in Leith.

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Spain

Spain
You can't run away from your problems. . .but you can take them to nicer places. at 22, ally relocated from Edinburgh to Gran Canaria and he's never looked back. He hasn't had time. He's been too busy enjoying himself. . . and other people. Lots of other people. In fact, in the twenty years he's been on the island he's averaged a man a week. But at 42 ally is entering his promiscuous person's mid-life crisis. as he waits for the arrival of his latest gentleman caller, he finds a small memento that takes him back to his life in Scotland. Spain tells the story of an ex-pat Scot, thrown into an existentialist crisis and forced to begin a long journey home.

Notes:
by James Ley, co-created And performed by Mark Kydd. Part of Glasgay! Scotland's Annual celebration of queer culture. the theme of self-indulgence unites the three plays in the ego Plays collection. At the heart of each is A gay man Asking A lot of questions. . . About himself. these questions range from scientififIc And philosophical musings to Angst-ridden pleas for enlightenment. they come from men who have become so trapped in their own situations that they can no longer successfully connect with the outside world. Up is A play About despair, I Heart Maths is A play About love And Spain is A play About moving on. Together they present the cognitive processes of three men who have Allowed personal problems to grow to monstrous proportions. In each of these plays excessive self Analysisleads to the main characters taking desperate measures, though frequently Also leading to humorous consequences. But while these plays Are comedies, exploring the perils of taking oneself too seriously, they Are not intended to be cruel. Instead they set their characters free by making their worst fears come true And then taking them somewhere new.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Glasgay

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:
play 60 min. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Up

Up
an unquiet mind swings between chaos and clarity in an austere world. the battle for mental stability is over. Might as well cut to the end of the story. Sharp new play with astringent language and gallows bedside manner.

Notes:
the theme of self-indulgence unites the three plays in the ego Plays collection. At the heart of each is A gay man Asking A lot of questions. . . About himself. these questions range from scientififIc And philosophical musings to Angst-ridden pleas for enlightenment. they come from men who have become so trapped in their own situations that they can no longer successfully connect with the outside world. Up is A play About despair, I Heart Maths is A play About love And Spain is A play About moving on. Together they present the cognitive processes of three men who have Allowed personal problems to grow to monstrous proportions. In each of these plays excessive self Analysisleads to the main characters taking desperate measures, though frequently Also leading to humorous consequences. But while these plays Are comedies, exploring the perils of taking oneself too seriously, they Are not intended to be cruel. Instead they set their characters free by making their worst fears come true And then taking them somewhere new.

1st Produced:
The Vault (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)     18/2009

Organisations:
Return to Work

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:
short play. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Viewings at a Leith Flat

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
One city, 50 writers, 50 plays, 25,000 words. In celebration of our 50th anniversary, we invited fifty emergent playwrights to work with us over the course of our birthday year. the worldwide search for the Traverse Fifty started last September with a challenge to write a 500-word Play for Edinburgh. Of the 630 applications, we selected the most urgent voices to form our Traverse Fifty. In January, these 50 plays were premiered all together, in one epic performance. This August, in the midst of our Festival Fever, we are re-staging these extraordinary plays, over two thrilling nights. This is your chance to see the future.

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:
5 min play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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