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Brian McAvera

BRIAN MCAVERA

  
Nationality:    Irish
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    The Sharland Organisation  

Brian McAvera is an Irish playwright across the media, having written over 25 stage plays, fifteen radio plays, and two films, one of which he produced and directed. Although he is from Northern Ireland, and spent many years writing and directing political plays, and also co-founding and directing for New Writers' Theatre in Belfast, he is probably best known in relation to the international success of the cycle of eight plays called Picasso's Women which seek to uncover the buried lives of the women in Picasso's life (translated into 9 languages so far) as well as its companion piece Yo! Picasso: Beside Picasso, which sees the story from the point of view of Picasso and his lifelong secretary Sabartes. the recent Kings of the Road views Northern Ireland from a tragic-comic point of view, looking at the lives of busmen over the generations. All of these have been published by Oberon Books, London. Brian is also the author of four books of art history and criticism, over 30 catalogues and about a million words of art criticism. He is a contributing editor of Sculpture (usa) and also State of Art (UK) as well as being a regular contributor to Irish Arts Review. He also curates exhibitions, the next one being a survey of socio-political art during the Troubles, scheduled for the Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast (Jan 2006). Currently he is writing a play about the artist Francis Bacon, a series of three plays on Venetian artists (Titian, Tintoretto & Canaletto), and two musicals, one about the relationship between Henry Miller and Anais Nin; and the other 'suggested' by the life and times of Bob Dylan.

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

         Bankers         Cannon         Final Solution         Foul Bodies         Foul Play         Francis And Frances         Godgames         In Search of Mr B         Kings Of the Road         Lady Midnight         Picasso's Women         Some Time Soon         Splinters         Three Women Various         Uncharted Waters         Up Shit Creek         Windows Of Heaven         Yo! Picasso! Beside Picasso
Bankers

Synopsis:
What happens if you have lost everything? If you have nothing more to lose? What happens if you are a decent man, an ex- teacher, who has been destroyed by the banks? What would you do to change the system? A well-known banker, a CEO, wakes up to find himself blindfolded and bound. His wife and his sixteen year old daughter are in the same position. then the kidnapper enters: quiet, determined, organised. This is no spur-of-the-moment action. they are in a small disused theatre which he has soundproofed. And he has a plan. . .And no, this man isn't a psychopath, but he is motivated, terminally, and as such he is very, very dangerous. . .

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Cannon

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
Arts Council Youth Drama Commission     1987

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Final Solution

Synopsis:
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Notes:
part of he Troubles' Trilogy ('Final Solution', 'splinters', 'Foul Play')

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Foul Bodies

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
Arts Council Community Commission     1988

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Foul Play

Synopsis:
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Notes:
part of he Troubles' Trilogy ('Final Solution', 'splinters', 'Foul Play')

1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Francis And Frances

Synopsis:
Frances & Francis is a funny, surreal and disturbing new play in a music hall style that examines colonial relationships between men, women, England and Ireland. It is told through the creative and chaotic personal life of Francis Bacon. the play charts his Irish childhood in turbulent and war torn Ireland to his rise to fame through the 20th Century and how the political landscape of Europe and his private life impacted on Francis imagination to create some of the most disturbing and iconic paintings of the 20th Century.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
Focus Theatre

1st Published:
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Music:
-

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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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Genre:
comedy Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Godgames

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
Arts Council Community Theatre Commission     1992

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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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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Genre:
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In Search of Mr B

Synopsis:
Brian Mc Avera's new comedy is an unconventional and irreverent look at one of Ireland's most iconic writers. This new work opens with Samuel Beckett waking up in the after-life to find he is challenged by his conscience about his irresponsible behaviour as a young man. 'In Search of Mr B' is a surreal and humorous evening of entertainment that incorporates elements of music hall and physical comedy that is played directly to the audience. It promises to be very funny, thought provoking and challenging on the early life of one of the 20th Centuries greatest artists

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Civic Theatre, Tallaght Loose End Studio     23 Mar 2015

Organisations:
Directions Out Theatre Company

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:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Kings Of the Road

Kings Of the Road
As TJ lies comatose in his hospital bed, his son Rinty seeks to keep him alive by the sheer force of his will. Visited by the impudent ghost of his granddad and haunted by memories of his father, Rinty draws together the recollections of three generations of bus workers, stretching from the early privatised days of the 1930's to the onset of the Troubles. Both comic and tragic, the play celebrates the wild antics and commitment to duty of the Kings of the Road.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Belfast: Old Museum Arts Centre, 7 College Square N, Belfast Bt1 6Ar     2002

Organisations:
Directions Out Production Company

1st Published:
Oberon, 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

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Lady Midnight

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
Arts Theatre, Belfast.     1981

Organisations:
New Writers Theatre

1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Play One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Picasso's Women

Synopsis:
Picasso's Women is a cycle of eight plays, all monologues, in which the women in Picasso's Life, used and often abused by the great artist, tell their own stories. they uncover their buried histories and relate their lives to his art. Although the plays can be formed independently of each other, the cycle, performed chronologically, covers the entire sweep of his life and thus most of the twentieth century.

Notes:
Edinburgh Fringe 2000

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Platform Productions

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London, 1997   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Eight Monologues

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Some Time Soon

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:

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1st Published:
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To Buy This Play:
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Splinters

Synopsis:
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Notes:
part of he Troubles' Trilogy ('Final Solution', 'splinters', 'Foul Play')

1st Produced:
Arts Council Community Theatre Commission     1989

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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Three Women Various

Synopsis:
Three women. Three friends. Three intertwined lives. Is Mel Gibson what (three) women want? Or is it a man with a penis the size of a giraffe? Is the sitcom Sex in the City the real story of thirtysomethings? Or is there something else to life, love, and relationships? Do you feel trapped in a boring marriage? What happens if you had true true love and then he dies? What if you love him but he wants other women? What do you dream - daydream - ????? What if - ? Don't you deserve something a little bit better? Or is there no 'better', just compromise, just making the best of it? Now. Imagine. Three women. Three friends. And three parallel universes. In each universe each woman lives a version of herself. But in each universe her life will be that little bit different. Maybe it's the life that you daydream about, or that you visit in your sleep; that you can make happen but only if you want it enough -. What's more important: your lover, your husband, or your friends since childhood? Sex or sensuality? Friendship or love? Is there any point to it all?

Notes:
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1st Produced:

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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
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Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  3            Other:  -

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Uncharted Waters

Synopsis:
Imagine a festival taking place in the Polish Baltic. You'll find A Welsh performance artist, an Irish installation artist, an English TV journalist, a Polish performance artist, a Polish art critic - and a waiter. Now imagine a play that fuses Installation art and Performance art into the traditional stage play. What happens when at the end of the first act, the Polish art critic, who has summoned everyone to a midnight performance, and who is linked to everyone on the stage, is found hanging by the neck - at which point a taped message from him plays -. What happens when the Polish performance artist decides to alter his performance and build towards a, literally, shattering conclusion?

Notes:
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1st Produced:
New Theatre, Dublin     1998

Organisations:
Sionnach Theatre Company

1st Published:
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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:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Up Shit Creek

Synopsis:
It is about how, whether at the mercy of Loyalists or Provisional IRA, or in any equivalent situation, it is always the small man and woman who are ruthlessly used and abused and mown down like cannon fodder, to be finally left with not even their own dignity. During the course of the play Blackman, who adopts three different voices (that of the soft Northern Irish voice, the hard urban voice of the Provo and the rural voice of the loyalist) and who alternates between the sectarian doggerel of both traditions, and a sinewy prose with deliberate reminisces of Swift, gradually strips until he is naked.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Canal Cafe Theatre, London     1995

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
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Music:
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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:
20 min One Act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Windows Of Heaven

Synopsis:
Three women, whose lives have only intersected at airports, finally decide to go on holiday together to the Strangford area of Northern Ireland. One of them lives in France, another in Germany, the third in England. When they arrive, they are met by a younger man who seems to know all about them, whilst claiming only to be helping out. During the course of a few days, the unfulfilled nature of their lives emerges, their relationships (both to each other and to unseen partners) change, and they gradually realise that it is no accident that they are here.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Rehearsed Reading By London Live At The Bridewell Theatre     1999

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Yo! Picasso! Beside Picasso

Synopsis:
From poverty-stricken youth in Barcelona to international success as leading players in the artistic avant-garde, Picasso and Sabartes lived through much together. But now is the time of reckoning. It is 1973. Picasso has just died. Sabarftes is in some strange limbo - and Picasso joins him. However, Sabartes is no longer the repressed doormat he once was. He starts to take Picasso apart. This verbally venomous, effervescent play is an often hilarious exploration of power, friendship, sex, money and the nature of genius. Picasso and Sabartes are like boxers in a ring, pitted in a ruthless contest to discover 'the truth'. Gradually they edge closer to the ultimate quarrel, the ultimate truth, and the ultimate betrayal. This play is a companion piece to Picasso's Women in that the material is viewed entirely from the male point of view. During the course of the play, the two men role-play all of the women

Notes:
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1st Produced:
The Farnham Maltings Art Centre, Surrey     1999

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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