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Stephen Plaice

STEPHEN PLAICE

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

Literary Agent:    Macnaughton Representation  

Stephen Plaice is a dramatist working in theatre and opera.His most noted play is Trunks, about the Brighton Trunk Murders of 1934. In music theatre, he has collaborated with many prominent composers, including Harrison Birtwistle, Orlando Gough, John Lunn, Luis Tinoco, Michael Zev Gordon and Julian Grant. In recent years he has become Britain's leading opera librettist. He is currently Writer in Residence at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he co-runs the Operamakers MA course.

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

         Assembly Women, The         Bedbug, The         Bouffe!         Confucius Says         Daddy Cool         Finnish Prisoner, The         Force of Habit         Gospel According To Lilian, The         Home Truths         Imago         In And Out Of Love         Io Passion, The         Jungle Book, The         Last Post, The         Leonce and Lena         Ludd And Isis         Milk Train, The         Misper         Paint Me         Prometheus Unlocked         Robin Hood         School of Night, The         School4Lovers         Shortlist, The         Tangier Tattoo         Trunks         Whose Crime is it Anyway ?         Young Faust         Zoe
Assembly Women, The

Synopsis:
Dissatisfied with their husbands' performance, the women of Athens decide to run things for themselves

Notes:
Original Playwright - Aristophanes; An Adaptation And reconstruction of his fragmentary play

1st Produced:
Pavilion Theatre Brighton     1989

Organisations:
Alarmist Theatre

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bedbug, The

Synopsis:
A satirical updating of Mayakovsky's 1928 comedy. A yuppie Russian during perestroika is cryogenically preserved after his own wedding party catches fire in 1990. He is defrosted in 2040 into a pan European state.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Pavilion Theatre Brighton     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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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bouffe!

Synopsis:
The life-story of Offenbach's diva, Hortense Schneider, told as an operetta in the style of Opera Bouffe.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Redblonde Productions Brighton Fringe Festival     May 2015

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:
Operetta

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Confucius Says

Synopsis:
the Chinese Mother Goddess Nu Wa challenges Gong Gong the spirit of the water, and Jurong the spirit of fire to redress the balance of yin and yang in the human beings she creates out of the clay of the Yellow River. they recount six tales to persuade her which of them she should favour in her recipe for the soul.

Notes:
composer: Richard Taylor. won the Royal Philharmonic Society Award- in the Education category -last year 2008

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
children's opera (libretto)

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  large children's chorus

Further Reference:
-

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Daddy Cool

Synopsis:
Sunny, a Trinidadian boy, is reunited with his mother in England. He joins a hip hop crew, the Subsonics, who are draw into violence with another crew the Blades, as an MC battle turns into a real shooting. Sunny is in love with Rose, the sister of the leader of the rival gang, but their relationship seems doomed when Sunny is accused of procuring the gun for the shooting.

Notes:
music by Boney M And Frank Farian Productions, book by Stephen Plaice with Amani Naphtali

1st Produced:
Shaftesbury, London     2006

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  large cast

Further Reference:
-

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Finnish Prisoner, The

Synopsis:
the story of the warm relationship that developed between the Finnish Prisoners held in Lewes War Prison during the Crimean War and the townspeople who guarded them. When Cora Combe parks her car on the site of the former prison, her remote locking disturbs the ghost of Matts Alander, one of the Finnish Prisoners, the first love of her great grandmother, Lily.

Notes:
Composer: Orlando Gough

1st Produced:
Unit 11 Phoenix Industrial Estate     2007

Organisations:
the Paddock / Finnish National Opera / Finnish Chamber Opera co-production

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Opera

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  Finnish Prisoners' Chorus (7) Community Chorus (30), Children's Chorus (20)

Further Reference:
-

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Force of Habit

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - Thomas Bernhard. Translated by Neville And Stephen Plaice

1st Produced:
National Theatre, London     1976

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Heinemann, London, 1976   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Translation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Gospel According To Lilian, The

Synopsis:
Lilian, a young novice nun begins to have visions of Mary Magdalene. The 'twelfth disciple' begins to dictate her the true gospel. Initially the Church is skeptical of her visions, but when it is realized Lilian can rekindle faith, Lilian is sequestered and her visions become the foundation of an International Prayer Centre.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Church of the Annunciation Festival     Oct 2014

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:
play

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Home Truths

Synopsis:
A farce set in the housing boom of the Nineties. A provincial South Coast estate agent and volunteer life-boatman Mr Lightvessel attempts to prevent a client from buying a house beneath which he discovers pirate's gold lies buried.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
The Hawth, Crawley     1995

Organisations:
Shaker Productions

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Farce

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Imago

Synopsis:
When a teenage boy Gulliver enters an on-line world, his avatar falls in love with Lisette. Unbeknown to him she is the avatar of an eighty-year old woman, Elizabeth, living in a care home.

Notes:
An Opera in Two Acts by Orlando Gough with a libretto by Stephen Plaice

1st Produced:
Glyndebourne     Mar 2015

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:
Opera

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  Community Chorus

Further Reference:
-

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In And Out Of Love

Synopsis:
Two schoolfriends follow very different paths in the singing business, Claire becomes a professional opera singer, while Ros marries young. The two stay in touch and compare notes about their diverging fortunes. The story is told through a series of popular opera duets.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Redblonde Productions Brighton Fringe Festival     2013

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:
Operetta

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Io Passion, The

Synopsis:
On the site of the forgotten Mysteries of Lerna, the compulsive relationship between a man and a woman reawakens the buried gods. they have scented a sacrifice. Back in the city, the woman clings to her domestic routine, trying to come to terms with the terrible manifestation she experienced with the man in Greece. But neither the gods, nor the man will leave the woman alone, and the civilised veneer of her existence is continually punctured by the returning power of the Mysteries she and the man have disturbed

Notes:
composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle

1st Produced:
Snape For The Aldeburgh Festival     2004

Organisations:
Aldeburgh/ Almeida Opera

1st Published:
Boosey and Hawkes, 2004   

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:
Opera (libretto) Opera

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Jungle Book, The

Synopsis:
A musical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories. Music by Richard Taylor. Mowgli is torn between his loyalty to the jungle creatures who have raised him and his own emerging need for human love

Notes:
composer: Richard Taylor

1st Produced:
Castle Wellingborough     01 Dec 2009

Organisations:
the Castle Wellingborough

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Last Post, The

Synopsis:
A man and a woman, bidders for the same contract, meet at the sorting office as they submit their tenders in the last post. the woman needs stamps, the man needs to know her bottom line

Notes:
part of trilogy

1st Produced:
The Hawth, Crawley     1995

Organisations:
Shaker Productions

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 Comedy One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Leonce and Lena

Synopsis:
An updated version of Buchner's comedy. trying to escape his arranged marriage Prince Leonce falls in love with Lena the woman he was intended for who is also trying to avoid the marriage

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Nightingale Theatre     1987

Organisations:
Thumbscrew 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

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ludd And Isis

Synopsis:
Isis, Queen of the Thames, is disgusted by the mess her husband King Ludd has made of the Lower River. He has to convince her that his new Production Park will bring industry and creativity into harmony. He employs Bram Stoker to stage a show to please her.

Notes:
A Community Opera to celebrate the opening of the Royal Opera House's new Production Park in Purfleet. Composer: Richard Taylor.

1st Produced:
Royal Opera House Production Park Purfleet     06 Dec 2010

Organisations:
Royal Opera House

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:
Community opera

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  7            Other:  Large ensemble

Further Reference:
-

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Milk Train, The

Synopsis:
Having discovered that his mistress is unfaithful, a traveller on the first train out of Brighton is desperate to get back to intercept the letter he has written to his wife announcing he is leaving her.

Notes:
part of trilogy

1st Produced:
The Hawth, Crawley     1998

Organisations:
Shaker Productions

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 Comedy One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Misper

Synopsis:
A Chinese philosopher travels from 11th century China to mend a hole he has burned in the future. the accident he has created is actually the derailing of a train by a gang of teenage boys. Another boy is wrongly accused of the crime, and it is left to a would-be girl detective to clear his name

Notes:
composer John Lunn

1st Produced:
Glyndebourne     1997

Organisations:
Glyndebourne Education

1st Published:
Boosey and Hawkes,    

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:
Youth Opera for ages 9-15 (libretto) Youth Audience

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  large children's chorus

Further Reference:
-

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Paint Me

Synopsis:
Six travellers share a railway compartment on their way to Canterbury. they use each other as the characters for their day-dreams.

Notes:
Composer: Luis Tinoco

1st Produced:
Culturgest, Lisbon     17 Dec 2010

Organisations:
Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos/Culturgest

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:
Chamber opera

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Prometheus Unlocked

Synopsis:
A prison teacher is attracted to an arsonist, but it is the prison officer who guards him who reciprocates her feelings.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Nightingale Theatre Brighton     1987

Organisations:
Alarmist Theatre Co

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/Drama

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Robin Hood

Synopsis:
A family musical that restores Robin Hood as the Green Man. the Sheriff of Nottingham is intent on taxing the people's fun but Robin is determined to stop him.

Notes:
A musical Adaptation of the Robin Hood legend. Composer: Grant Olding.

1st Produced:
The Castle Wellingborough     10 Dec 2010

Organisations:
the Castle Wellingborough

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:
musical

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  2            Other:  4 ensemble

Further Reference:
-

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School of Night, The

Synopsis:
A Dramatisation of the life of Christopher Marlowe focusing on his role in Frances Walsingham's intelligence services which ultimately led to his assassination

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Warehouse Theatre Croydon, London     1992

Organisations:
Alarmist Theatre Co

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/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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School4Lovers

Synopsis:
Hip hop crew manager Big Donnie bets his two roadies, Liam and FrEddie, that their girlfriends BElla and Gigi will not remain faithful to them while they are on tour. the boys return disguised as film producers and try to seduce each other's girlfriend, while Donnie enlists Despina's help to encourage the girls break their vow of fidelity.

Notes:
a hip hop Adaptation of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte

1st Produced:
Glyndebourne, Uk     2006

Organisations:
Glyndebourne and Finnish National Opera co-production

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:
Opera

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  Hip hop crew and large amateur ensemble, orchestra, DJ

Further Reference:
-

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Shortlist, The

Synopsis:
Three candidates for a job meet outside the interview room where they try to undermine each other's attempts to get the job, each metamorphosing into an animal as they do so

Notes:
part of trilogy

1st Produced:
The Hawth, Crawley     1996

Organisations:
Shaker Productions

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 Comedy One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Tangier Tattoo

Synopsis:
In Tangier, the crossroads of two civilisations, where East meets West, Nick, a young backpacker meets Nadine, a beautiful American girl. At a cafe in the old city, they are caught up in a drug Exchange That goes wrong, in which two European drug-dealers are gunned down. they escape the shoot-out with a briefcase full of money. Holed up in a seedy hotel, they decide they are going to have the time of their lives. But that night Nadine reveals a mysterious tattoo to Nick that she has had done in the city, the female half of a tattoo representing 'perfect love'

Notes:
Composer John Lunn

1st Produced:
Glyndebourne, Uk     2005

Organisations:
Glyndebourne on Tour

1st Published:
Boosey and Hawkes, 2005   

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:
Opera

Parts:
Male:  14            Female:  8            Other:  Chorus

Further Reference:
-

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Trunks

Synopsis:
A Dramatic reconstruction of the Brighton Trunk Murders of 1934 when two female corpses were discovered in trunks in the town within a few weeks of each other. the man accused of one of the murders was spectacularly and wrongly acquitted, the perpetrator of the second murder was never found, nor his victim identified.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
BAC 1, London >>>     1994

Organisations:
Shaker Productions

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/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Whose Crime is it Anyway ?

Synopsis:
A two-handed criminal review charting the life of the armed robber John Williams (played by himself).

Notes:
written by Stephen Plaice And John Williams

1st Produced:
Sallis Benney Theatre, Brighton     1992

Organisations:
Alarmist Theatre Co

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/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Young Faust

Synopsis:
Eve wagers with Mephisto over who can win the soul of Young Faust. If she loses she agrees to bear Mephisto's own child

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Marlborough Theatre Brighton     1986

Organisations:
Thumbscrew 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

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Zoe

Synopsis:
A young girl discovers she has been cloned from a famous actress with whom her Father was obsesssed

Notes:
composer John Lunn

1st Produced:
Glyndebourne     2000

Organisations:
Glyndebourne Education

1st Published:
Boosey and Hawkes,    

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:
Youth opera for 14-18 year-olds (libretto) Youth Audience

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  large chorus of teenagers

Further Reference:
-

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