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John Roman Baker

JOHN ROMAN BAKER

  (1944 - )
Nationality:    British
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    n/a

John Roman Baker is a British poet and playwright mainly associated with the work of apuTheatre (formerly aids Positive Underground Theatre). Winner of the Brighton Festival award for Best Theatre in 1990 for his play 'the Ice Pick'. as a playwright his work is characterized by a focus on contemporary issues presented from a homosexual point of view. His first play 'Limitations' launched the first season of the Gay Sweatshop Theatre company. In 1985 he was co-founder of the Sussex aIDS Helpline (aka Sussex aIDS Centre) one of the UK's first voluntary organisations established to campaign for and assist those affected by HIV and aIDS. This was also the catalyst for launching aIDS Positive Underground Theatre - a cultural response to the aIDS crisis with the aim of reaching a wider audience with images and situations relevANT to the time.

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below is a list of John Roman Baker's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Amersterdam CS         Brothel         Club Beautiful, The         Cock!         Crying Celibate Tears         East Side Skin         Easy         Freedom To Party         Heroes         Hotel         Ice Pick, The         In One Take         Last Century Of Desire, The         Limitations         Paardestraat         Pornographic Wall, The         Prisoners Of Sex         Romophobia         Russian Roulette         Sexually Speaking 1+1         Things Happen         Touched         War Fuck, The

Amersterdam CS

Amersterdam CS
"THE PROSTITUTION PLAYS" are a unique chronicle of male prostitution in Amsterdam at the turn of the 21st Century. A lost generation of young men, disenfranchised by the fall of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe travelled to The Netherlands to find a better life. In 4 short plays their experiences of 4 different kinds of prostitution are presented: in a brothel; a bar; an hotel room and on Amsterdam's Central Station. The plays are the creative product of research conducted by Aputheatre's John Roman Baker and Rod Evan between 1998 and 1999. Since 2000 the landscape has changed. the growth of the internet and council policies to clean up Amsterdam plus tougher security on Europe's borders have changed this way of life, perhaps forever.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Klub Paradise, Warsaw, Poland    2000

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in "The Prostitution Plays" published by lulu.com 2008   978-1409231455

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 one act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Brothel

Brothel
"THE PROSTITUTION PLAYS" are a unique chronicle of male prostitution in Amsterdam at the turn of the 21st Century. A lost generation of young men, disenfranchised by the fall of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe travelled to The Netherlands to find a better life. In 4 short plays their experiences of 4 different kinds of prostitution are presented: in a brothel; a bar; an hotel room and on Amsterdam's Central Station. The plays are the creative product of research conducted by Aputheatre's John Roman Baker and Rod Evan between 1998 and 1999. Since 2000 the landscape has changed. the growth of the internet and council policies to clean up Amsterdam plus tougher security on Europe's borders have changed this way of life, perhaps forever.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Klub Paradise, Warsaw, Poland    2000

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in "The Prostitution Plays" published by lulu.com 2008   978-1409231455

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 one act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Club Beautiful, The

Synopsis:
Sweet William and Handsome are married. then Billy the Kid comes into their lives. a fantasy of gay marriage on the rocks

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
COC Theater, amsterdam, the Netherlands    2001

Organisations:
apuTheatre

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:
Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Cock!

Synopsis:
6 male prostitutes meet after hours in a club and reminisce. the presence of a former client leads to confrontation. Based on interviews conducted with male sex workers in Brighton, england.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
the Zap, Brighton, UK    1993

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground 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:
Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Crying Celibate Tears

Crying Celibate Tears
the lives of 4 gay men are laid bare in the face of economics, AIDS, loss and sexual attraction. a witty, caustic vision of gay life in Thatcher's Britain. Part one of "the Crying Celibate Tears Trilogy".

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Sussex aIDS Centre, Brighton, UK    1989

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground Theatre Company

1st Published:
Lulu.com (6 Nov 2008)   978-1-4092-2668-0

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. - - Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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East Side Skin

Synopsis:
a Queer Skinhead Fantasia. Berlin 2003. David a young gay Dutch guy meets Horst a Neo-Nazi. David is initially repelled by Horst's views but a powerful physical and mental attraction develops between them.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
COC Theater, amsterdam, the Netherlands    2003

Organisations:
apuTheatre

1st Published:
apuTheatre (2003)   -

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. - - Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Easy

Synopsis:
Jim's partner Frank has aIDS and is dying in a hospice. Dramatised in near real-time and frequently painful to watch, easy not only explores the process of dying but the physical needs of the partner as he tries to make sense of what is happening.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Sallis Benney Theatre, Brighton, UK    1993

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground 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:
One act. - - AIDS, one act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Freedom To Party

Freedom To Party
Set in the future, years after a "cure" for aIDS has wiped HIV from gay collective memory, a former lover returns and is held to account for his desertion years before. Part three of "the Crying Celibate Tears Trilogy".

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
the Marlborough Theatre, Brighton, UK    1991

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground Theatre Company

1st Published:
Lulu.com (6 Nov 2008)   978-1-4092-2668-0

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:
AIDS, full length

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Heroes

Synopsis:
Two men negotiate the challenges of a loving relationship where one of them is HIV+ and the other doesn't know. (2 character update of "the Ice Pick")

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Klub Paradise, Warsaw, Poland    1999

Organisations:
apuTheatre

1st Published:
apuTheatre (1999)   -

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:
AIDS, full length

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Hotel

Hotel
"THE PROSTITUTION PLAYS" are a unique chronicle of male prostitution in Amsterdam at the turn of the 21st Century. A lost generation of young men, disenfranchised by the fall of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe travelled to The Netherlands to find a better life. In 4 short plays their experiences of 4 different kinds of prostitution are presented: in a brothel; a bar; an hotel room and on Amsterdam's Central Station. The plays are the creative product of research conducted by Aputheatre's John Roman Baker and Rod Evan between 1998 and 1999. Since 2000 the landscape has changed. the growth of the internet and council policies to clean up Amsterdam plus tougher security on europe's borders have changed this way of life, perhaps forever.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Klub Paradise, Warsaw, Poland    2000

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in "The Prostitution Plays" published by lulu.com 2008   978-1409231455

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 one act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Ice Pick, The

Ice Pick, The
Michael is HIV+. Peter is not. Together they negotiate the emotional minefield of this inequality. Friends, family and others, all have their say, but ultimately the two lovers themselves must decide whether love can survive. Part two of "the Crying Celibate Tears Trilogy". Winner of the 1990 award for Best theatre, Brighton International Festival.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
the Marlborough Theatre, Brighton, UK    1990

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground Theatre

1st Published:
Lulu.com (6 Nov 2008)   978-1-4092-2668-0

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, full length

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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In One Take

Synopsis:
a former porn actor invades the lives of Jake and Thomas, upsetting their uneasy domestic balance.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Zap Theatre, Brighton, Sussex    1994

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground Theatre

1st Published:
apuTheatre (1994)   -

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. - - AIDS, full length

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Last Century Of Desire, The

Synopsis:
Set in a totalitarian future, where homosexuality is denied and suppressed, two prisoners fight against the system.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Teatri di Vita, Bologna, Italy    1995

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground 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:
Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Limitations

Synopsis:
A gay man leaves his lover to live with a woman because he wants children

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Almost Free Theatre, London, UK    17 Feb 1975

Organisations:
Gay Sweatshop

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:
Gay full length

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Paardestraat

Paardestraat
"THE PROSTITUTION PLAYS" are a unique chronicle of male prostitution in Amsterdam at the turn of the 21st Century. A lost generation of young men, disenfranchised by the fall of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe travelled to The Netherlands to find a better life. In 4 short plays their experiences of 4 different kinds of prostitution are presented: in a brothel; a bar; an hotel room and on Amsterdam's Central Station. The plays are the creative product of research conducted by aputheatre's John Roman Baker and Rod Evan between 1998 and 1999. Since 2000 the landscape has changed. the growth of the internet and council policies to clean up Amsterdam plus tougher security on europe's borders have changed this way of life, perhaps forever.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Klub Paradise, Warsaw, Poland    2000

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in "The Prostitution Plays" published by lulu.com 2008   978-1409231455

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 one act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Pornographic Wall, The

Synopsis:
Set in an male brothel in amsterdam, the play explores the motivations of Milan, a young Czech prostitute, his client, Paul and the brothel's owner Frank.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
COC Theater, amsterdam, the Netherlands    1998

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground Theatre Company

1st Published:
apuTheatre (1998)   -

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, full length

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Prisoners Of Sex

Synopsis:
PRISONeRS OF SeX presents ten characters, five situations and one obsession - unprotected sex. Vienna, London, Bratislava, amsterdam and Berlin are the settings for scenarios that across europe are being repeated and replayed. the themes are familiar, but the desires are compulsive, the motivations complex and the risks, shared. an incisive, amusing, irreverent expose of gay male sex that entertains its audience while not flinching from the taboo of unprotected sex.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Doornroosje Poppodium, Nijmegen, the Netherlands    2006

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground Theatre Company

1st Published:
apuTheatre (2006)   -

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, full length

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Romophobia

Synopsis:
Two young Romanians Gheorghe and Ion are hunted by the Police in amsterdam and tormented by their own homosexual feelings. In a series of encounters they discover their shared desires and re-enact the power relationships that have subjugated them.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
COC Theater, amsterdam, the Netherlands    2005

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground Theatre Company

1st Published:
apuTheatre (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:
Play/Drama. - - Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Russian Roulette

Synopsis:
a young Russian hustler, working at amsterdam's Centraal Station is picked up by Peter. In the months that follow they meet several times, discovering more about each other, their needs, weaknesses and pasts. Finally an unlikely alliance is proposed.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
COC Theater, amsterdam, the Netherlands    1998

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground Theatre

1st Published:
apuTheatre (1998)   -

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, full length

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Sexually Speaking 1+1

Synopsis:
Two actors, Eric and Grigori, meet after a performance and there is an instant rapport. as the wander through the city at night, they talk, dance and get to know each other, finally ending up in Eric's room. then when things get even more personal there is an unexpected turn of events.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Flora Theater, Delft, the Netherlands    2001

Organisations:
Stichting Outsiders 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:
Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Things Happen

Synopsis:
Things happen when bisexual Joe and his girlfriend Lana go on holiday to Croatia. Joe picks up a Serbian hustler called Marko, burnt out by the former Yugoslav wars and carrying that bombed out damage with him. Meanwhile, Lana goes her own way and experiences a minefield of her own.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
COC Theater, amsterdam, the Netherlands    2004

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground Theatre Company

1st Published:
apuTheatre (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:
Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Touched

Synopsis:
Two men, touched by desire and fear, attempt to break through the barriers that surround them. Barriers constructed by the fear of love and the memory of sexual abuse. How close is too close? That's the question posed by 'Touched'.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Het PleinTheater, amsterdam    2008

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground Theatre Company

1st Published:
lulu.com   978-1409290476

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, full length

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

War Fuck, The

Synopsis:
a young Russian has been contracted to perform in a film that explores the boundaries of abuse and humiliation in a military setting. the producers aim for as much realism as possible, but as the film progresses, the boundaries of desire, exploitation and power become less clear and the motivations of the characters are laid bare for the audience to draw their own conclusions.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
COC Theater, amsterdam, the Netherlands    2002

Organisations:
aIDS Positive Underground 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:
Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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