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Shirley Barrie

SHIRLEY BARRIE

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

Literary Agent:    Playwrights Guild of Canada  

Shirley Barrie has written many plays for both young and adult audiences and has also developed plays with community groups. She won two Chalmers awards and a Dora award for her work for young audiences and 'Revelation' a one-act play for adults won two playwrighting awards. Shirley has also worked as an artistic producer. With Ken Chubb she co-founded the Wakefield Tricycle Company and then the Tricycle Theatre in London england (1972-84), and in Toronto, with Lib Spry, she founded Straight Stitching Productions (1989-2004). With emil Sher she co-edited 'Prepare to embark: Six theatrical Voyages for Young audiences,' published by Playwrights Canada Press.

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

         Adventures Of Super Granny And the Kid, The         Audience         Beautiful Lady, Tell Me         Bozo's Fortune         Brigit Bondfast: Space Scientist         Bully For You         Carrying the Calf         Choices         Counter-Inflation Christmas Show, The         Duck Blind         Girl In the Flower Basket, The         Hansel And Gretel         I Am Marguerite         In the Midst Of Death         Jack Sheppard's Back         Love Serenade         Madhouse         Marguerite De Roberval         Mind Music         Money Is the Root         Now You See It         One Jump Ahead         Pear Is Ripe, The         Possession         Recipe For Christmas, A         Reflections         Revelation         Riders Of the Sea         Rising Dump         Shusha And the Story Snatcher         Sonjo And the Thunder God         Straight Stitching         Tiny Acorn Show, The         Topsy Turvy         Transition         Tripping Through Time         What If ?
Adventures Of Super Granny And the Kid, The

Synopsis:
Two thugs torment Granny's cat and steal Jimmy's football. they are both angry and their anger gives them super powers

Notes:
Music by Ian Barnett

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Childrens play

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
-

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Audience

Synopsis:
an eight minute comic play ideal for a festival situation. John persuades a reluctant Jenna to "try" the upcoming show. as they wait for the performance to start they bicker about his passion for theatre, but their fight reveals the cracks in their relationship. Will he choose theatre or her?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Tarragon Theatre Spring Arts Fair, Toronto.     01 May 1998

Organisations:
Tarragon Theatre

1st Published:
Snappy Shorts at Tarragon, Playwrights Canada Press, 2004   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Beautiful Lady, Tell Me

Synopsis:
In the heyday of vaudeville, Florence Kinrade, a talented and ambitious young singer from Hamilton, Ontario, convinces her affluent Presbyterian family that she's the soloist at a church in Richmond, Virginia, when she's actually performing in vaudeville. In February of 1909, shortly after she is brought back to Hamilton, her elder sister, ethel is brutally murdered in the family home. Florence, in the house at the time, says the murderer was a tramp. the city, over-run with vagrants, is horrified and clamours for action. George Blackstock, a noted prosecutor from Toronto, is brought to Hamilton for the inquest and seems determined to forge a connection between Florence's 'adventures' in the south and the murder in Hamilton. the whole of North America watches in fascination as the seasoned lawyer takes on the performer. Did Florence get away with murder? the play uses music from the vaudeville period, and the various 'acts' of a vaudeville show to tell the story of one of the most notorious unsolved cases in Canadian legal history.

Notes:
the Above is the minimum cast with doubling. there Are 27 plus parts.

1st Produced:
4th Line Theatre, Millbrook, Ontario     07 Aug 2007

Organisations:
4th Line Theatre

1st Published:
Playwrights Guild of Canada, 2008   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Musical, murder mystery

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  5            Other:  musicians

Further Reference:
-

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Bozo's Fortune

Synopsis:
Bozo's Fortune,' an opera for primary schools, is adapted from Gioachino Forzano's libretto for Puccini's 'Gianni Schicchi.' Uncle Bozo has died and left his fortune to stray cats. the greedy relatives who have been counting on a windfall are devastated. they make use of a trickster - the foreigner, Johnny Schicchi, to try to overturn the will but he outwits them all. With broad humour and audacious impersonation, 'Bozo's Fortune' is a wickedly funny fable. Greed is exposed, avarice is punished, and love is triumphant.

Notes:
the libretto was written so that two singers can play two roles each. these Actors Also voice the puppet characters when necessary.

1st Produced:
Toronto Schools     01 Mar 2009

Organisations:
Shoestring Opera

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Opera - comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  4 puppets

Further Reference:
-

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Brigit Bondfast: Space Scientist

Synopsis:
a one-act play for children 5 - 10. Brigit Bondfast is a space scientist with passion, pizzaz and a problem. She wants to go to Mars. But on this particular day it doesn't look likely. She and her co-scientists are trying to find a way to grow food on the space shuttle and things are going very badly! She comes home to see if she can't solve the problem there, only to find a group of eager primary school students waiting to visit her home laboratory. Unable to disappoint the children, she takes them on a wild ride of science and imagination where ladders and space ships, vinegar and chocolate cake, hula hoops and hockey sticks all come together in a physical extravaganza as Brigit works out one step in the solution to growing plants in space.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
School Tour, Ottawa, Ontario     01 Jan 1998

Organisations:
Straight Stitching Productions

1st Published:
Playwrights Guild of Canada, 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

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Genre:
Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bully For You

Synopsis:
Busker uses puppet show to get back at a world which has always bullied and defeated him

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Wakefield Tricycle Co     1979

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/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Carrying the Calf

Synopsis:
Indira (17) has dragged her reluctant West Indian friend, Sharon, along to a self-defense for women class at the local community centre. Sharon would rather be spending the time with her boyfriend, Calvin. the only other student is anne, a white single mother of 4. they are all facing a different kind of violence in their lives, but divided by age, race and expectations, they prove a handful for Firoza, the South Asian instructor. It is only when she tells them the ancient story of Fetneh who carried a calf up 60 steps every day for 6 years, that the connections begin to be made and strength of spirit is seen to be as essential as strength of body. the four scenes of the play are linked by katas, the strictly choreographed, powerful sequences of movements that are a central part of karate.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
On Tour, Ontario     1990

Organisations:
Straight Stitching Productions

1st Published:
theatrefolk, 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

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Choices

Synopsis:
a teenager uses her diary to help her deal with the myriad of difficult choices she faces in her attempt to survive life at home and at school

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Cbc Radio     1988

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playwrights Co-op, Toronto,    

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:  4            Female:  13            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Counter-Inflation Christmas Show, The

Synopsis:
A satirical look at the perversion of Christmas for economic and political ends

Notes:
by Shirley Barrie And Eric Twiname, music by Ian Barnett And Steven Halliwell

1st Produced:
Touring     1975

Organisations:
Wakefield Tricycle 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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Duck Blind

Synopsis:
Ten minutes. Jenny, 14, is trapped on a duck blind on a foggy fall night while her parents circle in their boat trying to find her. Too angry to help them out, Jenny pours out her frustrations about growing up to a duck.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Alumnae Theatre, Toronto, Ontario     1997

Organisations:
alumnae New Ideas Festival

1st Published:
Brooklyn Publishers, 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:
Comedy/Drama Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Girl In the Flower Basket, The

Synopsis:
This 45 minute play is for audiences from 4 - 12. When Sachiko's mother gets ill, she worries about how her young daughter will cope since it is a dangerous thing for a girl to be poor and pretty and alone. the goddess Kannon advises her to place a large flower basket on Sachiko's head. the mother does, telling her daughter that when the time is right, the basket will come off. But the flower basket seems to bring Sachiko nothing but trouble. When her mother dies, Sachiko is driven away from their small farm, and cannot get work. No one has time for a girl who is different. But with the help of a minstrel, her own industriousness, and the love of a man who has never seen her face, she finds happiness.

Notes:
Can be done with 3 Actors

1st Produced:
Toronto Schools     01 May 2006

Organisations:
Japanese Folklore Theatre Productions

1st Published:
Playwrights Guild of Canada, 2007   

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:
Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  1 percussionist

Further Reference:
-

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Hansel And Gretel

Synopsis:
the play runs just under an hour. When the food runs out, Hansel and Gretel are left by their parents in the fearful forest to fend for themselves. Hansel thinks he has to save his little sister, but when they end up in the house of the wicked witch, she's the one who saves him. Physical theatre, inventive language, percussion and puppets are woven together to in this imaginative reimagining of the classic fairy tale about conquering fear and developing self-reliance.

Notes:
Can be done with 2f, 2m. If desired Additional puppeteers can be used.

1st Produced:
D.B. Clarke Theatre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada     24 Oct 2003

Organisations:
Geordie Theatre Productions in association with Straight Stitching Productions

1st Published:
theatrefolk, 2005   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama Childrens play

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  1 percussionist

Further Reference:
-

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I Am Marguerite

Synopsis:
In 1542, 19 year old Marguerite de Roberval contrived to join her brother, Jean Francois "Sieur" de Roberval, on the great expedition to establish the first French colony in the new world. But when Jean Francois discovered that she had fallen in love with an unsuitable young nobleman on board ship, he abandoned Marguerite on a deserted island in the Strait of Belle Isle for daring to choose love over duty. Inspired by this real but little known event, the play takes place 2 1/2 years later. Marguerite has lost her lover, nurse and infant son and is on the verge of madness when she sees a fishing boat weighing anchor. Her confused mind finds the prospect of returning to France more terrifying than another cold winter alone in the New World. She conjures up remembered, imagined and possible future encounters with her poetic and doomed lover, Eugene, her practical and devoted nurse, Damienne, her arrogant brother, Jean-Francois, and her mentor, the intelligent yet conformist Queen of Navarre. Torn between love, despair, remorse and the desire for revenge, she struggles to decide whether to live or die.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Theatre By The Bay, Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, Canada     01 Jul 1997

Organisations:
Theatre by the Bay,

1st Published:
Playwrights Guild of Canada, 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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In the Midst Of Death

Synopsis:
Marion instructs her younger sister in the fine art of growing up as an undertaker's daughter

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Cbc Radio "Morningside".     1995

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playwrights Co-op, Toronto,    

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:
Radio

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  11            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Jack Sheppard's Back

Synopsis:
a musical adventure with escapology and sword play, adapted from Harrison ainsworth's novel, Jack Sheppard, and historical records. a young carpenter's apprentice turned thief in 18th century London, Jack becomes a popular hero because of the way he constantly outwits the corrupt thief taker, Jonathan Wild, and escapes from every jail he is put into including Tyburn. Becoming a symbol of the desire of the people to escape oppression, Jack even cheats the hangman's noose

Notes:
Music by I Barnett

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playwrights Co-op, Toronto,    

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:
Historical musical

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  3            Other:  May BF performed with up to 17 actors

Further Reference:
-

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Love Serenade

Synopsis:
Motion picture plays.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Currency Press, 1997   

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:
comedy/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Madhouse

Synopsis:
Ten minutes. Stephanie resents having to help with the family business of running a funeral home. From scaring away potential boyfriends, to having her hair cut with the same clippers used on the dead, to picking up a body at the madhouse in the middle of the night, it seems her life of "weirdom" will never end. a blackly comic look at a not-so-normal teenage life.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Brooklyn Publishers, 2000   

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:
Black Comedy Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Marguerite De Roberval

Synopsis:
Marguerite de Roberval contrived to accompany her brother, the leader of the first French attempt to settle Canada in 1542. Displeasing him, he abandoned her on an uninhabited island in the Strait of Belle Isle where she gutsily survived for nearly three years.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Cbc Radio     1990

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playwrights Co-op, Toronto,    

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:
Historical Drama

Parts:
Male:  12            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mind Music

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
by Shirley Barrie And eric Twiname, music by Ian Barnett And Steven Halliwell

1st Produced:
Touring     1976

Organisations:
Wakefield Tricycle 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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Money Is the Root

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
by Shirley Barrie And eric Twiname, Ian Barnett And Peter John; music by Ian Barnett, Diane Adderley And Steven Halliwell

1st Produced:
Touring     1976

Organisations:
Wakefield Tricycle 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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Now You See It

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Music by Andrew Dickson

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:
Childrens play

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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One Jump Ahead

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Music by Ian Barnett

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:
Childrens play

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Pear Is Ripe, The

Synopsis:
the play is inspired by true events. In1830 Paris is in the midst of a recession. the city is further rocked by the Saint Simonians, a radical social movement that believes in technology, universal education, free trade, emancipation for women and the poor, and free love. Suzanne Voilquin, a disaffected, poor seamstress is persuaded by her friend, Jeanne, and the charismatic leader, Father enfantin, to join the movement, and she embraces its goals with enthusiasm and energy. But the movement's good intentions meet strong official opposition and a progressive social movement begins to evolve into a cult. Imprisoned and rejected in France, the remaining Saint Simonians set off for egypt. their goal is to physically join east and West by building a canal through Suez and to spiritually link them by finding an eastern Mother to join with Father enfantin to lead society to equality. as symbolism increasingly takes over from reality, Suzanne's discomfort grows, but she has invested too much to leave. She loses love and friendship before she can finally accept that her faith has been misplaced and begin to construct a more meaningful way forward.

Notes:
there Are nine main roles but many other supporting characters

1st Produced:
Alumnae Theatre, Toronto, Ontario     01 Oct 2001

Organisations:
alumnae 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  5            Other:  11+

Further Reference:
-

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Possession

Synopsis:
One act. Badly burned by love, Jane is spending yet another Saturday night at home, reading about her current obsession, possession. But then she hears strange noises, and begins an edgy conversation with a ghostly visitor, who responds only with sounds. In the course of their 'conversation', she is forced to confront why she is possessed by the past, pushed to exorcise her demons and helped to reach in a bizarre way beyond her comfortable room.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Alummae Theatre, Toronto     01 Mar 2005

Organisations:
alumnae New Ideas Festival

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:
Comedy/Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  1 percussionist

Further Reference:
-

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Recipe For Christmas, A

Synopsis:
Caitlin has moved away from her family. the only present she receives at Christmas from her mother is a recipe

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:
Monologue play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Reflections

Synopsis:
Running 35 minutes, this is an adaptation of a Japanese folk tale. Yoshi, a young man, despairs at the death of his beloved father. His wife, Yumiko, suggests he go on a trip to Kyoto to the shrine. In the amazing city, Yoshi buys a mirror in which he thinks he sees his Father come back to life. Yumiko thinks he's brought home a woman from Kyoto. after much confusion, the wise woman at the temple, who of course thinks she sees another wise woman, brings the warring young couple together.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
School Tour, Toronto, Ontario     01 May 2003

Organisations:
Japanese Folklore Theatre Productions

1st Published:
Playwrights Guild of Canada, 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:
Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  1 percussionist

Further Reference:
-

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Revelation

Synopsis:
the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. It's judgement day, and John, who is 34, finds himself buried beside an old woman who claims she's his wife, Mary. But she's nothing like the woman he knew. Can they navigate the minefields of memory in time? a tragicomedy of errors. Running time 35 minutes.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Alumnae Theatre, Toronto, Ontario     04 Apr 2001

Organisations:
alumnae New Ideas Festival

1st Published:
Playwrights Guild of Canada, 2002   

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:
Tragicomedy of errors

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Riders Of the Sea

Synopsis:
Two kids stow away on a boat which is dumping a horrible blue goo into the sea. the boat gets mysteriously pulled down to the bottom of the sea by survivors of the lost continent of atlantis, who have adapted to life under water after destroying their world with technology centuries ago. Billie and Wally have to convince the Atlantans that they're not the polluters and then they have to figure out how to use the resources of the sea to get back home.

Notes:
Music by Ian Barnet

1st Produced:
Theatre Of Thelema, London     1982

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playwrights Co-op, Toronto,    

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Musical fantasy Musical

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Rising Dump

Synopsis:
-

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:
Childrens play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Shusha And the Story Snatcher

Synopsis:
a participatory play for audiences 4-7 about the power of collective creativity. Shusha's bored with her doll, Shareen, and wants an adventure. She has a new adventure story she wants to share with the audience, but the Story Snatcher, who listens for stories with his huge flapping ears and smells them out with his big honking nose, snatches the book and takes it down to his underworld home. Shareen, proving to be not nearly as lifeless and boring as Shusha thinks, gets the audience to help Shusha follow the Story Snatcher and after a series of adventures they recover her book. When Shusha finally shows the audience the story, it is the illustrated tale of the adventure they've all just been through.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Tricycle Theatre Company

1st Published:
encore Performance Publishing, 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sonjo And the Thunder God

Synopsis:
This short, 15 minute play is adapted from a Japanese folk tale. When the Thundergod loses the ohesos (belly buttons) in his thunderdrum and can't make thunder, he tries to steal Sonjo's belly button. Sonjo and his mother trap the Thundergod in the laundry but without thunder there is no rain and the rice crop withers. Sonjo makes the connection between thunder and rain and saves the crop.

Notes:
Because the central character is A young boy the play could be done with 4 females. the Thundergod can be male or female

1st Produced:
School Tour. Toronto, Ontario     01 May 2003

Organisations:
Japanese Folklore Theatre Productions

1st Published:
Playwrights Guild of Canada, 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

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Genre:
short comedy Childrens play

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  3            Other:  percussionist

Further Reference:
-

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Straight Stitching

Synopsis:
One act. the play was inspired by the painful, funny and incredibly gutsy stories of immigrant women who work in the garment industry. Mei Lee, a young woman from Hong Kong faces problems with communication, sabotage from other workers and indifference from the Supervisor until making friends and alliances with workers from Portugal, Jamaica and the Phillipines, she stands up for her rights and takes a big step toward belonging in her new country. Commissioned by Mayworks Festival of Labour and the Arts and the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, the play was first presented by a cast of garment workers and professional actresses at the Mayworks Festival in 1987. the script was rewritten with a smaller cast for the professional tour.

Notes:
Music by Arlene Mantle

1st Produced:
On Tour, Toronto, Ontario     1989

Organisations:
Straight Stitching Productions

1st Published:
Borealis/Tecumseh Press, 1991   

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:
Drama with music One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Tiny Acorn Show, The

Synopsis:
musical entertainment with songs , dances and sketches which deals with growing up and the social, family and sexual roles people are asked to play.

Notes:
co-written by Shirley Barrie, Derek Smith & Christopher Langham

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
Wakefield Tricycle 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:
Musical entertainment

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
typescript from Wakefield Tricycle Company

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Topsy Turvy

Synopsis:
Topsy emerges from an egg on Ted Turvey's milk float

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Unicorn Theatre, London     1985

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:
Childrens one act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Transition

Synopsis:
Fifteen minutes. Margaret, 50, is in her garden having a go at God about menopause. In the process she acknowledges the possibility that she may be confiding in the wrong Being.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Alumnae Theatre, Toronto, Ontario     1997

Organisations:
alumnae New Ideas Festival

1st Published:
In "Going it alone", Signature editions, 1997   

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:
Drama 15 Min

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Tripping Through Time

Synopsis:
a comic journey through the history of the Queen Street Mental Health Centre from 1850 to today, revealing how ". . .this province has stumbled from crisis to crisis never committing itself to a coherent mental health policy."

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Workman Theatre Project, Toronto.     1993

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playwrights Co-op, Toronto,    

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:
Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  9 characters

Further Reference:
-

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What If ?

Synopsis:
a one act play for audiences from 5 - 10. Shelley(6) always imagines the worst thing that can happen which drives her brother Tony (10) nuts. Shelley desperately wants to play miniature golf with Tony and his friends but he refuses to take her unless she spends an afternoon in an old abandoned house. Fighting her imaginary terrors, she rides her tricycle to the house where she meets a new boy, Brad, who has only one leg. Immediately making friends, Shelley and Brad figure out how he too can play mini golf but their play is interrupted by Tony who refuses to take either of them to play for real. How Shelley and Brad get him to change his mind is part of an exciting, fast-paced story in which themes of learning to accept difference, solving problems creatively, and resolving conflict are subtly interwoven.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
On Tour, Toronto, Canada     01 Jan 1995

Organisations:
Straight Stitching Productions

1st Published:
Playwrights Guild of Canada, 1995   

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:
Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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