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Andrew Beattie

ANDREW BEATTIE

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

Literary Agent:    n/a

Andrew Beattie is the author of a number of children's plays, which have been performed by schools and youth theatre groups in the UK, the United States and Australia. He has also directed many productions, including a stage version of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach at the Edinburgh Fringe.

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

         Arthur, Boy-King of Britain         Blenkinsop's Ghost         Blood Royal: a Play of the Princes in the Tower         Brief Lives         Dramatic Licence         Ordinary Jack         Prince & the Pauper, The         Story Of Peter Grimes, The

Arthur, Boy-King of Britain

Synopsis:
Drawn from timeless Arthurian legend and set in Dark Age Britain, this one act play tells the familiar but dramatic story of the boy Arthur, the magician Merlin, and how Arthur draws a sword from a stone to be proclaimed King of the Britons in front of an assembled company of knights. Written for an all-male cast, with up to 32 spoken parts, and with straightforward staging and lighting arrangements, this play has been performed by a number of boys' schools in the UK and Australia, with cast members in the 10-15 age range.

Notes:
The play can be read free of charge on the publisher's website, where printed copies and performance rights can also be purchased.

1st Produced:
Guildford Grammar School, Perth, Australia     Nov 2014

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Lazybee Scripts (www.lazybeescripts.co.uk) - Published online only   

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 for schools and youth theatre groups

Parts:
Male:  32            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Blenkinsop's Ghost

Synopsis:
Blenkinsop's Ghost is a ghost story set in a boys' country boarding school in the 1950s. On his first day at the school, young ames encounters another boy, Blenkinsop, who has a remarkable story to tell - of a boy who was pushed from a window in the school, and died. the other boys in the house don't believe ames' story; but as their feared housemaster becomes implicated in murder, ames realizes that Blenkinsop's strange tale was intended as a warning to them all. Incorporating Gothic elements and utilizing a mixture of adults and children in the cast, Blenkinsop's Ghost is an ideal one-act play for schools or youth theatre groups. Running time: 45 minutes

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:
One act Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  3            Other:  1m 2f + children  8b, 1g

Further Reference:
-

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Blood Royal: a Play of the Princes in the Tower

Synopsis:
The year is 1483, and a boy makes a friend: a kitchen girl in his castle. But when his father, Edward IV, suddenly passes away and the boy becomes King of England, young Beth becomes part of one of the darkest and most mysterious episodes in English history. As the boy's uncle, Richard of Gloucester, sets his sights on the throne, will Beth be able to do more than be a spectator to the fate of Edward and his younger brother, the Princes in the Tower? Historical figures and fictional characters collide in this fast-paced, theatrical drama which could potentially have a cast of up to 55 (with roles for both adults and children), making it ideal for high schools, youth theatres and community theatres.

Notes:
The play can be read free of charge on the publisher's website, where printed copies and performance rights can also be purchased. The play is also available in book form.

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
YouthPLAYS (Jul 2014)   

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 for schools and youth theatre groups

Parts:
Male:  12-40            Female:  5-15            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Brief Lives

Synopsis:
*Festival award Winner* Brief Lives is a one-act black comedy set in a bleak seaside town, about two boys, Paul and Alex, who find the body of a dead woman in a house. they decide - with hilarious consequences - to try to ensure that the woman`s death is dignified, although their efforts are nearly discovered by a young tramp called Dodge. the play won the Scottish Community Drama Association`s competition for new writing for youth theatre in 2002 and has been performed by a number of youth theatre groups. Most recently it received a performance at the East 15 Acting School in Essex directed by the actress Alison Steadman.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Republished in online Form by Lazybee Scripts in 2014; the play can be read onscreen or downloaded for printing from www.lazybeescripts.co.uk   

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 Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dramatic Licence

Synopsis:
Dramatic Licence is a fifty-minute long, one-act play intended for performance by pupils of lower senior or secondary school age. It features a host of appealingly weird characters, including an actor who has had his "Dramatic Licence" withdrawn, a strange obsessive who is determined to discover the secret to making meringue despite constant tormenting from his batty landlady, and a maths fiend whose evil plan to flood the world with algebra problems is only just foiled by the teenage hero of the piece. It is an entertaining play for a group of young actors to perform or read, and flexible casting means that it can be staged by a mixed or all-male cast of up to thirty actors.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Eltham College, London     2001

Organisations:
Eltham College 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:
Youth 1 act Youth audience

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  30 , either mixed or all male

Further Reference:
-

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Ordinary Jack

Synopsis:
Ordinary Jack is a spoof fairy tale written for performance by 30+ pupils aged 11-14. the hero, a prince named Jack, faces banishment from his castle after he tells his father, King Lionel, that he would like to marry a village girl named Victoria Sponge rather than the Spanish princess that his father has in mind for him. Woodland spirits, exploding cauldrons, mad witches and a man who spends his days sitting on a swing in a forest pondering the meaning of life add to the mixture of surreal fun in a play with a large, flexible cast that has already been staged by a number of schools and youth theatre groups. Running time: 75 minutes. Ordinary Jack was first published in a slightly different version in 1996 and received these reviews: "the play features racy dialogue, much movement, simple changes of scene and has its own built-in comedy." (Junior Bookshelf). "of exceptional educational value in developing a sense of theatre in its participants and this is a play that will read well and run well." (Amateur Stage). "This is a fast, witty, well-paced play and which has something lasting and worthwhile to say about love and relationships. The drama concentrates on providing a fast-moving plot and plenty of strong characterization, which should appeal to budding actors and for anyone looking for a drama which will involve large groups of young teenagers and give them plenty of scope, this may be just what they're looking for" (School Librarian).

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:
One act Comedy

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Prince & the Pauper, The

Synopsis:
Set in Tudor England and based on the novel by Mark Twain. Two boys, Edward Tutor, son of King Henry VIII and Tom Canty a poor boy from the London slums, decide to swap places for the day to see how the "other half" lives. Through their adventures both boys come to understand that the grass is not necessarily "greener on the other side". the action, which rises to a rousing finale set during the coronation of King Edward VI in Westminster Abbey, includes various historical characters such as Henry VIII, Lady Jane Grey, the young Elizabeth I and archbishop Thomas Cranmer.

Notes:
based on the novel by Mark Twain

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:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  5            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
-

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Story Of Peter Grimes, The

Synopsis:
George Crabbe's nineteenth century poem "the Borough" is the inspiration for this one-act, 45-minute long play set during a harsh winter in a remote east anglian fishing community. the play centres on a fisherman, Peter Grimes, a violent but lonely figure shunned by the community who suspect him of murdering - or at least killing through neglect - two of his apprentice boys. But Grimes' guilt is never proved, and when he hires a third apprentice from a London workhouse, the mob round on him, baying for his blood. However, two members of the community, an elderly widow and the Borough parson, take his side against the Borough, and Grimes' rejection of their compassion leads to tragedy in one of the winter storms that batter the coast.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Eltham College, London     1998

Organisations:
Eltham College Productions

1st Published:
Playwrights Publishing Company, Northampton, 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:
Drama One act

Parts:
Male:  11            Female:  2            Other:  5b

Further Reference:
-

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