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Simon Bent

SIMON BENT

  
Nationality:    British
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    The Agency (London) Ltd  

US representative Peregrine Whittlesey agency. Simon Bent studied Drama at Birmingham University and started his theatrical career as an actor. as writer-in-residence at the University of essex, he wrote 'evacuees' for Spectrum Theatre, Cambridge. His work includes 'Knuckle Butty', 'Wigan Kiss', 'Full Fathom Five', 'the Blood of Others', 'Goldhawk Road', 'shelter', 'Bad Company', 'Wasted', 'sugar Sugar' and 'accomplices', and has been performed at many Theatres including the RNT. Recent work includes a screenplay 'Christie Mallory's Own Double entry', adapted from the novel by BS Johnson.

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

         Accomplices         Associate, The         Bad Company         Blood Of Others, The         Chain Play, The         Country Of the Blind, The         Elling         Escapologist, The         Goldhawk Road         Mighty Walzer, The         Prayer For Owen Meany, A         Prick Up Your Ears         Shelter         Sugar Sugar         Trouble With Girls, The         Under the Black Flag         Wasted         Wigan Kiss
Accomplices

Accomplices
Set on a Northern housin estate plagued by vandalism, threats of violence and thieving, the play shows how poverty of education, expression, expectation and fellow feeling leads to appalling violence.
Lyn Gardner, Guardian

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
US representative Peregrine Whittlesey agency

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London,    

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Associate, The

Associate, The
It's not safe, the world is not a safe place Have some more chicken' a pensioner has his council house redecorated by two self-employed chancers. But there are worse crimes than benefit fraud. a richly comic study of politics and wall-papering.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
National Theatre Company Transformations Season

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London,    

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bad Company

Bad Company
a group of twenty-something's hangs out on the sea-front of a northern resort at the end of the summer season, finding little to relieve the futility and boredom of their lives: they gamble in amusement arcades, bicker in cafes, lust on the beach . . . Casual sex, mindless violence and comic clashes of outlook permeate this entertaining, contemporary and humane play which paints a believable, touching portrait of modern youth.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 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. - - Gay, theme/character, full length

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Blood Of Others, The

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Chain Play, The

Synopsis:
One off performance of chain writing to celebrate the National theatre's 25th anniversary. a scene each from all the authors for a performance on one night

Notes:
Written By Terry Johnson, Philip Ridley, Charlotte Jones, Lee Hall, Sebastian Barry, Zinnie Harris, Kevin elyot, Nick Dear, Tanika Gupta, Frank McGuinness, Nick Stafford, Stephen Sondheim, Colin Teevan, Patrick Marber, David Lan, Sarah Daniels, Martin She

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Conceived and commissioned by angus Mackenchnie

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:  8            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Country Of the Blind, The

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Elling

Elling
Based on the novel by Ingvar ambjornsen, in original stage adaptation by axel Hellstenius in collaboration with Peter Naess, in a new version by Simon Bent. Mummy's boy elling and his roommate, the uncouth, reluctant virgin Kjell Bjarne, are the Odd Couple of Oslo: a pair of confused souls taking their first steps in the outside world after years of isolated, institutional life. Given a flat in the city by social services, they must re-assimilate themselves into society or face a return to the asylum. So it's simply a question of convincing their social worker that they really are "normal" - even if it does feel safer sleeping in the wardrobe. . . Based on the award-winning cult film, elling was first performed at the Bush theatre in 2007 and transferred to Trafalgar Studios in the West end.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Axel Hellstenius (with Petter Naess) from the book by Ingvar Ambjornsen (literal translation by Nicholas Norris

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Trademark aTG

1st Published:
Oberon Books 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:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Escapologist, The

Synopsis:
Everybody feels trapped sometimes. By our family, by friends, by situations we can t control. But who can we look to help us really escape? Inspired by Adam Phillips book Houdini s Box, the Escapologist follows a psychotherapist as he delves into the conscious and unconscious desires of his patients. All of them are looking to escape in some way from their circumstances. But how can the therapist help when he feels increasingly sceptical about the powers of his profession? As he starts to feel more and more trapped he takes flight into fantasies of the greatest escape artist of them all, Harry Houdini.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Tramway, Glasgow, UK >>>     13 Jan 2006

Organisations:
Suspect Culture

1st Published:
Oberon Books >>>, 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:
Piece

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
-

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Goldhawk Road

Synopsis:
filthy and funny exploration and picture of shapeless lives

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London, 1996   

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:  6            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mighty Walzer, The

Synopsis:
Oliver Walzer is shy, bookish, Jewish. He doesn't know how to talk to girls. But he can slice, flick and spin a ping pong ball better than any teenager in Manchester. When Sheeny Waxman takes him under his wing on the Akiva Social Club Table Tennis team, Oliver channels his frustrated adolescent lust into the game he loves. That is until the heartbreaking Lorna Peachley and the prospect of a place at Cambridge take his eye off the ball.

Notes:
adapted from book by Howard jacobson

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:  7            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Prayer For Owen Meany, A

Synopsis:
a modern American epic - compelling and darkly comic. playing baseball, Owen Meany hits a foul ball and kills his best friends mother. Owen does not believe in accidents, rather that he is God's instrument. What happens after that game is both extrodinary and terrifying. . .

Notes:
from John Irving

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Transformation Season

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London,    

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  30

Further Reference:
-

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Prick Up Your Ears

Prick Up Your Ears
Inspired by the John Lahr biography of the late British playwright Joe orton and the diaries of Orton himself

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Shelter

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Nt Studio, London    

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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Sugar Sugar

Sugar Sugar
the arrival of the enigmatic Mr Wilson brings a sexual charge that electrifies the household of Scarborough guest house and threatens to push it over the edge

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London,    

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Trouble With Girls, The

Synopsis:
5 young men in London council housing on the verge of eviction

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Nt Studio, London    

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:  5            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Under the Black Flag

Synopsis:
Long John Silver is so well-defined a figure that you feel he must have emerged from the womb fully equipped with his crutch, his parrot and his catchphrase "aH, Jim Lad". But Simon Bent imagines the early (two legged) life and adventures of the world's most famous pirate.
Paul Taylor, Independent

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Shakespeare's Globe, London     2006

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London,    

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  13            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Wasted

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London, 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  8 actors

Further Reference:
-

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Wigan Kiss

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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