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Sean Burn

SEAN BURN

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

Literary Agent:    n/a

sean's plays are performed by breaking binary; ctc; first draft; free-thinking festival; gobscure; grampian hospital arts trust; half moon; house of orphans; maverick; pegasus; paines plough; queens hall arts; the door; under construction; weaver-hughes ensemble; zeitgeist. since 2012, four plays of sean burns have been produced/toured. a short run of calyx at the capital plays festival, mac, birmingham, 2012, followed the successful national tour of next swan down the river might be black which was shortlisted for the bbc's alfred bradley bursary award and published by aurora metro. in september 2014, house of orphans perform sean's play fell at the page to stage festival, liverpool. in october / november 2014 gobscure stage a national tour of sean's full-length monologue collector of tears for which he received his second peggy ramsay foundation grant in 2012. aurora metro will again publish the script. throughout 2014 graeae theatre in association with the royal court, soho theatre and national theatre studio has sean as one of only five writers nationally accepted onto a unique writers development programme. sean is really excited by this recognition for the quality of his work. graeae will give a rehearsed reading of flowers of the forest, december 2014

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

         Black on White Shorts         Calyx         Chair Held Aloft         Cocoon         Collector Of Tears, The         Cutter         Fell         Flowers Of the Forest         Ghost-Tag         In An Age Of Double-Glazing Defenestration Becomes Twice As Hard         Next Swan Down the River Might Be Black         Red Voice         Ryan Yr Tits Are Leakin         Sweet         Taking the Blood Of Butterflies         Terra         Voices         When I Return As Lenin         Widescream
Black on White Shorts

Synopsis:
An unmissable opportunity to catch some of the most exciting, funniest, life-enhancing short plays written this year, commissioned from the sharpest young playwrights from Cumbria, Northumberland, Durham, Tyneside and Teeside.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Paines Plough

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 play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Calyx

Synopsis:
if you were abducted and held for 2,000 days could you grow back into your previous life? can you now let go of the man who kept you captive for so long? this is the dilEmma that calyx, eighteen and newly freed from captivity faces. a calyx is the part of a flower that protects the developing bud and this is the name that this young woman now wishes to be called. is she strong enough to fight against the circumstances of her abduction? in this lyrical play by sean burn come and witness how calyx manages to build a fragile hope for herself despite it all.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Mac, Birmingham, England     24 May 2012

Organisations:
gobscure

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:
contemporary Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Chair Held Aloft

Chair Held Aloft
-

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:
monologues

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Cocoon

Cocoon
part of the First Break writing showcase

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:
monologues

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Collector Of Tears, The

Collector Of Tears, The
collector of tears is a universal, epic and poetic love story from across four centuries told to us by sunderland born tanya sealt, a woman who cannot age until she has cried. in this magical monologue with live musical accompaniment she collects tears from moments of radical english history and her own sexual history with both men and women. she slowly learns to fight for human rights and comes to understand and name her own bisexuality forged across centuries. she even gifts the original story of king lear to shakespeare. wherever she goes she carries with her and unpacks an amazing collection of glass tear-bottles and tells their stories - the levellers during the english civil war, rescuing mary wollstonecraft from the thames, peterloo massacre, the 1844 northumberland and county durham miners strike, dancing with emma goldman etc. having been moved on from every place and losing every lover, on the day of margaret thatchers resignation (22/11/90) tanya finally stands her ground and fights those who have hunted her and her lovers down through time; finally learning how to cry.

Notes:
extensively rewritten, this one woman, full-length monologue tours nationally, october/november 2014, by gobscure.

1st Produced:
Hexham, Northumberland     2009

Organisations:
queens hall Arts centre

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:
full-length monologue

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Cutter

Synopsis:
is a full length script commissioned by half moon theatre principally for audiences aged 13 - 19. it has 2 characters (granda (kane) and his grand-daughter, louise, nicknamed cutter) & explores coal and carnival, boxing and grief, strategies for fighting and survival thru trauma. told thru various flashbacks to earlier, happier times as well as the more uncertain present - it explores carnivals roots, boxing as a discipline rather than as indiscriminate weapon, and the temptation to self-harm when all becomes too much. cutter is one of thatchers children. born in 1979, becoming 18 in 1997, she has lived thru the destruction of her mining community and watched her family die. with only her granda, an ex-boxer, ex-miner, to guide her - she has witnessed so much decline. her granda brought her up to fight but she teaches him when to still the anger, when to temper the passion with justice. now faced with his death due to emphysema & lung cancer from the mines, she finds it hard to see any future to fight for. boxing is a tool which she uses but still she longs for her mothers tendernesses. her mother died young and its been hard going raised by granda who loves her but finds it hard to show a tender side. she has resorted to self-harm at times because of her loneliness and her fears and now her grief. she is encouraged to return to the ring and fight for what she believes. regaining strength, self-determination, free from ghosts of the past, free of self-harm, she wins thru - winning the boxing bout. she gets to achieve her wish.

Notes:
time outs play of the year for children And young people, 2004

1st Produced:
Half Moon Young People's Theatre     29 Sep 2004

Organisations:
half moon Theatre, London

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:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Fell

Synopsis:
fell is set on dove crags, cumbria on the longest day of the year, 2007. age fifteen dee and mol bonded in their care-home over a shared love of carter u.s.m. dee kissed mol when he thought mol was unconscious after a deliberate cliff fall in this location. separated ever since as mol used his subsequent hospitalisation to run from care-home abuse. now both are thirty, dee has just given evidence against the care-home abuser of mol and they are reunited on dove crags. dee unburdens himself of a lie that have been eating at him since they first met. finally they rekindle the spark of love which first flowered briefly all those years ago. fell first received rehearsed readings by cloud nine theatre company (bishop auckland), and dada fest, (liverpool). it is now being fully staged by house of orphans. fell is a poetic two-hander by sean burn which explores the triumph of the human spirit and the power of love.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Page To Stage Festival, Liverpool     16 Sep 2014

Organisations:
house of orphans

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:
drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Flowers Of the Forest

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
[Rehearsed Reading] London     01 Dec 2014

Organisations:
Grae

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:
monologues

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ghost-Tag

Ghost-Tag
rhiannon looks like a small town girl and single mother; but her nightlife as graffiti artist means her tag (ghost) has become admired around the world. one fateful night she saves a coppers life while out tagging and wildstyling and realises she must now move on

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Courtyard Theatre And Barrons Court Theatre, London     2006

Organisations:
under construction t.c.

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/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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In An Age Of Double-Glazing Defenestration Becomes Twice As Hard

Synopsis:
a power battle between Father - seemingly respectable -who is abusing daughter who suffers from dissociation due to this; daughter finds freedom in tapes of music (etta james, janice joplin) mysteriously posted thru letterbox

Notes:
Part of Black on White Shorts. play subsequently developed into A full-length script - little girl blue with A 3rd character - woman, who was mothers lover And now saves daughter, (its her music tapes posted thru letterbox to save mother And now daughter). play came second in irelands corcadorca theatre Awards, 2004. final scene (4) was presented At hampstead theatre, Aut 2005, directed by Vanessa Mobiglia.

1st Produced:
Live Theatre, Bolton Octagon, West Yorkshire Playhouse     33/1999

Organisations:
paines plough

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Next Swan Down the River Might Be Black

Next Swan Down the River Might Be Black
you think you wont survive, but you do'. acclaimed playwright sean burn (time outs play of the year 2004, peggy ramsay award 2006, dadafest shortlisted artist 2009) brings you his latest play : next swan down the river might be black. this is a poetic and personal response to being sectioned under the mental health act. we follow the shifting alliances of three young women on a psychiatric ward over one momentous week. cerys, 19, black and depressive, kay, 26, white and bipolar and zee - a pakistani british student nurse and former service user are all fighting a faceless institution in their own way. at stake are their well-beings and their friendships as they struggle to find creative paths through life. the play examines diversity, friendships, sexualities and power at a time of rising uncertainties. collectively the characters ask if we can summon courage to live through it all, a theme with universal resonances. this hauntingly lyrical play has a fragile hopefulness at its core and is a huge contribution to the diversity of our society in which one in four will experience mental ill-health at some point in their lives.

Notes:

1st Produced:

Organisations:
gobscure

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:
contemporary Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Red Voice

Synopsis:
red voice is a sequence of monologues constructed in response to a sectioning over the 6 months prior to september '02. i tried writing the first scraps in ICU as an attempt to keep hold of recent events. staff grudgingly allowed me to write, provided i sat at 1 specific place in the secure unit main-room, at set times and while supervised, and no other disturbances occurring. writing was then locked in their office, the pen confiscated. physically negotiating the piece of paper under these conditions made me feel i was working samizdat-like, and engaged in a process of considerable struggle. on discharge i couldnt write - but managed to turn instead to recording a series of improvised monologues. red voice teases out subtleties, humour, wisdom, creativities, turning points - in short, the narratives of people who are excluded from the 'cannons' of literature and psych-narrative

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
author

1st Published:
in edgecities - skrev press,    

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:
monologues

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ryan Yr Tits Are Leakin

Ryan Yr Tits Are Leakin
-

Notes:
part of "Breaking The Binary"

1st Produced:
Roxy Art House, Edinburgh     Spring 2009

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:
monologues

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sweet

Synopsis:
sweet is an uplifting and exciting one-woman show starting from the two hundredth anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the british empire, and weaving together a rich story of four brave women whose lives together span those two centuries.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Darlington Arts Centre     2007

Organisations:
ctc

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 for young people

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Taking the Blood Of Butterflies

Synopsis:
taking the blood ov butterflies concerns the insanities of war; those who survive; those who dont. it is a radical reworking of woyzeck condensed down to 6 characters as archetypes from across cultures and to a contemporary 'peace-keeping' mission - represented by the American colonel, the english doctor, the french private - andre and german private - zek. they are 'losing the 'peace', scarcely keeping order within the perimeter. the territory 'protected' is represented by mother and her daughter - a child of war, mute since birth - but who manages to change all the other characters by performing 'magical realist' events. andre becomes the plays central character moving from a position of 'wanting to serve' thru to a loathing of war and a realisation of all that they stand for.

Notes:
loosely Adapted from Woyzeck

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Weaver Hughes ensemble

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:
80 min one act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Terra

Synopsis:
How far would you go to preserve the environment from developers?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Kings Head Theatre, London     2009

Organisations:
Zeitgeist 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:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Voices

Synopsis:
cut england out from a map & balance it on a pin; the phoenix estate where this play is set is the points where it all starts to tip over. following the death of a child killed by her stepbrother, all the youth of the local estate are placed under surveillance, curfews, bans on assemblies. they are pushed to extremes by this and other circumstances such as bullying and mental health and forced to react. some form an anti-gang creating street theatre, flyposting beautiful enigmatic statements and other moments of beauty among the urban while another group believe they are forced towards suicide bombing themselves. the two worlds collide when they both decide to take over the same space at the same time with fateful consequences. the protagonist naomi is undergoing first term psychosis as a result of the oppression; she alone can see/ hear red - a bird which has hung around the phoenix for over a thousand years, as a result of children then saving her from the hunt; can she now help naomi to win over the phoenix estate/

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Pegasus Theatre, Oxford     28 Mar 2006

Organisations:
pegasus youth 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:
youth theatre play Youth audience

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  12            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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When I Return As Lenin

When I Return As Lenin
-

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:
monologues

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Widescream

Widescream
-

Notes:
one of the winners of "Six degrees of Seperation" competition

1st Produced:
Old Vic, London     2010

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:
monologues

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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