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Oliver Butler

OLIVER BUTLER

  
Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    United Talent Agency  

Oliver is a founding member and co-Artistic Director of The Debate Society and has directed and toured with the company. In New York Mr. Butler has directed the world premieres of The Lapsburgh Layover, Buddy Cop 2, Cape Disappointment, Goodbye New York Goodbye Heart, The Eaten Heart, The Snow Hen, Red-Haired Thomas, Hostage Song, A Thought About Raya, You're Welcome, and Christmas with the Flamingos. He was the Assistant Artistic Director of The Berkshire Theatre Festival where he directed The Einstein Project and This is Our Youth. Mr. Butler has assisted directors including Jo Bonney, Pam Mackinnon, and John Rando. In 2004 and 2005 he was a participating director in Lincoln Center's Directors Lab. With Hannah and Paul, he is a Sundance Institute Fellow.

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

         Blood Play         Buddy Cop 2         Cafe Disappointment         Jacuzzi         Untitled Intentional Exercise 1

Blood Play

Blood Play
For their 7th full-length work, the Debate Society has created a darkly comic thriller of post-war verve and pre-adolescent disquiet. Blood Play is set in the tranquil Chicago suburb of Skokie in the early 1950s. While the kids are away on a camping trip with their Jr. Cherokee's Troop, a string of coincidences yields a spontaneous grown-up party. In the basement of a brand-new ranch house, exotic cocktails like "Rapupu Sours" are sampled, games like "Bee Pee Bo" are played and new friends like Jeep, the door-to-door photographer, are made. What an unforgettable night this is to be! BUT things are happening that no one is talking about. And something is stirring underground. Soon, the story spread . . . Whispers in the basement bars of the homes around the neighborhood. Rumors served at the soda shop. Kids, terrified, telling trembling tales in tents in the backyard . . . He's out there
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
written by Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen, developed by Oliver Butler

1st Produced:
the Bushwick Starr
207 Starr Street, #4, 2nd floor, Brooklyn, NY 11237     03 Oct 2012

Organisations:
the Debate Society

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:
comic thriller

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Buddy Cop 2

Buddy Cop 2
Two cops. . .in the kind of quiet little town where a kid dreams of growing up to be a fireman. Or a racecar driver. Where the only question you ask yourself at the end of the day is if you're gonna knock back your cold one at Swanky's, Spanky's, or Zingers. a town where neighbors pitch in to help neighbors in need, and where if you wake up in the middle of the night. . .you should keep your eyes closed. Because the man in red is there in the corner. Watching you. Smiling at you with his yellow eyes and black teeth. Best to pretend you're still asleep. In this comedic action/mystery of holiday nostalgia and athletic rigor, when a flood destroys the police station, the local cops set up shop in the nearby community center. Mysteries emerge. Criminals are chased. Racquetball is played. In this town, nothing is what it seems. . .or is it?

Notes:
written by Hannah Bos And Paul Thureen; developed by Oliver Butler

1st Produced:

Organisations:
the Debate Society

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:
dark comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Cafe Disappointment

Cafe Disappointment
a decaying drive-in comes to life with stories of lighthouses, naughty little girls, and places you imagine remembering. So please sit back, relax, refrain from loud talking and rough-housing, turn off your headlights, enjoy some tasty popcorn, put litter in its place, keep an eye on your children, think about how happy we could be, and remember that this country is full of dark, dark places along dark, dark roadways where dark, dark things can happen. the Debate Society's fourth full-length play transforms the upstairs space at P.S. 122 into their own version of a drive-in theater to present an intimate and absurd perspective of classic Americana. the Brooklyn-based play-makers invite audiences to experience the Feature Presentation from the comfort of their own private 4-seater, equipped with a cooler, speaker box, and a close-up view of the action. Like an evening at the drive-in, Cape Disappointment starts with a 'cartoon' and proceeds to the feature: a road-trip epic populated by characters racing across the crumbling landscapes of bygone hey-days. there's even an intermission tossed in just long enough to grab some popcorn."
- press release

Notes:
written by Hannah Bos And Paul Thureen. Developed by Oliver Butler

1st Produced:

Organisations:
the Debate Society

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:
Show

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Jacuzzi

Jacuzzi
In the Marshall family's peacefully remote Colorado ski chalet, Erik and Helene are making themselves very much at home. So at home, they just might stay for good. At the edge of civilization, the lifestyles of the rich collide with the lifestyles of the aimless in the bubbling waters of a hot tub...but beware what lurks beneath.

Notes:
written by Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen, developed by Oliver Butler

1st Produced:
Ars Nova, NY     Oct 2014

Organisations:
the Debate Society

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:
dark comedy 90 min

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Untitled Intentional Exercise 1

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
by Mac Wellman, Jessica Jelliffe, Jason Craig And Oliver Butler.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Stuck Pigs Squealing

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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