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Frank Canino

FRANK CANINO

  
Nationality:    USA / Canadian
twitter     email:    Click here to contact     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

Frank received his M.A. in Theatre at Catholic University then worked in New York. thereafter he trained or worked in Canada, england, Poland, France and the U.S. as director, actor, teacher and Dramaturg. Writing projects range from film scripts to musicals and Dramas. His awards include a full Toronto Arts Council Grant and both year-long and short term grants from the Canada Council of the Arts, in addition to 30 awards and citations for scripts. His plays have been performed/read or workshopped Off-Off Broadway, Toronto, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sarasota, Hartford, and Memphis, and from Long Island to Texas and alaska . the angelina Project , published by Guernica editions in June of 2000, has been produced at universities and high schools across the country, and had its professional premiere in Buffalo in 2008. Frank has written for the screen through the National Film Board's Video Drama Workshop and was script editor for Pacun Peras Productions for five years. He also co-wrote Looking for angelina for Platinum Image Films, Canada which has been shown in Canada, Italy and India and received three awards to date. He currently resides at 724 Lafayette ave, 14222 in Buffalo, NY

Research:    Member of the Dramatists Guild of America (as at 2015)

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

         16671         Aleksandar Leaving         All Dressed Up And Nowhere To Go         Alter Boys Picnic, The         Angelina Project, The         Billy Buck & Jo-Jo         Bishop's Sons, The [Formerly >the Altar Boys' Picnic]         Everybody Is Sexy For Somebody         From Away         Guys Next Door, The         Hecuba         Hecuba Again         Iffie & Izzie: Family Stories         Looking For Angelina         Morning Vigil, The         Nightwalking: Ladderplay #7         No Trifling With Love         Perfect         Sara Plays Her Game         See You in St. Paul's         Swan Queen Meets the Radical Faerie, The         Swan Queen, The         Tango Ladies Dance On, The         Three Of Us, The         Via Crucis: A Way Of the Cross         Wally Loves Claude Loves Wally

16671

Synopsis:
16671 follows a young Franciscan brother who is sent to auschwitz in 1941. there he eventually discovers the horror of what the Holocaust will mean for everyone concerned. Day by day, he has to confront devastating challenges to his faith, his Church and his very personhood. In doing so, he discovers that a "saint" can impact your life forever - whether that person is a priest, imam, guru or rabbi. the story raises the difficult issue of Jewish-Christian relations, as it views the Holocaust from the point of view of a young religious who is totally unprepared by his training to deal with the evils he encounters. Canino traces the struggle between what we accomplish by our own actions versus what happens when we are inspired by "God's grace" - whatever that is. and in these dark and clownish times, the concept of "grace" may seem too remote and alien to merit any attention.

Notes:
aka the (Morning) Vigil , finalist in Hudson River Classics Showcase theatre. It was one of 12 finalists among 160 entries

1st Produced:
Unity Church, Buffalo, NY     2014

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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Aleksandar Leaving

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
aleksandar Leaving made it to the final Top 13 in the Canadian Short Screenplay Competition. It was chosen from several hundred entries from 21 countries including Canada, US, UK & Australia.

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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All Dressed Up And Nowhere To Go

Synopsis:
In a funeral parlour two middle-aged brothers and their wives keep watch over the body of the their dead brother. Memories, accusations, nostalgia and embarrassing revelations spill out under the pressure of grief --- or maybe relief! Was the dead brother a hero or a thief? Who should get his jewellery? and what happened to those bonds?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     2002

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:
comedy Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  1 silent walk on

Further Reference:
-

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Alter Boys Picnic, The

Synopsis:
Four priests who are coming up for retirement meet for their summer vacation. they have all been friends since seminary days.

Notes:
aka the Bishop's Sons

1st Produced:
-     2007

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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Angelina Project, The

Synopsis:
It's not a documentary or a kitchen sink soap opera about victims. But it is a play about how abuse travels from one generation to another. about how prejudice can destroy a family. and about the secrets and lies that shape you forever, even when you don't realize it. the angelina Project is based on an actual event. In 1911 angelina Napolitano, an Italian immigrant, killed her abusive husband as he lay asleep on easter Sunday. Within a month she was on trial --- which lasted a single morning. Condemned to hang, her sentence was deferred until she gave birth to her fifth child. a reprieve saved her life, but she spent 11 years in jail. What happened to her and her children after that? Frank Canino creates an imaginative conjecture about the next three generations of her family. along the way, he explores issues of abuse, violence, prejudice and media hype.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Alleyway Theatre Buffalo     2008

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Guernica editions [Toronto/Monteal] (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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  6            Other:  1 female child [optional]

Further Reference:
-

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Billy Buck & Jo-Jo

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
E-Script and Hard Copy, ArtAge Publications    -

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 10 min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  0            Other:  0

Further Reference:
-

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Bishop's Sons, The [Formerly >the Altar Boys' Picnic]

Synopsis:
Four priests in their mid-fifties meet for a reunion at the dead bishop's summer residence where they used to come for their annual altar boys' picnic. Now the four men are at a critical moment in their careers. One of them is on the verge of leaving the priesthood, another is involved in a love affair, and still another is facing a life threatening illness. they spend the day with an aging priest and a young seminarian, a survivor from the Rwanda genocide. as the day wears on these six men reveal -- sometimes against their will-- how problematic their lives have become, and how they have become estranged from the Church which should have nurtured them. No one will be the same after this picnic, where decisions must be made and unpleasant news dealt with.

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:  6            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Everybody Is Sexy For Somebody

Synopsis:
Two senior couples are looking for sex in all the wrong places. the wives decide to go in for a new career as telephone sex-kittens, while the husbands pursue a new hobby that complements their wives' choice. Look out for trouble!

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
E-Script and Hard Copy, ArtAge Publications    -

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 10 min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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From Away

Synopsis:
A group of American ex-pats living in Canada have gathered every year to celebrate Thanksgiving, but it's November 4, 2008, the night of the presidential election. Complications arise when a soldier's family seeking asylum in Canada appears on their doorstep, asking for help.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Albert Invincible Theatre & Talk Back Theatre. Buffalo, NY     2013

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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Guys Next Door, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Short Script Festival. 2nd Round Qualifier.

1st Produced:
-     2014

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hecuba

Synopsis:
After winning the war the victors are merciless, but sometimes the victims can turn the tables. Legend has it that Athens exiled Euripides as a trouble maker. Come and see why. "No one behaves well in a war!"

Notes:
by Euripides

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hecuba Again

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
[Reading] Buffalo Infringement Festival, Buffalo, New York     24 Jul 2014

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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Iffie & Izzie: Family Stories

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
[staged reading] Albert Invincible Theatre. Buffalo, NY     24 Jul 2015

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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Looking For Angelina

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     2014

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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Morning Vigil, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
aka 16671

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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Nightwalking: Ladderplay #7

Synopsis:
A wife realises that her husband disappears during the night when he thinks she is asleep

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Madison West High School. Madison, WI.     2015

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Lazy Bee Publishers   -

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 piece

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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No Trifling With Love

Synopsis:
Perdican, returns from the university of Paris to his father's chateau, where the elderly and fussy Baron presides over his pastoral kingdom. also returning is Camille, Perdican's younger cousin, only 18 and fresh from the convent. they have not seen each other for nearly ten years, and it is the Baron's hope -- and detailed plot - that they will marry. all seems set for an ideal marriage, but Camille is withdrawn and announces her return to the convent to become a nun. a humiliated Perdican seeks consolation with a peasant girl, Rosette. So the stage is set for a pastoral love comedy. Or is it? the scenes shift between the grotesque and blinded older generation who act more like puppets than people, and the younger generation who use love as a weapon , but with no idea of what the tragic results can be.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Alfred de Musset

1st Produced:
Dorothy Somerset Studio Theatre, University Of British Columbia     20 Nov 1968

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:
Translation

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  Chorus of Villagers

Further Reference:
-

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Perfect

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
British Theatre Challenge. Semi-Finalist. Sky Blue Theatre

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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Sara Plays Her Game

Synopsis:
Welcome to Madame Sara Joel's French class. Sara not only teaches you correct pronunciation but also relates stories from her childhood in Paris during the Second World War. She had a flirtatious mother, a jealous Father - and then there were the Nazis who threatened their very existence. How did they survive? By learning to play a very special game --- a game that saved her life. after that, how difficult can French vowels be?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Sonnet Theatre     21 Sep 2012

Organisations:
Brief Acts Company

1st Published:
E-Script and Hard Copy, ArtAge Publications    -

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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See You in St. Paul's

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
part of evening of short pieces inspired by artwork of Charles Burchfield.

1st Produced:
[reading] Burchfield-Penney Art Center. Buffalo, NY     08 Jan 2016

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:
ten min play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Swan Queen Meets the Radical Faerie, The

Synopsis:
Lenore Hayden-Bigley, a retired ballerina, finds unexpectedly that her stepson, Philip, has aIDS and a very bad attitude, while struggling with her own diagnosis of breast cancer. Her husband deserts her during this critical moment, leaving Philip as the only one left to help her. Slowly and clumsily, they find a way of living with each other, as they both face the threat of death. Ironically, they have each become the guide and model for the other's journey into death. This is a "comedy under a cloud", proving that art and laughter are the best revenge.

Notes:
semi-finalist in Flickers:the Rhode Island International Film Festival: the competition received a record number of 367 entries; from these, 34 were selected as semi-finalists by an international team of adjudicators

1st Produced:
Part Of The Newworks@Theworks Reading Series     12 Oct 2013

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:
Comedy -Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Swan Queen, The

Synopsis:
Lenore Hayden Bigley encounters her step-son, her new psycho- therapist and then us as her closest friend as she deals with the shock of her diagnosis for cancer.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Myriad Festival , New York     1999

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Lazy Bee Publishers - Southhampton 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:
monologue 35 minutes

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Tango Ladies Dance On, The

Synopsis:
Two women sit in the dressing room of a cheap "tango bar" somewhere in Toronto, preparing for their performance. emperatriz came from argentina 10 years ago, and has had most of her dreams stifled, while Rubidia, an emigrant of less than 5 years, still has hopes of an acting career. each dreams of a different life and a home where they may be secure, though each has a very different image of what a "home" may be. the homes they came from were dark and troubled so that they know they can never go back. the play covers one critical day in their life when they are forced to make decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.

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:  2            Other:  1m [offstage voice]

Further Reference:
-

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Three Of Us, The

Synopsis:
Dentist avi Feldman and teacher/poet Vinny Riccabono decide to leave New York and settle in Buffalo, where their plans also include adopting a child. In a series of short scenes interspersed with songs, avi and Vinny pursue their often conflicting dreams in a series of encounters with friends, lawyers, and a priest, who alternately help and hinder, encourage and discourage them. Finally they adopt a bi-racial child. But the two men discover that parenting - with all its glories - also involves anxiety, jealousy, and resentment, in addition to prejudice from people around them and even between themselves. Why does anyone parent? How do you adapt to this baby, when the child brings new problems into your relationship? and can you adopt one child without thinking of adopting another?

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:
Comedy-Drama with songs

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  Musician [optional]

Further Reference:
-

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Via Crucis: A Way Of the Cross

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Via Crucis: A Way of the Cross received 6 citations: FilmMakers International - Platinum Prize Winner in Drama category, Screenplay Search Screenwriting Competition - Finalist, Write Movies International Contest - Quarter Finalist, Cynosure Screenwriting Awards - Quarter Finalist, Indie Gathering Script Writing Contest - Honorable Mention, Westfield Screenwriting - Honorable Mention.

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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Wally Loves Claude Loves Wally

Synopsis:
Wally and Claude move into their first house, but the unexpected arrival of Claude's mother drives Wally to the local park where he is entrapped and arrested for indecent assault. the script traces the comic -- and not so comic -- dilEmmas of dealing with mothers, a court case, religious differences, AIDS, cultural friction ---- and trying to maintain a relationship in an unfriendly world.

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:
Comedy Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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