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Marisha Chamberlain

MARISHA CHAMBERLAIN  

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

Literary Agent:    n/a


Marisha Chamberlain is best known for her play Scheherazade, which won the Dramatists Guild/CBS regional and national awards and has been produced widely throughout the United States and in London and Toronto. Her other plays include the angels of Warsaw, winner of the Midland authors award, and Snow in the Virgin Islands, winner of the Twin Cities Drama Critics Circle award. Besides Young Jane eyre and Little Women, which played at the Stratford Festival Theater, Ms. Chamberlain has adapted a number of works for the stage including Nancy Drew, aesop's Fables, the Canterville Ghost, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. She is currently director of the Seneca Falls Project which features her chamber opera, Meeting at Seneca Falls, created with composer Carol Barnett, with whom she also wrote the World Beloved: a Bluegrass Mass. Ms. Chamberlain is a recipient of numerous awards and fellowships and lives with her family in Hastings, MinnesotA.

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

 Animal Fables From Aesop         Canterville Ghost, The         Evergreen: A Christmas Story         Hope For Breakfast         Little Women (Full-Length)         Little Women (One-Act)         Nightingale, The         Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm         Scheherazade         Young Jane Eyre

Animal Fables From Aesop

Synopsis:
a play-within-a-play operetta led by the narration of a goat. We are swept into a peaceable kingdom where the players at a country fair weave together 16 of aesop's enchanting fables. We learn the classic morals of "slow and steady wins the race" and "practice makes perfect" along with the more obscure "shun the quack" and "fancy dress cannot change the body inside" and are rewarded with real life lessons in a fun and exciting setting.

Notes:
Barbara McClintock, Author; Marisha Chamberlain, playwright; Roberta Carlson, music

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
http://www.playsforyoungaudiences.org   -

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 audience

Parts:
Male:  15            Female:  15            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Canterville Ghost, The

Synopsis:
a no-nonsense American family buys an old mansion in rural england, scoffing at warnings of a fierce and violent resident ghost. the spirited Americans -- Mother, Father, young Virginia, and her mischievous little twin brothers -- may have found their match in the equally spirited and clever ghost, who is determined to scare them out or worse. He's outnumbered, however, and in the end, kind-hearted Virginia helps him fulfill the terms of the legend that allow him release into the afterlife.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York   -

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:
85-100 min Comedy/Drama

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Evergreen: A Christmas Story

Synopsis:
Toby McGarvey returns from his first semester as a freshman at New York University, home for the holidays to the small town of Hopely, Minnesota. He expects to find Hopely preserved as he left it, but now in awe of him. a rude awakening: His girlfriend has dumped him for his brother, and his dad has published in the town paper the letters he wrote home, exaggerating his adventures in the big city and sneering about his hometown to cover up his profound homesickness. Toby is in for a discomfiting but humorous journey toward rediscovering his home. Can he rise above his boiling anger as he watches his brother's demonstrative affection toward his old girlfriend? Is he falling in love with his eccentric old grade school teacher? Can the secret life of Christmas be just as good as or even better than the sentimental Christmas everybody's supposed to want?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Phoenix Theater (Red Wing, MN, United States)    2000

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York   -

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:
75-90 min Family Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hope For Breakfast

Synopsis:
Hope for Breakfast intertwines the beloved story of Little Womenwith what actually went on in the family life of the novel's author, Louisa May alcott. Living in the intellectual hub of Massachusetts, circa 1840, young Louisa strives to keep her family together and safe from starvation, despite the harebrained schemes of her father, the Transcendentalist philosopher Bronson alcott, who has sworn off working for money. at points of unbearable tension, Louisa retreats to an imaginary world -- the harmonious family life of her novel,Little Women -- whose publication ultimately leads to a precipitous and ironic rise in her real family's fortunes.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Horizons Theatre (staged reading) (Washington, DC, United States)    1990

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York   -

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:
130-145 min Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Little Women (Full-Length)

Synopsis:
Louisa May Alcott's chronicle about the March family in Civil War New England. Four sisters: pretty Meg, practical Jo, shy Beth, and vain little Amy, live with their mother and housekeeper while their father is away in the war. Jo is an avid writer who aspires to be a famous author someday and live an independent life. Meg looks towards a more traditional future as a wife with children. Sweet Beth is content to stay at home and play the piano. Amy wants the attention of her elder sisters and is quite mischievous when she is not included. All four girls are very different, yet they remain a close-knit family.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York   -

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:
100-110 min Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Little Women (One-Act)

Synopsis:
Under the guidance of their beloved mother, the four young March sisters -- tempestuous Jo, motherly Meg, shy Beth, and spoiled baby amy -- struggle to keep their family going while Father's away in the Civil War. In this beautifully Dramatized adaptation of the classic novel, even as privation, illness, and sibling rivalry cast their shadows, each girl strives to find her true self. (a full-length version of this play is also available.)

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
N. B. Forrest High School (Jacksonville, FL, United States)    2006

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York   -

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:
35-45 min Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Nightingale, The

Synopsis:
the majesty, grace and poetic ritual of ancient China are vividly depicted in this enthralling tale of the emperor who neglects the lyrical song of a humble nightingale for the artificial splendor of a mechanical bird. the real nightingale is banished from the empire. Years pass by unhappily until one day the emperor falls gravely ill. as the figure of death lingers near his bed, the emperor cried out for music from the artificial bird. But the bird does not respond; there is no one to wind it up. Suddenly, from the window, the song of the real nightingale fills the room. She had heard the emperors suffering and had returned to bring him hope and comfort. Death retreats from the emperors chambers and he rises from his bed, giving thanks to the nightingale.

Notes:
adapted from Hans Christian Andersen

1st Produced:
the Children's Theatre Company-Minneapolis.    1983

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
http://www.playsforyoungaudiences.org/scripts/the-nightingale   -

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:
TYA 90 min

Parts:
Male:  17            Female:  5            Other:  ensemble

Further Reference:
-

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Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm

Synopsis:
Rebecca, a bright, outspoken young girl, leaves her farmland home to live with her two elderly aunts in the town of Riverboro, Maine. On the farm, Rebecca didnt have to worry about conventional rules placed upon a young girl growing up during the turn of the century. However, when Rebecca moves to the city, her independent nature is tested. Once she starts exploring the town of Riverboro, tongues start wagging. Rebeccas aunt Miranda is unamused when she finds out that Rebecca has spoken out of turn in class, sold soap door-to-door, and ruined the gingham dress made especially for her. This original adaptation focuses on the conflict between the strong-willed personalities of Rebecca and her aunt Miranda, and Rebeccas struggle to please her elderly aunt while trying to find her own place in the world.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York
Plays for Young audiences   -

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:
110-125 min Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  9            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Scheherazade

Synopsis:
as the play begins, eve, arriving home in the late evening, is seized by a man in a ski mask who forces her to take him to her apartment. Once there he rapes her-and announces that, as she has ripped away his mask, he will have to kill her. But first there is a chilling pas de deux in which eve stalls for time and the rapist (Joe) reveals that he has been watching her for months from a nearby rooftop and knows even the smallest details of her daily life. Controlling her fear and loathing, eve tries to convince Joe that she finds him attractive, that she is ready to give herself to him willingly. although suspicious at first, Joe's vanity overrules his caution, and eve seizes the moment to flee, fortunately into the hands of two policemen who are patrolling outside her apartment. the trapped Joe tries to convince the officers that eve is hysterical, that she has invited him to her apartment, but the ruse fails, and he is taken off. Yet the ordeal is not over, for eve must exorcise the shock and repugnance whic

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

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:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Young Jane Eyre

Synopsis:
In this adaptation of the first nine chapters of Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece, 10-year-old Jane eyre is driven from Gateshead Manor, where she lives as a despised poor relation, to a harshly disciplined boarding school where she nevertheless makes true friends, faces her past, and prepares herself for an independent future as a governess.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York   -

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:
90-100 min Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  30            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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