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Nick Dear

NICK DEAR

  (1955 - )
Nationality:    British
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Rosica Colin Ltd  

Born in Portsmouth in 1955, Mr. Dear's career was that of a teacher of film and photography before he became a full-time playwright in 1981. Nick Dear's plays include Lunch in Venice (NT Connections, 2005); Power (NT, 2003); the Villains' Opera (NT, 2000); Zenobia (RSC, 1995); In the Ruins (Bristol Old Vic, 1990); Food of Love (Theatre de Complicite, Almeida, 1988); the Art of Success (RSC, 1986); Pure Science (RSC, 1986); and Temptation (RSC, 1984). He also collaborated with Peter Brook on the development of Qui est la? (Bouffes du Nord, 1996). His adaptations include the Promise (after Arbuzov, Tricycle, 2002); Summerfolk (after Gorky, NT, 1999); Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (after Moliere, NT, 1992); the Last Days of Don Juan (after Tirso de Molina, RSC ,1990); and A Family Affair (after Ostrovsky, Cheek by Jowl, 1988). His screenplays include Persuasion, the Turn of the Screw, Cinderella, the Gambler, Byron, eroica and Agatha Christie's Poirot. Opera libretti include the Palace in the Sky (eNO / Hackney empire, 2001); and Siren Song (Almeida Opera Festival, 1994). He has also written extensively for BBC Radio, beginning with his first play, Matter Permitted (1980).

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

         Art Of Success, The         Bed, The         Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Le         Chain Play, The         Dark Earth And the Light Sky, The         Family Affair, A         Food Of Love         Frankenstein         In the Ruins         Last Days Of Don Juan, The         Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme         Lunch In Venice         Palace In the Sky         Perfect Alibi, The         Power         Promise, The         Pure Science         Qui Est La?         Summerfolk         Taste Of The Town, The         Temptation         Turn Of the Screw, The         Villains' Opera, The         Zenobia
Art Of Success, The

Art Of Success, The
coruscating portrait of William Hogarth used to discuss the role and responsibility of the artist

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
RSC

1st Published:

Music:
-

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Genre:
biographical play

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bed, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Colchester, Essex     1985

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Le

Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Le
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - Moliere

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

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Genre:
adaptation

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:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dark Earth And the Light Sky, The

Dark Earth And the Light Sky, The
Deep in the Hampshire countryside Edward Thomas, disaffected husband, exhausted Father and tormented writer, scrapes a living. In 1913 he meets American poet Robert Frost and everything changes. As their friendship blossoms Edward writes, emerging from his cocoon of self-doubt into one of the most influential poets of the twentieth century. But he makes the drastic decision to enlist, confounding his friends and family.

Notes:
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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

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Family Affair, A

Synopsis:
satirical comedy of loose morals and lost manners

Notes:
Original Playwright - Alexander Ostrovsky

1st Produced:
London     1988

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Absolute Press, Bath, 1989   

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

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Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Food Of Love

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Written by Nick Dear And David Sawer

1st Produced:
Almeidia Theatre, London     14 Jun 1988

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

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Genre:
Monologue play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Frankenstein

Frankenstein
Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein's bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the friendless Creature, increasingly desperate and vengeful, determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal. Urgent concerns of scientific responsibility, parental neglect, cognitive development and the nature of good and evil are embedded within this thrilling and deeply disturbing classic gothic tale.

Notes:
based on the novel by Mary Shelley

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

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Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  11            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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In the Ruins

Synopsis:
Virtual monologue by King George III which contrasts the image of the monarchy with the reality of the monarch.

Notes:
broadcast 1984

1st Produced:
New Vic, Bristol     1989

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

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Last Days Of Don Juan, The

Synopsis:
Don Juan: lover or rapist? trickster or psychopath/ martyr or demon? Moliere, Mozart, Pushkin, Byron, Shaw and Camus, to name but a few, have all taken the story of Don Juan as a source of inspiration for their art, philosophy and imagination, defending or condemning him in turn. But it was Tirso de Monlina's classic 17th Century Spanish masterpiece el Burlador de Sevilla which began and created the whole Don Juan mythology. In a theatre as vital, rich and varied as its Elizabethan counterpart, Spain's Golden age mixed the serious and the comic, the sacred and the profane, and produced that rare thing: great art that manages to be truly entertaining.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Tirso de Molina

1st Produced:
Stratford-On-Avon     1990

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Absolute Press, Bath, 1990   

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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Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

Synopsis:
Monsieur Jourdain's obsessive desire to associate with the gentry provides the backdrop for this classic on snobbery

Notes:
Original Playwright - Moliere

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Absolute Press, Bath, 1992   

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:  8            Female:  8            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Lunch In Venice

Synopsis:
Something is weird on the Rialto

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Cottesloe, London     09 Jul 2005

Organisations:
Coleg Sir Gar, Llanelli, Shell Connections 2005

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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Palace In the Sky

Synopsis:
Based on the Tower of Babel story, this is a large scale community opera for the people of Hackney. Performances will involve 150 local people, including groups from primary and secondary schools, youth groups, adults elders and a multi-cultural range of musical groups, incorporating a diversity of musical styles.

Notes:
music Jonathan Dove, lyrics Nick Dear

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Perfect Alibi, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Colchester, Essex     1980

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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Power

Synopsis:
somewhat reductive, account of the early years of Louis XIV's reign. the thrust of the play is therefore modernity versus tradition, as well as Louis' growing recognition of the pleasures of power as he first casts aside his mother and then Fouquet, a rather more obstinate opponent than even the formidable anne of austria

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 2003   

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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Promise, The

Synopsis:
In the savage 1942 winter siege of Leningrad, as the Russians fight off the Nazi invaders, three teenagers - Lika, Marat and Leondik - are thrown together. Losing everything from their past, they forge a new love that binds them and a new hope which keeps them alive: the promise of a better future.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Aleksei Arbuzov. From the translation by Ariadne Nicolaeff.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 2002   

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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Pure Science

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
broadcast 1983

1st Produced:
Stratford-On-Avon     1986

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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Qui Est La?

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
collaboration with Peter Brook

1st Produced:
Bouffes Du Nord, Paris     1996

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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Summerfolk

Synopsis:
In Nick Dear's version of Gorky's naturalistic masterpiece a diverse group of Russians meet, as they do every year, at their summer holiday retreat. Some are frightened at the prospect of change, some are angry and some yearn for a new life. as they question the value of their work, their art and leisure, they're shocked by the responses their disputes reveal. Relationships break under the strain and scandals of business and infidelity are laid bare.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Maxim Gorky

1st Produced:

Organisations:
NT ensemble

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 1999   

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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Taste Of The Town, The

Taste Of The Town, The
The Taste of the Town begins in Chiswick some thirty years later. Hogarth, now a famous artist, is still at odds with the world, and with his wife. Facing public ridicule for what he considers his finest painting, he goes looking for one last fight.

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:
biographical play

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Temptation

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
London     1984

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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Turn Of the Screw, The

Synopsis:
story of a young, inexperienced governess only recently released into the world from the confines of her father's country parsonage, and charged with looking after two young children at a remote country estate in essex

Notes:
story by Henry James

1st Produced:
Bristol Old Vic     2005

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Plays 1, Faber, London, 2000   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Booksellers:

Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Villains' Opera, The

Synopsis:
trade in small-time scams. But his world is shattered when the charismatic villain, Macheath, not only plans to marry his daughter, Polly, but to move into a more dangerous level of activity. In Nick Dear's contemporary version of Gay's the Beggars' Opera, we are shown a modern London teeming with petty thieves, gangland hoods, corrupt politicians and bent coppers.

Notes:
music by Stephen Warbeck. After the Begger's Opera by John Gay

1st Produced:

Organisations:
National Theatre, London

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 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:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  large cast

Further Reference:
-

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Zenobia

Synopsis:
a story of love and adventure at the time of the decline of Imperial Rome as Zenobia makes a stand for independence against the empire

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 1995   

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

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Genre:
Historical

Parts:
Male:  24            Female:  1            Other:  extras

Further Reference:
-

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