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Roddy Doyle

RODDY DOYLE  (1958 - )

 Nationality:    Irish
email:    n/a     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    John Sutton Management  represented by John Sutton

Roddy Doyle is the author of nine novels, a collection of stories, and Rory & Ita, a memoir of his parents. He has written five books for children and has contributed to a variety of publications including the New Yorker, McSweeney's, Metro eireann and several anthologies. He won the Booker Prize in 1993, for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha HA. Roddy has written for the stage and his plays include Brownbread and Guess Who's Coming For the Dinner. He co-adapted with Joe O'Byrne his novel the Woman who Walked into Doors and he co-wrote with Bisi Adigun a new version of the Playboy of the Western World. He also wrote the screenplays for the Snapper, the Van, Family, When Brendan Met Trudy and he co-wrote the screenplay for the Commitments. He lives and works in Dublin

Research:    http://www.irishplayography.com/person.aspx?personid=1710

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

         Brownbread         Commitments, The         Government Inspector, The         Guess Whose Coming For the Dinner         No Messin'With the Monkeys         Playboy Of the Western World, The         War         Woman Who Walked Into Doors, The

Brownbread

Brownbread
Three unemployed young men find a gun. they decide to use it to kidnap a bishop

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
the Passion Machine

1st Published:
the Passion Machine, Dublin (Penguin, London, 1994), 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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  2            Other:  doubling possible

Further Reference:
-

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Commitments, The

Synopsis:
the Commitments is the story of Jimmy Rabbitte, a young working class music fan, who shapes an unlikely bunch of amateur musicians and friends into an amazing live act, the finest soul band Dublin has ever produced. the show follows the journey of two members of a frustrated synthesizer band  the opening scene we find them playing but being ignored in a shop window  who turn to Jimmy, the local music expert, for help. lacing a classified advert in a music paper, Jimmy auditions a number of wannabes before finalising the new line up who he names the Commitments. the humour kicks in as the band get to know each other and their instruments, and proceed through early rehearsals for their first gig. Just as they improve and begin to get a name for themselves they combust. the backing singers are all getting off with the middle aged horn legend, the singer has entered Eurovision and the saxophone player has dangerous leaning towards a jazz career. Featuring soul classics Night Train, Try A Little Tenderness, In the Midnight Hour, Papa Was A Rolling Stone, Save Me, Mustang Sally, and many more.

Notes:
adapted from his own novel and screenplay

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 with music

Parts:
Male:  12            Female:  6            Other:  ensemble

Further Reference:
-

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Government Inspector, The

Synopsis:
the Mayor, the Judge, the Chief of Police and a host of the crooked characters are in an awful tailspin as a visit from a government inspector looms large on their town. Its all brown envelopes and bribes as this befuddled group frantically try to keep the show on the road at all costs. But could a case of mistaken identity sabotage their efforts? - http://www.irishplayography.com/play.aspx?playid=3755

Notes:
Original Playwright - Nikolai Gogol

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:  20            Female:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Guess Whose Coming For the Dinner

Synopsis:
This play takes a light-hearted look at the different reactions within one Irish family to the arrival for dinner of Ben, a Nigerian asylum seeker. In particular the play focuses on the father, Larry Linnane. He considers himself a liberal until his eldest daughter brings home the black fella.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
Calypso Productions In association with Dublin Theatre Festival

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:  3            Female:  4            Other:  doubling possible

Further Reference:
-

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No Messin'With the Monkeys

Synopsis:
three adult actors manipulating life-sized puppets play a family of monkeys living in Dublin zoo. the likable central gag is that behind humans' backs, the monkeys talk and act just like humans - in fact, they are the archetypical Doyle working-class Dublin family, eating "snack boxes" (take-away chicken and chips), slagging each other off, and acting rebelliously towards authority, particularly zookeepers and the Garda Siochana.
Karen Fricker, the Guardian

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
60 min childrens' play One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  3 actors and puppets

Further Reference:
-

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Playboy Of the Western World, The

Playboy Of the Western World, The
In this new version set in West Dublin, Christy Mahon is Christopher Malomo, a well-educated refugee from Nigeria, on the run after he killed his father with a pestle for pounding yams. Adapted from JM Synge.

Notes:
written by Bisi Adigun and Roddy Doyle

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:  6            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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War

War
the rivalry between two pub quiz teams

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
the Passion Machine

1st Published:
the Passion Machine, Dublin (Penguin, London, 1994), 1989   978-0140231151

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:  10            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Woman Who Walked Into Doors, The

Synopsis:
the Woman Who Walked Into Doors is the story of Paula Spencer - from schoolgirl to battered wife and alcoholic - and her love for the dangerous, charismatic Charlo. Paula struggles on the edge of deprivation but never gives up, always washes off the blood, and knows she must continue for her childrens sake.

Notes:
Adapted from Roddy Doyle's novel of the same name by Roddy Doyle and Joe O'Byrne

1st Produced:
the Helix, Dublin    01 May 2003

Organisations:
Up Beat Productions In association with the Helix

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:  4            Female:  9            Other:  doubling possible

Further Reference:
-

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