doollee banner
The Playwrights Database
contact doollee


David Farr

DAVID FARR  

 Nationality:    British
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Curtis Brown Group Ltd  (agent: Nick Marston)

David Farr is a playwright, screenwriter and stage director, whose plays have been performed all over the world. In recent years he has moved into film and television, working on the long running BBC show Spooks and completing his first feature film, Hanna, for Focus Features in 2009. David's Theatre career began when he became artistic Director of the Gate Theatre, London, in 1995. His work at the Gate earned him a reputation as one of the most exciting new talents in British Theatre, a reputation that he built on when he left the Gate to become artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic in 2002. His time at Bristol earned him a TMa award for Best Director for his production of a Midsummer Night's Dream. In 2005, David left Bristol and took up the post of artistic Director of the London's Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. David's tenure at the Theatre established it as a driving force in high quality visual Theatre. During his time there, he wrote and directed a hugely successful adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis, as well as directing the acclaimed devised piece Water with Filter Theatre. In 2009, David left the Lyric to become associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His first production was the Winter's Tale, starring Greg Hicks, which received rave reviews

Buy Plays with Doollee

Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.
AbeBooks.co.uk   AbeBooks.com   Stageplays.com   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template

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

         Crime And Punishment In Dalston         Danny Crowe Show, The         Danton's Death         Elton John's Glasses         Glue Wedding         Great Expectations         Heart Of Robin Hood, The         Love - the Musical         Magic Carpet, The         Max Klapper - A Life In Pictures         Metamorphosis         Nativity, The         Neville Southall's Washbag         Night Of the Soul         Odyssey, The         Paradise Lost         Queen Must Die, The         Ramayana, The         Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui, The         Ruckus In the Garden         Silence         Tamburlaine the Great         Thoughts Of Joan Of Arc On the English As She Burns At the Stake, The         Un Inspector, The         Water

Crime And Punishment In Dalston

Synopsis:
a young black man murders his Turkish landlord, and the race to hunt him down begins.

Notes:
book by Fedor Dostoevsky

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Company Of angels

1st Published:
in Plays 1, Faber and Faber, London, 2005   -

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:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Danny Crowe Show, The

Synopsis:
You are a nobody until you have been on television. and there is no better show than "the Danny Crowe Show" - anyone appearing on his programme is guaranteed fame and fortune. People are desperate to appear. a teenage boy stabs his father to death and now demands his moment of glory to tell his story

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Bush Theatre, London >>>    10 Oct 2001

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
StageScrpt, Faber and Faber, London, 2001   -

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:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Danton's Death

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - Georg Buchner

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:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Elton John's Glasses

Elton John's Glasses
Bill is a fanatical supporter of Watford F.C. Day after day he sits in his unfurnished flat, watching the 1984 Fa Cup Final with an obsession verging on madness. the video replays the fatal moment when the Watford goalkeeper fumbles the ball and everton take a two-nil lead. Bill blames the goalkeeper's mishap on the glare from elton John's sunglasses. Reconciled to an agoraphobic existence, Bill laments the decline of his beloved team: 'It was there the dream died.' a comedy about ageing, failure and football, elton John's Glasses is the work of a prodigiously talented Dramatist with a rare sympathy for character and relationships.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 1998   978-0571195770

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

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Glue Wedding

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
BAC, London >>>    08 Sep 1991

Organisations:
Cambridge Mummers

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:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Great Expectations

Synopsis:
Highly Dramatic . . . this bold and imaginative approach breathes invigorating fresh life into the popular tale.' BBC Bristol

Notes:
From Dickens

1st Produced:
Old Vic, Bristol, UK, >>>    15 Apr 2003

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Plays 1, Faber and Faber, London, 2005   -

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:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Heart Of Robin Hood, The

Heart Of Robin Hood, The
the notorious Robin Hood and his band of outlaws steal from the rich, creating a fearsome reputation amongst those who dare to travel through the mighty forest of Sherwood. But they do not share their spoils with the poor and are unloved by the people, who must also pay unfair taxes to the evil Prince John as he plots to steal his brother's crown. In this time of chaos and fear, it is down to Marion to boldly protect the poor and convince Robin that he must listen to his heart if they are to save the country.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Royal shakespeare Company

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:
family show

Parts:
Male:  12            Female:  4            Other:  extras

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Love - the Musical

Synopsis:
Set in an old people's home - a kind of Romeo and Juliet in reverse - Love is a romantic musical with a professional cast and a chorus of local senior citizens singing songs by popular artists. Neville is 80 and slowly wasting away in an unremarkable care home. His life seems to be heading for a predictable end until Margaret arrives for a short stay. Margaret, 78 and terrified of what will happen to her, meets Neville over tea and singing, and their lives change forever. then Neville suggests they escape for a night out on the town. . .

Notes:
UK premiere of An Icelandic musical by Gisli Orn Gardarsson And Vikingur Kristjansson, Adapted by David Farr from A literal translation by Hjortur Gretarsson

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Vesturport Theatre and City Theatre Reykjavik

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 Musical

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Magic Carpet, The

Synopsis:
arabian adventure about a pair of thieves who get more than they bargined for when they try to steal from the Sultan

Notes:
wriiten by David Farr And Ben Hopkins

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:  5            Female:  4            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Max Klapper - A Life In Pictures

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Stray Dog with participation of the Gate Theatre and British ScreenCompany Stray Dog

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 film

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis
a six-legged nightmare by Franz Kafka. the ordinary, unremarkable life of the Samsas is turned upside down when their son Gregor emerges one morning transformed into a monstrous insect. as revulsion turns into resentment, strange things start to happen to the Samsa family

Notes:
from book by Franz Kafka Adapted by David Farr And Gisli Orn Gardarsson

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London >>>, 2006   978-1840026887

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:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Nativity, The

Nativity, The
Joseph, the Carpenter, seems destined never to find love, until one day a beautiful girl enters his workshop to escape from a storm. Her name is Mary, and three months later they are married. But on their wedding night Mary tells Joseph that she is already pregnant. So begins a remarkable journey involving giants, shepherds, kings, devils and angels. a journey covering hundreds of miles and ending in a divine miracle.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 1999   978-0571204663

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:
Christmas Play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  Large Cast

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Neville Southall's Washbag

Synopsis:
-

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:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Night Of the Soul

Night Of the Soul
2001. a large south-coast town. Invisible to all, the ghost of a young woman walks the corridors of a smart modern hotel. the night before his father's funeral a forty-year-old market researcher holes up in the hotel to take stock. then he sees her.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
the Pit, London    19 Apr 2002

Organisations:
Royal Shakespeare Company

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 2002   978-0571216680

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:  4            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Odyssey, The

Synopsis:
Cunning Odysseus, sacker of Troy, is shipwrecked and washed up in england on his way home to Ithaca. He is brtalised by immigration officers who think he's a bogus asylum seeker; to prove he is not, he tells them his story so far.

Notes:
after Homer

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Plays 1, Faber and Faber, London, 2005   -

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:  5            Female:  1            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Paradise Lost

Synopsis:
centres upon the opposing human need for both personal freedom and the overarching morality that limits it.

Notes:
from the poem by John Milton

1st Produced:
Old Vic, Bristol, UK, >>>    30 Jan 2004

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:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Queen Must Die, The

Synopsis:
On the eve of the Golden Jubilee, a planned procession through the town is undermined by a group of anti-monarchists determined to sabotage the celebrations.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Bull Youth Theatre (NT)

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 2006   -

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Ramayana, The

Ramayana, The
exiled from the serene palaces of their homeland and plunged into the deep forest of Southern India, the passionate love of Rama and Sita is put to the test - as demons, goddesses and an army of monkeys do battle for their hearts.

Notes:
adapted from epic poem

1st Produced:

Organisations:
in association with Bristol Old Vic and West Yorkshire Playhouse

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 2007   978-0571237753

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:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui, The

Synopsis:
relocation to Africa and we are clearly meant to be reminded of Robert Mugabe and other African dictators.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Bertolt Brecht. Translation by Ralph Manheim. Adapted by David Farr And Lucien Msamati

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:  9            Female:  2            Other:  extras

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Ruckus In the Garden

Synopsis:
Two rival schools are both on a school trip to a famous garden. a ruckus looms - but Cupid id lurking in the bushes

Notes:
part of the National Connections Festival

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Castleford High School, Yorkshire

1st Published:
in NT Connections2007, Faber and Faber, London, 2007   -

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:
short play One act

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Silence

Silence
Left alone in an unfamiliar land, Kate struggles to silence the noises inside her head and begins to question her own sanity. In London, Michael listens carefully to a conversation recorded twenty years ago. Can he hear a third silent person on the tape? In a small Russian town, Irina searches desperately for her missing friend, piecing together fragments from his life. From urban noise to rural emptiness, through rationalism to spirituality, from Russia to the UK, Silence is the latest collaboration between the celebrated theatre company Filter and RSC associate Director David Farr. Filter create rich stories that awaken the imaginative senses of an audience and they are renowned for a distinctive theatrical style that exposes the workings of a production: video is mixed onstage, sound is produced live by a musician and the performers to create a unique, 'live chemistry' experience for audiences. Silence is a work which combines narrative impetus with astounding, original ideas and theatrical presentation.

Notes:
a devised production created by Filter And David Farr.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
RSC

1st Published:
Methuen Drama    978-1408156568

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:
Piece

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  extras

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume XXXI (2011) Issue 10 Page 518

Top of Page Top of Page

Tamburlaine the Great

Synopsis:
Captivating, charismatic and chillingly calculating, Tamburlaine is a man to admire and to fear. Obsessed with elevating himself from his humble origins, he conquers lands and women with brutality and charm. With the throne of Persia behind him, and an eye on the east, he offers us a dark vision of our own secret ambitions and desires. Unrepentant, utterly convincing and disturbingly compelling, Marlowe's stark epic masterpiece is a mirror of our modern world from the distant past.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Christopher Marlowe

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Bristol Old Vic/Young Vic Young Genius for BITe 05

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:
Short Version One act

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  5            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Thoughts Of Joan Of Arc On the English As She Burns At the Stake, The

Synopsis:
-

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:
monologue

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Un Inspector, The

Un Inspector, The
Spotted at the Marriott by government aides in search of a decent cappuccino, a British businessman nonentity is mistaken for the dreaded UN inspector. While he exploits the situation for all it's worth, presidential panic ensues as ex-Soviet Ministers make farcical attempts to cover up the corruption that lies at the State's core.

Notes:
a riotous satire based on Gogol's masterpiece, the Government Inspector, David Farr's new play explores human greed And immorality in the highest places.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
NT

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 2005   978-0571228997

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:
satire

Parts:
Male:  11            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Water

Synopsis:
Imagine you looked out of the window one morning and saw jellyfish. No birds fluttering, just a sky full of gelatinous animals. every now and then a shark of tuna glides noiselessly past. and everywhere. ..water. With the strange beauty of a dream, Water sets two deeply personal stories against a backdrop of increasingly unstable climate change. Two half brothers clash over the legacy of their dead father, while another man runs from the impending birth of his child.

Notes:
created by Filter And David Farr

1st Produced:
South Hill Park Arts Centre, Wilde Theatre, Bracknel    28 Sep 2007

Organisations:
Filter

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:
Devised Piece

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page