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Gordon Gribbin

GORDON GRIBBIN

  (1942 - )
Nationality:    British
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    agent: Jeff Cox, 58 James Street, Hastings, Victoria 3915, Australia

Gordon Gribbin was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, england, in 1942. england was at war with Germany at the time, but Gordon didn't care, even when the one bomb that fell on Bradford hit the fish market. He became a cathedral choirboy at 7 and charmed the ladies in the front pews with his ginger hair, freckles and blatantly fake piety. He developed his musical abilities until he became assistant organist at 16. Meanwhile he soaked up the magnificent language of the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, as well as learning sign language so that he and the other choirboys could converse and tell dirty jokes during the sermons. He graduated from Birmingham University with an honours degree in Music and English, and did post-graduate work at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. after a short spell as a schoolteacher (too many children) he joined the BBC in Manchester, where he developed and extended his taste for beer. His favourite bar was at Granada's Stables Theatre Club, where he mixed with actresses and met his first wife, sociologist Dr Cecily Neal. they married and came to Australia and had one son, Christopher. they divorced. Gordon worked for the Australian Broadcasting Company in TV entertainment. Gordon met his current wife, Cynthia, when she auditioned for Southern Cross Musical Theatre, where Gordon was Musical Director. Gordon grew increasingly tired of playing piano for and conducting American musicals where fake American accents sliced through irrelevant and improbable plots. He joined up with another more experimental and original company, Downtown Theatre, as Musical Director and wrote his first play, Stations, and his first musical, the Mace. Later he founded his own company, aCe Theatre in Edithvale, and wrote and directed his own shows for nine years. He moved to Hastings in 2002 and joined with edwin Creely to found Pelican Theatre Company where he has written, co-written and directed original shows until the present day. Currently he is directing a new version of his musical Gold Rush, to be performed in November, 2005.

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

         Charleston Fever         Gold Rush         Jekyll & Hyde  A Modern Tale         Mace, The         Maltravers Does His Bit         Man From Snowy River, The - the Musical         Mr & Mrs God         Mrs Wilde         Murphy's Creek         Poms         Poms Ii (Poms In Transit)         Poms Iii         Poms Iv (Turning Australian)         Spy         Stations         Wombat East
Charleston Fever

Synopsis:
Set in 1929, the workers in a shoe factory are upset by a reduction in piece work rates. Meanwhile, their boss pampers his 2 daughters by providing for them to have dancing lessons. His son, a drunk and layabout, meets one of the shoe makers, a girl who is a natural brilliant Charleston dancer. She is desperate to win the Charleston dance-off. there is romance with the younger girls and the old cleaning lady and a local gigolo or two. Happy endings ensue.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ace Theatre Company. Edithvale, Victoria, Australia     1999

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 comedy Musical

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  18            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Gold Rush

Synopsis:
Set in 1861 in the Victorian goldfield town of Balgarrie. the local tradesman, Oliver Bent, has his eyes on the lease of the Balgarrie Inn. He connives to remove the landlady, Bridie Brennan, and brings dancing girls from Melbourne to distract and steal Bridie's custom. the action climaxes in a musical talent contest and a series of marriages and couplings.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ace Theatre Company. Edithvale, Victoria, Australia     1998

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 comedy Musical

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  27            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Jekyll & Hyde  A Modern Tale

Synopsis:
Simon Jekyll runs a successful research laboratory in Australia. Unfortunately, government regulations restrict his research by limiting the use of foetal stem cells. His alter ego, Simon Hyde, provides funds to the lab by selling human organs and performing transplants. Moral dilEmmas abound, but all is enlivened by humour and innovative theatrical effects.

Notes:
from An idea by ed Creely

1st Produced:
Pelican Theatre Company, Hastings, Victoria, Australia     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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  -            Other:  Rats - 1

Further Reference:
-

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Mace, The

Synopsis:
On the night that the ceremonial mace is stolen from Victoria's Parliament House, Singers, actors, MPs and prostitutes consort and interact under the stern eye of Madame elsie Turner and her life-long lover, MP Sir Henry aspen.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Downtown Theatre Co., Caulfield, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia     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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Music Drama

Parts:
Male:  12            Female:  23            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Maltravers Does His Bit

Synopsis:
Richard (Dick) loves Fanny (sic). Richard is called away to the Boer War, leaving his girlfriend and his mistress at the mercy of the local villain and moneybags.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ace Theatre Company. Edithvale, Victoria, Australia     1994

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:
meloDrama One act

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  10            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Man From Snowy River, The - the Musical

Synopsis:
a parody on the Banjo Patterson poem `the Man From Snowy River'. In this version, it is the women of the homestead who find the runaway colt and save Harrison from financial ruin.

Notes:
written by Gordon Gribbin And edwin Creely

1st Produced:
Pelican Theatre Company, Hastings, Victoria, Australia     2003

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 comedy Musical

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  20            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mr & Mrs God

Synopsis:
a very ordinary suburban couple are visited by the archangel Gabriel who tells them that they have been chosen to be God for a week. they discover that God's powers are severely restricted by the Laws of Nature (which God himself ordained) so that He is occupied mainly in blessing people, which he does in batches on a laptop computer.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ace Theatre Company, Edithvale, Victoria, Australia     1998

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mrs Wilde

Synopsis:
Oscar Wilde's wife, Constance, sits in an anteroom of their Chelsea house whilst Oscar's goods are being auctioned to pay legal bills. as various objects are taken out to be sold, she is reminded of various events in her life with Oscar. She is visited by Oscar's mother, Lady Wilde, Constance's brother, Otto, and Robbie Ross.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ace Theatre Company. Edithvale, Victoria, Australia     1995

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Murphy's Creek

Synopsis:
a drunken and washed-out female novelist arrives in sleep timbertown Murphy's Creek, and earns whisky money by giving writing classes. One of her pupils has some children's stories published and is very successful in the genre. Her husband is made redundant from the sawmill and is jealous of his wife's success. the problems are eventually worked through in a context involving romance, Buddhism, committee meetings and assorted public servants.

Notes:
written by Gordon Gribbin And edwin Creely

1st Produced:
Pelican Theatre Company, Hastings, Victoria, Australia     2005

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 Comedy

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  13            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Poms

Synopsis:
after receiving a letter from her son in Australia, Bradford (england) housewife Janice persuades her husband, Brian, to visit Australia for a holiday. the action is paralleled with Brian's refUSAl to accompany his girlfried, Pat, to Australia in 1965.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Halibut Theatre Company, Cranbourne, Victoria, Australia     1992

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Poms Ii (Poms In Transit)

Synopsis:
Brian and Janice are aboard a plane bound for Melbourne, Australia in 1994. there are flashbacks to the SS Fairstar in 1965 when Brian's ex-girlfriend, Pat, was emigrating to Australia alone.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ace Theatre Company, Edithvale, Victoria, Australia     1995

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Poms Iii

Synopsis:
Brian and Janice return to Yorkshire from their holiday in Australia. everything seems drab. even the beer tastes wrong. they discover that their daughter is divorcing her husband in favour of the son of Brian's ex-girlfriend, Pat.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ace Theatre Company. Edithvale, Victoria, Australia     1997

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Poms Iv (Turning Australian)

Synopsis:
Brian and Janice now live in Australia and become Australian Citizens. afterwards they go to the local Senior Citizens' Centre for a committee meeting. the main item on the agenda is the opening of a brothel next door. Brian makes advances to two of the ladies and is rejected by both. a complication is provided by an old lady who turns up at the centre totally naked. Off-stage, of course.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ace Theatre Company. Edithvale, Victoria, Australia     2000

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Spy

Synopsis:
a parody of the James Bond movies. Bond comes out of retirement to solve a problem involving a missing submarine in Hastings, Victoria. the evil province of Geelong is suspected of involvement. Child spies solve problems and make a lot of noise at rehearsals.

Notes:
written by Gordon Gribbin And edwin Creely

1st Produced:
Pelican Theatre Company, Hastings, Victoria, Australia     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:
Musical comedy Musical

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  16            Other:  Kids  too many

Further Reference:
-

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Stations

Synopsis:
a train journey into the city exposes the thoughts and conversations of a widely varied group of commuters.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Downtown Theatre Co., Caulfield, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia     1987

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  12            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Wombat East

Synopsis:
In a rural Victorian town, in 1953. the telephonist and manager of the local post office is about to retire. Her position is hotly sought after. To the town comes a mysterious city woman, closely followed by 2 escaped convicts. Love, drunkenness, intrigue and, of course, happy marriages ensue.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ace Theatre Company. Edithvale, Victoria, Australia     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:
Musical comedy Musical

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  16            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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