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Tom Griffin

TOM GRIFFIN

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

Literary Agent:    The Gersh Agency  

Tom Griffin's plays include the BOYS NeXT DOOR, AMATeURS, the TAKING AWAY OF LITTLe WILLIe, MRS. SeDGeWICK's HeAD, PASTA, WILL the GeNTLeMeN IN CABIN SIX PLeASe RISe TO the OCCASION, WORKeRS, and eINSTeIN AND the POLAR BeAR. His work has been produced on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, on London's West end, in scores of regional Theatres, and in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. the BOYS NeXT DOOR has been seen in over 3500 productions in the United States and Canada, and has had openings in Paris, Tokyo, Oslo, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Vienna, Sydney, JohAnnesburg, et al. His work has been premiered at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A., the McCarter Theatre at Princeton, Trinity Rep, the Long Wharf in New Haven, the Alley Theatre in Houston, and the Hartford Stage Company. He has received a National endowment for the Arts grant, a CBS/Dramatists' Guild Award, a McCarter Commission, a Playboy editorial award, an Edinburgh Fringe First, and an O'Neill fellowship. His short fiction has been published here and in Europe, and he has written sixteen screenplays. From 1974 to 1987, he was a member of the Tony Award-winning resident acting company at Trinity Rep in Providence, Rhode Island. He still lives in Rhode Island with his wife and son and one extremely disturbed cat.

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

         Amateurs         Boys Next Door, The         Einstein And the Polar Bear         Mrs Sedgewick's Head         Pasta         Taking Away Of Little Willie, The         Will the Gentlemen In Cabin Six Please Rise To the Occasion         Workers

Amateurs

Synopsis:
Following the opening night of the Timberly Troupers' musical about undertakers, Dorothy and her slightly daft husband, Charlie, host a gathering of actors and friends. the chic opening night party is in another part of town, but into Dorothy's living room comes a guest list that includes Nathan (a recently divorced high school teacher who is also a very bad ventriloquist), Wayne (better at loving than acting), Jennifer (who has a sure shot at Hollywood stardom), ernie (one of the Troupers' actors filled with ham and spite), Irene (his out of patience wife), Mona (who was in love with Wayne but has since moved on to someone else) and Paul (a well-known Drama critic and friend of Dorothy's who has just broken his rule of never reviewing community theater). When Paul has a heart attack he drops his not-yet-published review before being taken to the hospital. the actors read it and confront the harsh reality of a pan. Dorothy's sweetness and patience rise above ernie's bitter tirade, and the others trade barbs and insults as they try to control their emotions. the party becomes the setting where the dreams, loves, failures and successes of this group are explored with bittersweet humor and the relationship between risk and need is touchingly depicted.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

Music:
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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:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Boys Next Door, The

Synopsis:
the place is a communal residence in a New england city, where four mentally handicapped men live under the supervision of an earnest, but increasingly "burned out" young social worker named, Jack. Norman, who works in a doughnut shop and is unable to resist the lure of the sweet pastries, takes great pride in the huge bundle of keys which dangles from his waist; Lucien P Smith has the mind of a five year-old, but imagines that he is able to read and comprehend the weighty books which he lugs about; Arnold, the ringleader of the group, is a hyperactive, compulsive chatterer, who suffers from deep-seated insecurities and a persecution complex; while Barry, a brilliant schizophrenic who is devastated by the unfeeling rejection of his brutal father, fantasises that he is a golf pro. Mingled with scenes from the daily lives of these four, where "little things" sometimes become momentous (and often very funny), are moments of great poignancy when, with touching effectiveness, we are reminded that the handicapped,

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Dallas Theater Center, TX, USA >>>     1988-1989 Season

Organisations:
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1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 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:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Einstein And the Polar Bear

Synopsis:
the scene is a cluttered farmhouse in rural New england, where Bill allenson, a highly regarded but no longer active novelist, has withdrawn from the world, supporting himself and his ailing Father by selling rare books through the mail. as the play begins a winter storm is in progress and an attractive young New York commercial artist, Diane ashe, appears at the farmhouse door, explaining that her car has broken down in the blizzard. although suspicious, Bill gives her lodging for the night, and as the evening progresses we are aware that Diane, unlike Bill's neighbors, is both aware of his literary reputation and determined to gain his concern-which she soon does. as the two draw closer, with humorous interruptions by several colorful local characters and the ramblings of Bill's aging father, who had once encountered albert einstein at a lunch counter, Bill's eloquent but persistent cynicism seems to soften-until he learns that Diane's presence is not as accidental as she has claimed. as turbulent as it is sudden, their relationship eventually finds its center, and Bill is forced to confront the pain and loss and self-doubt which have made him forsake his talent and the harsh realities of the world in which it once flourished.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    978-0822203520

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:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mrs Sedgewick's Head

Synopsis:
Johnny Simmons, a successful screenwriter, is sent to prison for the mercy killing of his brother. During his incarceration he writes a novel - in his mind - totally memorizes it, and upon his release writes it down verbatim and has it published under a pseudonym. It is a huge success and Hollywood comes calling. the novel is purchased by an independent producer who hooks up with a studio. although the novel is published under a pseudonym, the studio insists Johnny write the screenplay. Secrets can't be kept. the studio sends a young female exec and the slimy producer to Johnny's cabin to convince him that he's the only one for the job. What at first seems like a screamingly funny and scathing Hollywood comedy soon turns into a rather dark and brooding look at selfishness and self loathing. the ruthless Hollywood moguls and the seemingly innocent locals ultimately clash, showing both sides in a harsh light, proving that if one is not capable of a mercenary lifestyle, one is nothing but a victim.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1997   -

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:  8            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Pasta

Synopsis:
the setting is a clean but slightly threadbare apartment in a medium-sized New england city, occupied by artie and his live-in girlfriend, Roxanne. as the play begins, artie and his pal Doober are rehearsing the skit (artie dressed as a box of ziti, Doober as vermicelli) with which they hope to win first prize in the annual pageant put on by the pasta manufacturer for whom artie works. Hopefully this will turn out better than some of artie's other schemes-such as betting on the horses-which have put him heavily in debt to an unseen but sinister bookie, ernesto Mal, whose henchman, appropriately named Slimy, has come by to give artie a pay-up-or-else ultimatum. artie's only hope of staving off a broken arm, or worse, is the stamp collection his grandFather left to him, and while Slimy is hardly a philatelist he just happens to have a friend (a lady named Walter) who is. Happily the stamps are valuable, enough so to settle artie's indebtedness, and as the play ends (after allowing each of the characters an opportunity to regale the audience with a zany recounting of his or her personal story), artie and Doober are back in costume and heading off to the pasta pageant, their customary high spirits fully restored.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
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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:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Taking Away Of Little Willie, The

Synopsis:
A couple fight the authorities to keep their retarded adult son out of an institution

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
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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:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Will the Gentlemen In Cabin Six Please Rise To the Occasion

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
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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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Workers

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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