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Alan Harris

ALAN HARRIS

  
Nationality:    Welsh
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    The Agency (London) Ltd  

Alan Harris' play A Good Night Out in the Valleys launched the new National Theatre Wales in March 2010 and BBC Radio 3 broadcast his play, The Gold Farmer as part of The Wire season earlier this year. His oratorio, The Journey, for the Welsh National Opera's MAX department was also performed this summer. His debut play, Orange, was commissioned and produced by Sgript Cymru and he has worked with companies including Pentabus, Hijinx Theatre (Miss Brown To You), Sherman Cymru (Cardboard Dad, Burberry), Paines Plough (The Loneliness of the Long Distance Bus Driver performed at Later, Trafalgar Studios, London), and The Operating Theatre Company (Brute at the Tristan Bates Theatre, London). He has worked with the Welsh National Opera since 2008 on a range of projects and has also worked with the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain as a writing workshop leader and with prisoners at HMP Cardiff on a radio play entitled I Forgot To Tell You. He is also a new writing tutor and mentor at Sherman Cymru.

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

         Brute         Burberry         Cardboard Dad         Come to Where I am From         Future for Beginners, The         Geromino, Doctor Who         Gift, The         Good Night Out In the Valleys, A         Hidden Valley, The         Journey, The         Love, Lies and Taxidermy         Magic Toyshop, The         Manga Sister         Marsha         Miss Brown To You         Opportunity of Efficiency, The         Orange         Re-Set         Rhinegold

Brute

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
part of writer's block

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Operating Theatre

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:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Burberry

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     2008

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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Cardboard Dad

Synopsis:
"We realise he may look like your loved one but, of course, we know Cardboard Dad is no replacement for your brave husband/partner who is currently doing his duty overseas. We just hope it helps the family adjust while service personnel are away from home. We hope you'll take him everywhere - from helping you with the shopping to tucking little Johnny/Janey into bed at night." You get married. . . you make plans. . .time moves on. . .Donna waits for David, alone in their flat. alone, that is, until she gets a special delivery that turns her world inside out. Alan Harris's bitter-sweet comedy tells the tale of a woman who realises that second best is never good enough.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Sherman Cymru

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

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Come to Where I am From

Synopsis:
Sixty one playwrights from across the UK return to their home towns to write plays about the places that shaped them. At 14 theatres from Bristol to Belfast, Cardiff to Coventry and Nottingham to Newcastle, these plays will be performed by the playwrights themselves, coming home to tell their tale. Come To Where I'm From is a theatrical tapestry of the UK, woven by writers asking if home is really where the heart is.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Paines Plough

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 play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Future for Beginners, The

Synopsis:
Bethan and Matthew share a dream: they want to end up together at the end of their lives. They have taken the chance element out of growing old together by planning the rest of their lives in great detail. But there's a problem: they've lost the plan for day one. Created by liveartshow's Martin Constantine and Alan Harris, co-produced with Wales Millennium Centre, with new music by liveartshow's Harry Blake. On liveartshow's Manga Sister: Batshit-mental. . . Inventive, impressive, striking. . . An eccentric gem' (Time Out). Time Out Critic's Choice. Uncompromising eccentricities. . . An astonishing oddly moving success' (Guardian).

Notes:
written by Alan Harris and Martin Constantine with music by Harry Blake

1st Produced:
Summerhall, Edinburgh Fringe Festival     01 Aug 2014

Organisations:
liveartshow

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, New writing, 1 hour

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Geromino, Doctor Who

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:
-

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Gift, The

Synopsis:
Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Ashley needs to find some cash to save her father's failing ice cream business. New to the town and the son of a Welsh mum and a Polish dad, Valentyn is trying different ways to fit in  tough when you're called Valentyn. His dad's best advice is to get a hobby (the British can relate to someone with a hobby). But Valentyn's not interested in taking up taxidermy with his father, he'd rather give Ashley a gift so he can save her from taking her top off in front of a webcam  a decision that has far-reaching consequences.

Notes:
Now in its seventh consecutive year, the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre - the coalface of British Theatre - presents its annual explosion of new writing - Vibrant 2015 - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights, running on Sunday and Monday evenings and Tuesday and Thursday matinees between 25 October-12 November 2015. This year's festival features an eclectic and idiosyncratic selection of twelve staged readings of twelve new works by a dozen UK and international playwrights, both established and new, all discovered, developed or championed by the Finborough Theatre. Concentrated solely on full length works for the stage, this year's Vibrant 2015 - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights includes playwrights from England, Scotland, Wales, the United States and New Zealand. As always we strive to be as diverse as possible, and this year's festival once again features 50% female playwrights, together with work from African-American, East Asian, British-Lebanese, British-Israeli and Maori playwrights.

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:
-

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Good Night Out In the Valleys, A

Synopsis:
Director John e McGrath and Writer Alan Harris have spent a month in the Miners' and Workmen's Institutes of South Wales asking people for their Valleys stories in a series of workshops and conversations. Local people will help choose the story that Alan will use as the basis for his new play. after listening to hundreds, we transform the best into a beautiful, outrageous night of theatre.
- theatre-wales.co.uk

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Blackwood Miners' Institute, Wales     11 Mar 2010

Organisations:
National Theatre Wales

1st Published:
It's Saturday night at the Stute; beer, the band, bingo, a raffle, Prior Bad Bang's had a few too many to drink and won't keep his hands off Sue, Dirty Sharon's making eyes at Shwni, Kyle arrives believing he's going to make things better and Con knows his time is up.   -

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:  4            Other:  voice and doubling

Further Reference:

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Hidden Valley, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Birdsong Opera and Welsh National Opera    

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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Journey, The

Synopsis:
We never truly lose the people we love on the journey of life. Set in the Valleys, the Journey is a moving story of life and love told on an epic scale with music and words, performed by a specially formed community choir.

Notes:
lyrics by Alan Harris; music by Richard Barnard

1st Produced:
Treorchy: Park And Dare Theatre     30 Jun 2010

Organisations:
Welsh National Opera

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:
concert

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Love, Lies and Taxidermy

Synopsis:
This is a boy meets girl story. Son of a Polish taxidermist meets daughter of a failing ice cream salesman at a medical research facility in Merthyr Tydfil. First date in Tesco and things are going well. But it's difficult to fall in love when your parents need saving from themselves, their weird hobbies and the threat of a prison sentence. An offbeat love story about Mr. Tutti Frutti, a stuffed owl and the struggle to fit in.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Roundabout @ Hackney Showroom, London     19 Jul 2016

Organisations:
Paines plough

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

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Magic Toyshop, The

Synopsis:
This sinister, sexual fairy tale of transformations tells the story of Melanie, a young girl who is forced to leave her comfortable rural home to live with relatives she has never met. There's Aunt Margaret, mute since her wedding day, musical Francie and volatile Finn who kisses Melanie for the first time. Brooding over it all is Uncle Phillip who loves only the puppets he creates in his workshop. . .

Notes:
adapted from novel by Angela Carter

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Invisible Ink / Theatr Iolo

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:
-

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Manga Sister

Synopsis:
Using five opera singers, two dancers and interactive video projection (designed by Adam Young), Manga Sister tells the story of Gerald, a man trapped in a ?care home where the only treatment he gets is abuse and a constant flow of drugs from the nurses. Gerald s only escape is through a cartoon, Manga Sister, in which Taisho, a small girl, is repeatedly attacked by her elder brother, Taiko. The cartoon always ends the same way - Taisho is killed only to be reborn at the beginning of the next episode. One night Gerald and Taisho are thrown together to avenge each others tormentors. . .

Notes:
music by Harry Blake

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Liveartshow

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:
dance piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Marsha

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
liveartshow at the Arcola Theatre, London    

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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Miss Brown To You

Synopsis:
Miss Brown to You is a play by Alan Harris, set during World War II which follows the plight of Emily, a young woman with Down's syndrome who is evacuated from the dangers of the city to a small Mid-Wales village to live with a fierce aunt she hardly knows. Here she has to come to terms with a new life full of unknown challenges, loneliness and prejudice. A strong bond develops with her cousin as they learn to share ideas through music and she draws comfort from the wild beauty of the surrounding landscape. Here she meets Stanley, a desperate and isolated young man who is sleeping rough. Both are outsiders and a secret friendship grows between them. Meanwhile her aunt has her own demons to fight and stark realisations to confront as a web of lies starts to unravel.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Hijinx Theatre 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Opportunity of Efficiency, The

Synopsis:
the play is a story of small lives caught up in a global power struggle, inspired by the growth of efficiency as a force for change in society and the influence of big business on national and international affairs. It is set in Wales but staged at the New National theatre, Tokyo, in Japanese

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Tokyo     01 Apr 2013

Organisations:
National Theatre Wales and the New National Theatre, Tokyo

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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Orange

Synopsis:
Driven by injustice. Seeking retribution. Two white men take an Asian man hostage. Set against the background of the conflict in Iraq it is a powerful, character based play that questions the true meaning of freedom. In the confines of a Cardiff bed-sit we are asked - who is the real prisoner?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Sgript Cymru

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:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Re-Set

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Mess Up The Mess    

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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Rhinegold

Synopsis:
Rhinegold is a story of broken contracts, greed and corruption. Gods, mortals and mythical beasts battle for possession of a ring that contains the power to rule the world. Taking Wagner's masterpiece as a starting point, this bold take on a classic myth will feature techno, dance and maybe even some karaoke.

Notes:
music by Harry Blake

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Liveartshow

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:
dance piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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