The Playwrights Database
MICHAEL HODGES (1936 - 2009)
Nationality: Britishemail: Click here to contact Website: n/a
Literary Agent: n/a
Michael passed away on 17th March, 2009 after a short illness. He followed his dad to Shrewsbury where he was a contemporary of William Rushton and Richard Ingrams et al. a keen sportsman - particularly in cricket, football and rugby. He did his National Service with the Royal Welch Fusiliers where, as he said, his education really began. the junior officers were amongst the most gifted and cultivated as one would expect of a regiment which spawned the great movement of war poets inspired by Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves. On leaving the army he took a return working passage to New Zealand which he loved. However, his family suggested he should think about earning some money so he was persuaded to venture into British aluminium and later Horlicks neither of which suited him. He then decided to go into publishing where he stayed for some time working in a City firm (which used to print the 'breeches' bible). In 1967 he married Gentian and in 1970 began a career in teaching starting in the state sector, moving into the opposite camp at a school in Battersea for the last 13 years or so of his working life, where he was Senior Master. He was an inspiring teacher with a unique sense of humour. He spent 10 years in the London Scottish regiment which Mike almost considered his London Club! His interests were enormous - chess, music, an avid historian particularly the American Civil War. He had a great love of the English language, hence his writings which were numerous - an educational magazine, three educational phased-case books, six plays, a film on Parnell, an edited edition of his mother's amusing and interesting journal (Mabel. On Borrowed Time) which she wrote while living with the family and a book (unfinished) of our favourite Squares of europe. He also collaborated with Granada TV and Schools radio on history programmes. He is survived by his wife, Gentian, daughter Nicola and son , Tim.
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below is a list of Michael Hodges's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
After Chekhov Comrades In Arms Displaced Persons Doomed Youth Helena Lost ChordAfter Chekhov
Synopsis:
the play opens with the end of Chekhov's play, the Seagull. the setting is Sorin's country estate in Russia 1900. Unknown to the actress, Irina, her son has committed suicide. Sorin is wounded by a labourer. Francis, an Irish cousin of Sorin's, Dorn, a doctor and Trigorin, a writer and lover of Irena go to St. Petersburg to support the protest march and on return stage a revolutionary play. they tell Irina her son has been killed at the barricades. Soldiers arrive to arrest 'the fugitives' who escape but Sorin and Irena are killed. a labourer has betrayed them. the estate is plundered.
Notes:
the Seagull' concludes, some might say in vacuo: A report off-stage startles the diners. Dorn, the doctor, leaves the room saying A bottle must have exploded - some chemical reaction in his medical bag. Dorn returns And confides with the writer, Trigorin that Konstantin, the son of Irina, has shot himself. the curtain drops leaving the Audience, perhaps with A sense of frustration.
1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
New Theatre Publications, 978-1840947298
Music:
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 6 Female: 1 Other: extras
Further Reference:
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Top of PageComrades In Arms
Synopsis:
Treachery and deceit, the careless disregard of the individual by Communism and Democracy are the themes. Set in 1917 - Baku - newly-established Soviet Government - Stepan Shaumian is a Chief Commissar whose position is precarious - at risk from the intrigue of fellow Commissars and the advancing Turkish enemy. Perversely, a deepening sympathy and friendship, despite contradictory ideology, evolves between Shaumian and the British Consul, Julian Sutherland. these circumstances are exploited by the play's "Iago", the unsmiling and ambitious Commissar anna anskov, who, manipulatively, discredits and deposes Shaumian, betrays Baku and attempts to ensnare Sutherland and the British while the Bolsheviks creep away.
Notes:
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1st Published:
New Theatre Publications (1997) 978-1840940459
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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:
Drama One act
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 2 Other: + boy 11
Further Reference:
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Top of PageDisplaced Persons
Synopsis:
Basil, a school master, dedicates his life to running his house on PEriclean principles in which reciprocated trust with his boys is expected and absolute. these humane, worthy principles are undermined by Basil's flawed temperament, compounded by the claustrophobic nature of boarding school life. the consequences of Basil's well-meaning if misguided principles come to a head in a traumatic scene and, later, on an alpine holiday. Ruin for Basil follows. In the final scene there is a reconciliation. "a real feel for stagecraft and dialogue. . . gentle and heartfelt, with a moving turn on Mary's relationship with the boys." Soho theatre ". . . works surprisingly well with a delicate subject. It is well constructed and the characters and dialogue ring true." Granada TV Drama "the oppression of a world completely dishonest about what it believes is well described here." New Playwrights' Trust
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1st Published:
New Theatre Publications (2001) 978-1840943306
Music:
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 9 Female: 5 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageDoomed Youth
Synopsis:
the play takes place during the Great War in London, France and Edinburgh between 1915 - 1917. the Drama is based on Siegried Sassoon's hardening disaffection with the War's conduct and his defiance of military authority. His attitude is reflected through his tough, morbid, mutinous poetry and his refUSAl to serve again in the War in which his HomEric exploits became one of the War's legends. Present, also, is the influence on his actions of his great friend and fellow War-Poet, Robert Graves, and, later, Wilfred Owen. the theme is loyalty and betrayal on a personal and institutional level combined with the contradiction of individual consciousness and national expectations.
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1st Published:
New Theatre Publications (1998) 978-1840941357
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:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 5 Female: 3 Other: + extras
Further Reference:
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Top of PageHelena
Synopsis:
Helena is a torn and troubled woman with a generation of mental health and internment behind her. the play asks some disturbing questions: does Helena really want to get better at the risk of becoming 'normal' and losing power over people and control on her sickness? a sub plot seems to imply sinister measures by government in the future policy towards those unproductive and draining citizens. Do people 'simply disappear in Britain like in South America?' asks Edward. these ominous practices seem compounded by suspected collusion between the hospital authorities and the Security Services.
Notes:
the theme is power in the powerless. the play takes place in the early 1980s in London And Anywhere you like in the Home Countries.
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
New Theatre Publications (2006) 978-1840945669
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
Booksellers:
Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 2 Other: extras
Further Reference:
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Top of PageLost Chord
Synopsis:
Transcending the personal and political motivations in this extended version of the single act Comrades-in-arms is the confrontation between good and evil. Of the engaging, idealistic and human Stepan Shaumian (Baku Soviet Commissar), a true revolutionary but flawed operator, his unlikely friend Julian Sutherland (British Consul) says, "Stepan has a sense of irony - very dangerous for a revolutionary!" and when Shaumian is deposed the chilling, duplicitous anna Narkov accuses him of tolerance: "Our revolution cannot afford human frailties." To the political manipulations of Narkov an extra dimension is provided with her determination to control Tanya Shaumian and the Shaumian's son, andrei, for emotional as well as political purposes.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
New Theatre Publications (1998) 978-1840941708
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
Booksellers:
Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 2 Other: + boy 12
Further Reference:
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