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Kieran Hurley

KIERAN HURLEY

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

Literary Agent:    The Agency (London) Ltd  represented by Emily Hickman

Kieran Hurley is an award-winning writer, performer, and Theatre maker based in Glasgow. Recent work includes Allotment (National Theatre of Scotland), the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Show (Oran Mor, a Play a Pie and a Pint, co-writer), and Chalk Farm (Oran Mor, a Play a Pie and a Pint, co-written with AJ Taudevin). Kieran's monologue piece Hitch, which documents his journey across Europe to the G8 protests in 2009, was nominated for Best New Play at the Critics Awards for Theatre of Scotland (CATS) 2010, and continues to tour. His most recent work, Beats, was created with the support of the Arches Platform 18 Award and was subsequently awarded Best New Play at the CATS awards and was recently presented at the Traverse Theatre during the Edinburgh Fringe. Alongside this work, Kieran is also completing a PhD in activist performance practice in the Theatre Studies department at the University of Glasgow. Kieran is an associated artist of Forest Fringe, and is currently a supported artist with National Theatre of Scotland. His play for Theatre Uncut was originally written as a 'rapid response' piece for a Theatre Uncut event during the Edinburgh Fringe.

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

         Allotment         Amanda         Beats         Belcoo         Beleaguered Man, Holyrood Press Room         Chalk Farm         Close         Deficit Show, The         Demons         Dream Life Of Louise Michell, The         Glasgow         Grit: The Martin Bessett Story         Heads Up         Hitch (A Prelude)         Injury, An         Ireland         Jean-Jacques Rousseau Show, The         London 2012: Glasgow         Looping: Scotland Overdub         Mouthpiece         Rantin         Sex-Inch Layer of Topsoil and the Fact it Rains, A         Square Go         Unusual Unions         Whatever Gets You Through The Night
Allotment

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Govan Cross Shopping Centre - Glasgow     2009

Organisations:
National Theatre of Scotland

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Amanda

Synopsis:
Submerged by daily pressures, a politician reflects on how tough decisions are made when the stakes are high.

Notes:
part of Theatre Uncut. Theatre Uncut was established in 2011 to encourage debate and galvanise action around political issues that affect all of our lives.

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

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Genre:
political piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Beats

Beats
How can the government stop young people having a good time? Fight this bollocks. the Prodigy. In 1994 the Criminal Justice act effectively outlawed raves, banning public gatherings around amplified music characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats. In 2011, the coalition government is restricting young people through demonising political protest. This early development of ideas by Kieran Hurley explores hedonism, activism and the irresistible power of gathered youth. expect traditional storytelling, some experiments with audio equipment, and techno. Lots of techno.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
arches LIVe 2011

1st Published:

Music:
-

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Genre:
30 min piece

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Belcoo

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Royal Court Open Court Season (PIIGS)     Jun 2013

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

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Genre:
short play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Beleaguered Man, Holyrood Press Room

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
One city, 50 writers, 50 plays, 25,000 words. In celebration of our 50th anniversary, we invited fifty emergent playwrights to work with us over the course of our birthday year. the worldwide search for the Traverse Fifty started last September with a challenge to write a 500-word Play for Edinburgh. Of the 630 applications, we selected the most urgent voices to form our Traverse Fifty. In January, these 50 plays were premiered all together, in one epic performance. This August, in the midst of our Festival Fever, we are re-staging these extraordinary plays, over two thrilling nights. This is your chance to see the future.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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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:
5 min play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Chalk Farm

Chalk Farm
Maggie is just in from Sainsbury's Local to make a quick sandwich for Jamie. He likes his cheese and pickle. With the crusts off. A good heart, that lad. Not like those other boys around here. You know what boys are like. Laws unto themselves once they reach that age. But it's those other boys, really. Not Jamie. A boy with a Transformers lunch box? What harm is he to anybody? This new monologue written by Julia Taudevin and Kieran Hurley explores love, responsibility, and the culture of blame and retribution surrounding the 2011 english riots.

Notes:
written by Julia Taudevin And Kieran Hurley

1st Produced:

Organisations:
part of Mayfesto 2012

1st Published:
Oberon Books   

Music:
-

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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:
monologue

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Close

Synopsis:
Cunningham ends the series with a solo written before the Scottish Independence Referendum last September. In it, he plays a committed voter who explains the consequences and reactions to the news of who won and lost. Cleverly, it is a dual purpose monologue that would work perfectly well whatever the outcome and still fits the bill after the event.- Philip Fisher, British Theatre Guide

Notes:
part of Theatre Uncut. "Theatre Uncut isn't just a performance, it's an idea: that theatre can be immediately responsive to world events, engender discussion and effect change." Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

1st Produced:
[reading} Roundabout @ Summerhall, Edinburgh Festival Fringe     24 Aug 2015

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:
short play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Deficit Show, The

Synopsis:
From the same team that brought you the Jean Jaques Rousseau Show and Demons comes a show that interrogates the deficit. What does it actually mean? How big is it, really? What can we do about it (apart from sell the NHS, obviously)? In this highly-charged political cabaret, Scotland's most formidable and upworthy collective come together to investigate the gaps in society; between rich and poor, between 'them and us' and between you and I.

Notes:
written by Davey Anderson, Dave Anderson, Alan Bissett, Catrin Evans, Keiran Hurley, Brian James, Kirstin McLean, David Maclennan, Gary Mcnair and A J Taudvin

1st Produced:

Organisations:
A Play, A Pie and a Pint. OTT

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:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Demons

Synopsis:
To celebrate Oran Mor's 250th play a group of Scottish writers collaborated to produce the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Show. Those writers were Dave Anderson, Davey Anderson, Alan Bissett, Catrin Evans, Mike Gonzalez, Sean Hardie, Kieran Hurley, David MacLennan, Gary McNair, Amanda Monfrooe and Julia Taudevin. Joined Now By David Greig and Lewis Hetherington, they have got together again to write this companion piece - Demons. A modern day variety show of songs, scenes, comedy, tragedy and polemic.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
a Play, a Pint and a Pie

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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Dream Life Of Louise Michell, The

Synopsis:
seething with far ranging research on the nineteenth century French activist.

Notes:
devised, written, directed And performed by For We Are Many: Beth Whelan, Philip Spencer, Scarlet McGlynn, Poppy Kohner, Kieran Hurley, Frederick Victor Gray, Melanie evans, Treena Deazley; part of Arches Live! Season of new work

1st Produced:

Organisations:
For We are Many

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

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Genre:
Piece

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Glasgow

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
theatre Uncut co-artistic director Emma Callander said, "theatre Uncut was created to raise debate and galvanise action around political issues that affect all of our lives. We do this by making our plays available to as many people as possible. "We feel honoured to be working with writers of such high calibre and it thrills me that performances of these powerful short plays will be happening simultaneously across the world, from Scarborough to South Africa. "With the continued cuts to public services in the UK against a landscape of civil unrest and enforced austerity across the world, the need to speak out in resistance is stronger now than ever before."

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Theatre Uncut 2012

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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Grit: The Martin Bessett Story

Synopsis:
An ambitious new cross-form, Scots-Canadian site specific production based on the inspiring life and music of one of Scotland's most innovative, pioneering and influential musicians; the tragically late Martyn Bennett. Directed by multi-award winning director Cora Bissett (Olivier award-winning RoadKill, Creative Scotland award-winning Whatever gets You through the Night and Glasgow Girls.) Reflecting Martyn's own Scots-Canadian heritage, GRIT: The Martyn Bennett Story will be an exciting International collaboration with Canada's renowned choreographer Dana Gringas (of 'Animals of Distinction') and some of Canada's finest circus artists who will both work alongside an ensemble of Scotland's dance and aerial artists, actors, live folk singers, and classical musicians, whilst of course featuring Martyn's groundbreaking dance music in it's original form. This production will tell the painful yet inspiring story of a young man's phenomenal musical imagination, and his fierce fight against the cancer which ultimately robbed him of his short life at 33. His passion, his fierce love of life, music, the country and people who inspired his ground breaking creations are evoked and explored visually, physically and immersively in this highly ambitious musical adventure. "It's not how long you live, it's what you do with the time you've got"

Notes:
conceived by Cora Bissett, written by Keiran Hurley

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Pachammama productions, Tramway and Comar

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

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Genre:
musical

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Heads Up

Heads Up
A city. Just like this. Right now. A teenage girl boils up in rage in a toilet cubicle. A finance worker preaches doom in a busy train station. An absurd coke-addled celebrity races through town on a mission. A paranoid stoner stares blankly at the endless disasters on the TV news. In just one moment, all their worlds will end. Multi-award-winner Kieran Hurley weaves a picture of a familiar city at its moment of destruction, asking what would we do if we found ourselves at the end of our world as we know it.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Old Lab Summerhill, Edinburgh Fringe festival     03 Aug 2016

Organisations:
Show and Tell

1st Published:
Heads 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:
storytelling monologue

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hitch (A Prelude)

Synopsis:
On the 8th of July 2009, the leaders of the eight most powerful countries in the world met for three days in the earthquake-ravaged town of L'aquila in Italy to make plans for the future of our society and our planet. On 27th June, I hitched a lift from Glasgow, alone, to be there too. With music by Over the Wall, this intimate piece of contemporary storytelling asks questions about the meaning and purpose of political protest, the limits of personal power and the possibility of change.

Notes:
part of New Works New WorldsSeason of new pieces

1st Produced:

Organisations:
New Works New Worlds

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:
Installation

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Injury, An

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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Ireland

Synopsis:
International writers join up with their British counterparts to bring their experiences to the Royal Court. What is life really like for those living in todays austerity. Daily dispatches from Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain will invade the Jerwood theatre Upstairs. "With unemployment reaching almost 30% in Greece, soup kitchens springing up and immigrants being physically assaulted by Neo-Nazis on a regular basis it seems like the right time to put the lives of those affected by the eurozone crisis centre-stage at the Royal Court. Collaborating with writers from the countries on the frontline of austerity and using a variety of theatrical forms we will bring the PIIGS into the heart of London for a week of tragedy, comedy and rage" - Alexi Kaye Campbell, Playwright

Notes:
Deirdre Kinahan (Dublin), Kieran Hurley (Glasgow)

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:
short play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau Show, The

Synopsis:
To celebrate the 250th play commissioned and produced by A Play A Pie and A Pint at Oran Mor we look back to 1762 and the publication of Jean Jaques Rousseau's the Social Contract. You may be asked to sign a document while sipping your drink and nibbling your pie before the show goes up. . .

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
a Play, a Pint and a Pie

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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London 2012: Glasgow

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:
short piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Looping: Scotland Overdub

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Scottish Tour     Aug 2018

Organisations:
Scottish Dance 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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mouthpiece

Synopsis:
Mouthpiece is a heart-wrenching and humorous journey into the female psyche. The performance is a virtuosic display of physical ingenuity and vocal orchestration. In the wake of her mother's death, Mouthpiece follows one woman, for one day, as she tries to find her voice. Interweaving a cappella harmony, dissonance, text, and physicality, two performers express the inner conflict that exists within one modern woman's head. Ranging from tender to merciless, with uncompromising precision, Mouthpiece magnifies a daughter's contemplation of her mother, and becomes a rigorous investigation of womanhood itself.

Notes:
Preview at The Carriageworks, Leeds 02 Jun 2018

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 90 mins

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Rantin

Rantin
A retired American steps off the plane at Prestwick, hoping to discover the land of his fathers. A beleaguered politician in Edinburgh dips her feet into a hot bath. An old drunk man in Peterhead has a mystical vision at the harbour. A supermarket checkout girl in Port Glasgow approaches work with a golf club. . . Set specifically in the town of each performance and drawing on storytelling, live music and the Scottish folk tradition, Rantin attempts to stitch together visions of Scotland's romantic past with its ever-changing present reality, revealing the patchwork identity of a nation.

Notes:
by Kieran Hurley. Created wirth Liam Hurley, Gav Prentice, Julia Taudevin and Drew Wright

1st Produced:

Organisations:
National Theatre of Scotland. Part of the Auteurs project

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:
piece

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Sex-Inch Layer of Topsoil and the Fact it Rains, A

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Perth Theatre     May 2018

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:
verbatim theatre

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Square Go

Synopsis:
Square Go is a riotous and entertaining new play for young audiences currently being developed by writers Gary McNair and Kieran Hurley, director Gareth Nicholls and composer Michael-John McCarthy.

Notes:
by Gary McNair and Kieran Hurley

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:
Work in Progress

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Unusual Unions

Synopsis:
Five new short plays about the bonds we form with each other, performed in five unusual spaces around our building. Please note that this is a promenade performance and will involve walking, standing and stairs, with no seating available.

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:
short promenade piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Whatever Gets You Through The Night

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Written by multiple writers, including Kieran Hurley

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:
collaboration

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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