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Paddy Kelly

PADDY KELLY  

Nationality:    Irish - Sicilian
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    n/a


Paddy Kelly immigrated to New York City in 1966 where he worked a number of jobs, finished secondary school and in 1971 attended the City University of New York on an athletic scholarship for gymnastics. It was here that he was first introduced to theatre and first became interested in writing. In 1972 he was employed to coach the Icelandic National Olympic team, a post held for two years. While in Reykjavik, Iceland he helped in the rescue efforts of Vestmannaeyiar Island following the eruption of the Heimaey volcano. In 1973 he became a Hospital Corpsman in the U. S. Navy and, in 1975, assisted in the evacuation of Saigon and the resettlement of tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees to Westminster, Orange County where he was first exposed to the world of film making, and later worked as a set carpenter. Following naval service in 1976 Mr. Kelly returned to City University New York earning a B. a. While at C.U.N.Y. he became involved in drama and subsequently acted in over a dozen plays in and around the New York area, again gaining work as a set carpenter and sign writer on films. Upon returning to California in 1982 Paddy further developed his interest in writing when he found employment as a script editor. It was during this period that Mr. Kelly wrote his first novel, Politically Erect, (unpublished), a satire of the last days of the war in Viet Nam and the fall of Saigon. Mr. Kelly returned to the East coast and worked his way through graduate school earning his M.Ed. at Boston. He began writing plays and moved into writing and directing full time, focusing on farce, satirical and political comedy. Mr. Kelly has to date directed two dozen professional theatrical productions, written half a dozen feature film scripts and is a regular contributor to various film industry publications. He has just finished his third novel, The American Way. In the course of his career Mr. Kelly has also written and directed a cookery television programme and teaches cookery classes as an aid to reducing stress.

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

Commuter, The         Dr. Lindsay's Christmas         Fevered Dream         Ghost Story         Three Thirds



Commuter, The

Synopsis:
Eamon Kelly, (the Commuter), is going to have a big day. a life changing day. Only not in the way he's planned. It's the first day of his new job in a new town, he's a new apartment and this evening he plans to ask his long time sweetheart to take the big leap and be his wife. Nothing can spoil this day. Unfortunately young Eamon has not factored in the mythical timetables of the inter-city transport system.

Notes:
Short, (running time 30 min Appx) This is A comical commentary on the terrible state of the inter-city transport system in Dublin, Ireland however, can easily be Adapted to suit Any urban public transport system. The scenes, (very basic sets), Are continuous And changed in full view of the Aud during protag's narration.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
BooBoo Productions

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:  4            Female:  3            Other:  Small group of commuters - (the actors)

Further Reference:
-

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Dr. Lindsay's Christmas

Synopsis:
Christmas Eve, 2000. 82 year old Dr. John Lindsay has been a heroic pediatrician for 57 years and devout Christian his entire life. Even after the death of his wife of 60 years he maintained his faith in the almighty. But when he fails to save the life of a 6 year old girl after seeing her struck down by a bus only six hours before she expected to be visited by Santa, he cracks and begins to question blind faith and curses God. Lucifer finally sees the chance he has been waiting for. Lindsay goes to get drunk, Beelzebub goes for broke and everyone else goes crazy as Lindsay and Satan negotiate the contract for his soul, in a back alley pub, during Dr. Lindsay's Christmas.

Notes:
Short, (running time 40 min Appx). Doubling of parts is possible. Written with two scenes, A street And A bar however, one scene, (pub), possible.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
BooBoo Productions

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:
Black/Dark Comedy

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  3            Other:  Off stage voices; SFX- audio of city traffic

Further Reference:
-

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Fevered Dream

Synopsis:
To this day the last three days of the life of Edgar allen Poe are shrouded in mystery. Why did his publisher and agent plagiarize his eulogy then turn it into a very profitable book following his death? Why did his physician pay more attention to his celebrity then to his diagnosis or therapy? Why did both men exploit his notoriety for the rest of their lives? and finally did they actually get the right body when, years later his body was exhumed and moved? Each of three acts is a day in the three day demise of the man credited with inventing both the detective and the horror genres and each is told with Poe himself as a character in one of his classic stories. Each day becomes more surreal as the play progresses until the story ends in a Burton-esque finale where it began, with Poe's funeral.

Notes:
Multiple parts per Actor required. Running time - 65 mins Appx

1st Produced:
The International    Oct 2009

Organisations:
Libertyboy Productions

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/Historical

Parts:
Male:  4/5            Female:  4/5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ghost Story

Synopsis:
Die hard American patriot Reverend Hiram B. Hedge, newly appointed England rep for the U. S. food conglomerate Consolidated Refined agricultural Products, is anxious to close the deal on his new English estate the purchase of which he believes will elevate him to the title of 'Lord'. along for the ride are Hiram's martini numbed wife, his idiot son Washington, and their just home from university daughter, Natasha. Lord and Lady Canterville, the sellers, are tripping over them selves to offload the property and curiously, they haven't occupied the premises for some years. additionally, they are so skint as to have to hire decent clothing to meet and close the deal. There's something rotten in the State of Canterville. Enter the innocuous Mrs. Umney who never eats never sleeps and is, ". . . so old her eyes see in black & white!" Will they tell the Americans about the curse?

Notes:
This is A three Act, 8 scene comedy set in contemporary times but written in the 1960's Billy Wilder/Ferenc Molnar style. Some SFX Are required, such As the portraying of the Ghost, however, As explained in the Notes section of the script, can easily be Achieved with standard house lighting. Running time - 95 mins Appx

1st Produced:
Handle's at The Fringe Festival, Dublin, R.O.I.    Sep 2007

Organisations:
The alice Coughlin 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:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  4            Other:  5 telephone voices and 1 ghost

Further Reference:
-

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Three Thirds

Synopsis:
This story, although not told in real time, is approximately thirty minutes in the lives of three people, each more desperate than the next. When first we meet the MaN, he is undecidedly at the bottom of the food chain. In short order we meet the WOMaN, and then the CONTaCT, both of whom give the MaN a glimpse of what probably awaits him in the near future if he remains where he is, a down & out writer. Robbed of the perspective of reality, the CONTaCT, (aspiring novelist), and the WOMaN, (aspiring novel editor and hanger-on of would be literary greats), have been unwittingly disenfranchised and cast into a hopeless spiral of hand to mouth existence punctuated by sporadic relief through substance abuse. Worse yet, both sincerely believe themselves to be swimming in the right direction. They undertake to achieve the secret dream of millions of people; to write a successful novel/screenplay. a dream which, in this particular instance, is hopelessly beyond the realm of reality. The MaN, no less a drifter in the eternal search for stability through financial gain, is one rung from falling off the ladder altogether and so accepts a nonexistent commission on spec with no delusions of its chances for success.

Notes:
From the outside looking in this work Appears As A mini-drama, however, from the character's POV, As to hundreds if not thousands of disenfranchised people everywhere, this pathetic non-opportunity represents what could be their last chance in their struggle to re-assimilate themselves into the 'norm' of society. Their reason for existence. The foundation on which their last hope, thinly disguised As A golden opportunity, rests. Running time - 40 mins (appx)

1st Produced:

Organisations:
BooBoo Productions

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:
Tragedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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