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Tobsha Learner

TOBSHA LEARNER

  (1959 - )
Nationality:    Australian
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Rick Raftos Management  

Tobsha Learner has written extensively for stage, television, radio and film. among her plays are the highly acclaimed 'Glass Mermaid', 'Wolf', 'sNaG' and 'seven acts Of Love as Witnessed By a Cat'. In 1996 her first book 'Quiver' (Penguin), a collection of erotic tales, hit the bestseller list and was translated into German and French and published in the usA. Her first novel, 'madonna Mars' (Penguin 1998) was also translated into German. Tobsha is currently completing her second novel, 'the Witch of Cologne'. the novel has been pre-sold to HarperCollins Publishers along with 'tremble', a collection of sensual fables

Research:    https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/439

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

         Angels         Black Wedding         Cage         Feast         Fidelity         Glass Mermaid, The         Gun In History, The         Homage         Les Enfants Du Paradis         Miracles         Mistress         Passion         S.N.A.G (Sensitive New Age Guy)         Seven Acts Of Love (As Witnessed By A Cat)         Tendril         Waters Of Pham Thi Lan, The         Witchplay         Wolf : A Dedication To Priapus
Angels

Synopsis:
"A motley assembly of city people thrown together as winners of a mystery holiday". Third of 3 productions by Six Years Old in 1988. Six Years Old was a collaborative company formed in late 1987 on the initiative of the STC, under the Australian Bicentennial Authority's Arts Australia programme.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
The Wharf Studio Theatre, Walsh Bay, NSW     26 Nov 1988

Organisations:
Sydney 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:
satire

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/1573

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Black Wedding

Synopsis:
Halloween and the lead singer of a Goth Band is getting married at Mortuary Station when someone quite unexpected walks in

Notes:
Part of "Sydney Ghost Stories"

1st Produced:
Old Fitzroy Hotel Theatre, Woolloomooloo, NSW     Nov 2009

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:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/work/417

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Cage

Synopsis:
Cage is a short tense piece set in the hills of East Timor during the last invasion by Indonesia. It is a three-hander set in the early hours of dawn - a young Australian soldier (part of the UN presence) has been given the task of guarding an Indonesian colonel while his platoon go for more help. The colonel, who is imprisoned in a chicken coop made into a makeshift cage, might or might not be responsible for a massacre in a nearby village. A young East Timorese widow approaches the cage claiming the colonel gave the orders to execute her husband. She tries to persuade the soldier to kill the colonel who she's convinced will get away with the killings. Meanwhile as the sun rises, the colonel's own men drawn closer and closer, determined to free their colonel. Will the soldier and the widow kill the colonel or not? Is the colonel really responsible for the massacre down the hill? Is the widow who she claims to be?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
http://Australianplays.org/script/ASC-1614   

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:
political drama 30 min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Feast

Synopsis:
Jacob, an emotionally disturbed teenager, comes late to the Passover service completely naked. He takes his place at the table in stunned silence and refuses to say anything. the rest of the family interpret his gesture in various ways - his father, a Polish failed hat designer thinks he's making a symbolic, artistic statement; his brother, a young Zionist, thinks he's making a political gesture; his grandFather thinks he's an idiot; his mother, a social worker, thinks its a reflection on her failing marriage and the Czech au pair girl reveals that she is pregnant to him. an absurdist family comedy.

Notes:
part of Train To Transience

1st Produced:
Irene Mitchell Studio @ St. Martin's Theatre, South Yarra, 25 August-11 September, 1993] With Saskia Post, Wayne Hope, Jules Hutchinson, Aidan Fennessy And Marie-Louise Walker. Three Shorts Works By Tobsha Learner, Ray Mooney, Julia Britton And Aiden Fenn     25 Aug 1993

Organisations:
Chameleon Theatre

1st Published:
http://australianplays.org/   

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:
30 mins comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/20214

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Fidelity

Synopsis:
Jane, a 42 year-old investment banker, is married to Jonathan, a political theorist who has been financially dependent on his wife for years. Jane's sister Cathy is a journalist who is married to MUSA, an unemployed Chechen poet. Cathy and MUSA and their twin baby daughters are also financially dependent on Jane. On her 42nd birthday, Jane announces that she wants to retire and have a baby. But when a suspected pregnancy turns out to be early menopause, Jane slides into depression. Meanwhile MUSA is trying to buy his brother's freedom from a Russian detention centre, and Jonathan starts his first affair. This suspenseful five-hander begins as a comedy then twists into a dark epic.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Old Fitzroy Hotel Theatre, Woolloomooloo, NSW     02 Jul 2004

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
http://australianplays.org/   

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:
100 min naturalistic Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/63464

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Glass Mermaid, The

Synopsis:
Sarah Koch, a widow and anthropologist, whose husband Karl (a holocaust survivor) committed suicide by walking into the sea, is having trouble finding closure as his body was never found or buried. Desperate, she hires a male escort to re-enact domestic rituals and nuances of Karl's as a form of exorcism. Unknown to her, the man she hires - Janko - is a war refugee from the Croatian/Serbian conflict, having lost his wife and child. WIth bereavement in common they fall in love. It gets complicated when Sarah's 16 year old daughter, Cassandra, turns up and is deeply disturbed by the new man in her mother's life.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Playbox Theatre, Southbank, VIC     22 Nov 1994

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Sydney : Currency Press, 1994
http://Australianplays.org/script/ASC-1618   

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/contemporary 120 min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/26526

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Gun In History, The

Synopsis:
The history of a Luger revolver handed down over three generations of men. Originally taken from the body of a young German soldier in the Second World War by an Australian soldier, we track generational trauma experienced and the drama this gun incurs - covering the Korean war, domestic violence and sexual betrayal.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Stables Theatre, Darlinghurst, NSW     30 Sep 1994

Organisations:
Griffin Theatre Company

1st Published:
in Passion : six new short plays Australian women / edited by Ros Horin. Sydney : Currency Press, 1994
http://Australianplays.org/script/ASC-1615   

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 30 min

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/26047

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Homage

Synopsis:
A hilarious monologue from the perspective of the penis of a porn star who has suddenly developed potency issues due to emotional misgivings over his job.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Newtown Theatre, Newtown, NSW     28 jan 2004

Organisations:
Short & Sweet Sydney Week 4

1st Published:
http://Australianplays.org/script/ASC-1613   

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 20 min

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/79065

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Les Enfants Du Paradis

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Based on the film by Jacques Prevert.

1st Produced:
Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills, NSW     24 Sep 1988

Organisations:
Company B Belvoir

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:  4            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/1486

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Miracles

Miracles
Immaculata, an Italian/Australian cashier has been working in the same family supermarket for 15 years; illiterate with low self-esteem, Immaculata is deeply religious. One day, God speaks through her cash register, declaring Immaculata to be her local rep. God is female and Italian, something Immaculata's local priest doesn't appreciate. the owner of the supermarket, a shady character with a criminal record, starts to exploit Immaculata's 'miracles'. Soon she is arrested for fraud . . .. a contemporary saintly rites-of-passage comedy set in the working class suburb of Port adelaide.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Merlyn Theatre, Southbank, VIC     29 Apr 1998

Organisations:
Playbox Theatre Company

1st Published:
Sydney, NSW : Currency Press in association with Playbox Theatre Centre, Monash University, 1998   

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:
Urban fable 100 min Comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/32620

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Mistress

Synopsis:
The idiosyncrasies and poetic potential of colloquial speech

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Crossroads Theatre, Darlinghurst, NSW     26 Oct 1990

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:
Monologue/s 60 mins

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/12696

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Passion

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Written by Lissa Benyon, Jennifer Compton, Tobsha Learner, Joanna Murray-Smith and Linden Wilkinson

1st Produced:
Stables Theatre, Darlinghurst, NSW     29 Sep 1994

Organisations:
Company no.3,

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:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/153354

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S.N.A.G (Sensitive New Age Guy)

Synopsis:
Lloyd, a 34-year-old advertising executive was happily married, until he caught his wife in bed with his twin sister. as Lloyd steps out into the condom clad world of singular living he discovers his whole concept of masculinity severely challenged. Dedicated to all those men who aren't afraid to hate quiche, S.N a.G., is a comedy for all the family especially those who wore flares the first time around.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Downstairs Theatre, Chippendale, NSW     06 Jan 1992

Organisations:
Festival of Sydney

1st Published:
http://australianplays.org/   

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:
Monologue/s 70 mins. - - Lesbian, full length

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/13216

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Seven Acts Of Love (As Witnessed By A Cat)

Synopsis:
Elijah, an oversexed tomcat must learn to experience love before he can follow his owner to heaven. Over several decades, elijah goes through a series of owners who are linked together by their occupation of the one room where the seven acts of love take place. the occupants include a dead atheist searching for heaven, a gay man seeking his ex-wife, and a funeral director, his wife, his mistress and his therapist.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Budinskis Theatre of Exile, Carlton, VIC     09 Aug 1995

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
http://australianplays.org/   

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/satire 150 mins

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/106620

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Tendril

Synopsis:
a portrait of two women, one living in 1915, one in 1985, both epileptic, both opposing their husband's political views. Both have lived, are living, in the same house. then one takes a lover. . .. We see how the experiences of Bess of 1915 influence to shape the destiny of Elizabeth, as the two plots interweave and build towards a Dramatic collision.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
http://australianplays.org/   

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:
2 act 100 mins Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Waters Of Pham Thi Lan, The

Synopsis:
a Balinese Raja who is impotent, an opium addict and distrusted by his own advisers, confronts an ambitious and sophisticated european diplomat. Sooled on by his hundred-year-old-aunt, the Raja ducks and weaves, trying for some way to preserve 'adat'; Balinese customsand world/cosmic view. the diplomat finds himself drawn to those very customs and the world view he must destroy, if he is to save the people. the ensuing conflict becomes a battle between concepts of the cosmos. In this battle, the diplomat works constantly to deflect the impatience of gunboat generals, while the Raja seeks guidance in stories of a monkey general who wins his battles by cunning, by trickery and by magic.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Waterside Hall, Port Adelaide, SA     14 Oct 1994

Organisations:
Vitalstatistix 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:
40 mins comedy One act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/26239

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Witchplay

Witchplay
Witchplay, a many-voiced monologue of black humour and stylistic agility. Batcha is a medium in search of the spirit of Narelle's mother, who has electrocuted herself with a hairdryer. along the way she encounters a number of happy spirits eager to be heard

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills, NSW     06 Aug 1987

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in One Small step, Currency Press Pty Ltd (august 1, 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

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/276

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Wolf : A Dedication To Priapus

Wolf : A Dedication To Priapus
Captures four decades of social change from boys first sexual encounter

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Beckett Theatre, Southbank, VIC     04 Apr 1992

Organisations:
Playbox Theatre Company

1st Published:
Sydney : Currency Press, 1992    

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:
Biographical

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  with doubling

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/15726

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