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David Lewis

DAVID LEWIS

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

Literary Agent:    n/a

David's plays Bad Faith, Sperm Wars (an earlier version of Misconceptions), Hurting, Monkey's Uncle, Greenwash, How To Be Happy and Seven Year Twitch all premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond Upon Thames. He won a Pearson Bursary in 1999 for an attachment to the Orange Tree. Misconceptions has been produced by the Bolton Octagon in 2001, the Derby and Salisbury Playhouses in 2002, and the Royal Theatre, Northampton in 2004 preceding a UK tour. It has also been produced by theatres in Finland, Denmark, Greece and New Zealand. Monkey's Uncle - a farce about Georges Feydeau - has been produced by theatres in Finland and New Zealand and, in November 2006, it was performed by Le Rideau theatre company in Brussels under the title Occupe-toi de Feydeau. Seven Year Twitch, which opened at the Orange Tree Theatre in May 2013, was his second production as writer and director, following How To Be Happy in 2011.

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

         Bad Faith         Greenwash         How To Be Happy         Hurting         Misconceptions         Monkeys Uncle         Mother Christmas         Seven Year Twitch         Skeletons         Sperm Wars         Sunspots

Bad Faith

Synopsis:
although it runs for just an hour, David Lewis's Bad Faith covers a lot of battle-scarred territory in the field of family relationships. Love, sex, jealousy, eating disorders, guilt, trendy psychology and religion are among the weighty issues handled with equal amounts of grit and wit in a script that also provides an illustrated guide to the workings of a playwright's mind. . .If only every play packed as much intelligence and humour into its running time. Douglas McPherson, What's On. "Lewis. . .entertainingly builds up his storm clouds of unkowing." Jeremy Kingston, Times

Notes:
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1st Produced:

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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:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Greenwash

Greenwash
Alan is an American Public Relations guru. He knows how to win friends and influence people. He knows how to seduce women. He has worked for George Bush (1 and 2) and now works for Big Oil. at a charity dinner for the rainforests, he has met and fallen for Grace, a lifelong environmental activist. Is love possible or is the divide too great? and when a group of friends gather in alan's pristine New York penthouse will an 'intervention' for Grace's alcoholic brother, a former Presidential hopeful, help or hinder their relationship? Greenwash is a new and topical comedy about sex, lies and global warming. "Lewis nails very effectively the deceptions that have dogged American politics for decades." Michael Billington, Guardian

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Orange Tree, Richmond, UK >>>     11 Feb 2009

Organisations:
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1st Published:

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:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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How To Be Happy

How To Be Happy
We all want to be happy. But what if it keeps slipping through our fingers? Paul is a former happiness guru and as a young man wrote self-help books and appeared on TV as 'mr Happy'. But now his marriage has failed, his career as a serious novelist is faltering and his ex-wife has remarried a wealthy advertising executive. all he can think about is the state of his health, the size of his mortgage and the expensive monthly payments on his iPhone. Mr Happy is not happy. But if anyone can claw happiness back, surely he must be the man?

Notes:
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1st Produced:

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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:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Hurting

Synopsis:
Suzi and Paul are friends. Julia and Mark are lovers. But Mark is sleeping with Suzi. Julia accosts Suzi in the street - 'Do you ever think you might be hurting someone?' When events send these relationships in quite different directions, friendship, commitment, work, lust and loyalty move into the spotlight. Hurting exposes the Drama and comedy in the lives of four people as they waver between the words 'single' and 'couple'. ". . .a witty and sometimes painful four-hander about love, insecurities and jealousy." Kate Bassett, Telegraph

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Orange Tree, Richmond, UK >>>     08 Mar 2000

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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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:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Misconceptions

Misconceptions
Matthew and Linda are the perfect professional couple with the perfect home: successful, prosperous and happy with their lives together. they've had their problems like everyone else but those are safely behind them and, yes, they'd really like to start a family soon, but Matthew has that under control. However, what is the image on the strange fax that Linda receives? What's the purpose of loveable Barry's regular, but unsettling, visits? Who is interfering with the blackberries from the freezer? Why does Matthew dress as Ratty from the Wind in the Willows? Who is Zoe? Does she really have wings? and what killed the Okapi in Copenhagen zoo? David Lewis' virtuoso new comedy, by turns hilarious and heartbreaking, straight-talking and surreal, cuts a breathtaking anarchic swathe through the way we live our lives today. "the comic writing is spiky, witty, painful, sad. . . I can't wait for Lewis's next play." John Peter, Sunday Times

Notes:
revised from the same Author's Sperm Wars

1st Produced:
Octagon, Bolton     25 Jan 2001

Organisations:
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1st Published:

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:
light Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Monkeys Uncle

Monkeys Uncle
Monkey's Uncle is a comedy (perhaps a farce) about the mayhem caused when our animal instincts come into conflict with our civilised veneers. the play begins with the great farceur Georges Feydeau struggling to cope as his latest plot and his hectic life begin to merge, and then spins furiously forward into the 21st Century. ". . .delightful farce about farce." Sarah Hemming, Financial Times

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Orange Tree, Richmond, UK >>>     05 Oct 2005

Organisations:
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1st Published:

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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:
Farce

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Mother Christmas

Mother Christmas
Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas future are all very familiar. But in the hands of a dysfunctional family intent on throwing annual fancy dress parties on Christmas Eve under the watchful eye of their matriarch Maggie, seasonal festivities are destined to spiral out of control. Over the course of three Christmases, Maggie, her children Davina and Ben and her granddaughter Grace attempt to have themselves a merry little Christmas but past resentments and recriminations inevitably rise to the surface each time. Surely one year will be full of peace and love and the true spirit of Christmas? Don't bet on it. . .

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1st Produced:

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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:
comedy drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Seven Year Twitch

Seven Year Twitch
Fran arranges a dinner party and cooks an aubergine parmigiana. Husband Terry fails to turn up because he is searching for a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in Norfolk. This is the last straw in their seven year marriage. Professionals are called in and friends, therapists and even the birds become embroiled in the escalating crisis. A new comedy of marital calamity.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:

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:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Skeletons

Synopsis:
From the author of Orange Tree hits Seven Year Twitch and Monkey's Uncle, we meet a family gathering for the first time in decades, and in the unforgiving glare of a birthday cake with forty-five flaming candles, maturity gives way to rancour and recrimination.

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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:
one act play

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Sperm Wars

Synopsis:
University biology lecturer Matthew and his wife Lucy have been attempting to conceive a baby for years without success, which has placed great strains on their marriage. Despite Lucy's initial reluctance, Matthew convinces her to enlist the help of a mutual friend for a bit of DIY artificial insemination, leading to unexpected and often hilarious results as the myths surrounding infertility and human sexuality collide. "Lewis has a fine eye and ear for the ridiculous but Sperm Wars. . .is in fact a beautifully balanced tragicomedy, a debut which does not simply show promise but substantially delivers." Ian Shuttleworth, Financial Times

Notes:
an earlier version of Misconceptions

1st Produced:
Orange Tree, Richmond, UK >>>     09 Sep 1998

Organisations:
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1st Published:
Warner Chappell Plays, London, 1999   

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:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Sunspots

Sunspots
Still single and living at home in his mid-thirties, Tom inherits his father's telescope along with his passion for stargazing. But between studying constellations, a beautiful woman sunbathing on a neighbouring rooftop catches his eye and, using maximum magnification, he notices a funny-looking mole on her back. Should Tom engineer a meeting to inform her about his concerns? Is it really anxiety about her health or actually a voyeuristic attraction that drives his desire to meet her? And how can he do anything without his inquisitive family getting in the way? The recent death of Tom's father has reunited him with his brother and sister, and together with their mother Olive each finds their faith and their interrelationships tested to the limit in this offbeat romantic comedy.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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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:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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