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James MacDonald

JAMES MACDONALD

  (1949 - )
Nationality:    British
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

Disabled from birth with cerebral palsy, I have lived in America, France and England. author of 30-odd plays, most of the staged plays for students of exeter University's Drama department. My most frequent director has been Martin Harvey, former associate Director of the Northcott Theatre, exeter, now Teaching Fellow in Drama at Exeter. I am married to Russian-born Inna Rodina, naturalized British whose father fought at the Battle of Stalingrad. My plays most often concern physical and social deformity, dislocation, estrangement. Most of them now have a Russian background as well. a collection of them will soon be published by Intellect, under the title Russia, Freaks and Foreigners. the plays aspire to a comic grotesque style.

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

         Bread And Circus Freaks         Brides, Bombs And Boardrooms         Caliper         Countryside         Disabled Nation         Emigres         Fete         Lefthanded Enterprise         Les Evenement         Most Secret Satisfaction, The         Strangers To Paradise         Sweetheart Zone, The         To Moscow         Unsex Me Here (after Lady Macbeth)         Wellclose Square

Bread And Circus Freaks

Synopsis:
Five displaced persons in post-Soviet Russia congregate in a remote village bread shop and give their individual takes on what it means to be dispossessed. at the climax, a disabled girl rescues an ex-clown from being beaten as a suspected pervert. the tone throughout is comic.

Notes:
Despite the serious-sounding nature of the material, the production was comic, And the Audience were laughing As though they were watching A farce by the closing week. This was very important to me As A disabled Author, And I suggest the play's strength is that it enabled the Audience to laugh over the subject of disability. Of course, this was largely thanks to A wonderful production. And I Am certainly one playwright who can be grateful to the company of his play.they did A tremendous job for the cause of disability in this country.
- James MacDonald

1st Produced:
Finborough Theatre, London >>>     06 Mar 2002

Organisations:
Asylum Theatre

1st Published:
Intellect (Bristol) in 2008, under the title Russia, Freaks and Foreigners, 2008   -

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Brides, Bombs And Boardrooms

Brides, Bombs And Boardrooms
-

Notes:
ensemble piece for A specific group of Actors, published As part of the collection Carnival Texts.

1st Produced:
Roborough Studio, Exeter, Exeter University     22 May 2009

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Carnival Texts, Intellect Books, Bristol (2011)   -

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:  6            Female:  14            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Caliper

Synopsis:
Destitute disabled man preys on people's sympathy for assistance until he is revealed as a con-man with thousands salted away.

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:
Grotesque comedy Comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Countryside

Synopsis:
Countryside tells the story of a handful of misfits in an abandoned village in the Russian hinterlands, asking vital questions about human worth and collective responsibility. Though its theme is urgent, its tone is mordantly comic, and it would suit general audiences and both professional and amateur companies

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
New Theatre Publications (2006)   978-1840945508

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 Comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Disabled Nation

Synopsis:
showing how the government's attitude toward people with disabilities reflects their endorsement of the competitive enterprise culture

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
University of Exeter's Roborough Studios     24 Mar 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  ensemble play for 30

Further Reference:
-

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Emigres

Emigres
-

Notes:
ensemble piece for A specific group of Actors.

1st Produced:
Roborough Studio, Exeter, Exeter University     01 Jan 2005

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Russia, Freaks and Foreigners: Three Performance Texts (Intellect Books - Play Text)   978-1841501864

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:  10            Female:  10            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Fete

Fete
-

Notes:
ensemble piece for A specific group of Actors, published As part of the collection Carnival Texts.

1st Produced:
Roborough Studio, Exeter, Exeter University     20 Mar 2010

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Carnival Texts, Intellect Books, Bristol (2011)   -

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:  5            Female:  14            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Lefthanded Enterprise

Synopsis:
A panoramic of post-Soviet Russia, where crooked capitalism is given legitimacy.

Notes:
directed by Lisa Goldman

1st Produced:
[Staged Reading] Soho Theatre Company     19 Jun 1995

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
limited edition by Studies in Theatre and Production, 2000   -

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Les Evenement

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
BAC , London >>>     1998

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

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Most Secret Satisfaction, The

Synopsis:
an ensemble play for 15F and 5M set in Victorian Britain and concerned with enforced clitoridectomies for 'disturbed' women

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Roborough Studio, Exeter, Exeter University     01 Mar 2011

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

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  15            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Strangers To Paradise

Strangers To Paradise
-

Notes:
ensemble piece for A specific group of Actors, published As part of the collection Carnival Texts.

1st Produced:
Roborough Studio, Exeter, Exeter University     22 May 2008

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Carnival Texts, Intellect Books, Bristol (2011)   -

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:  6            Female:  14            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sweetheart Zone, The

Sweetheart Zone, The
-

Notes:
ensemble piece for A specific group of Actors.

1st Produced:
-     15 Jan 2007

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Russia, Freaks and Foreigners: Three Performance Texts (Intellect Books - Play Text)   978-1841501864

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:  2            Female:  18            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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To Moscow

Synopsis:
To Moscow tells the story of three young women who come to Moscow to live and discover that the sinister influence of the family is as dangerous as anything they face in Russia`s "Wild east" capital. a bittersweet take on today`s enterprise culture with a single set.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
New Theatre Publications (2007)   978-1840946048

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:
Full Length Comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Unsex Me Here (after Lady Macbeth)

Unsex Me Here (after Lady Macbeth)
An ensemble play, it examines the Nazi execution of people with disabilities, focusing on how the nurses at Hadamar Institute were coerced into doing barbarous acts.

Notes:
part of the undergraduate syllabus in Drama at Exeter University

1st Produced:
Roborough Studio, Exeter, Exeter University     26 Mar 2014

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Freaks of History: Two Performance Texts (Playtext)", Intellect Ltd (February 15, 2017)   978-1783207350

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:
period drama

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  22            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Wellclose Square

Wellclose Square
Against the backdrop of the Ripper murders, this play explores the prejudice and racism meted out to the east european immigrant community who were scapegoated in one of the most shameful periods of Imperial history.

Notes:
expressly written for undergraduate acting students, the play offers sharply delineated roles and vivid group scenes. To be published with two other historical Dramas.

1st Produced:
Roborough Studio, Exeter, Exeter University     27 Mar 2013

Organisations:
8M ABD 6F

1st Published:
in "Freaks of History: Two Performance Texts (Playtext)", Intellect Ltd (February 15, 2017)   978-1783207350

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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