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Duncan MacMillan

DUNCAN MACMILLAN

  
Nationality:    British
facebook     email:    n/a     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    Casarotto Ramsay and Associates Ltd  represented by Rachel Taylor

Duncan is an award winning writer and director. Plays include: Lungs (Paines Plough/Sheffield Crucible and Studio Theatre Washington D.C.), Platform (Old Vic Tunnels), Monster (Royal Exchange/Manchester International Festival), The Most Humane Way to Kill A Lobster (Theatre 503), I Wish To Apologise For My Part In The Apocalypse, So Say All of Us and Family Tree (all BBC Radio 4). Formerly Writer-in-Residence at Paines Plough and the Royal Exchange, he has completed attachments at the National Theatre and the Royal Court/BBC, is a member of the Old Vic New Voices Company and a fellow of the TS Eliot UK/US Exchange. He is the winner of two Bruntwood Playwriting Awards, the Old Vic Big Ambition Award, a Pearson Residency Award, 'the 50' Bursary, and has been nominated in the Best New Play category of the TMA and MEN Awards.

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

         1984         2071         Alarm         City of Glass         Come To Where I Am From         Don Juan's Comes Back From the War         Every Brilliant Thing         Lungs         Mistakes Have Been Made         Monster         Most Humane Way To Kill A Lobster, The         Night With the Apathists, A         People, Places and Things         Platform         Rosmersholm         Satellite         Sleeve Notes
1984

1984
April, 1984. Winston Smith, thinks a thought, starts a diary, and falls in love. But Big Brother is watching him, and the door to Room 101 can swing open in the blink of an eye. Its ideas have become our ideas, and Orwell's fiction is often said to be our reality. The definitive book of the 20th century is re-examined in a radical new adaptation exploring why Orwell's vision of the future is as relevant as ever.

Notes:
adapted from novel by George Orwell by Robert Ickle and Duncan Macmillan

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:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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2071

Synopsis:
Writer Duncan Macmillan has been talking to one of the world's most influential Climate Scientists Chris Rapley. Working with internationally renowned director, Katie Mitchell, a new piece of theatre has been created where the science is centre stage. Climate change is a matter of importance to everyone, but what to do about it is mired in controversy. What's needed is a conversation. What do we owe future generations? How can we protect our children and grandchildren?

Notes:
concieved by Duncan Macmillan and Prof Chris Rapley

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

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Alarm

Synopsis:
an alarm clock goes off and a girl wakes in the middle of the night. there is a boy in her room, he is covered in dirt. He tells her that her parents are missing but not to panic. . . What is security? a funny and revealing look at the story of "Girl", and what happens when her security and what she believes in begins to crumble.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Heat&Light

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:
TYA

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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City of Glass

City of Glass
When reclusive crime writer Daniel Quinn receives a mysterious call seeking a private detective in the middle of the night, he quickly and unwittingly becomes the protagonist in a thriller of his own. As the familiar territory of the noir detective genre gives way to something altogether more disturbing, Quinn becomes consumed by his mission, and begins to lose his grip on reality.

Notes:
adapted for the stage by Duncan MacMillan based on the first novel of the New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

1st Produced:
HOME, Manchester     04 Mar 2017

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:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Come To Where I Am From

Synopsis:
Sixty one playwrights from across the UK return to their home towns to write plays about the places that shaped them. At 14 theatres from Bristol to Belfast, Cardiff to Coventry and Nottingham to Newcastle, these plays will be performed by the playwrights themselves, coming home to tell their tale. Come To Where I'm From is a theatrical tapestry of the UK, woven by writers asking if home is really where the heart is.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Paines Plough

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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Don Juan's Comes Back From the War

Don Juan's Comes Back From the War
Don Juan's back from the War and he's got some catching up to do. Berlin is crumbling, but after years of abstinence, the Don is ready for more of the debauchery that once made his name. amidst political and economic upheaval, Don Juan finds himself increasingly at odds with the man he used to be. Is this notorious lothario about to experience a sudden change of heart? Odon von Horvath's startling tale of displacement and isolation in the aftermath of the Great War is presented in a bold new adaptation by award-winning playwright Duncan Macmillan.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Odon von Horvath. First performed in 1952 As Don Juan Returns At the theatre of Courage in Vienna

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:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  6            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:

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Every Brilliant Thing

Every Brilliant Thing
You're six years old. Mum's in hospital. Dad says she's 'done something stupid'. She finds it hard to be happy. So you start to make a list of everything that's brilliant about the world. Everything that's worth living for. 1. Ice Cream 2. Kung Fu Movies 3. Burning Things 4. Laughing so hard you shoot milk out your nose 5. Construction cranes 6. Me You leave it on her pillow. You know she's read it because she's corrected your spelling. Soon, the list will take on a life of its own. A new play about depression and the lengths we will go to for those we love.

Notes:
Every Brilliant Thing, supported by Anne McMeehan and Jim Roberts, is a new project incorporating Jonny Duncan's short play Sleeve Notes and the Every Brilliant Thing exhibition and Facebook group. For more information on the project's background, visit www.everybrilliantthing.com.

1st Produced:
Ludlow Fringe Festival, Wales     28 Jun 2013

Organisations:
Paines Plough and Pentabus production in association with the Jersey Arts Trust and nabokov

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 70 min

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Lungs

Lungs
I could fly to New York and back every day for seven years and still not leave a carbon footprint as big as if I have a child. Ten thousand tonnes of CO2. That's the weight of the eiffel Tower. I'd be giving birth to the eiffel Tower.' In a time of global anxiety, terrorism, erratic weather and political unrest, a young couple want a child but are running out of time. If they over think it, they'll never do it. But if they rush, it could be a disaster.they want to have a child for the right reasons. except, what exactly are the right reasons? and what will be the first to destruct - the planet or the relationship?

Notes:
rights:Gersh Agency, NY

1st Produced:
Studio Theatre, Washington DC     02 Oct 2011

Organisations:
Paines Plough

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 100 min

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Mistakes Have Been Made

Synopsis:
one man show about a shady, smooth talking Manager whose rambling party speech told the story of an ailing company struggling with corruption throughout its ranks. Filled with office anecdotes of desk sabotage and mockery of other offices, the audience played the part of his employee's, raising glasses and allowing him to interact, creating a far more solid office party experience. It ended with real sabotage as audience members' bundled him into a back room for a beating':

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Cardiff     01 Dec 2011

Organisations:
Dirty protest

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:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Monster

Monster
"He's got zero empathy. You could be having a conversation and start choking to death and he'd just think, 'Well, this conversation's over.'He'd probably just sit there and finish eating whatever you were choking on." an inexperienced teacher is given the job of saving a disturbed and violent fourteen-year-old boy from permanent exclusion. alone in the classroom, an intense battle of wills takes place. But what can be done when a child cares for no one and is afraid of nothing?

Notes:
second prize in the Bruntwood Playwriting Competition

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Manchester International Festival

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:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Most Humane Way To Kill A Lobster, The

Most Humane Way To Kill A Lobster, The
"You put it in the freezer, so when you transfer it to the boiling water it doesn't feel a thing. I suppose that this is how I've felt recently. I've been in some deep freeze and suddenly I can feel steam in my face, I'm falling headlong into scalding water." It's 2005, the sun is shining and Loretta is planning to make her daughter's favourite meal. But when Sophie stops talking to her, children start vanishing, and rooms begin to cry, Loretta can't help feeling that something is up and that she might have something to do with it. a play about one woman's journey back to her childhood, to stop her past flooding into the present.

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  4            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:

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Night With the Apathists, A

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
part of ShorTheatre Companyuts 2006

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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People, Places and Things

People, Places and Things
Emma was having the time of her life. Now she's in rehab. Her first step is to admit that she has a problem. But the problem isn't with Emma, it's with everything else. She needs to tell the truth. But she's smart enough to know that there's no such thing. When intoxication feels like the only way to survive the modern world, how can she ever sober up? People, Places and Things is the latest collaboration between Headlong and the National, following the acclaimed Earthquakes in London and The Effect.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Headlong

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:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Platform

Synopsis:
PLATFORM stars over 100 volunteer Londoners, with movement choreographed by Neil Bettles for renowned physical theatre company, Frantic assembly. a fantastical love story taking place in the Old Vic Tunnels - a vast series of vaults and chambers underneath Waterloo Station - PLaTFORM takes you on a journey to every corner of the city. From a broken down tube, to an east end bar, a City restaurant to a South London estate, the show reveals the hopes and dreams of the capital's citizens at the end of the first decade of the new millennium.

Notes:
written By Duncan Macmillan And Morgan Lloyd Malcolm

1st Produced:
Old Vic Tunnels, Waterloo, London     07 Nov 2010

Organisations:
Old Vic New Voices

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  large cast

Further Reference:
-

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Rosmersholm

Synopsis:
Duncan Macmillan's stunning and resonant adaptation of Henrik Ibsens Rosmersholm. This revival of a masterpiece charts love, politics, past and future, with plenty of twists thrown in for good measure. Rosmersholm is positioned against the backdrop of a looming election, an atmosphere of uncertainty and a bloodthirsty press. In the grand house of an influential dynasty, John Rosmer holds the future in his hands. As he wanders the line between idealism and a painful past, he finds himself ever more torn.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Henrik Ibsen

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Oberon Books   

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Satellite

Synopsis:
Lewis is falling through the air. Sonny is running away. Dinah can't move. This small town is changing fast.

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sleeve Notes

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Part of Miniaturists 4 - Bringing you more of the best short plays by some of the most exciting playwrights in the UK today

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:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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