The Playwrights Database
CAMDEN MCDONALD
(1959 - )Nationality: British
email: n/a Website: n/a
Literary Agent: Elspeth Cochrane Agency, UK
Camden McDonald was born in Derby in 1959, the eldest child of Irish and Jamaican immigrants. Despite his family's meagre circumstances, he attended Derby Grammar School along with his brother, Martin, also attending Hughes School of Dance & Drama. At Derby School he encountered the early work of fellow student David Calladine, Director and founder of Public Spirit - an early influence. He made his professional stage debut in 1972 at the age of 13 in Brecht's Galileo at Derby Playhouse. Leaving school at the age of 16, he briefly studied 'A' levels before joining Playground Theatre Company, and then co-founding with Dorothy McCree the Young National Trust Theatre, acting, devising and writing shows for young people. Moving to Manchester in the early 80's he acted in television and Theatre before founding Roar Material Theatre Co-operative - a new writing company - with Norman Leach and Lesley Martin. the Co-op premiered works by Leach and other prominent Manchester writers including Richard Gallagher. In 1986 he went to Wuppertal, Germany to observe the working methods of Pina Bausch and her TANZteater. In 1987, he met Karen Crook and Lorraine Hackett and they began devising original performance pieces beginning with "Invasion of the Cliches", followed by the Everyday life series, adaptations of Shakespeare, and also satirical comedy for video and radio. After traveling and working in Spain and the United States in the early 90's, he moved to London in 1997 and took an MA in advanced Theatre practice at Central School if Speech and Drama. While at Central he met Funmi Olowe who featured in the two subsequent Everyday Life pieces. In 1999 he met Ken Campbell and his daughter Daisy who had just embarked on a revival of "the Warp" the infamous 24 hour play cycle. After collaborating on "the Warp", he directed Theatre on the London fringe and then began working in film, notably the features "Room 36" and "Halal Harry". He is currently collaborating with director Silvio Narizzano on a screenplay called "Nobody's Land".
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below is a list of Camden McDonald's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Everyday Life In Berlin Everyday Life In Hollywood Everyday Life In Paris Rome & Munich Everyday Life In the Eighties Everyday Life In the Empire Of Japan Everyday Life In the Sixties Invasion Of the Cliches XPEveryday Life In Berlin
Synopsis:
A mythopoeic vision of Berlin centreing on four cabaret artists
Notes:
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1st Produced:
The Green Room, Manchester
1992
Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageEveryday Life In Hollywood
Synopsis:
Sychophants gather at the Belaire dream-home of faded star Karina Cruikshank to play out the tragic interior of a mind utterly deranged by adulation.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
The Green Room, Manchester
1989
Organisations:
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1st Published:
-
Music:
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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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: 5 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageEveryday Life In Paris Rome & Munich
Synopsis:
Artistic and personal angst on the set of 70's European art movie starring Karina Cruikshank
Notes:
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1st Produced:
The Green Room, Manchester
1990
Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageEveryday Life In the Eighties
Synopsis:
the surrealy vacuous and materialistic lives of a group of greedy, corporate high flyers.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
The Drome, London
1999
Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageEveryday Life In the Empire Of Japan
Synopsis:
Jilted bride Lotus Blossom takes spectacular revenge on her loathsome fiance and his cohorts.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
The Green Room, Manchester
1989
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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageEveryday Life In the Sixties
Synopsis:
the Sixties from the point of view of three groupies
Notes:
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1st Produced:
The Lion & Unicorn, London
1998
Organisations:
Roar Material
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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageInvasion Of the Cliches
Synopsis:
A Nightmare of Urban Angst & Surreal Humour. the lights go down and a slick, enthusiastic announcer introduces us to "the Wonderful World of Magnum", and to three ordinary clerks at work in the multi-storey office of Magnum Enterprises. they are dressed and behave like cliched all-American guys; the type you might see in a 50's corporate propaganda film or sci-fi movie - bright and eager, gut-tuggingly content with their lot, and totally - ridiculously - committed to their way of life: one dominated by corporate ideology. We find out a little about each of them - Al, young, spunky and newlywed; Barney, a dry jestful bachelor; Chuck, solid & regular family man. Most of their enthusiasm, however, is directed at their mind-numbing bureaucratic tasks. they climax with a song and dance routine about the nature of individuality. the lights fade again and the announcer introduces a flashback - what we have seen is the happy and contented Al, Barney & Chuck, but now we are shown the way they were before the cataclysmic event that transformed them - before the arrival of AN ASTEROID FROM OUTER SPACE!! the lights come up on a slightly different scene. the three have become Alec, Bernard and Charles. they are bored and listless - gone are the bright eyes, American accents and moronic grins - they are dull office drones, company conformists, dressed in grey. As they listen to reports on the radio of a meteorite impact on the outskirts of the city each of them is drawn inexorably into his own worst nightmare - Part One climaxes with an intrusion by the extra-terrestrial visitor Phoebe Zeitgeist and another song and dance routine. Part Two is the mirror of Part One - the same structure the same overall pattern of events, but the central characters are three downtrodden women from the Repro Department. they are replaced by aliens who have been taught how to behave like "real women" through TV ads. the climax of the piece brings all of the characters together for the appearance of Phoebe Zeitgeist and a grand musical finale - Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
The Green Room, Manchester
1988
Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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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: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageXP
Synopsis:
A radical reassessment of the life of Christ and satire on current events.
Notes:
written by Camden McDonald, Viv Galvagna And Ruth Robinson
1st Produced:
The First Church Of Christ Performance Artist, 491 Gallery, London & Liverpool Biennial Festival
2004
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: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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