The Playwrights Database
ALAN MCKENDRICK
(1979 - )Nationality: Scottish
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Alan McKendrick is a writer, director and translator working across theatre, film and opera. Recent stage work as writer/director includes a large-scale durational adaptation of Alexander Trocchi's cult novel Cain's Book for Untitled Projects; the multi-location site-specific performance project Emancipation Acts which featured a 65-strong cast and took place across the Merchant City as part of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Cultural Programme; The James Dean Death Scene (Tron, Glasgow & Traverse, Edinburgh. Winner Arches Award For Stage Directors), Finished With Engines (Arches, Glasgow. Final-Shortlisted Meyer-Whitworth Award. Revived Traverse Edinburgh Festival), The Bad Drive Well (Arches), a reversioning of Thomas Middleton & William Rowley's The Changeling (Oran Mor) and a translation of Odon von Horvath's Kasimir & Karoline(National Theatre Of Scotland). Further translations into/out of German include Kevin Rittberger's Peeping Ends (National Theatre Studio) and Adriano Shaplin's Pugilist Specialist (Theater Der Welt Stuttgart). His own play Finished With Engines has been translated into German by Kevin Rittberger as Ende aus, alles aus. Alan recently scripted Ophelia, a radical rewriting of William Shakespeare's Hamlet in collaboration with performer Adura Onashile and director Stewart Laing (Oran Mor) and The Eye (Untitled Projects), a free adaptation of Georges Bataille's Story Of The Eye featuring kinetic sculptures, robotics, silicone prosthetics and live performance, presented at Glasgow Sculpture Studios. He also directed Rob Drummond's Lifesaving (Oran Mor). Opera work: as librettist/director Hope Dies Hard In His House (Aldeburgh Music, composer Luke Styles); as librettist Ringside Seat At The Sobriety Olympics (Aldeburgh Music, composer Donal Sarsfield) and Every Inch Of Many Effigies (Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, composer Joanna Lee); as assistant director La vie parisienne (MalmO Opera Sweden); as dramaturg La fedelta premiata (Bayerische Staatsoper Munich). Non-opera dramaturgy includes The Salon Project(Untitled Projects), Apeneck Sweeney (Arches) & Jean Genet's The Maids (Citizens Theatre Glasgow). Alan has also been a script reader for both the Traverse and Birmingham Rep, and is currently working with Berlin-based production company Nosorogi as script editor for their feature film project Zgodbe iz kostanjevih gozdov. Film work as writer/director includes the 20min narrative installation loop Violence Was Offered, made with bespoke stills by photographer Tobias Feltus (Playwrights' Studio Scotland Writers Projects/Arches), 14min musical/narrative work The Animal Sculpture Sinfonia Tunes Down(Seventeen Gallery Aberdeen/ACES) & 5min short It's Been Emotional (Glasgow International/Glasgow Gallery Of Modern Art). Alan was formerly Playwrights' Studio Writer-In-Residence with Untitled Projects and the Arches, and has made further work with various organisations including Hebbel Am Ufer Berlin, Volksbühne Berlin, Internationales Forum Berlin, Tramway, Ankur, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Cry Parrot, Horsecross Arts, Theatre 503, Northern Stage and Riot Group. Alan is a graduate of the University Of Glasgow, where he studied English Literature and Philosophy. He has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Kentucky, Lexington USA where he created and led a new course on dialect stage translation, and is currently also working with both the Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland's MA CCT postgraduate programme and the University Of Glasgow's Theatre Studies Department.
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below is a list of Alan McKendrick's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Apeneck Sweeney Bad Drive Well, The Bite Size Cain's Book Changeling, The Emancipation Acts Eye, The Finished With Engines I'm the Happiness Of This Earth James Dean Death Scene, The Kasimir and Karoline Ophelia ~ Shakespeare's Hamlet Peeping Ends Please Don't Be So Such A BruteApeneck Sweeney
Synopsis:
Aping TS Eliot's appropriation of antic sources, this modern adaptation of his unfinished play 'sweeney Agonistes' draws upon the pounding music of the Fall, Japanese animation and fashion, even the Scottish social club scene and karaoke. Even the uncomfortable diversion of a raffle and a performance of Elvis's 'In the Ghetto' serve to further enhance the milieu of vulgarity and trite escapism which anticipates Sweeney's arrival. Alongside the script's ominous use of repetition, the ugly projection of death in life of Sweeney's shiftless appearance, and the numerous allusions to murder and cannibalism, the songs, acting like a grim Greek chorus, really hammer home the sense of impending menace, leaving the spectator feeling woozy. A challenging production of a rarely performed piece. - Jay Richardson, Scotsman
Notes:
Adaptation of T.S. Eliot's 'sweeney Agonistes'. Text reversioned by Alan McKendrick. First presented As part of Arches theatre Festival 2007
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Paul-Vincent McInnes
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Adaptation
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 3 Other: One or more musicians
Further Reference:
Top of PageBad Drive Well, The
Synopsis:
Celine and Lenny fast-forward their way through the painful rituals of 21st-century romance among the speed-dating lonely-hearts set. Oddballs with a shared penchant for wrestling magazines, and prone to rattling out a stream of hyper-tense one-liners, they endure awkward exchanges that ease into something which might just resemble a love affair in this peculiar, off-kilter rom-com that's a joy to watch. . . A hilarious motor-mouthed double act who find happiness beyond their solitary dysfunctions. . . Major writers in the making, caught at a crucial stage in their careers. - Neil Cooper, Herald
Notes:
First presented in A double-bill with Megan Barker's 'Tongue Lie Tight'.
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Alan McKendrick & Megan Barker
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:
One Act
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
Top of PageBite Size
Synopsis:
Part of "Bite Size": 10 new short plays by graduates of David Edgar's prestigious play-writing programme. With subjects ranging from kidnapped cats to terrorists in training, ghostly rodents to revolutionay politics, Bite Sized offers a unique opportunity to sample the work of some of the most talented young playwrights the UK has to offer with two nights of semi-staged performances.
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Mixed Company Productions
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:
short play
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageCain's Book
Synopsis:
Acclaimed worldwide as a high watermark for Scottish literature, Cain's Book is a tour-de-force of poetic writing simultaneously occupying the modes of drug literature confessional, bleak comedy and philosophical tract, depicting protagonist Joe Necchi's experiences from a Glasgow childhood through to adult life in 1950s New York as a scow captain and unrepentant heroin addict. McKendrick's adaptation juxtaposes theatre, cinematic and photographic projection, formation dance interludes and music from Glasgow avant-rock group Smack Wizards. A continuous three-hour live extravaganza - there will be opportunities to take intervals, yet incentives to remain throughout.
Notes:
adapted from the novel by Alexander Trocchi, adapted and directed by Alan McKendrick
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Untitled Projects
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:
adaptation
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
Top of PageChangeling, The
Synopsis:
One of the most linguistically elegant bloodbaths ever penned, the Changeling follows young Spanish noblewoman Beatrice-Joanna, who suffers the misfortune of first meeting the love of her life, Alsemero, mere days after having become betrothed to another. Beatrice-Joanna's subsequent wild recourse to dark tactics in pursuit of breaking this engagement in the form of a heated, opportunistic alliance with aristocrat-turned-servant and general man of violence De Flores are the meat and drink of this Jacobean film noir. Suffice to say that trouble, desire, sex and death ensue heavily.
Notes:
from play by William Rowley
1st Produced:
Glasgow: Oran Mor, Scotland, Eur >>> 17 Jun 2013
Organisations:
Play, a Pie and a Pint
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
Booksellers:
Genre:
adaptation
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
Top of PageEye, The
Synopsis:
a free adaptation of Georges Bataille's Story Of The Eye featuring kinetic sculptures, robotics, silicone prosthetics and live performance
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Glasgow Sculpture Studios -
Organisations:
Untitled Projects
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: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageFinished With Engines
Synopsis:
One of those smart-talking, wisecracking pieces that nudges you into laughing at what is seriously unfunny: nuclear warheads and the question of whose finger is on the Big Red Button. Viola and Friedman are locked in mutual taunting aboard a US Navy observation platform while civil unrest escalates on a nearby island. He's a wannabe writer in search of material, she's his superior in search of. . . well, she'd like to "tidy up" the world's trouble-spots, but hers is not the finger on the trigger, thank God. their verbal spats are hilarious, their hollering of bizarre sea-shanties a treat - yet all the time there's this undertow of threat, a sense that their boredom could drive them to do something stupid and dangerous. - Mary Brennan, Herald
Notes:
First presented As part of Arches Live! 2006. Shortlisted for the 2007 Meyer-Whitworth Award for best script by A new writer
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Friedman McKendrick Viola
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:
One Act
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
Top of PageI'm the Happiness Of This Earth
Synopsis:
I hate working in record retail. Touched-up by the backward DJ at the Primary School rollerdisco, now selling music in a modern prison, three inmates plot their escape down the brass hatch laundry chute. Also features strong sexual jealousy.
Notes:
Presented As part of 'Bite-Sized', A programme of short works.
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Theatre 503/Bite-Sized
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 (20 min) One Act
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 2 Other: One Offstage Voice, Gender Indeterminate
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageJames Dean Death Scene, The
Synopsis:
Not a lot happens in this brilliant, sordid and flawed little Drama. . . Apart from the sex and violence, that is. the sex is variously casual, brutal, under-age and paid-for. the violence comes in a variety of guises from casual to premeditated, drunken to domestic. Which is not to say that the James Dean Death Scene is packed with graphic scenes of such events. Indeed, if all that happens to its characters was actually represented onstage, then it would have been banned long ago. Director and writer Alan McKendrick is much more canny than that. He takes the sort of plot that might, in some hands, have been used to create a gruesome video nasty and, instead, uses it to construct the most minimal of theatre pieces imaginable. In so doing, he succeeds in creating a play that is a compelling argument for theatre over film. - Thom Dibdin, Edinburgh Evening News
Notes:
Winner of the Arches Award For Stage Directors In Association With Tron, Traverse And National theatre Of Scotland 2006. First presented As part of Arches theatre Festival 2006.
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Arches 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:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: 3 Other: One Female Voice, One Male Voice
Further Reference:
Top of PageKasimir and Karoline
Synopsis:
An unruly comedy with a dark and savage streak. Set over the course of one increasingly unhinged night at the Oktoberfest fair in Munich, Odon von Horvath's love story about impoverished youth and their affluent, predatory elders is an absolute stage fixture in German-speaking countries, while having received scarcely any exposure whatsoever in the English-language theatre in the eight decades since it was originally penned. This reading will seek to take an overdue first step in rendering this major European classic to a fresh audience, presenting a brand-new Scots translation of the piece by Alan McKendrick, who also directs.
Notes:
Original Playwright - Odon von Horvath
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:
translation
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageOphelia ~ Shakespeare's Hamlet
Synopsis:
In the greatest tragedy in the English language Hamlet has 1476 lines and Ophelia has 170. Hamlet famously talks a lot and does nothing. If we were unaware of Hamlet's inner life, how would we perceive him? This rewrite of Shakespeare redresses the balance of the original play through giving voice to Ophelia, who courageously and palpably commits to action. Exploring her big decision to be or not to be Ophelia becomes the true protagonist of the great tragedy.
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Glasgow: Oran Mor, Scotland, EUR >>> 09 Jun 2014
Organisations:
A Play, A Pie and a Pint
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
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Booksellers:
Genre:
45 min adaptation
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
Top of PagePeeping Ends
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
translated from the work by Kevin Rittberger
1st Produced:
National Theatre Studio, London -
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:
translation
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PagePlease Don't Be So Such A Brute
Synopsis:
"I can see some signs of civilisation. Also a church." Teenage German girl gives Glaswegian Gaelic teacher a lesson in language and action. Undeniably pornographic without showing much, nonetheless in dubious taste.
Notes:
Presented As part of 'Bite-Sized 2', A programme of short works
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Theatre 503/Bite-Sized
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:
Ten Min
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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