The Playwrights Database
BILL MORRISON
(1940 - 2011)
Nationality:
Irish
email:
n/a
Website:
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Literary Agent:
Alan Brodie Representation Ltd
Born Ballymoney, Northern Ireland on 22 January 1940. Educated Queens University, 1958-62, Honours Degree in Law. During the 1960s he was a professional actor in Belfast, Dublin and London. Roles included Nick in the Irish premiere of Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf with T.P. McKenna and he appeared in the film Sinful Davey directed by John Huston. 1960s: As a professional writer his first plays were: an adaptation of Farquhar's LOVE AND A BOTTLE (Dublin Theatre Festival, Gate Theatre, 1966); LAUGH BUT LISTEN WELL (Dublin Festival, Gaiety Theatre, 1967); CONN AND the CONQUERORS OF SPACE (Gardiner Arts Centre, Brighton, then London Arts Theatre, 1972); PLEASE DONT SHOOT ME WHEN IM DOWN (Stables, Manchester, 1969). He was Resident Playwright for Peter Cheeseman at the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent from 1969 and his plays for the Vic were: JUPITER-5; an adaptation of Hardy's TESS OF the DURBERVILLES published by MacMillan; ALADDIN AND HIS MAGIC LAMP which he also directed and the TIME TRAVELLERS. 1970s: For the Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, USA: PATRICKS DAY, 1972. For the ICA, London: SAM SLADE IS MISSING, 1974, published in Best Short Plays of 1973 in USA. Also broadcast on BBC Radio 4. the LOVE OF LADY MARGARET for BBC Radio 3, subsequently staged in London in 1973. Ellen CASSIDY also for BBC Radio 3 in 1974, staged at Liverpool Everyman in 1978. the GREAT GUN-RUNNING EPISODE for BBC Radio 4 in 1972. Adapted Dostoevsky's CRIME AND PUNISHMENT for BBC Radio 3 in 1975 and Raymond Chandler's the BIG SLEEP, the HIGH WINDOW, the LADY IN the LAKE, the LITTLE SISTER and the LONG GOODBYE for BBC Radio 4, 1977-78. Wrote SIMPSON AND SON for BBC Radio 3, 1977 and MAGUIRE for BBC Radio 4, 1979. Moore's the EMPEROR OF ICE-CREAM adapted for BBC Radio 4 then staged at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 1977. On TV: MCKINLEY AND SARAH transmitted BBC 2 in 1973; JOGGERS for BBC 1, 1978. Resident Writer, Liverpool Everyman, 1977-79. Lecturer in Creative Writing, c.f. Mott College, 77-78. BBC Radio Drama Producer, Belfast, 1975-76. Ran Creative Writing workshops for Liverpool University, 1977-79. Drama Producer, Radio City, Liverpool, 1979-80. Ford Foundation Grant, USA, 1972. Arts Council Bursary, 1975. Founding Board member then Chair of Merseyside Young People s Theatre, 1979-89. Among the original founders of the Theatre Writers Union and its first Chair. the IRISH IMMIGRantS TALE, Liverpool Everyman, 1976. FLYING BLIND, Everyman, 1977, Royal Court, London, 1978, Harold Clurman, New York, 1979, published by Faber & Faber, 1978, translated into six languages, produced in 10 countries, nominated for Evening Standard Award Best Play and Best Comedy. TIME ON OUR HANDS, Belfast community tour, 1979, starred Stephen Rea. DR JEKYLL OF RODNEY STREET, Everyman, Liverpool, 1979. 1980s: Co-Artistic Director of Liverpool Playhouse, 1981-3, Artistic Director, 1983-85. then Board member until 1991. Commissioned and directed numerous plays including the musical CAVERN DREAMS (co-written with Carol Ann Duffy). Wrote and directed the musical, BE-BOP-A-LULA for the Playhouse and national tour, 1998, revived 1989. RUN RUN RUNAWAY for Merseyside Young People s Theatre, 1986. Board member and Chair of Drama Panel of Merseyside Arts. Arts Council of GB advisor. the SPRING OF MEMORY, a Dramatic feature for BBC Radio 3, 1981, winner of Pye Awards Best Programme of the Year. BLUES IN A FLAT, BBC Radio 4, 1989. On TV, POTATOHEAD BLUES, 1982 and SHERGAR, 1986, for BBC. 1990s: Screenplays for BBC Films A SAFE HOUSE, 1990, and FORCE OF DUTY, 1992. For BBC Radio adapted Chandler sthe LADY IN the LAKE, the BIG SLEEP, the HIGH WINDOW, the LONG GOODBYE, the LITTLE SISTER and FAREWELL MY LOVELY ad. Chandler, 1990s. AFFAIR, 1991, for the BBC World Service and Clifford Odets WAITING FOR LEFTY, 1994. MURDER AT the CAMEO, 1996. For Theatre, the LITTLE SISTER, play based on Chandler novel, 1990, produced at Plymouth Theatre Royal and Liverpool Playhouse. His trilogy of plays A LOVE SONG FOR ULSTER produced at Tricycle Theatre, London, 1993, published by Nick Hern Books. DRIVE ON produced at Lyric Theatre, Belfast, 1996. DANCE ON, devised for Warrington Youth Theatre toured Northern Ireland, 1994. What the critics said of A LOVE SONG FOR ULSTER - If the woes of Northern Ireland have brought our Theatre anything bolder or more ambitious I have yet to discover it. the Times. the experience comes as close to catharsis as you can expect to find in a modern play. the Financial Times Combines elements of Biblical severity, Greek tragedy and Eugene O Neill. the Observer. Negotiated amalgamation of Theatre Writers Union and Writers Guild of GB. Member of the Theatre Working Party and advisor, North-West Arts Board, 1997-8. Bill died on 7 December 2011 after a brief illness.
Research: http://www.irishplayography.com/person.aspx?personid=3512
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below is a list of Bill Morrison's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Aladdin And His Magic Lamp
Be Bop a Lula: the Story of the 1960 Tour
Cavern Of Dreams
Conn And the Conquerors Of Space
Daughter, The
Dr Jekyll Of Rodney Street
Drive On
Ellen Cassidy
Emperor Of Ice-Cream, The
Flying Blind
Frog and Toad Together
Irish Immigrants Tale, The
Jupiter-5
Laugh But Listen Well
Little Sister
Love And A Bottle
Love Of Lady Margaret, The
Love Song For Ulster, A
Marriage, The
O'Brien's Dream
Patrick's Day
Please Don't Shoot Me When I'm Down
Run, Run, Runaway
Sam Slade Is Missing
Scrap!
Son, The
Tess Of the D'Urberviles
Time On Our Hands
Time Travellers, The
Aladdin And His Magic Lamp
Synopsis:
Aladdin rubs the lamp of his dreams and wishes
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Stoke-On-Trent
1971
Organisations:
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1st Published:
-
Music:
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Genre:
TYA
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Be Bop a Lula: the Story of the 1960 Tour
Synopsis:
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Notes:
Bill Morrison with Spencer Leigh
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Genre:
musical
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
Theatre Record Vol VIII (1988) Page 0944
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Cavern Of Dreams
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
by Bill Morrison with Carol Ann Duffy
1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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-
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Male: - Female: - Other: -
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-
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Conn And the Conquerors Of Space
Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
Falmer, Sussex
1969
Organisations:
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1st Published:
-
Music:
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Genre:
TYA
Parts:
Male: 5 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Daughter, The
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Notes:
part of Love Song for Ulster
1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
in A Love Song For Ulster, Nick Hern Books (28 July 1994)
Music:
-
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Genre:
One Act
Parts:
Male: 12 Female: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
Theatre Record Vol XIII (1993) Page 0421
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Dr Jekyll Of Rodney Street
Synopsis:
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1st Produced:
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-
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-
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Drive On
Synopsis:
Dan has come home to Ireland to clear out the family house. His Father is long dead and his mother has gone into a home. As he opens up boxes and cases, memories come flooding out. His struggle to free himself from the past is impeded by the ghosts of his parents as his teenage daughter Kate tries to discard her own history and start afresh.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
Theatre Record Vol XVI (1996) Page 0248
Top of Page
Ellen Cassidy
Synopsis:
Talking, rocking, dancing blues; a woman's discovery of who she wants to be
Notes:
broadcast 1972
1st Produced:
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
-
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
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-
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Emperor Of Ice-Cream, The
Synopsis:
the scene is Belfast, Northern Ireland, during the early stages of World War II. Seventeen-year-old Gavin enlists in the war effort to escape the responsibility of continuing his education and getting "a real job". Gavin joins the A.R.P. He has a totally negative self-image and convinces himself that he is just "a second son that will never amount to anything". He'll never be as successful as his older brother Owen, and will never meet his father's expectations of him. Gavin's adolescent fantasies of power and achievement - sometimes sexual, sometimes iconoclastic - always rest on a knife-edge of indecision and powerlessness, of shame and humiliation. But these fantasies, and his father's equally self-serving political/philosophical beliefs are put to the test when the bombs fall. It seems that Hitler has found Ireland on the map! This changes everything.
Notes:
Based on Brian Moore's 1966 novel of the same name. Broadcast 1975
1st Produced:
Organisations:
1st Published:
-
Music:
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Genre:
Adaptation
Parts:
Male: 15 Female: 10 Other: doubling
Further Reference:
-
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Flying Blind
Synopsis:
Bill Morrison's farce addressed the violence and sectarian divisions of Northern Ireland, blending the tragedy, hypocrisy, and thuggery of the time with jokes, slapstick, and light-hearted black humour.
http://www.everymantheatrearchive.ac.uk/Seventies.php#p33
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Faber and Faber (26 Jun 1978)
Music:
-
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Genre:
Macabre Comedy
Parts:
Male: 10 Female: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Frog and Toad Together
Synopsis:
When Toad arrives to call, Frog finds she has made a list of all the things she's going to do today. the only trouble is, Toad doesn't want to do anything that isn't on the list. What is Frog to do? We follow this adventure and more in Bill Morrison's adaptation of Arnold Lobell's delightful stories. Age 4-7 years.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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1st Published:
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Genre:
TYA
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Irish Immigrants Tale, The
Synopsis:
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Notes:
Bill Morrison with Spencer Leigh
1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Jupiter-5
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Stoke-On-Trent
1970
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
-
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Genre:
TYA
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Laugh But Listen Well
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Dublin
1967
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Little Sister
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
Theatre Record Vol X (1990) Page 1477
Top of Page
Love And A Bottle
Synopsis:
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Notes:
adapted by Bill Morrison And Michael Ruggins from George Farquhar's restoration comedy
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Dublin Theatre Festival
1st Published:
-
Music:
-
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Genre:
adaptation
Parts:
Male: 9 Female: 7 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Love Of Lady Margaret, The
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
broadcast 1972
1st Produced:
London
1973
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Love Song For Ulster, A
chronicles the history of a family from the arranged marriage between John, a stolid, decent Protestant, and Kate, a beautiful impetuous Catholic free spirit, to the 1922 North/South partition to the bombings and atrocities of the Troubles.
Notes:
A Love Song for Ulster consists of three plays: the Marriage, the Son And the Daughter.
1st Produced:
Organisations:
1st Published:
in A Love Song For Ulster, Nick Hern Books (28 July 1994)
Music:
-
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Genre:
Historical Drama
Parts:
Male: 11 Female: 3 Other: musicians
Further Reference:
Theatre Record Vol XIII (1993) Page 0421
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Marriage, The
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Notes:
part of Love Song for Ulster
1st Produced:
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
in A Love Song For Ulster, Nick Hern Books (28 July 1994)
Music:
-
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 12 Female: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
Theatre Record Vol XIII (1993) Page 0421
Top of Page
O'Brien's Dream
Synopsis:
the year is 1845 and hunger and lack of work has forced Sean O'Brien to leave Ireland and join other emigrants on the boat to England. This, however, is only the first stage for Sean and his dream to sail on to America. Sean's friendliness and innocence makes him a prey for the crimps from the moment he arrives in Liverpool and his subsequent fortunes and misfortunes on this journey is the subject of this musical play.
Notes:
Written by Bill Morrison. Music by Frankie Connor And lyrics by Alan Crowley.
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Keyhole Theatre Company
1st Published:
-
Music:
-
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Genre:
Musical
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Patrick's Day
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
New Haven, Connecticut
1972
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Please Don't Shoot Me When I'm Down
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Manchester
1969
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Run, Run, Runaway
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Liverpool
1986
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
-
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Genre:
TYA
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Sam Slade Is Missing
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
broadcast 1971
1st Produced:
Derby
1972
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
in the Best Short plays 1973, Chilton/Haynes (July 1973)
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
short play
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Scrap!
Synopsis:
The British Secret Service bring the leaders of the Protestants and Catholics over from Northern Ireland to Liverpool to try and work out a peace deal
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
-
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Genre:
Drama
Parts:
Male: 8 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
[Theatre Record Vol V (1985) Page 0202]
Top of Page
Son, The
-
Notes:
part of Love Song for Ulster
1st Produced:
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
in A Love Song For Ulster, Nick Hern Books (28 July 1994)
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 12 Female: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
Theatre Record Vol XIII (1993) Page 0421
Top of Page
Tess Of the D'Urberviles
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
novel by Thomas Hardy
1st Produced:
Stoke-On-Trent
1971
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Macmillan (May 1980)
Music:
-
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Genre:
Adaptation
Parts:
Male: 12 Female: 9 Other: extras
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Time On Our Hands
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Belfast
1979
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
-
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Genre:
TYA
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page
Time Travellers, The
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Stoke-On-Trent
1971
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
-
Music:
-
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Genre:
TYA
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page