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John Pielmeier

JOHN PIELMEIER

  (1949 - )
Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Paradigm  

Born in Altoona, PA on February 23, 1949. B.A. from Catholic University of America, M.F.A. from Pennsylvania State University. As an actor, he has worked extensively in regional Theater. He is a member of New Dramatists and the Playwrights Lab of the Actors Studio. Recipient: Shubert Fellowship in Playwriting; Co-winner, 1980 Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville for Agnes of God; Special Mention, Playbill Award.

Research:    Member of the Dramatists Guild of America (as at 2015)

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

         4/19/1995         Agnes Of God         Boys Of Winter, The         Chapter Twelve: the Frog         Cheek To Cheek         Chosen Room, A         Classics Professor, The         Courage         Early Times, Chapter Twelve, The Frog         Evening         Ghost Story, A         Goober's Decent         Gothic Tale, A         Haunted Lives         Impassioned Embraces         In Mortality         Jass         Madonna and Child         Sleight Of Hand         Slow Dance With a Hot Pickup         Soledad Brother         Song of Myself         Steeplechase - A Coney Island Love Story         Voices In the Dark         Willi         Witch's Brew, A         Young Rube
4/19/1995

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Town Hall, New York     2002

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Bibliographies/VN_drama_bib.php

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Agnes Of God

Synopsis:
Dr Livingstone, a court-appointed psychiatrist, is asked to determine the sanity of a nun accused of murdering her own baby. the Mother Superior seems bent on protecting Sister Agnes from Livingstone whose suspicions are immediately aroused. In searching for solutions to various mysteries Livingstone forces all of them to face some harsh realities in their own lives. This powerful Drama was an outstanding success on Broadway and was filmed with Jane Fonda and Anne Bancroft.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French Inc, New York, 1982   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Boys Of Winter, The

Synopsis:
Shortly after a hellish experience on a hilltop in the Quang Tri Province of Vietnam, Lieutenant William Bonney shot seven Vietnamese villagers in cold blood. Called to answer for the brutal atrocities against these civilians, Bonney and his men give their testimonies of the incidents leading up to the lieutenant's court-martial. Juxtaposing the brutal conditions in Vietnam with the trial, this gripping play examines the primal brotherhood of war and the punishing emptiness of those who return from it.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Biltmore Theatre, New York     18 Nov 1985

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc, 2010   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Chapter Twelve: the Frog

Synopsis:
While dissecting a frog, a babbling young girl stops talking long enough to discover she is losing her boyfriend to her lab partner

Notes:
part of Early Times: A compendium of short plays

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Short Play One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Cheek To Cheek

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Louisville     1983

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Chosen Room, A

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Guthrie Two, Mn     1976

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Classics Professor, The

Synopsis:
Into Professor Alexander's class 'Comedy in Greek Tragedy' steps Daemon, a beautiful young man who turns the good professor's life upside-down. Alexander, who is translating and directing a college production of the Bacchae, suddenly finds that his own life mirrors Euripides's play about losing one's sanity in the throws of passion. This is a comedy about love, lust, madness, death, incest, infidelity and bubblegum
Press Release

Notes:
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1st Produced:
New York     1988

Organisations:
-

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:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Courage

Synopsis:
Inspired by an address given by Sir James M. Barrie to the graduating class of St. Andrew's University in Scotland, Courage is an intimate look into the life of the celebrated writer. In instructing the students how to go about living the "courageous life," he uses his own life as an example of how not to spend one's years. He tells of his youth, of his bed-ridden (and emotionally-demanding) mother, of his career and tragic marriage, and of his remarkable friendship with the five Llewellyn-Davies boys that would lead to his creation of Peter Pan.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York   

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:
80-90 min Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  1 male

Further Reference:
-

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Early Times, Chapter Twelve, The Frog

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     1981

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Evening

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Cincinnati     1986

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ghost Story, A

Synopsis:
two hikers, Oswald and Hackett, seek shelter from a winter blizzard in an isolated Maine cabin. they are joined by a mysterious girl, Soma, who disclaims any knowledge of who might have laid the fire in the hearth, or who owns the knapsack which rests in the corner. To while away the time the three tell each other ghost stories-at first vividly fanciful and then suddenly disquieting as the imagined becomes real in the blood-curdling climax.

Notes:
in Haunted Lives. Commission, Actors theatre of Louisville, KY

1st Produced:
Edinburgh     1984

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Haunted Lives", Dramatists Play Service, New York, 1984   

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:
Drama One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Goober's Decent

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Victor Jory Theater, Louisville, Ky     1982

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Gothic Tale, A

Synopsis:
a woman obsessed by the idea of being loved keeps a man prisoner in the tower of an island mansion. In a succession of scenes the woman, Eliza, and her manservant visit the prisoner, Isaac, warning him that, unless he confesses his love for Eliza, he will die. Finally, just before he expires from starvation, Isaac capitulates-whereupon a large cupboard is opened to reveal the ghoulish remains of other men who have preceded him to this sinister place.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Haunted Lives", Dramatists Play Service, New York, 1984   

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:
Drama One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Haunted Lives

Synopsis:
the first play, A WITCH's BREW, takes place in the darkened basement of a remote farmhouse, where Daed, his sister Jule, and her boyfriend Tucker, nervously explore the macabre secrets of the shallow graves which they believe to be there. Performed in semi-darkness, the play makes eloquent use of the powerful-and frightening-imagery of words to build to its shocking and terrifying denouement. the second play, A GHOST STORY, two hikers, Oswald and Hackett, seek shelter from a winter blizzard in an isolated Maine cabin. they are joined by a mysterious girl, Soma, who disclaims any knowledge of who might have laid the fire in the hearth, or who owns the knapsack which rests in the corner. To while away the time the three tell each other ghost stories at first vividly fanciful and then suddenly disquieting as the imagined becomes real in the blood-curdling climax. In the final play, A GOTHIC TALE, a woman obsessed by the idea of being loved keeps a man prisoner in the tower of an island mansion. In a succession of scenes the woman, Eliza, and her manservant visit the prisoner, Isaac, warning him that, unless he confesses his love for Eliza, he will die. Finally, just before he expires from starvation, Isaac capitulates-whereupon a large cupboard is opened to reveal the ghoulish remains of other men who have preceded him to this sinister place.

Notes:
includes A Witche's Brew, A Ghost Story, A Gothic Tale

1st Produced:
Edinburgh     1984

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Haunted Lives", Dramatists Play Service, New York, 1984   

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:
Three Short Plays One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Impassioned Embraces

Synopsis:
Designed to be presented by a company of six actors (three men, three women and without any formal setting, the fourteen short pieces that comprise IMPASSIONED EMBRACES offer a wealth of intriguing possibilities for the performers. Dealing largely with the many aspects of love (from the sublime to the ridiculous) and with the trials and terrors that actors must face, the plays mingle hilarity and poignancy as they explore the problems that romance-and the need for self-expression-can engender. We encounter, for example, an actor struggling through a particularly devastating rehearsal; two teenagers gingerly dissecting a frog-and their sex lives; a bridegroom who finds that he really loves the bridesmaid rather than the bride; a woman (masquerading as a man) who tries to pick up a man (masquerading as a woman) in a bar; a couple chattering through a "splatter film" whose conversation is even wilder, and more intriguing, than the soundtrack of the movie; an assortment of sad/funny monologues about the various perils (and pleasures) of the acting profession; and a wildly funny farce involving a man about to undergo a vasectomy, a shockingly inept doctor, an irate (and pregnant) nurse, and the doctor's madly jealous wife. Fast-moving and highly inventive throughout, the program maintains a mood of high spirits and offbeat humor that will infect those on both sides of the footlights, as the hilarity-and truth-of the various pieces find their mark.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1989   

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:
14 short pieces One Act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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In Mortality

Synopsis:
-

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

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Jass

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New Dramatists, NYC     1980

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Madonna and Child

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     2007

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sleight Of Hand

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York     1987

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Slow Dance With a Hot Pickup

Synopsis:
A hands on contest. Eight contestants are chosen and have to stand with a hand on a truck - last one standing wins the truck

Notes:
Music by Matty Selman; lyrics by Matty Selman; book by John Pielmeier

1st Produced:
-     2006

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Soledad Brother

Synopsis:
Adaptation of George Jackson's prison letters

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Penn State University, Pa     1971

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:
Protest Drama One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  6 BM, 2 BF, 6 WM (doubling)

Further Reference:
-

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Song of Myself

Synopsis:
-

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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Steeplechase - A Coney Island Love Story

Synopsis:
Two couples elope to the Steeplechase Amusement Park - it is 1935 in the Depression. They meet the park manager and his girlfriend whose relationship is on the rocks. There are numerous employees who are all miserable. Everyone must find their true love before dawn or replay this day ad infinitum

Notes:
Music and lyrics by Matty Selman; book by John Pielmeier

1st Produced:
New York     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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Voices In the Dark

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Longacre Theatre, New York     31 Jul 1999

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:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Willi

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
music by Matthew Selman

1st Produced:
Big Fork, Montana     1991

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Witch's Brew, A

Synopsis:
takes place in the darkened basement of a remote farmhouse, where Daed, his sister Jule, and her boyfriend Tucker, nervously explore the macabre secrets of the shallow graves which they believe to be there. Performed in semi-darkness, the play makes eloquent use of the powerful-and frightening-imagery of words to build to its shocking and terrifying denouement.

Notes:
in Haunted Lives

1st Produced:
Edinburgh     1984

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Haunted Lives", Dramatists Play Service, New York, 1984   

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:
Drama One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Young Rube

Synopsis:
The life of cartoonist Rube Goldberg

Notes:
Music and lyrics by Matty Selman; book by John Pielmeier

1st Produced:
St Louis, Missouri     1992

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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