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James Presson

JAMES PRESSON

  
Nationality:    USA
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Literary Agent:    Abrams Artists Agency  represented by Max Grossman

JAMES PRESSON is a playwright, actor, and director based in NYC. He also serves as the co-artistic director of Less Than Rent Theatre. His self-directed adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III won awards for best director and best actor (Jake Ahlquist) at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2010. Other plays include LITTLE TOWN BLUES (an adaptation of Three Sisters that premiered at The Wild Project), FRIENDS DON't LET FRIENDS (an adaptation of Hedda Gabler), and WORDS, RAZORS, AND THE WOUNDED HEART (a Jacobean tragedy set in modern-day Connecticut). Other deconstructionist work includes WITCHES OF SALEM (original workshop at Fordham University) and DESIRE! [A VARSOUVIANA], which will premiere at Under St. Marks in November of 2012. He also was a co-writer on VOICES IN CONFLICT, a docudrama about the War on Terror, a smash hit and high-profile news item in 2007. It had runs at the Vineyard Theatre and Fairfield Theatre Company and gave single-night, special performances at the Public Theatre, Culture Project, and the Provincetown Playhouse. It was later adapted into a film for PBS. For his work, he was granted a special award from Music Theatre International as well as citations from the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). He is a graduate of Fordham University.

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

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

         Desire! [A Varsouviana]         Friends Don't Let Friends         Little Mac, Little Mac,You're The Very Man!         Little Town Blues         Richard 3         Voices in Conflict         Witches Of Salem         Words, Razors, and the Wounded Heart
Desire! [A Varsouviana]

Synopsis:
Liquored-up and down-to-f*ck: it's Stanley, Blanche, and STELL-AAAAA. they've traded in fried-green meloDrama for red-hot dubstep, and when the beat drops the French Quarter will never be the same. A heart-stopping, pill-popping remix of Tennessee Williams' sexiest play.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
written by Rachel Buethe, Patrick Fleury, and James Presson

1st Produced:
Under St. Marks
94 St. Marks Place, New York, NY 10009     29 Nov 2012

Organisations:
Less Than Rent

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:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Friends Don't Let Friends

Synopsis:
After four years on a hit sitcom, starlet Laura Burns is at the end of her rope. Unimpressed by the whirlwind of fame and consumed by existential notions, she longs for an escape from the artificiality of her laugh-track life. But as the lines between her off-screen friendships and her on-screen ones blur, Laura must face the terrifying possibility that this might be the only reality in which she can exist. Friends Don't Let Friends blends the meloDrama of Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler with the silliness of network television and bears witness to a public nervous breakdown with built in commercial breaks.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Walkerspace, 46 Walker Street, New York, NY 10013     02 Dec 2011

Organisations:
Less Than Rent Theatre

1st Published:
http://www.indietheaternow.com/Plays   

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:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Little Mac, Little Mac,You're The Very Man!

Synopsis:
Mac is on the run across America pursued by oil tycoon Mr Peacham and Sheriff Lockit. He meets many famous Americans. Al Capone and Al Gore, Ronald Regan and Ronald MacDonald, Lucy and Ethel

Notes:
Written by Sean Patrick Monahan and James Presson. Based on "The Beggar's Opera" by John Gay

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Little Town Blues

Synopsis:
A turbo-charged tragicomedy with a satirical edge, Little Town Blues takes a hard look at what it means to be a young American in the 21st century. Drawing from influences as wide-ranging and varied as Anton Chekhov, John Updike, and Aaron Sorkin, the play delves into the emotional complexities of young love, intense friendship, and the end of adolescence, while never putting aside the absurdity of living in a world governed by iPhones, laptops, and text messaging. Navigating through delight and devastation, the boarding students of Deforest-Martin Prep rage against the machine of structured academia with the fire of a teenage rebel and the depth of a Russian poet.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
written by James Presson And Rachel Beuthe

1st Produced:
Wild Project
195 East 3rd Street, New York, NY 10009     23 Jul 2011

Organisations:
Less Than Rent

1st Published:
http://www.indietheaternow.com/Plays   

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:  8            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Richard 3

Synopsis:
Betrayal! Bloodlust! Punk Rock! Shakespeare's classic tragedy re-imagined in a nuclear wasteland. Nineteen-year-old Richard Gloucester is trying to get ahead in post-WWIII England, and he wants the crown. . .really effing bad. It'stheEndOftheWorldAsWeKnowIt!

Notes:
William Shakespeare, Adapted by James Presson

1st Produced:
The Ellen Stewart Theatre @ La Mama     14 Aug 2010

Organisations:
Less Than Rent 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

Booksellers:

Genre:
2h 0m Local Manhattan, NYC

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Voices in Conflict

Synopsis:
Voices of Conflict is a series of monologues taken from the letters, poetry, and blogs of real U.S. Iraq War veterans and Iraqi citizens. This controversial documentary play shows the impact of war from differing perspectives and experiences including the voices and sentiments of the students involved in the creation of the play, which was censored by the local Public Schools.

Notes:
Written by James Presson and Bonnie Dickinson, Music by AJ Gundell

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:
docudrama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Witches Of Salem

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Original Workshop At Fordham University    

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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Words, Razors, and the Wounded Heart

Synopsis:
A Jacobean Revenge Comedy set in suburban Connecticut. Sacrifice! Betrayal! Prom!

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Under St. Marks. 94 St. Marks Place, New York, NY, 10009     11 Apr 2013

Organisations:
Less Than Rent Theatre in association with Horse Trade Theater Group

1st Published:
http://www.indietheaternow.com/Plays   

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:
5 acts 140 min

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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