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Christina Reid

CHRISTINA REID

  (1942 - 2015)
Nationality:    Irish
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Alan Brodie Representation Ltd  (estate)

Christina Reid was born in the Ardoyne area of Belfast on 12 March 1942, died 31 Mar 2015. She was the Writer in Residence at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast from 1983-4, and after moving to London in 1987 was Writer in Residence at the Young Vic from 1988-9. She is a winner of both the prestigious George Devine Award and the Giles Cooper Award. An archive of her work is currently housed at the Linen Hall Library in Belfast. For more information on this, please contact info@linenhall.com. Her stage plays, which have been produced around the world, include TEA IN A CHINA CUP (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), DID YOU HEAR the ONE ABOUT the IRISHMAN? (RSC), JOYRIDERS (Paines Plough/Tricycle Theatre), the BELLE OF the BELFAST CITY (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), MY NAME, SHALL I TELL YOU MY NAME? (Dublin Theatre Festival/Young Vic), LES MISERABLES (Nottingham Playhouse), CLOWNS (the Orange Tree, Richmond), the KING OF the CASTLE (National Theatre, BT Connections), the GIFT OF the GAB (National Theatre Assembly Series), the UNDERSTUDY (Tinderbox, Belfast) and A YEAR AND A DAY (National Theatre Connections). TEA IN A CHINA CUP, DID YOU HEAR the ONE ABOUT the IRISHMAN?, JOYRIDERS, the BELLE OF the BELFAST CITY, MY NAME, SHALL I TELL YOU MY NAME? and CLOWNS are all included in Christina Reid: Plays 1, which is published by Methuen Drama. the KING OF the CASTLE and A YEAR AND A DAY are both published by Fabers and the GIFT OF the GAB is published by Barrington Stoke. Christina's television work includes episodes of PIE IN the SKY, STREETWISE as well as the LAST OF A DYIN' RACE (UTV/ChAnnel 4)) and DID YOU HEAR the ONE ABOUT the IRISHMAN. . .? which won the Ulster TV Drama Award. Radio work includes the LAST OF A DYIN' RACE, MY NAME SHALL I TELL YOU MY NAME?, OF ALL the GIN JOINTS, the UNFORTUNATE FURSEY, the BELLE OF the BELFAST CITY, SUMMERTIME DONAGHADEE, the BOMB-DAMAGE-SALE WEDDING DRESS and the FUNERAL ORATOR's TALE, all for BBC Radio 4, as well as SEX AND the SINGLE GRANNY for Lyric FM. Christina is currently working on a new screenplay entitled OY VEH JESUS MAHONEY.

Research:    http://www.irishplayography.com/person.aspx?personid=3174

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

         Belle Of Belfast City, The         Clowns         Did You Hear the One About the Irishman ?         Gift of the Gab, The         Joyriders         King of the Castle, The         Last of a Dyin' Race, The         Les Miserables         My Name, Shall I Tell You My Name?         Tea In A China Cup         Understudy, The         Year And A Day, A

Belle Of Belfast City, The

Belle Of Belfast City, The
When three generations of a Northern Irish family are reunited during the week of an anti Anglo-Irish Agreement rally, supported by the National Front, the family finds itself caught between clashing political views. Dolly, a former star of the music halls, is the ageing matriarch who keeps her daughters Vi and Rose in line. Rose has returned to Belfast with her mixed-race daughter Belle, who is keen to learn about her roots. the family's skeletons are soon exposed as old conflicts with cousin Jack, a staunchly Unionist politician, are reawakened.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Lyric Theatre

1st Published:
in Christina Reid Plays 1, Methuen, London, 1987   978-0413712206

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:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Clowns

Clowns
the sequel to joyriders "What it means to be a poor Catholic teenager living in the Divis flats in Belfast"

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
The Room, Orange Tree, Richmond     21 Mar 1996

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Christina Reid Plays 1, Methuen, London, 1997   978-0413712206

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:  3            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Did You Hear the One About the Irishman ?

Did You Hear the One About the Irishman ?
In Belfast the problems of different religions within a marriage can lead to fatal consequences for young lovers

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York     1985

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Christina Reid Plays 1, Methuen, London, 1997   978-0413712206

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:  6            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Gift of the Gab, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
National Theatre Assembly Series    

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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Joyriders

Synopsis:
What it means to be a poor Catholic teenager living in the Divis flats in Belfast

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Tricycle Theatre, London >>>     13 Feb 1986

Organisations:

1st Published:
New Playwrights' Network, 1972   -

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:  2            Female:  3            Other:  voices

Further Reference:
-

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King of the Castle, The

Synopsis:
Exploration of perceptions and relationships in the aftermath of war (1940's Britain).

Notes:
aka I'm the King of the Castle

1st Produced:
Plymouth: Barbican Theatre     16 Mar 1999

Organisations:
BT National Connections

1st Published:
Graham-Adriani, Suzy, New Connections '99: New Plays for Young People, Faber and Faber, London, 1999   -

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:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Last of a Dyin' Race, The

Synopsis:
In Northern Ireland, old ways of burying the dead collide with the new.

Notes:
the play won A Giles Cooper Award As one of the Best Radio Plays of 1986. A television production of the play Aired in 1987 As part of the 'First Sight' series on Britain's Channel 4.

1st Produced:
Bbc Radio 4     14 Jan 1986

Organisations:
BBC Radio Drama

1st Published:
in Best Radio Plays 1986, Methuen Publishing Ltd (11 Jun 1987)   978-0413157706

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:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Les Miserables

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:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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My Name, Shall I Tell You My Name?

My Name, Shall I Tell You My Name?
Through a series of flashbacks a young woman's recollections of her grandFather are revealed. Throughout her childhood in Derry, Andrea, the old man's only granddaughter, is the apple of his eye. He weans her on tales of the First World War when the only glory was for true-blooded Protestants. A moving tale of a lonely old man with only his memories to survive for and of a young girl who wants to experience more from life.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Yew Theatre Company

1st Published:
in Christina Reid Plays 1, Methuen, London, 1997   978-0413712206

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:  1            Female:  1            Other:  voice

Further Reference:
-

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Tea In A China Cup

Tea In A China Cup
Belfast, in the period between 1939 and 1972. During the days surrounding the Twelfth of July celebrations, three generations of Protestant women in Belfast attempt to preserve a sense of community and family continuity by handing down traditions and possessions.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Lyric Theatre

1st Published:
in Christina Reid Plays 1, Methuen, London, 1997   978-0413712206

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:
Historical

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  8            Other:  doubling possible

Further Reference:
-

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Understudy, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Tinderbox, Belfast    

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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Year And A Day, A

Synopsis:
Tale of a travelling Storyteller and a Girl who meet in a land devastated by war and famine

Notes:
part of the National Connections Festival

1st Produced:

Organisations:
George Heriot's School, Edinburgh

1st Published:
in NT Connections2007, Faber and Faber, London, 2007   -

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 play One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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