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Wallace Shawn

WALLACE SHAWN

  (1943 - )
Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Creative Artists Agency NY  UK representative Casarotto Ramsay and Associates Ltd

Wallace Michael "Wally" Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, voice actor, stand-up comedian, singer, dancer, playwright, and essayist, best known for appearing in film roles, such as Wally Shawn in the Louis Malle-directed comedy-drama My Dinner with Andre (1981), Vizzini in The Princess Bride (1987), Ezra in The Haunted Mansion, providing the voice of Rex in the Toy Story franchise, providing the voice of Gilbert Huph in The Incredibles (2004), and providing the voice of Calico in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010). He also starred in a variety of television series, including Gossip Girl and recurring appearances as Grand Nagus Zek in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-99). His plays include The Designated Mourner, Aunt Dan and Lemon, and Grasses of a Thousand Colors. He also co-wrote the screenplay for My Dinner with Andre with Andre Gregory, and he scripted Vanya on 42nd Street, a film adaptation of Anton Chekov's play Uncle Vanya. His latest film from June 2014 was A Master Builder based on the play by Henrik Ibsen. - wiki

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

         Aunt Dan and Lemon         Designated Mourner, The         Evening at the Talk House         Family Play, The         Fever, The         Four Meals in May         Grasses of a Thousand Colours         Hotel Play, The         In the Dark         Mandrake, The         Marie and Bruce         Master Builder         Mr Frivolous         Music Teacher, The         My Dinner With Andre         Our Late Night         Summer Evening         Thought In Three Parts, A         Threepenny Opera, The         Youth Hostel, The

Aunt Dan and Lemon

Synopsis:
the action begins in the London flat of Lenora (Lemon), a rather frail, introspective young woman who tells us, with a chilling calm, why she rather admires the Nazis for their "refreshing" lack of hypocrisy, and who then, in a series of flashbacks, explains how she came to hold these views. We meet her abrasive American-born father, to whom profit and business success are foremost, and her retiring mother who wishes that love and kindness were more prevalent, but is easily reconciled to their absence. But, most importantly, we meet a family friend, Danielle (known as Aunt Dan), an Oxford don obsessed with defending Henry Kissinger's policies in Vietnam. Beguiling Lemon with tales of her wild days as an Oxford student, and of the amoral escapades of her diverse and often dissolute friends (depicted in brief, disquieting vignettes), Aunt Dan becomes the central force in Lemon's life, eventually corrupting Lemon's moral views to the point where even Aunt Dan's death elicits no compassion. Instead Lemon, in a fi

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:

Music:
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Genre:
Mordant Comedy

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Designated Mourner, The

Designated Mourner, The
tells the story of three people: Howard, a poet, essayist and intellectual who comes from a privileged background but who nonetheless has been at odds for many decades with the right-wing regime that rules his country; Judy, his daughter, a subtle, witty and deep-feeling intellectual, who reveres her father; and Jack, Judy's husband, who at one time also revered Howard but then changed his mind. Judy was drawn to Jack in the first place because he's an amusing person who perhaps offered a refuge from the high standards inexorably imposed by her father, but his disarming light-mindedness turns out to have some unpleasant disadvantages. As the political situation becomes more tense, and the regime becomes more and more likely to crack down even on relatively quiet dissenters like Judy and Howard, the issue of what sort of books people like to read and how they choose to amuse themselves becomes both grimly personal and unexpectedly entangled with questions of survival.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
National Theatre, London

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 1996   978-1559363624

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Evening at the Talk House

Evening at the Talk House
At Ted's instigation, the old gang gather once more at the almost legendary club The Talk House. Ten years on and presided over still by the kindly Nellie, there's the same genteel atmosphere, familiar drinks, unchanging special snacks. But the era of Walter Barclay is long gone. A playwright, a composer, an actress. The possibility of a pleasant night.

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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:

Music:
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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Family Play, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York     1978

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Fever, The

Synopsis:
the nameless narrator of this blistering monologue lies ill and alone in a dreary hotel room in a poverty-stricken country. A political execution is about to take place beneath his window. Far from the glib comforts of his own life, he struggles with memories and his own conscience, which are challenged by the misery and poverty he sees. With compassion, eloquence, and ruthless self-scrutiny, the playwright discovers that having good intentions toward the dispossessed is not enough. As the narrator reminisces and agonizes over his own responsibility for the downtrodden, he reaches the inevitable conclusion that the politically correct are guilty themselves unless they take action. At the play's conclusion, the narrator has succeeded in defining his own guilt but is uncertain whether or not he has the personal courage to join in the struggle. Aghast at his own weakness, he longs for forgiveness and the strength to earn it.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Public Theatre, New York     1991

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Farrar StrAus, New York, 1991   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
Monologue Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  1m or 1f

Further Reference:

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Four Meals in May

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
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1st Produced:
-     1967

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Grasses of a Thousand Colours

Grasses of a Thousand Colours
Cats like to tease mice. In other words, I'm saying, it's not something that happens by accident when they're pursuing some other more respectable purpose. No. they like to do it. the scientist who tinkered with the universe tells us of his many loves. As his self-obsession literally consumes him, we listen to tales of food, sex and man's true best friend. An extreme, disturbing, and funny vision of the embattled relationship between man and beast.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Nick Hern Books, London (2008) >>>
Dramatists Play Service, Inc. NY (2014)   978-1848420489

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Hotel Play, The

Synopsis:
the setting is a hotel in the tropics where a beleaguered desk clerk tries to placate, amuse and occasionally seduce the widely varied clientele who come and go during the course of the play's quick flowing action, each acting out a brief but telling personal vignette. the guests, mostly neurotic in one way or another, represent a broad cross section of modern society and reflect the hang-ups and social shortcomings so prevalent in contemporary life. But despite its ironic approach-and characters-the play is ultimately a paean to the well-ordered and comfortably ordinary-qualities so elusive and rare, and yet so desirable, in our unsettled and unsettling times.

Notes:
Composer: Richard Weinstock

1st Produced:

Organisations:
the Cooper-Keaton Group

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1982   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
Comedy Drama Comedy

Parts:
Male:  50            Female:  50            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
-

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In the Dark

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
music by Allen Shawn, libretto by Wallace Shawn

1st Produced:
Lenox, Massachusetts     1976

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
libretto

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mandrake, The

Synopsis:
Set in sixteenth-century Florence, the play blends songs and robust action in detailing the hilarious lengths to which the smitten Callimaco goes in winning the favors of Lucrezia, the beautiful young wife of the rich and aged lawyer, Nicia. Fnlisting the aid of the artful trickster Ligurio, Callimaco is passed off as a doctor who has devised a magic potion which, he promises Nicia, will make the heretofore childless Lucrezia conceive. But the catch is that the first man who sleeps with her after she takes the potion will die. Lucrezia's gullible mother and a venal friar, Brother Timothy, are also persuaded to help overcome Lucrezia's scruples against bedding down with a man not her husband (and who needless to say, turns out to be Callimaco in disguise). the resulting twists and turns lead on to nonstop high spirits and hilarity until, in the end, everyone gets exactly what he hopes for and, quite possibly, deserves.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Machiavelli, aka Madragola, music And lyrics by Howard Goodall

1st Produced:
New York     1977

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Marie and Bruce

Synopsis:
As the play begins Marie and Bruce, a young married couple, are still in bed, he sleeping soundly, she excoriating him and vowing that she will put an end to their marriage. It seems that she had thrown away his ancient typewriter, which precipitated an ugly scene, but there is more to their problem than this. However, when Bruce wakes and prepares breakfast, he seems impervious to her insults and blithely unconcerned about her threats to leave him. Later, in an hilarious party scene (where some of the guests are impersonated by mannequins) Marie and Bruce mingle with a bizarre assortment of New York "types," while she tries to muster the courage to make the final break. then, after they have adjourned to a Chinese restaurant (with a rather coarse, but very funny group at the next table) Marie finally boils over, and attempts not only to leave Bruce but virtually to destroy him. But, again, Bruce reacts as though he has barely heard her and she, in turn, realizes that it is his weakness, his vulnerability, wh

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
Grove Press, New York, 1980   -

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:
Comedy Drama Comedy

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  6            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
-

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Master Builder

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - Henrik Ibsen

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Theatre Communications Group, 2014   -

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:
-

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Mr Frivolous

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
aka Three Short Plays: Summer Fvening, the Youth Hostel, Mr. Frivolous

1st Produced:
New York     1977

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Wordplays 2", Performing Arts Journal Publications, New York, 1982   -

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 One Act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Music Teacher, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
music by Allen Shawn, libretto by Wallace Shawn

1st Produced:
Minetta Lane Theater, NY     2006

Organisations:
the New Group

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
libretto

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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My Dinner With Andre

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Andre Gregory

1st Produced:
London     1980

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Grove Press, New York (screenplay)+R2163, 1981   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Our Late Night

Synopsis:
about seven partygoers negotiating the minefield of dating and mating

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Public Theatre, New York     1975

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Targ, New York, 1984   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Summer Evening

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
aka Three Short Plays: Summer Fvening, the Youth Hostel, Mr. Frivolous

1st Produced:
New York     1977

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Wordplays 2", Performing Arts Journal Publications, New York, 1982   -

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:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Thought In Three Parts, A

Synopsis:
A Thought in Three Parts hilariously and shamelessly considers sex: before, during, and after. the play darts from a hotel room in a foreign country, to a raucous youth hostel, to the quiet home of a thoughtful lover. With loathing, loving, elegance and excess, young bodies collide, connect, convulse, and collapse in this graphic and thoughtful expression of crises of coupling. Does intimacy create meaning for people or smash it to bits? Just what is the relief for unbearable urges?
nytheatre.com

Notes:
aka Three Short Plays: Summer Fvening, the Youth Hostel, Mr. Frivolous

1st Produced:
New York     1977

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Wordplays 2", Performing Arts Journal Publications, New York, 1982   -

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:
comedy Drama. - - Gay/Lesbian, of interest

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Threepenny Opera, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - Bertolt Brecht

1st Produced:
Roundabout, Studio 54, NY    

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:
-

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Youth Hostel, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
aka Three Short Plays: Summer Fvening, the Youth Hostel, Mr. Frivolous

1st Produced:
New York     1977

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Wordplays 2", Performing Arts Journal Publications, New York, 1982   -

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:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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