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Al Smith

AL SMITH

  
Nationality:    English
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

Playwright Al Smith is a former Pearson Playwright in Residence at the Finborough Theatre. Theatre includes Enola (Underbelly, Edinburgh), Radio (Soho Theatre and 59E59 Theatres, New York), the Astronaut Wives Club (National Youth Theatre at the Soho Theatre), the Bird (Underbelly, Edinburgh, and the Arcola Theatre) and Harrogate (Hightide). He has been a participant of Paines Plough's ChAnnel 4 Future Perfect scheme, and is currently under commission to the Gate Theatre. For BBC Radio 4, his plays include Life in the Freezer, the Postman of Good Hope, Radio and OK Computer. He is currently writing his first feature, HalfLife, for which he won the 2012 BFI Wellcome Trust Screenwriting Prize.

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

         Anthropophaga, The         Astronaut Wives' Club, The         Bird & the Bee: the Bird         Chalk         Cowboys         Diary of a Mad Man         Dog Show         Dog's Balls         Enola         Gold & Popcorn and Black & White         Harrogate         Lazard's Gambit         Mayfly         October 09         Radio         Rare Earth Mettle         Sport         Still

Anthropophaga, The

Synopsis:
Chryssie is the only female partner at a City employment law firm. Ash is a junior associate she has never noticed. Discovering that sickness has forced him to leave her firm, she has invited him over to her home for dinner. their discussion centres upon how her fellow partners have skirted flagrant sexism with their expert manipulation of employment law. Telling the story of her attempt to stem that disempowerment by reconsidering the nature of justice, the Anthropophaga is a conversation about how one might mete out justice when the law seems to have lost its teeth.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
Vibrant 2013  A Festival of Finborough Playwrights

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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Astronaut Wives' Club, The

Synopsis:
Somewhere in the 60's the womenfolk of the crew of Apollo 15 wait politely, anxiously, bitchily for Houston to reassure them that their husbands don't have a problem. As the minutes tick by, the questions get tougher for pretty young Sandra, Life magazine's latest darling.
Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard

Notes:
part of Sextet: to celebrate its 50th Anniversary the national Youth theatre commisioned six writers to do plays About six decades.

1st Produced:
Soho, London     2006

Organisations:
National Youth Theatre

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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Bird & the Bee: the Bird

Synopsis:
interconnecting play with Matt Hartley's the Bee

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Kandinsky

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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Chalk

Synopsis:
A play about Alan Turing, Abraham Lincoln, and ants. (***** Noise Magazine, 'Excellent new writing which deserves notice')

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     2005

Organisations:
Kandinsky

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:
New writing Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Cowboys

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Diary of a Mad Man

Synopsis:
Pop Sheeran believes he was born with a bomb in his head. He works on the Forth Rail Bridge and is appalled when he learns it is up for sale. His other problem is his teenage daughter who has taken a shine to a young Englishman who is staying with the family

Notes:
Based on the novel "Diary of a Mad Man" by Maxim Gorky

1st Produced:
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh    

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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Dog Show

Synopsis:
The Hong Kong Dog Serial Killer's been at large since the late 1980s. Nobody knows what drives them to leave poison-laced meat on popular dog-walking routes - but they've been killing strangers' pets for more than twenty years. In Dog Show, Kandinsky transposes this bizarre mystery to London, to explore the strange life of dogs in a city home to more than 200,000 of them. Part-silent film, part-thriller, Dog Show considers what man's best friend has to tell us about love and loneliness, the city and the wild - and what it means to be human. Four actors and a musician play an entire community of dogs and their owners. One autumn, the killer strikes.

Notes:
devised by James Yeatman, Zac Gvirtzman, Lisa Kerr, Hamish Macdougall, Ntonga Mwanza, Harriet Webb, Al Smith and Lauren Mooney

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Kandinsky

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:
piece

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  musician

Further Reference:
-

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Dog's Balls

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
This Christmas, Theatre503 presents a special festive edition of its ever-popular PLAYlist. Eight new plays by eight writers, each inspired by a song.

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:
short play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Enola

Synopsis:
A play about the life of Enola Gay, daughter of the man who designed the plane which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. (Winner of the 3 Weeks Editors Award, 5 stars in Three Weeks, Edinburgh Guide, Festival Radio, Scotsgay. Four stars in the List, Glasgow Herald, Daily Mail. "A fascinatingly textured play, one of the most promising that I've seen on the fringe" - the Guardian)

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Kandinsky

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:
New writing Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Gold & Popcorn and Black & White

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Nytrep     2012

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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Harrogate

Synopsis:
Harrogate is a triptych about obsession, repression and lust. It tells the story of a Father struggling to confront his obsessions head on without destroying his family. It is a play about how we perform versions of ourselves depending on what company we keep, and how we project onto others versions of the people we want to see, rather than accepting who stands in front of us.

Notes:
Part of Miniaturists 33 - Bringing you more of the best short plays by some of the most exciting playwrights in the UK today

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:
short play

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Lazard's Gambit

Synopsis:
A short play about chess. Produced and performed as a part of Nabokov's "Shorts".

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     2006

Organisations:
Kandinsky

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:
New writing Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mayfly

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Old Vic, London     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

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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October 09

Synopsis:
A short play dealing with the aftermath of the October 1st 2005 Bali Bombing. Produced and performed as a part of Nabokov's "Present : Tense".

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     2005

Organisations:
Kandinsky

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:
New writing Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Radio

Synopsis:
Set in the geographical center of the United States, Radio is about Charlie Fairbanks, a farmer-turned-flag maker's son who shoots for the Moon. A play about memory, love and spaceships, Radio parallels a young man's coming of age with the birth and death of the Apollo Space Program, and explores the consequences of our losing sight of the Earth.
press release

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     2006

Organisations:
Kandinsky

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:
New writing Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Rare Earth Mettle

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Royal Court Theatre, London     2015

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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Sport

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Rehearsed reading at Finborough Theatre, London     2013

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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Still

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Part of Miniaturists 11 - Bringing you more of the best short plays by some of the most exciting playwrights in the UK today

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:
short play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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