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Suspect Culture

SUSPECT CULTURE

  (1993 - 2009)
Nationality:    Scottish
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

Suspect Culture was an experimental Theatre company based in Glasgow between 1993 and 2009. It was made up of a small administrative team and core group of associate artists who collaborated in making groundbreaking, high quality new work with an international reputation. Over the course of its 16 year history the company worked with some of the most respected artists and organisations in the UK and internationally, creating new performance work in Theatre, and more latterly, visual art and film.

Research:    "the Suspect Culture book", Oberon Books (2013): http://oberonbooks.com/suspect-culture
in "British Theatre Companies: 1995-2014" Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, London (2015)>>>

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

         . . .and the opera house remained unbuilt         8000M         Airport         Audience With Satan, An         Candide 2000         Casanova         Damascus         Different Language, A         Escapologist, The         Futurology - A Global Revue         Garden, The         Golden Ass, The         Killing Time         Lament         Local         Mainstream         Missing         One Way Street         One-Two. . .         Petra's Explanation         Savage Reminiscence         Stage Fright         Stalinland         Static         Stations On the Border         theatremorphosis         Timeless         Word 7
. . .and the opera house remained unbuilt

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
text by David Greig. Produced Bristol University 1991

1st Produced:
Edinburgh: Roman Eagle Lodge     17 Aug 1992

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
piece

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Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

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8000M

Synopsis:
about a six person Scottish expedition to the Hima;ayan peak of Lhotse. It explores the desire to climb: the deep and strange imPulse to go where no human beings is supposed to be. It imagines people at their physical and psychological limit.

Notes:
text by David Greig

1st Produced:
Tramway, Glasgow, UK >>>     24 Feb 2004

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Airport

Synopsis:
An exploration of identity and language, set in the glossy world of international travel

Notes:
music Nick Powell. text by David Greig

1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
piece

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

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Audience With Satan, An

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
based on Tony Parler's Life After Life

1st Produced:
-     1992

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
piece

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Candide 2000

Synopsis:
A contemporary take on the story of Candide. Set in a suburban shopping mall, amongst the chain stores, tex-mex food bars, fountains and escalators, the Candide Project is a comic exploration of innocence and knowledge - an innocent young man looking for 'the best of all possible worlds'.

Notes:
music by Nick Powell. Author: David Greig

1st Produced:
Old Fruitmarket,Glasgow     08 Mar 2000

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  young people

Further Reference:
-

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Casanova

Synopsis:
Suspect Culture's Casanova follows the travels of an internationally renowned artist who is curating the final exhibition of his illustrious career: an account of his life as the world's greatest lover. as the exhibition nears completion and the opening in his home town approaches, a cuckolded husband's plan to avenge the loss of his wife also draws to a close. Raising questions about love, honesty and life lived in the pursuit of pleasure, Casanova is an uncompromising examination of contemporary sex and morality.

Notes:
By Graham Eatough, David Greig And Nick Powell

1st Produced:
Tron Theatre, Glasgow, UK >>>     14 Feb 2001

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 2001   

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:
Devised Piece

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Damascus

Damascus
a brief encounter in a Syrian hotel finds a Scotsman grappling with language and love, meanings and misunderstandings. Welcome to Damascus. the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth, a jewel of the arab world and the crossroads of the Middle east. Paul is here to sell english language textbooks. It s Valentine's Day and he d rather be at home with his wife. Paul begins negotiations with his Syrian contact, Muna. Can he seal the deal? at first, misunderstandings multiply - then, their presumptions about one another fall away and new possibilities emerge. Meanwhile Zacharia, the hotel porter, fervently hopes that Paul has brought some Scottish girls with him and all the while, in the background, elena, the Ukrainian cocktail pianist, tinkles away. . .In Damascus, a city of transformations, Paul grapples with language and love, meanings and misconceptions. and as his flight home is delayed by a bomb at Beirut airport, he begins to wonder - will he ever leave?

Notes:
winner Scotsman Fringe First Award

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
London : Faber and Faber, London, 2007   

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:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Different Language, A

Synopsis:
A Different Language is a before-love-story set in a world of internet chatrooms, life-coaches and East Jet. the play follows two solitary people, one Italian, one British, as they search for that perfect person to be their soul mate. Performed in English and Italian.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Renato Gabrielli

1st Produced:
Tron Theatre, Glasgow, UK >>>     28 Feb 2005

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:
Piece

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Escapologist, The

Synopsis:
Everybody feels trapped sometimes. By our family, by friends, by situations we can t control. But who can we look to help us really escape? Inspired by Adam Phillips book Houdini s Box, the Escapologist follows a psychotherapist as he delves into the conscious and unconscious desires of his patients. All of them are looking to escape in some way from their circumstances. But how can the therapist help when he feels increasingly sceptical about the powers of his profession? As he starts to feel more and more trapped he takes flight into fantasies of the greatest escape artist of them all, Harry Houdini.

Notes:
Text by Simon Bent

1st Produced:
Tramway, Glasgow, UK >>>     13 Jan 2006

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Oberon Books >>>, 2006   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Piece

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
-

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Futurology - A Global Revue

Synopsis:
lt is the 14th UN Conference of the Future, and the subject is climate change. the delegates have gathered at their Perspex desks to hammer out a Kyoto-style agreement. but they seem more interested in national rivalries, free-market enterprise and post-conference sex than saving the planet. Only the poor woman from a sinking Pacific island 465 miles south of Fiji has any sense of urgency, and she is as powerless as the rioting mob on the streets outside the meeting room. What turns a white-collar satire into extraordinary theatre is the repeated segues into flamboyant cabaret in Graham Eatough's production for Suspect Culture and the National theatre of Scotland. When the delegates aren't pontificating behind laptops. they are stepping out into tangos, torch songs or gymnastic routines. When they can't settle on a joint manifesto, they break into a rousing sing-along worthy of Chitty Chilly Bang Bang. the procrastination continues while Rome burns, the company presenting a heightened vision of a species running headless into the unknown. uncertain whether to celebrate humanity's gift for artistry and spectacle, or to put an end to mankind for fear of a frightening future. the apocalyptic conclusion shows our egotistical, vainglorious and confused actions for the pathetic gestures they are, though the play's political ambivalence adds more to our eco--confusion than it clarifies.
- Mark Fisher, Guardian

Notes:
script devised David Greig And Dan Rebellato

1st Produced:
Scottish Exhibition And Conference Centre (Secc), Glasgow     14/2007

Organisations:
National Theatre of Scotland, Suspect Culture and the Brighton Festival

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
comic musical

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  10            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Garden, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
text by David Greig. Produced Bristol University 1992

1st Produced:
Edinburgh: St Columba's By The Castle     38/1992

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
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Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

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Golden Ass, The

Synopsis:
a slave called Lucius takes an unhealthy interest in magic and finds himself accidently transformed into an ass

Notes:
devised by Michela Marelli, Mauricio Paroni de Castro and the cast from the book by Apuleius

1st Produced:
Tron Theatre, Glasgow, UK >>>     14 Dec 2000

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:
Devised Piece

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Killing Time

Synopsis:
Suspect Culture's first venture into the world of visual art Killing Time appeared at DCA and was an exciting fusion of performance, sculpture, installation and event involving a unique artistic collaboration with artist Graham Fagen.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Dundee Contemporary Arts     09 Sep 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:
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Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Lament

Lament
Cheer up, it might never happen. Songs of sorrow and longing echo around the planet. Suspect Culture's five performers grit their teeth and try to raise a smile as they sing and dance their way through the evening. they don't get to the bottom of global economics, they don't settle their differences and they don't finish their stories. . .but whatever they do, they do it to live music.

Notes:
Text: David Greig

1st Produced:
Tron Theatre, Glasgow, UK >>>     04 Apr 2002

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:
piece

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Local

Synopsis:
the culmination of eleven workshop sessions with a variety of young people from all over Glasgow. Local deals with their relationships with the city through their aspirations and fears for the future. With projected video footage performed and produced by the participants in collaboration with Castlemilk Video Workshop. - in "the Suspect Culture book", Oberon Books (2013) >>>

Notes:
Text: David Greig

1st Produced:
Tramway, Glasgow, UK >>>     01 May 1998

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:
piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  young people from Glasgow

Further Reference:
-

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Mainstream

Mainstream
This story of two people who meet in a three-star seaside hotel and quietly and movingly unravels the fabric of two ordinary lives. they ask questions and let secrets slip. But in their desire to communicate they find that the more they tell, the less they reveal. An elegant game with theatre and convention, four performers play either of the two characters. A single encounter breaks apart into any number of different possible stories. And as these stories unravel, so too does a drama of intimacy, disclosure and desire. - in "the Suspect Culture book", Oberon Books (2013) >>>

Notes:
Author: David Greig. Music Nick Powell

1st Produced:
Macrobert, Stirling     22/1999

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

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Genre:
piece

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  parts randomly to two roles

Further Reference:
-

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Missing

Synopsis:
It follows Rachel through a day in her life without Paul, her husband who's been missing for 8 years. We see her trying to come to terms with the insurmountable fact of not knowing; why he left, where he is, and if he's ever coming back. Missing explores the painful imaginings that fill this vacuum and the stories we tell ourselves when we just don't know.

Notes:
direction and text by Graham Eatough. Music by Nick Powell

1st Produced:
Edinburgh International Film Festival     2007

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
piece / film

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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One Way Street

Synopsis:
Flannery tells his life story in the form of a guide to Berlin

Notes:
text by David Greig

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Scotland Plays" Nick Hern Books, London, 1998   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Devised Piece

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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One-Two. . .

Synopsis:
In One-Two. . . the volume is turned up on the emotions of one man and one woman by the appearance of a band, offering them the opportunity to take on the role of lead singer - to choose a story, to discover its melody, its rhythm, its feedback. . .Harnessing the raw energy of a gig and the emotional landscapes of the theatre, One-Two. . . is a hybrid of music, video and live performance telling the story of what life would be like with your own personal soundtrack. Sometimes we get out of tune with our hearts, and only when submerged in music, in that track that knows the emotion, can we really hear what we are feeling. . ..the band literally takes centre stage. their presence acts as a catalyst for the characters' imaginations, like a fantasy karaoke machine, guitar, bass, strings and keyboards lay down the backing, as the microphone invites the couple to dream out loud. . .

Notes:
direction and text by Graham Eatough. Music by Nick Powell and OSKAN

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:
piece

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Petra's Explanation

Petra's Explanation
europe is set in a railway station at an unnamed border town where old and new europeans weave a tale of love, loss and longing. Petra's daughter has died. She was killed during the civil war in their country. the ghost of the child cannot understand what has happened. Petra travels to the Field of Ghosts to try and explain something that she does not understand herself

Notes:
part of Europe, text by David Greig

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
short piece

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  2            Other:  extras

Further Reference:
-

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Savage Reminiscence

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Author: David Greig. Produced Bristol University 1990

1st Produced:
Bristol: Hen And Chicken     24 Apr 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

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Genre:
comic monologue

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Stage Fright

Synopsis:
explores the nature of theatricality through a series of works

Notes:
Exhibition featuring work by David Greig, Dan Rebellato et Al.

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:
Piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Stalinland

Synopsis:
a small european town after the fall of communism

Notes:
Author: David Greig

1st Produced:
Edinburgh: Roman Eagle Lodge     16 Aug 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

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Static

Static
Static is a story of a young woman has lost her husband. Discovering a compilation tape that he made but never gave her, she becomes convinced it contains a secret message. What could the tape mean; and is he trying to communicate with her from beyond the grave? Static fuses music, dialogue, sign language and audio description to explore our complex response to love and loss. It is steeped in a love of music from Sonic Youth to the Smiths, the Ramones to the Rakes and from Girls Aloud to the Goodies.

Notes:
script by Dan Rebellato

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.Theatrerecord.org/, Theatre Record Vol XXVIII (2008) Page 0477

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Stations On the Border

Stations On the Border
europe is set in a railway station at an unnamed border town where old and new europeans weave a tale of love, loss and longing

Notes:
part of Europe

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:
short piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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theatremorphosis

Synopsis:
Durational performance iteration performed by Stephanie Black, Laurie Brown, Cindy Derby, Maryam Hamidi, Lewis Hetherington, Damien Hughes, Jenny Hulse and Chris Scott.With special thanks to Emma Jowett, Dan Tobin, Nick Moseley and Andy Lavender at Central School of Speech and Drama and Abi Unwin-Smith

Notes:
part of a new collaboration, Stage Fright, an exhibition exploring the nature of theatricality. Script by Dan Rebellato

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:
piece

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.Theatrerecord.org/, Theatre Record Vol XXIX (2009) Page 0381

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Timeless

Timeless
Timelss tells the story of four friends whose present, past and future lives are delicately intertwined. they study their reflections in the window of a cafe, looking back on themselves nostalgically, dreaming of the perfect future, and failing to make contact with each other in the present.

Notes:
Direction: Graham Eatough. Text by David Greig

1st Produced:
Gateway Theatre,Edinburgh International Festival     27 Aug 1997

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Word 7

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:
Piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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