The Playwrights Database
PETER WESLEY-SMITH
(1945 - )Nationality: Australian
email: Click here to contact Website: n/a
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Author of song lyrics, books of verse for children, and academic works (from his time as an academic at the University of Hong Kong), Peter Wesley-Smith has also written music Theatre libretti and straight plays. Currently working on a new play, he is retired from sensible (ie, paid) employment and lives in rural New South Wales, AustraliA.
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below is a list of Peter Wesley-Smith's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Boojum! Nonsense, Truth, and Lewis Carroll Ho Chi Minh in Hong Kong: His persecution and the triumph of the glorious rule of law Noonday GunBoojum! Nonsense, Truth, and Lewis Carroll
A set of White chess pieces galumphantly hunts for a Snark, even though they've been warned that if their quarry turns out to be a Boojum then they will "softly and suddenly vanish away". Indeed the Baker (a White Knight) already has, but our heroic crew, undeterred, recruits a new one - the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson - and ploughs on. With Lewis Carroll (Dodgson's alter-ego) and Alice personning HQ, out Hunt moves inexorably towards its fateful conclusion, where we discover, in the end, that Nothing is quite what it seems . . .
Notes:
Written by Martin And Peter Wesley-Smith; music by Martin Wesley-Smth; lyrics by Peter Wesley-Smith. Boojum! was commissioned by the Adelaide Festival Inc with financial Assistance from the Literature And Music Boards of the Australia Council. Originally A music theatre piece, it was first performed - Amidst controversy, And before Queen Elizabeth II - At the 1986 Adelaide Festival of Arts. Rewritten in 1988, it became A no-nonsense choral nonsense piece designed to be presented in concert with or without theatrical trappings. Productions of this version have been mounted in La Jola, Pasadena, And several Australian cities. Boojum! was presented in its full theatrical manifestation in Chicago in 2010, by Chicago Opera Vanguard And Caffeine theatre in collaboration with the Department of Cultural Affairs. This was A magnificent production And it was extravagantly reviewed.
1st Produced:
Scott Theatre, Adelaide 10 Mar 1986
Organisations:
South Australian Opera Company
1st Published:
- -
Music:
Studio recording: Vox Australia (VAST 010 2) 1977
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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
Booksellers:
Genre:
Musical
Parts:
Male: 10 Female: 5 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageHo Chi Minh in Hong Kong: His persecution and the triumph of the glorious rule of law
Synopsis:
Ho Chi Minh, a revolutionary from Annam (now part of Vietnam), is arrested in Hong Kong, then a British colony. With no power to extradite him the Hong Kong authorities decided to deport Ho to Saigon and the French. On the argument that deportation to a particular destination was extradition by another name and thus legally forbidden, Ho's lawyers appealed to the Privy Council in London, then the highest court of appeal for Hong Kong. Knowing the case would probably be lost, however, the government offered Ho a deal whereby he left the colony under his own steam and in disguise; he managed to get to Moscow through China and elude French agents. He later, of course, returned to Vietnam and presided over the Democratic Republic, a hero of democratic socialism and a grateful nation. But the compromises and sacrifices he made caused him considerable grief. He talks about these events while on remand, while detained in hospital, and as President in Hanoi, and he muses particularly about the role of law in society and his personal passions and disappointments. When he dies his last wishes are not fully respected by the Party.
Notes:
A one-act one-hander, this play was performed in Hong Kong in 2008 by the Fringe Club which had commissioned it. the tale is A Dramatic one: Ho was Arrested by the British Authorities in Hong Kong who wished to deport him to Saigon where the French colonial Authorities were wanting to execute him for revolutionary Activities. British designs were thwarted by resort to the courts, though the vaunted rule of law played A very Ambiguous role in Ho's survival. the play was booked to be performed in Adelaide in 2009 but financial considerations led to postponement or cancellation. the Actor in the first production, Lee Chun Chow, won the "best Actor" Award for Hong Kong theatre 2008.
1st Produced:
Fringe Club Theatre, Hong Kong 2008
Organisations:
Fringe Club
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: 1 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageNoonday Gun
Synopsis:
Noel Coward is staying at the Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong, in 1930 where he meets Clara Worthington, an aspiring actress, and her pushy mother. they endure a trip to a typhoon shelter, meet the Governor of the colony, and attend Coward's ceremonial firing of the noonday gun. Meanwhile Mrs Worthington's worst fears are realized when Clara fails her "audition" and falls in love with the Governor's Chinese aide-de-camp.
Notes:
Book And lyrics by Peter Wesley-Smith, music by Martin Wesley-Smith. Originally A short piece, the current version, which has not been produced, is more substantial And probably takes up At least one hour. Although set in Hong Kong in 1930, when Noel Coward visited After writing "Private Lives" in Shanghai, it looks to the future when Hong Kong is returned to China. Throughout, the script is informed by the life And work of Noel Coward As it gently satirises the colonial British.
1st Produced:
Fringe Club Theatre, Hong Kong 1986
Organisations:
Fringe Club
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: 2 Female: 2 Other: 1 m
Further Reference:
-
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