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Rod Wooden

ROD WOODEN

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

Literary Agent:    Micheline Steinberg Associates  

Rod Wooden's stage plays include YOUR HOME IN the WEST, which won the 1990 Mobil International Playwriting Competition and the 1992 John Whiting Award. It was premiered at Manchester Royal Exchange in 1991 and was subsequently performed by Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, by Cirkus Tigerbrand in Stockholm, and by Live Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne, who also took it on a national tour. His one-act play HIGH BRAVE BOY, first performed in 1990 by Northern Stage in Newcastle, has been seen at Theatre Studio in New York, at 503 Theatre in London, and at Cheviot House, Edinburgh as part of the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Other plays include an adaption of Herman Melville's MOBY DICK, which was produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford and London, antI / GONE for the RSC Education Department (the Other Place, Stratford), and SMOKE (Manchester Royal Exchange and Amsterdam Toneelschool). Most recently his co-translation of the LENINGRAD SIEGE (2006) was premiered by Out of the Box Productions at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, and played in London at Wilson's Music Hall. Radio plays include MEDEA MEDIA and adaptions of St Exupery's FLIGHT TO ARRAS and WIND, SAND AND STARS, all for BBC Radio Four. Rod was writer in residence at Manchester Royal Exchange in 1991-92 and at Colchester Mercury / University of Essex in 1996-97, and served as a member of English PEN's Writers in Prison Committee from 1994 to 2000. His work is published by Methuen Drama and by Harwood Academic Publishers (see below), and has also been the subject of a Granada Television documentary. Since 2000 he has lived in Colombia, where he has worked as writer, director, and actor with El Teatro Experimental de Cali, and more recently on productions of Spanish translations of his plays with his own group of actors, El Grupo de Madera.

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

         Anti/Gone         Chorus         Diamond         High Brave Boy         Leningrad Siege, The         Leviathan: A Modern Macbeth         Medea Media         Moby Dick         One Hundred Feet         Smoke         Sorry Island         State Of Coma         Wah wah wah wah, wah wah wah         Woyzeck         Your Home In the West
Anti/Gone

Synopsis:
A wholly modern exploration of the Antigone myth, originally written for the RSC Education Department as part of the Antigones Project. To be performed by young actors aged between 12 and 18.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
RSC Education Department

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 for young actors

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  9            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Chorus

Synopsis:
a version of MEDEA MEDIA (see below), stripped to its chorus scenes only. An experimental piece for a large ensemble.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Newcastle Playhouse     1999

Organisations:
Northern Stage (workshop)

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 One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  large cast

Further Reference:
-

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Diamond

Synopsis:
"an elliptical collage of short scenes charting the games of three children, Robert, David, and Lizzie, and their interaction with their respective mothers . . . Each of the children enjoys a particular status with Lizzie being relegated to the bottom of the pile. Her social indoctrination (the dolls she plays with, the supporting and nurturing role she is expected to perfom to the demandingly active boys) is meticulously demonstrated . . . the 1950's childhood world created by DIAMOND is both delicate and menacing . . . "(from 'savagery and Fine Words: an introduction to the plays of Rod Wooden', an essay by Maria M. Delgado in Contemporary theatre Review Volume 5 Parts 3 & 4 (1996)).

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
National Film School, London     1996

Organisations:
National Film School (workshop)

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:
2 act Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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High Brave Boy

Synopsis:
". . . a tale of two young sisters' induction into the adult world following the death of their mother . . . As the two girls indulge in role play, enacting the feuds they have witnessed between their parents, a clear and frightening comment is offered on a world where children function as barter, as territory over which their parents' battles are waged, and where their status as products of their parents' flawed value system is clearly discernible." From Maria M. Delgado: 'savagery and Fine Words: an introduction to the plays of Rod Wooden' in Contemporary theatre Review Vol 5 Parts 3 & 4 (1996).

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Northern Stage

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 One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  2            Other:  one male voice (unseen)

Further Reference:
-

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Leningrad Siege, The

Synopsis:
A hilarious, moving and surreal story of two women: Natalia and Priscilla are the former mistress and widow of Nestor, a left-wing theatre director who died in mysterious circumstances while rehearsing his new play, the LENINGRAD SIEGE. For over twenty years they have been living in the abandoned Phantom Playhouse, which is now threatened with demolition. Desperately trying to make sense of the past, these two elderly and eccentric women are determined to keep the red flag flying, while at the same time searching for the lost manuscript . . .

Notes:
Original Playwright - Jose Sanchis Sinisterra. Translated by Catalina Botello And Rod Wooden

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Out of the Box Productions

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:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Leviathan: A Modern Macbeth

Synopsis:
an examination of the effects of colonialism through three juxtaposed stories, one taking place at the time of Cromwell's invasion of Ireland in 1649, another in a Latin American country of the present day which has leased out its oil reserves to a British multinational, and the third in modern London, with Shakespeare's Macbeth reappearing as a recently released Irish bomber. Has been rewritten since the workshop production in 1997 and now runs for over five hours.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Colchester Mercury / University of Essex

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:
Two act epic play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  large cast

Further Reference:
-

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Medea Media

Synopsis:
the Greek singer Medea arrives in England with her boyfriend Jason, a superstar footballer who has just signed for a famous club in the North East after years of playing abroad. their lives seem perfect, until Meda wakes one morning to find that Jason has left her for the daughter of the chairman of the club . . . A new and highly satirical take on the Euripides story, written in modern verse.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Northern Stage

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:
2 act Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  one of the females is a singer

Further Reference:
-

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Moby Dick

Synopsis:
A poetic modern version of Captain Ahab's doomed search for the White Whale, performed by an all-male cast and originally directed for the RSC by Gerry Mulgrew of Communicado theatre Co. Played at Stratford and Newcastle before transferring to the Pit (Barbican, London) in 1994.

Notes:
from book by Herman Melville

1st Produced:

Organisations:
RSC

1st Published:
Harwood Academic Publishers, 1996   

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:  9            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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One Hundred Feet

Synopsis:
the play poses the question: what would have happened if the flash of lightning had not lit up the dark stair tower of the House of Shaws at the beginning of R.L. Stevenson's novel KIDNAPPED, thereby showing David Balfour that he was climbing to his death . . . Characters include David Balfour, Alan Breck, and Ebenezer from KIDNAPPED, Blind Pew and Ben Gunn from TREASURE ISLAND, plus the author himself, R.L. Stevenson. Surreal, comic, tragic, and full of surprises.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Workshop At Darlington Arts Centre     1993

Organisations:
Durham Theatre Company

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 One Act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Smoke

Synopsis:
A historical tragedy using poetry and song, centred around Kett's Rebellion in Norfolk in 1549 - "a time of bitterness, riches, and great hunger." Meral Taygun, who directed the play in Amsterdam, has commented: "SMOKE is not a comfortable play with a natural flow and a naturalistic setting . . . It is a testimony in fragments . . . behind the realism there is an amazing poetic musicality . . . I can imagine the play in any language, on any stage of the world."

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Royal Exchange Theatre Company

1st Published:
Harwood Academic Publishers, 1996   

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:
Two act epic play

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  5            Other:  at least one actor must be a musician

Further Reference:
-

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Sorry Island

Synopsis:
the history of British colonialism in around thirty five minutes, together with its causes and its repercussions . . . An early exploration of the ideas which were later examined in greater depth in LEVIATHAN (see above).

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Workshop At Darlington Arts Centre     1995

Organisations:
Durham Theatre Company

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 One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  4+ m/f

Further Reference:
-

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State Of Coma

Synopsis:
At times comic but ultimately tragic, this is a poetic Drama set in Medellin, Colombia in 1990, at the height of a war between rival gangs. It centres around a family whose mother has been knocked down in a street accident. While she lies in a coma, their lives gradually slide into crisis.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Ana Maria Vallejo. Note: the Author has since rewritten this play under the new title of MAGNOLIA PERDIDA EN SUEnOS (MAGNOLIA LOST IN DREAMS).

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Royal Court International Summer School.

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:  6            Female:  5            Other:  3 musicians; doubling possible

Further Reference:
-

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Wah wah wah wah, wah wah wah

Synopsis:
a struggle for power between five young inmates of a youth custody centre, ruled over by a sadistic warder.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Paines Plough (workshop)

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:
Two act play for young actors

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Woyzeck

Synopsis:
a new version of Buchner's classic play.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Georg Buchner

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Northern Stage

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 / adaption

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Your Home In the West

Synopsis:
A pulsating tragi-comic Drama set in a run-down Newcastle housing estate, where Jean, divorced from the violent, foul-mouthed Micky, rules over a household that teeters on the edge of disaster every time her ex-husband bursts through the front door. Premiered at Manchester Royal Exchange in 1991 and subsequently produced by other leading theatre companies both in the UK and abroad, it is an emotional roller-coaster of a play that continues to shock audiences and cause controversy wherever it is performed.

Notes:
won the 1990 Mobil International Playwriting Competition And the 1992 John Whiting Award

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Royal Exchange 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:
2 act Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  4            Other:  one of the male actors is a singer/guitarist

Further Reference:
-

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