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Brian Woolland

BRIAN WOOLLAND

  
Nationality:    British
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Literary Agent:    Sheil Land Associates Ltd  

Worked as a van driver, a farm hand, a wine merchant and a photographer; as a teacher in mainstream education and in a therapeutic community for maladjusted adolescents before becoming an Advisory Teacher for Drama and then a Lecturer in Theatre in the Department of Film, Theatre & Television at Reading University. Resigned university post in 2005 in order to concentrate on writing and working freelance. Now works as a full time writer and educator. Plays have been produced and toured in England, Australia, Palestine, France, Spain, Hungary and Germany.

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

         Away Games         Bella Rosbif         Devil Is An Ass, The         Double Tongue         Getting Over You         Government Inspector, The         Gulliver         Perpetual Motion         Stand or Fall         Streetwise In Paradise         Terrible Madness, A         This Flesh Is Mine         Treason's Peace         When Nobody Returns

Away Games

Synopsis:
Billy, a young Scottish Manchester United supporter, is drowning his sorrows in a bar in Marseilles, having lost his ticket for a crucial European Cup tie - when a riot breaks out. He tries to escape - but is bundled into the back of a police van, where he finds himself with Inge, a German girl and Catherine, a French girl. Together the three young people struggle to make sense of what is happening - in the process revealing and overcoming language barriers and racial prejudices.

Notes:
written to be performed in English, French And German for secondary school Audiences

1st Produced:
Hampshire Theatre In Education Company     01 Sep 1991

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
published, 1992   -

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:
TIE Youth Audience

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bella Rosbif

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Spiral Theatre Company     01 Nov 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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Short theatre in Education play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Devil Is An Ass, The

Synopsis:
the Devil is an Ass opens in Hell, where Pug, a minor devil, is desperate to be allowed to visit Earth and wreak havoc. Satan warns him against it - they have Vices will put ours to shame - but Pug is as stubborn as he is naive. So poor Pug's wretched fate it is to be conjured from Hell by the asinine Fitzdottrel, newly arrived in the City and determined to make an impression. And even though poor Pug would love to taste of every sin a little, he is outwitted by everyone he meets and finds himself unexpectedly upholding virtue.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Ben Jonson Adapted by Brian Woolland. Ben Jonson's play: Blackfriars theatre, London, 1616. This Adaptation: Helen McPherson Smith theatre, Ballarat, Australia, May 2009

1st Produced:
-     01 May 2009

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:
adaptation of Johnson play

Parts:
Male:  14            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Double Tongue

Double Tongue
Hungary. April 1999. NATO is bombing Kosovo and Serbia. Robert, a young American researcher, becomes obsessed with Anna, his language teacher. In her home town of , close to the Serbian border, he is drawn into a dangerous and terrifying underworld. Sexual obsessions, political intrigue and shifting identities lead to an eruption of brutal violence -forcing Robert to confront aspects of his own identity that he'd rather ignore the sound of NATO pierces the night. . . Belle, the mysterious male prostitute, and the enigmatic Black Madonna go about their strange business. Who's watching? Who's waiting?

Notes:
Written to be performed in English, Hungarian And Serbian

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Border Crossings

1st Published:
Border Crossings Ltd (Aug 2003)    978-1904718017

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. - - Gay, theme/character, full length

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Getting Over You

Synopsis:
Set in 1995 and 1968. In 1968, Mick, a 17 year old rock star meets Dee, a young black student, trying to take control of her own life. they have a passionate love affair, but are trapped by Mick's failure to perceive Dee on her own terms; and by Dee's inability to accept Mick's vulnerability. When Dee flies out to San Francisco - where Mick's band are in the middle of an American tour - the relationship finally collapses into recriminations. In 1995, Mick is married to Rachel (twelve years older than him). they are living comfortably by the Thames. 'Dee' (who now goes under her real name as Lahadi) is producing a television series about the sixties and seventies, in which she wants Mick to appear. Although delighted to see Lahadi (Dee), he is reluctant to dig into his past. the collision of past and present reveals a series of shifting relationships with their past - dependency, nostalgia and sentimentality; rejection, anger and guilt.

Notes:
Revived for production in Hungary, 1996

1st Produced:
Etcetera Theatre, London >>>     05 Apr 1995

Organisations:
Watershed 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/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Government Inspector, The

Synopsis:
Incompetent and corrupt officials in a small provincial town are thrown into a panic when they learn that a Government Inspector is to visit, perhaps incognito. When Klestakoff, a well-dressed rogue, arrives with his streetwise servant, he quickly realises that the townsfolk imagine he is the Inspector and takes advantage of the officials' bribes and flattery. No sooner have the townsfolk discovered their mistake - just as Klestakoff leaves - than the real Inspector appears. This adaptation has an sting in the tail that gives another twist to the themes of disguise and mistaken identity.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Nikolai Gogol. An Adaptation (lasting About An hour And fifteen minutes) of the classic Russian farce by Nikolai Gogol. Includes 5 specially written songs (music Available).

1st Produced:
Winchester Prison, Winchester, Hants, Uk     27 Apr 2010

Organisations:
Playing for Time 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:
adaptation/Farce

Parts:
Male:  12            Female:  5            Other:  6 small roles that can be played by m or f

Further Reference:
-

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Gulliver

Gulliver
In this adaptation of Jonathan Swift's satirical novel, the action is focused on Gulliver's travels to Lilliput and the flying island of Laputa.

Notes:
Stage Adaptation of Gulliver's Travels

1st Produced:
Abac Us Theatre Company     1980

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Nelson, 1993   978-0174324867

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:
satirical comedy Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  doubling encouraged, Numerous small roles of indeterminate gender

Further Reference:
-

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Perpetual Motion

Synopsis:
Sophie, an 8 year old girl comes to terms with the death of her elderly, ailing grandfather.

Notes:
Written to be performed by A cast of three - 1 male (doubling the 2 male roles) And 2 female, doubling the 5 female roles between them.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Spiral 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:
theatre in Education Youth Audience

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Stand or Fall

Stand or Fall
Two men, three generations apart, struggle to escape the labels that have been pinned to them. 1878. Slen McGuire is working as a navvy on the Deadwood Tunnel. Regarded by 'civilised society' as "an ungodly, reckless pack of rogues and rascals", the navvies may be as hard and dangerous as their work; but many of them are also warm-hearted, witty and honourable. then the 8 year-old son of the woman Slen lodges with is killed in a tunnel accident. And Slen makes a decision which will change his life. . .. 2008. Kevin McGuire has problems of his own. Steve, his closest friend is killed in a dreadful accident; Kevin is in prison for a minor drugs offence and the police are preparing a far more serious case against him; his Mum thinks he's a waster and his cell mate is threatening him. While researching his own family tree, as part of an education project, Kevin discovers that his great grandFather was Slen McGuire, and he unearths a family history which is initially as shocking as it is ultimately inspirational. He is forced to re-evaluate his own circumstances and think anew about his own future.

Notes:
the play was commissioned, with the benefit of A major Arts Council Award, for performance by 12 prisoners And 6 students. In subsequent revivals roles can be doubled. Minimum casting required - 9 male, 6 female. Likely to be published shortly.

1st Produced:
Winchester Prison, Winchester, Hants     15 Apr 2008

Organisations:
Playing for Time Theatre Company

1st Published:
Oxford University Press (27 Mar 2014   978- 1 4085 2204 2

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:
modern / historical Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  15            Female:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Streetwise In Paradise

Synopsis:
A trilogy of short plays, each of them looking at aspects of loyalty, betrayal and colonization. the first focuses on Columbus's voyage; the second, set some 30 years later, on responses to the colonization of the 'Indies; the third (set in the present day) focuses on street kids in Central America. Two characters, Miguela and Roderigo, are central in each of the three plays.

Notes:
Written for A cast of three (with much doubling), 1 male, 2 female

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Spiral 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:
theatre in Education Youth Audience

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Terrible Madness, A

Synopsis:
When Sue stumbles across a journal written in the 1850s in amongst her Nanna's belongings she becomes determined to discover the truth of her family history - only to find that it is far stranger than she could ever have imagined. Ireland, 1848. Mary O' Connell is caught stealing a handkerchief and sentenced to transportation. She finds herself in the company of women convicts from all over Britain. When the ship's surgeon, George Buckingham, offers her special treatment, Mary is as attracted to him as he seems smitten by her. But Mary is stubborn and determined to retain her integrity. Despite appalling conditions, most of the women from the Transport ship survive. Rumours abound of great wealth to be found in rural Victoria; and, one by one, each of the women gains her ticket-of leave and heads off to 'follow the colour', hoping to forge a new identity for herself in a gold town. Ballarat in 1854 is a crucible of idealism and brutal corruption, instant fortunes and terrible poverty. But it is here that Mary and George begin to understand the truth of their feelings for each other - at just the time that resistance to the colonial regime is growing. . ..

Notes:
the play was originally written for A cast of 25 (16 f And 9 m). With doubling, it can, however, be performed with A cast of 12 (6 f, 6m).

1st Produced:
Helen Macpherson Smith Theatre, Ballarat, Australia     13 Oct 2011

Organisations:
the Arts Academy, University of Ballarat

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:
Historical Drama

Parts:
Male:  15            Female:  17            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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This Flesh Is Mine

This Flesh Is Mine
She shares my tent, she shares my bed. Her flesh is mine.Achilles, the greatest of the Achaean warriors, refuses to fight; angered that King Agamemnon has stolen his captive Trojan slave-girl, Briseis. Drawn from The Iliad, and produced in collaboration with Ashtar Theatre from Palestine, Brian Woolland's taut and poetic new play for Border Crossings brings together Homer's Troy and the Middle East of today: worlds shaken by cycles of violence and revenge, by ambition and self-interest masquerading as idealism; worlds struggling towards any possibility of reconciliation.

Notes:
first performed in Palestine 08 May 2014

1st Produced:
Testbed 1, London     19 May 2014

Organisations:
Border Crossings in association with ASHTAR Theatre (Palestine) & Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

1st Published:
Oberon Books (2014) >>>    978-1783191383

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:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  3            Other:  extras

Further Reference:
-

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Treason's Peace

Synopsis:
the play is set in rural England, autumn 1666, Treason's Peace is an 'imagined history', an alternative history play, in which there has been a third English Civil War, the monarchy has not been restored; and most men have died in the chaos of war. Women struggle to keep their sons from thoughts of revenge, to bring up their sons in a spirit of peace.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Progress Theatre, Reading     1990

Organisations:
Soho 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:
historical Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  7            Other:  2 of the male roles are 'walk ons'

Further Reference:
-

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When Nobody Returns

Synopsis:
A companion piece to THIS FLESH IS MINE. Ten years after the Trojan war has ended, Odysseus has yet to return to Ithaka. His son Telémakhos sets out to find the hero who can free the land from occupation, and his mother Penelope from the attentions of her unwanted suitors. Meanwhile, Odysseus struggles to come to terms with the man he has become. "I am Odysseus or I am Nobody. That is who I am." WHEN NOBODY RETURNS continues to meld the Mediterranean worlds of Homeric myth and the present day. After the war is over there are displaced people on the seas, soldiers carrying mental scars, and long-remembered scores that need to be settled.

Notes:
The play was presented as part of a season entitled PLAYS OF LOVE AND WAR, and featured in the 2016 NOUR Festival. It was written to be performed by a cast of 6 (4 male, 2 female) with doubling.

1st Produced:
Theatre Bay at Acklam Village, off Portobello Road, London     22 oct 2016

Organisations:
Border Crossings in association with ASHTAR Theatre (Palestine)

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:
Classical adaptation, political drama

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  4            Other:  2

Further Reference:
-

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