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Paul Zindel

PAUL ZINDEL  (1936 - 2003)

 Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Curtis Brown Ltd  


Born in Staten Island, New York on May 15, 1936. Majored in Chemistry at Wagner College, B.S. 1958; M.Sc., 1959. Four novels for young adults (Harper & Row): The Pigman; My Darling, My Hamburger; I Never Loved Your Mind; Pardon Me, You're Stepping On My Eyeball. Childrens' book (Harper & Row): I Love my Mother. Author of screenplays for: Up The Sandbox; Mame. Recipient: Ford Foundation Grant. The following awards for The Effect of Gamma Rays On Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds: New York Drama Critic's Award for Best American Play; Obie Award; Pulitzer Prize (drama). Los Angeles Drama Critic's Award for Best American Play (And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little).

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

 Amulets Against The Dragon Forces         And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little         Destiny with Half Moon Street, A         Dimensions of Peacocks         Double Roasted Chicken Theory of Love, The         Dream of Swallows, A         Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, The         Endless Hearts, The         Euthanasia and the Endless Hearts         Every Seventeen Minutes The Crowd Goes Crazy         Ladies at the Alamo         Ladies Should Be in Bed, The         Let Me Hear You Whisper         Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild, The

Amulets Against The Dragon Forces

Synopsis:
The action of the play takes place the in borough of Staten Island in the mid-50s. Mrs. Boyd, a divorced practical nurse, makes a living by caring for terminally ill patients, moving from house to house with her sensitive, lonely, teenage son, Chris. As the play begins Mrs. Boyd and Chris arrive at the home of Mrs. Dipardi, who is dying of cancer, and whose profane, hard-drinking son, Floyd, has alienated the neighborhood by flaunting his fondness for young boys and throwing noisy backyard parties. Suffocated by his over-protective mother and rejected by his absent father, Chris strikes up a friendship with Harold, a young hustler who has moved in with Floyd, but their relationship, like the others in the play, founders on the pervading bitterness and alienation which, inevitably, bring on a series of explosive and emotionally charged confrontations. Eventually Chris, unlike the others, does find the self-awareness-and courage-to overcome his circumstances and, as the play ends, the suggestion is strong that he will, in time, come to terms with the "dragons" that have beset, and shaped, his troubled youth.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    -

Organisations:

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

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, full length

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  3            Other:  of the 9 men several roles can be doubled

Further Reference:
-

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And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little

Synopsis:
Their father having deserted them in their childhood, the three Reardon sisters have grown up in a house of women, dominated by their mother, who is only recently dead. But time has erased the tender closeness of girlhood; one sister has married and cut herself off; another has begun to drink more than she should; and the third, after a scandalous incident at the school where she teaches, is on the brink of madness. When the married sister comes to dinner to press the need for committing her sibling to an institution, the simmering resentments of many years burst alive and are exacerbated by the intrusion of a well-meaning but boorish neighbor couple, whose unexpected arrival impels the action towards its shattering conclusion-in which all the pathos, humor and searing honesty of the play combine with overwhelming effect

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles    1967

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1971   -

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:
Comedy/Drama Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Destiny with Half Moon Street, A

Synopsis:
The action of the play takes place the in borough of Staten Island in the mid-50s. Mrs. Boyd, a divorced practical nurse, makes a living by caring for terminally ill patients, moving from house to house with her sensitive, lonely, teenage son, Chris. As the play begins Mrs. Boyd and Chris arrive at the home of Mrs. Dipardi, who is dying of cancer and whose profane, hard-drinking son, Floyd, has alienated the neighbourhood by flaunting his fondness for young boys and throwing noisy backyard parties. Suffocated by his overprotective mother and rejected by his absent father, Chris strikes up a friendship with Harold, a young hustler who has moved in with Floyd. But their relationship, like the others in the play, founders on the pervading bitterness and alienation which, inevitably, bring on a series of explosive and emotionally charged confrontations. Eventually Chris, unlike the others, does find the self-awareness - and courage - to overcome his circumstances and, as the play ends, the suggestion is strong th

Notes:
aka Amulets Against the Dragon Forces

1st Produced:
Coconut Grove, Florida    1983

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1989   -

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:  9            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dimensions of Peacocks

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1959

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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Double Roasted Chicken Theory of Love, The

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:
Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dream of Swallows, A

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1964

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Jun Hus House, NYC   -

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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Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, The

Synopsis:
Frowzy, acid-tongued, supporting herself and her two daughters by taking in a decrepit old boarder, Beatrice Hunsdorfer wreaks a petty vengeance on everybody about her. One daughter, Ruth, is a pretty but highly strung girl subject to convulsions; while the younger daughter, Matilda, plain and almost pathologically shy, has an intuitive gift for science. Encouraged by her teacher, Tillie undertakes a gamma ray experiment with marigolds that wins a prize at her high school-and also brings on the shattering climax of the play. Proud and yet jealous, too filled with her own hurts to accept her daughter's success, Beatrice can only maim when she needs to love and deride when she wants to praise. Tortured, acerbic, slatternly, she is as much a victim of her own nature as of the cruel lot which has been hers. And yet, as Tillie's experiment proves, something beautiful and full of promise can emerge from even the most barren, afflicted soil. This is the timeless lesson of the play and the root of its moving power and truth.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Alley Theatre, Houston, TX    1965

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Harper, New York, 1971   -

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:  5            Other:  or 2 women, 3 girls

Further Reference:
-

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Endless Hearts, The

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Euthanasia and the Endless Hearts

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1960

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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Every Seventeen Minutes The Crowd Goes Crazy

Synopsis:
A family of exuberant and startled kids are left to fend for themselves by their mother and father-who have taken off to pursue forever a life of betting at trotter racetracks and playing blackjack in Native American casinos! An expandable chorus punctuates with hilarious and stinging sound bites this highly theatrical and poignant legend of parental abdication

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

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:  8            Female:  6            Other:  flexible

Further Reference:
-

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Ladies at the Alamo

Synopsis:
The setting is the lavish reception room of the new multi-million-dollar Alamo Theatre, a regional theatre complex that has grown from a small operation in a converted church to one of the glories of Texas culture. As the action begins we learn that the leadership of Dede Cooper, founder and artistic director of the Alamo, is being challenged, and the Chairman of the Board, a lady of great wealth and lust for power, is scheming to replace Dede with a fading Hollywood star. As the hour of the decisive board meeting nears, Dede and her supporters maneuver to outflank the opposition, and as the crisis point is reached the verbal battles and shocking revelations build to fever pitch. In the end no one is left unscathed; and while the insurrection is put down, the scars of battle will, it is clear, be long in healing.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1975

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

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:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ladies Should Be in Bed, The

Synopsis:
Having invited some old friends for bridge, Elinore provides them with drinks while she attends to her ill and aged mother. But while she is gone their conversation reveals their real focus of interest-the mysterious man who occupies the abandoned building next door and who reputedly engages in sordid sexual doings with neighborhood young people. As the talk grows looser, hidden animosities and frustrations emerge, climaxing in a mindless, even cruel, prank, which, more than words, reveals the true natures of the "ladies." And raises disturbing questions about those among us who are so quick to pass judgment on the actions of others.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1978

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1973   -

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:
Comedy Drama One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Let Me Hear You Whisper

Synopsis:
The action is set in the laboratory of the American Biological Association Development For the advancement of Brain Analysis, where curious experiments involving various mammals are taking place. Helen, a newly engaged cleaning lady, is particularly drawn to a dolphin and is shocked when she learns that, having failed to "talk" as hoped for, it is slated for brain dissection. She makes a desperate attempt to rescue the dolphin from the scientists, incurring first their indignation and then, when the dolphin does indeed "talk" for Helen, their futile pleas that she change her mind about leaving and stay on to help them in their experiments. But the gentle Helen has had enough-both of "Custodial Engineering" and of schemes to change man's relationship to the other creatures with whom the world must be shared.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,    -

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:
Comedy Drama One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  5            Other:  or can be divided between men and women

Further Reference:
-

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Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild, The

Synopsis:
In the tiny living quarters behind the Greenwich Village candy store which she operates with her husband, crowded with her forty-year collection of movie magazines, Mildred Wild has virtually escaped from reality into the dream world conjured up by the 3,000 movies she has eagerly devoured. And when the outside world does intrude-via her husband; his meddling sister; their hard-boiled landlady; the mincing butcher from next door; or the foreman of the wrecking crew sent to tear down the building-Mildred meets each crisis with a hilarious fantasy-scene drawn from her precious lode of old movies. As the action moves swiftly ahead to its delightfully unpredictable climax, Mildred's life is further complicated by such unlikely visitors as a bulldozer, a nun, King Kong, and a super efficient TV camera crew, all adding to the merriment and, ultimately, to the poignancy which infuses the play and the touching, funny escapades of its kooky, lovable and totally enchanting heroine..

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1972

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 1973   -

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:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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