Alcmaeon in Corinth
Based on 20 previously untranslated fragments, this is a reconstruction of Euripides lost tragic comedy, Alcmaeon in Corinth, the third part of his final trilogy, with Bacchai and Iphigeneia in Aulis. Alcmaeon, having killed his mother, is pursued by the furies, his madness taking the form of satyriasis. When he unwittingly finds himself in bed with his daughter, he must face his children’s fury.
1st Produced: Academy at Live Theatre, Newcastle 2004
Company: Eleanor Lloyd and Critical Mass
1st Published: Oberon Books, London
Amâzonia
The village of Todos Os Santos is under threat from developers who want to clear the village and the forest for farmland. Meanwhile, the village bull won’t dance the traditional bumba meu boi and the pregnant Catarina has developed a taste for impossible foods that her husband Francisco must get for her. Can the spirits of the forest help our heroes save their environment, their way of life, and themselves? Fantasy and reality dance through this spectacular Amazonian adventure, inspired by the life and politics of Brazilian folk hero Chico Mendes. Written with Paul Heritage.
1st Produced: Young Vic Theatre, London, EUR 2008.
1st Published: Oberon Books, London (2008).
Parts: Male: 7; Female: 4 Other: -
Arse
Among nine new plays at the Latitude Festival (July 2010) by Danny Kanaber, Tom Morton Smith, Hannah Mulder, Ben Ockrent, Sian Owen, Lola Stephenson, Teevan, Jack Thorne, and Rosalind Wyllie. The Festival edition of Theatre503’s regular sell-out event. Inspired by the music of Artists playing at Latitude, we present nine new plays by a selection of established, emerging and as yet undiscovered writers. The perfect theatrical mixtape: Some writers you know, some you don’t, but all writers you’ll end up loving. Playful, poignant, or a puzzle to be solved, the only rule is that each play is no longer than the piece of music that inspired it. A feast of fearless new writing in beautiful, bite-size chunks.
1st Produced: Latitude Festival (18 July 2010).
Company: Theatre 503.
Bacchai
Dionysos, the God of wine and theatre has returned to his native land to take revenge on the puritanical Pentheus who refuses to recognise him of his rites. Remorselessly, savagely and with black humour, the God drives Pentheus and all the city to their shocking fate.limelight after decades of anonymity.
Notes: Original Playwright - Euripides.
1st Produced: Olivier Theatre, National Theatre, London 2002.
Company: National Theatre, London.
1st Published: Oberon Books, London.
Parts: Male: 15; Female: 8; Other: doubling possible.
The Bee
What would you do if your wife and child were being held hostage? It seems that the only option for Mr Ido is to accept his terrible fate. Besieged by cameras and reporters, the world is demanding to know how he feels. But as his personal tragedy is played out on screen, Ido decides to take control. Refusing to play the victim he seeks out a bitter revenge. A highly-charged, tragic satire, The Bee asks what happens when the victim becomes the aggressor, the weak become powerful and the watcher becomes the watched. Legendary in Japan, Hideki Noda directed the first Opera in the country’s New National Theatre and has garnered outstanding acclaim for his mould-breaking interpretations of Kabuki classics. His fascination with the similarities and disparities between Japanese and British culture has led him to work with key figures in British Theatre. For the Bee, he has collaborated with writer, Colin Teevan, well known for his innovative translations and adaptations of world classics and the hugely revered, Olivier winning British actress, Kathryn Hunter. Written
with Hideki Noda; based on the story “Mushiriai” by Yasutaka Tsutsui.
Cast: Tony Bell, Kathryn Hunter, Hideki Noda, Glyn Pritchard.
1st Produced: Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London 2006.
Company: Noda Map.
1st Published: Oberon Books, London 2006.
Parts: Male: 3; Female: 1; Other: -
The Big Sea
Based on the French Medieval Mardi Gras play Le Bataille de Charnau contre Caresme. Christophe, Caresme and Charnau are on a cancer ward. To pass the time they play games. The line between game and reality starts to blur and soon they find themselves on a journey into the unknown: Columbus’s journey to the New World
1st Produced: Abymill Theatre 1990
Company: Galloglass Theatre Company.
1st Published: published in French as Le Grand Large [maison-antoine-vitez’wanadoo.fr] Oberon Books, London 1996.
Parts: Male: 3; Female: 2; Other: -
Buffalo Bill Has Gone To Alaska
A play about power and greed set in a seedy, mythical New York which is inhabited by a tramp lady, a news boy, a stripper and a private eye. The play intertwines the history of a dark century with the twists and turns of a film noir.
1st Produced: Andrews Lane Theatre, Dublin 1993.
Company: Pigsback Theatre Company.
1st Published: -
Parts: Male: 5; Female: 3; Other: doubling possible.
The Chain Play
One off performance of chain writing to celebrate the National Theatre’s 25th anniversary. A scene each from all the authors for a performance on one night.
1st Produced: Olivier Theatre, National Theatre, London 2001.
Company: Conceived and commissioned by Angus Mackenchnie.
1st Published: -
Parts: Male: 8; ; Female: 5; Other: -
The Crack and the Whip
A comic story of low standards in high places. Shem MacMor is the wastrel son of the dying Mayor and local T.D. The Bren O’Donoghue, County Secretary and Corkman, has plans for young Shem. In Mrs Quigley’s bar, with debauched Uncle Jack and streetwise O’Nion, the conspiracy begins. But Doxy the barmaid has plans of her own.
1st Produced: White Memorial Theatre, Clonmel, Ireland 1997.
Company: Galloglass Theatre Company.
1st Published: -
Parts: Male: 4; Female: 2; Other: -
Cuckoos
A younger man and older woman are discovered in the improbable dilemma of being stuck together during anal sex and call in his gynaecologist father to help remove tab A from slot B. The two older people recognise each other, leading, after a few fresh twists and turns, to the inevitable evocation of Oedipus and, in a sudden shift of mode characteristic of Manfridi, a bloody conclusion.
Original Playwright: Guiseppe Manfridi
1st Produced: Gate Theatre, Notting Hill, London, 2000.
Company: RNT Studio.
1st Published: Oberon Books, London 2000 1840021519
Parts: Male: 2; Female: 1; Other: -
The Diver
The play weaves together The Tale of Genji and associated Noh dramas with a contemporary Japanese murder case. Written with Hideki Noda.
1st Produced: Soho Theatre, London 2008.
Company: Setagaya Public Theatre.
1st Published: Oberon Books, London 2008.
Parts: Male: 3; Female: 1; Other: extras.
Don Quixote
Follow the dramatic tale of the ingenious gentleman of La Mancha, Don Quixote and his comic adventures over land, sea and air in the search for an idealised world. Accompanied by his loyal sidekick, Sancho Panza, and inspired by stories of daring deeds, Don Quixote sets out to recreate an imaginary world and to convince his family, friends, and all he meets of its reality. But this is no ordinary journey as he gallops through seventeenth century Spain encountering a host of fantastical characters including star-crossed lovers, an army of giants, a cross-dressing priest, a royal duchess and even the devil himself. Written with Pablo Ley.
Notes: from novel by Miguel de Cervantes.
1st Produced: Leeds: Quarry Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, England, 2007.
Company: -
1st Published: Oberon Books, London 2007.
Parts: Male: 6; Female: 4; Other: extras.
Here Come Cowboys
Here Comes Cowboys is set in the larger than life world of clowns, where cruelty and comedy are mirror images of each other. In the course of the play generations and mythologies collide, cinema takes on literature, Jesse James confronts Oisin, and Yeats and Joyce joust with True Grit. Here Come Cowboys looks at the games young people play. It explores how young people exploit each other and how they can pick on the weakest. It examines peer pressure, isolation, and the real fears that young people have concerning the savage games that they play.
1st Produced: tour of schools 1992.
Company: Team Educational Theatre Company, Dublin.
1st Published: -
Parts: Male: 3; Female: 1; Other: -
How Many Miles To Basra?
Southern Iraq, April 2003: four British soldiers, a BBC reporter and their Iraqui translator embark on an unauthorised mission deep into the war-torn country’s desert in a disastrous attempt to make amends for the death of three Bedouin at a checkpoint. Developed from Teevan’s highly acclaimed BBC Radio 3 play, How Many Miles to Basra? is a superb examination of how definitions of truth and responsibility become blurred in times of war - not just in the armed forces and political arena, but in the media too.
1st Produced: West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds 2006.
Company: -
1st Published: Oberon Books, London 2006.
Parts: Male: 5; Female: 3; Other: -
Iph. . .
The Greeks and Trojans are on the brink of war. Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks, has a stark choice: whether to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia as the gods demand, or place the safety of his family before the interests of the state. Iphigeneia must choose whether to die willingly at her father’s hand to ensure her nation’s freedom.
Notes: Original Playwright - Euripides.
1st Produced: Lyric Theatre, Belfast, Ireland 1999.
Company: Lyric Theatre.
1st Published: Oberon Books, London.
Parts: Male: 4; Female: 3; Other: chorus of young people.
Kafka’s Monkey
‘Esteemed members of the Academy! You have done me the great honour of inviting me to give you an account of my former life as an ape.’ Imprisoned in a cage and desperate to escape, Kafka’s monkey reveals his journey to become a walking, talking, spitting, smoking, hard-drinking man of the stage.
Notes: Based on the short story “A Report to An Academy” by Franz Kafka
1st Produced: Young Vic Theatre, London, 14 March 2009'
Company: -
1st Published: Oberon Books, London (2009).
Parts: Male: -; Female: 1; Other: -
The Kingdom
Three Irishmen. Digging. Telling tales to put down the day. But as they dig down, long buried secrets begin to emerge and the story they tell is as dark as the earth itself. It’s a tale full of rich and striking characters. The Kingdom vividly captures life as an Irish navvy in the last century - a time of immigration, violence, sex, triumph and, ultimately, tragedy. Rooted in the dramas of ancient Greece The Kingdom is Teevan’s haunting and lyrical new play and his first collaboration with award winning director Lucy Pitman-Wallace.
1st Produced: Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London, W1D 3NE 24 Oct 2012.
Company: Three legged Theatre Company.
1st Published: Oberon Books Ltd. (24 Oct 2012)
Parts: Male: 3; Female: -; Other: -
The Lion of Kabul
Following a brief but timely duologue in which the mural at the start is painted over by the Taliban, Colin Teevan achieves something quite special in showing us the absurdity of those Taliban fundamentalists, never quite tipping over the edge into the unbelievable. This play centres on the verbal duel between Lolita Chakrabarti’s Rabia, a lapsed Muslim UN aid worker, and Khan, a minor Government official and Mullah. He ironically works for a Justice Department that has no interest in pursuing its titular role. Two aid workers have gone missing after taking a truck of food to the people. Their boss seeks information and for reasons that become all too apparent has been asked to attend a meeting at the zoo. Nabil Elouahabi makes a wonderful job of presenting a man so keen on his cause that he seems inhuman, while his protagonist shows the depths of humanity that have disappeared from the country under such a Government.
Notes: part of A three month long festival About the culture And history of Afghanistan. Entitled The Great Game: Afghanistan. The festival will be divided into three parts, each focusing on A period of Afghan history: 1979 - 1996 : Communism, The Mujahideen And The Taliban
1st Produced: Tricycle Theatre, London, 2009.
Company: -
1st Published: in The great game: Afghanistan, Oberon Books, London (2009).
Parts: Male: -; Female: -; Other: -
Marathon
Night-time. A country lane. Two men training run into their past and into their future. A beautifully simple exploration of what it means to be alive.
Notes: Original Playwright - Eduardo Erba
1st Produced: Gate Theatre, Notting Hill, London, 1999.
Company: -
1st Published: Oberon Books, London.
Parts: Male: 2; Female: -; Other: -
Missing Persons - Four Tragedies and Roy Keane
A father denied access to his children, a footballer deserting his team, a terrorist lost in the politics of peacetime. Five monologues in the voices of contemporary men, inspired by the heroes and heroines of classical myths.
1st Produced: Edinburgh: Assembly Rooms, Scotland, 2005.
Company: -
1st Published: Oberon Books, London.
Genre: Monologues.
Parts: Male: 1; Female: -; Other: -
Monkey!
Very loosely based upon the writings of the great Chinese author Wu Ch’eng-en. The tale of the roguish Monkey and his exploits on a fabulous journey to India is one of the most popular classics in Asian literature. Monkey has been imprisoned in a mountain because of the chaos he has wrought in heaven. To be redeemed, he must guide the Buddhist monk Tripitaka from China, through the Himalayas, on a mystical quest in search of sacred scriptures. Helped by two friends, Pigsy and Sandy, he encounters demons, spirits, dragons and gods on a riotous road trip to enlightenment. With its mix of energetic kung-fu action, mischievous hero and cast of fantastically colourful characters Monkey is sure to leave audiences as thrilled and delighted as last year’s sell-out success The Three Musketeers. Monkey is an adventure to enchant everyone aged seven and above.
1st Produced: Young Vic Theatre, London 2001.
Company: -
1st Published: Oberon Books, London.
Parts: Male: 6; Female: 3; Other: doubling, extras.
Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt is a dreamer, a liar and a serial womaniser. Cast out from his hometown, Peer embarks on a wild and astonishing journey in search of fame and fortune that takes him from Norway to Africa and eventually back home again. An exhiliarating tale of a life lived on the edge.
Notes: Original Playwright - Henrik Ibsen
1st Produced: Dundee: Rep Theatre, Scotland 2007
Company: Dundee Rep Ensemble and National Theatre of Scotland
1st Published: Oberon Books, London 2007
Parts: Male: -; Female: -; Other: large cast
Svejk
Since Hasek’s comic masterpiece was first produced in 1920s Prague, there have been countless attempts to stage this sprawling story of the seeming idiot, svejk, who survives the horrors of the First World War by undermining the institutions of state and army through his very idiocy. limelight after decades of anonymity.
Notes: Based on The Good Soldier Svejk; by Jaroslav Hasek.
1st Produced: Gate Theatre, Notting Hill, London, 1999.
Company: “Idiots” Season.
1st Published: Oberon Books, London.
Parts: Male: -; Female: -; Other: cast size 7.
Tantalus
1st Produced: Manchester: The Lowry, Salford, England, 2001
Company: Royal Shakespeare Company.
1st Published: Oberon Books, London -
Genre: Adaptation
Parts: Male: -; Female: -; Other: Large Cast
There Was A Man. There Was No Man
While Israel officially has no nuclear arms programme, few doubt it has; Iran claims this gives it the right to develop its own nuclear programme. Who will be the first to blink? When an Israeli and Iranian scientist meet at a conference in Jordan, their meeting has deep repercussions for their nations, their families and themselves.
Notes: Part of The Bomb - A Partial History. Second Blast: Present Dangers.
1st Produced: Tricycle Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Road, London NW6 7JR 16 Feb 2012.
Company: -
1st Published: Oberon Books (2012).
Genre: short play.
Parts: Male: 2; Female: 2; Other: -
The University
1st Produced: National Theatre Studio, London
Company: -
1st Published: -
Parts: Male: -; Female: -; Other: -
Vinegar and Brown Paper
A one-act black comedy in which Jill is an artist recently returned to Dublin and Jack is her stand-up comedian boyfriend. As Jill tries to reconcile herself to her past through her work, Jack’s career starts to take off. The play charts the collapse of a relationship through soap operas, football, the Dutch Masters and Christ’s walk to Calvary.
1st Produced: Abbey Theatre, Peacock Stage, Dublin 1995.
Company: -
1st Published: in Two plays: The Big Sea and Vinegar and Brown Paper - Oberon Books, London.
Parts: Male: 1; Female: 2; Other: -
The Walls
Dublin. The night before Christmas and Mrs and Mrs Walls are preparing for the arrival of their son Joseph and his new bride, Mary, from London. ‘George Bernard Shaw wrote: “I have not yet found real homes except in very stupid families to whom a house is a world.” The tragedy was when, as in his own family - or Stella’s in The Walls - intelligent people attempt to make a house their world. Shaw turned his own childhood tragedy into comedy but the comedy retained - as does Colin Teevan’s - sharp pathos of emotions and ambitions thwarted and lonely lives unfulfilled’ (Clare Boylan) limelight after decades of anonymity.
1st Produced: Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre, London 2001.
Company: Springboards Season.
1st Published: Oberon Books, London 2001.
Parts: Male: 6; Female: 2; Other: doubling. |