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BART WOLFFE (1952 - ) |
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Nationality: Zimbabwean Email: Click here to contact Website: n/a |
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Literary Agent: n/a |
Driven by a need to make economic viability out of theatre performances throughout southern Africa by audience building , keeping production budgets practicable and drawing on a limited resource of professional stage actors, all the published plays of Bart Wolffe have several common principles. The plays are all either two-handers or monologues and could be considered fairly minimalist. They are easy to travel or tour and accordingly have been performed in a variety of settings and contexts, from intimate venues to main-stage. All of the plays, whether comic or tragic, touch on issues of alienation, whether in areas of minorities or discrimination or belief from topics ranging around issues such as addiction, gay rights, prostitution , loss of identity and innocence. Accordingly, the persona are all markedly individual and evolve around C S Lewis' axiom that "Character is plot." This allow for risk in performance which affords the actors the opportunity to exercise and showcase their skills and provide small companies with the ability to even produce a profit in a context as difficult as African Theatre and therefore make a living from their art.
Plays by Bart Wolffe
And For My Next Guest, Mr Leonardo Di Caprio | ||
| 1st Produced: | HIFA (Harare International Festival of the Arts) | 2001 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53591 | |||
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: | Satire One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | possible extras as studio crew | |||||
Notes: | Recorded billboards with fanfares at top andf tail of the performance required plus one recorded voice-over | |||||
Synopsis: | A talk-show in front of the television audience( with certain inconceivable guests) begs the question of the part electronic and mass media plays in our lives | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Angel | ||
| 1st Produced: | Gallery Delta, Harare | 1997 | ||||
Company: | Africa Dream Theatre | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53592 | |||
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: | monologue One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | In "Angel", the rage against loss of innocence is replaced dramatically by the recognition of real ugliness.The crossing of the waters in the play is a ritual moment, sacrificial, existential, it is no longer the blind action of the imbecile, the central protaganist, but rather a pursuit of justice where, in terms of the craft, it's like the pacifist first committing to armed struggle. Set in Steinbeck country, Angel is, of course, a play about the impossibilities of thwarted idealism and inexpressible love in betrayal and ultimately, the injustice of discrimination and alienation. The play is set in the death cell the night before Big Boy is executed for murder. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Art Of Accidental Stains, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | The Mannenburg, Harare | 2002 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53593 | |||
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: | monologue One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | There is a myth about artists, painters, muscicians, that they function differently to most mortals. That they are driven by different or more extreme emotional demons, needs, passions. This can be true. Taking advantage of this profile, a painter on stage paints a living canvas of his muse, his life with a store dummy or mannequin functioning as his model to whom he addresses his story. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Beast | ||
| 1st Produced: | The Tube, Harare | 1997 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53594 | |||
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: | monologue One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Loosely based on Kafka's "Address to the Academy", a caged beast exposes the prison of the human psyche with its own hidden monsters of fear, superstition and primitivism | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Daughter Of Darkness | ||
| 1st Produced: | 1998 | |||||
Company: | Africa Dream Theatre | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53595 | |||
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: | monologue One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | At first glance, this play seems to be about white alienation in black Africa , addressing the issue of the tortured psyche of a white minority living in a state of seige, but the underlying core is the reflection of the brutality that is possible as an outcome of any male-dominated society. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Easy Come, Easy Go | ||
| 1st Produced: | Gallery Delta, Harare | 1997 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53596 | |||
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: | monologue One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Has also been performed by a female actress in London and gender is not an issue that should limit the performer of this piece | |||||
Synopsis: | A very physical theatre piece, a roller-coaster ride into the world of gambling addiction. The script requires the actor to exercise a range of vocal and bodily gymnastics in the giddy dance to its final conclusion. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Killing Rats | ||
| 1st Produced: | Theatre in the Park, HIFA | 2001 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53597 | |||
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: | monologue One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Killing Rats takes us into the disturbed and comically absurd maze of the world of rats where survival depends on how well you can know the enemy and how fast you can shoot. Essentially this play mirrors the sense that white Zimbabwean society does not belong in black Africa. The metaphor of rats that invade a society in decay reflects the psychological violation of suburban homes and the seizure of space to co-exist as a minority race. In fact, it expresses the intolerance that creates mutants and exiles of any colour or creed, at any time and anywhere. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Legacy Of Stone, A | ||
| 1st Produced: | Theatre Upstairs, Harare | 1998 | ||||
Company: | REPS Theatre | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53598 | |||
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: | Drama in 2 acts | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | The play was used as resource material for an acting masterclass at The De Marco European Arts Foundation in Edinburgh in 1998 culminating in its performance there | |||||
Synopsis: | This is not a post-modernist play about the beauty of "otherness" or the expression of dark forces; in many ways it is about an age-old male terror of witchcraft, where woman-as-victim exacts her revenge. A story of two damaged lives with the centrepiece of a gargoyle commissioned by the woman underlying the tension between both her and the stone mason who undertook the work. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Man In The Cupboard, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | Theatre in the Park, Harare | 1996 | ||||
Company: | Rooftop | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53599 | |||
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: | monologue One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Inside his wardrobe lie all his childhood memories, his past and his present& "his life experience, tensions about sexual predilictions, his relations with his mother are woven into a metaphor about a cupboard, for him the world, in which he is permanently locked, and unfolding into an awful tale of loneliness and revenge." Joy Hendry, The Scotsman. Edinburgh 1998 | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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On Lonely Street | ||
| 1st Produced: | Theatre in the Park, HIFA | 2000 | ||||
Company: | Rooftop | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53600 | |||
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: | Comedy in 2 scenes Comedy | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | First performed with a Belgian actor and Sri-Lankan actress in Zimbabwe, the play later became a resource play for a play-writing workshop in Windhoek, where it culminated in performance at The Warehouse with Namibian actors. | |||||
Synopsis: | A paraplegic man invites a coloured prostitute into his appartment in the hope of finding companionship, only to become a victim for revenge against all men | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Question Of Alienation, A | ||
| 1st Produced: | Gallery Delta, Harare | 1993 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53601 | |||
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: | Monologue in 2 Acts | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | 1 m/f | |||||
Notes: | 1st Act - "He", 2nd Act - "She" | |||||
Synopsis: | An alien borrows a body to explore the nature of the human condition | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Rumours In The Wind | ||
| 1st Produced: | Theatre in the Park, Harare | 1996 | ||||
Company: | Rooftop | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53602 | |||
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: | monologue One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | "Rumours in the Wind is poetry of the most limpid kind. The central character is never named because he represents the landscape and all the beasts (human included) that inhabit it. He is an arch-innocent, dubbed village idiot because he doesn's speak; the land, his ancestors, the gods, haven't yet told him what to say. He listens instead, and knows his terrain as few who speak can .He is also in love, and that love eventually provides a painful bridge which reunites him with his community. (Joy Hendry, Publisher Chapman Books for "The Scotsman") | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Sisyphus Road, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | The Mannenburg, Harare | 2002 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53603 | |||
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: | monologue One Act | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | A traveller on the move pauses long enough to tell his tale of Africa, from where he came and the stone sculpture that he carries with him. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Two Men On A Bench | ||
| 1st Produced: | Theatre in the Park, Harare | 1998 | ||||
Company: | Rooftop | |||||
| 1st Published: | published in Africa Dream Theatre, Lulu.com, | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #53604 | |||
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: | Comedy in 1 Act Comedy | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | A white hobo, a black tramp, a park bench in the municipal gardens. Because even a nobody needs to be somebody, some characters will go to any length to reclaim their missing dignity. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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