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BRIAN WOOLLAND |
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Nationality: British Email: Click here to contact Website: Click here to visit |
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Literary Agent: n/a |
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, France, Spain, Hungary and Germany.
Plays by Brian Woolland
Away Games | ||
| 1st Produced: | Hampshire Theatre in Education company | Sep 1991 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | published, 1992 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #38188 | |||
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: | TIE Youth Audience | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | written to be performed in English, French and German for secondary school audiences | |||||
| 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. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Bella Rosbif | ||
| 1st Produced: | Spiral Theatre Company | Nov 1992 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #126136 | |||
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: | Short Theatre in Education play | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | n/a | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Devil Is An Ass, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | May 2009 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #136668 | |||
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 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
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 | |||||
| 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. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Double Tongue | ||
| 1st Produced: | 19 Jun 2001 | |||||
Company: | Border Crossings | |||||
| 1st Published: | ISBN/ASIN: | 978-1904718017 | ||||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #38189 | |||
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: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Written to be performed in English, Hungarian and Serbian | |||||
| 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? | |||||
Further Reference: | Theatre Record Vol XXI (2001) Page 0803 | |||||
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Getting Over You | ||
| 1st Produced: | 05 Apr 1995 | |||||
Company: | Watershed Theatre Company | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #38190 | |||
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: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Revived for production in Hungary, 1996 | |||||
| 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. | |||||
Further Reference: | Theatre Record Vol XV (1995) Page 0412 | |||||
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Government Inspector, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | Winchester Prison, Winchester, Hants, UK | 27 Apr 2010 | ||||
Company: | Playing for Time Theatre Company | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #136665 | |||
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/Farce | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 12 | Female | 5 | ||
Parts other: | 6 small roles that can be played by m or f | |||||
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). | |||||
| 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. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Gulliver | ||
| 1st Produced: | Abacus Theatre Company | 1980 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Nelson, 1993 | ISBN/ASIN: | 978-0174324867 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #78828 | |||
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: | satirical comedy Adaptation | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | doubling encouraged, Numerous small roles of indeterminate gender | |||||
Notes: | Stage adaptation of Gulliver's Travels | |||||
| 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. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Perpetual Motion | ||
| 1st Produced: | Nov 1991 | |||||
Company: | Spiral Theatre Company | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #38191 | |||
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: | Theatre in Education Youth Audience | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 5 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
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. | |||||
Synopsis: | Sophie, an 8 year old girl comes to terms with the death of her elderly, ailing grandfather. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Stand or Fall | ||
| 1st Produced: | Winchester Prison, Winchester, Hants | 15 Apr 2008 | ||||
Company: | Playing for Time Theatre Company | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #83595 | |||
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: | modern / historical Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 15 | Female | 7 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
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. | |||||
| 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. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Streetwise In Paradise | ||
| 1st Produced: | Jan 1992 | |||||
Company: | Spiral Theatre Company | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #38192 | |||
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: | Theatre in Education Youth Audience | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 6 | Female | 6 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Written for a cast of three (with much doubling), 1 male, 2 female | |||||
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. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Terrible Madness, A | ||
| 1st Produced: | Helen Macpherson Smith Theatre, Ballarat, Australia | 13 Oct 2011 | ||||
Company: | The Arts Academy, University of Ballarat | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #136666 | |||
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: | Historical drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 15 | Female | 17 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
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). | |||||
| 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&. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Treason's Peace | ||
| 1st Produced: | Progress Theatre, Reading | 1990 | ||||
Company: | Soho Theatre | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #38193 | |||
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: | historical drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 5 | Female | 7 | ||
Parts other: | 2 of the male roles are 'walk ons' | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
| 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. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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