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PHIL PORTER |
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Nationality: British Email: Click here to contact Website: n/a |
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Literary Agent: United Agents |
Phil Porter's plays for adults include The Cracks In My Skin, which won a Bruntwood Award and was premiered at Manchester Royal Exchange, and Stealing Sweets And Punching People, which was produced in London at Theatre 503 and Off-Broadway. Here Lies Mary Spindler was commisioned and produced by the RSC at Latitude Festival. He adapted Hungarian playwright Janos Hay's The Stonewatcher for The National Theatre and has written short plays for Drywrite, Paines Plough and the RSC. He has also written several plays for young people. These include The Flying Machine for The Unicorn Theatre and Smashed Eggs, which won the Arts Council Children's Award and has been performed throughout the UK. He adapted Tim Bowler's novel for teenagers Starseeker for Northampton Theatre Royal. With composer Martin Ward, Phil wrote Pinocchio for the Royal Opera House. The production has enjoyed two successful Christmas runs and was made into a film by BBC4. Together they also wrote The Whale Savers for W11 Opera, a version of Cinderella for The Unicorn Theatre and Skitterbang Island for Polka Theatre. Phil also wrote the book and lyrics for Hansel and Gretel at Northampton Theatre Royal Beauty & The Beast at The Unicorn. He also edited The Tempest for an RSC production in 2011. Current commissions include Three Choirs Festival, Northampton Theatre Royal and the RSC.
Plays by Phil Porter
2008 | ||
| 1st Produced: | 18 Jan 2010 | |||||
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 | #110022 | |||
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: | Ten min | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | part of "Decade" by Amy Rosenthal, Beth Steel, Nimer Rashed, David Eldridge, Lou Ramsden, Fraser Grace, April de Angelis, Richard Marsh, Phil Porter and Rex Obano. Much has changed in the world since our current millennium dawned in 2000. Theatre503 presents ten short plays by ten different playwrights, each encompassing a year of the so-called noughties and encourages the audience to reflect over the past decade whilst taking in a great evening of theatre. | |||||
Synopsis: | global economic breakdown | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Alice in Wonderland | ||
| 1st Produced: | Northampton: Royal &Amp; Derngate Theatres, Guildhall Road, Northampton NN1 1DP >>> | 30 Nov 2011 | ||||
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 | #134521 | |||
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 | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Alice follows the white rabbit down his hole into Wonderland and the adventure begins. Join Alice on a fantastical adventure down the rabbit hole next Christmas to a topsy-turvy world of tea parties, talking animals and one very bad-tempered Queen. Following on from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, we bring another well-loved childrens classic to the stage in our magical production of Lewis Carrolls Alice in Wonderland, a timeless tale the whole family will enjoy | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Beauty And the Beast | ||
| 1st Produced: | Unicorn Theatre, 147 Tooley Street, More London, Southwark, London SE1 2HZ >>> | 04 Dec 2010 | ||||
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 | #117912 | |||
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: | Youth Audience | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 4 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | When Bob Brizzlewink loses his job as a merchant, the family is forced to move to the country and survive by growing vegetables. Bob's daughter, Belle, constantly squabbles with her sister and struggles to rein in her fierce temper. In fact her only friends seem to be the runks - small rodent beasties that love to munch on the juicy cabbages. But when Bob finds himself magically transported to a mysterious castle, and threatened by the terrifying Beast, he's forced to trade his green-fingered daughter for his life. Will Belle's temper get her into hot water, or will she and the savage Beast be able to tame one another? | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Broken | ||
| 1st Produced: | Edinburgh festival | 1999 | ||||
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 | #28327 | |||
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 | 2 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | After serving a seven-day sentence, Joe Bragg's first day on the outside consists of bouncing aimlessly from one quirky encounter to the next as he attempts to pursue a job as toilet attendant at London's Euston Station. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Cinderella | ||
| 1st Produced: | Unicorn Theatre, 147 Tooley Street, More London, Southwark, London SE1 2HZ >>> | 05 Dec 2009 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Plays for Young Audiences, 2010 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #99300 | |||
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 | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 6 | ||
Parts other: | doubling | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | Cinderella is at the end of her tether bailing out the family business, a floating retirement home. One day her Dad happily announces he's found a new wife, but Mrs Yarg and her mean daughters are not all what cinderella was hoping for. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Cracks In My Skin, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | Manchester: The Studio, Royal Exchange Theatre, England, EUR >>> | 2008 | ||||
Company: | Manchester Royal Exchange | |||||
| 1st Published: | Oberon Books, London >>>, 2008 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #68898 | |||
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 | 2 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Winner of a Bruntwood Award | |||||
Synopsis: | Do you find it hard? Getting close? I want to get close but I can't stop blowing things apart. Vexing people like a bomb' Janie's a force of nature, like some considerable disaster zone. It's baking hot, her mouth is peeling away and now she's got horns. Been on her head for yonks apparently, growing. . .Roper can feel his grandson Linden pulling away from him, pushing him away. . .like his eyes are mini pebbles all suddenly. Like everyone, Josefa needs a bit of a miracle to happen. One summer's night, with the help of a paddling pool, a baby dragon and a bottle of gin, it does. But how long can anything perfect last? Funny, open-hearted, surprising and strange, The Cracks in My Skin is a new kind of love story. . .a new kind of family. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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DryFIGHT | ||
| 1st Produced: | East End Pub, London | 2009 | ||||
Company: | DryWright | |||||
| 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 | #101362 | |||
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: | Piece | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Writers include John Donnelly, Ashanti Dhawan, Matt Hartley, Joel Horwood, Phil Porter, Penelope Skinner | |||||
Synopsis: | It's ingeniously simple. They perform twice over the weekend: each performance features four short scenes of fights, all of them beginning verbally and becoming physical. At the start of the show every audience member is given four simple coloured paper hats. Before each scene begins we are introduced via the booming PA system to each of the characters it will involve - they strut onto stage, pose and flex and grimace like Mickey Rourke, and we don a hat of a certain colour to "cast our vote" on that particular character coming out on top. Of course this is before we know anything about the nature of each fight, so it's interesting in theory to wonder what makes us side with one character over another purely on first glance. Do the women go for the women? Do we back the scrawnier man to try and predict the unpredictable? Which of the nuns looks the most muscular? As it is though, there are few easily apparent trends. All our attention really is focused on screaming out our support of whoever we have arbitrarily chosen to back. This is theatre for closet wrestling fans, quite excessively happy to suddenly be encouraged to watch drama and make noise. As an experience it's infectious - but I fear not to be too often repeated, as only certain contexts allow it to work. I also wonder how long before the concept becomes stale - once you have seen it I doubt you'd feel the need to experience it again - unless the company push it in a new direction. In summary, we have two nuns attending a school reunion and discovering that their schoolmate of the time, who inspired both of their religious conversions, now views them with contempt. A man tries to hastily get rid of a woman after a one-night-stand, but his girlfriend bursts in on them. A jilted boyfriend challenges his ex-girlfriend's new lover to a fight to win her, which he will video for her to prove his devotion. But the final scene has an unexpected spike. Two old friends, one gay one straight, emerge from a gay club late at night, the straight one distraught having broken up with his girlfriend, and in a moment of drunken confusion makes a sexual advance on his friend. The ensuing fracas is him being fought off by his friend, who is trying only to beat sense into him. There's no-one for us to cheer for, the emotions of the piece are too true to make for easy side-taking. And the ending is horrifically unexpected and downbeat. We stop shouting long enough to think about what we have been doing. It's a canny achievement. But for all that, the show overall is too enjoyable for us not to emerge with smiles all over our faces. Guilty though they may be. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Flying Machine, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2008 | |||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | in volume Two Plays For Young People, Oberon Books, London >>>, 2008 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #85371 | |||
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: | Youth Audiences | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | a spooky old fashioned hospital, a flying machine and escaping children pursued by Nurse Cakebread | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Hansel And Gretel | ||
| 1st Produced: | Northampton, Royal | 2004 | ||||
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 | #43639 | |||
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: | family show Show | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | By Phil Porter and Paul King , with music by Duncan Wisbey | |||||
Synopsis: | the full fantasy in a fantastic pepper-pot shack | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Isolated Children In Faraway Places | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2001 | |||||
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 | #28328 | |||
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 | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: |
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Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Smashed Eggs | ||
| 1st Produced: | National Tour | 2001 | ||||
Company: | Pentabus Theatre Company | |||||
| 1st Published: | ISBN/ASIN: | - | ||||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #28329 | |||
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 for 8 - 11 year olds | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | won the Arts Council Children's Award | |||||
Synopsis: | Titus and Miranda are going crazy with their mum's ridiculous rules. The long list of rules includes no pretending your peas are an army', no having kippers for breakfast' (or else your hands will turn into claws), and don't break eggs' (or your body will go egg shaped). One day Miranda decides she's done with rules, and leads Titus on a life-changing journey. Excitement turns to fear when they discover the home of the sinister Mouth Collector | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Starseeker | ||
| 1st Produced: | Theatre Royal, Northampton | 2007 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Oberon Books, London >>>, 2007 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #68897 | |||
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 Adaptation | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | doubling | |||||
Notes: | based on the novel by Tim Bowler | |||||
Synopsis: | Luke's world is in chaos. His 'mates' want to hurt him, his love-life's a mess, he misses his dad and hates his mum's new boyfriend. He's even lost his passion for piano. When the sound of a child crying starts to haunt him, Luke thinks he's going mad. But the noise soon leads him to an attic room in a creepy house and the strange and secretive people who live there. Can he resolve the complex mysteries of the house before the bullies close in on him? And will the journey free him from his sadness? Adapted from Carnegie medal-winner Tim Bowler's popular book, Starseeker is a thrilling rites-of-passage tale. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Stealing Sweets And Punching People | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2003 | |||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Oberon Books, London >>>, 2004 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #28331 | |||
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 | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | written as part of an attachment to National Theatre Studio, London, 2001 | |||||
Synopsis: | Emily is sixteen. She lives with her dad and works in a junk shop with no customers. She's got a nose like a white strawberry, hair like a demented angel and a terrible, terrible secret -. Adolescence, sexuality and guilt come together in this richly theatrical, macabre and often hilarious play. A play about an ordinary life going badly wrong -. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Stonewatcher, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | rehearsed readings performed in the Cottesloe Theatre, London | 2004 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Oberon Books, London >>>, 2004 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #42063 | |||
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: | Translation | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 7 | Female | 4 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Original Playwright - Janos Hay | |||||
Synopsis: | Geza is an autistic twenty-five-year-old living with his mother in a small village. Everyone around him wishes him well, and his old friends even hire him to work in a quarry to give some meaning to his life. But since none of them can understand the rules of his special, closed universe, their well-intentioned actions almost destroy him. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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