JOHN ARDEN (1930 - )
| Nationality: | British |
| Literary Agent: *: | |
| Email: | n/a |
| Website: | n/a |
* If shown, click on the literary agent's name for full contact details and links to all the Playwrights they represent.
Plays by John Arden
All Fall Down |
| 1st Produced: | Edinburgh | 1955 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | Comedy | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Set in the Victorian period about building a railway. | ||||
Armstrong's Last Goodnight |
| 1st Produced: | Glasgow | 1964 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | 1965 | |||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Exercise in Diplomacy | - | Parts: | Male | 23 | Female | 7 |
| Parts Other: | extras | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: 16th century Scottish border chieftain and his feuds with the King of England over border peace. | ||||
Ars Longa, Vita Brevis |
| 1st Produced: | Kirkbymoorside | 1964 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Eight Plays I", Cassell, London | 1965 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Theme for Variations | - | Parts: | Male | 5 | Female | 1 |
| Parts Other: | extras inc children | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: improvisation on an art master shot in a wood whilst taking part in a Territorial Army exercise | ||||
Awkward Corners |
| 1st Produced: | - | - | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Bagman Or The Impromptu Of Muswell Hill, The |
| 1st Produced: | BBC Radio | 1970 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Plays 2" | 1994 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Witty Fable | - | Parts: | Male | 6 | Female | 6 |
| Parts Other: | extras | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: modern version of Moliere's Versailles Impromptu | ||||
Ballygombeen Bequest, The |
| 1st Produced: | Belfast | 1972 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Scripts 9", New York, September | 1972 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Anglo-Irish Melodrama | - | Parts: | Male | 11 | Female | 2 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy, aka The Little Gray Home In The West | ||||
Synopsis: English absentee landlord's attempts to evict his Irish tenants. | ||||
Blow-In Chorus For Liam Cosgrave |
| 1st Produced: | Galway | 1977 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Business Of Good Government, The: A Christmas Play |
| 1st Produced: | Brent Knoll, Somerset | 1960 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | 1963 | |||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Nativity | - | Parts: | Male | 13 | Female | 4 |
| Parts Other: | or unisex | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy; aka A Christmas Play | ||||
Synopsis: King Herod's realisation that the child Jesus must be killed in order to preserve the government | ||||
Conscience And Desire, And Dear Liz |
| 1st Produced: | London | 1954 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Crown Strike Play, The |
| 1st Produced: | Galway | 1974 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Death Of A Cowboy |
| 1st Produced: | - | - | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | One Act | Parts: | Male | 6 | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | extras | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Devil And The Parish Pump, The |
| 1st Produced: | Galway | 1974 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Plays 1" Methuen, London | 1991 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | 20 min play | One Act | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | 5 characters | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: pressing issue was the new piped water scheme | ||||
Fidelio |
| 1st Produced: | London | 1965 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | Libretto | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Friday's Hiding |
| 1st Produced: | Edinburgh | 1966 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Soldier, Soldier and Other Plays", Methuen, London | 1967 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | - | One Act | Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 1 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: Experiment In The Laconic as Scottish farmer hides to avoid paying his men | ||||
Granny Welfare And The Wolf |
| 1st Produced: | London | 1971 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Happy Haven, The |
| 1st Produced: | Bristol | 1960 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "New English Dramatists 4", Penguin, London | 1962 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | - | Comedy | Parts: | Male | 8 | Female | 6 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: Basic conflicts between the doctors and patients at a geriatric hospital | ||||
Harold Muggins Is A Martyr |
| 1st Produced: | London | 1968 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy and Cartoon Archetypical Slogan Theatre | ||||
Synopsis: a battle finally seals the fate of Muggin's cafe after it has been taken over by the establishment | ||||
Hero Rises Up, The |
| 1st Produced: | London | 1968 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | 1969 | |||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Romantic Melodrama | - | Parts: | Male | 16 | Female | 9 |
| Parts Other: | extras | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: The amorous relationship between Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson is shown with excerpts from his naval victories. | ||||
Hunting Of The Mongrel Fox, The |
| 1st Produced: | Galway | 1976 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Plays 1" Methuen, London | 1991 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | short play | One Act | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: protest at a decision to hang a young couple in Dublin | ||||
Ironhand |
| 1st Produced: | Bristol | 1963 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | 1965 | |||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | - | Adaptation | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: from Goethe's "Goetz von Berlichingen | ||||
Synopsis: Ironhand is Goetz who lost his hand in battle and replaced it with an iron gauntlet, "I stood by myself and I took no head of nobody. All I said was freedom" | ||||
Island Of The Mighty, The: A Play On A Traditional British Theme |
| 1st Produced: | London | 1972 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Plays & Players" London, feb/Mar | 1973 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Drama, Music | - | Parts: | Male | 25 | Female | 9 |
| Parts Other: | extras | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy; aka Handful of Watercress | ||||
Synopsis: A long and complex re-telling of the Arthur and Merlin myth. | ||||
Left-Handed Liberty |
| 1st Produced: | Mermaid Theatre, London | 1965 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | 1965 | |||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Play about Magna Carta | - | Parts: | Male | 14 | Female | 5 |
| Parts Other: | extras | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: King John and his barons struggle over the implications of the Magna Carta | ||||
Little Gray Home In The West, The |
| 1st Produced: | rehearsed reading at Sugawn Theatre, London | 1978 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Pluto Press, London | 1980 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Sat MeloDrama | - | Parts: | Male | 11 | Female | 2 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: English absentee landlord's attempts to evict his Irish tenants. (But after libel suit cuts and changed emphases from original "The Ballygombeen Bequest") | ||||
Live Like Pigs |
| 1st Produced: | 1958 | |||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "New English Dramatists 3", Penguin, London | 1961 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | - | Comedy | Parts: | Male | 7 | Female | 7 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Conflict between a band of vagrants and the middle class in an industrial country. | ||||
Making Of Muswell Hill, The |
| 1st Produced: | London | 1984 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Mary's Name |
| 1st Produced: | Galway | 1977 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Plays 1" Methuen, London | 1991 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Modern Drama | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: women's right to keep their own name after marriage | ||||
Menace Of Ireland. . ..?, The |
| 1st Produced: | Bradford | 1979 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Mongrel Fox, The |
| 1st Produced: | Galway | 1976 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Mother, The |
| 1st Produced: | London | 1984 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
My Old Man's A Tory |
| 1st Produced: | London | 1971 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
New Communion - For Freaks, Prophets And Witches, A |
| 1st Produced: | Edinburgh | 1971 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Expression of "women's rage" made real | ||||
No Room At The Inn |
| 1st Produced: | Galway | 1976 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Plays 1" Methuen, London | 1991 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Modern Drama | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: concern for the Travelling population of Galway | ||||
Non-Stop Connolly Show, The: A Dramatic Cycle Of Continuous Struggle In Six Parts |
| 1st Produced: | Liberty Hall, Dublin | 1975 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Pluto Press, 5 vols. | 1977 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | 26 hour epic | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | 41 | Female | 4 |
| Parts Other: | or 12m4f | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: Life and career of James Connolly martyr of the 1916 Easter Rising. | ||||
Party, The |
| 1st Produced: | London | 1958 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Samuel French, London | 1958 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | - | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 3 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: Adolescent conflicts convincingly explored | ||||
Pearl |
| 1st Produced: | - | - | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | Methuen Modern Play, London | 1979 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Radio | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: A Play about a Play within the Play | ||||
Pinprick Of History, A |
| 1st Produced: | Almost Free Theatre, London | 1977 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | in "Plays 1" Methuen, London | 1991 | ||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | "intervation" | Historical | Parts: | Male | 9 | Female | 3 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: reveals the opposition encountered whilst the Galway Theatre Workshop toured a play | ||||
Play Without Words |
| 1st Produced: | Glasgow | 1965 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: - | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Royal Pardon, The; Or, The Soldier Who Became An Actor |
| 1st Produced: | 1966 | |||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | 1967 | |||
| To Buy This Play: | If the Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased direct, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | Childrens | Youth Audience | Parts: | Male | 13 | Female | 5 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: A "legendary" tale about the adventures of a troupe of strolling actors. | ||||
Rudi Dutschke Must Stay |
| 1st Produced: | London | 1971 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | - | ||
| To Buy This Play: | I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com | |||
| Genre: | - | - | Parts: | Male | - | Female | - |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: written with Margaretta D'Arcy | ||||
Synopsis: | ||||
Sean O'Scrudu |