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Bill Ballantyne

BILL BALLANTYNE  (1945 - )

 Nationality:    Canadian
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Playwrights Guild of Canada  


Bill Ballantyne was born in Montreal in 1945. after graduating from the Yale Drama School in 1970, he moved to Toronto and became an actor. He worked most of the local theatres and did his mandatory stint at Stratford - filling the gaps with the odd commercial and bits of television work. In 1982 he wrote a play, The al Cornell Story, which was produced twice by Theatre Passe Muraille. another play, Bat Masterson's Last Regular Job, was presented simultaneously both in Toronto and New York. The addiction set in and he has been writing plays ever since. Ironically, most of them have been done in America, principally by The Writers Theatre in New York and the El Portal Theatre in Los Angeles. They include Bix, Spit In the Ocean, Birdwatching, Chechnya, Turtles, Far away and Buster and Sam. His latest piece, Goodbye Tim Hardin, will open this October, in Toronto, under the auspices of Hrant alianak Theatre Productions. He off-sets his time by playing jazz piano and battling his ever-present fear of the nine-to-five job.

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below is a list of Bill Ballantyne's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

 Al Cornell Story, The         Bat Masterson's Last Regular Job         Birdwatching         Bix         Buster And Sam         Chechnya         Far Away         Goodbye Tim Hardin         Seventh Game, The         Spit In The Ocean         Turtles

Al Cornell Story, The

Synopsis:
second-rate pianist, trapped in fantasies of "hipness" in life and in jazz, is forced to choose between the big chance and his dread of change.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
The Playwrights Guild of Canada,    -

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bat Masterson's Last Regular Job

Synopsis:
an aging hero of the Old West is offered a celebrity appearance at a second-rate boxing match. This, he naively hopes, will save his dying reputation.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
The Playwrights Guild of Canada,    -

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Birdwatching

Synopsis:
Three aging men live out their fantasies of being released, only to have these hopes dashed.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Writer's Theatre, NY    1987

Organisations:
The writers theatre

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
dark comedy Comedy

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bix

Synopsis:
Bix Beiderbecke, the trumpet prodigy, is dying in a cheap hotel and ,despite his fame, is receiving no help.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Phoenix Theatre, London    1991

Organisations:
Tbird productions

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Tragedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Buster And Sam

Synopsis:
Samuel Beckett and Buster Keaton discuss a possible film, encumbered by greedy producers and incompetent directors.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New Haven: Yale Studio, CT, USA    1994

Organisations:
Yale studio

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Chechnya

Synopsis:
two potheads from the sixties confuse each other, in trivial ways, as a crime is committed across the hall.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Studio 303, Toronto    1997

Organisations:
Studio 303

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Far Away

Synopsis:
a group of friends unite for thanksgiving and are surprised by how superficial their bond has been.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York Workshop, New York    1999

Organisations:
New York workshop

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
bitersweet comedy Comedy

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Goodbye Tim Hardin

Synopsis:
The Last moments in the life of a singer/ songwriter as he comes to grips with his intended suicide. Ten monologues alternating with the performance of ten songs.

Notes:
10 songs referenced in script Available through: Alley Music Corporation (USA

1st Produced:
-    2004

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
The Playwrights Guild of Canada,    -

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
70 min Play with Music

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Seventh Game, The

Synopsis:
a black man awaits his execution on the eve of world series game number seven.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Madison Theatre, NY    2005

Organisations:
Madison Theatre

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Tragedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Spit In The Ocean

Synopsis:
a serial killer quietly lapses into delusion as police and relatives desperately try to find him.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
El Portal Theatre, Los Angeles    2001

Organisations:
El portal theatre

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
black comedy Comedy

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Turtles

Synopsis:
2 gangsters argue over pet care as they await the arrival of the police

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Third Productions    2006

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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