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Ken Duncum

KEN DUNCUM  (1959 - )

 Nationality:    New Zealander
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Playmarket Inc  

2010 New Zealand Post Katherine Mansfield Prize winner Ken Duncum is a leading New Zealand playwright and screenwriter. His scripts have won awards in Theatre and television. His plays CHeRISH and TRICK OF the LIGHT won best new New Zealand Play at the Chapman Tripp Theatre awards in 2003 and 2004. His script for television Drama series COVeR STORY won Best Script for Drama at the New Zealand Film and Television awards and Best Writer - Comedy for WILLY NILLY in 2002. Duncum's plays have toured New Zealand as well as internationally.

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

         Blue Sky Boys         Cherish         Flipside         Flybaby         Great Gatsby, The         Horseplay         Jism         John, I'm Only Dancing         Panic         Picture Perfect         Polythene Pam         Temptations Of St Max         Trick Of Light         Waterloo Sunset         West End Girls         White Cloud: Songs & Stories

Blue Sky Boys

Blue Sky Boys
Wellington, New Zealand 1964. the everly Brothers are about to give a concert - but Phil and Don are at a low point. the brothers don't get on and their popularity is waning. the concert hall is half empty. On the other side of town another group is about to perform to capacity crowds - the Beatles

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Plays Two London Calling" published by Victoria University Press 2013   978-0864736840

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:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Cherish

Cherish
follows the Dramatic reverberations of a surrogacy dispute between a gay couple and a lesbian couple, whose parental instincts threaten to tear them apart.
nytheatre.com

Notes:
US Premiere

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Nicu's Spoon

1st Published:
Victoria University Press   978--0864734938

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:
Play/Drama. - - Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Flipside

Flipside
the capsizing of the Rose-Noelle has been part of New Zealand folklore for over twenty years; John Glennie, James Nalepka, Rick Hellriegel and Phil Hoffman embarked on what should have been a long-yet-fortuitus journey to Tonga only to be hit by a storm, tipping the boat upside down and stranding them in the Pacific Sea for a then record 119 days. What riddled their story with unintentional comedic tragedy were the series of errors that took place throughout the ill-fated venture - a lack of experience on the boat, lack of a license to operate a CB radio and their final true whereabouts having spent four months in close confines. However Flipside is not all about their sea adventure, it also transports the audience forward to the bedside of Rick Hellriegel as he suffers the recurrence of cancer. It shows the love and support and care he got from fellow shipmate James Nalepka. Flipside isn't simply a tale of boys and their gung-ho, testosterone driven account of survival. Instead the work is an exploration into the deconstruction of the male psyche in terms of its sensitivity and how men bond together during moments of crisis.

Notes:
Chapman Tripp theatre Award for "Production of the Year"

1st Produced:
New Zealand    2000

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Plays One: Small Towns and Sea" published by Victoria University Press   978--0864734945

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Flybaby

Synopsis:
Much to their surprise an unemployable couple have a baby - the new Messiah

Notes:
Written by Ken Duncum And Rebecca Rodden

1st Produced:
-    1986

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:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Great Gatsby, The

Synopsis:
Over a shimmering summer in a rented bungalow on Long Island, New York, Nick Carraway enters the restless world of feverish excitement, excessive self-indulgence and elegant romance populated by the bright young poisonous things of the Jazz age. entangled in the fatal attraction of beautiful Daisy Buchanan and the mysterious Jay Gatsby, Nick finds himself drawn further and further into the dazzling decadence of the Roaring Twenties, until his final devastating discovery explodes the glamorous facade of the American Dream.
- theatreview.org.nz

Notes:
from novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald

1st Produced:
the Court Theatre, Christchurch, New Zealand    -

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:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Horseplay

Horseplay
Two great mavericks of New Zealand literature, James K Baxter and Ronald Hugh Morrieson, clash over booze, horses, women and the nature of the creative act in Ken Duncum's inspired comedy HORSePLaY at the Maidment theatre. Starring Tim Balme and John Leigh as the wildly different but equally eccentric men of letters, HORSePLaY is Duncums hilarious imagining of the two crossing paths in Hawera, 1972. the absurdities pile up as the two find themselves sharing the stage with the rear end of a horse and enduring the interruptions of a dotty aunt and would-be girlfriend, Wilma.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Auckland: Maidment Arts Centre, New Zealand, ANZ    06 May 2010

Organisations:
auckland Theatre Company

1st Published:
Contained in: "Plays One: Small Towns and Sea" published by Victoria University Press   978--0864734945

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Jism

Synopsis:
Siamese twins are persuaded to be the front of an advertising campaign for a new perfume "Jism". their ani-vivisectionist flatmate is concerned about one of the perfume's ingredients

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

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:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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John, I'm Only Dancing

John, I'm Only Dancing
a passionate affair between the music teacher and the head prefect at a boys school

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1974

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Plays Two London Calling" published by Victoria University Press 2013   978-0864736840

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:
Drama. - - Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Panic

Synopsis:
Sex, death and shoplifting

Notes:
Written by Ken Duncum, Rebecca Rodden And Petra Massey

1st Produced:
-    1993

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:
Monolgue play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Picture Perfect

Synopsis:
A husband and wife loose their son. A virtual reality machine seems to be the answer to their problems

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Polythene Pam

Synopsis:
If the world is not perfect all is lost

Notes:
Written by Ken Duncum And Rebecca Rodden

1st Produced:
-    1993

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:
Monolgue play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Temptations Of St Max

Synopsis:
Father Maximillian Kolbe who volunteered to be exchanged for an auschwitz inmate

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1993

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:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Trick Of Light

Trick Of Light
a brother and sister take their mother's ashes to a motel room where something life changing happened to her thirty years previously

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Plays One: Small Towns and Sea" published by Victoria University Press   978--0864734945

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Waterloo Sunset

Waterloo Sunset
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Plays Two London Calling" published by Victoria University Press 2013   978-0864736840

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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West End Girls

Synopsis:
Barbara, an innocent and lonely young woman, finds a friend and the learning experience of a lifetime when she takes a job as a prostitute's maid, and meets impossible, adorable, self-destructive Mae, the Queen of Soho. the tumultuous and poignant friendship at the heart of this spellbinding tale drives a true story of adventure, survival and growing up, told with honesty and real heart.
- http://www.theatreview.org.nz

Notes:
Based on the Bestselling book by Barbara Tate

1st Produced:
Circa One, Wellington    04 Aug 2012

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:
memory play

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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White Cloud: Songs & Stories

Synopsis:
Two of New Zealand's most celebrated artists combine their talents to examine the cloudy question of identity, and its powerful relationship with place and people. New songs written by Tim Finn and performed and sung by musicians Brett Adams, Ben King, Chris O'Connor, Lisa Crawley and Kingsley Melhuish weave together with stories and observations brought to life by actors Stephen Lovatt and Dena Kennedy to create an immersive music and spoken word experience. White Cloud draws on both authors' family histories, letters, journals and photographs going back generations, as well as their own perspectives on the country and culture that bred them.
- http://www.theatreview.org.nz

Notes:
written by Tim Finn and Ken Duncum

1st Produced:
BATS, Wellington    12 Sep 2012

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:
piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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