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Tom Kelly

TOM KELLY  

 Nationality:    British
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    n/a


Tom is a Jarrow-born poet and playwright who now lives further up the Tyne at Blaydon. after a variety of jobs, a publishing contract as a lyricist and a late degree he worked for twenty five years as a drama lecturer at South Tyneside College. He now writes full-time and works on creative projects. He has had five poetry collections and eight pamphlets. His fifth collection published by Red Squirrel, 'History Talks', was launched in February 2011. He has had over fifteen production staged at the Customs House, South Shields, a venue he regards as home. His prose has featured on Radio Four and in a number of UK magazines.

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

 Baby Love         Behind The Wall         Black Hill At Blaydon, The         Blaydon Bricklayer, The         Dan Dare-The Musical         Family Ties         Five By One         Geordie Ridley         Girls' Talk         Hungry Hearts And Head         I Left My Heart In Roker Park         Kelly         Love In Ne32         Machine Gunners, The         Nothing Like The Wooden Horse         Ride A White Swan         Secrets         Talking Tom         Three Devoted Sisters         Tom & Catherine         Tyne Songs         When I Need You

Baby Love

Synopsis:
Shelley and Darren sing their hearts out and tell us of love, hopes and babies in BaBY LOVE. Shelley and Darren are in their mid thirties and sing in the pubs and clubs of the north-east. She wants a baby; he doesn't, at the moment but Shelley's biological clock is ticking away. In BaBY LOVE we meet the club doorman, sycophants who claim they can guarantee musical success, and good, bad and ugly audiences!

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

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 with the songs Play with Music

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Behind The Wall

Synopsis:
Set on Tyneside in august 1963 'Behind The Wall' is a mystery drama. Tommy and Maggie have a new council house and feel on top of the world when a tragic secret from the past has them re-examining their lives. The play, based upon a true story, has pathos, comedy that endures, despite everything.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
New Theatre Publications (2005)   978-1840945249

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:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Black Hill At Blaydon, The

Synopsis:
The play examines the History of The Black Hill, Blaydon: Joseph Cowan & Garibaldi to the Swinging Sixties in downtown Blaydon

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
part of Blaydon Races Festival    2002

Company:
-

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:
Community Play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  company of 30

Further Reference:
-

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Blaydon Bricklayer, The

Synopsis:
The Blaydon Bricklayer' is the first play about Joseph Cowen the forgotten man of nineteenth century politics. Joseph Cowen was MP for Newcastle from 1873 to 1886 and was the owner of 'The Chronicle' from 1859. He was also a businessman owning and running Blaydon brickwork's and colliery and was a prominent supporter of the Co-op movement was involved with gun running! and to add to that Karl Marx asked him to establish a new party! The New York Times said he was one of the most extraordinary men in Europe, friend to every conspirator from Moscow to Madrid!

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
The Blaydon Races Festival    2006

Company:
The Blaydon Races Festival

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 with Music

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  musician/singer

Further Reference:
-

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Dan Dare-The Musical

Synopsis:
Dan Dare, the 1950's comic book hero, saves the world by defeating the evil Mekon.

Notes:
written by Tom Kelly And John Miles

1st Produced:
-    2003

Company:
-

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  Plus Treens, Therons and Company

Further Reference:
-

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Family Ties

Synopsis:
Family Ties' charts the life of an anglo Irish Jarrow family from 1890 up today. a DNa test has the family in turmoil. a son starts to believe his father may not be his father and his identity is thrown into doubt. The play is part history, memory and mystery as the family questions the past that seemed so settled. The action takes place over one night in Jarrow today.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Company:
-

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:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Five By One

Synopsis:
They take a comic look at the north-east of England.

Notes:
Five By One is made up of five Monologues: No More Groundhog Days; The Last Clockwork Whippet; Elsie Rides Again; Mother Teresa of Jarrow; The Club Doorman.

1st Produced:

Company:
Customs House

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:
Monologues Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Geordie Ridley

Synopsis:
celebrating the life and times of the writer of the Blaydon Races and Cushie Butterfield

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Blaydon's Festival    2004

Company:
-

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 with Music

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Girls' Talk

Synopsis:
Girls' Talk' opens in a comprehensive school on the last day of school life for five girls. alison, Christine, Julie, Tracy and Claire. Julie wants to go to university, the rest to work or vocational courses. Christine has discovered she is pregnant and feels her boyfriend will not be supportive. Two years on and Christine has had her child adopted. Estelle, fifteen, is introduced and she mirrors the girls' attitude in the opening scene. In a series of short scenes the girls' hopes and dreams are examined with them finally looking to the future with confidence.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    -

Company:
-

1st Published:
New Theatre Publications (1998)   978-1840941531

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hungry Hearts And Head

Synopsis:
celebrates 100 years of the Workers Educational association in the North East through the fascinating lives of two WEa pioneers. The play follows the story of Jack and Hilda Trevena; a West Stanley pitman and a farmers daughter who fall passionately in love, and embark on a turbulent and eventful journey to bring education to the working classes. Hungry Hearts and Heads is a story of revolutionary spirit, war and conflict, and the belief in the power of education to change the lives of ordinary people. Its a love story too. Come and experience two remarkable lives!

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Lamplight Arts Centre, Stanley    18 Oct 2010

Company:
-

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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I Left My Heart In Roker Park

Synopsis:
It is the summer of 1997, and Roker Park is being demolished. In this funny and lyrical play, Kevin Halliday, a die-hard Sunderland supporter, looks at his life as the bulldozers move in. In EXTRa TIME we move the play bang up to date: Reid sacked, Wilkinson, the cash problems and life in the First Division.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

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:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Kelly

Synopsis:
based upon Lord Mountbatten's HMS Kelly that was the subject of a BBC TV arena programme

Notes:
Music And lyrics Alan Price, Script & Directed by Tom Kelly. Screened On BBC TV One And Two in 1978 & 79

1st Produced:
Tyneside MBC    1977

Company:
-

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:
musical documentary Musical

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  company

Further Reference:
-

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Love In Ne32

Synopsis:
The Five Plays are: HOPE STREET; The play moves between 1957 and the present day as anthony Coyne from Hope Street, Jarrow looks at himself at eight and three quarters after apparently committing the worst crime ever.
CRYING IN THE NIGHT; Michelle is a young woman struggling to bring up a baby by herself.
ELSIE; Elsie is a seventy seven year old living in a Jarrow Residential home searching for a husband.
THE MaCHINES; Gary is a young man obsessed with gambling. He lives and loves to play the machines.
aNGEL OF THE NORTH; a couple in their sixties have recently retired and the past keeps on cropping up and won't let them forget.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Company:
-

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:
5 Short Plays One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Machine Gunners, The

Synopsis:
World War Two. a gang of fourteen year olds are out scavenging for shrapnel. The discover the remains of a German plane that includes its machine gun. Then they find the gunner - Rudi

Notes:
written by Tom Kelly And Ken Reay with music by John Miles. Adapted from Robert Westall's million seller novel set

1st Produced:
assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Festival    1998

Company:
South Tyneside College

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 with music

Parts:
Male:  12            Female:  3            Other:  company

Further Reference:
-

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Nothing Like The Wooden Horse

Synopsis:
The eve of Wayne's return to Iraq for another tour of duty brings the usual ritual of banter abd a few drinks with Tommy, his grandad, before he leaves. But something seems not quite the same this evening. Tommy and Wayne have both survived their contrasting experiences of the army and as they recount their tales, tonight is the night for a few secrets to be revealed.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
Customs House

1st Published:
www.redsquirrelpress.com (2009)   978-1-906700-11-9

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:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ride A White Swan

Synopsis:
Joe and Mark are brothers. Joe returns home after his marriage break-up, and discovers Mark's obsession with Marc Bolan. Joe tries to hide his family secret as they drink, argue and reminisce. Marc Bolan's songs provide a soundtrack to the play set today but with a platform heel and tank top in the 1970's

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
Customs House

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/drama Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Secrets

Synopsis:
Four plays with a secret as its theme

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

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:
4 Short Plays One act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Talking Tom

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Neighbourhood Watch, The Club Doorman, Elsie And Elsie Rides Again

1st Produced:

Company:
-

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:
4 monologues

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Three Devoted Sisters

Synopsis:
Emily, Ruth and Lizzie are three sisters. at a family wedding they are re-united for the first time in a number of years. Ruth inadvertently reveals a family secret, that Lizzie is adopted. This leads to Lizzie getting drunk, for the first time in her life, and telling of her life-long love for Emily's husband. Finally they say how they feel about one another and Ruth asks can we live together and be devoted sisters?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Company:
-

1st Published:
New Theatre Publications (1998)   978-1840941388

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 One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Tom & Catherine

Synopsis:
Tom & Catherine is a musical looking at the lives and love of Tom and one of the most popular selling writer's Catherine Cookson

Notes:
Music: John Miles, Lyrics Tom Kelly, Book: Tom Kelly & Ray Spencer

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
CD available on http://www.john-miles.net/

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  5            Other:  company

Further Reference:
-

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Tyne Songs

Synopsis:
Tells of the life and times of South Tyneside: the pits, Jarrow Crusade and ships on the Tyne

Notes:
written by Tom Kelly And Carol Cooke

1st Produced:
for South Tyneside    -

Company:
-

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:
Community Play

Parts:
Male:  15            Female:  15            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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When I Need You

Synopsis:
Set on Tyneside in the mid-1990`s `When I Need You` is a comedy drama set to the music of the times. From Bath to Newcastle, we journey into the heart and soul of a north-east couple, Jeff and Rachel, who meet in 1977, fall in love and marry. We follow their love, lives and tribulations as they meet life head on. This is a moving love story about heartache, betrayal, envy, unemployment, hopes, dreams and catching trains!

Notes:
written by Tom Kelly And Carol Cooke

1st Produced:
-    -

Company:
-

1st Published:
New Theatre Publications (1997)   978-1840940879

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:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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