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Tom McGrath

TOM MCGRATH

  (1940 - 2009)
Nationality:    Scottish
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Alan Brodie Representation Ltd  (estate)

Tom McGrath was born on October 23rd 1940 in Rutherglen a suburb of Glasgow. His father was an electrician and his mother a housewife. He was attracted to poetry at an early age and had his first poem published in 1962 and in 1965 took part in the Poetry Olympics at the Royal Albert Hall along with amongst others, Alan Ginsberg. He married - Maureen and they had four daughters. He was features editor of "Peace News" and was one of the founders of "International Times". He had started to experiment with drugs and was a heroin user. In an effort to quit drugs and to sort himself out he moved from London where he and his family were living and went back to Scotland. He studied English and Drama at Glasgow University. He established the Third Eye Centre in Glasgow - now called Centre for Contemporary Arts. He also set up the Tron Theatre in Glasgow. His first play "Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy" was a great success and he formed a long standing working relationship with the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. He died on April 29th 2009 from cancer of the liver.

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

         1-2-3         Android Circuit, The         Animal         At the Highlander's Umbrella         Buchanan         Dream Train, The         Electra         Greeks, The         Hard Man, The         Innocent, The         Kidnapped         Kora         Laurel And Hardy         Merlin         Moondog         My Old Man         Pals         Phone Box, The         Private View         Sisters         Stones And Ashes         Thanksgiving         Trivial Pursuits         Very Important Business         Who Are You Anyway?

1-2-3

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Who Are You Anyway?, Very Important Business, And Moondog

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

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Genre:
3 Plays One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Android Circuit, The

Synopsis:
An astronaut has sex with a female android

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Edinburgh     1978

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

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Animal

Synopsis:
a Jane Goodall-type primatologist inhabits the jungle world of chimpanzees and baboons. Her presence adds a new dimension to the social structure of the apes, as seen through the eyes of Blue, a chimpanzee who narrates the onset of human aggressive traits amongst his fellows.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Edinburgh     1979

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

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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At the Highlander's Umbrella

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     n.d.

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

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Genre:
Working draft

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
National Library of Scotland ref: 7:84 Theatre Company Scotland - Acc.12911/234. Written with others

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Buchanan

Synopsis:
the story of the boxer Ken Buchanan

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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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:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dream Train, The

Synopsis:
man who hasn't slept properly for 20 years finds it hard to distinguish between his dreams and reality. the play is based around the structure of Bach's Goldberg Variations

Notes:
Finnish translation published in 2003; German And French translations Also Available

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

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Electra

Electra
"As a Dramatist, Tom McGrath's great strength is to pare things down to the fewest possible words, the sparsest settings, only the most elemental action. His extraordinary stroke with Electra is to seize on the brevities of Greek tragedy and whittle them down even further. the result: a lethal little piece, bristling with menacing meanings and consequences, representing a total minefield. We watch in horror as the characters blunder through it. His Electra is self-righteously correct, mad and disastrous. His Orestes, rather than god-enlightened, is a hesitant teenager blinded by a vision of new beginnings. All the characters have a dubious mixture of self-deluding, self-interested and high-minded motives. All are fatally credulous, believing messengers and messages even less reliably credentialed than CNN, Fox or the BBC. This piece zings with more compressed meaning than many ten times its length. It resonates powerfully for all of us watching similar stories unfolding in the Middle East, Congo, Rwanda, the USA and Northern Ireland."
Bob Tait, theatre reviewer and literary critic

Notes:
Original Playwright - Euripides. Part of "the Greeks"

1st Produced:
Tramway@Fruitmarket, Glasgow     2000

Organisations:
Theatre Babel

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

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Genre:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Greeks, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Translated By David Greig, Tom McGrath, Liz Lochhead

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:
Tragedies Tragedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hard Man, The

Hard Man, The
based on the life of Jimmy Boyle, is a searing attack on society in general and the Scottish penal system in particular

Notes:
written by Tom McGrath and Jimmy Boyle

1st Produced:
Edinburgh     1977

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Littlehampton Book Services Ltd (8 Dec 1977)
Capercaillie Books, Edinburgh >>>    978-0903937528

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:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Innocent, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Warehouse, Covent Garden, London     24 May 1979

Organisations:
RSC

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:  8            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
RSC ref INC197905

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Kidnapped

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
From Robert Louis Stevenson

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Kora

Synopsis:
Kora is well known in Whitfield. Her house is bursting at the seams with children, the neighbour's taken to throwing his electrical goods out the window and another one is keeping a horse in his house. But it's home. And she's not going to be moved. Not by anyone. So when the Council come up with a new plan for improvements' and relocation, Kora seems like the ideal candidate to lead the fight for the community. Can she convince everybody that the Skar' - her home - is worth fighting for? Set in the 1980s, Kora is a moving and often hilarious comedy about one woman, a community  and a lot of babies.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Edinburgh     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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  5            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
-

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Laurel And Hardy

Laurel And Hardy
Part biographical Drama, part-staging of some of Stan and Ollie's most fondly remembered cinema scenes. A charming theatrical work.

Notes:
aka Mr. Laurel And Mr. Hardy

1st Produced:
Edinburgh     1976

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:  -            Other:  voices, pianist

Further Reference:
-

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Merlin

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - Tankred Dorst. Translated by Ella Wildridge

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:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Moondog

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
part of 1-2-3 Plays

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:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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My Old Man

My Old Man
A partially autobiographical piece which arose out of the stoke he suffered in 2003, McGrath has put himself in the picture via the character of sam McCredie, a troublesome old bugger who'll go anything but gently into the good night.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Tron Theatre, Glasgow, UK >>>     22 Sep 2005

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:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Pals

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Cumbernauld, Dunbartonshire     1984

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Phone Box, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
On Tour     1983

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:
Childrens Youth Audience

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Private View

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Mhairi Grealis

1st Produced:
Edinburgh     1987

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sisters

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
London     1978

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Stones And Ashes

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - Daniel Danis

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:
Translation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Thanksgiving

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Glasgow     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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Trivial Pursuits

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Edinburgh     1988

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Very Important Business

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
part of 1-2-3 Plays

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:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Who Are You Anyway?

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
part of 1-2-3 Plays

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:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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