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Jack McNamara

JACK MCNAMARA

  

Nationality:    British
twitter     email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

Jack has been Artistic Director of New Perspectives since 2012. Productions for the company include The Boss of It All by Lars von Trier (Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh & Soho Theatre); The Lovesong of Alfred J Hitchcock by David Rudkin (Brits off Broadway, New York & UK Tour); and Him With His Foot In His Mouth by Saul Bellow (UK tour). Previous productions as director include Exterminating Angel (Basement Brighton/ Pleasance Edinburgh/ UK tour); Texts for Nothing by Samuel Beckett (The Rest is Noise Festival, Southbank Centre); The Word for Snow by Don DeLillo (London Literature Festival, Southbank Centre); Malaise Trio (Camden Peoplea¬"s Theatre); Instructions for John Howell by Julio Cortazar (Nursery Festival); Betrayal by Harold Pinter (Nuffield, Southampton); The Blind by Maurice Maeterlinck (Arcola Theatre); Lucid Dreams for Higher Living (Underbelly, Edinburgh); Valparaisoby Don DeLillo (Old Red Lion); A Cool Million by Nathanael West (Underbelly, Edinburgh); Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (Warwick Arts Centre). Previously Jack was Assistant Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company and director on attachment at the Nuffield Theatre Southampton under the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme. He currently also runs the experimental theatre company Future Ruins.

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

        Blind, The         Boss Of It All, The         Exterminating Angel         He Wore a Red Hat         Him with His Foot in His Mouth         Lucid Dreams For Higher Living         Theatre on a Long Thin Wire



Blind, The

Synopsis:
The Blind places us amongst a group of blind people in a wasteland, abandoned by their guide, searching for any clues to their whereabouts. Lost, lonely and scared, they are prepared to put their faith in anyone - or anything - that may help them, even if they cannot see the consequences of their actions. The 19th century masterpiece about blind patients lost in a forest is presented there in a stunning new version with a cast of blind and partially-sighted actors. Blurring the line between fact and fiction, this unique reworking will offer a live experience like few others.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Maurice Maeterlinck

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Future Ruins production

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:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Boss Of It All, The

Boss Of It All, The
Kristoffer, an out of work actor, is hired to play his most challenging role to date - to stand in as the boss of a failing company and deal with the increasing dissent of his staff. Finding himself the target of their anger, obsessions and desires, Kristoffer falls deeper and deeper into the fiction he has signed up to. But when he learns his final act involves selling off the company and firing all of the employees, can he bring himself to sign on the dotted line?

Notes:
adapted by Jack McNamara from the film by Lars Von Trier, the enfant terrible of Danish cinema. Please contact Nadia Menuhin, International Performing Rights, who represents Lars Von Trier's films

1st Produced:

Organisations:
New Prespectives

1st Published:
Oberon Books (2014) >>>    978-1783191390

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:  2            Other:  voice

Further Reference:

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Exterminating Angel

Synopsis:
A group of dinner party guests find themselves mysteriously unable to leave the room after finishing their meal. While nothing physical stands in their way, something convinces them, beyond all doubt, that they are trapped without hope. Exterminating Angel is a structured improvisation that has appeared in a variety of locations, shapes and sizes throughout the year. While each performance follows the same careful set of restrictions, no two evenings are ever the same. Inspired by the symbolist works of Maurice Maeterlinck and the Surrealist films of Luis Bunuel, Exterminating Angel is a study of people at their limits.

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:
piece

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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He Wore a Red Hat

Synopsis:
A festive-themed comedy, full of twists, turns and sleuthful surprises. Volunteer detectives are being recruited to help solve crimes in local villages. So when part-time unpublished poet Josh Rogan's applications are repeatedly turned down, he decides to take sleuthing into his own hands. Believing he's one step ahead, he begins to piece together what he thinks are a series of Christmas-themed crimes, enlisting an intern as his put upon side-kick. But just when thinks he's onto something a series of unexpected gifts start to arrive. It would seem he's in for a rather big surprise. . .Join our amateur crime-fighter Josh for a spot of sleuthing, as he attempts to restore faith in our festive season. And possibly share a few impromptu poems along the way.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
St Helen's Parish Hall, Stapleford, Nottinghamshire     26 Nov 2015

Organisations:
New Prespectives

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:
Christmas show 95 min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Him with His Foot in His Mouth

Synopsis:
An hilarious one man show about saying the wrong thing. . .Harry Shawmut is a man who often says things he shouldn't. He once made an unkind comment to a lady in passing and now, years later, he has decided to apologise. But saying sorry isn't always that straightforward. Harry uses us, the theatre audience, to help rehearse the most elaborate apology in history, taking us through the contours of his hilarious, shocking and uniquely moving life story. This heart-warming new production marks the first ever UK stage adaptation of a work by the great American writer Saul Bellow. Three times winner of the National Book Award and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Bellow is one of the forefathers of modern Jewish humour, paving the way for Woody Allen, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Notes:
from novellas by Saul Bellow

1st Produced:

Organisations:
New Prespectives

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:
one man show

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Lucid Dreams For Higher Living

Synopsis:
Watch an ordinary family man go through a live self-help video in a final attempt to end his daily torment. A striking multimedia comedy about a man, a television and a great deal of hope.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Future Ruins

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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Theatre on a Long Thin Wire

Synopsis:
No actors. No technicians. No set. Just you. And a phone that might ring. This is the theatre you don't see. Inspired by an infamous piece of music generated by a single copper wire, this new work by Jack McNamara strips the theatre experience down to a bare room, an audience and a mysterious voice. 'The level of risk-taking required to achieve this is staggering' (Total Theatre on Jack McNamara's last show, Exterminating Angel). Strictly limited availability.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Summerhall, Edinburgh Fringe Festival     01 Aug 2014

Organisations:
Future Ruins

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:
Interactive, 50 minutes

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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