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Sebastian Michael

SEBASTIAN MICHAEL

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

Literary Agent:    n/a

Sebastian Michael was born in Manchester, UK, into a Swiss family and grew up in Basel, Switzerland, where his first two plays were staged while he was still at school and university. Since moving to London at the age of 21, he has written several stage plays, among them the Power of Love, Love Hurts and Time After Time, which together now form the Love Trilogy and each of which individually reached the shortlist, long list and final ten respectively of Soho Theatre's Verity Bargate Award in separate years. Earlier plays of his were seen on the London and Edinburgh fringe and include QED, Sisters and All the World, and his most recent plays to be fully staged are Elder Latimer is in Love at Arcola Theatre (September 2009) and Top Story at the Old Vic Tunnels (January 2013). His next play Baur Au Lac is currently in development with the new Park Theatre in Finsbury Park and earmarked for production there in 2014. Sebastian wrote the libretto for Alvaro's Balcony, which premiered at the Landor Theatre, and he has written and directed two short films: Twenty-Six Takes on Life Without Allen and the Study of Bunkers & Mounds in a Temperate Climate (Relatively Speaking). His first feature film the Hour of Living was completed in 2012 and has since been nominated for 'Best Feature' at the Basel Film Awards 2012. Sebastian has written a novel, Angel, and he is the writer of Genius Planet, a collaboration with Professor Ludger Hovestadt and Vera Buhlmann of ETH Zurich, which postulates a new, networked energy model for the Digital Age.

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

         All the World         Alvaro's Balcony         Baur Au Lac         Boot and Its Sock, The         Carambolage (Sleaze)         Elder Latimer Is In Love         Exit         Judgement Day         Love Hurts         Love Trilogy, The         Nemesis         Power Of Love, The         QED         Rinaldo         Sisters         Stranger's House         Tattoo         Time After Time         Top Story         Woyzeck

All the World

Synopsis:
Set in the West End dressing room of opulent star Peggy Weishaupt, 'All the World' offers a breathlessly excited backstage look at the tawdry glamour and ingenious artifice of the theatrical profession. Peggy is larger-than-life, with a lived-in body and husky, smoky voice: successful, yet desperately insecure; feted, but possessed by voices from the past. A faint air of doom hangs about her intense relationship with adored son David. . . . Everybody falls in love with everybody else, comes to grief, and decides the show must go on! . . . Straightforward realism alternates with hightened fantasy, with the script veering from the workaday to the poetic. Suzy Feay, Time Out

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Aesthetics on Stage

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:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Alvaro's Balcony

Synopsis:
1928. the whole world is enthralled by Constance Nielsen, a beautiful American debutante who marries into one of Europe's ancient Royal Families. In doing so, she almost single-handedly puts the tiny Alpine principality of Centoluci on the map, and investment, high-class tourism and international glamour rapidly follow what is the 'Wedding of the Century' so far. Soon though she realises that her marriage to the Crown Prince is a loveless arrangement of state convenience, and she embarks on an impassioned affair with her music teacher Alvaro who gives her the love, respect and purpose that her official role is unable to provide. As their 'friendship' threatens to spark uproar, a house fire engulfs Alvaro's old town attic, and news of both their deaths turns her from living legend into tragic heroine and timeless icon. 1972. Forty-four years later, her famous jewelry surfaces on the black market, and on a remote Caribbean island, Miss Vine, a piano teacher in her sixties, claims to be Princess Constance: very much alive, and with a priceless story to tell. . .

Notes:
Book by Sebastian Michael; Music & Lyrics by Jonathan Kaldor

1st Produced:

Organisations:
theatrica in association with the Landor 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

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Genre:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  3            Other:  mixed ensemble, min 5

Further Reference:
-

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Baur Au Lac

Synopsis:
Set at the famous hotel of the same name on Lake Zurich, Baur au Lac brings together two sisters in their sixties on the occasion of one of their son's wedding. Against the backdrop of their peaceful oasis, events that take place elsewhere put their lives into a stark new context, at once exposing the truth and cementing the bond that lies at the core of their relationship. A story of loyalty, betrayal, loss and forgiveness.

Notes:
In development with Park theatre, Finsbury Park, London; earmarked for production in 2014

1st Produced:
rehearsed reading at Actors Centre, London    26 Mar 2010

Organisations:
OptimstCreations

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:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.optimistcreations.com/baur-au-lac.php

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Boot and Its Sock, The

Synopsis:
Over the years a couple have grown so close that they are like a boot and sock.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Herbert Achternbush. Translated by Sebastian Michael And Michael Cabot

1st Produced:
-    1994

Organisations:
michael & michael

1st Published:
Goethe-Institut, 1994   -

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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Carambolage (Sleaze)

Synopsis:
A Tory would-be PM's political ambitions unravel when his teenage rent boy of yore turns up on the Greek island where he's spending a pre-leadership campaign holiday

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Steam Machine

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:
Satirical Farce, part verse Satire

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Elder Latimer Is In Love

Elder Latimer Is In Love
Can love conquer all? Can reason? Elder Jaden Latimer is a young Mormon missionary from the States, here to talk to people about what he knows to be the truth. When he falls in love with Dina, a young Muslim who's even more convinced of her faith than he is of his, that question takes on a whole new meaning, because while Jaden is beginning to see all manner of things in the new light of a new city, Dina's determination to do what she knows is right has no limits: Love becomes a matter of life and death, and not just for Jaden.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
OptimistCreations in coproduction with Arcola 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://elderlatimer.com

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Exit

Synopsis:
Recount[s] Lena's escape from Nazi Berlin across the Swiss border, her subsequent career, 'making an impact' as a designer, and her painful death under treatment for lung cancer. there is movement from externals (dresses pinned on dummies) inwards (the diseased torso), but the play crosses vast terrains (the Holocaust, the Wall, euthanasia). Kate Bassett, Time Out

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Canal Cafe Theatre London    1991

Organisations:
Aesthetics on Stage

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:
90 min Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Judgement Day

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - Odon von Horvath

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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Love Hurts

Synopsis:
A group of London urbanites in their thirties juggle their complicated lifestyles while coming to terms with tragedy in their midst, as the recent past catches up with them more quickly than they imagined

Notes:
Part Two of the Love Trilogy

1st Produced:
Workshopped at the Arcola Theatre, London    2002

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:
Contemporary Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Love Trilogy, The

Synopsis:
the Love Trilogy is a series of plays about relationships, life, death, friendship and love, and doing things your own sweet way. At its core it charts the 'growing up' of Tender, a London thirty-something who, through one arguably minor slip-up, brings disaster into his marriage, with consequences that will last him a lifetime. Tender's journey is tied to that of Eugen, his best friend who in turn is still learning to reconcile his characteristically contemporary longing for independence with the unruly demands of his heart. Over the course of seven years, the three plays introduce a group of characters who each juggle the imperatives of their own complex lifestyles, sometimes in triumph, sometimes in tears, and mostly in the hope and belief that there is, after all, a 'good way' of being human.

Notes:
Power Of Love, the; Love Hurts; Time After Time

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:
Trilogy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://lovetrilogy.com/

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Nemesis

Synopsis:
A liberal government minister loses her son in an IRA bomb attack and sets out to avenge her child's death

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Reading at BAC London    -

Organisations:
Greater London 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  2            Other:  1 boy; 4-8 extras

Further Reference:
-

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Power Of Love, The

Synopsis:
the Power of Love' is about young people in the nineties grappling with sex, careers, drugs and AIDS, but it does not exhibit the soulless banality of so many plays with these themes. This is 'shopping and Fucking' with more humour and more heart - the plot meanders and teases while always keeping an assured grip on the audience's attention: black comedy, tragedy, poetry, soap opera and philosophy jostle joyfully together - 'the Power of Love' draws authenticity from the strength of its characterisation. the friendship between the two main male characters, Tender and Eugen, is the engine that powers the play. It is quirky but absolutely believable and, as an unashamedly emotional portrayal of male love - ventures into relatively unexplored theatrical territory.

Notes:
Part One of the Love Trilogy

1st Produced:
Southwark Playhouse London    1998

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:
Contemporary Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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QED

Synopsis:
On walking into the performance area, all my ghosts were exorcised. QED is advertised as theatre but uses dance, a slide show and an original soundtrack as well as the spoken word. the performance fairly bubbles with intellectual playfulness. But this hardly implies that the concepts confronted within are slight. Sequences of movement and words are used as building blocks. these are repeated, with minor variations by all the cast. Through this repetition, the bizarre becomes commonplace and we are warned against this. . . . the dynamics of the stage action combine with this to exhilarating effect. . . . Put it this way: I want the accompanying T-shirt. Pete Strover, Forth Action Review

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Edinburgh Fringe    1989

Organisations:
Aesthetics on Stage

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:
Concept Multi-Media Performance

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Rinaldo

Synopsis:
Two brothers' incestuous relationship flares up on the occasion of the older's wedding

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Steam Machine

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:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sisters

Synopsis:
From the title, one might expect some feminist tract, or a worthy family narrative, but you get neither, but a quite engrossing but playful meditation on the idea of sisterhood, fleshed out with arresting and unusual stage antics. the scene is at an airport, where two sisters, both formidable women in their own rights, meet to attend a family funeral. the play develops the two characters, Camelia - a stunningly magnetic woman, successful journalist and irrepressible minx, and Anja, more conventionally feminist. Sparks fly as opening naturalistic scene gives way to a surreal sequence in which the audience itself becomes, in a small way, part of the action. Joy Hendry, the Scotsman

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Edinburgh Fringe    1989

Organisations:
Aesthetics on Stage

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:
Surrealist Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Stranger's House

Stranger's House
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - Dea Loher

1st Produced:
rehearsed reading Royal Court Theatre upstairs    1997

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "German Plays: Plays From A Changing Country" published by Nick Hern 1997   978-1854493382

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:
contemporary Drama Translation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Tattoo

Synopsis:
With the relentless and poetic qualities of an ancient Greek tragedy, this play pierces to the heart of a family enslaved by its father

Notes:
Original Playwright - Dea Loher. Translated by Sebastian Michael And Michael Cabot

1st Produced:
New Grove Theatre, London    1994

Organisations:
michael & michael

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:
contemporary Drama Translation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Time After Time

Synopsis:
Tender sets about salvaging his second marriage after a 'minor glitch' early on in the proceedings, while best friend Eugen tries to reconcile his love ideal with 'reality', though not quite as most people know it. Meanwhile, mutual friend Anna comes up trumps with her own brand of surprises

Notes:
Part Three of the Love Trilogy

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:
Contemporary Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Top Story

Top Story
A meteor the size of LA is about to hit LA. In London, a couple of friends spend the last seven days of the world on the sofa, watching the news, reinventing chess and rewriting the rules for some of the other games in their universe: generally putting things into perspective; at once paralysed and inspired by the 'overallness of it all'. Getting ready, as best they can, to die together, the enormity of what's about to happen completely overwhelms them, but it also brings out in them a whole burst of creative energy, and so as the Top Story unfolds before their eyes, they inadvertently become its co-authors, while in a dimension far beyond their imagination their soul-mates-in-spirit are having something of an unexpected ball. . .

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
the Old Vic Tunnels, London    Jan 2013

Organisations:
Optimist Creations & Cherry Picked Pictures

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:
Apocalyptic Comedy

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://topstoryplay.com

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Woyzeck

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - Georg Buchner

1st Produced:
Chelsea Centre Theatre    -

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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