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Gary Owen

GARY OWEN  (1972 - )

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

Literary Agent:    Curtis Brown Group Ltd  


GARY OWEN was born in 1972 in rural west Wales. Educated at Brynteg Comprehensive School, Cambridge University and the European Film College in Denmark, Gary began writing for the stage in his late twenties. His first attempt at playwriting, Crazy Garys Mobile Disco, was produced by Paines Plough in 2001, and has since been staged all over the world. The Shadow of a Boy was produced by the Royal National Theatre in 2002, and won the George Devine Award and the Meyer Whitworth Award. The Drowned World, again directed by Vicky Featherstone at Paines Plough, won the Pearson Best Play Award and a Fringe First at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival, and has had many productions since then. Other work includes a number of radio plays for the BBC, and the stage plays Cancer Time, Ghost City, An Enemy for the People and most recently We That Are Left at the Watford

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

 After Life     Amgen : Broken     Amser Canser     Blackthorn     Cancer Time     Christmas Carol, A     Cold Harbour     Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco     Credit/Crunch     Drowned World, The     Enemy for the People, An     Fags     Free Folk     Ghost City     Green, The     Hartleby, Oooglemore and Jeramee     Heavenly     Here Comes Everybody     In The Pipeline     Love Steals us from Loneliness     Low Hundreds, The     Mari Lwyd     Mrs Reynolds And The Ruffian     Playtime     Shadow Of A Boy, The     Soldier in Every Son, A  The Rise of the Aztecs     Ugly Truth, The     We That Are Left

After Life

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    2002

Company:
Slush 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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -    Female:  -    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Amgen : Broken

Synopsis:
Broken. Because - the world is. Amgen. Achos mae 'na ffordd arall. I know I'm broken. And no offence but - you're not looking so good yourself these days. Achos mae 'na ffordd gwahanol. Are you drinking again? I don't mean drinking at all, I mean - drinking in the day. Ffordd gwell. Because if you're not, start now. That's only way to get through what's coming. Ffordd newydd, Cymraeg, o fyw. You see it everyday - things are changing, and never for the better. Dere lan am drink. Oes, mae cariad 'da fi. Na, dyw hi ddim yn mynd i ffeindio mas. . . It's the end of the world as we know it - and it's gonna hurt.

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
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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -    Female:  -    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Amser Canser

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    2003

Company:
Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama

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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Blackthorn

Gary Owen
Kate and Tom with their troubled daughter Evie decide to leave the London rat race and start afresh in the peace of the countryside. They buy a farmhouse in Wales. . . Watch the drama unfold. Blackthorn is a darkly comic new play by Gary Owen about the clash between the newcomers with their expectations and the way of life a Welsh farmer holds dear . . .

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London, 2010 >>>    978-1849430708

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:
-

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Cancer Time

Synopsis:
Gary Owen's two-hander is a strange little number, charting the unlikely friendship of two young women doing jobs they hate in a Welsh call centre. Relief comes in the regular fag breaks, during which they sit outside and watch the skateboarders, contemplate genocide as a form of aerobic workout, consider aesthetics and the Welsh language, and wait to get cancer. Only life has a habit of springing little surprises that often turn out to be nasty even when they come wrapped in tissue paper and ribbon. Like sushi or hazelnut yoghurt, Owen's play is something of an acquired taste. Initially it seems stilted and contrived, but as the young women begin to break down the barriers that surround them, what emerges is an unspoken but deeply felt relationship, something fragile and yet solid, in a world of piss and puke, uncertainty and terror. - Guardian

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Company:
-

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:  2    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Christmas Carol, A

Gary Owen
Featuring music and some good-old heart-warming Christmas spirit, A Christmas Carol is the tale of lonely old Scrooge who meets the three Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future who teach him the true meaning of Christmas.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
Methuen Drama    978-1408129463

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:
Christmas Show

Parts:
Male:  5    Female:  3    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Cold Harbour

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    2003

Company:
Professional Company outside Wales

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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Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco

Synopsis:
Saturday night, small town Wales, one pub, one party and three lads stuck with their school reputations - the gimp, the geek and the bully. Their dream - to get the hell out. With a dead cat stuffed through a letterbox, a soupcon of mindless violence and the perfect girl to die for, Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco bristles with the desperately ordinary, the truly extraordinary, and the just plain mad

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
Paines Plough/Sgript Cymru

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:  -    Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume XXXI (2011) Issue 11 Page 607

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Credit/Crunch

Synopsis:
explores issues, myths and realities of money in the lives of young Welsh people

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:
Youth Audience

Parts:
Male:  -    Female:  -    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Drowned World, The

Synopsis:
And that is why we can't have these/Fatally radiant creatures/Walking round the place/Reminding us how clumsy/And mean-spirited/And graceless/And cowardly/And shapeless/And flabby and foul we all are.
In a drowned world - how far will you go to save your own skin? In this vicious tale of love, revolt and beauty, Gary Owen presents a vision of a world divided between citizens and non-citizens, where friends betray one another and where surfaces matter more than love or kinship.

Notes:
Winner of the George Devine Award for 2002

1st Produced:

Company:
Paines Plough and Graeae

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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Enemy for the People, An

Synopsis:
In a small semi-independent state on the edges of Europe. Terry has discovered that the government's ineptitude is ruining the lives of the people. Unfortunately Terry is the Prime Minister

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    2006

Company:
Ruth is Stranger Than Richard 

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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Fags

Synopsis:
You're twenty-four hours from death, then someone walks in and says, "I've got a bone to pick with you".'

Notes:
companion piece to Cancer Time

1st Produced:
-    2002

Company:
Slush 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:
Short Work One Act

Parts:
Male:  -    Female:  -    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Free Folk

Synopsis:
Her car is stuck in the flood. Is her rescuer all he seems??

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
script held performance at Theatre Halliwell, Trinity College, Carmarthen    12 Dec 2011

Company:
Welsh Fargo Stage Company's ON THE EDGE season

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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Ghost City

Synopsis:
Set in Cardiff over a period from 6am to midnight, in 25 scenes Ghost City offers brief snatches of lives lived and souls lost to create an interconnecting map of the city and its people.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Chapter Arts, Cardiff    2004

Company:
Sgript Cymru

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:
Edgy Drama

Parts:
Male:  2    Female:  2    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Green, The

Synopsis:
Exploitation of the Third World

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    2003

Company:
Professional Company outside Wales

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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Hartleby, Oooglemore and Jeramee

Synopsis:
Jeramee plays a trick which backfires

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    2005

Company:
Professional Company outside Wales

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 one act play

Parts:
Male:  -    Female:  -    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Heavenly

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
Frantic Assembly

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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Here Comes Everybody

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    2003

Company:
Sgript Cymru

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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In The Pipeline

Gary Owen
As Britain tries to wean itself off oil, a massive liquid gas line is being built from the port of Milford Haven, tearing through the countryside of west Wales. Andrew, Dai and Joan are three of the people caught in its path.

Notes:
First Presented As A radio play by Radio Wales in April 2005. British premiere At Oran Mor, Glasgow on 06 Sep 2010

1st Produced:
reading at Telephone bar & Grill, NY    2006

Company:
-

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London, 2010 >>>    978-1849430708

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:
Short Play One Act

Parts:
Male:  2    Female:  1    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Love Steals us from Loneliness

Gary Owen
A play about the stupid things you do when you're f*cked. A night out. Friends, alcohol, a shit club, a strop - the usual. But tonight is different. Tonight will change things forever. With Love Steals us from Loneliness, Gary Owen, one of Wales's foremost playwrights, returns to his hometown of Bridgend. The media have told us their Bridgend story, but what will a writer who spent his own teenage years here have to say?

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Hobos, Bridgend    07 Oct 2010

Company:
National Theatre Wales

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London, 2010 >>>    978-1849430548

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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Low Hundreds, The

Synopsis:
A man is feeling under the weather and a scientists cannot believe the results she is getting

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    2003

Company:
Non- professional or Amateur 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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -    Female:  -    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mari Lwyd

Synopsis:
an adventure story based on the ancient traditions of Mari Lwyd from the Welsh Mabinogion. Mari is 11 years old, and like lots of 11 year olds she finds her Parents' endless efforts to get her interested in things are just embarrassing! Her life is, quite simply, boring! Until, that is, she discovers Otherworld and Grey Mary. As their lives become interwoven, both girls find themselves living a twilight existence between our world and the mystical, magical environment of the Otherworld.

Notes:
Specially commissioned by Bridgend County Borough Council's Arts & Culture Service in partnership with Arts Council of Wales. Aka Mary Twice

1st Produced:
The Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl    2008

Company:
Bridgend Youth Theatre, Bridgend Youth Dance & members of Bridgend Youth Orchestra

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:
muti-media

Parts:
Male:  -    Female:  -    Other:  large cast

Further Reference:
-

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Mrs Reynolds And The Ruffian

Gary Owen
Mrs Reynolds, is a "little old lady" and Jay, a troubled youth caught vandalising her garden. As 'community payback' Jay is sent back to help Mrs Reynolds fix the damage he caused. At first glance this is a simple tale of two generations locked in battle, Mrs Reynolds standing up for traditional values with her "nice little house, nice little garden and nice little life" vs Jay, the textbook chain-smoking hoodie prowling the urban jungle demanding respect but offering little in return. But there is more to these characters than the other suspects. Just as they think they have the measure of each other something is revealed and they are shocked by what they find out Mrs Reynolds and the Ruffian explores human nature and friendship alongside the social climate of modern Britain giving a warm, funny and wise glimpse into the way we live now.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
Oberon Books, London (2010) >>>    978-1849430654

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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Playtime

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Written By Gary Owen And Gabriel Bisset-Smith. Hampstead Theatre's second new writing festival is what the theatre describes As "something of A cross-breeding experiment". It's called Daring Pairings And, As the publicity says, "instead of crossing A sheep with A kangaroo And getting A woolly jumper, or A centipede with A parrot And getting A walkie-talkie, we've been cross-breeding writers, Artists And theatre companies."

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
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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2    Female:  2    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Shadow Of A Boy, The

Synopsis:
Luke, a sci-fi obsessed adolescent who lives with his grandmother, is about to start high school. Taunted by his friend, Katie, who warns him of the bullying he'll suffer at the big comp, Luke finds refuge in his alter-ego, Shadow.

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
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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1    Female:  3    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Soldier in Every Son, A  The Rise of the Aztecs

Gary Owen
Late 14th century in the Valley of Mexico and a small, unknown tribe called the Aztecs propel themselves from nomadic mercenaries to rulers of a great empire. Passion, power and intrigue play out in this epic political thriller which charts the history of an ancient civilisation. Spanning a century and based on true events chronicled in the Aztec codices, A Soldier In Every Son  The Rise of the Aztecs is closely inspired by Shakespeares history plays. A Compania Nacional de Teatro de Mexico/Royal Shakespeare Company co-production. Originally commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival which is produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company for London 2012 Festival.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Luis Mario Moncada

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
Oberon Books (2012) >>>    978-1849434706

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:  16    Female:  3    Other:  extras

Further Reference:
-

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Ugly Truth, The

Synopsis:
In a cruel world where everyone is judged by appearance, two unlikely friends tell it like it is. . .Taking great pleasure in taunting and teasing  cos it's a laugh  until the tables are turned and the hurt they cause and the damage they do leads them to realise that maybe what's on the inside counts too.
- Howard Loxton, British Theatre Guide

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
theatr iolo

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:
Youth Audience

Parts:
Male:  -    Female:  2    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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We That Are Left

Synopsis:
Britain, 1940. The situation is desperate, and the Battle of Britain is about to start. Ginger is a radar officer, one of the few women charged with the job of shooting down German bombers. En-gaged to a PoW held by the Nazis. she has little time for the dances that offer the local RAF crews sex and solace before they take to skies. Then she meets Billy, a bomber pilot, and in the hothouse of Britain at war, she does something which will change the course of her life forever.Lyn Gardner, Guardian

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:  3    Female:  1    Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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