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Leigh Swinbourne

LEIGH SWINBOURNE

  
Nationality:    Australian
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

Since moving to Hobart in 2001, Leigh's work has been produced by Old Nick Company (Empty Harvest, Fair Play, The Maireener Necklace, An Unexpected Meeting), and Hobart Rep (Bad Faith). In 2004 the Australian Script Centre organised a professional workshop and moved reading of The Mark of Cain, which was subsequently short-listed for the 2005 Patrick White Playwrights' Award. In summary of the shortlistings the judges praised "...the bold scale of the play and the importance of the issues it deals with, the vivid and interesting characters, and the great theatrical opportunities it offers." In 2007 The Australian Script Centre funded dramaturgical assistance for Catch the Moon, which was produced in a moved reading for Living Writers' Week 2008. Tasmanian Theatre Company has staged readings of Youth(2009) and The Mark of Cain (2010). Leigh is the recipient of local prizes, grants and commissions. He has had short stories published in literary journals and anthologies and a novel short-listed for the prestigious Varuna Award. In 2011 his collection The Shark and Other Stories was published by Ginninderra Press.

Research:    http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/254115

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

         Bad Faith         Catch The Moon         Empty Harvest         Fair Play         Family Business         Maireener Necklace, The         Mark Of Cain, The         Seed of the Revolution         Sleepwalking         Tryst, The         Unexpected Meeting, An         Youth

Bad Faith

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
Hobart rep

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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Catch The Moon

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
eading for Living Writers Week    2008

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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Empty Harvest

Synopsis:
Frank's wife wants him to sell the family farm so too does the family lawyer. But there is a secret hidden on the farm land.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
Old Nick 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:
Full-Length 140 mins Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Fair Play

Synopsis:
A man stands at the graveside of a colleague recalling what led to his death

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
Old Nick 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:
30 mins One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Family Business

Synopsis:
A Palestinian woman buys a block of flats in an Orthodox Jewish area

Notes:
Originally performed with "Seed of the Revolution" under the overall title "the Mark Of Cain"

1st Produced:
-    2005

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in "the Mark of Cain" published by the http://australianplays.org/,    -

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 act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Maireener Necklace, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
Old Nick 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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mark Of Cain, The

Synopsis:
The Mark of Cain is two interrelated stories exploring migrant tensions in contemporary urban Australia, and the ways in which past lives can have an impact on the present. In Family Business, a Palestinian woman purchases a block of flats for her extended family, in an orthodox Jewish area. The real estate agent, an aspirant for local Mayor, negotiates the difficult transaction and the problems it causes. His efforts are complicated by his blossoming love for the woman, and a dark secret concerning the war record of his father. Seed of the Revolution concerns that same father and the incident that will affect lives decades later in another country. We are in Poland in the 1930s. An unsuccessful campaign by the Soviet Army involves the court martial, on the field of battle, of a Bolshevik soldier by his commanding officer, who is his own son. This script was shortlisted for the 2005 Patrick White Playwrights' Award, the judges commending it for "the bold scale of the play and the importance of the issues it deals with, the vivid and interesting characters, and the great theatrical opportunities it offers."

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
[reading] Peacock Theatre, Hobart, TAS    23 Oct 2004

Organisations:
Tasmanian Theatre Company

1st Published:
http://australianplays.org/   -

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:
120 min naturalistic drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/65079

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Seed of the Revolution

Synopsis:
A court martial on the field of battle involves a soldier being charged by his own son

Notes:
Originally performed with "Family Business" under the overall title "the Mark Of Cain"

1st Produced:
-    2005

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in "the Mark of Cain" published by the http://australianplays.org/,    -

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 act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sleepwalking

Synopsis:
Angela was an actress but is now a housewife. She feels that life has slipped her by.

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:
Full-Length 120 mins Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Tryst, The

Synopsis:
A couple are spending the night at a remote farm house when they are joined by a stranger

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Lion Theatre, Adelaide, SA    11 Mar 1996

Organisations:
Adelaide Fringe Festival 1996

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:
60 mins One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/27035

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Unexpected Meeting, An

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
part of Hobart Repertory Theatre Society's One Act Play Festival

1st Produced:
The Playhouse Theatre, Hobart, TAS    31 Jul 2004

Organisations:
Old Nick 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:
short play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/64298

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Youth

Synopsis:
Youth explores the role of belief and delusion in romantic love, and also in the creative act. In what appears to be an interview, but might be a confession, an old man, Henry, recalls a pivotal gathering of five friends of which he was then the youngest: a sought-after model and an aspiring artist. This party has been organised by his older lover, Clarissa Luewin, a famous artist, at her house in the Blue Mountains above Sydney. It is the late 1930s, and the day has been chosen so the guests can observe the rare appearance of a famous comet later in the evening. While they wait for this, Clarissa, for personal reasons, proposes each in turn tell a story from their youth, that feel encapsulates what 'youth' means for them. The stories turn into self-revelations, which as they unfold, highlight and augment existing tensions within the group-particularly the rivalry between Henry and Clarissa's former lover, Bert, an alcoholic and disappointed communist, who has returned from overseas to claim her back. Matters reach a head between these two and at this point of unresolved tension, just prior to the blaze of the comet, Clarissa tells the culminating tale, her long bitter fantasy of lost dreams and faith, an explanation for her ensuing shedding of Henry for Bert, and a veiled apologia for her imminent suicide.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
reading by Tasmanian Theatre Company    2009

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
http://australianplays.org/   -

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 naturalistic drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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