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Meera Syal

MEERA SYAL

  (1961 - )
Nationality:    English
twitter     email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    United Agents  represented by Kirk Whelan-Foran

Meera Syal (born Feroza Syal on 27 June 1961) is a writer and performer best known for her work on the award-winning Goodness Gracious Me, the film Bhaji on the Beach, the musical Bombay Dreams and her novels Anita & Me and Life Isnšt All Ha Ha Hee Hee, both of which she adapted for the screen. Recently she has been developing an original serial Heal Me for BBC TV and has started her third novel. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1997 New Year Honours and in 2003 was listed in The Observer as one of the fifty funniest acts in British comedy. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to drama and literature.

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

         Anita And Me         Bombay Dreams         Generation Next         Kissing God         My Sister Wife         One Of Us         Oppressed Minorities Big Fun Show, The

Anita And Me

Synopsis:
This poignant coming-of-age tale follows Meena, the irreverent teenage daughter of the only Punjabi family in the mining village of Tollington. When she becomes friends with the impossibly feisty Anita, she thinks she's found her soul mate but her world is turned upside down and she finds herself caught between her two cultures. Adapted from the much-loved novel by the award-winning playwright, Tanika Gupta and with especially composed music by the Ringham brothers, Anita And Me paints a colourful portrait of village life in 1970's West Midlands during the era of flares, power cuts and glam rock.

Notes:
written by Meera Syal and Tanika Gupta. Stage adaptation of Meera Syals 1996 award-winning semi-autobiographical novel.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   978-1783199310

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 with music

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bombay Dreams

Synopsis:
Setting: Paradise Slum; Shanti & Akaash's home; Miss India Pag.; "Diamond in the Rough" set; Akaash's new apt.; Indian Film Awards; Akaash's mansion; "Bombay Dreams" set; Taj Royale Beach Hotel; Juhu Beach

Notes:
Music by A.R. Rahman; Lyrics by Don Black; Book by Meera Syal And Thomas Meehan; Based on An idea by Shekhar Kapur And Andrew Lloyd Webber

1st Produced:
Apollo Victoria Theatre    31 May 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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Generation Next

Generation Next
Two young British Punjabis are getting married, in the past, the present and the future. This wedding story turns a darkly comic eye on their explosive wedding day which occurs on three different dates: 1979, 2005 and 2035. Exploring the idea of parallel lives and worlds, this mischievous play by highly acclaimed comedienne Meera Syal asks questions about how history can shape your future, concepts of identity and belonging, and how on earth anyone can misplace a bus full of transvestites!

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
National Theatre Connections

1st Published:
in National Theatre Connections 2012, Methuen Drama (15 Mar 2012)
Published in an extended version for the Market theatre, Johannesburg, by Oberon Books   978-1408157244

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 Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  9 plus ensemble

Further Reference:
-

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Kissing God

Synopsis:
Set in south London in the early 80's. Ex doctor Mark rents a room to failed ballet dancer Amy. they develop a relationship via heroin. Babbly on the run from her Asian family and a friend of Amy, turns up with Harry an ex junkie. Babbly somehow survives the ensuing sordid squalor.

Notes:
Written by Phil Young. Devised from research And improvisation with original Actors David Bamber, Anton Lesser, Kate Lock And Meera Syal

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Hampstead Theatre with BBC

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:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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My Sister Wife

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Six Plays by Black and Asian Women ed. Khadija George, Aurora Metro, 1993   -

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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One Of Us

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Written by Meera Syal And Jacqui Shapiro

1st Produced:
Thompson's Arms, Manchester    1983

Organisations:
Red Ladder Theatre 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:
Tragi-comic Monologue 45 min Tragedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Oppressed Minorities Big Fun Show, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1992

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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