The Playwrights Database
STEPHEN TEMPERLEY (1949 - )
Nationality: USAemail: Click here to contact Website: Click here
Literary Agent: n/a
Born in London, he first came to the U.S. as a teenager. He trained as an actor at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The first of his plays to be produced was Beside the Seaside at the Hudson Guild, directed by Vivian Matalon who has directed all of his work since. Other plays include Money/Mercy, which was first produced at the Chelsea Theatre center and then as part of the first HBO New Writers' Workshop. Dance with Me, which was first seen at the 18th Street Theatre and later at Centenary Theatre Company. Workshops include a musical, That Kind of Woman, for Dodger Productions and In the Country of the Free. The Pilgrim Papers, a satirical comedy about the Plymouth Colony, was produced by the Berkshire Theatre Festival in their '06 season. Souvenir was first seen at the York Theatre before going on to the Berkshire Theatre Festival and Broadway. It has since become one of the most produced plays in the US. Recently, it opened to rave reviews in Berlin and is slated for productions in South America, Australia and Scandinavia.
Buy Plays with Doollee
Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.AbeBooks.co.uk AbeBooks.com Stageplays.com amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template
below is a list of Stephen Temperley's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Beside the Seaside Dance With Me Money/Mercy Pilgrim Papers, The SouvenirBeside the Seaside
Synopsis:
Two women, best friends, are in love with the same unsuitable young man. An older friend comes to help and at a dinner on the terrace much is said that would have been better left unsaid. A comedy about the heart ruling the head.
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Hudson Guild Theater 1981
Company:
Hudson Guild
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:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageDance With Me
Synopsis:
Sally is in love with the most selfish man in New York. Trying to make a life without him she has become involved with the weakest man in New york. It is only when both men become infatuated with the same young woman that Sally is able to turn her back on them both.
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Centenary Stage, Hackettstown, NJ 1996
Company:
Centenary Stage 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:
Romantic Comedy
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageMoney/Mercy
Synopsis:
Money, two newly-weds try to work out how to afford a child. And discover that they can't. Mercy, a male nurse loves his elderly patients so much that he kills them. In both plays the characters escape to Florida, both real and imagined.
Notes:
Two One Act plays
1st Produced:
Chelsea Theater, East 19th St, NYC 1998
Company:
Chelsea Theater Center
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 Act
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PagePilgrim Papers, The
Synopsis:
A revised history of the Pilgrims and the Plymouth Colony. Instead of more than half the colony dying in the first few months, the play suggests that the young people left Plymouth and set up their own colony on the beach. This leads to riots, surreptitious attacks, same-sex marriage and an epic trek across the country to found San Francisco.
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Unicorn Theatre, Stockbridge, MA 2006
Company:
Berkshire Theatre Festival
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:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 6 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageSouvenir
Synopsis:
For more than half a century the name Florence Foster Jenkins has been guaranteed to produce explosions of derisive laughter. Not unreasonably so, as this wealthy society eccentric suffered under the delusion that she was a great coloratura soprano when she was in fact incapable of producing two consecutive notes in tune. Nevertheless, her annual recitals in the ballroom of the Ritz Carlton hotel, where she resided, brought her extraordinary fame. As news of her terrible singing spread, so did her celebrity. Her growing mob of fans packed her recitals, stuffing handkerchiefs in their mouths to stifle their laughter-which Mrs. Jenkins blissfully mistook for cheers. The climax of her career was a single concert at Carnegie Hall in 1944. Famously, it sold out in two hours. SOUVENIR, by turn hilarious and poignant, tells her story through the eyes of her accompanist, Cosme McMoon. A talented musician, he regards her at first as little more than an easy way to pay the rent, but, as he gets to know her, his initial contempt gives way to reluctant admiration, then friendship and affection. Eyewitness accounts of their concerts vary so wildly it is almost impossible now to separate fact from gossip. Hence this fictional biography, in which we follow the story of their partnership from its earliest days to their concert in Carnegie Hall and its aftermath. With each new imagined triumph Florence's confidence soars. Faced with her boundless certainty, Cosme comes to revise his attitude, not only towards her singing but to the very meaning of music itself. As the play ends the audience enters her world completely, finding there the beauty she'd heard in her head all along. A musical odd-couple for the ages.
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Berkshire Theatre Festival -
Company:
-
1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY, 2007 -
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: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page