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Heathcote Williams

HEATHCOTE WILLIAMS

  (1941 - 2017)
Nationality:    English
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Curtis Brown Group Ltd  

Heathcote Williams (born 15 November 1941; died 1 July 2017) was a poet, playwright, author and actor. His first book, The Speakers, was published in 1964. A portrait of the orators at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, it was greeted with critical acclaim. He went on to write his epic poems Whale Nation, Autogedden, Sacred Elephant and Falling for a Dolphin, which were all published by Jonathan Cape. They were also released as audiobooks by Naxos and have won numerous awards. Heathcote is also an award winning playwright. His first full length play, AC/DC, won a hat trick of prestigious awards: the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Play, the George Devine Award and the John Whiting Award. AC/DC was chosen as part of the Royal Court's 50thanniversary celebration in 2006. His later play, The Local Stigmatic, first played at the Royal Court in 1966 and has since been made into a film by Al Pacino.The Immortalist was produced by the National Theatre in London and New York. Heathcote has written and advised on a number of feature films including Looking for Richard, Hotel, and Malatesta. He has also written extensively for radio and television, including Hancock's Last Half Hour and What the Dickens? In 2011 Roy Hutchins launched a show of Heathcote's newer poems entitledZanzibar Cats which has had a UK Tour and a run in Edinburgh where is won the prestigious Herald Archangel Award.

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

         AC/DC         Anatomy Of A Space Rat         At It         Autogeddon         Christmas Pantomime Play, A         Falling For A Dolphin         Hancock's Last Half-Hour         Immortalist, The         Invitation To the Official Lynching Of Michael Abdul Malik, An         Killing Kit: Christopher Marlowe and the Queen of England         Local Stigmatic, The         Playpen         Remember the Truth Dentist         Sacred Elephant         Severe Joy         Speakers, The         Very Tasty - A Pantomine         Whale Nation         Whales

AC/DC

Synopsis:
Five psychic revolutionaries dissect and counter-attack the suppression and corruption of individual sovereignty and will.

Notes:
Directed by Nicholas Wright. Joint winner of the 1970 Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Play And the George Devine Award.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Gambit International Theatre Review (Calder & Boyars), London, 1971   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama. - - Gay, theme/character full length

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Anatomy Of A Space Rat

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
London     1976

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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-

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At It

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
in Breach of the Peace

1st Produced:
London     1982

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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-

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Autogeddon

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Fringe First Winner

1st Produced:
Assembly Room, Edinburgh     1991

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

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-

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Christmas Pantomime Play, A

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     1975

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Falling For A Dolphin

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Fringe First Winner

1st Produced:
Assembly Room, Edinburgh     1989

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

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-

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Hancock's Last Half-Hour

Synopsis:
the Lad Himself casts a bleary eye over his wrecked career and troubled life before swallowing the last handful of pills.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Almost Free Theatre, London     1977

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Polytantric Press, London, 1977   

Music:
-

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Genre:
monologue One Act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Immortalist, The

Synopsis:
Cynical TV reporter interviews a 278 year old man about time and the alternative to mortality.

Notes:
Given two rehearsed readings in London prior to first production. Directed by David Leland.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscript 87, John Calder / Riverrun, London, 1978   

Music:
-

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Genre:
One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Invitation To the Official Lynching Of Michael Abdul Malik, An

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Newcastle Upon Tyne     1975

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
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Killing Kit: Christopher Marlowe and the Queen of England

Synopsis:
Told through the prism of his own death, Christopher 'Kit' Marlowe, with the aid of a spectral ensemble of 7 actors and 1 actress trebling up to play 24 speaking roles, accesses the events and situations of his life, leading up to his own murder at the hands of the Elizabethan state. As John the Baptist to Shakespeare's cultural Christ, Marlowe was the leading poet, playwright and polemicist of his age, birthing many of the more recognised works that followed him as well as leaving his own indelible stamp on literature and politics. The play embodies not only the age in which it is set, but the state of rebellion that has challenged all successive ages.

Notes:
Two fully staged script in hand productions took place at the Cockpit Theatre in February and September 2014, produced, directed, edited, designed and scored by David Erdos. The cast included Alan J Mirren, Sebastian Sabene, Alex Dower, Tim Hibberd, Victoria Croft, Simon Cash, Will Harrison Wallace and Joseph Miller.      

1st Produced:

Organisations:
David Erdos

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Local Stigmatic, The

Synopsis:
Two men, the hyper-tense Graham and the stolidly simian Ray, conduct a pointless but aggressive conversation before cruising a few pubs and viciously atacking an actor. the violence -. apparently based on a stalker's assault on Patrick McNee - Is shockingly random. A sinister sexual ambivalence pervades the piece: Graham and Ray's preoccupation with "queer" bars, and Graham's disgusted descriptions of Ray's girl, suggest they protest their heterosexuality too much.
Nick Curtis, Evening Standard

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Haynes, J. (Ed.), Traverse Plays" Penguin, London, 1966   

Music:
-

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Genre:
One Act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Playpen

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Theatre Machine

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Remember the Truth Dentist

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Music by Bob Flagg, directed by Ken Campbell.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Calder & Boyers, London, 1980   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Review

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sacred Elephant

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
First Floor Sw1, London     1990

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
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Severe Joy

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Calder and Boyars, London, 1979   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
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Parts:
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Speakers, The

Synopsis:
Adapted from Williams's 1964 book about the Hyde Park Corner speakers by William Gaskell and Max Stafford-Clark

Notes:
the inaugural production of Joint Stock theatre Company.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Joint Stock Theatre Company

1st Published:
Gambit International Theatre Review (Calder & Boyars), London, 1974   

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:  7            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Very Tasty - A Pantomine

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
London     1975

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
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Further Reference:
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Whale Nation

Synopsis:
-

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

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Whales

Synopsis:
Portrays the complex life cycles and societies of whales and the profound exploitation of cetaceankind for human industry, greed and vanity.

Notes:
Performance of the book length poem, published As "Whale Nation".

1st Produced:
Liverpool     1986

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Jonathan Cape, London, 1988   

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:
Poetic monologue

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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