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Angela Betzien

ANGELA BETZIEN

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

Literary Agent:    The Yellow Agency  

Angela Betzien is an internationally recognized writer for children and young people and she is co founder of the company, Real TV. Her plays Children of the Black Skirt and Hoods have been published by Currency Press. Both plays have toured widely across Australia and in 2010 Hoods toured internationally to Vienna, austria and Bolzano, Italy. Hoods was awarded a 2007 Australian Writers Guild award for Theatre for Young audiences as well as the inaugural Richard Wherrett Prize for excellence in Playwriting. angela's numerous other plays have had professional and independent productions including Playboy of the Working Class (2001) the Orphanage Project (Queensland Theatre Company, 2003) the Kingswood Kids (La Boite Theatre, 2000) the Suitcase (Real TV & Stage X, 2001) Princess of Suburbia (Real TV, 2001) Girl Who Cried Wolf (Arena Theatre & Sydney Opera House, 2008) the Teenage alchemist (aTYP & Camp Quality, 2008) and the Dark Room (Black Swan, 2009). Angela is currently developing a libretto based on her play, the Orphanage Project supported by an R.e. Ross Trust grant and is under commission with Graffiti Theatre, Ireland. angela's latest play, War Crimes (a Sydney Opera House:ed and Regional Arts Victoria commission) will premiere in 2011. Angela has recently returned from the United States where she developed two projects in Washington D.C (New Visions/New Voices) and New York City (NYU play development program). Her latest play the Very True and Unusual Life of Chook was short-listed for the 2010 Kit Denton Fellowship. In 2011 the Dark Room, nominated for a 2010 aWGIe award will be presented by Belvoir.

Research:    http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/238098

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

         Children Of the Black Skirt         Crossing The Borders         Dark Room, The         Dog Wins Lotto         Egg         Girl Who Cried Wolf         Hanging, The         Helicopter         Hoods         Kingswood Kids, The         Mortido         Orphanage Project, The         Playboy Of the Working Class         Princess Of Suburbia         Push 9 Motel         Suitcase, The         Tall Man         Teenage Alchemist, The         Very True And Unusual Life Of Chook, The         War Crimes         Welcome to Bulgaria         Where in the World is Frank Sparrow?         Wicked Bodies         Wickfield Wonderland
Children Of the Black Skirt

Children Of the Black Skirt
a gothic fairytale for young people. Three lost children discover an abandoned orphanage in the bush and learn a history of Australia through the spirits of children who have lived there, from convict times, through to World War Two, the Stolen Generation and beyond.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Queensland Arts Council And Real Tv     2003

Organisations:
Queensland Theatre Company

1st Published:
Currency Press, Sydney   

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:
TYA

Parts:
Male:  14            Female:  12            Other:  Cast of 3 possible with doubling

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/107184

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Crossing The Borders

Synopsis:
The culmination of a project that brought together 12 writers from around the world on the internet to create a piece of theatre exploring what borders still exist at the beginning of the 21st century.

Notes:
Written by Angela Betzein. Chong Tze Chien. Sara El Nusairi. Lauren Feldman. Nick Field. Graham Gordy. Aoife Mannix. James McNulty. Daniel Noy. Jimmy Osbourne. Adrian Osmond. Emma Vuletic

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:
piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dark Room, The

Synopsis:
Set on the border of a military town, six unlikely characters converge late one night at a run-down motel. a teenage boy from a nearby country town waits for a stranger. Pregnant Emma waits for her husband, a country cop, wasted after his best friend's wedding. anni, a government youth worker accompanied by a withdrawn and violent fourteen year-old girl, waits for the dawn. as the night draws on, each of them becomes trapped in dark and dangerous territory, each of them searching for a way out

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Perth Institute Of Contemporary Arts, Northbridge, Wa     01 May 2009

Organisations:
HotBed Ensemble

1st Published:
Playlab Press   

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:
psychological thriller

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/81565

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Dog Wins Lotto

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Queensland Theatre Company     1997

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:
30 mins One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Egg

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Southbank Theatre, Southbank, VIC     29 Jun 2016

Organisations:
Terrapin Puppet 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:
puppetry

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  puppets

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/118143

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Girl Who Cried Wolf

Girl Who Cried Wolf
Laura is an awkward eleven year old suffering the pain of growing up different in a brand new housing estate where everyone appears to think and act the same. Two sudden, out-of-the-ordinary events catapult Laura into a journey of discovery: the arrival of her estranged father, a damaged gulf war veteran who has recently moved to a caravan park on the outskirts of the estate; and the sudden disappearance of the most popular and talented girl at school, Catriona Dijon. With the shocking news of Catriona's disappearance, the suburb goes into emergency lock down, fear and hysteria gripping the community. While wandering on a neighbouring development site, Laura discovers that all is not what it seems. Catriona has in fact run away and has been hiding out in a half finished development house. Over the next few days an unlikely connection between two very different girls develops as they collude in the construction of a gigantic lie.

Notes:
16th ASSITEJ World Congress and Performing Arts Festival

1st Produced:
The Queens Theatre Stables, Adelaide, Sa     11 May 2008

Organisations:
Arena Theatre Company

1st Published:
Playlab Press   

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:
TYA black comedy 50 min

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/76168

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Hanging, The

Hanging, The
Three teenage schoolgirls go missing in Melbournes hinterland. The clock is ticking, the search is on. One of the girls turns up days later. Confused and unkempt, she has no apparent memory of what happened and where her friends are. Sound familiar? The Hanging is a gripping thriller that questions the frequently-occurring spectre of the missing girl in the Australian bush. Its mystery is a postmodern study of social panic and what lies hidden, just out of reach.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Wharf 1 Theatre, Sydney, NSW     02 Aug 2016

Organisations:
Sydney 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:
mystery

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/118228

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Helicopter

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Lawler Studio, Southbank, Vic     02 Aug 2012

Organisations:
Melbourne 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/107220

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Hoods

Hoods
each night two hoods ride a train to a wrecking yard on the outskirts of the city. Here, in this cemetery of stories, they are storytellers with the power to fast forward, pause and rewind. Tonight, they tell the story of three kids left in a car. Rewind . . . It's Friday, KFC night and the last day of school before Christmas. Kyle, Jessie and baby brother Troy are waiting in the car for their mum. as night approaches the car park takes on a dark and sinister aspect filled with strange and familiar characters. the shopping centre closes, Mum still hasn't returned and the baby won't stop crying. exploring issues of poverty and family violence, Hoods is a suburban tale of survival and solidarity against the odds.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Opera House Studio, Sydney, Nsw     08 May 2006

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Currency Press, Sydney, 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:
TYA

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/92221

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Kingswood Kids, The

Synopsis:
It's Friday, KFC night, and the last days of school before Christmas. Kyle, Jessie and baby brother Troy are waiting in the car for their mum. Kyle broods in the front seat with visions of Sony Playstations dancing in his head while Jessie begs him for a game of I Spy and a trip to the toilet. as night closes in, the shopping centre shuts down, their mum still hasn't come and the baby just won't stop crying.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
La Boite Theatre, Milton, Qld     13 Sep 2002

Organisations:
Brisbane Festival

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:
50 mins One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/17676

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Mortido

Synopsis:
It was a nightmare that year, we had bodies bobbing all over Sydney harbour." When word hits the streets that La Madre is dying, Monte, a blue blood son of high society, sees his chance to take the throne as the Snow King of Sydney. But who will accompany him down El Camino de la Muerte: his right-hand man or the jaded cop who wants his head on the block? Mortido is a break-neck ride from the slums of Mexico to the cafes of Paddington; from the edge of the Amazon to the backstreets of Cabramatta.

Notes:
part of National Play Festival.

1st Produced:
Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh Nsw 2015     12 Jun 2014

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:
Play/Drama 60 min

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/108592

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Orphanage Project, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Bille Brown Studio, Brisbane, Qld     23 Oct 2003

Organisations:
Queensland 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/107182

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Playboy Of the Working Class

Synopsis:
a man gambles away everything he has - wife, car, house

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Queensland Theatre Company     2001

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:
Short play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Princess Of Suburbia

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Real TV     2001

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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Push 9 Motel

Synopsis:
Relationships are like motel rooms, they can be refuges from the outside world or prison cells. "Motel" is an unsettling play that traces the thin line between love and violence.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Wharf 2, Walsh Bay, Nsw     16 Aug 2007

Organisations:
Wharf 2 Loud Push Series

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:  1            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/71766

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Suitcase, The

Synopsis:
What does loniness sound like. A short play.

Notes:
written by Angela Betzien, Leticia cacares and Pete Goodwin

1st Produced:
Playhouse Studio 1, South Bank, Qld     12 Sep 2001

Organisations:
Real TV/Stage X 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:
short play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/22278

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Tall Man

Synopsis:
A fierce and tender evocation of our complex relationship to land, wealth and our most precious resource, family.

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Teenage Alchemist, The

Teenage Alchemist, The
When two young people living with cancer meet on line in an internet chat room they form an unlikely bond, but are they brave enough to seize the day and meet in real life?

Notes:
This work has been commissioned by Camp Quality to tour into high schools across Australia as an adjunct to a cancer education program.

1st Produced:
Camp Quality     2009

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playlab Press   

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:
TYA short Comedic drama,

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Very True And Unusual Life Of Chook, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
short-listed for the 2010 Kit Denton Fellowship for Courageous Writing

1st Produced:
New Visions/New Voices Festival In Washington, U.S.A     2010

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:
TYA

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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War Crimes

War Crimes
Set in a regional coastal town, War Crimes tells a powerful story of five disenfranchised young women who are fighting for respect, railing against authority and struggling to form an identity in a small town with limited opportunities. the relocation of an Iraqi refugee family to the town provokes a climate of hostility and tension that threatens to violently explode. War Crimes continues Real TV's trademark technique of using real events as pretexts for the creation of relevant and provocative contemporary Australian Drama.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
On Tour With Regional Arts Victoria     01 Aug 2010

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Currency Press, Sydney   

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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Welcome to Bulgaria

Synopsis:
Welcome to Bulgaria has a young man in a Kafkaesque-like nightmare.

Notes:
part of Three plays from the AWGIE Award-winning playwrights Cornelius, Betzien and Reeves, exploring the gap year for thousands of young people at the end of their secondary school year.

1st Produced:
Performance Space, Wollongong, NSW     07 Nov 2014

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in The Gap: What Goes Down In Vegas, Au Pair, Welcome To Bulgaria, http://australianplays.org/script/ASC-1666   

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:
https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/119099

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Where in the World is Frank Sparrow?

Where in the World is Frank Sparrow?
It's quirky graphic novel style weaves stark urban reality with the mythic underworld. Against this grim backdrop the young hero, Frank Sparrow, must endure dangers and trials, overcome weakness, find love and face death. A uniquely modern legend, Where in the World is Frank Sparrow? reinvents the hero's journey for the 21st Century and propels its audience through the dangerous streets of Stab City and into the dark underworld of change and transformation.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Graffiti Theatre Company, Ireland     2012

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playlab Press   

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:  4            Female:  1            Other:  Can accommodate a larger cast without doubling

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/107343
http://graffiti.ie/productions/2012-2/where-in-the-world-is-frank-sparrow

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Wicked Bodies

Synopsis:
A wildly wicked fantasy, sizzling with menace, dark humour and rich storytelling.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Roundhouse Theatre, Kelvin Grove, Qld     12 Oct 2004

Organisations:
Zen Zen Zo Physical 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:
black comedy, physical theatre

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/60632

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Wickfield Wonderland

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Canberra Youth Theatre, Braddon, Act     25 Jul 2013

Organisations:
Canberra Youth 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:
TYA

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/103659

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