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William Borden

WILLIAM BORDEN

  (1938 - 2010)

Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Ed Udovick  

William Borden's plays have won over 90 national playwriting competitions and have had over 300 productions, at Actors Theatre of Louisville and in New York, Los Angeles, India, South Africa, Spain, Canada, Germany, Norway, and elsewhere. His full-length play, Many Worlds, premiered in New York, while Dancing on air recently won the Heller Theatre Competition, which brings with it a production at the Heller Theatre in Tulsa, OK. Turtle Island Blues, the winner of four competitions, has been produced more than thirty times, and Don't Dance Me\r\nOutside won the Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival Plays in Process Competition and premiered at Playwrights Premiere Theatre, Williamsburg, VA. the film adaptation of his play, the Last Prostitute, starring Sonia Braga and produced by Universal Studios, was shown on Lifetime Television and in Europe and is on video. His play Reunion, retitled I Remember You Now, was filmed for theatrical release by Darinka Productions and has been shown in New York, Paris, London, Croatia, Romania, and Wales.\r\n\r\nHis plays have been published in over 20 anthologies, including the Playwrights' Center Monologues for Women; the Best Ten-Minute Plays 2007, 3 or More actors; More Scenes and Monologues From the Best New Plays; Scenes and Monologues from the Best New International Plays; Scenes and Monologues From the Best New Plays II; the Best Stage Scenes 1998; and Contemporary International Plays For Young audiences. His plays have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Catalan, Czech, and Guajarti. His novel, Dancing with Bears, is forthcoming from Livingston Press. Superstore, first published in the U.S. by Harper & Row and in england by Victor Gollancz, was later reissued by Orloff Press. His short stories have won the PeN Syndicated Fiction Prize and the Writers Voice Fiction Competition and have been published in over 40 magazines and anthologies. His narrative poem, "eurydice's Song," with monotypes by Douglas Kinsey, was published by Bayeux Arts, Calgary, alberta, and St. Andrew's Press, Laurinberg, NC. His poems have appeared in over 20 anthologies and in over 80 magazines and in a chapbook, Slow Step and Dance. a Core alumnus Playwright at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis, he was a member of PeN, the Dramatists Guild and the authors Guild.

Research:    Member of the Dramatists Guild of America (joined 25 Aug 1981)

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

        Alien Hypothesis, The         Apples         Blues Street Jazz Club Rehearses, The         Bluest Reason: Journey Into History         Don't Dance Me Outside         Garage Sale         Gourmet Love         Gunning For Life         Hangman         I Want To Be An Indian         Last Prostitute, The         Loon Dance         Many Worlds         Meet Again         Muse         One Evening In Prague         Quarks         Tap Dancing Across the Universe         Turtle Island Blues         Wonderful World



Alien Hypothesis, The

Synopsis:
Larry wonders why he feels as if he doesn't "belong." Could he be an alien? If he is an alien, why haven't the aliens told him? He gets a message-apparently-from his alien wife, who lives in other dimensions, and news of the kids.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Loft Productions, Tampa, Fl    1996

Organisations:
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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:
Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  1 m voice, 1 f voice

Further Reference:
-

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Apples

Synopsis:
In a deconstructed Garden of eden adam finds an Uzi, Lilith tempts lust, and Satan and eve reach an understanding.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    -

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1st Published:
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Music:
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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:
30 min One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Blues Street Jazz Club Rehearses, The

Blues Street Jazz Club Rehearses, The
Five would-be musicians meet to "play" to recorded music. their various loves intertwine like strands of music, improvised and unpredictable

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in 2009: the Best 10-Minute Plays for Two or More actors, Smith & Kraus (December 1, 2009)   978-1575257594

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:
Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bluest Reason: Journey Into History

Synopsis:
Bluest Reason re-enacts the Lewis and Clark expedition's winter of 1804-5 in what is now North Dakota. the play begins with the first event as they step over the current North Dakota border, the court martial of Private John Newman. Fort Mandan is built; relations with the nearby Mandans are established, strained, repaired, upset, and re-established; an english trader visits; Lewis organizes specimens to send to Jefferson; Charbonneau touts his culinary expertise, is hired, fired, and re-hired; Sakakawea makes her case to accompany the expedition; differences between the whites and the Indians are explored; tensions erupt; romance blossoms; jealousy and disease follow; humor surfaces with gratifying frequency; Sakakawea gives birth to her baby; and from time to time York provides a relevant commentary.

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1st Produced:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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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:
Historical Drama

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Don't Dance Me Outside

Synopsis:
Butch, a novelist who reveals more about himself in his novels than he thinks, and ardis, an architect who wants to design a humane mall, each married to someone else, begin an affair. During an afternoon and an evening, in first one hotel room and then another, they discover each other, reveal their pasts, fantasize their future, call their spouses, fight, risk, and love. This two-character romantic comedy explores, with lightness and imagination, contemporary issues such as sexuality, fidelity, romance, ambition, and fame.

Notes:
Don't Dance Me Outside won the 1999 Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival Plays in Process Competition And had staged readings in Allendale, MI, And Grand Rapids, MI, October 20 And 22, 1999, And At the New Tradition theatre Company in St. Cloud, MN, April 11

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
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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:
Dramatic Comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Garage Sale

Synopsis:
Warren's starting over. He's selling everything-pajamas, wedding pictures, his past. Bargain-hunters, including his daughter and his ex-wife, find more than they expected, while Garcia, an old hand at garage sales, gives Warren advice and wins at Monopoly

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Grand View College, Des Moines, Ia    1996

Organisations:
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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 min One act

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Gourmet Love

Synopsis:
Hungry for love? Or for food? How long can Sally and arnie keep their affair from their spouses, who are having an affair of their own? and when everyone finds out about the affairs-at supper-what will they have for breakfast?

Notes:
Gourmet Love had A staged reading by the Asylum, Las Vegas, NV, November 5, 1997 And was A Finalist in the Sonoma County Repertory 2001 SCRipts Festival, the 2000 Buntville Crew Competition, And the 1998 Midwest theatre Network Original Play Competition

1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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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:
Dramatic Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Gunning For Life

Gunning For Life
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
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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:
Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hangman

Synopsis:
theodore tries to get friendly with his executioner

Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
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1st Published:
Brooklyn Publishing   -

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:
Twelve minute play

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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I Want To Be An Indian

Synopsis:
a liberal who wants to be an Indian gets his chance one night in a bar on a reservation

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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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 min One act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Last Prostitute, The

Synopsis:
a famous call girl, retired and farming in the Midwest, is visited by two teenage boys who want to be "initiated."

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Nyc    1982

Organisations:
Raft 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

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Genre:
Dramatic Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Loon Dance

Synopsis:
a man invites his new mistress to a family reunion on a Minnesota lake.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Arcata, Ca    1988

Organisations:
Humboldt State University

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:
Romantic comedy Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Many Worlds

Synopsis:
axel and Maggie have been having an affair for so long it seems like a marriage, and all the motel rooms are beginning to look alike. Today, however, Maggie has to decide whether to tell axel that she has terminal cancer, as axel, in his usual self-obsessed way, tries to explain the "Many Worlds" theory of quantum physics, and from time to time several possible "other worlds" open up, some involving Maggie's husband, Skip, and we see that life has more possibilities than we imagined, even as we are reminded that every life, finally, has only one endi

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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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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 120 min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Meet Again

Synopsis:
a romantic comedy that takes a playful, sexy look at reincarnation. Six characters fall in love with unexpected people in unexpected lives. Beneath the confusions, the play asks what are our boundaries, what are our identities, sexual and otherwise, and what are we here for, after all, whether we're here once or many times?

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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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 Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Muse

Synopsis:
a writer with writer's block discusses with his muse how muses get allocated

Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
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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:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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One Evening In Prague

Synopsis:
It's 1911 in Prague. at Berta Fanta's weekly salon an up-and-coming physicist, albert einstein, meets a little-known author, Franz Kafka

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Love Creek Productions, New York, NY    1994

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:
Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Quarks

Quarks
a man and a woman meet at a singles bar. His opening line, "Take off your panties," gets unexpected results

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland, Oh    1992

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in 2009: the Best 10-Minute Plays for Two or More actors, Smith & Kraus (December 1, 2009)   978-1575257594

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:
Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Tap Dancing Across the Universe

Synopsis:
a college professor who wants to run away from home gets his chance when he and his wife are visited by a would-be shaman, a runaway mother, and a hippy.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Kansas City, Mo    1982

Organisations:
Unicorn 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:
Romantic comedy Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Turtle Island Blues

Synopsis:
500 years of American (Turtle Island) history, featuring Sitting Bull, who travels through space and time, Columbus, IsabElla (who, disguised as a cabin boy, accompanies Columbus to the new world), Pocahontas, Leonard Peltier, and others. the story of Leonard Peltier's trial and incarceration alternates with Jefferson's writing the Declaration of Independence (with the help of Sally Heming, his African-American mistress), the Trail of Tears, the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, the discovery of the North Pole, the murder of Sitting Bull, and other events, both in the ordinary world and in the spirit world.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Bemidji, Mn    1992

Organisations:
Listening Winds Theatre

1st Published:
Listening Winds Theatre Press, 2000   -

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:
Historical tragi-comedy

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Wonderful World

Synopsis:
the down-at-the-heels neighborhood tavern is empty tonight except for CHaRLeY, the bartender, and aLICe, a local independent businesswoman. their apparently idle conversation meanders from aLICe's son, a soldier in the middle east, to CHaRLeY's daughter, an army helicopter pilot, to "quantums," uncertainty, national security, and God, when two strangers show up for a meeting. they seem to be terrorists-a Muslim and a Christian, forging an alliance. as the two apparent terrorists test the limits of their trust in each other, aLICe and CHaRLeY learn of the violent deaths of their children. they take revenge on the terrorists at hand-or are they terrorists, after all? among other questions, Wonderful World asks: Does the passion for security lead only to insupportable insecurity? Has fear and anger collapsed into fatigue and hopelessness? Does quantum physics explain the larger world?

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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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:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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