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Vanessa Brooks

VANESSA BROOKS

  (1967 - )
Nationality:    English
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Josef Weinberger Limited  

Born in Dulwich, London, Vanessa trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama and worked as a performer in all media for several years. She was Alan ayckbourn's first Arts Council Dramatist in residence at the Stephen Joseph Theatre and her work has been frequently performed on the London fringe, in repertory Theatre and with commercial managements on tour, she has also written sketch comedy for TV and works as a Theatre director. Vanessa's plays include Take it to the Green Light Barry, Penny Blue, Let's Pretend, Love Me Slender, all at Sea, Poor Mrs Pepys, Dead Dogs and Englishwomen, Queen's English and Swan Song. Currently Vanessa is artistic Director of Full Body and the Voice Theatre company (FB&TV)

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

         All At Sea         Dead Dogs And English Women         Dog Ends         Dog's Dinner, A         Hypothermia         Let's Pretend         Love Me Slender         On the Couch With Chrissie         Penny Blue         Poor Mrs Pepys         Queen's English         Swan Song         Take It To the Green Light,Barry
All At Sea

Synopsis:
When Graham and annette, and Gus and Maria, the two winning couples of Meteor Television's popular lover's reunion programme star-crossed Sweethearts, head off for the romantic cruise they've been promised on board the Sovereign, little do the, realise what adventures he is wait over the horizon. Unknown to the couples, the "cruise" turns out to be artificially staged for the cameras on a moored ship, which the inept Meteor TV researcher Debbie has been put in charge of organising. It's not long before Debbie's own "ex" Marcus appears under innocent enough circumstances, and while some old flames prepare to rekindle, others soon look positively ready to explode. the situation rapidly accelerates when they realise that the ship is no longer moored and is drifting helplessly into the english Channel shipping lanes, endangering everybody in this black comedy of romance and rust on the high seas

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Forum Studio Theatre (Formerly The Chester Gateway), Chester, Cheshire     26 Aug 1997

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Warner Chappell Plays, London, 1998   

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:
Black Comedy Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dead Dogs And English Women

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:

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/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dog Ends

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
-   

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/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dog's Dinner, A

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
-   

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/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hypothermia

Hypothermia
Oskar lives in the state hospital in andernach, Germany. He keeps the other patients in order, jokes with the staff, sings opera and tends to a fine collection of plants in the conservatory. and then, in the bleak winter of 1940, a dark visitor arrives. Two holes are dug into the ice of a frozen lake and Oskar has a decision to make. . .To live. . .Or to die.

Notes:
Written And directed by Vanessa Brooks, A thrilling play, A unique physical style And An original score, deliver A moving And powerful celebration of life, love And hope. Featuring A dazzling central performance by one of Full Body And the Voice's learning disabled Actors

1st Produced:
Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire     03 Feb 2010

Organisations:
Full Body and the Voice production

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:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Let's Pretend

Synopsis:
the hotel Nova Paradise may have seen better days, but it's still a home away from home for the long-stay British pensioners wintering in Majorca. For one couple, the victims of a plundered pension fund, Marj can't help but to nose into the private lives of her fellow Twilight adventurers, while talking up her husband Bill's capabilities in order to impress them. alfred and Grace are trying to escape their separate loneliness and while alfred tries to maintain a light-hearted exterior, Grace's constant battles with Marj thinly mask her own efforts to keep up appearances. even Karen, the tour rep, isn't above a little embellishment. But when the arrival of a young couple, booked into the pensioner's hotel by mistake, coincides with a near-riot by the hotel's staff, the many layers of deceit peel away with increasing speed, leaving everyone exposed to the dangers of pretence and deception. a superb evening of riotous entertainment from start to end.' the Stage.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
Warner Chappell Plays, London, 1995   

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:  3            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Love Me Slender

Synopsis:
Remember girls - not slim for today. Not slim for tomorrow. But slim for life! With these words, Siobhan, the achiever of the Year' inspires her hopeful new recruits in the Slim for Life dieting club. Siobhan has lost seven stone, found a new self, a fulfilling job and a wonderful husband. armed with these she encourages others to achieve the same through a combination of diet and personal philosophy. Five stages - commitment, discipline, sacrifice, realisation and salvation - for the key to a new life. Can Jean, Claudette, Rosie and the rest win the fight with flab? the determination to succeed comes with a price and one not everyone is willing to pay. When the temptation rises and the motivation begins to wane, the edges begin to unravel in the face of Siobhan's autocratic rule. Just how much is the price worth paying? a satisfyingly humane and perceptive play that memorably nails one of the great issues of our times. [Daily Telegraph]

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
Warner Chappell Plays, London, 1996   

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:  -            Female:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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On the Couch With Chrissie

Synopsis:
an unwanted visitor from Chrissie's secret past could thwart the perfect future, she has planned. Whilst she cannot mitigate against repetitions in her life and she can't resolve what's past it is not impossible to eradicate it. . .

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Penny Blue

Synopsis:
Bob and Marion live with their rebellious daughter Pen in a cockroach-infested tower block. Dougie and Petula are old friends who years before emigrated to Australia in search of a better life. Dougie and Petula have made it big Down Under and now live the Australian Dream - luxurious home, designer labels and kidney-shaped swimming pool - while Bob and Marion have continued to live a modest life in england. When Dougie and Petula arrive for a reunion back in the Old Country, home (and abroad) truths burst through the surface as the veneers are stripped off and old wounds are re-opened. as the tequila flows a little too freely, tongues loosen and the pent-up jealousies of seventeen years finally come pouring out, with disastrous - and hilarious - results. But where does the Penny Blue fit in? In a stamp collection, brought back from Australia, which holds the promise of an instant fortune for Bob and Marion . . . Superbly crafted, a side-splitting riot and a splendid piece of theatre.' - the Stage.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
Warner Chappell Plays, London, 1994   

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:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Poor Mrs Pepys

Synopsis:
Based on incidents contained in Samuel Pepys' famous diary, Poor Mrs. Pepys spans an eleven year period between 1658 and 1669, taking in both the Black Death and the Great Fire and creating a vibrant picture of seventeenth century London brimming with intrigue, danger and disease. We first meet the young Elizabeth Pepys shortly after a reconciliation with her husband following a two year separation, just as his career is taking off. Forced to contain her own dark secrets in a highly-charged atmosphere of political and religious fervour and desparately longing for the child she knows Samuel will never allow, she begins keeping a diary of her own. Elizabeth's observations of events in and around the Pepys' household are quickly seen to be in stark and uproarious contrast to those chronicled by her more illustrious spouse. Great stuff and highly recommended. [amateur Stage]

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Arts Depot (Pentland Theatre, Studio Theatre), London     25 Sep 1998

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Warner Chappell Plays, London, 1999   

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 Comedy

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  4            Other:  doubling possible

Further Reference:
-

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Queen's English

Synopsis:
Heard the one about the englishman, the Scotsman and the Irishman? This biting topical comedy pokes a finger at ideas of national identity, class and Britain's role in the modern world. Set in a once-grand country manor house now converted into a language school teaching english to foreign students, Queens english looks at the peculiarities and the stereotypes of the english, Welsh, Irish, Scottish and American cultures. the American, a brash New Yorker named Ruby, has recently won the school in a poker game, and now has big plans - including a surprise visit from a Royal guest. But first she has to try and gain control over the four teachers and their different backgrounds as tempers flare while personal and national grudges are brought out into the open, threatening to upstage HRH's imminent visit.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
Josef Weinberger, London, 2005   

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:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Swan Song

Synopsis:
Donald, a sardonic and weary Chartered Surveyor, is retiring from the long-established, small town company he's devoted himself to for the last thirty-five years. Margaret is his hardworking, unmarried secretary who has devoted herself to Donald. On his last day, Donald has planned to spend the day doing what he wants to do. But Mimi, his bored, lonely wife has other ideas. Funny, witty and sad by turns this is an excellent choice for three mature actors.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Trinity Theatre And Arts Centre, Tunbridge Wells, Kent     16 Apr 2002

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London,    

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:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Take It To the Green Light,Barry

Synopsis:
the Butterworths are contestants in the grand final of the biggest rating game show on TV hosted by the toupee wearing Barry. as the prizes stack up and the money mountain grows the lies and deceits of a disintegrating marriage come to the fore with explosive consequences. More fly on the wall than a docu-soap the play is for anyone who's ever wanted to be a millionaire!

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Man In The Moon Theatre, London     1991

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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