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Abi Morgan

ABI MORGAN

  (1968 - )
Nationality:    British
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Independent Talent Group Limited  

The Mistress Contract is Abi Morgan's Royal Court Theatre debut. Her theatre credits include most recently 27 for National Theatre of Scotland and Frantic Assembly's Lovesong. Her previous plays for the stage include Skinned, Splendour and Tiny Dynamite. A BAFTA award-winning writer; on film, she wrote the screenplay for The Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep and Shame, directed by Steve McQueen and starring Michael Fassbender and on television, her credits include BBC2's The Hour, Birdsong, starring Eddie Redmayne on BBC1, White Girl and Sex Traffic on ChAnnel 4. 'I never understand why the RSC doesn't work with more new writers. Shouldn't that be the ethos of a company that founded itself on the brilliance of one playwright?'
Abi Morgan

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

         27         Belly         Chain Play - Production II         Fast Food         Fugee         Lovesong         Mistress Contract, The         Monster Mum         Night Is Darkest Before the Dawn, The         Skinned         Sleeping Around         Splendour         Superman         Tender         Tiny Dynamite
27

27
27 is a new play from acclaimed writer Abi Morgan about loneliness, ageing, science and the loss of our sense of self. Dr Richard Garfield has given Ursula a difficult choice. She is the Mother Superior in waiting of a convent that has been given the opportunity to take part in his revolutionary scientific study. This American study would require that the nuns donate their brains after death to potentially unlock the mysteries of Alzheimer's and dementia. Ursula must weigh up the value of preserving her faith, versus embracing science.the study is agreed and Richard and his team come to the convent every year to test the nuns who are willing to take part. This union will change their lives forever. For Ursula, with the impending pressure of taking over the ailing convent, the study brings more challenges than she could ever have imagined and rocks her faith and her hitherto cloistered existence to its core. Drawing on research contained within the book and study Aging with Grace, 27 is an extraordinary examination of a lifestyle in decline, but it could hold the key to the issues of our times - our ageing population and the decline of our minds.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
National Theatre of Scotland

1st Published:

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Belly

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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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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Chain Play - Production II

Synopsis:
Written over a three month period, each writer is given two weeks to add a scene of between ten and fifteen minutes before passing the script onto the next writer. Performed for one night only. A fundraising event.

Notes:
written by Neil LaBute, Abi Morgan, Mike Poulton, Tanya Ronder

1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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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:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Fast Food

Synopsis:
the hours are long and pay low - but this cut-throat catering business is looking for the way to the top!

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Fugee

Synopsis:
Exposed to a life without compromise, young asylum seekers in the UK fight to stay in control of their lives past, present and future. . .Turn him on his side, turn him on his side. there's stuff coming from his mouth, bro. When 14 year old Kojo tumbles into the UK "system" with no official papers, and no words in English, he is housed in a refuge for under-age asylum seekers. With new friends Cheung and Ara by his side he begins to reconcile his past and find pleasure in the present. But when the system starts to break down. . .Fugee expresses the reality of slipping through the net in LyT's trademark contemporary sound and image driven style.

Notes:
Fugee is presented As part of the Royal National theatre New Connections, supported by Bank of America. LyT is the Youth theatre of the Royal Lyceum theatre Company

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Lyceum Youth Theatre

1st Published:
in New Connections 2008, Faber and Faber, London, 2008   

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:  15            Female:  12            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Lovesong

Lovesong
That is the story of our beginning. And this is the story of. . .the end' Lovesong is the story of one couple, told from two different points in their lives  as young lovers in their 20s and as worldly companions looking back on their relationship. their past and present selves collide in this haunting and beautiful tale of togetherness. All relationships have their ups and downs; the optimism of youth becomes the wisdom of experience. Love is a leap of faith.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
Frantic Assembly and the Drum Theatre Plymouth in collaboration with Chichester Festival 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Mistress Contract, The

Mistress Contract, The
She and He are the pseudonyms of a real-life couple who live in separate houses in the same city on the west coast of America. She is 88. He is 93. For 30 years he has provided her with a home and an income, while she provides 'mistress services' - 'All sexual acts as requested, with suspension of historical, emotional, psychological disclaimers.' They first met at university and then lost touch. When they met again twenty years later, they began an affair when She - a highly educated, intelligent woman with a history of involvement in the feminist movement - asked her wealthy lover to sign the remarkable document that outlines their unconventional lifestyle: The Mistress Contract. Was her suggestion a betrayal of all that she and the women of her generation had fought for? Or was it brave, honest, and radical? Then - on a small recorder that fit in her purse - this extraordinary couple began to tape their conversations about their relationship, conversations that took place while travelling, over dinner at home and in restaurants, on the phone, even in bed. Based on reams of tape recordings made over their 30 year relationship, The Mistress Contract is a remarkable document of this unconventional couple, and the contract that kept them bound together to this day.

Notes:
Inspired by the memoir The Mistress Contract by She and He

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

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Monster Mum

Synopsis:
-

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

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Genre:
30 min Youth Audience

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Night Is Darkest Before the Dawn, The

Night Is Darkest Before the Dawn, The
Abi Morgan's contribution focuses on tribesmen and women in Kandahar who have suffered terrible losses. the level of suspicion of US motives, and the wish to return to traditional values, operate together when an aid worker, Daniel Betts' Alex, and teacher Huma (Lolita Chakrabarti) try to persuade a farmer (Ramon Tikaram) to allow his daughter to go to school. His simple message is that having lost all of the menfolk of his family to the war, he needs her services in the fields. the plot eventually sees feminist logic win the day in a happy ending. .
- British theatre Guide

Notes:
part of A three month long festival About the culture And history of Afghanistan. Entitled the Great Game: Afghanistan. the festival will be divided into three parts, each focusing on A period of Afghan history: 1996 - 2009 : Enduring Freedom

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:
Historical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

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Skinned

Synopsis:
focuses on plans to stage a wedding reception in a disused abattoir in Manchester. A thriller and cold-blooded dissection of racism. A hardman has soften to get married, and smartened himself up determined to put the past behind him - but his bride-to-be is looking for a wedding to remember.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Swindon Arts Centre, Swindon     15 Oct 1998

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber (19 Oct 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sleeping Around

Sleeping Around
Sleeping Around is about love and sex in Britain as we approach the millennium. In a dozen scenes of likely and unlikely connections, two actors play a variety of couples whose ordinary lives erupt in extraordinary moments.

Notes:
written by Mark Ravenhill, Stephen Greenhorn, Hilary Fannin And Abi Morgan

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:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Splendour

Splendour
In the opulent drawing room of the Presidential Palace, a Western photojournalist awaits the return of the dictator. She is here to take his portrait. The dictator's wife, her best friend and an interpreter wait with her. Prada shoes, vodka glasses and light fingers tap out the time. He is late, very late. . . All four women harbour secrets and suspicions. All four are in danger. This is the day that revolution comes to the streets. Abi Morgan's devastating play allows us a glimpse into the minds of four women as their world turns.

Notes:
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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:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Superman

Superman
No-one can forget the moment they heard the news. September 11th, 2001 sent shockwaves across the globe. It was a day that was supposed to change the world forever.Ten years on, a team of major writers and thinkers explore our responses to the defining event of our times in a new production from Headlong, creators of the multi award-winning ENRON. Rupert Goold's theatre company transforms a former trading hall into an immersive theatrical experience, taking you from the tranquil setting of St Katharine Docks on the River Thames to the bright blue skies of downtown Manhattan and beyond.

Notes:
part of Decade: Two towers. Ten years. Twenty plays. Ten years After 9/11, twenty international writers respond to the defining event of our times. Published here Are their individual plays, which woven together formed the basis of Decade, An immersive theatrical production from Headlong theatre company. the writers: Samuel Adamson, Mike Bartlett, Alecky Blythe, Adam Brace, Ben Ellis, Ella Hickson, Samuel D. Hunter, John Logan, Matthew Lopez, Mona Mansour, DC Moore, Abi Morgan, Rory Mullarkey, Janine Nabers, Lynn Nottage, Harrison David Rivers, Simon Schama, Christopher Shinn, Beth Steel, Alexandra Wood.

1st Produced:
Commodity Quay, St Katharine Docks, London E1W 1Az     01 Sep 2011

Organisations:
Headlong

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 piece

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  extras

Further Reference:
-

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Tender

Tender
In the haze of the morning after, a one night stand may be the start of something beautiful, a much loved husband has gone missing in a long-term marriage, a young couple grow up with the forthcoming birth of their first child, a young man mourns the death of his wife. Love is a tender place in the heart of a city where fragile relationships collide and paths cross. As Gloria waits for her husband to return home, 14 months seems a long time to go out to buy a pint of milk. Seeking solace in the friendship of a young man also looking for love, a domino of friendships and near misses unravel the disparate lives of several different people. Somewhere Marvin watches his wife. . ..

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Hampstead Theatre, London >>>     06 Sep 2001

Organisations:
Birmingham Rep 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:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Tiny Dynamite

Tiny Dynamite
When memory takes hold, when chaos takes over and when the electricity between us becomes overwhelming. An impossible love story is given a second chance and three scorched characters are about to learn that lightning does strike twice.

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:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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