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Sandra Shotlander

SANDRA SHOTLANDER

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

Literary Agent:    n/a

Sandra is a Melbourne playwright, director and teacher of writing, whose plays have been performed and published in Australia and the USA. Plays include 'Framework', 'Blind Salome', 'Angels of Power' and 'Is that you, Nancy?' She has written commissions for Melbourne secondary schools including two full length plays 'Chronicles' (1995), and 'The Crimson Firefly Circus' (1996). She was also commissioned by ABC Radio and the Victorian Arts Centre. She was playwright in residence, James Cook University, Townsville in 1992 and has toured the USA (1994) giving readings, writing workshops and talks. St Kilda Story is the sixth commissioned work for Penleigh and Essendon Grammar, and in March '99 was sponsored by Department of Human Resources for a one off performance, senior citizens week, as a tribute to UN International Year of Older Persons at Chapel Off Chapel, Prahan, Melbourne.

Research:    http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/9435

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

         Angels Of Power         Blind Salome         Chronicles Of the French Revolution         Crimson Firefly Circus, The         Framework         Gaia's Nightmares         Is That You Nancy? Collected Phone Calls of Gertrude Stein and Others         St Kilda Story

Angels Of Power

Synopsis:
Mary Madras, left-wing back-bencher in The Australian Federal Parliament, learns that her son Thomas, an embryologist, has implanted an embryo in his new wife Marta. The sperm is from his twin brother Jesus, and the egg from his dead mistress. Marta's revelation begins a parliamentary campaign against new reproductive technologies; a modern 'storming of the Acropolis'. However, can Mary unite political enemies, right-wing Athena and independent Green, Diana Hunt? Politics, religion, mythology, new reproductive technologies and the environment interwoven are into an irreverent satire with a keen sense of the ridiculous. Contemporary and provocative.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Beckett Theatre, Southbank, Vic    25 Apr 1991

Organisations:
-

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:
Full-Length 110 mins satire

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/13699

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Blind Salome

Synopsis:
Tiny Tim longs to have his father home on Christmas day, but mean old Mr. Scrooge wont give Bob Crachit the day off! There must be a way to change Scrooges mind  perhaps a ghost or two will set Scrooge right. Can this clever boy and his best friend Charlotte save Christmas and change the heart of the meanest man in town? This exciting world premiere story of a father and son is adapted by Broadways Tony-winning Ken Ludwig (Twas the Night Before Christmas) and his very own son, Jack. Get ready for the wildest ride you've ever had at Christmas!

Notes:
Based on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens . Adapted by Ken Ludwig and Jack Ludwig

1st Produced:
Universal Theatre, North Fitzroy, Vic    22 May 1985

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:  6            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/102731

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Chronicles Of the French Revolution

Synopsis:
A young woman looks back on her struggle to survive tumultuous times during the French Revolution. It is a fast-paced sweep through French history, from events leading to the fall of the Bastille, to the Terror in 1794. In Brechtian style, the play takes the audience into the sparsely armed crowds storming the Bastille, with the 6000 women who marched to Versaille. It follows the path of ill-fated Marie Antoinette and exploits of Theroign de Mericourt. In the final scene it is clear women played a much greater part in the Revolution than knitting while heads rolled.

Notes:
Ideal for secondary school production. Can be done lavishly with elaborate sets and period costumes, or stripped back to basics for a small space and a tight budget. Cast number is 30 - 130.

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

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:
Full-Length 90 mins Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Crimson Firefly Circus, The

Synopsis:
This fast-moving mystery has enormous scope for actors, circus performers and musicians. Jack Bertolucci's circus loses its big top in a storm which blows apart lives from inland Australia to South America. Penelope Pertwee, sent to the circus to take photographs for the local paper, begins to unravel the mystery of her aunt, the renowned circus performer, The Crimson Firefly. Meanwhile, street kid, Fingers, is making good in the circus, until his former 'friends' catch up with him. Music, humour, pathos, tumbling and tight-rope walking. Magic for kids, teens and adults. Excellent for secondary school students to perform for primary. Variable cast.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

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:
Full-Length 85 mins Mystery/Circus

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  15            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Framework

Synopsis:
Framework is about two Australian women, who meet by chance in a corner of the Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA. Lee an expatriot Australian is in the process of a divorce and haunts that corner. Iris a world traveller, is in search of a favourite painting. The play traces their meeting and the development of their relationship.

Notes:
"As a play about a lesbian relationship it did break ground and remains my most performed work." - Sandra Shotlander

1st Produced:
Universal Theatre, North Fitzroy, Vic    21 Apr 1983

Organisations:
Gemma Productions

1st Published:
in "Australian Gay and Lesbian Plays", Currency Press, Sydney   978-0868194554

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:
Lesbian, full length

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/96137

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Gaia's Nightmares

Synopsis:
A large cast performance piece in five scenes for secondary students to perform. Scene one, using masks and movement, explores the ancient Greek myth of Gaia and Apollo. Gaia curses Apollo with nightmares after he has slain her serpent daughter and entered her shrine. The myth is followed by the nightmares of the past, present and future. In the final scene Gaia is redeemed. This one-act work uses contemporary themes such as i.e environment, war, and family relationships. It contains much humour and scope for imaginative production. Variable cast.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

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:
One Act 35 min

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  14            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Is That You Nancy? Collected Phone Calls of Gertrude Stein and Others

Synopsis:
eight women sort out their lives and relationships on the phone and answer machines. Gertrude Stein meanwhile is planning a dinner party.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Universal Theatre, North Fitzroy, Vic    1985

Organisations:
Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras,

1st Published:
in "Australian Gay and Lesbian Plays", 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:
Lesbian, full length

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/13360

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St Kilda Story

Synopsis:
St Kilda Story, an ensemble piece, links the history of the Scottish St Kilda, remote islands beyond the outer Hebrides, with contemporary St Kilda in Melbourne. In 1930 the last thirty-six inhabitants were evacuated from St Kilda, Scotland, ending 4000 years of settlement. Gerry, a schoolboy in contemporary St Kilda, Melbourne, is led on a trail of discovery by Winnie, a resident of a nursing home, in which Gerry's mother Anna is a nursing sister. As the Scottish St Kilda's extraordinary stories are revealed through narrative and song, Gerry sees links with events happening around him. History has spoken.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

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:
Full-Length 75 mins Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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