Plays
causing social, emotional and psychic disturbances when performed may
be purchased for reading
Samples of
these scripts are available FREE
for reading, Workshop or Educational purposes. The whole scripts may
be purchased for $12 each. The
performance licence
for any of these plays is
now available. Generally these plays may be produced for a minimum
fee of $120(Aus)
against 10% of box office (whichever is greater).
Depending on your circumstances, we are open to negotiation.
We can accommodate any situation if you have a passion for the work.
Click on the
relevant title for synopsis, details and samples of text.
CAUTION: Some
of these plays listed have a history of causing social, emotional
and psychic disturbances when performed, (ie. particularly Shadow
In The Dark, Coleridge's
Christabel and Geraldine, Sex&Violets.com,
and APE).
This should remind all of us that presenting a play takes massive
amounts of energy concentrated into limited space. When attempting a
play that draws upon archtypes of real power, we need to be a aware
and careful in what we do. This is an observation and not meant to be
something spooky. But no harm in reading ...
Samuel
Taylor Coleridge's brilliant unfinished poem, Christabel,
is integrated into a sleek exposition of ambiguous relationship
between a young woman and the most dangerous person in her life. Such
people can herald the destruction or the making of an individual.
This Gothic style play utlizes Coleridges poem expanded into a
framework that blurs dreams and reality. Daemons and Night Walkers
from the forest of desires converge on the house that once protected
the young and innocent Christabel.
Sex&Violets.com
is certainly not for the faint hearted. Its crude and violent
treatment of sexual desire and fantasy is guaranteed to divide
audiences. The extreme sexual rituals enacted by the unconvential
couple and their obsession with Internet sex, makes the play open for
adventuous and exciting theatre. The play has had a number of
presentations on three continents and each one has provoked strong
reactions. There are undertones of La Belle
Dame Sans Merci by John Keats that haunt
the setting. 'La Belle Dame sans Merci hath thee in thrall!'
Sanctimonious
is a rewrite of Sanctimony
presented at The Street Theatre in Canberra in 1996. It is a rare
bird; a surreal depiction of public service in a public service town.
There is no morality and orders are given by the trophy birds on the
shelves of high ranking officers. It is a thriller about a deadly
substance put into the water supply by an eager public servant only
to find that the additive had a devastating effect on one's brain. It
engenders enzymes that digest people's brains. This becomes
euphemistically known as the "affliction". With changing
political and social values as a result, religion is utilized in the
creation of the Department of Heaven. We can safely say and guarantee
that there is nothing like it anywhere. The play will not be to
everyone's taste and its surreal sequences with the Kite Bird require
a very high level of movement from a trained dancer or martial arts expert.
Violine
is
based on the actual war time diaries of Jack Woodward who was
prisoner of war in Klagenfurt, Austria. It also deals with his
journey into dementia some sixty years later. The life shaping events
of one period become re-examined and changed over time. But even in
the hazy world of dementia, the leading character still plays the
violin with consumate ease. A rather laboured production of the play
in 2002 in Canberra, failed to fully grasp the world of the mind and
the point of the play. A lack of real commitment from the cast and
director was obvious.Violine
is about the struggle for dignity in a brutal and dirty world.
Regardless of circumstances or outward appearances, there are some
for whom such a concept remains paramount. Violine touches on
the same world depicted in Faure's music (a point lost on the
mediocre fumbling of the Canberra production team). The actor playing
the central character MUST be able to play classical violin at a very
high level of expertise. Otherwise it might as well be simply a
reading exercise!
Shadow
In The Dark will
break up relationships and marriages. It is the stirring up of the
forces within the wicker circle. It is the story of a young woman
teacher who is fascinated by a young student and writes of her sexual
fantasies about him in her diary. He finds it and uses it to
establish a hold over her. However, there is another dimension at
play here. Her past mental state is not quite as it might seem. Late
one evening after school when the rest of the staff have gone home,
all her demons from her past visit. And the outcome is bloody ...
There is magic embeded in this work and it should be produced with
great care. When produced in 1995 at The Canberra Theatre Centre,
there were a number of unforeseen and frightening consequences.
Reading it isn't a problem. You're safe !!!
APE
is a rewrite of Brother Ape produced in 1981 at The
PITS in Canberra and causing near riots and uproar. Twenty of
Canberra's leading theatre "lights" from the invited
audience stormed out of the theatre at interval. After that, it
played to nearly sold out houses in the 180 seat PITS Theatre and bar
at The Canberra Rex. The play was flawed by a lack of character
building and some over-stating of the sexual relationship in the
menage trois. The re-write is still being undertaken and may yet be
further edited. However, APE deals with the effect of the Ape Of God
or the Trickster in relationships. The casual affair leads to
unforeseen consequences. Ape cannot be killed off or diminished. The
bestial nature of sexual desire and family responsibility meets head
on in this collision course of a play. Read it at leisure. The play
will never be mainstream. Producers need to leave a glass of wine or
Champaign out for the Trickster each evening after rehearsal or
performance. Otherwise, who knows what might happen in the real world
of vulnerable relationship and volitile desires ...
Deo
Dorez is
a difficult monologue set in an art gallery. Ideally, the paintings
and / photography on the wall around the audience and central
character should be able to move and come alive. The nude is
gradually distorted into surreal world of art and life.
Zarathustra's
Rose
is a fictional account of an Iranian woman's affair with an
Australian. As she parts from him for the last time, she opens up
about her mother who was murdered by the Revolutionary Guards on the
orders of Ayatollah Khomeini. When originally produced at The Street
Theatre as part of the Platform Seven evening, it was attacked as
racist for daring to suggest some women in burkahs might not like
wearing covering from head to toe. With more information coming to
light about the plight of women in some Islamic countires, the play
was much better received when included in the Naked Goddess program
at DNA Studios at The Ralph Wilson Theatre in 2006. It is a strong
monologue for an actress seeking a challenge.
NOTE:
Portions of scripts are available FREE of charge for
reading purposes, workshopping in classes and community theatres and
evaluation of suitability and needs.
Purchase
the whole scripts for $12 by clicking on the icons.
Production
licence is available for a $120 (AUD) fee. Professional fees are 10%
of gross box office or a minimum of $120. However, we have found that
scripts offered by Shadow House PITS have had a resonance in areas
which do not have a capacity to pay. Should you wish to produce any
of these works and do not have a capacity to pay and/or recoup fee
costs at box office, then please just let me know. In such cases, I
would just like to get a report on the production and if possible,
some photographic or video imagery from the work. It has been most
gratifying to hear of small scale productions taking place in areas
without charge. If any of these works, or the plays in the
"youth" section, are of value to your group or school in
financially poor areas please feel most welcome to use the texts free
of additional charge.
And,
to be sure, the prime criteria for letting out the licence is a
passion for the material and a desire on the producer's part to
challenge audiences and the respective cultures where the work is to
be performed. None of the Shadow House PITS scripts are mere
entertainments. All are conceived within the context of personal,
social and cultural challenge. You are invited to join us on this
quest by producing one or more of these works within your own
cultural and community context. We invite you to exercise your
imagination and your desire to embrace theatre for change and
liberation. Let me know if you find any other offerings on the
Internet that have the same or similar aims.
Trinculo's
Shadow
Receive our Trinculo's
Shadow
newsletter directly by subscribing to us. Read information about
issues and events from local, national and international groups who:
use theatre to explore the human condition
venture into the very psyche of
cultural and personal expression, and
are interested in exploring the
mysteries of life and social/cultural interaction.
To receive your copy and read
provocative theatre articles and receive information about scripts,
workshops and performances from Shadow House PITS, please sign up here and
complete the simple form.
