Two-Act Plays

Full length plays which have been successfully produced - Fee Code 2A

FARTING ABOUT IN MAKE-UP
Comedy-drama-song - 4 (2m, 2f)
A dress-up (possibly evening dress) style of shows. A potpourri of things of the theatre, actors and acting.
Anecdotes enacted in dialogue, facts (but never dry), legends, monologues, a few songs and who did what to whom.
Funny, sad, intelligent - at times wacky - and written to suit a fast pace. The title comes from a quote by Peter O'Toole who said, "acting is just farting about in make-up".
Ideally suited to two mature males, one mature female and one less mature female.
A very different entertainment in two acts, approx. 40 minutes per half.

THE GREAT DIVIDE (now titled DEAD FUNNY)
SECOND CHOICE - 4f
2f (30-50) 1 mother, 1 sister
YOU MUST MEET THE FOLKS - 6 (5f, 1m)
(same as Second Choice + m (30-50)
DEAD FUNNY - 6 (same + dummy)
3 new plays which played together, make a full-length comedy programme.
Dead Funny was Best Overall Play at 2001 Dramafest, also Best New Australian Play, Best Director, Best Actress in a supporting role and an Adjudicator's Award.
In the 2001 STAR Awards it won Best One-act Play and Best Director and The Great Divide took out Best Leading Actress and Best Supporting Actress (the one person) Best Supporting Actor and Best New Script.

THE IDEAS POOL
Comedy-drama-murder mystery - 7 (4m, 3f)
3m (50s), 1m (30s, 3f (25-35)
Part 3 of media trilogy
The Ideas Pool is set in an advertising agency controlled by one man, Henry Travers.
When Henry is found dead, floating in a giant spa, it seems obvious that the death is accidental but the joy of agency employees on hearing the news, starts to worry police investigating the incident.
The Ideas Pool scrapes away much of the gloss of the ad game and offers solid opportunities for ensemble work.

PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE
Drama - 7 (6m, 1f)
3m (over 50), 1f (to match), 3m (over 30)
Written during the Queensland Theatre Company's '99 MNasterclass for Playwrights, Parliamentary Privilege is a taut drama about an Australian soldier, tried for treason for broadcasting propaganda for the enemy and, who later was embroiled, quite innocently, in broadcasting advertisements for a pyramid selling scheme which left a trail of duped people. The Government disowned him and tried to break him after the war but didn't succeed. It took another ten years and a further scandal to crush him.

PRESIDENT ELECT
Comedy-drama - 6 (3m. 2f, 1 any)
3m (50s), 2f (30-40), 1m or f (any)
Set in the future, the Republic of Australia is about to appoint its first President. But who elects the President? The people? The media? The Government? Or all three?
Dombril Loggett is plucked from obscurity to become a football played deftly by the media, fielded by the Government and finally kicked into the presidential goal by the people.
President Elect has nearly as many twists, turns and farcical situations as there are in real Government. The play was written in 1994 but is now very timely.

QUO VADIS NIGHTS
Drama-comedy - 8 (3m, 5f)
3m (over 30), 3f (over 25), 2f (over 30)
The Quo Vadis Night Club, after a series of unforeseen expenses, is about to spin down the gurgler when an angel comes to the rescue.
One of the World's great singing stars is suddenly available for a short season. Miraculously, Paul Ducaire finds he has the deposit for the contract but there's no money left to pay the bills to keep Quo Vadis open in the meantime.
This very black comedy soars and dips, twists and turns before leaving the audience with one last laughter-filled punch to the solar plexus.

TV SIGNALS
Drama-comedy - 6 (3m, 3f)
2m (50s), 1m (30-40), 1f (30-4-), 2f (mid 20s)
Part 2 of media trilogy
Set in the mythical BAM TV Network, TV Signals charts the rise of Clare Champion to executive status and her moves to wipe out a current affairs show host.
Fast-paced and still topical, this play comes complete with station breaks video, played in each blackout which links each scene.
A format for a programme printed as a TV Guide style magazine is also included and can be adapted for local use.
This play was on the initial shortlist for the Courier Mail-Landen Dann Award, winner of 5 1994 Noosa Golden Palm Awards.
"pick of the week" by Des Partridge - Courier Mail, May 1994.


As yet unproduced full-length plays - Fee Code 2B

OH BROTHER!
Comedy-drama - 8 (6m, 2f)
2m (about 60), 2m (30-50, 2m (small roles, 1f (mid 20s), 1f (under 20)
One brother attains easy success as a top TV personality, the other achieves success by sheer hard work. Then the TV career abruptly ends. Soon after, his marriage ends too and soon after that financial ruin sets in.
That's when the hard-working brother refuses to lend a hand, gloating that the easy path is finally finished. But the career, marriage and financial problems are only a blip on the charmed life, while the hard-working brother's fortune falls into other hands.
Funny, yes - serious, yes - fast-moving, yes.

PERFECT ONE DAY
Drama - 7 (5m, 2f)
1m (40s), 1m (16-20, m (60s), 1m (30s, 1m (any), 1f (30-40), 1f (50s)
A biting, funny-sad look at what happens when a father loses his job as a newspaper editor and sells up to move interstate to a major resort town and go into the restaurant business, taking an unwilling wife and teenage son with him.
Despite themselves, this wide-apart family is drawn close together by some very real events. This play made the initial shortlist of the 1998 Queensland Theatre co-Landen Dann competition for full-length plays.