MICHAEL BARRY - theatre scripts at 2010:

Full-length:

-           Burning Passions (orig: Dead Woman's Ditch) -  original full-length story of an famous and tragic Somerset murder (1789). John Walford, young, handsome, intelligent but totally uneducated charcoal-burner killed his wife after 17 days. The judge wept as he condemned him to death. Walford's Gibbet is still on the map. WAC production 2002. Cast of 6, 1 composite set. (Published by New Theatre Publications)

-           Love Letters -  immensely successful adaptation of Thomas Hardy's "On the Western Circuit".  Cast of 4, 1 composite set. Now full-length as sole play but originally toured in shorter version by WAC Spring 1999, in tandem with….  (Published by New Theatre Publications)

-           Passion and the Revolutionary  -  a half-hour adaptation of Hardy's "A Committee-Man of the Terror", features Hardy himself as Conductor of events. Cast of 3, 1 set. (Published by New Theatre Publications)

-           Tom Jones -  epic and raunchy adaptation of Fielding's racy Somerset novel. Tried and tested. Very cost-effective cast of 6, with composite set of picture frames. (Published by New Theatre Publications)

-           The Balance of Mind – a London nurse recovering from romantic betrayal finds herself suddenly involved in agri-politics, a livestock crisis and primitive mysticism; developed through several stages in regional new writing initiative. Cast of 6, composite set.

-           The Warden -  simple low-cost adaptation of Anthony Trollope's opening story in the Barchester Chronicles. Tried and tested. Cast of 3, simple setting, narrated links. (Published by New Theatre Publications)

-           The Indiscretion of an Heiress -  simple low-cost adaptation of Hardy short-story of tragic young love. Tried and tested. Cast of 2 in simple setting, narrated links. (Published by New Theatre Publications)

-           Tess of the D'Urbervilles -  edited for production version of Thomas Hardy's own second adaptation of his famous novel. M Barry sole director of this play since Hardy's 1928 death (twice). Cast of 7, 4 sets (can be simple). (Published by New Theatre Publications – MB as Editor)

-           The Tay Bridge Disaster -  dramatised documentary, originally produced at Dundee Rep in 1968, subsequently published - now out of print - nominated for STV Theatre Play of the Year.

-           Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare) and The Atheist's Tragedy (Tourneur) -  two one-hour adaptations of these famously gory revenge tragedies. Not produced.

-           A Question of Balance -  play examining three-way relationship and the imperatives that make it viable. Has four endings (one can be selected by author or by audience). Not produced.

-           Bella-Vista - based on a short story of Colette's, one written of three comprising 3-play evening in the theatre. Each one shows Colette at a different stage of her life - transmuting her direct experiences into short stories - whether as a budding 15 year-old, already attracting the attentions of men, or in her early 30s as a performer in the Paris music-hall and variety theatre, or, as in Bella-Vista, escaping to Provence to recover from love and blundering into the oddest "domestic" detective story ever. Not produced. (Copyright issues mean this is probably not available commercially)

One-act plays (self-standing):

-           Passion and the Revolutionary – see above

-           A Love Beyond Time -  a one-act play inspired by John Wyndham's short story of a time travel romance. Small cast, single set. (Original Edinburgh University production 1963, winner of Scotsman Student Play Award).

Compilations:

-           O McGonagall -  humourous small-scale touring production showing life of Dundee's famously bad poet interspersed with declarations from his works. Toured from Dundee Rep 1970.

-           A Woman for All Seasons -  compilation for small group of women of famous scenes from classical drama, linked by narrative. Amateur production 1989. (Copyright issues mean this is not available commercially)

-           From Ten to Twenty -  compilation for group of teenagers of famous scenes from classical drama, linked by narrative. Drama College production 1976. (Copyright issues mean this is not available commercially)

-            Christmas Through the Ages - a pot-pourri of Christmas readings from mediaeval times to modern days, and embracing the secular as well as the religious. (Copyright issues mean this is not available commercially)