Stage
(Plays in progress)
Jeremy Paul, playwright and screenwriter, welcomes enquiries about any of the following plays.
Bogdan’s War
(A Drama)
A cartoonist, his wife and their best friend are caught in the centre of Belgrade during the NATO bombing of 1999 to flush out Slobodan Milosevic.
Like many writers I felt a strong urge to express feelings on the bombing of Baghdad (2003), but to get some objectivity I had to go back a war, and in so doing found similarities and contradictions with Belgrade (1999); Milosevic, ‘justifiable’ and ‘job done’, and Saddam, palpably neither. But the dramatic concern was the people under the bombing, you and me, any city, anywhere from the Second World War to now and beyond. The devastating effects on love and relationships, private stories rarely told. I was lucky, if that’s the word, to chance on the Serbian writer and film-maker Jasmina Tesanovic and her detailed account of living through these terrifying events (‘The Diary of a Political Idiot’ Granta 67), with the help of music by the Serbian group Starogradski Biseri supplied by my friend Vladmir Rapic.
Bogdan incidently is a bear.
Cast: 4 m, 1 f.
Set: Int. room with ext. potential (rooftops of the stricken city).
A recent reading of the play at the Writers Guild Centre brought this response from the critic, Christopher Matthew:
"I don’t want the event to pass without saying how much I admired the play and how easy it was to see what a remarkable piece it would be if fully produced."
The Russian Girl
(A Drama)
Katie, born in St Petersburg, raised in England returns to Putin’s Russia after her parents’ death and meets family members who confront her with a stark but seductive choice.
This came with a visit my wife and I made to St Petersburg. The city both captivated and disturbed us. The beguiling past colliding with the ominous present. (It’s a theme I explore again in ‘Juliet On the Nile’). Six weeks after the visit sitting under the Rialto Bridge in Venice, I got the whole play, plot and characters in 30 minutes and it then took me the best part of two years to absorb enough Russian reading and observation to feel ready to deliver. My musical guide is the poet and folk singer Boris Grebenshikov, the Russian Bob Dylan. I'm also indebted to the writer, producer and Russophile, Jo Durden-Smith, who many times redirected me when I strayed off course. The play is dedicated to his memory.
Cast: 3 m, 2 f.
Set. Int. rooms with huge ext. potential for Russia outside.
Juliet on the Nile
(A Drama)
It's September, 1994. Juliet, near 40, her marriage at breaking point takes a trip on a small Nile cruiser with a group of healers visiting the tombs and temples of Egypt. Their leader is the strong-willed, charismatic Anita.
Juliet and her group of unusual new friends come
up against the powers
of the ancient gods and the stark realities of modern-day
Egypt.
My wife and I made a similar trip on a small boat with healers at the time when it was really too dangerous to travel, though we only became fully aware of this when we found armed Egyptian police on board protecting us. Not so long after, a bus load of tourists were massacred at the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut in the Valley of the Kings.
Cast: 6 m, 6 f.
Set: Can be minimalist or a take on the grandeur of Egypt!
The play has had a rehearsed reading with a stellar cast including Samantha Bond, Caroline Blakiston, Marcia Warren and Rita Tushingham and directed by David Giles.
It is ready to go.
Claire’s Key
(A Comedy Drama)
Claire’s flat, North London. Sounds of a key in the door. A man enters quietly.
Mark (40), just off a flight from Kenya has been
lent this empty flat for the weekend, or so he believes,
but a woman springs awake in the bedroom.
She’s
Jessica (30), desirable, vulnerable. They
confront each other startled and suspicious. Isabella
comes from the flat below to feed the fish. And
then there’s Peter, Jessica’ boss to contend with, as the mood darkens and the weather
closes in.
What starts off as a farce, moves in the space of 24 hours through lies and intrigue, tender feelings of love, real danger and finally hope for these tricky times; our lives in transition like the weather we see through the skylight of the absent Claire’s welcoming space.
Cast: 2 m, 2 f.
Set: A studio flat with the North London skyline beyond.
This play had a reading with American actors in Boston, USA with a big and positive response.
The Secret of Sherlock Holmes
(A Crime Drama)
Discussions are ongoing for a revival of the play which ran for a year at Wyndhams Theatre, starring Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke.
The Watcher
(A Thriller)
A hot summer day. A lakeside bank. A rug, a hamper, a bottle of wine and a walkman. He is a young man obsessed with films. She is a handsome older woman. But this is no picnic - a savage murder took place nearby just a week ago. Why are they here? Are they being watched?
This was first performed at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond under the title of ‘Can You Help?’. It was Critics Choice in Time Out and City Limits. Here’s what they said:
"With its rapid about-turns and role reversals Jeremy Paul’s ingenious two-hander recalls SLEUTH and does not suffer in comparison." (Time Out)
"Marvellous, intelligent thriller that upsets our notions of ‘reality’ with dizzying effect and creates an atmosphere tense with anticipation." (City Limits)
Cast: 1 m, 1 f.
Set: One exterior set.
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The play was revived at the Edinburgh festival (2006) - to critical and audience acclaim and is up and running for its next production.
Dead Easy
(A Thriller)
Alone in a Dorset cottage a woman is holding a bloodstained knife. Her stepson arrives on his motorbike with his girlfriend. He is drawn into the concealment of a body and what should have been a relaxing weekend turns into a nightmare.
I live in classic ‘thriller’ country, shared with Christie, du Maurier, Minette Walters and many others. A story came up and hit me walking my dog, and with Sherlock Holmes, Hetty Wainthropp, Campion and Midsomer Murders recently behind me, I found I had something to give back to the town I love.
Cast: 2 m, 2 f
Set: One int. set.
This play directed by the author premiered in his home town of Swanage, Dorset in 2006. The local critic said:
"Straight to the West End!"
The Lady or The Tiger
(A Musical)
Based on a classic American story by Frank Stockton, this came my way via the Orange Tree. Michael Richmond (lyrics) and Nola York (music) were the inspiration behind a magical show. I came in to supply the book and we transferred to the Fortune Theatre.
Cast: 3 m, 1 f.
Set: Simple
It received critical acclaim from Harold Hobson, Sheridan
Morley and many others.
A gift to anyone with the wit to pick up on it. Catch it if you can!
The Little Match Girl
(A Musical)
This musical was adapted by Keith Strachan (music), Leslie Stewart and Jeremy Paul (book and lyrics) from Hans Christian Andersen's work. It started life under the title of ‘Scraps’ in a room above the Orange Tree pub, Richmond. A later production moved it to the new theatre before it found its way to television, starring Roger Daltrey and Twiggy who sang the original TV version of ‘Mistletoe and Wine’. This of course was then picked up by Sir Cliff Richard, and the rest is history.
Productions include Contact Theatre, Manchester (directed by Tony Clark), regional productions (directed by Leslie Stewart) and world-wide including Iceland and Russia.
Available now for enterprising companies.
Manoeuvres
(A Farce)
A retired General, his film buff wife, an ageing Hollywood star beached in their guest room, a showpiece musical due to open in the new ‘Chichester of the North’ theatre in Lake Windermere, and a misdirected tank blowing the top off the local church and ending up in the General’s pond….
This is Manoeuvres, written by Carey Harrison and Jeremy Paul.
Hailed by the distinguished film and theatre director Donald MacWhinnie as:
"The funniest farce I have ever read."
It premiered at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry.
Cast: 6 m, 2 f.
Set: Composite; the General’s house and garden involving the branch of a tree from which a young actor can land by rope onto the balcony outside the bedroom of the General’s daughter.
Due for revival.