Peter Barnes is, I am certain, one of the major playwrights this country has
produced in the second half of the twentieth century...It
should draw fresh attention to the work of one of the great playwrights of our time.--
Martin Esslin--Plays International critic;
former head of Drama, Stanford University
_______________________________________________________
FOLLOWING THE NEAR SELL-OUT SUCCESS OF BARNES' PLAY JUBILEE AT THE
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY,
METHUEN PUBLICATAIONS ANNOUNCES THE FORTHCOMING PUBLICATION OF
A NEW LITERARY STUDY OF BARNES' WORK
AND THE PUBLICATION OF
VOLUME 4 OF HIS COLLECTED PLAYS.
BARNES' STUDY OF ERNST LUBITSCH'S FILM TO BE OR NOT TO BE
AVAILABLE FROM THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE THIS YEAR.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Announcement: On a rare personal note for
this workaholic writer, Barnes' triplets Abigail, Nathaniel and Zachary were
born 4 November 2002,
joining daughter Leela.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
JUBILEE
Royal Shakespeare Company production
Without 18th Century actor-manager extraordinaire David
Garrick's organising a Shakespeare Festival, there would be no Shakespeare
industry. Shakespeare works would have lain forgotten if they had not been
plucked from relative obscurity by the actor 'superstar'. JUBILEE tells
that tale.
Most recent major play:
THE LONDON PREMIERE OF
DREAMING
by PETER
BARNES
PETER BARNES'S POWERFUL NEW PLAY
DREAMING OPENS IN LONDON'S WEST END AT THE QUEEN'S THEATRE.
DREAMING is an inspiring and
humourous epic new work from Peter Barnes, one of the country's most original and
intriguing playwrights.
HOT TIP! Got a diary? Clear it! Make frantic space for
Dreaming. an awesome, visionary fantasy now scorching the Queen's Theatre! Written
by warped, glorious playwright Peter Barnes, it's unlike anything else in the West End....QX Magazine
DREAMING is achingly beautiful, and achingly humourous. Gerard Murphy
heads a strong cast...' Tap dances and stand up comic routines mix with battles and
romance in this 'powerful new play' (Guardian).
...Peter Barnes's remarkable play,,,theatregoers may indeed believe they are in the grip
of some terrifying LSD flashback...there is real originality here...sprawlingly, admirably
ambitious play....(The Daily Telegraph)
Printed Play, published by
Metheun, available in shops and from Amazon.com
8 YEAR RUN for RED NOSES
RED NOSES, Peter Barnes' Olivier Award winning play which has had
successful runs in London and the US, is in its 8th year at Teatre Nowy, Poznan.
'Almost every theatregoer in Poznan knows this play and its heroes...a cult for
many people and not only the young.'--Eugenius Korin, Artistic Director (email: teatrnowy@info.poznan.pl)
BARNES' FANS--Starved for Barnesian humor?
DON'T MISS THE HALLMARK CHANNEL FOR
CONTINUOUS BARNES 'LITE':
ARABIAN NIGHTS starring Jason Scott Lee, John Laguizamo, Rufus
Sewell
MERLIN with Sam Neil, Rutger Hauer, Martin Short, Isabella Rosselini
NOAH'S ARK with Jon Voight, Mary Steenbergen, James Coburn, F.Murray Abrahams, Carol Kane,
etc
ALICE IN WONDERLAND with Tina Marjorino, Gene Wilder, Peter Ustinov, Martin Short, Miranda
Richardson, Whoopie Goldberg
A CHRISTMAS CAROL with Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant
LEPRECHAUNS with Randy Quaid,Whoopie Goldberg and Colm Meaney
ALSO AVAILABLE ON DVD AND VIDEO
( Although some portions of his miniseries are just good fun
or an excuse for dazzling special effects, some contain significant amounts of pure Barnes
that are almost filmed Barnes' plays, ie. packed with wit, wisdom, biting satire, and
anarchy)
Hats off to Hallmark and the US networks for using a serious,
but witty, playwright for high quality American entertainment!
When it is hard to get 30-character epic plays on, it is brilliant that US networks back
them with $30 million productions with top casts.
THE WEBSITE
A COMPLETE DRAMA EXPERIENCE AND DRAMA RESOURCE.
From the cult classic Oscar-nominated film THE RULING CLASS, a biting
comic satire, to its "opposite"- the wit and charm of the acclaimed
Oscar-nominated ENCHANTED APRIL (Bill Clinton's favourite film), Barnes' plays, films,
television specials, musicals win the top accollades.
Plays, movies, televison, radio all with the original British & American casts .
Winner of Olivier Award for Best Play of the Year, Evening
Standard Best Play of the Year winner several times, Royal Society of Television Best
Programme of the Year, Oscar nominations, Emmy nominations...etc...
MAJOR PLAYS INCLUDE:
RED NOSES
DREAMING
THE RULING CLASS
THE BEWITCHED
For a taster try BARNES PEOPLE
or BARNES PEOPLE TEXT -- 30 award-winning
short plays
which starred
Sean Connery . . . Peter O'Toole
Sir Alec Guinness . . . Sir Laurence Olivier
Sir Peter Ustinov . . . Claire Bloom
Jeremy Irons . . . Alan Rickman
Joan Plowright . . . Sir Ian McKellan
Simon Callow . . . Dame Peggy Ashcroft
Paul Scoffield . . . Nigel Hawthorne
Sir John Gielgud . . . Dame Judy Dench
Alan Bates . . . John Hurt
Trevor Howard . . . Lionel Jeffries
Tom Conti . . . Stephen Rea
Donald Pleasance . . .Dame Wendy Hiller
and many many more of the top names in world acting
PLAYS TO BROWSE:
ZEN TEXT -------------------------"NOT
AS BAD" TEXT
Audio on 'complete pages'
LEONARDO'S LAST SUPPER
When Leonardo da Vinci is mistakenly pronounced dead--will the undertakers kill him for
the funeral payment or let the genius live--capitalism vs culture
CONFESSIONS OF PRIMARY TERRESTRIAL
RECEIVER AND COMMUNICATOR: NUM III MARK I
Who will aliens choose to communicate with?....Heaven's Gate or Fox Mulder?
SIR ALEC GUINNESS ('Obi Wan Kenobi' and distinguished classical actor) in Peter Barnes hit
black-comedy monologue
Actual university and schools study guides
and course notes. Barnes' work is on the British school cirriculum and taught at
universities world-wide.
Over 60 monologues and short plays ideal
for auditions and showcases are featured. Over 100 of the world's greatest actors display
their unique skills.
Barnes lectures; and lectures about Barnes, the theatre, life and taxes
by top academics world-wide. Barnes's Shakespeare; The Ruling Class.
-
-
An audition resource for professional and aspiring actors.
Peter Barnes 'Lite'
--(his 'entertainments' as Graham Greene would classify them):
BARNES' FANS--Starved for Barnesian humor-- NBC'S MERLIN, the Hallmark
mini-series, available on video from NBC
and in print at your local bookshop-
MERLIN has been nominated for 15 EMMY awards--including Best Writer for a Miniseries
for Peter Barnes
with Sam Neil, Rutger Hauer, Martin Short and Isabella Rosselini,
final script by Peter Barnes--
Also available on video:
Hallmark miniseries written by Peter Barnes include--NOAH'S ARK starring Jon Voight,
F. Murray Abrahams, Mary Steenbergen and Carol Kane.
--ALICE IN WONDERLAND starring Martin Short, Whoopie Godlberg (the Cheshire Cat),
Christopher Lloyd, Gene Wilder, Peter Ustinov.
--ARABIAN NIGHTS teaming Barnes again with MERLIN director Steve Barron starring Jason
Scott Lee and Rufus Sewell, a thiry million dollar project shot in Turkey and Morocco.
--Christmas 1999 on TNT, Barnes' adaptation of A CHRISTMAS CAROL which will star
Patrick Stewart as Scrooge.
--Leprechauns starring Randy Quaid and Whoopie Goldberg rolls on 31 May at London's
Shepperton (NBC needed to fill a time slot and Leprechauns was done in 5 months
instead of the usual quality Hallmark 12-18 months--no serious director would do the
project in that time and it rather showed. NBC thought Hallmark could do the
impossible, but Hallmark should have turned them down. Don't blame Barnes, he'd just
started writing the script for production the following year when it was rushed into
production in a matter of weeks.)
A THEATRE CRUSADE--A WEB EDITORIAL
It is rare for a 'serious' play, (however witty), with 25 characters, that
isn't a musical, with no American TV or movie stars, to make it to the
West End. Please support DREAMING and all other plays of its scale to keep
extravagent, epic theatre alive.
Why is it that most people who visit this site visit THE THEORY AND
PRACTICE OF BELLY DANCING! I refuse to put in a link here--explore Barnes' work--if you'd
looked might have found MOONDOG GROGAN AND THE TINY HAMPSTER about two female mud
wrestlers. Serious drama can be funny, sexy, bizarre. Good Reviews--Bad
Reviews--to present a thoroughly balanced view of Barnes.
All Barnes plays are available at Amazon.com--there are direct links on
the web pages devoted to the different plays or at the store. The Amazon site has
not been recently updated. Most listed books are in print. French's
Bookstore in London and Los Angeles and the Theatre Bookshop in New York have a wide
selection, as well as acting editions. Dillions and most British book chains carry
them as well.
Copyright Technofilm 1997
This nonprofit site is designed and maintained by international academics
and theatre professionals who teach or produce Barnes work.
April 24, 2000.
