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Ned ManningPlaywright

Ned writes for the theatre and film, has had articles published in various publications, writes both short and long stories, and is a member of 7ON.

His plays include Us or Them, Close to the Bone, Milo, Luck of the Draw (Currency Press), Alice Dreaming (Cambridge University Press), as well as contributions to 7ON’s No Nudity, Weapons or Naked Flames (Federation Press) and Short Circuit (Currency Press).

He has written ten short plays for schools exploring Shakespeare in an Australian context, which are suitable for large and small casts, or study.

Women of Troy was selected in the 2013 International Prix Marulic competition, with a large cast stage version of the play is available for schools. His non-fiction work Playground Duty (NewSouth Books) has become required reading for anyone interested in schools and teaching. Kenny’s Coming Home, his comedy with music and song, is being used by WestWords to stimulate creative writing for students in Sydney’s Western suburbs.

Ned’s playwriting program PlayUp encourages young and old to write and perform their own plays. He is currently working on his first novel.

Amateur Licence Form

Plays

An exploration of Hamlet and King Lear for secondary students.

Action Inaction is an exploration of Hamlet and King Lear that focusses on the central characters choices and the ramifications of those choices. Four Actors discover Shakespeare’s world, language, characters and innate theatricality by forging links between the plays and the contemporary world. Themes raised include conflict within families (both sibling rivalries and parent/child tensions), blended families and filial loyalty. The script also examines the rhythm of the language and the innate theatricality of the plays.

This script was originally developed as part of a series, for Bell Shakespeare’s Actors At Work programme.

Length: 90 minutes
Cast: Larger cast option for a classroom context: 4 students could play the designated characters with other students playing the Shakespearean characters.
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

Alice Dreaming is a play for secondary students that tells a uniquely Australian story. Trapped by the expectations of others, a girl escapes into her imagination. Following an albatross, Alice takes a journey across Australia that eventually brings her closer to home and an understanding of who she is. Inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, it is a play written about teenagers, for teenagers.

Embracing a non naturalistic theatrical language, Alice Dreaming can incorporate a number of performance elements, including puppetry, mask, music and dance. Roles suitable for performance by both boys and girls.

Length: 80 minutes
Cast: 8 female, 4 male
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

The Bridge is Down is a light-hearted look at life in Australia in 1954, the year of the Royal Visit. A torrential downpour forces ten women (amongst them a private school debating team, a nun, a socialite, an actress) to take shelter in a shearing shed. Caught up in the optimism (or naivety) of the period their attitudes reflect the huge changes in Australian society since then.

Length: 60 minutes
Cast: 10 female, 1 male
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

Written with students from the EORA Centre in Redfern in 1990, some of whom were members of the Stolen Generation, Close to the Bone is a story about a family’s survival in the face of adversity. Moving from the Mission to Redfern and back again, it celebrates Redfern’s role in providing a focal point for dislocated Indigenous Australians. The play also honours the role EORA played in bringing people together and linking them with family. It was first performed by EORA students at the old Centre in the heart of Redfern. It was directed by Lydia Miller, David Kennedy and Rhoda Roberts with music by Scott Saunders and Karen Vaughan.

Close to the Bone is a large cast play that is suitable for students of all ages and youth groups.

Full length play
Cast: 9 female, 1 male
Published by Currency Press
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

An exploration of Julius Caesar and Othello for secondary students.

Four Actors explore the language and themes of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and Othello. The Actors comment on the action of the scenes and sometimes enter the scenes to comment. They play with the rhythm of Shakespeare’s language and discover how Shakespeare uses language to create meaning and reveal character. The role of prose and verse in defining action and character is discussed. There are many contemporary references in the script as the Actors search for what might be relevant in Shakespeare to an audience today.

Issues such as bullying, plotting and conspiracy are discussed as a way of opening up the two plays themes. The script also investigates the issue of multicultural and cross gender casting.

Length: 55 minutes
Cast: Flexible cast options for a classroom context: four students could play the designated actors with other students playing the Shakespearean characters.

This script was originally developed as part of a series, for Bell Shakespeare’s Actors At Work programme
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

An exploration of Julius Caesar and Macbeth for secondary students.

This script focuses on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and Macbeth. Four Actors wrestle with themes raised by both plays as they discover Shakespeare’s world, language, characters and theatricality. The script looks at the dilemmas facing the central characters in both plays and how they go about resolving those dilemmas. It examines the consequences of the characters actions and how they affect the world of each play.

The Actors enter scenes to explore the playing of scenes and the inherent theatricality of both plays. They examine the language in detail and how delivery of the language informs the action and the characters. Issues such as cross- casting are discussed as is the nature of the Elizabethan world.

This script was originally developed as part of a series, for Bell Shakespeare’s Actors At Work programme.

Length: 45 minutes
Cast: Flexible cast options for a classroom context – four students could play the designated actors with additional students playing the Shakespearean characters.
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

The innocence of Australian life in 1939 is shattered by the outbreak of war. The subsequent awakening of a nation is reflected through the lives of the characters in Gods of War. The battle rages both at home and abroad, with those left behind as deeply affected as those on the battlefields. Neither the country nor its people will ever be the same again.

Length: 120 minutes
Cast: 9 female, 17 male
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

A detailed examination of Hamlet for senior secondary students.

Every generation has their Hamlet. From Edmund Kean to John Bell to Brendan Cowell. Hamlet is a play for the ages and Hamlet Intensive investigates the many and varied ways Shakespeare’s great tragedy has been interpreted. Four actors discover what motivates Hamlet, what prevents him from acting and what obstacles stand in his way. They also reveal the radical nature of Shakespeare’s characterisation of a man torn by inner and external conflict. Hamlet was a thinker, a renaissance man, who didn’t just respond to what was in front of him. The script explores how a modern audience might “read” the play in terms of sound, lighting, music and acting styles as well as Hamlet’s relationship with the audience.

This script was originally developed as part of a series, for Bell Shakespeare’s Actors At Work programme.

Length: 45 minutes
Cast: Flexible cast options for a classroom context – four students could play the designated actors with additional students playing the Shakespearean characters.
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

Kenny’s Coming Home is a play with music that celebrates life in Sydney’s western suburbs.

The Green family escapes inner-city Sydney in the early 1990s for a better life out west. Dad grows zucchinis and involves himself in local politics. Aunt Dorothy and Mum find the community they have been missing in the big smoke. Son Kenny leads the Panthers to rugby league glory and is ordained a local legend as a result. Daughter Kim is caught between a rock and a hard place as she tries to make sense of her teenage years.

All hell breaks loose when the local MP drops dead playing squash. Dad decides to seek pre-selection for the Labor Party and tries to co-opt Kenny for support. The family is opposed to his plans. Then they start actively campaigning against him …

Full length play
Cast: 3 female, 2 male
Published by Currency Press
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

Joe is an old chippy desperately hanging on to his castle and his vision of a fast disappearing Australia. Inspired by the memory of his lifelong partner and inspiration, Ruth, Joe attempts to repel what he perceives as full frontal attacks from his children, Bill and Katy. His life is literally falling apart but he refuses to bow to the inevitable and suffers the inevitable consequences.

Length: 90 minutes
Cast: 2 female, 2 male
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

An exploration of Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for secondary students.

Love’s Magic is an examination of the nature of love in Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It focuses on the random nature of love and its magic. Four Actors explore the universal truths about love and how those truths are still relevant today. They demystify Shakespeare’s language by using contemporary analogies. They examine Shakespeare’s world and belief systems and look at how love can change the course of lives. The tension between the Actors reflects the tension between the characters. As they make these discoveries, the Actors explore the unique properties of theatre and the relationship between audience and performers. The comic and tragic possibilities of love are dissected and revealed as the Actors own relationships are reflected in the scenes they play.

This script was originally developed as part of a series, for Bell Shakespeare’s Actors At Work programme.

Length: 60 minutes
Cast: Flexible cast options for a classroom context – four students could play the designated actors with additional students playing the Shakespearean characters.
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

When Pat rescues Annie from the Girls Home and takes her back to her country they both think they have found peace. Pat is able to continue his life on the road and Annie can settle down to a quiet life as a new mother. But, in post war Australia, things are not quite so simple for an Indigenous family.

Nor is it so simple for the well meaning white fellas who try to help them out.

Luck of the Draw charts a family’s struggle for survival from the last years of WW2 to the present day. It is a story about identity and survival.

Cast: 3 female, 2 male
Published by Currency Press.

A detailed examination of Macbeth for senior secondary students.

Four actors explore the supernatural world of Macbeth as they investigate the play’s inner workings. The actors examine Shakespeare’s use of language and the way his characters reveal their actions, personalities and motivations through the text. Contemporary references bring Shakespeare’s world into the twenty first century. The fundamental theatricality of Shakespeare is unmasked as are the many themes raised in Macbeth. These include loyalty, friendship, ambition and male/female relationships.

This script was originally developed as part of a series, for Bell Shakespeare’s Actors At Work programme.

Length: 45 minutes
Cast: Flexible cast options for a classroom context – four students could play the designated actors with additional students playing the Shakespearean characters.
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

An introduction to the world of William Shakespeare for primary schools, targeting grades 5 and 6.

Magic Box introduces Primary School students to the magical world of William Shakespeare. An Executioner takes the students back into the Elizabethan England. An actor from the 21st century has lost her colleague and is forced to improvise without him. To do so she conducts a quiz, tries on some costumes and demonstrates how Shakespeare’s plays were staged. With the aid of some “fairies” she conjures Ben Johnson from the magic box. He assists her in staging some scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet as well as exploring some of Shakespeare’s themes and characters.

This script was originally developed as part of a series, for Bell Shakespeare’s Actors At Work programme.

Length: 40 minutes
Cast: Flexible cast options for a classroom context – four students could play the designated actors with additional students playing the Shakespearean characters.
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

A pipe-dreaming hobby farmer and his high-flying wife, are confronted with issues of property ownership.

Full length play
Cast: 2 female, 2 male
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

A detailed examination of Romeo & Juliet for senior secondary students.

Four Actors discover the hidden treasures in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The Actors comment on the action of the play and, at times, enter scenes to comment. The text opens Romeo and Juliet up so that it becomes accessible to a young audience. Connections are made between the Elizabethan world and the contemporary one. The timeless struggle between generations is examined in the context of the play. The consequences of actions and the obstacles that prevent resolution are explored. Turning points are played out and analysed. Shakespeare’s language is demystified and discussed as the Actors share their discoveries with the audience.

This script was originally developed as part of a series, for Bell Shakespeare’s Actors At Work programme.

Length: 60 minutes
Cast: Flexible cast options for a classroom context – four students could play the designated actors with additional students playing the Shakespearean characters.
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

An exploration of Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice for secondary students.

Trick or Treat examines illusion and reality in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice. Things aren’t always what they seem. Are the characters who they say they are? Do they want what they say they want? Are the villains really villains or are they misunderstood? Who lies under the masks worn in both plays? These questions and more are explored by Four Actors as they examine key scenes in both plays. They enter the scenes and reveal the complexity within them. They examine Shakespeare’s language in detail focussing on rhythm and meter as well as meaning. Character’s motivation is assessed as is the three dimensionality of Shakespeare’s characters. As well as this there is an investigation of gender and racial politics in the plays.

This script was originally developed as part of a series, for Bell Shakespeare’s Actors At Work programme.

Length: 50 minutes
Cast: Flexible cast options for a classroom context – four students could play the designated actors with additional students playing the Shakespearean characters.
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

An exploration of Othello and Macbeth for senior secondary students.

Macbeth meets Othello meets Twilight. Four Actors examine the key themes in two of Shakespeare’s classic tragedies. They move in and out of scenes played by Shakespeare’s characters investigating the text in detail. This script focuses on the machinations of ambitious political aspirants as well as the role sexual politics plays in determining behaviour. It also explores the richness and accessibility of Shakespeare’s language and how he chose particular words and phrases to raise the stakes in a scene as well as reflecting character motivation. The Actors investigate the historical and social implications implications in the casting of Othello.

This script was originally developed as part of a series, for Bell Shakespeare’s Actors At Work programme.

Length: 50 minutes
Cast: Flexible cast options for a classroom context – four students could play the designated actors with additional students playing the Shakespearean characters.
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

Veteran ex-journalist Harry Walsh is one of the lucky few that can afford Care in the twilight of his life. He is putting the finishing touches to a memoir that will expose the failure of governments past and present in the imaginable future. He is unsettled by the arrival of a young Indigenous woman, Keisha Blair, as the replacement for his usual carer. He ignores calls from his son, Tom, who has been surprisingly installed as Prime Minister following a scandal. Tom’s wife, Chinese/Australian Dr. Mei-Ling Young, seizes the opportunity to push for a return of universal health care.

Harry’s escape from the Home with Keisha is a potential embarrassment for Tom and Mei as they try to seal a deal for mining in the Antarctic with the Chinese government. Keisha’s “fishing” trip is a ruse to show Harry the site of a covered up mass drowning of refugees in a secluded Detention Centre. Harry’s journalistic instincts lead him to help Keisha put a story together exposing the government’s cover up.
Ultimately, he can’t bring himself to betray his son and reneges on his commitment to Keisha. When she is jailed on terrorism charges Harry loses his will to live and dies of a broken heart.

His death sparks Tom’s conscience and, at Mei’s insistence, he offers Keisha a role in holding the government to account.

Length: 90 minutes
Cast: 2 female, 2 male
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

If the playground is potentially explosive, the staffroom is a full on war zone. Us or Them takes us inside the workings of a state high school. Students and teachers battle for survival in an environment that forces regimentation and creates tension. The human being is reduced to role playing in the playground, the staffroom and in staff meetings. And when the teachers let their hair down at a staff room the results are catastrophic.

Written 20 years ago, Us or Them remains scarily relevant.

Length: 90 minutes
Cast: 3 female, 4 male
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

An adaptation of Euripides’ Women of Troy for a large cast.

This adaptation lands a journalist from the C21st in Troy following the sacking the city by the Athenians. The journalist embeds herself with the Women of Troy and reports the course of events back to the ABC. She is inexorably drawn into the lives and personal struggles of the Women with tragic results.

Length: 50 minutes
Cast: 9 female, 7 male
Available for purchase through australianplays.org

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