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Plays

I began writing plays while at university, purely from the desire to create something. Back then I had no expectation to make any kind of a career from it. But I've had some lucky breaks. My first Edinburgh fringe experience in 2005 brought unexpected success. I found myself being approached by producers keen on professional productions. Meslier, The Last Priest, Now Is The Hour and Voodoo Blues were all written as commissions, and after a few false starts, a large scale production of Cross Road Blues is planned in the near future.

My plays are diverse in nature, but there are a few key themes which run through them: music, obsession, religion and mythology always seem to play some part. The blues, in particular, in all its forms, has a stubborn bind on my imagination.

DWH

Past Productions

Dates given are for the first full production. If you are interested in performing any of my work, in whole or in part, please contact me, and I'll be happy to discuss possibilities.


Now Is The Hour August 2008, Hill Street Theatre, Edinburgh		An epic survival story based on accounts of victims and survivors of the sinking of the troopship Laconia by a German U-Boat in the mid-Atlantic in 1942. Left adrift, one lifeboat spent 28 excruciating days at sea.

The Last Priest June 2007, King's Head, London		The Last Priest tells the story of Jean Meslier (1664-1729), a French Catholic priest who secretly wrote a ferocious atheistic and socialist testament. We had a great run at the King's Head and I'm currently working with the British Humanist Association on producing educational resources, so that the play may be used as a stimulus for teaching history and citizenship. A DVD of the King's Head production is available through the play's website.

Violent Acts January 2007, ADC, Cambridge		A collaboration with writer James Topham and a group of Cambridge University actors, produced as part of the Close Knit writers' project. The play follows the intertwining lives of eight people on the day of a young man's university graduation.

Meslier August 2006, Sweet, Edinburgh		A short, one act version of The Last Priest. Written with the Edinburgh fringe in mind as a place to try out the story before putting together the full version.

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady February 2005, Playroom, Cambridge		My difficult second album, my sophomore play seems now much closer to juvenilia than the first. A short play about a girl who thinks she's a prostitute, a rapist who thinks he's a lover and a boy who thinks he's a man. The title comes from an infinitely superior recording by Charles Mingus. Download the script here - no really, do.

Cross Road Blues October 2003, ADC, Cambridge		My first play, and still, perhaps, my best. Cross Road Blues enacts the legends surrounding Robert Johnson, the 1930's Delta Blues singer. Robert Johnson died at the age of twenty-six, poisoned in a bar, leaving behind him a legacy of a few recordings, and a Faustian legend that has come to define the essence of the Blues. I directed a rehearsed reading of Cross Road Blues with a newly commissioned choral score at the Bridewell Theatre on 25th January 2009.

Coming Up



Voodoo Blues		Weaving the heady mythology of blues through the intangible excesses of rock and roll, Voodoo Blues brings us the myth of Faust through the strung out world of a wasted rock genius. Featuring original music by Russ Blaber of Helium Soul mingling with some blues-rock classics, this has been a long time in development. Prepare to be blown away though, it shall be huge.