THE PLAYS OF DEAN BARRETT


ONE-ACT PLAYS
INTERIORS DEATH OF A LEGEND
THE HISTORY LESSON SERIOUS REPLIES ONLY

Interiors

A four-character play for two male actors and two female actors set in a cafe. Explores the interior monologue as well as the external dialogue between the two. Simple props. Sensual humor. A sin-filled play if ever there was one. Fifteen minutes.

Death of a Legend

A three-character play for three male actors set in an apartment. A young man wants to become a hit man for the mob but gets quite a bit more than he bargained for. Simple props. Fifteen minutes.

Serious Replies Only!

A four-character play for two males, one female and one transvestite exploring the difficulties of being "normal." The play has an element of Theater of the Absurd. Simple props. Ten minutes.

The History Lesson

A three-character play for three male actors. A Theater of the Absurd play about living according to Archbishop Ussher's belief that the world began in 4004 B.C. Simple props. Twenty-five minutes.

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Barracoon

A short, full-length play without intermission. Set in the late 19th century in Swatow, China, Barracoon portrays the horrors of the Chinese slave trade. Five male Caucasian actors; seven male Asian actors; one female Asian actor.

Barracoon



The Cracker Box

A full-length play without intermission. Set in present-day Vero Beach, Florida. A very elderly woman and her home health aid discover joy in life and dignity in old age. Five actors; three females, two Caucasian, one black; two males, one Caucasian, one black.

The Cracker Box



A Village Inn

A full-length play with intermission. Set in a New York city apartment in the late 80's. Veterans of wars, women who love them, and the mysterious workings of the Buddha. Love, humor, sexual seduction and the need to forgive. Six actors; three females, three males.

A Village Inn


Fragrant Harbour

Synopsis, scene synopsis, historical illustrations, cast list, Acts One & Two (complete) of a musical set in Hong Kong in 1857. Actors: Caucasian and Asian.

Fragrant Harbour


Assassins - A Fable

Good Intentions and Bad Theater

Assassins - A Fable


A Fairy Tale set in China

The Boat Girl and the Magic Fish

A Fairy Tale set in China


Two Filmscript Synopses

Two filmscript synopses, high budget action/adventure set in China and Vietnam; low budget horror set in a small town in Maine

Dragon Slayer & Golden Dragon



About the Playwright

Dean Barrett has had several plays read and staged by various groups including Pasadena Playhouse of California, Virginia's Offstage Theatre, Florida's Riverside Theatre, New York's Phoenix Ensemble, Chicago's Mary-Aarchie Theater, Manhattan's Vox Theater, Love Creek Productions, Fourplay Productions and PanAsia Repertory. Many colleges and universities have performed his plays and musicals including Penn State, Suny at Brockport, University of Florida and Indonesia's Gadjah Mada University. Dean's plays have been performed in the United States, England, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, Indonesia and South Africa.

Dean has written the book and lyrics for a musical set in Hong Kong in 1857 entitled FRAGRANT HARBOUR (music -Ed Linderman). Presentations of the musical have been held at BMI, York Theater, Directors Company and Penn State University. The musical was selected to be staged on 42nd Street under the auspices of the National Alliance of Musical Theaters. Mr. Barrett has co-written a one-man show with the Chinese actor, Robert Lin, entitled MAO: Red Star & Blue Apple, and his play about the 19th century Chinese slave trade entitled, BARRACOON, recently had a reading with VOX Theater Company in Manhattan.

Dean is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Mystery Writers of America, an affiliate of BMI (librettist), and a member of the China Round Table. His latest novel is, Murder in China Red.

Photograph taken by Mia Yun in Manhattan's East Village, April, 2000

Dean Barrett's Novels

Eternities Must End: The Ballads of Dean Barrett

"Breakthrough art always has trouble arranging its start-up financing." Ethan Mordden - The New York Times

"Everything that is worth doing artistically is scary." Craig Lucas - International Herald Tribune

"For me, there's only one rule of playwriting: don't bore the audience. Whether you're writing drama or comedy, you simply must be compelling." David Ives - Dramatists Guild's The Dramatist

"There is no success where there is no possibility of failure, no art without the resistance of the medium." Raymond Chandler - Playback

"Is a lively, contentious, reflective theater beyond our reach, our imaginations? Are the powers who reign over this theater of the bottom line aware that there are some really interesting -- even entertaining -- things to talk about on the stage and that they ought to be encouraged? Even if at times they require more than two or four people in the cast? A new 'Crucible' could not be produced on Broadway today, nor a 'Death of a Salesman,' either. Nor, for that matter, a 'streetcar.' Too many people. Is this situation satisfactory for what purports to be the main stage of the richest country in human history?" Arthur Miller - The New York Times


          

Contact the Playwright: deanbarr@loxinfo.co.th




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