MARK LUCAS Plays - Plays for products by Mark Lucas. Mark Lucas One act plays for production. One act plays for production

Excalibur Theatre Company

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Plays by Mark Lucas

Mark Lucas of Excalibur Theatre Company has a range of quality plays suitable for production. From Psychological thrillers to Contemporary dramas to Farcical comedies - there is a play or two to suit your audience.

Mark Lucas' original plays can be purchased from Excalibur Theatre Company. Plays can be performed at events, fundraisers, festivals and festivals for a small fee. Below is a list of plays created by Excalibur Theatre Company and a small Precis and Author's Note for each.

Roulette

Cast: 2 Female, 1 Male. Psychological thriller.

(Running time 40 mins)

Precis:

“Fear is not a game”

Jenny and TJ are flatmates but one night on the town introduces a darker character into their lives. Nothing can prepare them for the roller coaster ride that is Robert; a loaded gun with a hair trigger.

Author’s Note:

Roulette was the very first play I seriously set my mind to work on. The desire to create characters that were more naturalistic in their dialogue and their actions than other works and to produce a character so inherently evil and psychotic that no-one can safely assume what path he will ever take.

Winner of 9 awards – 1994.

Cut!

Cast: 2 Female, 3 Male. Contemporary drama.

(Running time 40 mins)

Precis:

“Where the rock and roll dream becomes a nightmare”

Alex, Chloe and Peter are members of a highly successful rock band fronted by the high-powered Lane. Not even Felix, the group’s manager, can control Lane, the lead singer, as the band verges on the edge of self-destruction.

Author’s Note:

Everybody wants to be a rock star, or at least a celebrity at one time or another. Cut! was written with this idea firmly planted in the front of my mind. I wanted to capture the high-powered nature of the industry as well as the fact that what goes on in front of the curtain is not necessarily re-enacted back-stage between the band ensemble.

Winner of 5 awards – 1996.

Redemption

Cast: 2 Female, 3 Male. Contemporary drama.

(Running time 40 mins)

Precis:

“When the truth is just a lie”

An IRA bomb has shattered the life and body of Ben Sutton. This cruel twist of fate draws him close to Clare, his carer and sets his brother Michael and father Graham on a collision course with each other and the hospital Matron.

Author’s Note:

While I am not a political correspondent of any sort, this was a story I felt compelled to write if only to reflect that there are two sides to any story and it is always the innocents who suffer the most. This is a demanding play for all characters to have to portray the reality of a very real situation and a challenging role for the actor who is Ben.

Winner of 8 awards – 1997.

DOMAIN

Cast: 6 Female, 1 Male. Gothic horror.

(Running time 40 mins)

Precis:

“A very dark place to be”

Esmerelda is cast into a prison cell and finds companionship amid its mysterious & sensuous inhabitants, Bernadette, Annaliese, Dominique and Carlotta. The fear she experiences from the gaoler, Edith, is nothing compared to the terror that is Him.

Author’s Note:

Domain, as a play, is one of my personal favourites. This regard for it is borne out of what became of a scripted idea and was transported onto the stage as a spectacle. Its power, its beauty, sensuality and darkness created an on-stage work that I have never seen before or since in a one-act play.

Winner of 11 awards - 1998

Verve

Cast: 4 Female, 3 Male. Farcical comedy.

(Running time 45 mins)

Precis:

“Madness in fast forward”

Mitchell Germaine is the ultimate loser. After a massive argument, his wife Sally leaves him and he then proceeds to take Leon (the pizza boy), Warren (the TV repairman), ‘Tash (the prostitute) and Imelda (the disciple of God) hostage, much to the financial delight of Jane, the Brownie.

Author’s Note:

Verve was my first foray into comedy after five years of shocking audiences with plays of realism and horror. To say it was a success would be to under-rate both its cast and director. Verve was described by one adjudicator as a ‘tour-de-force’ which is best achieved by a dynamic cast and a no-holds-barred approach to the action.

Winner of 24 Awards - 1999

Cast: 3 Female, 1 Male. Contemporary drama.

(Running time 40 mins)

Precis:

“When hope is just another passenger”

When Erica Christie’s career as a television journalist dissipates, she escapes to the top of a skyscraper and comes face to face with two prostitutes, Dale Patrick & Tallulah, and their companion Strychnine. From here on, she must exorcise her personal demons while combating her stereotypical view of the world.

Author’s Note:

Freight is a very deep play that delves beneath the surface of human nature and stereotypes and produces characters and outcomes that attest to a faith in human nature as well as a lack of self-belief. It is an exploratory drama that challenges its players to be something more than what they are initially perceived.

Winner of 2 awards – 2000.

Cast: 3 Female, 1 Male. Farcical comedy for Juniors/Intermediates.

(Running time 35 mins)

Precis:

“A play with a little spirit”

Sam, Jarrod and Taylor are spending the night in a supermarket in a bid to be cool but things get decidedly cooler when an unwanted guest makes an ethereal appearance. Why is Annabelle walking around with her foot in a bucket?

Author’s Note:

Phantasmal was another first for me as I had never written theatre for juniors before. In it I attempted to capture the same vitality that was existent in Verve while toning down the style of dialogue to suit a younger cast. I was looking to produce something for younger players that didn’t necessarily involve the doom and gloom so prevalent in works generally produced for this age group.

Winner of 2 awards – 2000.

Ebbed...

Cast: 1 Male, 4 Others. Black comedy.

(Running time 35 mins)

Precis:

“A lighter side of darkness”

John is about to proceed on a very surreal adventure. He is confronted with the imposing spectres of Misadventure, Homicide, Suicide and Disease. But what are these strange characters? Why do they have such an impact on his life and why is he being pushed into making a decision about taking a timeless journey with one of them?

Author’s Note:

As the old saying goes, nothing is surer in life than death and taxes. The idea for Ebbed… came from the question of what happens to us not when we finally pass on but what transpires in those brief milliseconds before the event actually occurs – the threshold between life and death.

Winner of 17 awards – 2001.

Avatar

Cast: 2 Female, 1 Male. Light comedy.

(Running time 45 mins)

Precis:

“Stupidity flies on broken wings”

Virgil is no angel but when he comes face to face with Anastasia while burgling her home, he wears a different hat… or is that halo!? An open window and Virgil’s brolly-wielding nemesis Charlotte add to his misfortune as the race for the inheritance turns into a battle of half-wits.

Author’s Note:

Avatar was chance to try something different with comedy. While at times bordering on the farcical, this is a comedy that focuses a little more on telling a story with the characters playing a part as opposed, I guess, to the characters being the story.

Winner of 23 awards – 2002.

Stiletto

Cast: 3 Female, 1 Male. Farcical comedy.

(Running time 45 mins)

Precis:

“You won’t believe your thighs!”

Nick Berkowitz and Myra Molloy set out to uncover the sordid operations of the Democratic Independent Lesbian Defence Organisation which is run by the elusive Dr Claudia Schtick and her faithful sidekick Edna. Confusion reigns supreme in a gender-bending tale of espionage, deceit, seduction and stupidity.

Author’s Note:

Looking for another outlet in the purely farcical category, I developed Stiletto as purely a bit of fun. While not deliberately attempting to polarise any of my audience I took the opportunity to create a play that has no other purpose other than to entertain.

Winner of 16 awards – 2003.

Cicatrice

Cast: 2 Female, 2 Male. Contemporary drama.

(Running time 40 mins)

Precis:

“Some wounds can never heal”

Danielle’s encounter with the Boy at the cemetery is interrupted by the arrival of her arrogant sibling, Marina Le Court and her seedy boyfriend Lewis. In what unravels as a violent, dark story of hatred, power, greed and bitterness the scars on the outside are less disturbing than the scars on the human psyche.

Author’s Note:

Returning back to my roots in writing, Cicatrice is a walk along the path of how destructive we can be towards one another. This is more than a story of sibling rivalry but more a tale of the turbulent undercurrents that are present in the depths of our character and exhibit themselves as flaws on the surface that exist for all to see.

Winner of 22 awards – 2004.

~Netherworld ~

Cast: 2 Female, 1 Male, 1 Other. Gothic fantasy/drama.

(Running time 40 mins)

Precis:

“A voyage of dark discovery”

Desire is intricately woven into the human heart and eternally stitched upon the fabric of the soul. Wants and needs, wishes and dreams form part of the rich tapestry of the spirit. An angel, a warrior, a mother, a child – this is Netherworld.

Author’s Note:

Netherworld is another of my personal favourites. I wanted to create an epic play in the time of legends that focused on the battle of good versus evil from within and from without. I had an urge to transport the cast and the audience on a journey to a time long past in an age of dragons, demons and dreams.

Winner of 24 awards – 2005.

Cast: 3 Female, 1 Male. Farcical comedy.

(Running time 40 mins)

Precis:

“It’s all about soul”

Stacey and Sandra find themselves holed-up in a cheap motel after robbing a bank. Unfortunately for them, the room’s other tenants return. But this could be a twist of luck for the girls as both Myron and his wife Adele are visually impaired and can’t identify them. Nothing can prepare you for the outrageous revelations that will ensure you discover that justice is indeed blind.

Author’s Note:

As if I hadn’t completely alienated the moderate theatre factions with my farce Stiletto, along comes Stroke. The sole purpose of this play is to provide riotous, risqué belly laughs. There are no hidden messages… trust me!

Winner of 27 awards – 2006.

Stroke Stroke

Arcadia

Cast: 2 Female, 1 Male. Contemporary drama.

(Running time 40 mins)

Precis:

“Is this paradise lost or just burning out of control”

Adam Cutler’s world is falling apart while his wife Carolyn, the successful author, is falling out of love. Their marriage is in its death throes and their lives are drifting like ships in a stormy ocean. Bridget is caught in the crossfire. As Carolyn’s sister and Adam’s boss, she witnesses the destructive force of her sibling and her subordinate. But what has caused the emotional carnage which threatens to engulf all three?

Author’s Note:

When I completed the play Cicatrice in 2003, I believed that I had explored the ultimate depths of bitterness and human destructiveness. However, these emotions make for compelling theatre so I once again dipped my pen into the inky well of human frailty and constructed what I believe to be my most realistic play to date. Arcadia explores the lives of three incredibly selfish human beings and the disastrous consequences that ensue when each of these lives collide.

Winner of 15 awards – 2007.

Arcadia Arcadia

Ichor

Cast: 3 Female, 1 Male. Period drama.

(Running time 40 mins)

Precis:

“Dark and forbidding, sensual and violent - truth lies drowning in a sea of iniquity.”

As a cold Spring dawns on Castle Cachtice in the Carpathians in the year 1584, what burns in the heart of this regal stronghold is a secret that is so malevolent it will stay with you forever. When Raphael’s betrayal is discovered by the Countess Elizabeth, she sets about destroying everything he holds dear with the help of Dorottya and the unwitting Lilith.

Author’s Note:

Having tried my hand at period drama in the past with Domain & Netherworld, I could not resist the temptation to wade back in time with a piece of theatre in a classic vein. Ichor paints many pictures, both beautiful and forbidding, but uses the anchor of its heritage (the Countess Elizabeth Bathory) as a means to terrify and amaze audiences with its poetic overtures, extreme sensuality and biting twist. This is an exceptionally entertaining piece of theatre that will provide much discussion after the curtain falls.

Winner of 23 awards – 2008.

PROVOCATEUR

Cast: 2 Female, 1 Male. Farcical comedy.

(Running time 45 mins)

Precis:

“Some people don’t have the brains that God gave a rock… one man does!”
It’s one thing to have a plan but another thing entirely to know what to do with it as chaos reigns supreme in an undercover world of guns, espionage and hairy women. Valeriy has a problem… a huge problem. Unfortunately this has nothing to do with finding the solution to world domination by his arch-nemesis but rather trying to hide Lucy from the supremely powerful Olga.

Author’s Note:

Very much in the same farcical and highly irreverent vein of Stiletto and Stroke, Provocateur gives the audience an opportunity to climb into the passenger seat and enjoy a very wild and dizzy ride. Is there a hidden meaning to this play? Not likely!

Winner of 26 awards – 2009.