STORMING MONT ALBERT BY TRAM
STORMING MONT ALBERT BY TRAM– one man’s attempt to get home. (1982)
ISBN: 9780648599869
The world’s first “really moving” play unfolds on a typical Melbourne tram as it makes its way from the Mont Albert Terminus to the City and back. Audiences are part of the action as various characters get on and off the tram interacting with each other in increasingly hilarious ways. Relationships are formed and fall apart, an attempted hijacking takes place, and eventually the police arrive to arrest the innocent and let the guilty go.
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BREAKING UP IN BALWYN
BREAKING UP IN BALWYN – a toast to money, marriage and divorce (1983) ISBN: 2370000622402
The world’s first play staged and set on a Melbourne riverboat, Breaking Up in Balwyn is performed as a divorce party where the audience are the best friends of housewife and socialite Samantha Hart-Byrne. They’ve been invited to help Samantha celebrate her official separation (decree nisi) from husband, Michael Byrne – a colourful businessman and gambler. The gay divorcee also seizes the opportunity to introduce her new boyfriend, independent Sydney filmmaker Nigel Davidson. Unfortunately, Michael gate-crashes the party disguised as a gorilla-gram and soon the tax squad and river police become involved as the details of his tax avoidance and money laundering schemes become shockingly clear.
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LIVING ROOMS
LIVING ROOMS – scenes in a family mansion (1986) ISBN: 9780648599814
Three scenes are set in separate rooms in different time periods as the story of one of St. Kilda’s grand old mansions is revealed. Set in 1900 (as a family mansion), 1972 (as a boarding house) and 1988 (as an art gallery) the scenes are performed simultaneously and repeated three times as three separate audience groups rotate through the building. Eventually characters from all three time periods are brought together for a surreal finale in the central Hallway.
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https://www.bookdepository.com/Living-Rooms-Paul-Michael-Davies/9780648599814
LAST TRAIN TO ST. KILDA ?
LAST TRAIN TO ST. KILDA? – a heavy rail story -in black and white (1987) ISBN: 9780648599821
A young couple move into a run down house in an inner city suburb about to undergo a dramatic demographic change from established working and criminal class neighbourhood (drugs and prostitution) to a “new” community of middle class professionals piling in for the real estate “opportunities” to be had so close to their offices in the CBD. Unfortunately fo them, the criminal element doesn’t quite leave and our innocent young couple are soon burgled several times and receive little help from the obviously compromised local police. Set in a near future where one’s identity is entirely bound up with an “Australia Card”, where classes collide and where the closing of the local railway line symbolizes the inevitability of change – not always for the better.
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https://www.bookdepository.com/Last-Train-St-Kilda-Paul-Michael-Davies/9780648599821
ON SHIFTING SANDSHOES
ON SHIFTING SANDSHOES – an in tents experience (1988) ISBN: 9780648599845
Every year a group of friends go camping on North Stradbroke Island (Mingerriba), an idyllic paradise only twenty kilometres off the the Queensland coast near Brisbane. Every year from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve they have a fabulous time, cavorting in the surf, playing bastard ball, eating, drinking and celebrating another year gone. However, in 1988, the year of Australia’s Bicentennial, they encounter a massive cyclone which not only wrecks and floods their campsite but soon sees them cut off from civilization and, incredibly, virtually running out of food. As things go from bad to worse and hunger turns to starvation prior deceptions and misdemeanors are revealed, new passions are ignited and relationships rapidly fall apart. Even magic mushrooms are mistakenly eaten causing more chaos. At the climax of their descent into madness a rare and endangered local marsupial is destroyed. At which point, the storm seems to abate. But by the end of the holiday week they leave the debris of their campsite knowing full well that such a reunion will never happen again.
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https://www.bookdepository.com/On-Shifting-Sandshoes-Paul-Michael-Davies/9780648599845
STORMING ST. KILDA BY TRAM
STORMING ST. KILDA BY TRAM– another man’s attempt to get home (1988) ISBN: 9780648599876
The world’s second “really moving” play unfolds on a typical Melbourne tram as it makes its way from the St. Kilda Terminus to the City and back. Audiences are part of the action as various characters get on and off the tram interacting with each other in increasingly hilarious ways. Relationships are formed and fall apart, an attempted hijacking takes place, and eventually the police arrive to arrest the innocent and let the guilty go
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https://www.booktopia.com.au/storming-st-kilda-by-tram-paul-michael- davies/book/9780648599876.html
FULL HOUSE/NO VACANCIES
FULL HOUSE/NO VACANCIES – last night at the “Linga Longa” (1989) ISBN: 9780648599852
Full House No Vacancies is a “location play” set in a run down St. Kilda boarding house that was once a splendid Victorian mansion. On arrival at the front door the audience are divided into three groups who rotate through bedrooms belonging to three of its residents where scenes are performed simultaneously (so that each audience group witnesses all the events of the play but in different viewing orders). These are the living spaces of Sheila (a semi-retired actress and chantreuse), Freddie a failed stand-up comic, and Rosie a professional masseuse. Into the mix come Liz, a pregnant friend of Rosie’s, Gareth a deregistered Welsh doctor who has saved Freddy from being bashed up at his latest failed gig, and Nick, one of Rosie’s clients (who turns out to be a developer intent on turning the Linga Longer into a car park for his latest highrise monstrosity next door). Over-lording the Lina Longa is its caretaker Morrey, a nervous, constantly irritated little man with one eye and less patience for anything. As the residents endeavor to save their “home” from destruction, characters wander from room to room, hiding secrets and plotting strategies. The story concludes with a “happy hour” in the main dining room out the back where Freddy finally gets to be funny, Gareth ties the knot with Liz, and Rosie has her sweet revenge on the heartless developer.
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https://www.bookdepository.com/Full-House-No-Vacancies-Paul-Michael-Davies/9780648599852
STORMING GLENELG BY TRAM
STORMING GLENELG BY TRAM – one woman’s attempt to get home (1992/1984) ISBN: 9781976439100
The world’s third “really moving” play unfolds on a typical Adelaide tram as it makes its way from the Glenelg Terminus to the City and back. Audiences are part of the action as various characters get on and off the tram interacting with each other in increasingly hilarious ways. Relationships are formed and fall apart, an attempted hijacking takes place, and eventually the police arrive to arrest the innocent and let the guilty go.
PRINT COPIES AVAILABLE AT:
https://bookshop.org/books/storming-glenelg-by-tram-one-woman-s-attempt-to-get-home/9781976439100