Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco

Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco is a play by Gary Owen that was first presented by Paines Plough and Sgript Cymru in Cardiff, Wales, in 2001,[1] after which it won the first Theatre in Wales Award for Best New Play.[2] The play is set on a Thursday night in a small town in Wales and focuses on three young men in their mid-twenties burdened by their school reputations of the gimp, the geek and the bully.[3] The play takes the format of three monologues and the tagline for the play is "their dream is to get the hell out".

The script was published by Bloomsbury in 2001, who republished it 2005 in a collection of Owen's plays.[4][5]

Dramatis personae

  • Gary: a hate-fuelled arsehole who dobs enemies into Crimewatch for fun.
  • Matthew D Melody: charismatically naïve and thinks Frank Sinatra can save the world.
  • Russell Markham: imploding from a life full of repressed anger, which is causing everything from impotence to fear of cancer.

Selected productions

  • 2001 – Premiere at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff,[4][1] followed by performances at the Lyric Studio, London, and a tour of English theatres.[3]
  • 2003 – Staatsschauspiel Dresden, Germany, in a German translation by Peter Torberg[1]
  • 2006 – Inis Nua theater, Philadelphia, USA[6]
  • 2011 – Tron Theatre, Glasgow, and Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh[7][8]
  • 2014 – Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, followed by a tour of other theatres in Wales[9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco". Felix Bloch Erben (in German). Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  2. ^ Jones, Kenneth (26 May 2004). "Ghost City Is a Day in the Life of Welsh Town, Making U.S. Debut in NYC June 1-13". Playbill. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  3. ^ a b Gardner, Lyn (15 March 2001). "Welsh theatre's blazing new talent". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  4. ^ a b "Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco". Bloomsbury. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Owen Plays: I". Bloomsbury. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco". Inis Nua. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Theatre reviews: Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco / At-Swim-Two-Birds / I Heart Maths". The Scotsman. 25 May 2011.
  8. ^ "Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco, Tron Theatre, Glasgow". The Herald. Glasgow. 26 May 2011.
  9. ^ Price, Karen (20 September 2014). "Disco Craze Returns for a New Run". Western Mail.
  10. ^ Bainbridge, Julie (25 September 2014). "Theatre - Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco". Wales Arts Review.
  • (in English) reviews at 'Theatre in Wales'
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