The
TENNYSON AGENCY
Representation
for Literature, Drama and Screenwriting
TONY BAGLEY
Tony is an experienced writer in all media: initially a transport
economist, he worked as a copy editor for Wayland Books, a journalist and
a script editor for Central Television. For radio, Tony has written short
stories for BBC R4, and contributed to its daily soap opera, The Archers,
for two and a half years. Two series of his comedy, The OLDER WOMAN,
with Martin Clunes and Zoe Wanamaker, have gone out on R4; as have three series
of MARRIED, with Hugh Bonneville and Josie Lawrence.
Commissioned radio plays include: CATCHING BULLETS, LIFE on
a NEW PLANET, PUBLIC INTEREST and The LAST
CIGARETTE of the WAR. On television, Tony's black comedy, The
LAST WORD, was seen on BBC-2, and he has provided copious sketch
material for both adult shows including Alas Smith & Jones, Spitting
Image, Rory Bremner, Arnold Brown, and children’s television.
Commissioned scripts include The Walkers, Control, Best
Supporting Actor, The Fantastic Adventures of Simon Blood
and episodes of Specials for the BBC; and for Alomo, both an
original script and an episode of Birds of A Feather. Elsewhere, a
comic novel, The NATURAL HISTORY MAN, was
commissioned for Pavilion Books; and a screenplay, ENEMY, was
developed with help from the BFI Production Board. Tony's work has been
widely acknowledged. He won a Giles Cooper Award for The MACHINE
(BBC R3) - imagining the effects of sound recording in Jacobean England - and a
New London Radio Playwrights Award for his L.B.C. play, PROPHET.
He was joint winner of the Gooding Award for best 30-minute script; winner of
the Alomo Comedy Writing Bursary (1996); and Grand Prix winner of the PAWS
Drama Award (1999). Tony was also shortlisted for the London Weekend
Television New Writer Award (1998) and the Oscar Moore Screenwriting Prize
(2001). Currently available are LIFE IS SUFFERING, an
innovative television comedy in half-hour format; and NAZIS, a
powerful post-WW2 drama exploring British Fascism and the human cost of divided
loyalties. Forthcoming is The NEED of MASSACHUSETTS for COMPOSERS,
confronting the repressive puritanism of the English Commonwealth. Tony’s RUBBISH
- the life and awkward times of a local government wageslave –
was broadcast on BBC Radio Four in autumn 2006.
KRISTINA BEDFORD
At the University of Toronto, where she graduated with distinction in
English and Drama, Kristina Bedford directed several productions at the George
Ignatieff Theatre. She went on to earn her M.A. in Drama at the
University of London with a thesis on the National Theatre production of Coriolanus,
later published by AUP, which opened
the door to nearly ten years work in various capaciies at the NT. Her
drama criticism has been extensively published, and Kristina has done freelance
dramaturgical work for various London theatres. An early version of her
play ANGEL DAY was presented by NAAA
at the Tristan Bates Theatre under the title LEAP of FAITH, and
the play has undergone professional critical review. Current stage
projects include The SOUL of PLEASURE, taking a quizzical look at
John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester; and a new adaptation, co-written with Kenneth
Ross, of The Value of Life, the best work of Chekhov's friend and
sometime collaborator, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. She is also working
with Ken Ross on PICTURING ANNIS, a feature-length screenplay
with a modern setting and a supernatural mood.
ALASTAIR
CORDING
A respected stage and television actor, and author of numerous literary
adaptations, Alastair has achieved repeated success with his 1993 version of
Lewis Grassic Gibbon's classic SUNSET
SONG, revived by Prime Productions in 2001 and 2002 for national
tours of Alastair's native Scotland, and now available from Nick Hern Books. Amongst the
stage pieces now available, following initial commission and production by TAG
Theatre and Eastern Angles T.C., are CLOUD HOWE and GREY
GRANITE (second and third in the SCOTS QUAIR trilogy); LANARK;
and NO NAME. In 1998, MRS O'S SATURDAY NIGHT
was produced at the Covent Garden Festival (revived 2000); while Alastair's
acclaimed version of Dickens' DAVID COPPERFIELD for a cast of
eight (revived for a national tour by Eastern Angles in Spring 2003) is the
foremost stage adaptation available, widely performed on the non-professional
stage. The original thriller FATALE was premiered at the
Horseshoe Theatre, Basingstoke in 2001. Eastern Angles' Spring 2002
tour of a touching Norfolk-set tale, The WALSINGHAM ORGAN,
played to enthusiastic audiences across East Anglia, and was followed by MARGARET
DOWN UNDER, seen on a UK regional tour in the autumn of 2004. It
is to be followed by an adaptation of John Buchan's WITCH WOOD
for RCB Productions, and a further work for Eastern Angles exploring the life
of St Edmund the Martyr, scheduled for 2010. There has meanwhile been a successful revival an dsubsequent
tour of SUNSET SONG by His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen, in the
autumn of 2008.
CAROLINE COXON
Currently collaborating with Philip Hurd-Wood on A
PLACE in the COUNTRY, Caroline is a very experienced freelance writer. Formerly a
teacher in special educational support services, she has authored work for
organisations as diverse as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the
Fawcett Society. Her other screenplays include ME for a MOMENT
and FALLING AWAKE, both stories of women rebuilding their
lives after emotional and physical trauma.
IAIN GRANT
An accomplished translator of German literature, Iain Grant has
specialised in the work of neglected modern authors, including Stefan
Zweig. The CHESS-PLAYERS, his adroit version of Zweig's Schachnovelle,
is currently available for publication; and Iain is now working on
complementary fiction from the early 20th Century.
JONATHAN HOLLOWAY
Director of Red Shift T.C., which he founded in 1982, Jonathan is also
an established writer. Original plays include In the IMAGE of the
BEAST (Edinburgh Fringe First award); The HAMMER (theatre
and BBC Radio 3); DARKNESS FALLS (Palace Theatre, Watford, and
published by Samuel French Ltd.); NOSFERATU: the VISITOR; and two
plays commissioned for Nottingham Playhouse, BECAUSE IT'S THERE: the
STORY of MALLORY and EVEREST and ANGELS among the TREES
(produced in May 2004). Adaptations for the stage include The
DOUBLE, DEATH in VENICE, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT,
The ASPERN PAPERS, Les
MISERABLES, NICHOLAS
NICKLEBY, The MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY, The LEGEND
of KING ARTHUR and the first stage versions of Graham Greene's The
THIRD MAN in 2004 and Mike Hodges' GET CARTER in
2006. For television, he has written for both Anglia and Thames
Television (The Bill). Jonathan has also written
extensively for BBC Radio 4, with four original drama series and adaptations of
work by Walter de la Mare, Willa Cather, Angela Lambert, Evelyn Waugh, Heinrich
Boll, Arturo Perez-Reverte and George Eliot, and a masterful ten-hour
adaptation of C P Snow's STRANGERS and BROTHERS novel sequence,
broadcast as the Classic Serial in spring 2003. Jonathan's original ghost
story, NO CONFERRING, went out
on Christmas Night 2003; and his two-part dramatisation of the first human
heart transplant by Christiaan Barnard was broadcast March 30-31, 2004.
Scheduled for future transmission is a striking detective story set in
contemporary Sweden. Jonathan has served on both the Board of the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Council of the N.C.A.; he has led
EU-sponsored theatre workshops in Chile; and he is a Fellow of the Royal
Society of Arts.
JULIAN HOWELL
With a record of writing in a variety of genres, including comedy revue,
conceptual theatre and audio books, Julian consolidated his place as a feature
screenwriter with an original thriller, working title PURE, now
available after options from two major producers. Having burnt all her
boats, a young woman finds life is accelerating out of control: in a twisting
story, reality and lies are juggled to devastating effect. A feature
development of his widely-admired 30-minute film, ART HEIST, is
ready for production (working title HOOKED).
PHILIP HURD-WOOD
Philip has three scripts currently available for television or feature
production. The FIGHTING MACINTYRES, a sensitive story of
feuding and reconciliation set against the beautiful backdrop of rural Northern
Ireland; WHERE the DEER and the ANTELOPE PLAY, an unusual
comedy-drama which questions society's treatment of emotional and mental
disturbance; and CITY LIMITS, a fascinating, fast-moving thriller
whirling through the changing landscape of millennial London, now in further
development. Just finished is The CRAIGEELEE, a short film
giving the colourful background to one of Australia's national icons; and newly
in development is a life-change drama set in rural Britain, A PLACE in
the COUNTRY, co-authored with Caroline Coxon.
JOANNA LEIGH
Screenwriter and senior lexicographer, Joanna is currently developing
several television projects, including GUTS and GLITTER, a
sparkling story of beauty, beastliness and... belly-dancing.
Trouble TV's FLASH BAND, the animated web series which was a
major hit with its youthful audience, appeared subsequently in a successful
broadcast version: Joanna was a lead writer. She was also sole
author of PLANET JEMMA, an online narrative for
N.E.S.T.A., targeted at the teenage market, which was nominated for a prize in
the 2004 BAFTA Interactive Awards, in the Education category. SAM J,
a tragi-comic screen drama telling the colourful life-story of the 18th
Century's greatest man of letters, for which Joanna won the inaugural Red
Planet Prize, is to be produced by BBC4 in 2010. New projects include GREEN GODDESS, a tale of
union solidarity and heartache from the late 70s; and LIONEL'S VINYL,
an uncomplicated, laugh-out-loud sitcom, co-written with Veronique Christie (David Higham Associates)
and Steve Lewis (Sayle Screen).
STEVE MacGREGOR
In Steve's freshly-available feature screenplay FULL MOON DAY,
unimaginable forces have been set loose in the Scottish Highlands, and the
police find themselves outflanked - by the Americans, the Russian mafia and not
least, the strangely self-possessed Linda Grey. Only her knowledge can
explain the twenty-four hours of mayhem that lead to an unnerving
conclusion. A technical writer, software developer and expert
motorcyclist, Steve kick-starts his screenwriting career with this powerful
thriller. A perfectly-judged period drama for radio, GENTLEMAN'S
MASQUERADE, is also available. Now completed is THE STONES,
a cautionary tale set in 1914, showing what happens when the modern world
intrudes on primæval mysteries best left well alone.
ANTONY MANN
Antony's short film, BILLY'S DAY OUT, was exceptionally
well-received at the 2004 Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it
jointly won the Best UK Short Film Award, and he now has several more short
projects available, including MECHANIC, IT'S MY RAMPAGE
and TENNIS. FRIENDS & OTHER ENEMIES, a
screen adaptation of his serio-comic novel The SUICIDE CLUB, has
now been developed via the EAVE and Good Foundations schemes, and Antony has
recently completed a screen version of Peter Grimes under
commission from Allegra Films. He is developing a full-length version of MECHANIC.
Full rights are currently available to FRIENDS & OTHER ENEMIES;
to Antony's gripping supernatural mystery feature, KING under the HILL, which
has attracted wide interest; and to a radio drama, WILD MAN of the SOUTH.
Antony is also the author of a delightful chapter book for 5-7 year-olds, WINDY
DAY, which is available for mainstream publication.
Please visit
Antony's personal website: www.antonymann.com
KEN ROSS
A native of Edinburgh, Ken has lived in London for many years. His work
has been produced at the Traverse Theatre, the Almost Free Theatre and on the
Edinburgh Fringe, and on television and radio. He has also contributed to
two collections of Scottish short stories published by HarperCollins. Ken
received a Peggy Ramsay Foundation Playwriting Award in 2003 for his two-hander
abduction drama HELEN'S STORY and he is currently working, with
Kristina Bedford, on a film-script and a translation of Vladimir
Nemirovich-Danchenko's The Value of Life. Ken's wide
experience is related fields includes writing audio and video sales scripts;
abridging numerous classics for Penguin Audio; producing over a hundred
audiobooks; and editorial peer review for the Royal Court, Writernet,
Scriptvault, and the London Script Consultancy. Production rights are
available to all Ken's stage drama, notably The POOL on the 26th FLOOR,
The SMELL of FANTASY, MORENO (a reimagined
Renaissance revenge tragedy) and HELEN'S STORY. Other
projects include OSCAR WILDE: A SAVOY OPERA, a cleverly worked
revue-style entertainment contrasting the respective encounters of Wilde and
Gilbert & Sullivan with bourgeois taste and morality at the close of the
19th Century.
JOHN RYAN
Vastly experienced as a musician and composer, John has two musicals now
available for production. BROOKLYN BRIDGE is an ingenious
one-woman show: Muriel is fast approaching 40, but she's distracted in
her efforts to find Mr Right by an endless battle of wits with her
momma-from-Hell, Ada. Then, God steps in... with alarming
consequences. New York-set ME presents One
Apartment; Two Relations; Three Attractions; Four Revelations; Five Denials;
and Six not entirely generous People in a round-dance of love and misunderstanding.
Both pieces have received public and critical plaudits on their world premier
productions in Ireland, and are ideal for small and mid-scale, medium-budget
presentation.
WALTER SAUNDERS
SHAKESPEARE 2000 is a new edition of the most-studied plays of the
canon, juxtaposing Shakespeare's text with a lucid modern version which adheres
closely to the poetic form of the original. In addition to the great
tragedies - King Lear,
Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello and Antony
and Cleopatra - the series to date features Julius Caesar,
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo & Juliet, The
Merchant of Venice, The Tempest and Twelfth
Night. It is now open to negotiation for European, US and
Australasian publication. In South Africa, the initial editions by
Centaur and Heinemann SA have been widely used for teaching and performance in
the public school system, with over 150,000 copies in circulation. As a
concept, SHAKESPEARE 2000
has been universally praised by teachers and educationalists for its
unparallelled success in making Shakespeare readily accessible to a modern
audience ("An exciting project... greatly to be welcomed." Dr
Susan Bassnett, University of Warwick).
GRAEME SCARFE
Following his feature debut with the claustrophobic and intense
thriller, LIGHTHOUSE, released in 2002, Graeme now has three
further full-length screenplays completed, each in a different genre. SEAGULLS
on SPEED is a delightful, quirky tale of seaside skulduggery, featuring
gangsters, narcotics, passionate romance - and some peculiarly addictive fast
food. "You'll believe a bird can fry". GAMBIT,
adapted from the best-selling novel by Antoinette Falquier & Joseph Harned,
tells a complex tale of nuclear blackmail, in which the fate of world peace
comes to depend on a very surprising substance. Rights to both properties
are currently available. Graeme has just completed a commission from
Articulate Pictures to script the romantic comedy feature MARTA’S
VINEYARD (w/t) for future production. Gareme latest project
is The INFLUENCING ENGINE, a screen adaptation of Richard
Hayden's successful and intriguing historical thriller; full production rights
are now available.
Former Drama Editor at Cambridge University Press,
Diane is a seasoned writer of prose and poetry, with work in many published
anthologies. She has also been a senior member of the editorial staff of Argosy,
and Assistant Editor of Granta.
She has also written both for the national press, including The
Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The Stage, and such
periodicals as Drama and Everywoman. Currently in
preparation is a compilation of writing on women in theatre. Major plays
now released for full production include BOUNDARIES, workshopped
twice by Soho Theatre and produced by Norwich Playhouse; TALISWOMAN,
the astonishing true story of the Renaissance artist Artemisia Gentileschi, seen
at both Birmingham Rep and the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme, and now to be
produced at Leicester Guildhall in November 2009; and An HONEST ACTRESS,
detailing the switchback career of Sarah Siddons, first lady of the late 18th
Century stage, which was developed at the Theatre by the Lake, Keswick.
Other stage writing includes SYDNEY (a monologue), and
A COUPLA HOTTUNZ, seen at the Half Moon Theatre. Among
Diane’s short screenplays are PLAYING with FIRE, BIG SISTER
IS WATCHING YOU, RUSSIAN ROULETTE and HOUSE of
CARDS, all of which are available for production; a
feature, REVOLUTION DREAMING, is currently in development.
Diane’s writing appears in FEMALE VOICES, FIGHTING LIVES (Raymond
Williams Award, 1992).
DIANA WARD
Ready now for television or film production is ARMADALE, Diana's
definitive adaptation of Wilkie Collins' 1850s classic. Featuring Lydia
Gwilt, Victorian fiction's greatest anti-heroine, a breathlessly thrilling plot
takes in murder, revenge, multiple mistaken identities and the final triumph of
innocent love. A must-read. Diana has recently completed a richly
atmospheric screen version of Robert Louis Stevenson's 19th Century Scottish
romance WEIR of HERMISTON. Radio versions of both these
scripts are also available. Diana has recently completed screen and radio
versions of George Eliot’s political novel set at the time of the Great Reform
Bill of 1832, FELIX HOLT the RADICAL.
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©The Tennyson Agency 2008