Mary Cooper writes for theatre, radio and television.
mary cooper
writer
project & workshop leader,
teacher, mentor & dramaturg
writer,
project & workshop leader,
teacher, mentor & dramaturg
uk, international, M6 Theatre, M6
mary cooper writer
For the stage
Mary has written plays aimed at early years, primary, secondary, special needs and youth audiences as well as general adult audiences. Her work has been performed in theatres, arts centres, schools, colleges, universities, libraries, hospitals and health centres, youth clubs, community venues, prisons, town halls, national and international conferences, historic houses, charity fund-raising galas and even the Houses of Parliament.
Mary's work has been performed by and/or commissioned by West Yorkshire Playhouse Touring Company and Red Ladder Theatre, Leeds; M6 Theatre, Rochdale; Theatr Powys; Sheffield Crucible Theatre; Eastern Angles and the Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich; Northumberland Theatre Company; Watford Palace Theatre; Spiral Theatre at the Nuffield, Southampton; Roundabout Theatre at Nottingham Playhouse; The Haymarket, Basingstoke; Asian Co-Operative Theatre, Half Moon Theatre and Clean Break in London, among others.
Mary has written more than 25 plays to commission for theatre companies throughout England and Wales.
Family Business by Mary Cooper (excerpt)
Action for Prisoners' Families
Whatever the style and form of the piece, I aim for authenticity, emotional truthfulness, strong characterisation and engaging stories.
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I am happy to work to an open or specific brief, and I am used to developing a brief in collaboration with a commissioner. Equally, I enjoy devising work with a commissioning company; creating a script concurrently with the devising, or writing a script informed by earlier devising.
I have written verbatim work, bilingual scripts, music theatre, forum and participatory theatre for training purposes, and several pieces of work for dance/physical theatre companies including Ludus dance in Lancaster and Breaking Cycles/Benji Reid in Manchester.
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Two powerful monologues looking at the impact of crime and imprisonment on father and son relationships.
With Paul Duckworth - Geoff & Joe Shipman - Nathan