APN | David Belke


Site Links: APN Home Catalogue Index List of playwrights List of plays Search for a play Create a profile/ Submit a play Submit changes to your profile or play or send us a photo Other on-line catalogues: Playwrights Development Centres of Canada The Dramatic Exchange International Centre for Women Playwrights La Ronde - Playwrights Ring Playwrights' Workshop Montreal Playmarket - New Zealand Playwrights Playwrights Guild of Canada Virtual Library & Bookstore Playwrights Canada Press New Theatre Publications (England) Samuel French Catalogue ProPlay (British Columbia) Victorian Drama League (Australia) Dramatists Play Service (USA) Play Bureau (New Zealand) Theatrebooks (Toronto) Playscripts Inc. (USA) Find a play.com (USA)	David Belke Jump to list of plays David Belke was born in Winnipeg, Canada but was raised and continues to flourish in Edmonton, Alberta. He graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.Ed. and where he also studied stage design. He fills many different roles in the theatre: performer, producer, designer, teacher, and award-winning playwright. His plays have been performed across Canada as well as in the United States, England and Northern Ireland. His first full length play was produced for the 1990 Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival, the largest theatre festival in North America. Since then, he has written a new play for each subsequent year becoming one of the Fringe's mainstays and one of the city's favorite playwrights. David currently works as resident playwright and designer with Edmonton's Shadow Theatre where he is also an artistic associate. Shadow Theatre usually produces one of David's plays a year, either a premiere or a remount. A multiple Sterling Award winner, David also received prestigious Samuel French Inc.'s Canadian Playwrights Award for 2000 and they have since published two of his plays. In addition, he is a cast member of Edmonton's long-running comedy institution Die-Nasty, the live improvised soap opera. He also serves as a member of the Varscona Theatre Alliance Board and The Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards Committee. He is also currently the Edmonton Liaison for the Alberta Playwrights' Network, providing dramaturgical support and organizing workshops for playwrights in the northern part of the province. Selected plays In alphabetical order by title: All Expenses Paid Another Two Hander or Two Between Yourself and Me Blackpool & Parrish Bless You, Billy Wilder The Doctor in Spite of Himself A Dream Without Bottom Dreamland Saturday Nights The Maltese Bodkin The Minor Keys The Red King's Dream The Red King's Dream: the Christmas edition The Reluctant Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes Riders of the Apocalypse (the reunion tour) Ten Times Two That Darn Plot William the Bard To request a copy of any of these plays please contact the playwright directly via email. To inquire about performance rights for any of these plays please contact the playwright directly via email. All Expenses Paid by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: One act Length: Total actors required: 4 Men: 2 Women: 2 Synopsis: Lynn Wynicki just wants to be left alone. But when she wins a trip to Florida, she ends up travelling with a guy from the office she barely knows. An almost romantic comedy about destinations, desire and discovery, with just a little Disney on the side. Production History: First produced in 1999 by Shadow Theatre - Edmonton, AB. Return to list Another Two Hander or Two by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: Two acts Length: mins Total actors required: 5 Men: 2 Women: 3 Synopsis: Kelly deMare is a stage manager with a problem; namely the director. Is Kevin Russ inspired, intriguing or insane? Or is he just an actor/director? About directors, actors, stage managers and designers and what happens when the play becomes personal. Production History: First produced in 1995 by Acme Theatre compnay/Shadow Theatre - Edmonton, AB. Return to list Between Yourself and Me by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: Two acts Length: 105 mins Total actors required: 4 Men: 2 Women: 2 Synopsis: Determined to help her socially awkward best friend Steven find love, Amy sets him up on one disastrous date after another. But by the time Amy discovers she is actually in love with Steven, it may be too late. A comic and romantic sequel to The Red King's Dream. Production History: First produced in 2001 at Summer Shadows Theatre - Edmonton, AB Return to list Blackpool & Parrish by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: Two acts Length: Total actors required: 5 Men: 3 Women: 2 Synopsis: Harry Blackpool is the representative of all that is Evil on the planet Earth. Rachel Parrish represents the Good. After two thousand years of rivalry they are ready to pass their roles to their children. With the Apocalypse due tomorrow at tea time, is there any way to save the world? And doesn't humanity get any say in the matter? Production History: Produced in 1993 at the Edmonton Fringe Festival, Alberta. Return to list Bless You, Billy Wilder by David Belke Style: Comedy/Drama Number of Acts: One act Length: 75 mins Total actors required: 2 Men: 1 Women: 1 Synopsis: When a failed screenwriter working to restore an 8 1/2 hour silent movie meets a disconnected graphic artist who has never seen a movie in her life, they begin a friendship that helps her grow in confidence and ability. But when he slips into fear and dementia, she is the only one who can save him. A moving tale of friendship, affection and filmic fantasy. Production History: First produced in 2002 by Acme Theatre Company - Edmonton, AB Return to list The Doctor in Spite of Himself by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: One act Length: 45 mins Total actors required: 8 Men: 4 Women: 4 Synopsis: Moliere's classic comedy of manners, mayhem and medical malfeasance is adapted for a contemporary Canadian audience while illuminating the creator's original intentions and wit. Production History: First produced in 2001 at Studio Theatre - Edmonton, AB. Return to list A Dream Without Bottom by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: Two acts Length: 120 mins Total actors required: 6 Men: 3 Women: 3 Synopsis: Forty years ago Rosalind Downey fell in love with an actor while performing "A Midsummer Night's Dram." Now he's back. Rosy's coloured memory collides with cold reality against a Shakespearean background in this touching comedy. Production History: First produced in 2001 at Shadow Theatre - Edmonton, AB. Return to list Dreamland Saturday Nights by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: Two acts Length: Total actors required: 4 Men: 2 Women: 2 Synopsis: When a die-hard movie fan accidentally meets a film student at the Dreamland Repertory Cinema, will it be true love, or merely an illusion? Desire and film fantasy collide with hilarious and heart-breaking results. With appearances by Bogart, Bette Davis, Astaire and others. Production History: First produced in 1998 by Shadow Theatre - Edmonton, AB. Return to list The Maltese Bodkin by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: Two acts Length: Total actors required: 6 Men: 4 Women: 2 Synopsis: Times were tough for hard boiled detective Birnam Wood. He never asked to be in London. Especially in 1605. When Wood's partner is killed, he has to find the killer amongst a cast of suspects that includes Richard III, Falstaff, Iago, Mercutio and a merchant from Venice. The worlds of film noir and Shakespeare collide in this "who hath done it." Production History: First produced in 1991 at the Fringe Theatre Festival - Edmonton, AB Return to list The Minor Keys by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: Two acts Length: Total actors required: 7 Men: 4 Women: 3 Synopsis: In a half-forgotten jazz club, the lives and dreams of its inhabitants intersect, intertwine and collide. A wistful jazz-inspired comedy about minor key people in a minor key world, and how even the smallest of lives can find their hearts' desire. Production History: First produced in 1999 by Shadow Theatre - Edmonton, AB. Return to list The Red King's Dream by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: Two acts Length: Total actors required: 4 Men: 1 Women: 3 Synopsis: Stephen Tudor's world is solitary, logical and precise. And that's good. Until a new neighbour moves in down the hall. Now Stephen is feeling things he's never felt before. What happens when a man who thinks too much falls in love? Production History: First produced in 1996 by Shadow Theatre at the Fringe Festival - Edmonton, AB. Return to list The Red King's Dream: the Christmas edition by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: Two acts Length: Total actors required: 4 Men: 1 Women: 3 Synopsis: Romantic comedy of loneliness, logic and unexpected love adapted for the holiday season. Production History: First produced in 1999 by Shadow Theatre - Edmonton, AB. Return to list The Reluctant Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: Two acts Length: Total actors required: 7 Men: 5 Women: 2 Synopsis: Two years after he killed off Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle is summoned to investigate the haunting of an old actor's country manor. He is determined to prove the ghost a reality, but is himself haunted by the super rational Sherlock Holmes who refuses to give up his literary life. These two personalities must uncover the truth. Production History: First produced in 1992 at the Edmonton Fringe Festival. Return to list Riders of the Apocalypse (the reunion tour) by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: One act Length: Total actors required: 6 Men: 3 Women: 3 Synopsis: When Death suddenly retires, it panics her former riding companions Famine, Pestilance and War. As the world dizzily spins out of control, somebody has to convince Death to return. Or at least find out why she quit in the first place. Production History: First produced in 1997 by Shadow Theatre - Edmonton, AB. Return to list Ten Times Two by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: Two acts Length: Total actors required: 3 Men: 2 Women: 1 Synopsis: When an evildoer cursed with immortality falls for a barmaid in 1399, it is the start of a romantic pursuit spanning the Middle Ages to Modern times. But in order to win the heart of his reincarnating beloved, the villain must learn to become a human being. Production History: First produced in 1999 at Shadow Theatre - Edmonton, AB. Return to list That Darn Plot by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: Two acts Length: Total actors required: 6 Men: 4 Women: 2 Synopsis: Mark W. Transom has a single night in which to create a new play. As the hours stretch on, the play starts taking on a life of its own. Or is it his life? Why does his estranged son keep popping into the plot? Production History: First produced in 1998 by Shadow Theatre - Edmonton, AB. Return to list William the Bard by David Belke Style: Comedy Number of Acts: One act Length: Total actors required: 2 Men: 2 Women: 0 Synopsis: A sweetly tragic comedy-based on actual historic events. In order to win the respect of his Shakespearean scholar father, William Ireland becomes one of the world's most prolific and unlikely forgers. Production History: First produced in 1997 at Varscona Theatre - Edmonton, AB. Return to list

David Belke

David Belke was born in Winnipeg, Canada but was raised and continues to flourish in Edmonton, Alberta. He graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.Ed. and where he also studied stage design. He fills many different roles in the theatre: performer, producer, designer, teacher, and award-winning playwright. His plays have been performed across Canada as well as in the United States, England and Northern Ireland. His first full length play was produced for the 1990 Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival, the largest theatre festival in North America. Since then, he has written a new play for each subsequent year becoming one of the Fringe's mainstays and one of the city's favorite playwrights. David currently works as resident playwright and designer with Edmonton's Shadow Theatre where he is also an artistic associate. Shadow Theatre usually produces one of David's plays a year, either a premiere or a remount. A multiple Sterling Award winner, David also received prestigious Samuel French Inc.'s Canadian Playwrights Award for 2000 and they have since published two of his plays. In addition, he is a cast member of Edmonton's long-running comedy institution Die-Nasty, the live improvised soap opera. He also serves as a member of the Varscona Theatre Alliance Board and The Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards Committee. He is also currently the Edmonton Liaison for the Alberta Playwrights' Network, providing dramaturgical support and organizing workshops for playwrights in the northern part of the province.

Selected plays
In alphabetical order by title:

All Expenses Paid

Another Two Hander or Two

Between Yourself and Me

Blackpool & Parrish

Bless You, Billy Wilder

The Doctor in Spite of Himself

A Dream Without Bottom

Dreamland Saturday Nights

The Maltese Bodkin

The Minor Keys

The Red King's Dream

The Red King's Dream: the Christmas edition

The Reluctant Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes

Riders of the Apocalypse (the reunion tour)

Ten Times Two

That Darn Plot

William the Bard

To request a copy of any of these plays please contact the playwright directly via email.

To inquire about performance rights for any of these plays please contact the playwright directly via email.

All Expenses Paid

by David Belke

Style: Comedy
Number of Acts: One act
Length:
Total actors required: 4
Men: 2
Women: 2

Synopsis:
Lynn Wynicki just wants to be left alone. But when she wins a trip to Florida, she ends up travelling with a guy from the office she barely knows. An almost romantic comedy about destinations, desire and discovery, with just a little Disney on the side.

Production History:
First produced in 1999 by Shadow Theatre - Edmonton, AB.

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David Belke