Simon Mallett


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)	Simon Mallett Jump to list of plays Simon Mallett is an award-winning director, playwright, actor and theatrical designer currently living in Calgary, Alberta. He graduated from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Drama and is currently completing his Masters of Fine Arts in Directing at The University of Calgary. Simon is the founder and Artistic Director of Downstage, a theatre and performance company dedicated to producing Canadian work that explores politically and socially relevant themes (www.downstage.ca). He is also an Artistic Associate with Bubonic Tourist and the Studio Coordinator and an Instructor at Company of Rogues Actors' Studio. His plays include: Pulling the Wool, which won the award for Outstanding Original Script at the Calgary One-Act Festival in 2005; Jack of Hearts, which has had productions in Ontario and Alberta; and Arpillera, a docu-drama about the September 11th, 1971 military coup in Chile, which draws parallels to the more infamous 9/11. Simon has studied playwriting with Judith Thompson, Guillermo Verdecchia and Clem Martini and is currently studying with Sharon Pollock. For more information on Simon's work, please visit www.simonmallett.com. Selected plays In alphabetical order by title: Arpillera Collaberation Jack of Hearts The Lookout Trail Pulling the Wool To request a copy of any of these plays please contact the playwright directly via email: simon@downstage.ca To inquire about performance rights for any of these plays please contact the playwright directly via email: simon@downstage.ca Arpillera by Simon Mallett Style: Drama Number of acts: One Length: 70 mins Total actors required: 9 (flexible) Men: 4 Women: 5 Synopsis: The date September 11th carries a very unique meaning to the people of Chile. It was on 9/11 in 1973 that a military coup, led by General Augusto Pinochet and backed the US government, overthrew the democratically elected President of Chile, Salvador Allende. In this docu-drama based largely on eye-witness accounts, Arpillera details the American involvement leading up to the coup and recounts the horror of the day itself. Direct parallels are drawn between 1973 and 2001 and the events in Chile become a specific example of a long chain of similar incidents, clearly demonstrating the devastating and long-lasting impact that foreign intervention can have on a nation and its people. Taking its name from the patchwork quilts created by the mothers of the disappeared as a silent form of protest, Arpillera weaves a rich tapestry of life in Chile in 1973 and the years that follow. Production History: First produced as part of the Graduate course in Directing at the University of Calgary (Calgary, Alberta) in 2004. Notes: Casting is flexible and can be done with varying cast numbers and role allocations. Return to list Collaboration by Simon Mallett Style: Dark Comedy Number of acts: One Length: 15 mins Total actors required: 2 Men: 1 Women: 1 Synopsis: Theatre is supposed to be the ultimate collaborative art form, but when a young director finds herself having trouble working with the set designer on a production, she turns to the producer for help, only to find that the hierarchies of seniority, reputation and gender can get in the way of an ideal artistic process. She finds herself faced with a decision between the desire to further her career and the danger of sacrificing her artistic morals, and neither option is going to let her off easy. Production History: First produced by Nickle and Dime Productions (Calgary, Alberta) in 2004. Subsequently produced by Downstage (Calgary, Alberta) as part of Theatre Junction's Random Acts festival in 2005. Return to list Jack of Hearts by Simon Mallett Style: Drama Number of acts: One Length: 60 mins Total actors required: 6 Men: 4 Women: 2 Synopsis: Pearce is a card shark in every sense of the word. Every hand he touches turns to gold, and he's finding it harder and harder to find people who are willing to lay their money on the line against him. But Pearce's card playing isn't just a means to amassing a small fortune for his own selfish reasons, but rather to save enough money to buy his dying father Travis a kidney transplant on the black market. Knowing his father will never reach the top of the legitimate patient waiting list and not knowing how much time Travis may have left, Pearce turns to Donna for help in scouting out an opportunity that will make or break both his and his father's chances. But playing against a table full of other sharks, with all the money on the table, will Pearce have what it takes to win out and save his father's life? Production History: First produced by Downstage (Guelph, Ontario) in 2002. Subsequently produced by Nickle and Dime Productions (Calgary, Alberta) in 2004 and by Sage Theatre (Calgary, Alberta) in 2005. Return to list The Lookout Trail by Simon Mallett Style: Drama Number of acts: One Length: 45 mins Total actors required: 4 Men: 2 Women: 2 Synopsis: Jennifer Murphy is the Principal at an elementary school like any other. But when she receives a mysterious message claiming to be from the future and predicting grave danger to her students, she is faced with a decision to make. Does she bow to the requests of the message or ignore its seemingly impossible claims. Enlisting the help of the Vice Principal, they try to determine the best course of action, but it becomes clear that something in the message is even more important to Jennifer than ensuring the safety of her own students. Every attempt to determine the validity of the message only further clouds the situation as the predicted event draws closer, and only once the final decision is made is the truth revealed in a shocking twist ending. Production History: First produced by Downstage (Guelph, Ontario) in 2001. Return to list Pulling the Wool by Simon Mallett Style: Dark Comedy/Drama Number of acts: One Length: 60 mins Total actors required: 4 Men: 2 Women: 2 Synopsis: Allen is a struggling writer who has taken a job in the stories department of Canada's Leading News Network (CLNN). His job is to work with The Statistician to take numbers and figures and dress them up to paint the picture the network wants, be it good or bad. However, Allen slowly comes to realize that the stories he is helping to create are geared more toward profit and propaganda than integrity and information, and he begins to question the operations of the network, despite the protestations of his wife. Allen's need for adventure begins to get the better of him, as he embarks on a personal mission to expose the network and its backwards policies, finding an ally in the network's beautiful anchorwoman, and seeking to be an angel to the people of Canada, despite the dark forces that stand in his way. Production History: First produced in a co-production by Downstage & Nickle and Dime Productions (Calgary, Alberta) in 2005. Subsequently produced by Downstage (Calgary, Alberta) as part of the Edmonton International Fringe Festival in 2005. Notes: Pulling the Wool won the award for 'Outstanding Original Script' at the 2005 Calgary One-Act Play Festival. Return to list

Simon Mallett is an award-winning director, playwright, actor and theatrical designer currently living in Calgary, Alberta. He graduated from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Drama and is currently completing his Masters of Fine Arts in Directing at The University of Calgary.

Simon is the founder and Artistic Director of Downstage, a theatre and performance company dedicated to producing Canadian work that explores politically and socially relevant themes (www.downstage.ca). He is also an Artistic Associate with Bubonic Tourist and the Studio Coordinator and an Instructor at Company of Rogues Actors' Studio.

His plays include: Pulling the Wool, which won the award for Outstanding Original Script at the Calgary One-Act Festival in 2005; Jack of Hearts, which has had productions in Ontario and Alberta; and Arpillera, a docu-drama about the September 11th, 1971 military coup in Chile, which draws parallels to the more infamous 9/11.

Simon has studied playwriting with Judith Thompson, Guillermo Verdecchia and Clem Martini and is currently studying with Sharon Pollock.

For more information on Simon's work, please visit www.simonmallett.com.

Selected plays
In alphabetical order by title:

To request a copy of any of these plays please contact the playwright directly via email: simon@downstage.ca

To inquire about performance rights for any of these plays please contact the playwright directly via email: simon@downstage.ca

Arpillera
by Simon Mallett

Style: Drama
Number of acts: One
Length: 70 mins
Total actors required: 9 (flexible)
Men: 4
Women: 5

Synopsis:

The date September 11th carries a very unique meaning to the people of Chile. It was on 9/11 in 1973 that a military coup, led by General Augusto Pinochet and backed the US government, overthrew the democratically elected President of Chile, Salvador Allende. In this docu-drama based largely on eye-witness accounts, Arpillera details the American involvement leading up to the coup and recounts the horror of the day itself. Direct parallels are drawn between 1973 and 2001 and the events in Chile become a specific example of a long chain of similar incidents, clearly demonstrating the devastating and long-lasting impact that foreign intervention can have on a nation and its people. Taking its name from the patchwork quilts created by the mothers of the disappeared as a silent form of protest, Arpillera weaves a rich tapestry of life in Chile in 1973 and the years that follow.

Production History:
First produced as part of the Graduate course in Directing at the University of Calgary (Calgary, Alberta) in 2004.

Notes:
Casting is flexible and can be done with varying cast numbers and role allocations.

Return to list

Collaboration

by Simon Mallett

Style: Dark Comedy
Number of acts: One
Length: 15 mins
Total actors required: 2
Men: 1
Women: 1

Synopsis:
Theatre is supposed to be the ultimate collaborative art form, but when a young director finds herself having trouble working with the set designer on a production, she turns to the producer for help, only to find that the hierarchies of seniority, reputation and gender can get in the way of an ideal artistic process. She finds herself faced with a decision between the desire to further her career and the danger of sacrificing her artistic morals, and neither option is going to let her off easy.

Production History:
First produced by Nickle and Dime Productions (Calgary, Alberta) in 2004. Subsequently produced by Downstage (Calgary, Alberta) as part of Theatre Junction's Random Acts festival in 2005.

Return to list

Jack of Hearts
by Simon Mallett

Style: Drama
Number of acts: One
Length: 60 mins
Total actors required: 6
Men: 4
Women: 2

Synopsis:

Pearce is a card shark in every sense of the word. Every hand he touches turns to gold, and he's finding it harder and harder to find people who are willing to lay their money on the line against him. But Pearce's card playing isn't just a means to amassing a small fortune for his own selfish reasons, but rather to save enough money to buy his dying father Travis a kidney transplant on the black market. Knowing his father will never reach the top of the legitimate patient waiting list and not knowing how much time Travis may have left, Pearce turns to Donna for help in scouting out an opportunity that will make or break both his and his father's chances. But playing against a table full of other sharks, with all the money on the table, will Pearce have what it takes to win out and save his father's life?

Production History:
First produced by Downstage (Guelph, Ontario) in 2002. Subsequently produced by Nickle and Dime Productions (Calgary, Alberta) in 2004 and by Sage Theatre (Calgary, Alberta) in 2005.

Return to list

The Lookout Trail
by Simon Mallett

Style: Drama
Number of acts: One
Length: 45 mins
Total actors required: 4
Men: 2
Women: 2

Synopsis:
Jennifer Murphy is the Principal at an elementary school like any other. But when she receives a mysterious message claiming to be from the future and predicting grave danger to her students, she is faced with a decision to make. Does she bow to the requests of the message or ignore its seemingly impossible claims. Enlisting the help of the Vice Principal, they try to determine the best course of action, but it becomes clear that something in the message is even more important to Jennifer than ensuring the safety of her own students. Every attempt to determine the validity of the message only further clouds the situation as the predicted event draws closer, and only once the final decision is made is the truth revealed in a shocking twist ending.

Production History:
First produced by Downstage (Guelph, Ontario) in 2001.

Return to list

Pulling the Wool

by Simon Mallett

Style: Dark Comedy/Drama
Number of acts: One
Length: 60 mins
Total actors required: 4
Men: 2
Women: 2

Synopsis:
Allen is a struggling writer who has taken a job in the stories department of Canada's Leading News Network (CLNN). His job is to work with The Statistician to take numbers and figures and dress them up to paint the picture the network wants, be it good or bad. However, Allen slowly comes to realize that the stories he is helping to create are geared more toward profit and propaganda than integrity and information, and he begins to question the operations of the network, despite the protestations of his wife. Allen's need for adventure begins to get the better of him, as he embarks on a personal mission to expose the network and its backwards policies, finding an ally in the network's beautiful anchorwoman, and seeking to be an angel to the people of Canada, despite the dark forces that stand in his way.

Production History:
First produced in a co-production by Downstage & Nickle and Dime Productions (Calgary, Alberta) in 2005. Subsequently produced by Downstage (Calgary, Alberta) as part of the Edmonton International Fringe Festival in 2005.

Notes:
Pulling the Wool won the award for 'Outstanding Original Script' at the 2005 Calgary One-Act Play Festival.

Return to list

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Simon Mallett