Graham Rhodes - Playwright
His words have been spoken by such well known actors and presenters as Chris Barrie; Dame Judy Dench, Michael Williams, Christopher Fairbanks; Timothy Spall; Ian Carmichael, Carol Vordeman; Trevor McDonald; Harry Gration and even Richard Whitely. He also writes plays for the Valley Theatre, a pub theatre company based in Scarborough and has a number of stage plays, comedies and dramas, available for performance. All the below have been performed in front of a live audience either at Scarborough’s Valley Theatre or otherwise as stated. “Sam
the Donkeyman” Set in a northern seaside town in the 1970’s, Sam is the donkey man, the man who makes his living giving donkey rides. As he walks along the beach he reflects on a lifetime spent with donkeys, the changes he has seen, his failed marriage and his experiences surviving the First World War. “The
Survivor” After the chairman and board have attended their global strategy conference in the Seychelles and the senior management have spent a week bonding in a luxury hotel it’s now time for the junior levels of management to undergo a team building exercise, a survival course on the North Yorkshire Moors! The Survivor is a comedy based on the thoughts of one man as he faces the rigours of a team building exercise that goes horribly wrong. “The
Home Front” Set in Scarborough during 1940 the play is about two young women, friends since school who, despite the outbreak of war, have managed to get a week's holiday together. As they sit on the cliff top they discuss their new war responsibilities and their relationships and the shared secret of their own past. “Going
Home.” A play about a cantankerous old lady whose life changes when she is introduced to a young man undergoing community service. Can the inexperienced youngster trust the old lady and help to her escape life on the Social Security? Or is the old lady using the young man for reasons of her own? A play with more than one unexpected twist. “The Roadie” The history of rock and roll through the eyes of a man who carried the gear of the stars. From Herman’s Hermits to the Police he’s worked with them all. Too old for the road he now finds himself working sound and lighting in the end of a pier theatre. He tells the story of his life and gives the low down on many famous names. If you want to know which band fought tooth and nail in the dressing room – this is the play for you. “The
Morning After” Is it possible to have sex with a stranger – without knowing? To date over 4,000 people have! The play was originally written as part of an awareness campaign for The Roofie Foundation, Britain’s leading specialist agency working in the area of drug related sexual abuse. Let your audiences discover the harrowing truth behind Drug Rape, Britain’s fastest growing and most underreported crime with this major social awareness piece. “Revolution” First performed as part of Leeds 1993 Bi-Centennial celebration, “Revolution” is a musical play in four acts based on the Industrial Revolution and its effects on the British workforce. Set in a music hall environment and using songs written at the time, many of which are now familiar folk songs, “Revolution” tells story of the farmer workers, railway navvies, miners and cotton workers whose lives were changed forever. Rambling Boy –The Charlie Poole
Story A musical play featuring the life and music of Charlie Poole (1896-1931), the founder of American bluegrass music and “a banjo picking son of a bitch.” Performed in July 2003 at Newcastle’s Live Theatre staring Martin Stephenson and the Tyne Valley Ramblers. Jump An elderly woman sees a young man about to throw himself from a bridge and tries to stop him. A short play about Scarborough’s infamous Valley Bridge, the scene of many suicides Unhappy Medium A seaside fortune-teller is down on her luck when a sceptical young man asks her for a reading. An insight into what it must be like to be able to see not only your own future but also other peoples. New Neighbours When the husband and wife owners of one of Britain’s most successful computer games companies buy their new house they also discover they’ve inherited not only a internet inspired cleaner, but a flock of chickens and an old woman who lives in their shed. The Universal Soldier Somewhere on a fighting front a soldier stands in a trench waiting and watching for his enemy. A play that features his thoughts and reflections as war drags on. The Last Visit An elderly lady, left on a bench by her son and daughter in law, looks down on Scarborough’s South Bay and ruminates on her life, the death of her husband and why she’s not going back into her care home. The Mabel & Ruby Plays The Ship That Sailed Away Two elderly ladies sit on a Scarborough seat overlooking the harbour. In addition to wondering why they came on holiday in March they also reflect on their passed lives and long friendship “A Grave Mistake” The return of the two old ladies from “The Ship That Sailed Away”, only this time the audience is treated to thoughts and comments of the ladies whilst they attend the funeral of an acquaintance. Jubilee Jubilation Jubilee Year and the two old ladies sit at the side of the road waiting to wave their union jacks at the Royal Family as they pass on their way to somewhere else. Mabel & Ruby’s Big Bargain After watching David Dickinson and the other antique programmes Mabel decides to look in her attic with hilarious and surprising results. Mabel & Ruby In Wonderland A pantomime in which our two old ladies get part time jobs as Santa’s Elves in a department store Christmas Grotto. As they sit enjoying their break they meet up with a white rabbit, a hobbit and a half-elf, Dick Whittington and his cat, the Lord Mayor of Scarborough and a talking sock. "Nothing is safe from Rhodes satirical pen, including the genre of panto itself, and the script is studded with telling and hilarious references to local personalities and happenings.” Scarborough Evening News.
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Graham
Rhodes has over 25 years experience in writing scripts, books, articles
and numerous other projects. He has created scripts for broadcast
television, audio-visual presentations, computer games, film &
video productions, web sites, audio-tape, interactive laser-disc,
CD-ROM, animation’s, conferences, and multi-media presentations.
He has also created many specialised scripts for major corporate clients
with numerous Training, Corporate, and Marketing projects, whilst
his knowledge of history has helped him create many heritage based
programmes seen in museums and visitor centres throughout the country.
He also writes dialogue and story lines for THQ, one of America’s
biggest computer games companies.