dot dash treatment3.pdf
BLOODY NORA
A new Musical
THE SHOW
Bloody Nora is a brand-new musical written by Ben Adams (Eugenius, A1) and Jo Clifton (Strictly, Rocky Horror Picture Show), in Collaboration with Director Mark Bell (The Play That Goes Wrong, The Comedy About a Bank Robbery). In production they will also be joined by choreographer Francesca Jaynes (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd).
A full-on comedy/horror/slasher/musical, Bloody Nora is full of tremendous original songs and vibrant (literally) killer dance routines, as well as hysterical comic set-pieces. And it’s the only show where the chorus line are all murder victims – the Killer Choir!
THE STORY
Nora Brindley, on the run from her home town Grimsby, arrives in small-town USA determined to start a new life. Thinking Nora a lovely, quaint-accented addition to the place, the residents of Lovelyville welcome her into their town and their hearts. Sometimes very literally. Nora, struggling with her demons, unfortunately starts to dispatch various irritating members of the population of the town. But the townsfolk are not all that they seem either! Perhaps some did get their just desserts…
Redemption arrives in the figure of Johnny East, the Deputy Sherriff, with whom Nora falls desperately in love. But can she stop killing long enough to have a date, let alone get married and settle down? And what will happen when Johnny finds out her terrible secret, as he surely must?? In the dramatic and increasing insane Second Act we discover the answers and also find out what really lies under the skin of Lovelyville townsfolk and also discover why Nora really really never wanted to go home to “that hell on earth”, Grimsby.
THE WORLD
The town of Lovelyville is an eccentric, technicolour place existing somewhere between Carousel and The Rocky Horror Picture Show in a pastiche of 1930’s white picket fence small-town America. Populated by a cast of frankly oddball characters, who have a borderline obsessive love of Squirrels, the town is just too good to be true. And is. Nora arrives like an Avenging Grimsby Angel and rips a hole in the skin of the place. Letting its own terrible underbelly spill out.
With a dolls house set, a killer choir as Nora’s personal chorus and wonderful musical and dance set pieces Bloody Nora is a murderously fun night out, with a tender love story at its heart.
We are currently looking for producing partners, please get in touch via the contact page if you would like to talk to us.
I was very excited to work again with Dave Hanson(Waiting For Waiting for Godot) on his new play in early 2020 - the last thing I got to do before lockdown! The Tenants is a modern ghost story set in a grand old New York Apartment. I like to think of it as Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf meets Beetlejuice.
The show won Best New Play, Best Actor and Best Director at Winterfest in New York, 2020.
We are still hoping to give this show anther life somewhere new.
Synopsis
Albert and Lillian, unable to leave their old and empty New York City apartment, exist to bicker and tease each other as they try to remember details about their lives. But when a young married couple moves in, Albert and Lillian find their existence turned upside down. By experiencing things vicariously through the young couple, they begin to remember their own lives. What is a ghost or a haunt? Are they spirits or the left over memories of a life unforgiven?
Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Wolf meets Beetlejuice In a new tragicomedy, The Tenants, by Dave Hanson.
Characters:
Albert (60s) – Married to Lillian. Once a successful businessman, a polite and funny host to a party. A good spirited man. The only person who gets under his skin is his wife.
Lillian (50) – Married to Albert. A fun snob at times, who works a room with practiced elegance. Will do anything to get a rise out of her husband and enjoys a great fight. Often slips into moments of bitterness and anger.
Anne Worth (late 20’s/early 30’s) – Married to Jackson. A nice woman, who gave up her life and career in Chicago to see her husband succeed in New York. A great sense of humor with an honest approach to life.
Jackson Worth (mid 30’s) – Married to Anne. Ambitious and excited about his career in New York. Recognizes his wife’s sacrifices to get him here but is intoxicated by the city. He is the type of man who requires validation.
Setting
An old, but spacious New York apartment. Probably in the Gramercy Park neighborhood, in an old high rise building, something that has always been a luxury and status symbol.
Writers notes:
The main characters, Albert & Lillian, are outside of time, and the transitions between scenes represent a movement around time as we fast forward through the linear time line that Anne & Jackson are a part of. This is helped with the transitional lighting & sound cues, which should implement an effect of a time lapse, as seen in film. I envision this with a unique lighting design and choreography of the actors during the transition. Another solution is to film these movements on stage from a bird’s eye view, and present, on a screen, an actual time lapse to the audience. Other ‘ghostly’ effects will be used throughout the show as Albert and Lillian struggle to find out who are what they actually are. These with be both comic moments and great stage illusions.