Gary Owen

When you spend your life in thrall to a monster you find yourself trying to make monstrous things somehow bearable.Helena is a woman on a mission. Since the death of her high-flying husband, she has dedicated herself to reclaiming his legacy. And her hard work is about to pay off, with a new children’s hospital bearing his name on the brink of opening.But when their son Oz returns to the family home for the grand unveiling, he has ambitions of his own. Ambitions that threaten to unravel their family’s most tightly kept secrets.This edition of Gary Owen’s new play, a contemporary re-imagining of Ibsen’s classic is published to coincide with the production run at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in Spring 2025.

A modern love story inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.Romeo is a single dad hanging on tight. Julie is fighting to follow her dream of studying at Cambridge.Two Welsh teens raised a few streets apart – but from entirely different worlds – crash into first love and are knocked off their feet. But at the crossroads to the rest of their lives, Julie’s family fears the worst in a world of unequal opportunity.Following their critically acclaimed productions Iphigenia in Splott and Killology, director Rachel O’Riordan reunites with Gary Owen to deliver his new play. This edition is published to coincide with the premiere at the Dorfman, Royal National Theatre, London, in February 2023.

What is gonna happen, when we can’t take it anymore?Stumbling down the street drunk at 11.30am Effie is the kind of girl you avoid making eye contact with. You think you know her, but maybe you don’t know half of it.Effie’s life is a mess of drink, drugs and drama every night, and a hangover worse than death the next day – till one night gives her the chance to be something more.Gary Owen’s critically acclaimed and powerful monodrama inspired by the Greek myth opens at the Lyric after a smash-hit season at the Sherman Theatre in Wales and later the National Theatre, winning the Best New Play at the UK Theatre Awards 2015.This edition was published to coincide with the production at the Lyric Hammersmith, London, in September 2022.

‘People know, you’re my boy. And they know better than to lay a fucking finger on you. See? You are safer here with me, than you have ever been.’Liam’s 17 years old, loves Dr Who and has lost his mum. He has had to move from London to Wales, to the valleys, to the middle of nowhere, to live with a dad he doesn’t know. Whose nickname isn’t Violence for nothing.

In Killology, players are rewarded for torturing victims, scoring points for “creativity”.But Killology isn’t sick. In fact it’s marketed by its millionaire creator as a deeply moral experience. Because yes, you can live out your darkest fantasies, but you don’t escape their consequences.Out on the streets, not everybody agrees with him.“There is an instinctive revulsion against taking a human life. And that revulsion can be conquered.”

‘What gets me through is knowing I took this pain, and saved all of you from suffering the same.’Stumbling down Clifton Street at 11:30 a.m. drunk, Effie is the kind of girl you'd avoid eye contact with, silently passing judgement. We think we know her, but we don't know the half of it. Effie's life spirals through a mess of drink, drugs and drama every night,and a hangover worse than death the next day - till one night gives her the chance to be something more.This powerful new adaptation of the enduring Greek myth drives home the high price people pay for society’s shortcomings.Winner of Best New Play at the UK Theatre Awards 2015

The new collection of plays from multi-award-winning playwright Gary Owen. Includes the plays: Violence and Son, Iphigenia in Splott, Blackthorn, In the Pipeline, Mrs Reynolds and the Ruffian, Love Steals Us From Loneliness and Mum & DadViolence and Son: People know, you’re my boy. And they know better than to lay a fucking finger on you. See? You are safer here with me, than you have ever been.’ Liam’s 17 years old, loves Dr Who and has lost his mum. He has had to move from London to Wales, to the valleys, to the middle of nowhere, to live with a dad he doesn’t know. Whose nickname isn’t Violence for nothing.Iphigenia in Splott: What gets me through is knowing I took this pain, and saved all of you from suffering the same.’ Stumbling down Clifton Street at 11:30 a.m. drunk, Effie is the kind of girl you'd avoid eye contact with, silently passing judgement. We think we know her, but we don't know the half of it. Effie's life spirals through a mess of drink, drugs and drama every night, and a hangover worse than death the next day - till one night gives her the chance to be something more. This powerful new adaptation of the enduring Greek myth drives home the high price people pay for society’s shortcomings.Blackthorn: Kate and Tom with their troubled daughter Evie decide to leave the London rat race and start afresh in the peace of the countryside. They buy a farmhouse in Wales… Watch the drama unfold. Blackthorn is a darkly comic new play by Gary Owen about the clash between the newcomers with their expectations and the way of life a Welsh farmer holds dear . . .In the Pipeline: A massive liquid gas line tears through the countryside of west Wales. Gary Owen opens the doors to three of the residents in the port of Milford Haven, Andrew, Dai and Joan, who are caught in the path of this terrifying phenomenon.Mrs Reynolds and the Ruffian: Friendships grow in the most unlikely of places. Mrs Reynolds is a little old lady. Jay is a troubled youth. When he vandalises her lovingly tended garden, the authorities send him back to help her fix it. It seems a recipe for disaster - but human beings are more complex than the headlines.Love Steals us from Loneliness: A play about the stupid things you do when you're f*cked. A night out. Friends, alcohol, a shit club, a strop - the usual. But tonight is different. Tonight will change things forever. Gary Owen, one of Wales's foremost playwrights, returns to his hometown of Bridgend. The media have told us their Bridgend story, but what will a writer who spent his own teenage years here have to say?

Joe and Anna have been together for nine years, and as far as he is concerned will stay together for another ninety. But the minute they set a date for the wedding, Anna panics. A new dating agency promises to scan the online persona of everyone in the world, guaranteeing to find your soul mate. Anna looks at Joe and wonders - can he Gary Owen's warm, wise and very funny comedy asks if it's possible to find our perfect partner, or whether we're better off leaving it to chance. Can our ideals of romantic love ever compete with reality?

Blackthore is a darkly comic new play about the clash between the newcomers with their expectations and the way of life a Welsh farmer holds dear . In In the Pipeline Gary Owen opens the doors to three of the residents in the port of Milford Haven, who are caught in the path of a massive liquid gas line.

"Mrs Reynolds and the Ruffian" explores human nature and friendship alongside the social climate of modern Britain giving a warm, funny and wise glimpse into the way we live now.

Between January 2007 and December 2008 there were a spate of suicides amongst young people in the small Welsh town of Bridgend, the final number was calculated at 28. The media have told us their Bridgend story, but what will a writer who spent his own teenage years here have to say?

The traditional Christmas classic novel by Charles Dickens adapted for the stage by award-winning playwright Gary Owen. Tucked up in his old, decaying house on a cold Christmas Eve, lonely, curmudgeonly Scrooge hears the rattle of chains and strange wailing noises: it's the ghost of his old business partner, Marley, come to warn Scrooge that if he doesn't change his ways, he will suffer a terrible fate. Whilst Scrooge meets the three Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, he must learn to embrace the true spirit of Christmas before it's too late. Gary Owen's adaptation translates the novel's narrative fluently and portrays the Dickensian caricatures with flair and fun but not crudeness. Whilst translating the novel for the stage, he also refreshes the 1843 morality tale of ghosts, poverty, avarice and the redemptive power of compassion for a 21st century audience.

A sharp, street-wise drama about contemporary urban life that swells and builds across twenty-four scenes to give the authentic sound of a city. First performed in March 2004 at the Chapter in Cardiff.

First collection of seminal plays by one of Wales' most talented writers Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco: his first work for the stage, published in February 2001 to tie-in with the production by Paines Plough and Sgript Cymru. Saturday night, small town Wales, one pub, one party and three lads stuck with their school reputations and desperate to get the hell out. The Shadow of a Boy: premiered at the Royal National Theatre in June 2002; joint winner of the George Devine award and winner of the Meyer Whitworth Award. The scheduled destruction of Earth alarms eleven-year-old Luke almost as much as starting at the comp. The Drowned World: premiered at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, August 2002; won a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival and was joint winner of the 2003 Pearson Best Play Award. A vicious tale of love, revolt and beauty in a world where surfaces matter more than love and kinship. Cancer Time: a new work that premiers at the Latchmere Theatre, London, September 2004. A small city, a long way from the action. Two girls are killing time in a call centre. They are waiting for their lives to start. For something to happen. For a piece of the action to come to them. Today, they are going to get their wish. Fags: a brand new short work, regarded as a companion piece to Cancer Time.The volume is introduced by Vicky Featherstone of Paines Plough, and the new first director of Scotland's National Theatre.

Winner of the George Devine Award for 2002, published to tie in with the opening at the Traverse Theatre at the Edinburgh Festival And that is why we can't have these/Fatally radiant creatures/Walking round the place/Reminding us how clumsy/And mean-spirited/And graceless/And cowardly/And shapeless/And flabby and foul we all are. In a drowned world - how far will you go to save your own skin? In this vicious tale of love, revolt and beauty, Gary Owen presents a vision of a world divided between citizens and non-citizens, where friends betray one another and where surfaces matter more than love or kinship."A blazing new talent" Guardian "A blast of brilliant theatrical writing straight from the heart of post-modern Wales" Scotsman

Saturday night, small town Wales, one pub, one party and three lads stuck with their school reputations - the gimp, the geek and the bully. Their dream - to get the hell out With a dead cat stuffed through a letterbox, a soupcon of mindless violence and the perfect girl to die for, Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco bristles with the desperately ordinary, the truly extraordinary, and the just plain mad. Heroic, comic and right up your street, director Vicky Featherstone's reputation for excellence coupled with Gary Owen's dazzling gist for storytelling, creates another unmissable hit for Paines Plough in a co-production with Sgript Cymru - national new writing company of Wales.Produced by Paines Plough, with Sgript Cymru, and directed by Vicky Featherstone, Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco premiered at the Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, in February 2001.