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FRASER GRACE Online- the Plays (5):

Gifts of War

 Synopsis Gifts of War is a one-woman play in three short acts. A mysterious woman bides her time in the guest bathroom of an Athenian Palace, while beyond the door, a party rages. Wives of the great and good in Greece are celebrating their husbands' victory over their Trojan foes- unaware that Nemesis is planning to fix more than just her makeup.

Cast: This play has a cast of 1 female and lasts 25 minutes

Production History Originally commissioned by Menagerie Theatre for the Hotbed Festival in 2000, the play was subsequently produced at the Latchmere Theatre, London as part of a double bill with Naomi Wallace's The Retreating World, under the umbrella title of Two Into War. Two into War was subsequently revived on a national tour.

Gifts of War was produced at the Menagerie Theatre, Latchmere Theatre, London, 2003

This production was directed by Paul Bourne, designed by Idit Nathan, with music by Andrew Lovett.      

Nemesis................Rachel Aspinwall

Menagerie Theatre, National Tour, 2005, directed by Paul Bourne, designed by Idit Nathan, with music by Andrew Lovett.  

Nemesis...................Jasmine Hyde

Rachel Aspinwall as Nemesis at the Latchmere Theatre, 2003	Jasmine Hyde as Nemesis

Fraser's View Gifts of War began as a commission for the inaugural Hotbed Festival, in 2000. The brief was a ten-minute play for one actor. As part of the Festival, I  led workshops for other playwrights on the joys of  these constraints - and then submitted a thirty-minute, three-act script that takes place in the ancient past and in the present - simultaneously. Ah, theatre.

Rachel Aspinwall played a huge role in helping me to clarify the script, and was fantastic in developing a role which is both funny and deadly. By the time Jasmine Hyde took on the part for a national tour of studio spaces, I had discovered a name for the character: Nemesis. We also paired Gifts of War with The Retreating World -an incredibly simple, moving, piece by Naomi Wallace- to make a double-bill called TWO INTO WAR.

Chilling, Gifts of War is one of the pieces I am most proud of, despite being so brief. Nemesis is a part that really does have to be rediscovered by any actor with the chops to take it on. And it is funny too.

Future: Roll up, roll up...

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