Welcome

Welcome to my website.  I hope you’ll find all sorts of things to amuse you with links to some of my poems (“Poem of the Week”) and projects as well as my history and publications (“About”)and, if you are a booker, information under the heading “Press” that you can use directly for publicity.  Any events that I’m taking part in or rehearsals or shows with dates and so on in the “Events” section but if there’s anything you would like to know then just go to “Contact”. Check out videos of projects on YouTube, Vimeo . You can find various bits and pieces on Facebook - Peter John Cooper Playwright - and Twitter .

From the West Cliff

Escaping the Storm

It is almost exactly twelve months since I was commissioned to write (and subsequently direct) a play about the sex campaigner Marie Stopes for AsOne Theatre Company.  Well, the script is written, the actors are cast, the Designer is designing and countless others are doing the sort of things they do.  Tomorrow we start four days of development with a taster day at Portland Museum on Sunday.  This is about as exciting as it gets for a writer.  Apprehension mixed with joy.  An emotional high such as anyone else might get from… well… you know… a big chocolate cake.   I am (to mix in a few more images) like a bobsleigher pausing before pushing off towards what promises to be the thrill ride of a lifetime.  Wish us luck.

Writing Plays in the Twenty-first Century

Last year I started a series of essays on YouTube about my philosophy of playwriting and theatre in general.  If you’ve got twelve minutes you might be interested.  Click here for link

The Work of the Director

I shall be directing “Escaping the Storm” as well as having written it.  Directing requires a whole different set of skills so I try to keep the two creative facets apart.  Once the play is written I cease to become the Writer and become the Director.  The text will be treated exactly as if we bought it off the “plays” shelf at Waterstones.  If the actors want to discuss the reading of a line I say that the writer is in a pub somewhere and we have to unravel intention from what is before us.  Quite often I’ve forgotten writing a line in any case and haven’t a clue why it’s there.  On the other hand I trust that the writer knew what he was doing when he wrote it so I’m not going to indulge in cuts or rewrites.  At the moment, however, that is a little way in the future.  Now, I’ve got to work with the designer (Annette Sumption whom I trust implicitly having worked with her for nearly forty years) and the other vital makers and doers as well as working out schedules for the actors.  The development period starts in a fortnight and the actual rehearsals two weeks later. The script is very much of secondary importance at the moment.

Publications

Recent work available to purchase online

Blood and Bones Theatre Can theatre provide a plausible, authentic narrative for this Age of Fakery?  My meditation on being a playwright in the 21st Century. Follow this post and then Click on this link    … read more
She Opened the Door She Opened the Door “More than a play” A controversial attempt to understand Thomas Hardy by looking at the women who surrounded him. An actual play script and essays on the extensive research that produced it. Amazon link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Peter-John-Cooper/e/B00ABZSPLU… read more
The Death of the Hurdy Gurdy Boy The Death of the Hurdy Gurdy Boy “It is dark as history is dark” Tommy is the ghost of a Victorian street urchin. He cannot rest until he finds who murdered him and why. He enlists the help of lonely teenage violinist Tamara and together they embark on an extraordinary journey through an alien 21st century. Funny, touching and, at times, disturbing.… read more
Feer of The Future Feer of The Future “to make you shudder and smile” Science Fiction as you remember it. Robots, alien space invasion, travel to distant galaxies. Peter John Cooper the master story-teller draws his inspiration from the classics of the genre, Isaac Asimov, H.G. Wells, Kurt Vonnegut and Phillip K. Dick. 23 bite sized pieces of fiction and poetry to make you shudder and smile.… read more
New York Kidnap New York Kidnap “a fascinating story” Tamara the young violinist is held captive in a New York hotel room and, deeply scared, she pleads for help from the only person in the world who can help her, Tommy the ghost of a Victorian street urchin. A startling chase across the United States ending up in a small mining town in South Dakota while a blizzard rages.… read more
Peter John Cooper – Plays Online Peter John Cooper – Plays Online A selection from Peter John Cooper’s extensive back catalogue.  Thrillers, adaptations and comedies.   Available to buy online from Lazy Bee Press – http://www.lazybeescripts.co.uk/Authors/Author.aspx?iIA=416… read more

Peter John Cooper

  • Peter John Cooper

    Peter John Cooper is a UK Theatre professional and poet with over 40 years experience in directing and writing.  He has over thirty plays recorded on the Doollee Database of UK produced playwrights.

    A number of his works are published online and in paperback and he can be seen performing in clubs and small theatres in London and his home town of Bournemouth. He is best known for his experimental work both as a playwright and poet.

    He has worked extensively with Adults with Learning Disabilities and has been part of ACDC European initiative on Arts for Excluded Groups.

… read more