Sean Devine

Sean Devine is a playwright, performer and theatre maker based in Ottawa, as well as a co-founder and artistic director of Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Theatre (HHG). Sean’s new play DAISY received its world premiere in July 2016 at Seattle’s ACT Theatre, where it was nominated for Outstanding New Play through Seattle's Gregory Awards. DAISY is published in the US by Dramatists, and in Canada by Talonbooks. DAISY was commissioned by NYC’s Ensemble Studio Theatre, received workshops at Toronto’s Studio 180 Theatre and the Seattle’s Icicle Creek New Play Festival, and recently got its second US production at Houston's Main Street Theatre. Sean’s first play RE:UNION was produced by Pacific Theatre and HHG in Vancouver in 2011, published by Scirocco Drama in 2013, and was presented by the...

Sean Devine is a playwright, performer and theatre maker based in Ottawa, as well as a co-founder and artistic director of Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Theatre (HHG). Sean’s new play DAISY received its world premiere in July 2016 at Seattle’s ACT Theatre, where it was nominated for Outstanding New Play through Seattle's Gregory Awards. DAISY is published in the US by Dramatists, and in Canada by Talonbooks. DAISY was commissioned by NYC’s Ensemble Studio Theatre, received workshops at Toronto’s Studio 180 Theatre and the Seattle’s Icicle Creek New Play Festival, and recently got its second US production at Houston's Main Street Theatre. Sean’s first play RE:UNION was produced by Pacific Theatre and HHG in Vancouver in 2011, published by Scirocco Drama in 2013, and was presented by the Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Ottawa in 2015, where it won the Rideau Award for Best Production. Sean’s second play EXCEPT IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT OF WAR was produced by HHG and Pi Theatre in Vancouver in 2013. Sean was commissioned by the University of Lethbridge to write WHEN THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO BURN, where it premiered in 2017.

Scripts

Daisy

by Sean Devine

2

Cast Size

6

Genre

docudrama/historic,

drama,

period,

political

It’s the Fall of 1964. Bloody turmoil over Civil Rights is spilling onto the streets. A fearful ideology is growing from the conservative right. The threat of nuclear war is palpable. And a little skirmish in the far-off nation of Vietnam just won’t go away. With a Presidential election looming, a group of “ad-men” working for Lyndon Johnson unleash the most devastating political commercial ever conceived, the...

It’s the Fall of 1964. Bloody turmoil over Civil Rights is spilling onto the streets. A fearful ideology is growing from the conservative right. The threat of nuclear war is palpable. And a little skirmish in the far-off nation of Vietnam just won’t go away. With a Presidential election looming, a group of “ad-men” working for Lyndon Johnson unleash the most devastating political commercial ever conceived, the “Daisy ad”. Based on true events, DAISY explores the moment in television history that launched the age of negative advertising, and forever changed how we elect our leaders. War was the objective. Peace was the bait. Everyone got duped.

Re:Union

by Sean Devine

Cast Size

3

Genre

docudrama/historic,

drama,

political

“The world doesn’t need a lot of martyrs...but it needs a few.”

On November 2, 1965 American Quaker Norman Morrison drives to the Pentagon with his infant daughter, a jug of kerosene and a box of matches. With Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara looking on, the young Quaker carries out a final act of witness against the horrors of the Vietnam War. Thirty-six years later, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11...

“The world doesn’t need a lot of martyrs...but it needs a few.”

On November 2, 1965 American Quaker Norman Morrison drives to the Pentagon with his infant daughter, a jug of kerosene and a box of matches. With Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara looking on, the young Quaker carries out a final act of witness against the horrors of the Vietnam War. Thirty-six years later, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, his daughter returns to confront the aging McNamara, the memory of her father, and the costly legacy of sacrifice.

When There's Nothing Left to Burn

by Sean Devine

Cast Size

8—10

Genre

drama,

political,

tragedy

A dark political drama set in a fictional North American under siege from a series of bus bombings. A pair of twisted police investigators cracks down on a group of militant activists. Young lovers search for beauty in the shadows. And a cunning political strategist and her ambitious candidate take full advantage of the opportunities at hand.

Except in the Unlikely Event of War

by Sean Devine

1

Cast Size

4—5

Genre

adaptation,

dark comedy,

drama,

political,

satire

EXCEPT IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT OF WAR is a satire on the use of war as a means of societal control, the politicization of art & media, and the instability of truth. Mixing fact and fiction, the play uses three points of departure as inspiration: the adaptation of a controversial and terrifying book from the mid-1960s Report from Iron Mountain; the emergence of the arctic as the next global focal point for armed...

EXCEPT IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT OF WAR is a satire on the use of war as a means of societal control, the politicization of art & media, and the instability of truth. Mixing fact and fiction, the play uses three points of departure as inspiration: the adaptation of a controversial and terrifying book from the mid-1960s Report from Iron Mountain; the emergence of the arctic as the next global focal point for armed conflict; and the dangerous political ideologies currently threatening freedom of expression in Canada.