Mial Pagan Playwright and Novelist
Stage Plays
First performed: Abbey Theatre Studio November 2009
Production info
Cast size: 6
Gender: 4m 2f
Running time: Approx performance time 2 hours inc 20 minute interval
Settings: Two - flexible, minimal with projection
Tech: Minimal technical requirements. Suitable for studio or fringe venues
Costume: 1980s costumes
Rights: Professional and amateur licences available. Fringe licences available. Educational performances welcome
Other People's Lives
Politics, Punk and Passion
June 9th 1983 - the morning of Margaret Thatcher’s second election victory. Mick, an anarchist, opens a new squat in Brixton and with it a fresh chapter in the lives of a group of political activists with varying ideals and visions of the world. Their constantly simmering tensions are tolerated and kept in check by the closeness of their relationships. Then Alan, a manipulative outsider, arrives to expose the fault lines between them. His actions and the corrosive effect of Mick’s personal demons test unity, friendship and idealism to destruction.
Review:
★★★★★ A sharp, funny and compelling portrait of 1980s Brixton
June 1983. Thatcher has just won a second election, and a group of squatters are planning to change the world. Between political ideals, personal betrayals and the arrival of a dangerous outsider, their fragile community begins to unravel.
A funny, moving and sharply observed play by Mial Pagan, packed with vivid characters and lively dialogue that has already won praise from audiences.
Abbey Theatre Studio July 2017
Upstairs at the Gatehouse 2017
Camden Fringe August 2017
Production info
Cast size: 5 (three doubling / tripling in 3 roles)
Gender: 3m 2f
Running time: Approx performance time 1 hour 25 - no interval
Settings: Five minimal with projection
Tech: Minimal technical requirements. Suitable for studio or fringe venues
Costume: Contemporary costumes
Rights: Professional and amateur licences available. Fringe licences available. Educational performances welcome
Dancehall Sweethearts
Death Is Just A Dance Away
Is there a moment in your life you wish you could revisit to stop or change an event? For music loving teenager Donal his is the second before he pulls a trigger on a cold winter's night in Belfast, propelling himself and his family into a nightmare of silence and despair.
Dancehall Sweethearts is set during the sectarian civil war that tore Northern Ireland apart in the 1970s and 80s. This hard hitting yet humane drama looks at how conflict can draw in the unwilling, transforming their lives and the lives of their friends and enemies.
Review:
'I saw Mial Pagan's latest play, Dancehall Sweethearts, at the Abbey Theatre in St Albans last Saturday. I can't remember the last time I was crying at the end of a play that had also given me so many laughs. I was still pondering on it as I went into London on Monday...a play about music and humanity, set against the Northern Ireland wars in the 70's & 80's. We are going to see it again at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, as part of the Camden Festival. It was superbly directed and performed by members of the Abbey Theatre.'
Abbey Theatre 2021.
Upstairs at the Gatehouse 2021
Camden Fringe Festival 2021
Bruntwood Prize Longlist 2022
Production info
Cast size: 6 plus 3 recorded voices roles
Gender: 4f 2m
Running time: Approx performance time 2 hours inc 20 minute interval
Settings: Two - flexible, minimal with projection
Tech: Minimal technical requirements. Suitable for studio or fringe venues
Costume: Contemporary costumes
Rights: Professional and amateur licences available. Fringe licences available. Educational performances welcome
National Trust
'The Thick of It Meets Macbeth'
In this chillingly prophetic drama former lovers Peter Fraser and Eleanor Perry are as ambitious and ruthless as each other in their quest for positions of influence and power in politics and journalism. Personal gain outweighs responsibility and comes at terrible cost to the country. Britain is pitched into chaos by Fraser’s policies and weakness in the face of a hard-line group in Cabinet. It is disturbing and alarmingly familiar, with wonderful touches of humour and compassion.
Bruntwood Prize script review
'Theatrically original and vibrant National Trust is a gripping play that is hugely topical to today’s political systems and to contemporary issues. The play blends capital P Politics with lower case personal politics with confidence and ease. There are numerous examples of well-crafted comedy, with witty wordplay.'
Little Angel Theatre Islington 2024
Camden Fringe Festival 2024
Abbey Theatre March 2027
Production info
Cast size: 8 (one doubling in 2 roles)
Gender: 7m 2f
Running time: Approx performance time 2 hours inc 20 minute interval
Settings: Two - flexible, minimal with projection
Tech: Minimal technical requirements. Suitable for studio or fringe venues
Costume: Contemporary costumes
Rights: Professional and amateur licences available. Fringe licences available. Educational performances welcome
Thin Places
The Most Powerful Myths Are In Our Minds
Eugene Gillan comes back from the trading floors of the City of London with guilty secrets. In an attempt to recreate his nostalgic view of the village where he grew up and where his first love still lives, he unleashes cruel consequences for those around him. Recognising that lives change through time, old beliefs no longer sustain us and hope lies in being true to ourselves, Eugene and his fellow villagers face harsh truths exposed by fault lines of memory, identity and time.
Drawing inspiration from Irish folklore, Thin Places takes its title from the Celtic idea of mystical locales where borders between worlds are blurred.
Islington Gazette review
'Thin Places, a new drama by Bruntwood Prize longlisted playwright Mial Pagan, probes the intricacies of place, morality and identity with delicacy and humour. The quality of the script and acting make this one of the brightest stars in the firmament of the 2024 Camden Fringe – a great way to round off your festival!'