PETER COLLEY

Playwright-Screenwriter

 

 



FREE COPIES AVAILABLE FOR THEATRES
For more info click on the poster or: click here

Now available in an Italian translation "Quando La Morte Chiama".  For details click here.


FREE COPIES AVAILABLE FOR THEATRES
Premiered in Calgary at The Vertigo Theatre.  For more info click on the poster or:
click here.

 


FREE COPIES AVAILABLE FOR THEATRES
For more info: click here


Peter's new play THE MAN IN THE DESERT about the life of Lawrence after his Arabia days was a semi-finalist for the 2007 Eugene O'Neill awards.  THE MAN IN THE DESERT was performed to much acclaim in 2007 at Theatre In The Park, Raleigh, North Carolina. 


For more information on THE MAN IN THE DESERT click here

I’LL BE BACK BEFORE MIDNIGHT

"Midnight" Rocks in 2013 Los Angeles premiere!
At The Colony Theatre in Los Angeles (which Encyclopedia Britannica called one of "25 Notable US Theater Companies"). 

RUN EXTENDED!

"A
roller-coaster play with the kind of stomach-dropping twists that will make you hoot with laughter even as you clutch your theater companion's sleeve."
Los Angeles Times 

READ THE REVIEWS AND SEE CAST PHOTOS CLICK HERE


RECENT OTHER PRODUCTIONS:

I'LL BE BACK BEFORE MIDNIGHT
Coming up this summer at The Cortland Repertory Theatre upstate New York and in the fall at the beautiful Mill At Sonning Theatre .  There have been many recent productions including Mexico, The Millbrook Playhouse (US), The Lighthouse Festival (Canada), and The Metro Theatre in Vancouver (it is the Metro's 50th anniversary season and they have chosen the 7 most successful plays in the last 50 years for their season).  In 2011, "Midnight" re-opened in Turin, Italy in Italian (it last played in Italy in 1995), Shanghai China at the Shanghai Modern Theatre (see posters below) in Mandarin, and Nairobi, Kenya.  2011 also featured professional productions at St. Michael's Playhouse in Vermont, and the The Showboat in Canada.  2010 it premiered in Spain and Portugal for the first time, and the American Heartland Theatre, Kansas City.  The KC production starred Darren Kennedy (CSI, Without A Trace).  It received excellent reviews from the Kansas City Star and the KC Metro - for information on this production, photos, video, reviews etc click here.  "Midnight" was nominated for 9 New Zealand NAPTA Awards, and won three including "Best Play".   

     
Italy and China 2011 - Click on poster for more info

It was produced in Munich, Germany at the famous Theater Blutenburg where it ran for many months in a  German translation.  Productions in the U.S., Ireland, Jamaica, South Africa and Australia, a National Tour of Britain, Nairobi, Kenya, and New Zealand.  The world famous Cambridge Footlights (Monty Python, Beyond The Fringe, Borat) produced I'LL BE BACK BEFORE MIDNIGHT.  For details click here.

I'LL BE BACK BEFORE MIDNIGHT recently named as "Best of Calgary Theatre" by the Calgary Sun.  "It’s no surprise I’ll Be Back Before Midnight has thrilled audiences in 29 countries and become the most produced Canadian play ever."

WHEN THE REAPER CALLS
 New Italian translation titled "Quando La Morte Chiama" was performed in Rome in 2012, as well as a production in Shanghai in Mandarin, and Cape Town, South Africa.  Produced in Hamburg, Germany, and in 2010 at The Abbey Theatre in Scotland, and at the Sudbury Theatre Centre.   2011 at The Lighthouse Theatre (Canada), The Meaford Opera House and The City Playhouse near Toronto.  This play won 5 awards at the Western Ontario Drama League's annual festival in Canada.  British premiere in 2007, New Zealand premiere in 2009 (The Waiuku Theatre and The Dolphin Theatre) and by the Columbia Entertainment Company in the US. The play won 4 New Zealand NAPTA theatre awards in 2010 including "Best Comedy".  WHEN THE REAPER CALLS has been published by Samuel French Ltd in London. 

YOU'LL GET USED TO IT - THE WAR SHOW
2011 Hamilton Theatre, Ontario, 2010 at The Rose Theatre, Brampton, The Kanata Theatre, Ottawa, the Langham Court Theatre, Victoria BC, The Newmarket Stage and the Georgetown Music Theatre and in 2013 at the Meadowvale Music Theatre.  


FREE COPIES AVAILABLE FOR THEATRES
For more info click on the poster or: click here

Poster design: Elliott Smith


FREE COPIES AVAILABLE FOR THEATRES
A high-stepping new musical about the screen's greatest tough-guy.

For more info: click here

Peter's new musical play (Music & Lyrics by Christopher McGovern and Robert Creighton) on the life of James Cagney premiered at The Florida Stage in 2009.  It is the winner of a "New American Play Award" and starred Robert Creighton as Cagney (from Broadway's LITTLE MERMAID). To read article in Playbill Magazine click here.  ENTIRE RUN SOLD OUT!   


 


FREE COPIES AVAILABLE FOR THEATRES
For more info: click here

The 34th Florida Carbonell Awards*  

CAGNEY!  
A New Musical on the life of James Cagney

WINNER
"Best New Work" 
(play or musical)

NOMINATIONS:
 "Best Actor" - "Best Production Of A Musical" - "Best Director" - "Best Supporting Actor" - "Best Musical Direction" - "Best Choreography"

 * THE CARBONELL AWARDS: "Along with New York’s Drama Desk and Chicago’s Jefferson Awards, the Carbonell Awards are among the nation’s senior regional arts awards."  For more information CLICK HERE.

 
2011 - The Toronto Star calls Peter Colley: "Canada's Master Of Mayhem".


Nairobi, Kenya 2011


The Donnellys - 2011 and 2013
Click on poster for more information

UPCOMING FILM PROJECTS 

           

Peter is writing Endgame & Sweet Deceit for CinePartners, for more information click hereHIGH FLIGHT is a WWII action romance currently in development. 

I'LL BE BACK BEFORE MIDNIGHT UK National Tour

UK National Tour - including The Grand Theatre Swansea shown at left (to see more pictures of theatres click here)

UK Tour venues include: Theatre Royal Winchester, The Capitol Theatre, Hull New Theatre, Theatre Royal Margate, The Darlington Civic, The Grand Theatre Swansea, The Lighthouse Theatre at Poole, Devonshire Park Eastbourne.  Ian Dickens Productions, the largest UK producer of touring plays (300 productions), announced that the recent tour broke the company's box office records. 

I'LL BE BACK BEFORE MIDNIGHT - at the Blyth Festival in its fourth revival at the theatre which premiered the play, the Vertigo Theatre in Calgary, the Spokane Civic Theatre and in the Nantucket Arts Festival.  The Totem Pole Playhouse, Pennsylvania (one of only 11 professional Equity summer stock companies left in the US).  Also Canberra Repertory Theatre, Australia.  Danish translation as "TILBAGE FØR MIDNAT!".  Arena Players ("Long Island's Oldest Professional Theatre"), Topeka Rep Theatre.  WHEN THE REAPER CALLS: Kanata Theatre, Guelph Theatre

"Peter Colley's play was the most memorable theatre experience of my life.  Made me realize what live theatre could be." Calgary Herald 2006

REVIEWS:
I'LL BE BACK BEFORE MIDNIGHT at The Coliseum Theatre, Nr. Manchester, England, where it received excellent notices (to see the Coliseum reviews, poster, photos, click here).  

    

          

A new Danish translation at Jomfru Ane TeatretAlso in 2010 a new Portugese translation called "Voltarei Antes Da Meia-Noite" by Teatroesfera, Lisbon, Portugal, a Dutch translation called "Voor Middernacht Ben Ik Terug!" and a German translation titled "Gänsehaut" which was a hit in 2007 in at Theater Blutenburg, Munich, Germany.

Peter was interviewed twice in the New York-based "The Dramatist" magazine about his playwriting, and Writer's Digest named Peter's dialogue software among the "Best Software For Writers" and it has now been sold in 43 countries.  In 2010 he organized the Los Angeles Dramaturgy Symposium with speakers from The Ahmanson and Taper Theatres, the La Jolla Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse and others. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION -  NEWSPAPER REVIEWS, PRODUCTION HISTORY ETC -  CLICK ON TITLES BELOW LEFT

PLAYS:
bullet I'll Be Back Before Midnight
(mystery-thriller)
bulletMurder In Noirville  NEW!
(a film noir style mystery-thriller)
bulletCagney! NEW!
(a musical on the life of James Cagney)
bulletThe Man In The Desert  NEW!
(The story of Lawrence after Arabia)
bulletYou'll Get Used To It - The War Show 
(musical)
bullet When The Reaper Calls
(comedy-mystery)
bullet Stolen Lives 
(true-life drama)
bulletThe Mark of Cain  (a.k.a. The Murderer In The Mirror)
(mystery-thriller)
bullet The Donnellys
(true-life drama with music)
bullet The Vaudevillians
(musical revue)

FILMS:

bullet Illusions
bullet The Mark Of Cain
bulletSweet Deceit & Endgame COMING SOON

TV

bullet Mythic Warriors (CBS)
bullet The Zack Files (Fox)
bulletWatership Down (British ITV)
bulletDue South (CBS)

 

AWARDS

(For full size headshot for programs etc. click here)

Peter Colley is an award-winning Canadian writer based in Los Angeles and Toronto.  His stage plays and musicals have been produced in 29 countries, 48 of the 50 states in the U.S. and every province in Canada.  He was nominated for the 2000 Humanitas Prize for screenwriting and was a semi-finalist for the 2006 and 2007 Eugene O'Neill playwriting awards and the winner of a 2008 New American Play Award from Theatre Communications Group (TCG), 2009 winner of a New Zealand NAPTA award.  His new musical CAGNEY! was nominated for seven 2010 Florida Carbonell Awards and won the "Best New Work" Award (play or musical). 

From his start as one of the youngest playwrights ever produced at Canada's National Arts Centre, he has gone on to win one international, seven national and five regional awards for writing.  His plays have been translated into many languages including French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese and sign-language for the deaf.  One of his plays (I'll Be Back Before Midnight) was named in a Toronto Globe & Mail retrospective on Canadian theatre as  "the most produced Canadian play ever".  This play has grossed over $40 million worldwide.  For his body of work, the Canadian press called Mr. Colley "a national treasure".

For his suspense-filled stage thrillers Richard Ouzounian, chief theatre critic of the Toronto Star, called Peter: "Canada's Master of Mayhem". 

Peter Colley has been published by Samuel French Inc., (New York and London), Baker's Plays of Boston, Macmillans, and Simon & Pierre.  Two of his plays have been made into feature films, with Mr. Colley writing both screenplays.  

He has written extensively for CBS Television, as well as Fox Family Channel, British ITV, CBC Canada, WNET TV (New York).  

FOR A MORE DETAILED BIOGRAPHY/ RESUMÉ CLICK HERE:
Biography

Peter Colley is also the creator of an educational software program for writers called Great Dialogue Software™.  This software has been sold in 43 countries.  For more details, click here, or click on the logo below.  

 

THEATRE COMPANIES: For free perusal copies of Peter's plays email:

The above email address is a graphic so that SPAM email harvesting  programs cannot see it.  You  must manually type in the email address!  Thanks! 

Please include company details

Click on posters below to see larger version:

Cain_StageJPG.jpg (45370 bytes)

MID_VancOldPhoto_JPG.jpg (38345 bytes)

DONN_TL_JPG.jpg (29498 bytes)

WS_76_posterJPG.jpg (41711 bytes)

MID_WindsorJPG.jpg (12266 bytes)

IllusionsJPG.jpg (30740 bytes)

Walker_Poster_JPG.jpg (25145 bytes)

MID_Italy_JPG.jpg (15597 bytes)

HCP-KWT_Poster_JPG.jpg (38199 bytes)

MID_BelfryJPG.jpg (33090 bytes)

Reap_Gateway_Hween_JPG.jpg (50492 bytes)

For more information on Peter Colley's Great Dialogue Software™  click on the above logo. This popular educational software for writers has been sold in 43 countries.

THEATRES WHICH HAVE PERFORMED PETER'S PLAYS INCLUDE: 
Theatre Royal, Windsor (England); The Grand Theatre, London (Ont.); The National Arts Centre, Ottawa; Theatre Royal Winchester (England); The Florida Stage; The Coliseum, Manchester (England); The Vancouver Playhouse; Theatre Royal, Margate (England); Teatro Ghione, Rome; The Salisbury Playhouse (England); Theatre New Brunswick; The Palace Theatre (England); The Tarragon, Toronto; The Saint Lawrence Centre, Toronto; The City Theatre, Pittsburgh; Theatre-By-The-Sea, Portsmouth (US); The Octagon Theatre (England); The American Heartland Theater, Kansas City; The Capitol Theatre (England); The Blyth Festival (Canada); The Charlottetown Festival (Canada); The Grand Theatre, Swansea (Wales); The Neptune Theatre Halifax (Canada); Canberra Repertory Theatre (Australia), ETH Hamburg, (Germany), The Century Theatre (England), The Wangherie Theatre (New Zealand), Theater Blutenburg, Munich, (Germany), Alliance Francaise (Kenya), Salon Varietes (Spain), Queen's Park Theatre (Barbados), Teatroesfera, Lisbon (Portugal); The Hamilton Princess (Bermuda); The Xinguang Arts Center, Shanghai (China); Teatro Erba, Turin  (Italy), St. Michaels Playhouse, Vermont, Teatro Del Lago, Jalisco (Mexico), and thousands more in 29 countries.  


TO SEE PICTURES OF SOME OF THE THEATRES: 

CLICK HERE

The Grand Theatre, London (Ont.), where Peter started his career as the Resident Playwright for 3 years. 


Gaiety Theatre, Isle Of Man


National Arts Centre, Ottawa, Canada

THEATRE COMPANIES: For free perusal copies of Peter's plays email:

The above email address is a graphic so that email harvesting  programs cannot see it.  You  must manually type in the email address!  Thanks! 

Please include company name

Peter is a member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, The Dramatists Guild of America, and The Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights