WRITER
Gray Robert Brown is an emerging writer.
The pitch that became his first full-length play, Gore, earned him a place on the longlist for the Old Vic New Voices 12 in 2017; the finished play was longlisted for the 2017 Papatango Prize. His next play, The Prime of Ms Nicola Sturgeon was also longlisted by the same award in 2019 and shortlisted at the Traverse Theatre. His short play An Island Off Ireland was staged by Full Disclosure’s Xposed at the Southwark Playhouse in February 2022, and a full-length version was shortlisted by the Papatango Prize and longlisted by Bold Playwrights (Sugar). A TV sitcom version is currently in development.
A play for my mother, his fourth play, was longlisted by the Theatre 503 International Playwriting Prize 2023 and shortlisted by the Traverse Breakthrough Writers In Residence scheme 2022. The Red Fox is his fifth play and saw him shortlisted for the Oxford Playhouse Playmaker scheme 2024.
Gray has contributed a story for the upcoming Ladybird Stories for Pride audio collection for children, to be published in May 2024.
In Summer 2022 he presented a self-written academic paper titled “Famous Last Words: Agatha Christie’s Curtain and Sleeping Murder” at the Golden Age of Crime Conference at Bournemouth University. He presented his second paper, “'Cruelty mixed with camp': the parallel lives and works of Agatha Christie and Muriel Spark”, at the Mysterious Mrs Christie Conference at the University of Exeter in August 2023, and online for Romancing the Gothic in October 2023.
His first podcast, The Swinging Christies, with Dr Mark Aldridge, a reappraisal of Agatha Christie's 1960s works, launched in January 2024.
PLAY
SUGAR
A newly rewritten and expanded version of my short play, An Island Off Ireland, retitled Sugar, was longlisted for the Bold Playwrighting scheme 2024.
PODCAST
THE SWINGING CHRISTIES
When you think of the Swinging Sixties, you think of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, but you don't think about Agatha Christie...
My friend, the 'Agathologist' Dr Mark Aldridge and I explore Christie's 60s writing against the backdrop of those turbulent times. Available to listen here, and on all other major podcatchers.
As recommended by the Radio Times!
You can follow us on Twitter or Instagram @Christie_Time and our website is ChristieTime.com.
Our artwork is designed by Bartlett Studio.
AUDIO
LADYBIRD STORIES FOR PRIDE: BOING! BOING!
A colourful collection of original stories by 5 different LGBTQIA+ writers, aimed at 4-7 year olds, published by Ladybird, available from Yoto, Audible and more.
I oversaw the writing and production of these original audio stories, as well as contributing the first story in the collection myself, "Boing! Boing!", about a young boy, Leo, who wants to know: what do all the letters in the acronym mean?
Cover design by Sally Mullaney.
PAPER
“CRUELTY MIXED WITH CAMP”: THE PARALLEL LIVES AND WORKS OF AGATHA CHRISTIE AND MURIEL SPARK
Two of my very favourite writers have been wrongfully neglected - Christie's literary merit is underestimated and Spark's cultural impact diminished. By comparing them I hope to illuminate their similarities and elevate both their works.
This was a lecture given as part of the Mysterious Mrs Christie conference at the University of Exeter (my alma mater) in September 2023. I gave an extended version of the talk for the Romancing the Gothic platform in October 2023, which you can watch here.
PLAY
THE RED FOX
Klaus Fuchs, alias the Red Fox, alias one of the most influential spies in history, the scourge of nations… is stuck in the English countryside.
Klaus Fuchs is the spy who changed the world! He may have only received a fleeting cameo in Oppenheimer, but he lived a fascinating life, one that I spent 10 years researching after having learned he was once based in the village in which I grew up. I wrote the one-act play The Red Fox, a fictionalisation of his last summer on English soil before he confessed, in 2022, and plans to stage it in Germany (where Klaus was born) are afoot...
A rehearsed reading, featuring Jane Slavin, Joe Prestwich and Emma Handy, was held at the Old Red Lion in January 2024.
PAPER
CURTAIN CALL: AGATHA CHRISTIE’S 'FAMOUS LAST WORDS' - CURTAIN AND SLEEPING MURDER
Agatha Christie's final two cases for her most famous detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are legendary. But were they really the final cases? What does finality mean anyway?
This is the lecture I gave for the Golden Age of Crime conference at Bournemouth University in June 2022, based on research I had been undertaking ever since my undergrad dissertation ("Famous Last Words: The Text as the Author's Goodbye and The Mystery of the End", 2015).
TV SITCOM SPEC
SUGAR
Meet Mo, Michael and Christopher. Mo (22) and Michael (22) are together. Christopher (62) is Michael's sugar daddy. And however hard they try, they just can't stop turning up in each other's lives...
Adapted from my short play An Island Off Ireland (below), Sugar is a 6 x '30 TV sitcom spec.
PLAY
AN ISLAND OFF IRELAND
Mo (22) and Christopher (62). are stuck in a car together. On a long journey. They've barely ever said two words to each other. Oh, and Christopher is Mo's boyfriend's sugar daddy.
A witty two-hander with a car-full of pathos, this short play was staged by Xposed's Full Disclosure queer new writing night at the Southwark Playhouse, London. Originally slated for 2019, the event was delayed due to Covid-19 and eventually went on in February 2022.
To book me or discuss my work, feel free to email at the link below.
GRAY ROBERT BROWN
WRITER
Gray Robert Brown is an emerging writer.
The pitch that became his first full-length play, Gore, earned him a place on the longlist for the Old Vic New Voices 12 in 2017; the finished play was longlisted for the 2017 Papatango Prize. His next play, The Prime of Ms Nicola Sturgeon was also longlisted by the same award in 2019 and shortlisted at the Traverse Theatre. His short play An Island Off Ireland was staged by Full Disclosure’s Xposed at the Southwark Playhouse in February 2022, and a full-length version was shortlisted by the Papatango Prize. A TV sitcom version is currently in development.
A play for my mother, his fourth play, was longlisted by the Theatre 503 International Playwriting Prize 2023 and shortlisted by the Traverse Breakthrough Writers In Residence scheme 2022. The Red Fox is his fifth play and saw him shortlisted for the Oxford Playhouse Playmaker scheme 2024.
Gray has contributed a story for the upcoming Ladybird Stories for Pride audio collection for children, to be published in May 2024.
In Summer 2022 he presented a self-written academic paper titled “Famous Last Words: Agatha Christie’s Curtain and Sleeping Murder” at the Golden Age of Crime Conference at Bournemouth University. He presented his second paper, “'Cruelty mixed with camp': the parallel lives and works of Agatha Christie and Muriel Spark”, at the Mysterious Mrs Christie Conference at the University of Exeter in August 2023, and online for Romancing the Gothic in October 2023.
His first podcast, The Swinging Christies, with Dr Mark Aldridge, a reappraisal of Agatha Christie's 1960s works, launched in January 2024.
PODCAST
THE SWINGING CHRISTIES
When you think of the Swinging Sixties, you think of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, but you don't think about Agatha Christie...
My friend, the 'Agathologist' Dr Mark Aldridge and I explore Christie's 60s writing against the backdrop of those turbulent times. Available to listen here, and on all other major podcatchers.
As recommended by the Radio Times!
You can follow us on Twitter or Instagram @Christie_Time and our website is ChristieTime.com.
Our artwork is designed by Bartlett Studio.
AUDIO
LADYBIRD STORIES FOR PRIDE: BOING! BOING!
A colourful collection of original stories by 5 different LGBTQIA+ writers, aimed at 4-7 year olds, published by Ladybird, available from Yoto, Audible and more.
I oversaw the writing and production of these original audio stories, as well as contributing the first story in the collection myself, "Boing! Boing!", about a young boy, Leo, who wants to know: what do all the letters in the acronym mean?
Cover design by Sally Mullaney.
PAPER
“CRUELTY MIXED WITH CAMP”: THE PARALLEL LIVES AND WORKS OF AGATHA CHRISTIE AND MURIEL SPARK
Two of my very favourite writers have been wrongfully neglected - Christie's literary merit is underestimated and Spark's cultural impact diminished. By comparing them I hope to illuminate their similarities and elevate both their works.
This was a lecture given as part of the Mysterious Mrs Christie conference at the University of Exeter (my alma mater) in September 2023. I gave an extended version of the talk for the Romancing the Gothic platform in October 2023, which you can watch here.
PLAY
THE RED FOX
Klaus Fuchs, alias the Red Fox, alias one of the most influential spies in history, the scourge of nations… is stuck in the English countryside.
Klaus Fuchs is the spy who changed the world! He may have only received a fleeting cameo in Oppenheimer, but he lived a fascinating life, one that I spent 10 years researching after having learned he was once based in the village in which I grew up. I wrote the one-act play The Red Fox, a fictionalisation of his last summer on English soil before he confessed, in 2022, and plans to stage it in Germany (where Klaus was born) are afoot...
A rehearsed reading, featuring Jane Slavin, Joe Prestwich and Emma Handy, was held at the Old Red Lion in January 2024.
PAPER
CURTAIN CALL: AGATHA CHRISTIE’S 'FAMOUS LAST WORDS' - CURTAIN AND SLEEPING MURDER
Agatha Christie's final two cases for her most famous detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are legendary. But were they really the final cases? What does finality mean anyway?
This is the lecture I gave for the Golden Age of Crime conference at Bournemouth University in June 2022, based on research I had been undertaking ever since my undergrad dissertation ("Famous Last Words: The Text as the Author's Goodbye and The Mystery of the End", 2015).
TV SITCOM SPEC
SUGAR
Meet Mo, Michael and Christopher. Mo (22) and Michael (22) are together. Christopher (62) is Michael's sugar daddy. And however hard they try, they just can't stop turning up in each other's lives...
Adapted from my short play An Island Off Ireland (below), Sugar is a 6 x '30 TV sitcom spec.
PLAY
AN ISLAND OFF IRELAND
Mo (22) and Christopher (62). are stuck in a car together. On a long journey. They've barely ever said two words to each other. Oh, and Christopher is Mo's boyfriend's sugar daddy.
A witty two-hander with a car-full of pathos, this short play was staged by Xposed's Full Disclosure queer new writing night at the Southwark Playhouse, London. Originally slated for 2019, the event was delayed due to Covid-19 and eventually went on in February 2022.
To book me or discuss my work, feel free to email at the link below.