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Leo Cappel

Scripts available from and royalties payable to Leo Cappel, 98B Paramount Parade, Tikipunga, Whangarei 0101 or
leo.cappel@xtra.co.nz

LEO CAPPEL is a graduate of Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam.
Musician/musical director for production at Mercury Theatre and New Independent Theatre, Auckland.

Three full-length books, co-author of two books.

Seven literary awards.
THE STAR SEEKER
2 Acts, Drama
2f, 2m, 2 either m or f.

Set on the shore of the Taieri River.
A frail old yachtsman had rescued a competitor in the past. He replays this event for a young reporter on his computer sailing simulator. When a dangerous flood isolates his home, the reporter attempts to rescue him in turn and finds him serenely sailing his computer simulator.
WINDOWS
3 Acts, Musical
2f, 1m & 3 musicians
55 mins

Joany has a crush on her boss, Robin. He does not respond. Out of frustration Joany tells Robin's wife that they have slept together. To prove this fantasy she makes up a story about Robin's birthmark, "in a place where it doesn't show". The play develops from there.
Musicians to be on stage as "alter egos" to the actors.
PAPAGENINA'S FLUTE

5 Scenes, Musical for High Schools

4f, 4m, & extras and 3 musicians

65 mins

Inspired by Mozart's The Magic Flute. On her 13th birthday Papageno's daughter Papagenina is given the magic flute. After a voyage of self-discovery to her earliest ancestor Ole'pa and the Queen of the Night she conjures up her own prince.
Dine and Die
1 Act
A 'whodunit' specifically for productions in restaurants. 3f, 4m, & 2 or 3 'undercover actors' in the audience.
45 mins

Written as a straight play, the audience must not be aware it is a whodunit. The play: an elderly widower lives in the converted garage of a widow. In his loneliness he writes letters to himself. The murder weapon: chips fried in peanut oil. The audience has to determine who the murderer is.

At the first performance the play was followed by a dinner.
NINA AND THE UPSIDE DOWN TREE
 
A musical for young people, the commissioned sequel to Papagenina's Flute
 
7 scenes
 
4 f, 4 m, and 8 wearing masks and dressed as birds, 3 musicians (flute, harp, drum).
50 mins.
 
One question remained unanswered in Papagenina's Flute: Why the Queen of the Night had to live in a perpetually dark forest. The children's answer: A spiteful wizard had caused a tree to grow upside down, with the roots soaking up all the light. With help from 8 birds - each representing one of the 8 senses - 'Nina locates the wizard and forces him to reverse the spell.
 
With original songs, dances and instrumental interludes.
the Playwrights Association of New Zealand - PANZ