About me

Robert Messik is an award-winning writer and director of theatre, radio, film and TV. Most recently, LETTERS, LIGHT and LOVE, an epistolary play, was staged at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. It starred two time Olivier award winner Elliot Levey and Emmy award winner Debra Messing and raised £1.3 million for charity. His adaptation of Israel Zangwill’s novel, THE KING OF SCHNORRERS, played to sell-out audiences around the UK and was awarded the Judge’s Commendation for Storytelling at The National Student Drama Festival in 2000. Jungle based on Kipling’s Jungle Books was awarded Time Out Critics’ Choice for a total of five weeks in London in 2002 and played at The Battersea Arts Centre as part of their Critics’ Choice Season. PINEAPPLE, published by Samuel French, was performed at the Arundel Festival in 2006 and again at the Tsitsit Festival in London in 2021 as a double bill with DRAGONFLIES. His adaptation of TARTUFFE received five-star reviews at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival. Three plays were written for Radio 4; FROM A TO B; THE BIG BOW Mystery, and CONSIDERATION; each achieving Critic’s Choice and Pick of the Week in the national press. A sitcom, Merely Players was short-listed in BBC2’s Two Timing competition, and Robert worked closely with John Sullivan and Paul Mayhew Archer. Robert wrote and produced a documentary on ISRAEL ZANGWILL, narrated by Simon Callow. His screenplays include JUST, set in the Vilna Ghetto in WW2 and THE AGENT. He worked with Bedlam Productions on an original project, AFRICAN ICE, as well as polishing some of their other screenplays. Commissioned by ITV in 2007, Robert co-created and wrote THE GYM an original 50-episode sitcom for ITV Mobile, which aired throughout 2008, directed by David Sant and starring Rich Fulcher, Linda Marlowe and Ingrid Oliver. RUDDERLESS premiered in Brussels in 2011, and THE WISE MEN OF CHELM the following year; an adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s MEMOIRS OF A MADMAN played in Brighton 2014 - 2015, and A QUALITY OF MERCY premiered in London in 2017. He has a PHD in Jewish theatre

My Plays

A Quality of Mercy

Synopsis:

A young, Lithuanian Jew survives the massacre of his village at the hands of the Nazis. Escaping from a death pit, he struggles to survive in a Europe that despises his very existence. His one chance of survival - pretending he is Jesus Christ returned!
A powerful and chilling tale, based on a true story.

Number of Characters: 5

Minimum Number of Actors Required: 5

Length (in Pages): 89

Location: Areas surrounding a small Lithuanian Village.

Key Words: Historical; physical; World War II; Jewish

Has the Play Been Produced? Yes

Are the Rights Available? Yes

Has the Play Been Published? No

Award nominations/wins:

Reviews:

'It should be a set text.' - Adjoa Andoh

Dragonflies

Synopsis:

Ancient Babylon - A King and a slave drink wine, eat figs and discuss the purpose of life, concubines and dragonflies as an angry mob hammer at the doors.

Number of Characters: 2

Minimum Number of Actors Required: 2

Length (in Pages): 60

Location: King's Chambers, ancient Babylon

Key Words: Funny; tragic; two-hander; male parts;

Has the Play Been Produced? Yes

Are the Rights Available? Yes

Has the Play Been Published? No

Award nominations/wins:

Reviews:

Jungle

Synopsis:

An exploration of the Jungle Book stories as told through the eyes of three apes in a zoo.

Number of Characters: 3

Minimum Number of Actors Required: 0

Length (in Pages): 80

Location: The Indian Jungle

Key Words: Physical; Fantastical; Comedy; Drama;

Has the Play Been Produced? Yes

Are the Rights Available? Yes

Has the Play Been Published? No

Award nominations/wins: Time Out Critic's Choice (2001)

Reviews:

'Intelligent and Powerful Production' - Time Out

Memoirs of a Madman

Synopsis:

Inspired by Nikolai Gogol's classic and updated to the swinging sixties of London, a lowly pencil maker struggles with his id, ego and sanity itself as he attempts to win the girl, cajole chatty dogs and find his way back to his rightful position as King of Spain.

Number of Characters: 25

Minimum Number of Actors Required: 12

Length (in Pages): 119

Location: London and the world

Key Words: Large cast; comedy; quirky

Has the Play Been Produced? Yes

Are the Rights Available? Yes

Has the Play Been Published? No

Award nominations/wins:

Reviews:

Petrified

Synopsis:

A middle-aged man attempts to battle with his life, career and family all whilst slowly turning into a golem - an automotan made of clay from Jewish folklore.

Number of Characters: 25

Minimum Number of Actors Required: 10

Length (in Pages): 118

Location: Various locations around London

Key Words: Large Cast; tragi-comedy; Absurdist;

Has the Play Been Produced? No

Are the Rights Available? Yes

Has the Play Been Published? No

Award nominations/wins:

Reviews:

Pineapple

Synopsis:

Divorce, preganancy and pizza; just a normal night in as a couple fight to understand the reality of their lives and the dreams they want it to be. A funny, tragic Absurdist look at relationships and pizza toppings.

Number of Characters: 2

Minimum Number of Actors Required: 2

Length (in Pages): 50

Location: Lounge in a middle class North London flat.

Key Words: Funny; sad; Absurdist; two hander; relationships; pizza

Has the Play Been Produced? Yes

Are the Rights Available? Yes

Has the Play Been Published? Yes

Award nominations/wins: BBC New Writing Award

Reviews:

Tartuffe

Synopsis:

Based on Moliere's classic, a slimy conman wheedles his way into the life of a career politician and his family. Chaos, comedy and commeupance ensues.

Number of Characters: 20

Minimum Number of Actors Required: 6

Length (in Pages): 100

Location: The London home of Orgon.

Key Words: Classic; rhyming; comedy; politics

Has the Play Been Produced? Yes

Are the Rights Available? Yes

Has the Play Been Published? Yes

Award nominations/wins:

Reviews:

'Inspired...funny and punchy script.' - The List

The Ballad of Raggedy Alice

Synopsis:

Every year, five lucky villagers are chosen to sail to paradise.
All Alice has ever wanted is to be on that boat.
Best be careful what you wish for!
A whimsical new musical for anyone who's ever spent too long
wondering whether the grass really is greener on the other
side.

Number of Characters: 19

Minimum Number of Actors Required: 15

Length (in Pages): 90

Location: Various locations around the town of Festerburgh

Key Words: Musical; Quirky; Bizarre; large cast

Has the Play Been Produced? Yes

Are the Rights Available? Yes

Has the Play Been Published? No

Award nominations/wins:

Reviews:

The King of Schnorrers

Synopsis:

An adaptation of the classic fairytale by Israel Zangwill. A young Askenasi beggar seeks the approval of his Sephardi master and his daughter's hand in marriage and is set a variety of increasingly difficult tasks

Number of Characters: 2

Minimum Number of Actors Required: 2

Length (in Pages): 79

Location: All over London

Key Words: Physical; fairytale; magical

Has the Play Been Produced? Yes

Are the Rights Available? Yes

Has the Play Been Published? No

Award nominations/wins: NSDF Award for Storytelling

Reviews:

'A Hurtling, Exhilarating Delight' - The Metro
'Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Only Better' - An impressed eight year old.

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Robert Messik
 @ robmessik

Location

Hertford, Hertfordshire

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