Interviewed About Writing and Illustrating Children’s Books

Posted on November 4, 2021 by philmansell

I was recently asked by Bob James of Valley FM to go on his Sunday morning programme and talk about my latest children’s books. As these included illustrating Fiona Jennison’s new book ‘Tiny Teeth and Magical Creatures’ we were both interviewed. Bob kindly gave me a recording of the interview and I’ve posted it on YouTube in three bite-sized chunks. Here’s a link to part one – the other two parts can be found on my YouTube channel.

, , , , , , , , ,

, , , , , , , , ,

According To Claudia adventure amateur theatre Amazon amdram art by Phil Mansell artwork Award-winner Bats by Phil Mansell Bunkered by Phil Mansell cast children's books Dolman Theatre drama drawing illustration Inspiration inspirational Javea Players Newport Playgoers new writing Painting paperback Phil Mansell playwright plot Poor Yorick by Phil Mansell Reading rehearsals script Scrivener self-publishing self publishing Silvermoon Publishing stage stage play Studio theatre surreal theatre the stage Uncle Mungo V Awards workshop writing writing and re-writing

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Press Release: An Evening of Pocket-Sized Plays

Posted on January 31, 2024 by philmansell

Tickets On Sale For Evening of Innovative Mini-Plays

Tickets are now on sale for Jávea Players’ March presentation, An Evening of Pocket-Sized Plays, which promises the audience a revue-style show featuring bite-sized chunks of comedy, drama – and a few surprises.

The innovative event will feature six short plays written by resident playwright, Phil Mansell, who has previously directed his own plays Poor Yorick, Bats, and Look Out – He’s Got A Gun!  for Jávea Players.

“It’s all very exciting,” said Phil. “We’ve got six plays lasting about ten minutes each, four new directors and a total cast of 18. The audience will be sitting at tables and enjoying a drink while watching the plays unfold. We’re hoping it will provide a scintillating evening of theatre.”

Phil, who has had 12 plays published, with more in the pipeline, also writes and illustrates children’s books and has an adventure novel for youngsters coming out soon. An Evening of Pocket-Sized Plays will be performed from 7th – 9th March at the Jávea Players Studio Theatre. Please note: some plays feature strong language. For more information and to book tickets, which cost just 5€ visit www.javeaplayers.com

Joel Rice (standing), who is directing one of Phil Mansell’s mini-plays, with his cast,
Gwendoline Holliday, Glenn Ward and Martina Luotto.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New video about my ‘Working Class Heroes’ paintings

Posted on September 20, 2022 by philmansell

Please check out my latest video on my YouTube channel:

According To Claudia adventure amateur theatre Amazon amdram art by Phil Mansell artwork Award-winner Bats by Phil Mansell Bunkered by Phil Mansell cast children's books Dolman Theatre drama drawing illustration Inspiration inspirational Javea Players Newport Playgoers new writing Painting paperback Phil Mansell playwright plot Poor Yorick by Phil Mansell Reading rehearsals script Scrivener self-publishing self publishing Silvermoon Publishing stage stage play Studio theatre surreal theatre the stage Uncle Mungo V Awards workshop writing writing and re-writing

According To Claudia adventure amateur theatre Amazon amdram art by Phil Mansell artwork Award-winner Bats by Phil Mansell Bunkered by Phil Mansell cast children's books Dolman Theatre drama drawing illustration Inspiration inspirational Javea Players Newport Playgoers new writing Painting paperback Phil Mansell playwright plot Poor Yorick by Phil Mansell Reading rehearsals script Scrivener self-publishing self publishing Silvermoon Publishing stage stage play Studio theatre surreal theatre the stage Uncle Mungo V Awards workshop writing writing and re-writing

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Press Release: ‘Bats’ Is A Hat-Trick For Playwright Phil

Posted on June 2, 2022 by philmansell

Rehearsals are well underway for Jávea Players’ latest production, Bats, which is the third play they have staged written by their resident playwright Phil Mansell. It will be presented at Jávea’s Casa de Cultura following a delicious tapas meal at the nearby Bar Imperial.

Phil is also directing the play, a dark comedy set in a house where an ever-growing colony of bats has set up home in the loft. The council’s bat expert is expected any minute, but the man of the house mistakenly welcomes in a succession of unlikely people who come to the door.

The cast of Phil Mansell’s play Bats are all smiles at rehearsals of Jávea Players’ latest production. They are (back) Chris Bell and James Ward; (front) Felicity Ashcroft, Graciela Kaplan and Caroline Drewett-Mansell.

“I wrote this play a few years ago and have extensively rewritten it for its Spanish premiere,” said Phil who has introduced a new character in the form of a nosy neighbour. “I’ve been lucky to find a very talented cast and we’re having a lot of fun at rehearsals.”

Phil has previously directed two other of his plays for Jávea Players – Poor Yorick, an alternative telling of Hamlet, and the 1950s amateur detective spoof Look Out – He’s Got A Gun! They both proved very popular and played to sell-out audiences.

Bats is one of 12 plays Phil has had published and it has been performed far and near, from Powys in Wales to Sointula in Canada.

Bats will be performed from 28th June – 5th July (excluding Sunday) at the Casa de Cultura in Jávea following a tapas supper at the Bar Imperial. For more information and to book tickets visit www.javeaplayers.com.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Another Production of ‘Look Out – He’s Got A Gun!’

Posted on March 5, 2022 by philmansell

I’m pleased to say that a drama group in Cornwall will be presenting my spoof thriller ‘Look Out – He’s Got A Gun!’ later this month.

I found out when a member of the cast very kindly wrote to me asking for tips on how to play her character. I wish St Erth Players all the best and hope they have as much fun with the play as my cast did when I directed the preniere performance back in December 2019.

Broken legs all round!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

‘Bats’ confirmed as Jávea Players’ Summer Show

Posted on March 5, 2022 by philmansell

I’m pleased to announce that I will be directing my play ‘Bats’ for the Jávea Players’ summer show at the Casa de Cultura in the heart of the old town. Further information on the poster below.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pirates, Knees and Chips: New Children’s Books Added

Posted on December 2, 2021 by philmansell

I’ve recently added some more books to those I’ve published on Amazon. Please check them out.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3APhil+Mansell&s=relevancerank&text=Phil+Mansell&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1

Children's books by Phil Manseel published by Back2Back Books on Amazon,
The recent titles I’ve added to the books I’ve published on Amazon
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Inspired by Fish and Chips!

Posted on November 6, 2021 by philmansell

For my latest children’s book I went back to my childhood in the back streets of Birmingham. I remembered going to buy my family’s fish and chip supper on a frosty autumn Friday night and queuing outside the shop with friends and neighbours. Because everyone went to the chippie on a Friday night.

The cover of my latest children’s book

The first thing I came up with was the title and then I imagined what would happen if I – and everyone else – was being robbed of my precious hot newspaper parcel (fish and chips were always wrapped in newspaper in those far-off days). Who were the robbers? It had to be two hooligan brothers from the Rough End of our street. They were wearing masks and armed with powerful water pistols. When I refused to hand over my fish and chips I was squirted in the face.

In the fish and chip shop.

I needed someone to help me track down the thieves and created a clever schoolfriend called Anita. She is smarter than me and decides the best thing to do is to look for clues. Her keen eyes spot a trail of hot chips leading through the dark and dingy back alleyways. We follow the trail…

A trail of chips leads us through the gloomy alleyways in search of the fish and chip thieves

What we find is a regular thieves kitchen in the ramshackle house of the Rotter family. How do we get my fish and chips back? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

The greedy Rotter family scoffing their ill-gotten gains

Like many of the books I publish on Amazon this was originally in a letter I wrote for my two grandchildren, Maddy and Max. If they enjoy my stories I turn them into books. It’s not the first time I’ve plundered my childhood for story ideas and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

To order ‘The Great Fish and Chips Robbery’ and the rest of my books on Amazon go to my Author’s Page.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Look Out – He’s Got A Gun’ Published

Posted on August 30, 2020 by philmansell

I’m pleased to announce that my play ‘Look Out – He’s Got A Gun! is to be published and represented by Stage Scripts Ltd.

It becomes my 12th play published by the company which represents playwrights and their work worldwide.

‘Look Out’ is a fast-paced spoof crime thriller in which a husband and wife team are called in by a baffled Scotland yard to solve a series of mysterious kidnappings. Inspired by British films and radio serials of the 1950s, the play premiered at the Jávea Players’ Studio Theatre in December 2019 and starred a cast of talented JP stalwarts who tackled a variety of challenging roles including a crooked American, a deranged inventor and a sexy Spanish singer. The play was sold out and received very favourable reviews.

When I was taking the publicity photos for the production I planned to shoot a promotional video. Unfortunately, I was struck down by the effects of some new medication I’d been given which totally knocked me for six. I was unable to shoot the film but I have put what I did shoot into a trailer for the newly published play. It’s now available here and on Youtube.

‘Look Out – He’s Got A Gun!’ is also available as a novel on Amazon. Click here to go my author’s page on Stage Scripts. Click on the image below to view the trailer on YouTube:https://youtu.be/yYmxGdUwhW8

Look Out - He's Got A Gun! (Trailer).mp4_20200818_110312.387

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Turning An Old Poem Into YouTube Video

Posted on July 2, 2020 by philmansell

The Lockdown here in Spain is thankfully coming to an end. While I’ve been confined to quarters I’ve taken the opportunity to learn some new skills and try to produce examples of “virtual theatre”, based on plays I’ve written, such as Some Enchanted Evening  and Fool’s Errand.

I’ve just posted another short animation video on my YouTube channel. Based on a poem I wrote back in the mid-70s, this was created using two new (free) programs I’ve recently discovered.

Mediabang Pro is a painting program that I found easy to use and which produced good results.  You can download it here.

Opentoonz is an open source animation program. Originally called Toonz, it’s the software used to create Studio Ghibli films like Spirited Away and the popular TV show Futurama. It’s open source and free for any budding animator to download and use. Here’s the link to the download page.

I may well create a video showing how I made my new video Shore Lines  which can be viewed below or via this link.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment