THE ANARCHIST's ARMS A Political Comedy for the Stage in Three Acts THE YEAR IS 2020, and London - the capital of Europe - teeters on the edge of a general conflagration, while a million demonstrators take to the streets in a kaleidoscope of focus groups Errol Flynt, the newly re-elected Mayor, looks on in quiet despair, and delegates ambitious Robert Greene, ace-pampleteer and Deputy-Deputy Mayor - on his afternoon off - to enter the fray as observer. On Fleet Street, hydrogen-powered vehicles form the greatest traffic jam in history. At The Arms, Robert Greene takes up - or avoids - the issues with the tavern's guests . . .Among a cast of thousands, enter . . .Horace Baker, long-serving retainer, amateur rebel and suspected arsonist . . .George Foxxe, last proprietor of The Arms, who has been drugged up to his eyeballs by his new "wife" on behalf of the greedy Conglomerate . . .Mr Shine, the ghostly tour guide whose circular tour never ends . . .and Elaine Wichell, student of the paranormal, who sees "layers", and acts as companion to Margaret Foxxe, George's powerful sister over from Manhattan to sniff out assets. . . .Enter Stage Extreme Right: the Ancient Order of Frothblowers, a group of businessmen on the town, who are worse, Margaret Foxxe says, than "the thugs". Socialist or socialite, anarchist or arsonist, merchant banker or beggar, lawyer or ghost, all are welcome - or not - at THE ANARCHIST'S ARMS. . . - A political comedy to agitate every part of the spectrum - and beyond. James A. Oliver is an international writer, editor, and journalist. He is also the author of A Footprint in the Sand - a political comedy inspired by a "special assignment" at the end of the Cold War. . . James Oliver is currently working on a non-fiction title The Bering Strait Crossing: A 21st Century Frontier - which is being translated into several languages for release in 2005.
James A. Oliver is an international writer, editor, and occasional journalist. He is also the author of "A Footprint in the Sand", an epic political comedy inspired by a special assignment at the end of the Cold War, and "The Anarchist's Arms" - a stage play set in near-future London.
In 2006, The Bering Strait Crossing: A 21st Century Frontier was published worldwide. In 2007, he was invited to Moscow for a symposium on the subject at The Russian Academy of Sciences.
From 2007-2009, he lived and worked in Paris on the Ile Saint Louis, where he also developed the script for "The Pamphleteers" (2010), which investigates the birth of journalism with profiles of such proto-journalists as Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, Daniel Defoe - and Tom Paine in Paris.
"Strait of Gibraltar: antiquity to the 21st century" (work-in-progress) is a geographical investigation that forms the second part of the trilogy Where Continents Meet.
James Oliver is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
