Alexi Kaye Campbell’s award-winning debut play received its regional premiere this week at Sheffield's Crucible Studio Theatre, following its sell-out world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2008, and subsequent off-Broadway production. Directed by actor and director Richard Wilson, the production has been praised as 'a brave and rewarding drama that speaks to … Continue reading Spotlight: THE PRIDE at Crucible Studio, Sheffield
NHB Author
Spotlight: HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS at Soho Theatre
This month NHB publishes Lou Ramsden’s Hundreds and Thousands, the follow-up play to her critically acclaimed debut Breed (2010), for which she was shortlisted for the Critics' Circle Most Promising Playwright Award. Here, exclusively for the NHB blog, Lou spills the beans on what it's like for a playwright in those final days leading up … Continue reading Spotlight: HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS at Soho Theatre
Spotlight: LONDON VIA LAGOS – a festival of vibrant new plays linking Nigeria and the UK, at Oval House Theatre
The London via Lagos festival at Oval House Theatre in Kennington, running until 10 July, celebrates contemporary British Nigerian playwriting with two exciting new plays by Arinze Kene and Lydia Adetunji. Here, exclusively for the NHB blog, the authors tell us about what inspired them, and how they went about writing their plays. Arinze Kene: … Continue reading Spotlight: LONDON VIA LAGOS – a festival of vibrant new plays linking Nigeria and the UK, at Oval House Theatre
Spotlight: HOME DEATH – a new play by Nell Dunn
Nell Dunn is a distinguished writer whose work includes the award-winning play Steaming, as well as several novels including Up the Junction, which was directed for TV by Ken Loach. Her latest play Home Death is based on moving true-life accounts of people dealing with the death of their loved ones at home. It was … Continue reading Spotlight: HOME DEATH – a new play by Nell Dunn
Spotlight: CARDENIO at RSC
Gregory Doran has performed a masterful act of literary archaeology in bringing a lost Shakespeare play to the stage. Opening last night at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, Cardenio is set in the heat and dust of Andalusia in seventeenth-century Spain. But the history of the play is every bit as thrilling as the play … Continue reading Spotlight: CARDENIO at RSC
Spotlight: LONDON ROAD at the National Theatre
Playwright Alecky Blythe and composer Adam Cork have scored a tremendous success with their bold, innovative verbatim musical London Road, which opened at the National Theatre last week. But what was the genesis of this 'startling, magically original' (Evening Standard) new work? Alecky Blythe: I work using a technique originally created by Anna Deavere Smith, who … Continue reading Spotlight: LONDON ROAD at the National Theatre
TERENCE RATTIGAN special
As the plays of Terence Rattigan once again take centre stage during his centenary year, Dan Rebellato, academic, playwright and editor of the NHB Rattigan collection, argues that Rattigan has been unfairly cast as the writer of stuffy, conservative drama, and that his plays are consummate in their emotional power and sensitivity. How did I … Continue reading TERENCE RATTIGAN special
Ken Campbell: The True Spirit of a Prankster
Published today – April Fools' Day – is Ken Campbell: The Great Caper, Michael Coveney's biography of the one-man comic whirlwind who tore through the British theatre establishment using well-rehearsed anarchy and a genius for surreal comedy. Here, Coveney recalls Campbell's fondness for a good wheeze - including his notorious Royal Dickens Company hoax... If there’s … Continue reading Ken Campbell: The True Spirit of a Prankster
Spotlight: CHARGED at Soho Theatre
For over thirty years, Clean Break have used theatre for personal and political change, working with women whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system. Last year, the company commissioned six of the most exciting female voices in British theatre to write about these women, and presented the plays at Soho Theatre under … Continue reading Spotlight: CHARGED at Soho Theatre
Spotlight: MOMENT
Deirdre Kinahan, Irish playwright and Artistic Director of Tall Tales Theatre company, reveals the inspiration behind her latest acclaimed play currently playing at the Bush Theatre, MOMENT. I feel I pick up plays from off the street, from the top seat of a bus or from a fragment of newspaper. Plays often present themselves in … Continue reading Spotlight: MOMENT
The Prompt Book 