To celebrate NHB's involvement in this year's vibrant Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme, we've asked a handful of our writers who have either performed, written, directed or produced work for the Festival Fringe to tell us what it means to them. First up is Hywel John, whose latest work Rose, a heartfelt study of heritage, grief … Continue reading Edinburgh Festival Fringe special: with Hywel John
Plays
Spotlight: RATTIGAN’S NIJINSKY at Chichester Festival Theatre
Terence Rattigan's 1974 BBC television script about Diaghilev, the genius impresario behind the Ballets Russes, and Nijinsky, the greatest dancer of all time, was mysteriously withdrawn before it could be filmed. Playwright Nicholas Wright explains how his new play interweaves Rattigan’s screenplay with the story behind its cancellation. Rattigan’s Nijinsky received its world premiere this week … Continue reading Spotlight: RATTIGAN’S NIJINSKY at Chichester Festival Theatre
Spotlight: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING in the West End
This month we published the official tie-in edition to the West End production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing – starring David Tennant as Benedick and Catherine Tate as Beatrice. Directed by Josie Rourke (who'll shortly be moving to the Donmar Warehouse from her current job as Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre), the production … Continue reading Spotlight: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING in the West End
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
Introducing ‘Meet The Playwright’ – on Stage Talk TV!
This month sees the launch of Stage Talk, the first show on TV dedicated to amateur and community theatre. It's a sign of great confidence in grassroots theatre in the UK that a dedicated programme should appear just as many professional theatre companies are reeling from the shock of Arts Council cuts. 'Am Dram' has … Continue reading Introducing ‘Meet The Playwright’ – on Stage Talk TV!
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
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
A double-dose of fun: revisiting VERNON GOD LITTLE
Playwright Tanya Ronder sheds light on the experience of reworking her 2007 adaptation of Vernon God Little, the Booker Prize-winning novel by DBC Pierre, for the Young Vic’s fortieth anniversary season. When the idea was proposed of redoing Vernon God Little at the Young Vic, it took precisely one second to be 150% behind the … Continue reading A double-dose of fun: revisiting VERNON GOD LITTLE
The Prompt Book 