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
Theatre
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: 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
THEATRE AWARDS ROUND-UP: with James Seabright
The annual awards season is drawing to a close, and we're thrilled that so many NHB plays and theatrebooks have picked up gongs along the way. The King's Speech won both the Bafta and Academy Award for Best Screenplay; Simon Callow beat off stiff competition to take the Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography with … Continue reading THEATRE AWARDS ROUND-UP: with James Seabright
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
Five minutes with Bruce Norris – author of CLYBOURNE PARK
Bruce Norris’s raucously funny and fearlessly shocking racial satire Clybourne Park opened in the West End this week. Since its UK debut at the Royal Court Theatre in 2010, the play has received widespread critical acclaim – hailed as ‘the funniest play of the year’ (Evening Standard), ‘genius’ (Times) and ‘out of this world’ (Independent) … Continue reading Five minutes with Bruce Norris – author of CLYBOURNE PARK
PART 5: Bruntwood Playwriting Competition 2011
Andrew Sheridan is a joint-winner of the 2008 Bruntwood Playwriting Competition for his play Winterlong – 'a dazzling debut' Guardian. Set in Manchester, the play explores what happens when a baby is discarded a few nights before Christmas. Sheridan is also an actor, and has appeared in award-winning TV, film and theatre. How would you … Continue reading PART 5: Bruntwood Playwriting Competition 2011
PART 2: Bruntwood Playwriting Competition 2011
BEN MUSGRAVE...on winning the inaugural Bruntwood Prize in 2007 for his play Pretend You Have Big Buildings How has winning the first Bruntwood Prize affected your career as a writer? A week before the prize announcement, I had given up my job to concentrate on writing full-time. Winning the prize felt like a miraculous validation … Continue reading PART 2: Bruntwood Playwriting Competition 2011
The Prompt Book 