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News: Pubs and theatre. An age-old pairing.
This exciting project will no doubt resonate with anyone that has ever stepped into a pub, so this February, grab your pint of Drunken Nights and witness something completely original and unique.
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News: The 28 Day Project launches wonderful opportunities
The 28 Day Project is an exciting initiative offering emerging talent a step into the film business.
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Have you got the Star Wars X Factor?
Thousands turned away at open auditions after standing in the rain for hours.
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News: TheatreCraft returns to help young people’s backstage careers
The 8th annual event returns to the Royal Opera House later this month.
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BLOG: Theatre: the best casino shows around the world
Casinos around the world offer some of the best theatrical entertainment you can find.
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BLOG: 5 Best Actors in Superhero Cinema
Is “superhero” acting any less challenging?
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Blog: Films to study for inspiration
Watching great actors can often inform your own work.
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Blog: Shakespeare experimenting with the limits of contemporary drama
Briony Rawle heads to Yorkshire and takes a closer look at Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.
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Review: Bat Boy, Southwark Playhouse ✭✭✭
A campy fun musical with bite screams Douglas Mayo.
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Review: Visitors, Arcola Theatre ✭✭✭✭
Barney Norris first full-length play is an exquisitely written examination of love and loss, writes Alex Delaney.
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Review: 1984, Almeida Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭
This fresh vision of 1984 feels like a rediscovery of Orwell’s dystopia, writes Sophia Longhi.
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Review: Secret Theatre – Show 4, Lyric Hammersmith ✭✭✭✭
This review comes with a capitalised, emboldened and even italicised, SPOILER ALERT. That should do, writes Briony Rawle.
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Blog: Don’t we just love it when the underdog triumphs?
Everyone is talking about little known playwright Katori Hall, the shock winner at this year's Olivier Awards.
Add a commentThe Mountaintop playwright Katori Hall wins Best New PlayI love it when the underdog wins. Late last night, when I heard that 28 year old playwright Katori Hall, took home Best New Play for The Mountaintop at this year’s Oliviers, I was thrilled.
It was almost a dead-cert for either Jerusalem or Enron, depending on the luck of the drawer. Both fantastically executed and gripping plays they were, we know they did very well at other major awards, so it was refreshing to see the judges give the nod to an unknown playwright for her second play.
The Mountaintop started in a south London pub theatre, and was subsequently picked up by Sonia Friedman. It then transferred to the Trafalgar Studios.
Hall says in her acceptance speech: “I thought because I was an American, it was an American story about an American hero, that nobody would want to hear it over here. But I was proven wrong. The audience that came in was incredible.
“The first night we did the show, there was a nine-year old Nigerian boy sitting next to his father, sitting next to an old white woman dripping in diamonds, sitting next to a man who was Asian.
“This was a story about a person who crossed lines of colour, class, countries and continents and I want to thank the London audience for teaching me that this was a story that needed to be heard around the world.”
As I missed The Mountaintop, I genuinely hope that we get the opportunity to see it again now that the young playwright has been recognised. I call on Sonia to bring it back, so that we can do the same!
-Matthew Bannerman
Published on March 22, 2010 · Filed under: Blogs; Tagged as: Katori Hall, Playwright, The Mountaintop, Theatre