This is the sixth National Theatre Connections anthology published by Methuen Drama, aimed at young performers and schools, and published to coincide with the Connections' 21st anniversary.
SNOO WILSON was one of a handful of playwrights who reinvented British theatre in the 1970s and 80s. Together with Howard Brenton, David Hare and Tony Bicât he founded Portable Theatre Company, which presented his early work, including the still-performed Pignight. His other plays include The Pleasure Principe, The Glad Hand (Royal Court), The Soul of a White Ant, Vampire, The Number of the Beast, More Light, Darwin's Flood (Bush Theatre), The Beast (RSC), Orpheus in the Underworld (ENO), Bedbug, a musical (with Gary Kemp & Guy Pratt) based on Mayakovsky's 1929 satire (NT Connections 1995, 2016), and Reclining Nude with Black Stockings (Arcola Theatre). Following his sudden death in 2013, the many obituaries honouring both the man and the playwright confirmed that, at their exuberant, inventive and utterly original best, Snoo's plays deserve their place in the country's history of post-war playwrighting. "He encouraged audiences to go on a rollercoaster ride into the beyond, albeit with engaging and recognisable characters. It was not whimsy. He was a one-off, quite unlike any other dramatist." Dusty Hughes, Guardian.
An archive of Snoo's work will soon be available at the University of East Anglia. His plays are published by Methuen Drama and represented by Micheline Steinberg Associates info@steinplays.com
Jackie Kay was born and brought up in Scotland. She is the author of - among other books - The Adoption Papers, which won the Forward Prize, Red Dust Road, winner of the Scottish Book of the Year Award, Trumpet, and the Costa-shortlisted
Fiere. She is Chancellor of the University of Salford and Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University. She has served as Scots Makar, the National Poet for Scotland, since March 2016.
Patrick Marber was born in London. His first play,
Dealer's Choice, premiered at the Royal National Theatre, London, in February 1995. It won the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy and the Writers' Guild Award for Best West End Play.
Closer premiered at the Royal National Theatre in May 1997. It won the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy and the Critics' Circle Award and Laurence Olivier Award for Best Play.
Closer premiered on Broadway in March 1999 where it won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Foreign Play.
Howard Katz premiered at the Royal National Theatre, London, in September 2001. Patrick Marber has also written extensively for television and radio including
After Miss Julie (BBC, 1995).
A rounded theatre practitioner,
Bryony Lavery's skills extend to performer (most notably as Tinkerbell in
Peter Pan at the Drill Hall), artistic director (Gay Sweatshop and Female Trouble), writer of children's theatre (including
The Dragon Wakes,
Madagaskar, and
Down Among the Mini Beast) and of many cabarets (including
Floorshow with Caryl Churchill for Monstrous Regiment in 1977). From 1989 to 1992 she was Tutor-Lecturer on the M.A. Playwriting Course at Birmingham University. She is an honorary Doctor of Arts at De Montfort University. 'Lavery is one of the best but most consistently underrated playwrights in the country: her talent is lavish. She is a wonderful technician and always surprising: it is never possible to second-guess her.' - Kate Kellaway, Observer
Davey Anderson is from Glasgow and his work as Playwright/Director includes:
Snuff, (Arches Theatre, as winner of the Arches Award for Stage Directors, runner up Meyer-Whitworth Award),
Rupture (NTS & Traverse Theatre) and
Blackout (National Theatre New Connections & Citizens Theatre Young Company). His other plays include:
Flicker (as part of the 200th play, Òran Mór),
Playback (Ankur Productions),
Wired (Òran Mór),
Liar (TAG Theatre Company & Sounds of Progress, Best Show for Children and Young People, Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland) and
Clutter Keeps Company (Birds of Paradise). Adaptations include:
Zorro (Visible Fictions & Traverse Theatre). Co-Writing/Directing credits include:
Mixter Maxter (NTS & St Magnus Festival, Orkney). As Associate Director he collaborated with New York based company The T.E.A.M. on
Architecting (Co-Production with NTS). His work as Musical Director/Composer includes:
Peter Pan (NTS & Barbican),
Be Near Me (NTS & Donmar Warehouse),
Oresteia (Lazzi Experimental Arts Unit & Cumbernauld Theatre) and
Black Watch (National Theatre of Scotland, world tour). He was Director in Residence with the National Theatre of Scotland 2006-07 and is currently an Associate Playwright with the Playwrights' Studio Scotland 2010-11.
