|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Articles
|
||
|
Articles |
The BTG at the Edinburgh Book FestivalDateline: 18th July, 2006In our Newsletter for 16th July, we said that we would be covering events at the Edinburgh Book Festival. David Chadderton, who will be looking after the coverage, explains why. Some of you may have read Peter's Newsletter editorial last Sunday and wondered why we are starting to review events at the Book Festival as part of our Edinburgh coverage. The Book Festival actually includes a number of different types of events, some of which are very relevant to theatre lovers. On 13th August, John Byrne, Vicky Featherstone and Lyn Gardner discuss the progress and direction of the new National Theatre of Scotland. Writer Byrne created The Slab Boys trilogy and Tutti Frutti, Featherstone is artistic director of the National Theatre of Scotland and former head of new writing company Paines Plough, and Gardner is a theatre critic for The Guardian. NTS also has two productions on at the Fringe this year, Black Watch by Gregory Burke and Realism, written and directed by Anthony Neilson. Dominic Dromgoole, who has just taken over the helm at The Globe in London, talks about his life-long love affair with the works of Shakespeare, as documented in his recent book Will and Me. Before taking over at the Globe, he was artistic director of Oxford Stage Company for seven years. His older book The Full Room gave short, heavily-opinionated profiles of over fifty leading British playwrights. Veteran playwrights Christopher Hampton and Arnold Wesker will both be speaking to audiences about their work at separate events. Hampton's stage and screen writing credits go back to the late 1960s, and include Savages, The History Man, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (filmed as Dangerous Liaisons from Hampton's own screenplay) and the book of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Sunset Boulevard. He is currently working on a screenplay of the novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Wesker, according to his official web site, 'is the author of 42 plays, 4 volumes of short stories, 2 volumes of essays, a book on journalism, a children's book, extensive journalism, poetry and other assorted writings.' He first came to prominence during the 'Angry Young Men' generation of playwrights in the 1950s with plays such as The Kitchen, Roots and Chicken Soup With Barley. He was knighted in the 2006 New Year's Honours list. Actor Simon Callow, who has written several theatrical biographies, presents his portrait of the great actor, writer and director Orson Welles. As an actor, Callow originated the title role of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus on stage, has played Charles Dickens a number of times on stage as well as in Doctor Who and has been in numerous films and TV programmes including Shakespeare In Love, Angels In America, Four Weddings and a Funeral and an animated version of Around the World in Eighty Days. His classic book Being An Actor should be read by anyone whose aspirations coincide with the book's title, and he has written biographies of theatrical agent Peggy Ramsey (Love Is Where It Falls), Charles Laughton and, of course, Orson Welles. Towards the end of the Festival, the biggest event for theatre people is a 'meet the author' event with the great Harold Pinter, interviewed by Ramona Koval. Pinter, who still enjoys stirring up controversy with his public appearances as in his recent Nobel Prize for Literature acceptance speech, has been one of the most influential figures in British theatre over the last half century as an actor, playwright and director. Tickets for this event will be very difficult to come by.
|
|
|
|