Sir Ronald Harwood, Oscar-winning scriptwriter for The Pianist, dies at 85 | Ronald Harwood | The Guardian
Sir Ronald Harwood, the playwright and screenwriter best known for The Dresser and his Oscar-winning script for The Pianist, has died aged 85. Harwood, who also wrote several books and … Continue reading
Charles Wood obituary | Stage | The Guardian
I’m sad that I missed this news in February, especially as I’m ‘Facebook friends’ with Charles Wood’s writer daughter Kate but then again I’ve spent great chunks of time not … Continue reading
How I Became An Award-winning Theatre Director, Playwright, Actor and Designer | LUCK-IT
Oliver Chong joined the theatre industry at age 25 as an actor and set designer, added the title of director and playwright to his repertoire at age 29 and won … Continue reading
David Wood: ‘Audiences for children’s theatre are becoming more middle-class as school trips decline’
Acclaimed children’s playwright David Wood has warned that young theatre audiences are becoming more middle-class because fewer schools are organising trips to shows. Wood said he desperately wanted schools to … Continue reading
Neil Simon, a Master of Comedy on Broadway, Is Dead at 91 – The New York Times
Neil Simon, the playwright whose name was synonymous with Broadway comedy and commercial success in the theater for decades, and who helped redefine popular American humor with an emphasis on … Continue reading
Obituary: Hugh Whitemore – ‘Breaking the Code playwright’
One of my father Richard Vernon’s successes on stage was Pack of Lies by Hugh Whitemore in which he played Mr Stewart from MI5 opposite Judi Dench and Michael Williams. Like many … Continue reading
“The most dangerous enemies of truth and freedom are the majority!” – Art of Quotation
“The most dangerous enemies of truth and freedom are the majority!” Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian, playwright, from “An Enemy of the People” via “The most dangerous enemies of truth and freedom are the majority!” … Continue reading
Caryl Churchill honoured for outstanding contribution to writing | The Stage
Playwright Caryl Churchill has been honoured for her outstanding contribution to writing at the 2018 Writers’ Guild awards. Fellow playwright Lucy Kirkwood presented Churchill with the award at a London … Continue reading
Harold Pinter: The Bobbing of Egos
Interview with Harold Pinter Conducted by James Grissom 1997 Most people are not talented. This is true of the world in general, and this is true of the theatrical world … Continue reading
Bernard Kops, Poet, Novelist & Playwright | Spitalfields Life
“It’s amazing I have lived so long, after all the drugs that I have taken in my life!” declared Bernard Kops with a certain genial alacrity – speaking now as a … Continue reading
Anton Chekhov says: | The Müscleheaded Blog
“People don’t really notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.” Source: Anton Chekhov says: | The Müscleheaded Blog
Sam Shepard, Pulitzer-Winning Playwright and Actor, Is Dead at 73 – The New York Times
“playwriting is and has always been like making a chair. Your concerns are…” – Art of Quotation
“For me, playwriting is and has always been like making a chair. Your concerns are balance, form, timing, lights, space, music. If you don’t have these essentials, you might as … Continue reading
On the Pivotal Thomas Mitchell: From Classics to “Columbo” | Travalanche
The great Thomas Mitchell (1892-1962) came into the world on this day (11th July). Mitchell remains well-known today as a character actor with parts in an unnaturally long list of … Continue reading
Quote • SAMUEL BECKETT • Failure
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” — Samuel Beckett
Quote • J.M.BARRIE • Advice
When asked for some advice on a particular role, J. M. Barrie [1860 – 1937] told an actor, ‘Try to look as if you had a younger brother in Shropshire.’
Trevor Nunn: How the genius Terence Rattigan made a comeback years after his unjust rejection | The Independent
Terence Rattigan is a dramatist of genius. There … I have said it straight out, no ifs or buts, no shilly-shallying. I am, of course, expressing my opinion, but I … Continue reading
“We are living in a mass surveillance state” – George Mann on politics, privacy and the power of the dystopian – Battersea Arts Centre: Blog
Dystopian thriller Light returns to Battersea Arts Centre at the end of May following two sell-out runs last year. Director, George Mann, talks to us about why audiences aren’t yet … Continue reading
“Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve” – Art of Quotation
“Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve” — George Bernard Shaw, Irish, playwright, writer Source: “Democracy is a device that ensures we … Continue reading
![creenshot from Harold Pinter's Nobel Prize lecture, 27 December 2005 [Wikipedia]](https://roguesandvagabonds.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/harold-pinter-atp.jpg?w=155&h=110&crop=1)
Quote • THE PINTER TEST
‘This week I passed a personal-development landmark, because after trying once a decade for 30 years, I finally stayed awake all the way through a Harold Pinter play. I’m so … Continue reading
Quote • EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY • Good Advice
“I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes.” — … Continue reading
![Sir Donald Wolfit in May 1965 [Wikipedia]](https://roguesandvagabonds.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/donaldwolfit.jpg?w=155&h=110&crop=1)
Quote • “I SAW HIS LEAR…”
“I saw his Lear. I was pleasantly disappointed.” ‘Sir’ in Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser talking about a rival actor.
Quote • SEAN O’CASEY • All the world’s a stage…
‘All the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.’ Irish playwright Sean O’Casey. Originally published on R&V 14-01-08
Quote • ‘THIS PRODUCTION CONTAINS SIGNIFICANT LONGEURS…’
‘If the audience were indeed entitled to know about elements that might alarm, distress or offend them, why should this be restricted to effects? No show is perfect, and shouldn’t … Continue reading
Anton Chekov says: | The Müscleheaded Blog
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” Source: Anton Chekov says: | The Müscleheaded Blog
Edward Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? playwright, dies aged 88 | Stage | The Guardian
The three-time Pulitzer-winning playwright challenged theatrical convention through sharp-tongued humor and dark themes Source: Edward Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? playwright, dies aged 88 | Stage | The Guardian
Wanting the Moon – The Bread & Roses Theatre
*First London Theatrical Run* If I really had a free hand I’d wish to broadcast on my hundredth birthday, fly round the world…Oh, I forgot — I have often wanted … Continue reading
Quote • DAVID HARE on PAUL SCOFIELD
‘Paul Scofield… was the hardest actor to direct that I’d ever seen. Not because he was difficult–far from it–but because he gave you infinite possibility. With most actors you are … Continue reading
Equus and Amadeus playwright Peter Shaffer dies aged 90 | Stage | The Guardian
British playwright, who also won an Oscar for film adaptation of Amadeus, has died after falling seriously ill last week Source: Equus and Amadeus playwright Peter Shaffer dies aged 90 … Continue reading
![Theatre World cover showing Sybil Thorndike (L) & Edith Evans (R) in Waters of the Moon at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, 1951] © Sarah Vernon](https://roguesandvagabonds.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/theatre_world014.jpg?w=155&h=110&crop=1)
Did You Know…? | DAME SYBIL THORNDIKE: An Indefatigable Dame • 2008
Did you know that when John Gielgud was arrested for soliciting in 1953 – the basis for critic Nicholas de Jongh’s play, Plague over England, the then landlord of the famous … Continue reading
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