Journalist and author Peter Hitchens debates his view that Britain has undergone a damaging cultural revolution since the 1960s with playwright David Edgar.

The Oxford Debates: The Loss of Britain (SOLD OUT)
Peter Hitchens and David Edgar Chaired by Stephen Law
Tuesday 2 April 2019, 12:00 noon, 1 hour

Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre

Tickets: £8 - £13.50 from the Festival website

Journalist and author Peter Hitchens debates his view that Britain has undergone a damaging cultural revolution since the 1960s with playwright David Edgar.

Dame Harriet Walter is one of the country's most celebrated stage actresses and has played many of Shakespeare's leading parts – both male and female. Her books include Other People's Shoes and Brutus and Other Heroines. She is the recipient of Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Actress and has been nominated for a Tony Award and multiple Drama Desk Awards.

NST City, Southampton
Saturday 23 March 2019, 19:00
Tickets £20, Premium Seats £30, from NST website

Dame Harriet Walter is one of the country's most celebrated stage actresses and has played many of Shakespeare's leading parts – both male and female.

Playwriting at the NT with Bruce Norris.

The 'Playwriting at the NT' series gives an insight into approaches to developing your playwriting skills with a different playwright each month. This session in March is led by Bruce Norris, whose play Downstate is playing in the Dorfman in March and April.

National Theatre (Clore Learning Centre), London
Saturday 16 March 2019, 10.30am
Running Time: 10.30am - 1pm
Tickets £30 (£20 concessions) from the NT website

Playwriting at the NT with Bruce Norris.

Join writer Bruce Norris and director Pam MacKinnon as they reflect on their production of Downstate, with Rana Mitter.

National Theatre (Clore Learning Centre), London
Friday 15 March 2019, 6pm
Running Time: 45 mins
Tickets £7 (£5 concessions) from the NT website

Join writer Bruce Norris and director Pam MacKinnon as they reflect on their production of Downstate.

Michael Bryher on how to find and prepare the perfect monologue – one that suits you, showcases your talent and gives you the very best chance of nailing the audition. Plus, find out tips and advice on how to perform your audition piece to its maximum effect.

Part of the Surviving Actors convention
Saturday 9 February 2019, 14:00 (convention runs 10:00-17:00)
Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, London
Tickets from Surviving Actors

Michael Bryher on how to find and prepare the perfect monologue, a Surviving Actors seminar.

After two highly successful Women Centre Stage festivals, Sphinx Theatre presents the Women Centre Stage Symposium: Are we at the Tipping Point? An afternoon event held at Hampstead Theatre, which will bring together leading women across the theatre industry for a crucial and timely discussion on gender equality.

Hampstead Theatre, London
3 February 2019, 14:00
Tickets: £12/£10 from Hampstead Theatre

 

 

Sphinx Theatre presents the Women Centre Stage Symposium: Are we at the Tipping Point?

Join actress, comedian, writer and doodler Jessie Cave to discuss the published version of Sunrise – her acclaimed live show which has enjoyed hit runs in London and Edinburgh and embarks on a UK tour in 2019.

Where: The British Library, London
When: Sunday 13 January, 3.15-4.15pm
How to book: Visit the British Library website, call 01937 546546 or email boxoffice@bl.uk.

Join actress, comedian, writer and doodler Jessie Cave to discuss her play Sunrise

A workshop with writer Mike Bartlett and director Clare Lizzimore, free to ticket-holders for their new play, Snowflake, at the Old Fire Station in Oxford on 17 December.

Working partly through conversation, questions and answers, and practical exercises, writer Mike Bartlett (King Charles III, Doctor Foster, Press) and director Clare Lizzimore lead you through a process of how to understand the mechanisms of a play, and how to play them.

This workshop will focus on how to approach a play practically. How to harness your instincts as well as understand and deliver on the writer's intentions. How to break down a text and understand how the drama actually operates. How to create tension, how to understand ‘character’, how to navigate different ‘intentions’, and what a dramatic ‘action’, and an ‘objective’ actually is.

Monday 17 December 2018, 5.30-7pm
The Old Fire Station, Oxford
https://oldfirestation.org.uk/whats-on/how-to-approach-a-play/

Places are free for anyone who books to see Snowflake at the Old Fire Station that evening but capacity is limited. Email alexandra.coke@oldfirestation.org.uk to reserve a place. You must have a ticket to Snowflake to attend this free workshop.

A workshop with writer Mike Bartlett and director Clare Lizzimore, free to ticket-holders for their new play, Snowflake, at the Old Fire Station in Oxford on 17 December.

Playwright Winsome Pinnock appears at the Gate Theatre, London, in their In Conversation series for a Q&A and to discuss the themes of their current production, A Small Place, an adaptation of the book by Jamaica Kincaid.

Gate Theatre, London
Tuesday, 20 November, 9pm
Tickets: Pay What You Can: £5/£2.50
https://www.gatetheatre.co.uk/events/all-productions/a_small_place_in_conversation_with_winsome_pinnock

Playwright Winsome Pinnock appears at the Gate Theatre, London, in their In Conversation series.

Join renowned playwrights Howard Brenton (Pravda, Never So Good), Conor McPherson (The Weir, Girl from the North Country), Alecky Blythe (London Road, Little Revolution) and Natasha Gordon (Nine Night), and publisher Nick Hern, to explore how playwriting has – and hasn’t – changed over the past 30 years.

What new trends and themes have emerged in the last three decades? What changes have occurred in the way plays reach the stage? And where might playwriting, and theatre, go in the future?

This event is part of Nick Hern Books’ 30th anniversary celebrations in 2018.

National Theatre Dorfman
Thursday 8 November, 6pm (45 mins)
Tickets £7 (concessions £5) from the National Theatre

A panel event to explore how playwriting has – and hasn’t – changed over the past 30 years.

The acclaimed actor discusses Year of the Mad King: The Lear Diaries, his account of researching, rehearsing and performing what is arguably Shakespeare’s most challenging role, known as the ‘Everest’ of acting, with leading Shakespeare scholar Jonathan Bate.

Monday 8 October 2018, 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Town Hall, Baillie Gifford Stage
Cheltenham

Tickets: £10 from the Cheltenham Literature Festival

The acclaimed actor discusses Year of the Mad King: The Lear Diaries at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.

Exploring the work of director and writer Peter Brook from The Mahabharata to The Prisoner, and his seminal book The Empty Space. With contributions from academics and theatre-makers, led by Dominic Glynn.

Clore Learning Centre, National Theatre, London
Mon 24 September, 2pm
Running Time: 3 hours

Tickets £30 (senior citizen £20, student/under 18s £7.50) from the National Theatre

Exploring the work of director and writer Peter Brook.

The Samuel French Bookshop at the Royal Court Theatre, London, is hosting a free Author Q&A Event with playwright Cordelia Lynn on Thursday 2 August 2018. Cordelia's new play, One For Sorrow, is playing in the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs until 11 August.

Come along for a chat with Cordelia, followed by the opportunity to ask your questions and have your playtexts signed too. 

All are welcome, whether you're seeing a show at the theatre that day or not - you don't need a ticket to attend. See you there!

The Samuel French Bookshop at the Royal Court Theatre, London, is hosting a free Author Q&A Event with playwright Cordelia Lynn on Thursday 2 August 2018.

Writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and director Ned Bennett reflect on their production of An Octoroon in a National Theatre Platform.

National Theatre Dorfman
Fri 6 July, 6pm
Tickets £7 (concessions £5) from the National Theatre website

Writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and director Ned Bennett reflect on their production of An Octoroon in a National Theatre Platform.

Join Antony Sher in conversation to celebrate the publication of his new book, Year of the Mad King.

Based on Antony’s experience performing as King Lear in Gregory Doran’s 2016 production at the RSC, Year of the Mad King provides a first-hand insight into the research, rehearsal and development of his Lear.

The event will be followed by a book signing.

Thursday 7 June 2018, 5.30 - 6.30pm
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Stratford-upon-Avon

Tickets £8 from the RSC website

Join Antony Sher in conversation to celebrate the publication of his new book, Year of the Mad King.

Harriet Walter in conversation with Sam Walters and Auriol Smith on Harriet’s remarkable acting career as told in her book on the exploration of the Shakespearean canon through the eyes of a self-identified ‘feminist actor’.

Plus, after an interval, the co-editors of Much Ado About Nothing: A Critical Reader, Peter J Smith and Deborah Cartmell, join Harriet Walter and Auriol Smith for a panel discussion on arguably Shakespeare’s funniest play.

Friday 11 May 2018, 7pm
Chipping Campden School Hall
Tickets: £14 (free to full-time students)
Doors open 6.30pm

Harriet Walter in conversation with Sam Walters and Auriol Smith on her remarkable acting career.

The writer of Nine Night discusses the play with its director, Roy Alexander Weise.

National Theatre Platform
Thursday 10 May, 6pm
Tickets £7 (concessions £5) from the National Theatre

The writer of Nine Night discusses the play with its director, Roy Alexander Weise.

The Almeida Theatre’s literary manager Stephanie Bain leads a discussion with the director and dramatist behind The Writer, Blanche McIntyre and Ella Hickson, in conversation live on the Almeida stage.

Tuesday 8 May 2018, 6-6.45pm
Almeida Theatre, London

Tickets: £5 (free to under-25s) from the Almeida website

Ella Hickson and Blanche McIntyre in conversation with Stephanie Bain about The Writer

Harriet Walter asks why Shakespeare didn't write more - and more powerful - roles for mature women, in an author appearance at the Stratford Literary Festival.

Sunday 22 April 2018, 4.30-5.30pm
Stratford ArtsHouse, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tickets: £14 from the festival website here

Harriet Walter asks why Shakespeare didn't write more - and more powerful - roles for mature women, in an author appearance at the Stratford Literary Festival.

To mark the publication of his new book, Year of the Mad King: The Lear Diaries, Antony Sher will be discussing his experiences of returning to Shakespeare’s King Lear after more than 30 years to perform the title role.

National Theatre Platform, Friday 23 March 2018, 6pm
Tickets £7 (concessions £5) from the National Theatre

To mark the publication of his new book, Year of the Mad King: The Lear Diaries, Antony Sher will be discussing his experiences of returning to Shakespeare’s King Lear after more than 30 years to perform the title role.