We're back on the job

From E-script Gofer Editor Frank Moher: I've been off on a directing project and neglecting my E-script Gofer duties. My bad. To make up for it, I'm going to break my rule about posting only very recent articles, and upload the best of the stories that have piled up over the last few weeks. Here we go . . .

 

Men dominate new British playwriting award

From The Guardian: In Britain, the judges of the new £45,000 Bruntwood Playwriting Competition, sponsored by Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, discover that the current generation of playwrights is just as angsty and alienated as previous ones. Given that all five of the finalists are men, we're guessing that women playwrights are feeling even more alienated than usual.

 

Stroke fuels jokes for Alan Ayckbourn

From The Guardian: Still recovering from the stroke that took him away from writing and directing for nearly a year, playwright Alan Ayckbourn has obviously lost none of his powers of comic observation: "Extraordinary things happen with strokes," he says in this long but gratifying profile. "When your arm first returns, it's a bit uncontrollable, a bit Dr. Strangelove."

 

Small box gives playwrights big audience

From The Los Angeles Times: Why is there so much good television these days? Maybe it has something to do with the number of playwrights who have migrated there -- and into positions of power.

 

Do you have to write in English to be a famous Indian author?

From The Indian Express: Continuing his move from historical to contemporary subjects, playwright Girish Karnad considers the curious case of Indian authors who become internationally famous by writing in English.