The Stage

Sky Arts reveals playwrights for new live theatre series

Published Monday 19 April 2010 at 12:42 by Matthew Hemley

Mark Ravenhill, Eve Ensler and Frank McGuinness are creating original plays that will be shown live on Sky Arts as part of the broadcaster’s successor to Theatre Live!.

Sky Arts Playhouse - Live, as revealed by The Stage earlier this year, will make use of established playwrights and is part of the broadcaster’s commitment to screening live productions.

The Theatre Live! series, which was broadcast last year, saw six novelists make their debuts as playwrights.

As well as offerings from Shopping and Fucking playwright Ravenhill, Ensler - who created The Vagina Monologues - and McGuinness, whose credits include Someone Who’ll Watch Over me, Playhouse-Live will feature new work from Rebecca Lenkiewicz, who wrote Her Naked Skin and who was the first woman to have a play performed on the main stage at the National Theatre.

Alia Bano, who wrote Shades, which was performed at the Royal Court in 2009, completes the line-up.

The plays will be broadcast live every Wednesday from June 9, with each production being previewed at the Riverside Studios for four nights prior to transmission.

As with Theatre Live!, there will be a special company of directors and actors formed for the series, which will be overseen by Sandi Toksvig as artistic director, and Pip Broughton, who is creative director.

Toksvig said: “With Playhouse - Live, we’re staying true to the theatrical experience whilst simultaneously ensuring that we successfully marry the components of theatre and television that make each experience so unique. We’re thrilled to have such an extraordinary range and calibre of playwrights on board, and are delighted about partnering with the Riverside Studios to give the creative teams an opportunity to preview each play.”

The series will begin with The Typist, by Lenkiewicz and directed by Bijan Sheibani.

This will be followed on June 16 with Ghost Story by Ravenhill, who is also directing the play.

Bano’s play, called Hens, follows, directed by Peter Gill, and McGuinness’ Crocodile, directed by Toby Frow, will be broadcast on June 30.

Ensler’s Here, directed by Bush Theatre artistic director Josie Rourke, concludes the series on July 7.