Anya Reiss

Anya Reiss
Born November 27, 1991 (1991-11-27) (age 20)
Camberwell, London
Occupation Playwright
Nationality British
Literature portal

Anya Reiss (born 1991 in London) is an award-winning British playwright[2] who has also voiced ambitions to become an actress. She is the youngest playwright ever to have had a play staged in London.[3]

A graduate from the Royal Court Theatre's Young Writers Programme in London[4] it staged her first play Spur of the Moment in July 2010. Directed by Jeremy Herrin with Sharon Small, Shannon Tarbet, James McArdle and Kevin Doyle it premiered at the Upstairs Jerwood Theatre at Royal Court[5] and was an extended sell out and met by near universal acclaim with the Evening Standard giving it 5 stars and Dominic Cavendish of the Daily Telegraph calling it "the most accomplished debut from a young playwright I’ve ever had the pleasure to see."[6] The play also went on to win the 2010 TMA Award for Best New Play[7] and Reiss herself won the Evening Standard[8] and the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright.[9]

Since then she was one of the ten writers who took part in writing a monologue based on a child's account for a one off event at the Old Vic Theatre directed by Danny Boyle in London in support of Dramatic Need in 2010. Reiss' monologue The Cure was performed by Kerry Fox.[10]

Her second play The Acid Test is was staged in 2011 again at the Royal Court Theatre directed by Simon Godwin starring Denis Lawson, Lydia Wilson, Phoebe Fox and Vanessa Kirby [11] where it received generally positive reviews.

She will also be partaking in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project Sixty Six where she has written a piece based upon a chapter of the King James Bible[12]

Work

References

  1. ^ "Reiss and Cast Interview", Time Out, 2010, http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/article/1430/how-teens-took-over-the-royal-court 
  2. ^ "Anya Reiss", Playwright Profile, 2010, http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsR/reiss-anya.html 
  3. ^ "Sunday Times", Spur of the Moment announced, July 2009, http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article6727666.ece 
  4. ^ "BBC Newsnight", Young Writers Programme Special, July 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8815455.stm 
  5. ^ "Royal Court Theatre Archive", Spur Of The Moment, July 2010, http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/spur-of-the-moment 
  6. ^ "Daily Telegraph", Spur of the Moment review, Dominic Cavendish, July 2010, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/7902917/Spur-of-the-Moment-Royal-Court-review.html 
  7. ^ "TMA Award", Best New Play, November 2010, http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/latest/view/item112725/TMA-Award-for-Royal-Court%253Fs-Spur/ 
  8. ^ "Evening Standard", Most Promising Playwright Award, November 2010, http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-23902088-teenage-writer-leads-the-new-generation-of-winners-at-evening-standard-theatre-awards.do 
  9. ^ "Critics Circle Award", Most Promising Playwright Award, January 2011, http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23917143-critics-honour-the-royal-courts-latest-star-playwright.do 
  10. ^ "Dramatic Need", Children's Monologues, November 2010, http://www.dramaticneed.org/monologues.php 
  11. ^ "Royal Court", The Acid Test, April 2011, http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/the-acid-test 
  12. ^ "Bush Theatre", Sixty Six Project, July 2011, http://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/biography/writers/ 
  13. ^ "YouTube", Spur of the Moment trailer, August 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z19rm4HLAdU