- Polly Stenham
Polly Stenham (born 1987) is an award-winning English
playwright .Career
Her debut play "
That Face " premiered at theRoyal Court Theatre in London in April 2007 in a production by Jeremy Herrin for which she won both the Evening Standard's 2007 Charles Wintour Award, and the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, as well as the 2007 Best New Play TMA Award. Stenham had attended the Royal Court's Young Writers Programme in 2005."That Face" portrays an affluent family in freefall. Mia at boarding school has access to Martha’s drugs. Henry has dropped out of school. Martha, their mother, controls their lives — a darkly comic exploration of children who become parents to their parents. [Source: Premier PR press release for the 2008 West End revival of the play]
The play received effusive praise from reviewers, with Charles Spencer of the "
Daily Telegraph " making the following comment:"This is one of the most astonishing debuts I have seen in more than 30 years of theatre reviewing. Its author, Polly Stenham, a graduate of the Royal Court's Young Writers Programme, is 20 now, just 19 when she wrote a play that sent me reeling into the night... In every respect this is a remarkable and unforgettable piece of theatre."
"That Face" transferred to the
Duke of York's Theatre , previewing from 1 May 2008, starringLindsay Duncan ,Hannah Murray ,Matt Smith ,Catherine Steadman andJulian Wadham , again directed by Jeremy Herrin and produced bySonia Friedman Productions ,Tulchin/Bartner ,Eric Abraham andJamie Hendry . Stenham is adapting it for the screen [ [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/international/news/e3i76626e51c49f8a0acdadabd1d5bec664?imw=Y Hollywood Reporter article [] ] .She also represented the Royal Court, to whom she is under comission for a second play [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/theatre/news/story/0,,2080697,00.html The Guardian Arts article] ] , at the 2007
Latitude Festival .Stenham is writing a film adaptation of the 1988 novel "Sabine" [ [http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=39808 Screen Daily - News ] ] .
Background
Stenham's father, Anthony 'Cob' Stenham, a well-known City businessman, died in 2006.
She was educated at
Wycombe Abbey and Rugby. After completing her A-Levels, she spent agap year travelling during which time she also worked for theAmbassador Theatre Group and theArcola Theatre . She began a degree atUCL but abandoned her place to work on "That Face".References
Theatre Record External links
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml;jsessionid=EXQJOMD2AEFHNQFIQMGSFFOAVCBQWIV0?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/arts/2007/04/26/bthatface126.xml Review of "That Face" by Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph]
* [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-23423087-details/Polly's+dramatic+debut/article.do Interview] from the "Evening Standard"
* [http://www.openmagazine.co.uk/performance/about-face.htm Interview] from "Open Magazine"
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
