- Katori Hall
Memphis-born playwright Katori Hall is receiving lots of love across The Pond. Her play The Mountaintop was honored at the Olivier Awards as the best new dramatic work of 2010.
From The Guardian:
Katori Hall’s surprise win at the Oliviers last night is a big moment for black theatre. Set in civil rights-era black America, the 28-year-old’s play The Mountaintop beat heavy-hitters Enron and Jerusalem to the best new play award. The playwright’s victory should, as Michael Billington says, provide “a significant boost to black playwrights” — and open the doors a little wider for those trying to sustain a career in theatre. Although Hall was born in Memphis, her play was made in the UK, starting its life at Theatre503 in Battersea, south London.
Hall’s work has been receiving favorable notices in the New York press for some time. Her previous efforts include Saturday Night/Sunday Morning,The Hope Well, and Hurt Village, a play about a soldier from Memphis returning from the conflict in Iraq and discovering his childhood home, the once infamous housing project called Hurt Village, has been torn down and replaced with more upscale housing.
More to come
