A festival dedicated to the work of one of Britain’s leading playwrights takes to the stage in Fishguard next month.
The Tom Stoppard Festival features a selection of Sir Tom Stoppard’s writing from theatre plays to his work for TV and radio.
It also includes films – he won an Oscar for his screenplay for Shakespeare in Love – and an exhibition of memorabilia, donated by the playwright himself.
The celebratory festival is being organised by Pembrokeshire County Council’s Arts Officer Christine Willison and follows last year’s highly successful festival dedicated to the late Harold Pinter.
Christine hopes to attract local playgoers as well as Stoppard fans from across the country to the festival.
“Tom Stoppard is one of our leading playwrights and I know he is delighted that we are featuring his work at this festival,” she said.
“There is a huge demand from the public for more drama at Theatr Gwaun and the decision to feature Tom Stoppard this year was made by performers at last year’s highly successful Pinter festival.”
Sir Tom Stoppard was born in 1937 in Czechoslovakia and left the country as a child refugee in 1939. He settled in Britain with his family in 1946 and became a journalist and drama critic before becoming a playwright.
He has written for the stage, TV and radio with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Arcadia and Jumpers among his best known theatre works.
He has also written and co written a number of film screenplays including Brazil and the Oscar winning Shakespeare in Love.
All his work investigates themes of human rights and political freedom as well as explorations of linguistics and philosophy.
The Tom Stoppard Festival is being staged at Theatr Gwaun between October 22nd and 24th.
Tickets can be obtained from the Theatr Gwaun Box Office in West Street, Fishguard. Phone: 01348 873421.
For more information contact Christine Willison on 01437 776079 or email [email protected]
