Phyllis Nagy
Rogue Machine Theatre hosts its 2009 Salon, “An Evening with Phyllis Nagy,” on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 8 p.m., at Theatre/Theater, 5041 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles.
Nagy will discuss her years as playwright-in-residence at London’s Royal Court Theatre and the impact of the Royal Court on international theater, with playwright/theater critic Steven Leigh Morris, theater editor and critic at the LA Weekly for more than 20 years. “An Evening with Phyllis Nagy” is a free event, but reservations are required: rsvp@roguemachinetheatre.com.
Nagy may be best known to American audiences as the writer/director of “Mrs. Harris,” her first feature film. The HBO project, starring Annette Bening and Sir Ben Kingley, was nominated for multiple Emmy and Golden Globe awards, including nods for Nagy as both writer and director.
Nagy is currently in Los Angeles to direct the American premiere of her play, “Never Land,” which opens at Rogue Machine Theatre on Oct. 8 and runs through Nov. 15. First produced at the Royal Court Theatre during Nagy’s tenure as writer-in-residence, “Never Land” has been translated into more than 20 languages and produced throughout Europe.
Nagy’s plays have been performed worldwide and include three London Royal Court Theatre world premieres: “Weldon Rising,” “Disappeared,” and “The Strip.” Other plays are “Butterfly Kiss,” an adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter,” “Trip’s Cinch,” and an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel, “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Phyllis has translated Claudine Galea’s “Les Idiots” into English for the Royal Court Theatre and has created a new version of Chekhov’s “The Seagull” for the Chichester Festival Theatre. Among other honors, she has received the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Best New Play Award, the Mobil Playwriting Prize, a Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, a McKnight Fellowship, and two National Endowment for the Arts playwriting fellowships.
Nagy’s current commissions include new plays for the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Royal Court Theatre. Her feature film projects in development include an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s “Carol,” and “Tumble Up,” an original screenplay set largely in and around Hollywood Park Racetrack and Casino.