The Apathists
Encyclopedia
The Apathists were a collective of British
playwrights who staged plays and happenings in London
between March 2006 and March 2007. The events generated a cult following on the London theatre
scene. The collective had a festival of their work at the Union Theatre
and were involved in the 2006 Latitude Festival
, but their work mainly centered around monthly nights at Theatre 503
, which was formerly the Latchmere Theatre.
, Rosie Thomson http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0861089/, Gugu Mbatha-Raw
, and John Normington
.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
playwrights who staged plays and happenings in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
between March 2006 and March 2007. The events generated a cult following on the London theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
scene. The collective had a festival of their work at the Union Theatre
Union Theatre (London)
The Union Theatre is a small fringe theatre situated in the borough of Southwark in London, England. It was established in 1998 by Sasha Regan who took the initiative to convert a disused paper warehouse near Southwark station into a functioning theatre...
and were involved in the 2006 Latitude Festival
Latitude Festival
The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006....
, but their work mainly centered around monthly nights at Theatre 503
Theatre 503
Theatre503 is located at 503 Battersea Park Road in Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth, above the Latchmere pub. It is a performing arts venue which specialises in new work.-History:...
, which was formerly the Latchmere Theatre.
Writers
- Mike Bartlett went on to become the Pearson Playwright in Residence at The Royal Court Theatre. His play, My Child, had its world premiere at the Theatre Downstairs in an innovative production directed by Sacha Wares. His play, Contractions, another Royal Court production, was presented in an earlier form at Theatre 503 for The Apathists. Artefacts won the Old Vic New Voices Award and was premiered at The Bush TheatreBush TheatreThe Bush Theatre is based in Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 above The Bush public house by Brian McDermott, and has since become one of the most celebrated new writing theatres in the world. An intimate venue renowned for its close-up...
before a UK tour and a transfer to BroadwayBroadway (New York City)Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
. He won the 2006 Tinniswood Award and the 2006 Imison Award for his radio play, Not Talking, which starred June WhitfieldJune WhitfieldJune Rosemary Whitfield, CBE is an English actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio and television comedy series....
and Richard BriersRichard BriersRichard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
.
- Duncan Macmillan http://www.pfd.co.uk/clients/macmilla/f-ftw.html is the author of Monster, which was produced at the Royal Exchange Theatre as part of the Manchester International Festival. The play won two awards in the inaugural Bruntwood Playwriting Competition and was nominated as Best New Play in the TMATMA AwardsThe TMA Awards, established in 1991, are presented annually by the Theatrical Management Association in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in United Kingdom theatres...
and MEN Awards. He went on to be the Writer in Residence at the Royal Exchange, then Pearson Playwright for Paines PloughPaines PloughPaines Plough is a London-based British touring theatre company founded in 1974 by writer David Pownall and director John Adams. They named the company after their favourite pub, the Plough, where they would drink pints of Paines....
. His radio play, I Wish To Apologise For My Part In The Apocalypse, was broadcast on 17 July 2008 on BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
(repeated 14 September 2009) and starred Bill NighyBill NighyWilliam Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
and Amelia BullmoreAmelia BullmoreAmelia Bullmore is an English actress and writer. She was born in London and studied drama at the University of Manchester. Bullmore started working as an actor but turned to writing in 1995...
. - Simon Vinnicombe http://www.theagency.co.uk/ is the author of Time Out Critics Choice, Year 10, at The Finborough TheatreFinborough TheatreThe Finborough Theatre is a fifty seat theatre in the Earls Court area of London, United Kingdom , which presents new British writing, UK and premieres of new plays, primarily from the English speaking world including North America, Canada, Scotland and Ireland, music theatre, and rarely seen...
and the BAC. He is currently developing the screenplay of Year 10.
- Morgan Lloyd Malcolm http://www.davidhigham.co.uk/html/Clients/Morgan_Lloyd_Malcolm is one third of the comedy group Trippplicate, currently working with the BBC. Her plays Time Trippers and The Receptionists have been performed in Edinburgh and London. Her short play, Leo and Lisa, was performed by Kevin SpaceyKevin SpaceyKevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
, Thandie NewtonThandie NewtonThandiwe Nashita "Thandie" Newton is a British actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness, Mission: Impossible II, Crash, Run, Fatboy, Run and W....
and Elliot CowanElliot CowanElliot Cowan is an English actor, known for portraying Corporal Jem Poynton in Ultimate Force, Mr Darcy in Lost in Austen and Ptolemy in the 2004 film Alexander.-Background:...
at the Palexpo in Geneva. In 2006 she won the Smiffie Award for Best New Comedy.
- Rachel Wagstaff http://thehobbsfactory.com/?p=26 is a theatre and television writer. She is the author of The Soldier and Night Sky, which was performed initially for one night only at the Old Vic Theatre, and featured an all-star cast led by Christopher EcclestonChristopher EcclestonChristopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
, Saffron BurrowsSaffron BurrowsSaffron Dominique Burrows is an English actress and former fashion model, who starred as Det. Serena Stevens on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Lorraine Weller on Boston Legal.-Early life:...
, David BaddielDavid BaddielDavid Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, novelist and television presenter.-Early life:Baddiel was born in New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. His father, Colin Brian Baddiel, was a Welsh research chemist with Unilever before being made redundant in the 1980s, after...
, Navin ChowdhryNavin ChowdhryNavin Chowdhry is a British television actor.-Personal life:Navin Chowdhry was born and raised in Bristol, England. In 1994, Chowdhry graduated from Imperial College, London earning a 3 year degree in biochemistry, with 2:1 honours.-Career:...
, David WarnerDavid Warner (actor)David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
and Bruno LangleyBruno LangleyBruno Langley is an English actor. He is best known for playing Todd Grimshaw in Coronation Street and Adam Mitchell in Doctor Who.- Early life :...
. The performance was in aid of Index on CensorshipIndex on CensorshipIndex on Censorship is a campaigning publishing organisation for freedom of expression, which produces an award-winning quarterly magazine of the same name from London. The present chief executive of Index on Censorship, since 2008, is the author, broadcaster and commentator John Kampfner, former...
, a charity that reports on censorship, challenges free expression abuses, and publishes reportage and opinion from around the world.
- Nick Gill http://www.nickfuckinggill.com/ is a writer, illustrator and musician. His bands include Fireworks Night and The Monroe Transfer. As well as playing frequent gigs, he has performed at the Royal Court Theatre and Trafalgar Studios on the West End for Paines Plough. His plays include 'Heaven', 'Karposi', 'Cats & Cats & Cats & Cats & Cats' and 'This is Never Going to Work'. His play 'Fiji Land' was a finalist for the 'Protect The Human' Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
New Writing Award, hosted by Ice and Fire Theatre Company. He is the author of the screenplay 'Lifted' and is supported by the Peggy Ramsay Foundation.
Directors
The Apathists frequently used the same directors, including Lyndsey Turner, Clare Lizzimore, Dan Herd, Elizabeth Freestone, Duncan Macmillan and Lucy Kerbal.Actors
Performers included Terrence Hardiman, Sara StewartSara Stewart
Sara Stewart is a Scottish actress, perhaps most famously known for her role as Stella in Sugar Rush.-Early life:Stewart was born Sara Scott Griffith in Edinburgh, Scotland, to American parents...
, Rosie Thomson http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0861089/, Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Gugu Mbatha-Raw is an English actress.- Life and career :Gugu Mbatha-Raw was born Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha in 1983, in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, England. Her name, "Gugulethu", means pride in Zulu. Her mother, Anne, is an English nurse, and her father, Patrick Mbatha, is a South African...
, and John Normington
John Normington
John Normington was an English actor who appeared widely on British television from the 1960s until the year of his death. Normington was also a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company performing in more than 20 RSC productions...
.