Yasmina Reza
Encyclopedia
Yasmina Reza is a French
playwright
, actress, novel
ist and screenwriter
. Her parents were both of Jewish origin, her father Iran
ian, her mother Hungarian
.
and Marivaux
.
In 1987 she wrote Conversations after a Burial, which won the Molière Award
, the French equivalent of the Laurence Olivier Award or the Tony Award
, for Best Author. Following this, she translated Kafka's "The Metamorphosis
" for Roman Polanski
and was nominated for a Molière Award
for Best Translation.
Her second play, Winter Crossing, won the 1990 Molière Award
for Best Fringe Production, and her next play The Unexpected Man, enjoyed successful productions in England
, France
, Scandinavia
, Germany
and New York
.
In 1995, 'Art
' premiered in Paris
and went on to win the Molière Award
for Best Author. Since then it has been produced worldwide and translated and performed in over 30 languages. The London
production, produced by David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers
, received the 1996-97 Laurence Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award
. It also won the Tony Award for Best Play. Life X 3 has also been produced in Europe
, North America
and Australia
. Screenwriting credits include See You Tomorrow, starring Jeanne Moreau
and directed by Reza's then-partner Didier Martiny.
In September 1997, her first novel, Hammerklavier, was published and another work of fiction, Une Désolation, was published in 2001. Her newly-published 2007 work L'Aube le Soir ou la Nuit (Dawn Evening or Night), written after a year of following the campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy
has already caused a sensation in France.
On 24 November 2007 her play Le Dieu du Carnage, (The God of Carnage) directed by Jürgen Gosch and performed first in Zürich
, received the Viennese
Nestroy-Theatreprize for the best German-language performance of the season. It opened in London in March 2008, directed by Matthew Warchus
in a translation by Christopher Hampton
starring Ralph Fiennes
, Tamsin Greig
, Janet McTeer
and Ken Stott
. It was produced once again by David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers
. The London production won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, which Hampton accepted on her behalf. Hampton told the audience that Reza would be thrilled by the win. The play premiered on Broadway with an opening night cast of James Gandolfini
, Jeff Daniels
, Marcia Gay Harden
, and Hope Davis
. God of Carnage won Best Play at the 2009 Tony Awards.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, actress, novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist and screenwriter
Screenwriting
Screenwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is a freelance profession....
. Her parents were both of Jewish origin, her father Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian, her mother Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
.
Career
Reza began work as an actress, appearing in several new plays as well as in plays by MolièreMolière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
and Marivaux
Pierre de Marivaux
Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux , commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French novelist and dramatist....
.
In 1987 she wrote Conversations after a Burial, which won the Molière Award
Molière Award
The Molière Award is the national theatre award of France decided by the Association professionnelle et artistique du théâtre and given out every April or May since 1987, during a ceremony called La Nuit des Molières . The award was created by Georges Cravenne, who was also the creator of the...
, the French equivalent of the Laurence Olivier Award or the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
, for Best Author. Following this, she translated Kafka's "The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It is often cited as one of the seminal works of short fiction of the 20th century and is widely studied in colleges and universities across the western world...
" for Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
and was nominated for a Molière Award
Molière Award
The Molière Award is the national theatre award of France decided by the Association professionnelle et artistique du théâtre and given out every April or May since 1987, during a ceremony called La Nuit des Molières . The award was created by Georges Cravenne, who was also the creator of the...
for Best Translation.
Her second play, Winter Crossing, won the 1990 Molière Award
Molière Award
The Molière Award is the national theatre award of France decided by the Association professionnelle et artistique du théâtre and given out every April or May since 1987, during a ceremony called La Nuit des Molières . The award was created by Georges Cravenne, who was also the creator of the...
for Best Fringe Production, and her next play The Unexpected Man, enjoyed successful productions in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
In 1995, 'Art
'Art' (play)
‘Art’ is a French language play by Yasmina Reza that premiered on 28 October 1994 at Comédie des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The English language adaptation, translated by Christopher Hampton opened in London's West End on 15 October 1996, starring Albert Finney. It played on Broadway in New York...
' premiered in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and went on to win the Molière Award
Molière Award
The Molière Award is the national theatre award of France decided by the Association professionnelle et artistique du théâtre and given out every April or May since 1987, during a ceremony called La Nuit des Molières . The award was created by Georges Cravenne, who was also the creator of the...
for Best Author. Since then it has been produced worldwide and translated and performed in over 30 languages. The 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...
production, produced by David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers
David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers
David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers are West End and Broadway theatre producers.-Biography:David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers first produced Art by Yazmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, at the Wyndhams Theatre in London's West End. This has subsequently become the most successful play in London in...
, received the 1996-97 Laurence Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award
Evening Standard Awards
The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre. Sponsored by the Evening Standard newspaper, they are announced in late November or early December...
. It also won the Tony Award for Best Play. Life X 3 has also been produced in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Screenwriting credits include See You Tomorrow, starring Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau is a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director.She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française...
and directed by Reza's then-partner Didier Martiny.
In September 1997, her first novel, Hammerklavier, was published and another work of fiction, Une Désolation, was published in 2001. Her newly-published 2007 work L'Aube le Soir ou la Nuit (Dawn Evening or Night), written after a year of following the campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
has already caused a sensation in France.
On 24 November 2007 her play Le Dieu du Carnage, (The God of Carnage) directed by Jürgen Gosch and performed first in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, received the Viennese
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
Nestroy-Theatreprize for the best German-language performance of the season. It opened in London in March 2008, directed by Matthew Warchus
Matthew Warchus
-Life:Warchus studied music and drama at Bristol University. He has directed for the National Youth Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Donmar Warehouse, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre, Opera North, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Welsh National Opera, English National Opera and in the West...
in a translation by Christopher Hampton
Christopher Hampton
Christopher James Hampton CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, screen writer and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of...
starring Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
, Tamsin Greig
Tamsin Greig
Tamsin Greig is an English actress principally known for two Channel 4 television comedy parts: Fran Katzenjammer in Black Books and Dr. Caroline Todd in Green Wing...
, Janet McTeer
Janet McTeer
Janet McTeer, OBE is a British actress.-Life and career:McTeer was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom, the daughter of Jean and Alan McTeer...
and Ken Stott
Ken Stott
Kenneth Campbell "Ken" Stott is a Scottish actor, particularly known in the United Kingdom for his many roles in television.-Early life:...
. It was produced once again by David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers
David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers
David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers are West End and Broadway theatre producers.-Biography:David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers first produced Art by Yazmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, at the Wyndhams Theatre in London's West End. This has subsequently become the most successful play in London in...
. The London production won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, which Hampton accepted on her behalf. Hampton told the audience that Reza would be thrilled by the win. The play premiered on Broadway with an opening night cast of James Gandolfini
James Gandolfini
James J. Gandolfini, Jr. is an Italian American actor. He is best known for his role as Tony Soprano in the HBO TV series The Sopranos, about a troubled crime boss struggling to balance his family life and career in the Mafia...
, Jeff Daniels
Jeff Daniels
Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
, Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...
, and Hope Davis
Hope Davis
Hope Davis is an American actress. She has starred in more than 20 feature films, including About Schmidt, Arlington Road, Flatliners, Mumford, American Splendor, The Lodger and Next Stop Wonderland....
. God of Carnage won Best Play at the 2009 Tony Awards.
Plays
- Conversations après un enterrement (Conversations After a Burial), 1987
- La Traversée de l’hiver (The Passage of Winter), 1989
- « Art » ('Art''Art' (play)‘Art’ is a French language play by Yasmina Reza that premiered on 28 October 1994 at Comédie des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The English language adaptation, translated by Christopher Hampton opened in London's West End on 15 October 1996, starring Albert Finney. It played on Broadway in New York...
), 1994 - L’Homme du hasard (The Unexpected ManThe Unexpected ManThe Unexpected Man is a play written in 1995 by Yasmina Reza. Reza is best known in the English speaking world as the author of Art.-Plot:...
), 1995 - Trois versions de la vie (Life X 3), 2000
- Une pièce espagnole (A Spanish Play), 2004
- Le Dieu du Carnage, 2006 (God of CarnageGod of CarnageGod of Carnage is a play by Yasmina Reza. It is about two pairs of parents, one of whose child has hurt the other at a public park, who meet to discuss the matter in a civilized manner. However, as the evening goes on, the parents become increasingly childish, resulting in the evening devolving...
)
Novels
- Hammerklavier, 1997
- Une désolation (Desolation), 1999
- Adam Haberberg, 2003
- Nulle part, 2005
- Dans la luge d'Arthur Schopenhauer (On Arthur Schopenhauer's Sledge), 2005
- L'Aube le soir ou la nuit, 2007
Screenplays
- Jusqu'à la nuit, (Till Night) 1983 (she also acted in this)
- Le pique-nique de Lulu Kreutz (Lulu Kreutz's picnic), 2000
- CarnageCarnage (2011 film)Carnage is a 2011 black comedy drama film written and directed by Roman Polanski, based on the acclaimed play God of Carnage by French playwright Yasmina Reza. The film is an international co-production of France, Germany, Poland and Spain.-Plot:...
, 2011
As actress
- Que les gros salaires lèvent le doigt ! (Let the Fat Cats Lift a Finger!) 1982 (as a chambermaid)
- À demain (Till Tomorrow), 1991
- LoinLoin (film)Loin is a 2001 French-Spanish drama film directed by André Téchiné, starring Stephane Rideau, Lubna Azabal and Mohamed Hamaidi. The film, set in Tangier in a three day period, tells the story of three young friends taking critical decisions about their uncertain future.-Plot:For the past few...
(Faraway), 2001
External links
- Yasmina Reza: Please stop laughing at me, by Agnes Poirier: Independent on Sunday, 16 March 2008 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre/features/yasmina-reza-please-stop-laughing-at-me-795570.html
- The Plays of Yasmina Reza on the English and American Stage (by Amanda Giguere) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0786449888