James Graham and Rupert Goold
Festival of Ideas
Sunday 9 September 2018 1 - 2pm
The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts
£16, £10 concessions
Chaired by writer and broadcaster Sarah Crompton, Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre Rupert Goold and playwright James Graham come together to talk about making theatre that is inspired by real and recent events and their shared ambition to make theatre more accessible.
Having worked together on the award-winning play Ink, the pair discuss being inspired by the storytelling of Charles Dickens and the joys and challenges of creative collaborations, in an event chaired by writer and broadcaster Sarah Crompton.
James Graham is Britain’s most prolific playwright. His recent plays include Quiz, based on the scandal surrounding Who Wants to be a Millionaire; Labour of Love which won Best New Comedy at the Olivier Awards 2018, Ink about Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of The Sun which was nominated for Best Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards and The Culture – A Farce in Two Acts performed as part of the Hull UK City of Culture 2017. He is currently working on Sketching, a crowd-funded initiative to support new writers which is based on Charles Dickens’ first novel Sketches by Boz and will run at and around Wilton’s Music Hall from 26 September 2018 for one month.
He has also written extensively for television including the political drama Coalition about the ill-fated Clegg-Cameron deal and The Vote, which was broadcast on election night. He is currently writing a drama about Brexit.
Rupert Goold is Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre, where he has directed Ink, Albion and Richard III. He was Artistic Director of Headlong from 2005 until 2013 where his work included The Effect, ENRON, Earthquakes in London and Decade. Other theatre credits include Made in Dagenham and No Man’s Land at The Gate, Dublin and the West End.
He has twice been the recipient of the Laurence Olivier, Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Best Director. He was Associate Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company from 2009 to 2012. On film he directed BAFTA nominated Richard II and Macbeth and Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III for BBC. He is currently in production on new biopic Judy, starring Renée Zellweger. Rupert was awarded a CBE for services to drama in the 2017 New Year’s Honours.
The conversation will be followed by a Q&A.