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Winner – Eight awards at the OffWestEnd Awards 2012

“A theatre in a class of its own: last year’s programme was so good that it was worth moving to West Brompton for...Its first new writing premiere of the year...suggests that 2012 in London’s only wine bar theatre, will be as impressive as it was in 2011.” Time Out

“A disproportionately valuable component of the London theatre ecology. Its programme combines new writing and revivals, in selections intelligent and audacious.” Financial Times

“A blazing beacon of intelligent endeavour, nurturing new writers while finding and reviving neglected curiosities from home and abroad.”The Daily Telegraph

Founded in 1980, the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre presents plays and music theatre, concentrated exclusively on new writing and genuine rediscoveries from the 19th and 20th centuries. We aim to offer a stimulating and inclusive programme, appealing to theatregoers of all ages and from a broad spectrum of the population. Behind the scenes, we continue to discover and develop a new generation of theatre makers – through our vibrant Literary team, our internship programme, our Resident Assistant Director Programme, and our partnership with the National Theatre Studio providing a bursary for Emerging Directors. Despite remaining completely unsubsidised, the Finborough Theatre has an unparalleled track record of attracting the finest creative talent, as well as discovering new playwrights who go on to become leading voices in British theatre. Under Artistic Director Neil McPherson, it has discovered some of the UK’s most exciting new playwrights including Laura Wade, James Graham, Mike Bartlett, Sarah Grochala, Jack Thorne, Simon Vinnicombe, Alexandra Wood, Al Smith, Nicholas de Jongh and Anders Lustgarten.

Artists working at the theatre in the 1980s included Clive Barker, Rory Bremner, Nica Burns, Kathy Burke, Ken Campbell, Jane Horrocks and Claire Dowie. In the 1990s, the Finborough Theatre became known for new writing including Naomi Wallace’s first play The War Boys; Rachel Weisz in David Farr’s Neville Southall’s Washbag; four plays by Anthony Neilson including Penetrator and The Censor, both of which transferred to the Royal Court Theatre; and new plays by Richard Bean, Lucinda Coxon, David Eldridge, Tony Marchant, Mark Ravenhill and Phil Willmott. New writing development included a number of works that went to become modern classics including Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and F***king, Conor McPherson’s This Lime Tree Bower, Naomi Wallace’s Slaughter City and Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman.

Since 2000, new British plays have included Laura Wade’s London debut Young Emma, commissioned for the Finborough Theatre; James Graham’s Albert’s Boy with Victor Spinetti; Sarah Grochala’s S27; Peter Nichols’ Lingua Franca, which transferred Off-Broadway; and West End transfers for Joy Wilkinson’s Fair; Nicholas de Jongh’s Plague Over England; and Jack Thorne’s Fanny and Faggot. The late Miriam Karlin made her last stage appearance in Many Roads to Paradise in 2008. Many of the Finborough Theatre’s new plays have been published and are on sale from our website.

UK premieres of foreign plays have included Brad Fraser’s Wolfboy; Lanford Wilson’s Sympathetic Magic; Larry Kramer’s The Destiny of Me; Tennessee Williams’ Something Cloudy, Something Clear; the English premiere of Robert McLellan’s Scots language classic, Jamie the Saxt; and three West End transfers – Frank McGuinness’ Gates of Gold with William Gaunt and John Bennett, Joe DiPietro’s F***ing Men and Craig Higginson’s Dream of the Dog with Dame Janet Suzman.

Rediscoveries of neglected work have included the first London revivals of Rolf Hochhuth’s Soldiers and The Representative; both parts of Keith Dewhurst’s Lark Rise to Candleford; The Women’s War, an evening of original suffragette plays; Etta Jenks with Clarke Peters and Daniela Nardini; Noël Coward’s first play, The Rat Trap; Charles Wood’s Jingo with Susannah Harker; Emlyn Williams’ Accolade with Aden Gillett and Graham Seed; and Lennox Robinson’s Drama at Inish with Celia Imrie and Paul O’Grady.

Music Theatre has included the new (premieres from Grant Olding, Charles Miller, Michael John LaChuisa, Adam Guettel, Andrew Lippa and Adam Gwon’s Ordinary Days which transferred to the West End) and the old (the UK premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s State Fair which also transferred to the West End, and the acclaimed Celebrating British Music Theatre series, reviving forgotten British musicals including Gay’s The Word by Ivor Novello with Sophie-Louise Dann, Helena Blackman and Elizabeth Seal.

The Finborough Theatre won The Stage Fringe Theatre of the Year Award in 2011, won London Theatre Reviews’ Empty Space Peter Brook Award in 2010, the Empty Space Peter Brook Award’s Dan Crawford Pub Theatre Award in 2005 and 2008, the Empty Space Peter Brook Mark Marvin Award in 2004, four awards in the inaugural 2011 OffWestEnd Awards and swept the board with eight awards at the 2012 OffWestEnd Awards including Best Artistic Director and Best Director for the second year running. Accolade was named Best Fringe Show of 2011 by Time Out. It is the only unsubsidised theatre to be awarded the Pearson Playwriting Award bursary for writers Chris Lee in 2000, Laura Wade in 2005 for James Graham in 2006, for Al Smith in 2007, for Anders Lustgarten in 2009, Simon Vinnicombe in 2010 and Dawn King in 2011. Three bursary holders (Laura Wade, James Graham and Anders Lustgarten) have also won the Catherine Johnson Award for Pearson Best Play.

www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk