Sky Arts Live announces playwrights for new season

Some commentators have suggested that the BBC should broadcast more (or any) new work by playwrights. Well, Sky Arts is doing it:

Playhouse: Live will see brand new work from Rebecca Lenkiewicz, the first woman to have a play performed on the main stage at the National Theatre; Frank McGuiness, considered by many to be Ireland’s greatest living playwright; Mark Ravenhill, who penned the satirical shock-fest, Shopping and F**king; Alia Bano, the Evening Standard’s Most Promising Playwright of 2009; and Eve Ensler, author of the global phenomenon, The Vagina Monologues.

There will also be an exclusive opportunity to see the plays at the Riverside Studios in London in the week prior to the live premiere, where each play will preview for four nights before the live TV performance. Sandi Toksvig will host a post show discussion for each play at the Riverside Studios, after every Friday night performance.

The Sky Arts Playhouse: Live company is led by artistic director Sandi Toksvig, and creative director Pip Broughton.

“With Playhouse: Live, we’re staying true to the theatrical experience whilst simultaneously ensuring that we successfully marry the components of theatre and television that make each experience so unique,” comments Sandi Toksvig, artistic director of Sky Arts Playhouse: Live. “We’re thrilled to have such an extraordinary range and calibre of playwrights on board, and are delighted about partnering with the Riverside Studios to give the creative teams an opportunity to preview each play.”

“Our audience is telling us it wants something different and this is TV to stretch the imagination,” adds John Cassy, director of Sky Arts. “It’s five leading creative talents with five groundbreaking new TV dramas. There’ll be nowhere to hide. From the moment we go live, it promises to be a thrilling ride and completely unlike anything else on TV.”