Paines Plough
Encyclopedia
Paines 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.
The company specialises in developing and staging the work of contemporary playwright
s. In 2005, Paines Plough launched Future Perfect in conjunction with Channel 4
. The scheme is a year-long attachment for emerging playwrights. Writers who have taken part include Lizzie Nunnery, Tom Morton-Smith
and Duncan Macmillan.
Previous artistic directors include Anna Furse (1990-1994) and Vicky Featherstone (1997-2004). Sarah Kane
was writer-in-residence in 1998, during which time the company staged her work Crave
. Mark Ravenhill
was also the literary director, and continues to work with Paines Plough as a writer. The current artistic directors are James Grieve and George Perrin who took over from Roxanna Silbert in October 2009.. Silbert had led the company since taking over from Vicky Featherstone in 2004. In October 2010, the company won a TMA award for special achievement in regional theatre.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
touring 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...
company founded in 1974 by writer David Pownall
David Pownall
David Pownall FRSL is a British playwright and author of novels and short stories. Some of his plays have been adapted as films, for instance, Music to Murder By , and others were written as radio plays.-Life and career:...
and director John Adams. They named the company after their favourite pub, the Plough, where they would drink pints of Paines.
The company specialises in developing and staging the work of contemporary 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...
s. In 2005, Paines Plough launched Future Perfect in conjunction with Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. The scheme is a year-long attachment for emerging playwrights. Writers who have taken part include Lizzie Nunnery, Tom Morton-Smith
Tom Morton-Smith
Thomas Edward Morton-Smith, is an English playwright.Morton-Smith, originally from Exeter, grew up in East Grinstead. He studied Drama at the University of East Anglia before training as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.In 2001 his play Black Boxes & Amber Rooms was...
and Duncan Macmillan.
Previous artistic directors include Anna Furse (1990-1994) and Vicky Featherstone (1997-2004). Sarah Kane
Sarah Kane
Sarah Kane was an English playwright. Her plays deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture — both physical and psychological — and death. They are characterised by a poetic intensity, pared-down language, exploration of theatrical form and, in her earlier work, the use of...
was writer-in-residence in 1998, during which time the company staged her work Crave
Crave (play)
Crave is a one-act play by British playwright Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1998 by the theatre company Paines Plough, with which Kane was writer-in-residence for the year, at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh...
. Mark Ravenhill
Mark Ravenhill
Mark Ravenhill is an English playwright, actor and journalist.His most famous plays include Shopping and Fucking , Some Explicit Polaroids and Mother Clap's Molly House . He made his acting debut in his monologue Product, at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
was also the literary director, and continues to work with Paines Plough as a writer. The current artistic directors are James Grieve and George Perrin who took over from Roxanna Silbert in October 2009.. Silbert had led the company since taking over from Vicky Featherstone in 2004. In October 2010, the company won a TMA award for special achievement in regional theatre.