The Cock Tavern Theatre Announces Nick Ward As Their Playwright In Residence

Nick Ward made a crucial impact on the London fringe in the late eighties. He won the George Devine Award for Apart From George and worked extensively at the National Theatre Studio alongside Peter Gill. His return to theatre is of key importance and we are honoured and thrilled to welcome him to the creative team.

"Will hopefully bring Nick Ward back to the theatre in due course"

Mark Shenton, August 2009 (on The Present at The c*ckTavern Theatre))

We first worked with Nick Ward in August 2009 on the first UK revival of The Present since it premiered at the Bush. The revival was produced by resident theatre company Good Night Out Presents and directed by Artistic Director Adam Spreadbury-Maher. A production Mark Shenton described as "an electrifying rediscovery" in his speech at the Peter Brook Empty Space Awards. The triumphant revival of The Present followed the equally successful revival of Apart From George two months earlier at the Finborough.

""Ward's gift for creating a potent poetic atmosphere with a minimum of words...

makes one regret Ward's own theatrical silence over the last two decades"

Michael Billington, June 2009 (on the revival of Apart From George at the Finborough)

In the programme for The Present Adam Spreadbury-Maher wrote "I'm counting on the energy of our revival to lure him back to the stage, as he is surely one of the greatest living playwrights I know". Our work with Nick Ward encapsulates the artistic policy of The c*ckTavern Theatre to celebrate new writing alongside reviving and recognising the importance of existing work.

Our future projects with Nick Ward include:

~ Nick Ward's translation of Strinberg's Ghost Sonata, first performed at the National Theatre Studio in 1986 and feared lost until it was recovered by Adam Spreadbury-Maher in the archives at the National Theatre this month.

~ The Nick Ward Retrospective Season at Riverside Studios in autumn 2010.

~ Workshop presentations of Nick Ward's new musical Dirt Music.

"Confirms Nick Ward as a theatrical poet"

Irving Wardle, Independent on Sunday, 1995 (On The Present)

Playwright Nick Ward was born in Geelong, Australia, in 1962. His first plays as writer/director won three Fringe First Awards at the Edinburgh Festival. He won the prestigious George Devine Award in 1988 for Apart From George (National Theatre, Edinburgh Festival, Royal Court, a national tour and New York). He subsequently wrote The Strangeness of Others (National Theatre); Trouble Sleeping (National Theatre Studio and Warehouse Theatre Croydon); Splendid Isolation (National Theatre Studio); an adaptation of The Decamoron (National Theatre Studio); Eastwood (Man In The Moon Theatre -Time Out Award, 1986), The Cenci, commissioned by Almeida Opera, and a translation of A Doll's House (Leicester Haymarket). His radio work includes Trouble Sleeping with Jim Broadbent and Patricia Routledge (BBC Radio 3). He has also written and directed two films, Dakota Road (Channel 4) and Look Me in the Eye (BBC).

"A blossoming pub theatre" GUARDIAN

The c*ckTavern Theatre has firmly established itself at the front of the London Fringe by winning the prestigious Dan Crawford Pub Theatre Award at the Peter Brook Empty Space Awards. Formed in January 2009, under the artistic leadership of Adam Spreadbury-Maher the theatre runs a bold programme of new writing alongside select revivals.