The School Research Group on Theatre History and Performance Studies is delighted to invite you to a talk by 2009 English literature gradutes Michael Clarkson and Gemma Hurley. Their new play ‘Death Ship 666’ is a parody of ‘Titanic’ and other disaster movies and was a sell-out hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. The very exciting news is that in November and December the play is transferring to two London West End theatres, the Jermyn St theatre and the Leicester Square theatre!
The trailer for play is on youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQGVgFzk3SQ
Michael and Gemma will be speaking on how to become playwrights and theatre producers from 5-6pm on Tuesday, November 19 in the Van Emden theatre, where they used to stage plays as undergraduates.
It’s wonderful to salute the success of two of our graduates, who are still very grateful for the training they received in drama and in creative writing in our department. It may seem extraordinary for two students to have such success in the West End, but Michael and his brother did win an Old Vic theatre play-writing award when Michael was in 2nd year.
As they say of their time with us:
“Without Reading University there wouldn’t be a “Death Ship 666!” – we met in the Writers Society and, after becoming good friends, wrote together and performed in each others plays. We were part of the first set of students to do the Creative Writing module in the English Department, and it’s during this time that we realised we not only loved writing, but together – were good at it too (cheese). In Film & Theatre Michael was given the tools needed to inspire his directing, which he took full advantage of when directing Jesus Christ Superstar as the Drama Societies main musical in 2009, which sold out every day (Gemma played a leper). It was during a night off from revision when we were laughing at “The Towering Inferno”, “Titanic” and “The Poseidon Adventure” that the conversation leading to the birth of our show happened: “Titanic? Might as well have named the boat Death Ship 666 – with Captain Brain Damage at the helm”…
This talk is open to all, so feel free to invite your friends and colleagues to this celebration of University of Reading success.
