Case Histories to Drama: Sacks, Pinter & Friel
Tristram Powell, Honor Borwick, Michael Billington, Guy Leschziner, Alexis Zegerman
Our latest specially commissioned production celebrating great writers focuses on renowned British neurologist Oliver Sacks. His 1973 collection of beautifully crafted case histories, Awakenings was an instant success, inspiring many writers and artists. Via performance and commentary we explore two outstanding examples, Harold Pinter’s A Kind of Alaska and Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney, with reference to Sacks’ original case history.
Cast includes: the title star of ITV’s Doctor Finlay David Rintoul; Geraldine James, whose five-decade career has ranged from her award-winning Portia alongside Dustin Hoffman in The Merchant of Venice to Netflix’s Anne With An E; West End regular Mark Bazeley, best known on screen for Broadchurch, Home Fires and playing Alistair Campbell in The Queen; W1A & Talking Heads star Monica Dolan, winner of a BAFTA for Appropriate Adult and an Oliver for All About Eve; and, returning from our 2020 Dorothy Parker event, Tom Goodman-Hill (Spamalot, The Imitation Game). Scripted by Tristram Powell and produced by Honor Borwick
Following the performance, there will be a discussion on Oliver Sacks, Harold Pinter and Brian Friel with Michael Billington, former drama critic of the Guardian and author of a biography of Harold Pinter; consultant neurologist and author Dr Guy Leschziner; and playwright and actor Alexis Zegerman, whose plays include The Fever Syndrome.
In Association with the London Library
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Tristram Powell is a film and television director whose credits include adaptations of Philip Roth’s The Ghost Writer and Elizabeth Jane Howard’s Falling.
Honor BorwickHonor Borwick has worked in the theatre, publishing, independent television and film, theatre, and radio as a script editor.
Michael Billington
Dr Guy Leschziner is a consultant neurologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, where he leads the Sleep Disorders Centre, one of the largest sleep services in Europe, and a reader in neurology at King’s College London. He also works at London Bridge and Cromwell Hospitals. Alongside his clinical work, he is the presenter of the Mysteries of Sleep series on BBC Radio 4, is editor of the forthcoming Oxford Specialist Handbook of Sleep Medicine (OUP), and is Neurology Section editor for the next edition of Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine (Elsevier).
Alexis Zegerman is a playwright and actor. Her plays include The Fever Syndrome (Hampstead Theatre, MTC/Alfred P Sloan commission), Holy Shit, (Kiln Theatre),The Steingolds, (NT Studio, finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), Lucky Seven (Hampstead Theatre), Noise (Soho Theatre, Westminster Prize.) She was writer-in-residence at the Hampstead Theatre and Paines Plough and is currently under commission with Manhattan Theater Club/Bobbie Olsen, National Theatre, and Hampstead Theatre. Alexis also writes across film, TV and radio, winning the Prix Europa for her original BBC radio drama Deja Vu. Her latest film, Arthur's Whiskey, has been greenlit with Diane Keaton playing the lead. As an actor, Alexis has worked at the National Theatre, the Royal Court and the West End, most recently appearing in the original cast of Tom Stoppard's Leopoldstadt. She won a British Independent Film Award for best supporting actress for her role in Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky.
Photo cr. Mark Douet
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