Polly Stenham wrote That Face when she was 19, saw it receive a shatteringly powerful production at the Royal Court when she was 20 and now, at 21, is the youngest dramatist to have a play performed in the West End for more than 40 years.
These must be sweet, heady and disorienting days for Ms Stenham. I hope those with the responsibility of handling her career are keeping her feet on the ground.
When That Face opened at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in April 2007, I described it as one of the most astonishing dramatic debuts I had seen in more than 30 years of reviewing.
Watching this West End transfer, the play seems every bit as fresh, passionate and blackly comic the second time around. She has a prodigious talent and it needs to be cherished and nurtured.
Emphasis added by me.
It will be interesting to see if her career goes anywhere. It will be interesting to watch press coverage of her. I expect her second play to get a savaging. That's usually the way these things work.
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