London Faculty News

This past summer Dr. Roy Kendall, the course director and teacher for our Advanced Playwriting program in London, was busy writing a new play to mark the 400 year anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare in 2016. The play, The First Folio, covers the events leading up to the decision to create a collection of the Bard’s work, organize its publication and the compiling of what became known as the First Folio by Shakespeare’s friends and fellow actors – John Heminge and Henry Condell.

Alongside his teaching of Advanced Playwriting this semester, Dr. Kendall is preparing for a rehearsed reading of his play The Onion at the End at the Pleasance Theatre, Islington, one of the most exciting Fringe theatres in London. Since the theatre opened its doors in 1995, its mission has been to provide a platform for new writing.

About Dr. Roy Kendall
Actor, director, writer, and teacher, Dr. Roy Kendall has scripted films for both BBC and ITV and plays for radio, one of which won the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain’s award for Best Original Radio Play. He has had a dozen plays produced on the professional stage, including Body & Soul, for which he was nominated Most Promising Playwright and which was produced in the West End of London after a nationwide tour. He has taught at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Morley College, where he was director of the Theatre School for many years. He was also adviser to the Emmy Award-winning BBC/HBO production Shakespeare: The Animated Tales.