Farewell Old Friend

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The playwright and director Donald Howarth (1931-2020) and myself at the Nick Darke Award, National Theatre, 2016. 

These are strange days indeed. My own circumstances have been heightened by the loss of a very dear friend to cancer in late March. Donald Howarth was an extraordinary spirit, a true one off. Of course, in the face of a global health crisis unseen in our lifetimes, one death feels like a footnote. But Donald was very dear to me, and I’ll miss him beyond measure. Our friend Harriet Devine penned this lovely tribute to him in TheTheatreTimes.com. Do read, and appreciate how special this man was.

Godspeed Donald.

 

About suehealy

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From Ireland, Sue Healy is Literary Manager at the Finborough Theatre, London, a full-time Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader in Creative Writing at the University of Lincoln. "70 Years At The Court" is her upcoming book, due to be published in 2026 by Methuen Drama, which she is co-writing with Prof. Harriet Devine. Her previous book "The Literary Manager's Toolkit" is on theatre literary management is published by Routledge (2023). Sue is an award-winning writer for stage, TV, and prose writer. TV Her current project, a 6x60minute TV series, is under option. She is under commission with Lone Wolf Media, producers behind PBS’ “Mercy Street”, to co-write the pilot and treatment for a six-part TV series. Stage Her most recent stage-play, Imaginationship (2018), enjoyed a sold out, extended run at the Finborough and later showed at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. Her previous stage productions include Cow (Etcetera Theatre, 2017) and Brazen (King’s Head Theatre, 2016), funded by Arts Council England. Sue’s short plays have been performed at the Criterion (Criterion New Writing Showcase), Arcola (The Miniaturists) and Hackney Attic (Fizzy Sherbet Shorts). Radio Her radio work includes nine plays broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (Opening Lines winner), WLRfm and KCLR96fm. Prose Sue has won The Molly Keane Award, HISSAC Prize, Escalator Award, Meridian Prize and has been published in nine literary journals and anthologies including: The Moth, Flight, Tainted Innocence, New Writer, Duality, HISSAC, New European Writers. She has been writer-in-residence on Inis Oírr, Aran Islands, and at the Heinrich Boll Cottage on Achill Island. She has also benefitted from annual artist residencies at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, and at Ginestrelle, Assisi in Italy. An academic with a PhD in modern theatre history, specifically the Royal Court Theatre, Sue has presented her research internationally. She spent eleven years in Budapest, editing Hungary A.M. She has a PhD in modern theatre history (Royal Court Theatre) and is a UEA Creative Writing MA alumna. View all posts by suehealy

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