Torben Betts (born 1968) is an award-winning English playwright. Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, he was educated at Stamford School and the University of Liverpool. He originally trained and worked as an actor. He was the Arts Council of England writer-in-residence at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in 1999 and recent commissions by Alan Ayckbourn have been The Optimist (2002), Her Slightest Touch (2003) and The Swing of Things (2006).

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  • 1968-02-10 (xsd:date)
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  • 1968-02-10 (xsd:date)
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  • Torben Betts (born 1968) is an award-winning English playwright. Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, he was educated at Stamford School and the University of Liverpool. He originally trained and worked as an actor. He was the Arts Council of England writer-in-residence at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in 1999 and recent commissions by Alan Ayckbourn have been The Optimist (2002), Her Slightest Touch (2003) and The Swing of Things (2006). Ayckbourn has called him 'the most exciting theatre writing talent I have come across in many a year'. A consistently controversial dramatist, who has written heavily naturalistic plays as well as epic, poetic works, he has been hailed as a successor to writers as diverse as Ayckbourn, Edward Bond and Howard Barker. Michael Billington in a review for the Guardian described his 1999 play A Listening Heaven 'like the best work of Edward Albee' and that it has 'an O'Neill-like emotional force. ' His plays are essentially tragic in nature, though they are all shot throughout with often excruciatingly uncomfortable comedy. They range from fierce indictments of the political elite to unforgiving yet humane examinations of the effect selfish capitalism has on the individual. Betts' play The Unconquered, in a touring production by the Stellar Quines company, was Best New Play in the 2006-7 Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland. It then went to New York as part of the 2008 Brits-off-Broadway season. Although his work is largely overlooked by the theatre establishment, he is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and risk-taking dramatists of his generation. The playwright and poet Liz Lochhead has called him 'just about the most original and extraordinary writer of drama we have... a boldly visionary poet... a political Beckett... a flamingly original writer we ignore at our peril. ' Time Out said he was 'an uncommonly talented playwright'. A critic in The Times claimed he chose words with the 'precision of a Conrad or a Naipaul', while Mark Brown in the Daily Telegraph claims he has a 'profound and highly original theatrical voice. ' He is married, has three young children and currently lives in the Scottish Borders.
  • Torben Betts est né à Stamford dans le Lincolnshire en Angleterre en 1968. Il a fait ses écoles à Stamford puis a étudié la littérature et la langue anglaise à l'Université de Liverpool. Il s'est formé et a travaillé en tant qu'acteur avant de devenir dramaturge. Il est généralement considéré comme étant l'expression la plus passionnante et la plus originale du théâtre anglais, malgré le fait qu'il n'ait reçu que peu d'aide de l'institution théâtrale. Sa pièce The Unconquered, produite par la Stellar Quines Company, a été nominée comme Best New Play en 2006-2007 aux Critics' Award for Theatre in Scotland. Actuellement, une seule de ses pièces, La Sourde Oreille, a été traduite en français. Ses pièces sont publiées par Oberon Books, Londres.
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  • Torben Betts
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  • Torben Betts (born 1968) is an award-winning English playwright. Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, he was educated at Stamford School and the University of Liverpool. He originally trained and worked as an actor. He was the Arts Council of England writer-in-residence at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in 1999 and recent commissions by Alan Ayckbourn have been The Optimist (2002), Her Slightest Touch (2003) and The Swing of Things (2006).
  • Torben Betts est né à Stamford dans le Lincolnshire en Angleterre en 1968. Il a fait ses écoles à Stamford puis a étudié la littérature et la langue anglaise à l'Université de Liverpool. Il s'est formé et a travaillé en tant qu'acteur avant de devenir dramaturge. Il est généralement considéré comme étant l'expression la plus passionnante et la plus originale du théâtre anglais, malgré le fait qu'il n'ait reçu que peu d'aide de l'institution théâtrale.
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  • Torben Betts
  • Torben Betts
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  • Torben Betts
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