Ava Wong Davies
Ava Wong Davies is a British playwright and theatre critic. Her debut play i will still be whole (when you rip me in half) premiered at the Bunker Theatre in 2019. She was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award, the Tony Craze Award and the Women's Prize for Playwriting for her 2020 play scum. Her play Graceland was performed at the Royal Court Theatre in March 2023.
Career
[edit]Wong Davies' debut play was i will still be whole (when you rip me in half), which premiered at the Bunker Theatre in London on 12 November 2019. It follows a mother and daughter, played by Tuyen Do and Aoife Hinds respectively, who explore their strained relationship through a series of monologues.[1][2][3] The script was described as having an "exactness", and using dark humour to capture the character of the daughter EJ.[2][4] She has been a member of the Soho Theatre Writers Lab 18/19, the Bush Theatre Emerging Writers Group 19/20, and the Royal Court Writers Group 20/21.[5]
In November 2020, Wong Davies' coming-of-age story Half Blue was released on Audible as part of GNR8T: Series 2, through a partnership with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.[6] Her play small hours was commissioned by the Oxford Playhouse and the IF Oxford Science and Ideas Festival and was performed by the Mandala Theatre Company in October 2020, directed by Yasmin Sidhwa over Zoom.[7][8] In 2020, her play scum was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award, the Tony Craze Award and the Women's Prize for Playwriting.[5][9][10] Her play Rime of the Second Sister was produced by 45North and starred Martina Laird, Alice Vilanculo, Witney White and Sky Yang.[11][5]
Wong Davies' wrote the play Graceland, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in March 2023. The play is performed as 75 minutes monologue, which follows a British-Chinese woman portrayed by Sabrina Wu who falls in love with a poet living off his family's money. It received mixed reviews.[12][13][14][15] Wong Davies won the Ambassador Theatre Group Playwright's Prize for the play.[16]
Based in London, Wong Davies writes for Exeunt Magazine, The Independent, The Stage, and gal-dem. She won the Sunday Times' Harold Hobson Award for theatre criticism in 2018.[17]
References
[edit]- ^ "i will still be whole | Theatre in London". Time Out London. 2019-11-07. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ a b Walker-Cook, Anthony. "Review: I WILL STILL BE WHOLE (WHEN YOU RIP ME IN HALF)/BEFORE I WAS A BEAR, The Bunker". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ "I Will Still Be Whole (When You Rip Me in Half) review, The Bunker, London, 2019". The Stage. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ "Review: i will still be whole (when you rip me in half)". Exeunt Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ a b c "BBC Writersroom's Voices 2022 - London Voices". BBC. 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ "LAMDA and Audible release four original audio dramas | London academy of music & dramatic art". www.lamda.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ "Review: small hours, IF Oxford and Oxford Playhouse". Exeunt Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ "Review: Small Hours". The Stage. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ cog-admin (2020-09-24). "Verity Bargate Award 2020 shortlist announced". Soho Theatre. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ "2021 Longlist - The Women's Prize for Playwriting". 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ Staff Writer (2021-07-09). "45north Announce Full Casts For Mooncake, Found And Rime Of The Second Sister". Theatre Weekly. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ Curtis, Nick (2023-02-16). "Graceland at the Royal Court review: enthralling from beginning to end". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ Ryan, Anya (2023-02-16). "Graceland review: The giddy rush of first love curdles into something darker". Time Out London. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ Akbar, Arifa (2023-02-16). "Graceland review – anatomy of a toxic relationship". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ Allfree, Claire (2023-02-16). "Graceland: no, micro-tensions in a relationship don't add up to a plot". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ Wild, Stephi. "Ava Wong Davies Announced as Winner of the 2022 Ambassador Theatre Group Playwright's Prize". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/info/writers/ava-wong-davies