Renowned British TV drama writer, playwright and producer, Lucy Gannon, will be speaking at Rosebank Union Church on 8 March.
Gannon has written multiple plays and TV dramas, including the highly acclaimed The Best of Men, which tells the story of the first Paralympic Games.
She is the lead writer and creator of the 2013 BBC drama series Frankie, and is currently working on two short TV dramas; a radio play and a film.
At the age of 59, Gannon’s writing career started fairly late after she entered the Richard Burton Award for playwrights.
Despite having attended only one theatre production in her life, her play Keeping Tom Nice defeated 1 500 entries and qualified her for a six-month writer-in-residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
She was awarded an MBE for her contribution to drama in Britain.
George Faber, who produced her winning TV play, attributes Gannon’s success to her diverse experiences.
“She has had a number of very demanding jobs that gave her tremendous life experience – all of which come through in her writing. She has an astonishing insight into the human mind. It’s always good to work with writers who have lived, they’ve got more stories to tell,” he said.
Writing for British newspaper The Independent, James Rampton said, “[Lucy Gannon] is the most sought-after writer of popular drama in British television… she is one of a very few writers whose name alone is sufficient to give the green light to any project to which it is attached.’’
Gannon will share some of her own life stories with the audience and explain how they have inspired and defined her writing. She is on a private visit to South Africa and this will be her only public appearance.
The event takes place on the 8 March at RUC, corner of St Andrews and William Nicol drives, Sandton, at 8:30am.
Tickets cost R50 and are available at the door. Details: RUC 011 784 6214
