Film directing includes the cult classic CLUE (he also wrote the screenplay), NUNS ON THE RUN (also written by Mr Lynn), MY COUSIN VINNY, THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN, SGT. BILKO, GREEDY, TRIAL AND ERROR, THE WHOLE NINE YARDS, THE FIGHTING TEMPTATIONS (NAACP Image award) and most recently, WILD TARGET. For television, Lynn has acted in and written dozens of episodes of various British comedy series, including YES MINISTER and YES, PRIME MINISTER, created and co-written with Antony Jay. Lynn authored the books THE COMPLETE YES, MINISTER and THE COMPLETE YES, PRIME MINISTER, which cumulatively sold more than a million copies in hardback and have been translated into numerous languages and are still in print nearly 30 years later. His book, COMEDY RULES (Faber and Faber) received rave reviews and of his latest book, the satirical novel SAMARITANS, the London Sunday Times wrote “This is a book George Orwell would have approved of.” Hat Trick Production has optioned the TV rights. After receiving a law degree from Cambridge University, Lynn’s West End theater debut, aged 23, was as Motel the Tailor in the original London cast of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Subsequent London directing credits include: THE GLASS MENAGERIE working with Tennessee Williams; SONGBOOK (Best Musical: Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award); ANNA CHRISTIE (RSC, Stratford and the Donmar); Joe Orton’s LOOT, PASS THE BUTLER by Eric Idle, Shaw’s ARMS AND THE MAN and David Wood’s THE GINGERBREAD MAN (Old Vic, twice). While Artistic Director of the Cambridge Theatre Company, Lynn directed twenty productions and produced twenty others, nine of which transferred to the West End. At the National Theatre, Lynn directed A LITTLE HOTEL ON THE SIDE by Georges Feydeau and THREE MEN ON A HORSE by George Abbott (Olivier Award, Best Comedy). More recently, he co-wrote and directed the play YES, PRIME MINISTER at the Chichester Festival Theatre, then at The Gielgud Theatre in London, playing to full houses for sixteen weeks. It subsequently played longer return seasons by public demand at the Apollo, the Gielgud again and the Trafalgar Studios, and numerous foreign cities including LA (but not yet New York)! His latest play, THE PATRIOTIC TRAITOR, played at the Park theatre, London, in 2016 for a 100% sold-out run. It is also published by Faber and Faber.
Guest Artist
Orlandersmith, Dael
Dael Orlandersmith is a playwright whose plays include STOOP STORIES, BLACK N’ BLUE BOYS/BROKEN MEN, HORSEDREAMS, BONES, THE BLUE ALBUM, YELLOWMAN, THE GIMMICK, MONSTER, and FOREVER. Ms. Orlandersmith was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Drama Desk Award nominee for YELLOWMAN and the winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for THE GIMMICK. Dael is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, The Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, a Guggenheim, along with several other awards and honors. Her play, FOREVER, was commissioned and performed at the Mark Taper Forum/Kirk Douglas Theatre Fall of 2014, followed by performances at the Long Wharf Theatre Winter 2014/15, New York Theatre Workshop Spring 2015, and at Portland Center Stage Winter 2016. Her play UNTIL THE FLOOD was done at St Louis Repertory fall of 2016, at Rattlestick Theatre in 2018, Milwaukee Rep in 2019, at Portland Center Stage, ACT Seattle, the Arcola Theatre in London, The Galway Arts Festival at the Druid Theatre, and at the Traverse at Edinburgh Festival. The play is scheduled to be performed in Berlin at the Schaubruhner theatre in April of 2022 and at the Spoleto festival in Charleston, SC in June 2022. She is currently working on two commissions for Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. Ms. Orlandersmith is working on a Commission for Rattlestick theatre called WATCHING THE WATCHER, and has two plays opening at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre in 2022: NEW AGE, to be directed by Jade King Carroll, and ANTONIO’S SONG/I WAS DREAMING OF A SON, cowritten with Antonio Suarez Edwards and directed by Mark Clement. She is also working on a new work with writer/performer David Cale called ‘ YOU DON’T KNOW THE LONELY ONE, and is working on a new piece called SPIRITAS. In 2020 Ms. Orlandersmith received the Doris Duke award.