144:: "London Children in Sex Play". In contrast to the sensationalist press stories (the play actually contained no sexual scenes whatsoever, and the so-called "children" were all, at the time, actors in their late teens), the play itself was constructed from the real life personal experiences of young British gay teenagers, containing as it did, examples of the difficulties, prejudice and considerable humour of those that took part. The Royal Court, through Chapman and then director Ann Jenkins, fought against a largely hostile press to maintain the integrity of the production, which successfully played at the Royal Court as well as on tours to regional theatres and schools. It was pioneering work of this kind that became a hallmark of Chapman's career, before it was cut so tragically short in 1987. He also taught school, ran workshops, and organised the highly successful Young Playwrights' annual festival.
114:, London, in charge of the Young People's Theatre Scheme. This had originally been set up in 1966 to develop and produce the best new writing by young people under 25, encouraging writers from all sections of society to find their voice. In 1976, as part of a drive to invigorate the group, Chapman developed the YPTS idea and held a competition to give the group a shorter and snappier name. The winning name chosen was "The Activists"; the logo of which was the letter "A" formed of nails, to signifying the driving edge and hard grittiness that typified the group's work. This group had two main branches of activity – the first was a mainstream group that worked with influential writers and directors such as
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was just beginning in the UK, Chapman joined other gay activists and playwrights to set up one of the first Gay
Theatre seasons in the UK. The intention of the group was to counteract the prevailing conception in mainstream theatre of what homosexuals were like, therefore providing a more realistic
164:′s theatre critic, to find out exactly how the event was organized, and asked Ruth Goetz, a council-member who lived in London at the time, to do some detective work at the Court. She came up with the key to it all: a fellow named Gerald Chapman”.
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image for the public. They realised that a great deal of hard work was required and came up with the name The Gay
Sweatshop. This later became one of the best known gay theatre companies in the UK, with former members including
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had been attempting for several years, without success, to set up a young playwright's competition in New York City. He heard about the program at the Royal Court and went to
England to see for himself:
59:, Somerset, where his father was manager, and which is now owned by his elder brother, Christopher (Kit) Chapman. His mother was of Greek origin, and his summers were spent with his mother's family in
154:“It was my first opportunity to see what I had only read about for so many years, and it was an experience so moving and exhilarating that I returned to the council with renewed vigor. I wrote to
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and many others. The second group was formed as part of an offshoot of the radical theatre company Gay
Sweatshop, with which Chapman had worked previously. Together with South African writer
171:. Chapman founded and directed the acclaimed New York Young Playwrights Festival, which won a Drama Critics Circle Award in 1983. In 1984 he directed the world premiere of the play
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183:, worked in New York City schools, and directed productions at the American Repertory Theatre, the Circle Repertory Company, and the Double Image Theatre.
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In 1980 Sondheim invited
Chapman to New York to start a similar project in the United States as the Foundation of the Dramatists Guild and now known as
244:. It won The American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) Distinguished Book Award in 1991 and has since been acknowledged as a seminal work.
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In 1985 he was invited to be Guest
Director at the International Young Playwright's Festival in Sydney. In 1986 he was invited by artistic director
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130:, workshop sessions were held with a group of gay teenagers to develop a play that would eventually become a touring production called
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138:). This highly controversial show (for the time) aroused deep press hostility, which resulted in a front-page story in the London
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19:(8 November 1949 – 25 September 1987) was an English theatre director and educator who was best known for his work with the
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published a substantial obituary and there were long eulogies in the deaths columns from his friends and colleagues at the
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Gerald
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240:(edited and developed by Lisa A. Barnett) was published posthumously by
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Weblink to further information on The
Activists – Actor Gary James
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79:), and began his involvement with play production as a student at
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Gerald
Chapman died of AIDS on 25 September 1987 at the
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in the early 1900s. He spent his early years at the
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262:, London:> Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999. (
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173:Holy Wars – Morocco and The Road to Jerusalem
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286:Introduction to the YPI by Stephen Sondheim
336:AIDS-related deaths in New York (state)
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341:20th-century English LGBTQ people
316:People educated at Taunton School
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248:References and external links
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238:Teaching Young Playwrights
216:Beth Israel Medical Center
29:American Repertory Theatre
321:British theatre directors
86:In 1974, at a time when
33:Circle Repertory Company
331:LGBTQ theatre directors
274:Gay Sweatshop Archives
279:12 March 2007 at the
169:Young Playwrights Inc
57:Castle Hotel, Taunton
260:An Innkeeper's Diary
81:Cambridge University
47:Chapman was born in
37:Double Image Theatre
181:New York University
112:Royal Court Theatre
21:Royal Court Theatre
291:AATE Award winners
236:In 1990, his book
136:following web-link
124:Max Stafford-Clark
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226:Dramatists Guild
210:Death and legacy
148:Stephen Sondheim
141:Evening Standard
120:John Schlesinger
105:Miriam Margolyes
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311:1987 deaths
306:1949 births
177:Allan Havis
116:Edward Bond
93:Antony Sher
77:Ian McNeice
53:Savoy Hotel
300:Categories
268:0297824600
190:to direct
43:Early life
35:, and the
23:, London,
242:Heinemann
134:(see the
128:David Lan
277:Archived
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