Description: Winner of Naledi Award for Best New South African play (March 2011).
Brief description: Craig Higginson is a playwright, novelist and theatre director. His plays include Dream of the Dog (which transferred to the Trafalgar Studios on the West End), The Girl in the Yellow Dress (on at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh 2010), The Jungle Book and Little Foot (commissioned by the National Theatre for the 2012 Connections Festival). Craig has won several awards in South Africa and the United Kingdom, including a Sony Gold Award, an Edinburgh Fringe First and a Naledi Award. His plays are represented by PFD.
Review Quotes: "This gripping two-hander is a highlight of the Traverse programme. Higginson packs a lot in under the seemingly innocuous guise of a young English woman giving language lessons to a French-Congolese student in contemporary Paris"-Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard
"Higginson is clearly gifted. He not only filters pressing concerns about race, prejudice and power through a highly charged two-hander, but he wraps it all up in a witty discourse about language itself."-Daily Telegraph "It is unusual and fascinating to see a play investigate the extent to which words can shape our thoughts and feelings as much as vice versa."-Financial Times Exposes some painfully ugly truths about race and class, wealth and victimhood...written and directed with great skill..."-The Scotsman "Higginson's slick, precise dialogue builds the tension nicely. There is, quite plainly, a formidable intellect at play... this piece challenges our received assumptions about ideology, language and sexuality to strong effect and comes recommended to thoughtful audiences."-The List "Craig Higginson has developed this spell-binding two-hander... You'd be hard pressed to find a sexier scene this festival than the shared naked foot stroking that turns nasty, then violent..."-What's On Stage "Full of emotion, and ideas... It's erotic, exciting and thought-provoking... brilliantly written... a winner of a play" 4 stars - The Arts Desk "Stylish and compelling... deserves to be rewarded come awards season" 4 stars - Evening Standard "Takes on everything from racial and class animus to truth versus fiction and the dark heart of desire. A clever two-hander" - Time Out "An absorbing study in the potency of language... Higginson's script challenges assumptions of race and class with cutting insight.... This is bold, thought-provoking work, and a gritty battle of language and power-politics from a vital voice of the modern stage." 4 stars - Exeunt Magazine