Yasmina Reza | |
---|---|
Born |
Évelyne Agnès Yasmina Reza 1 May 1959 Paris, France |
Occupation | Writer, actress |
Yasmina Reza (born 1 May 1959) is a French playwright, actress, novelist and screenwriter best known for her plays 'Art' and God of Carnage. Many of her brief satiric plays reflected on contemporary middle-class issues.
Reza's father was a Jewish Iranian engineer, businessman, and pianist of Russian descent (whose family left Moscow after the Bolsheviks came to power), and her mother was a Jewish Hungarian violinist from Budapest.
Before entering the acting profession, Reza completed her education in the University of Paris X, Nanterre, and at the drama school of Jacques Lacoq.
At the beginning of her career, Reza acted in several new plays as well as in plays by Molière and Marivaux.
In 1987 she wrote Conversations after a Burial, which won the Molière Award, the French equivalent of the Laurence Olivier Award or the Tony Award, for Best Author. The North American debut premiered in February 2013 at Players By The Sea in Jacksonville Beach Florida. Holly Gutshall & Joe Schwarz directed; with Set Design by Anne Roberts. The cast for this US debut was Kevin Bodge, Paul Carelli, Karen Overstreet, Dave Gowan, Holly Gutshall and Olivia Gowan Snell. Reza translated Polanski's stage version of Kafka's Metamorphosis in the late 1980s. Her second play, Winter Crossing, won the 1990 Molière Award for Best Fringe Production, and her next play, The Unexpected Man, enjoyed successful productions in England, France, Scandinavia, Germany and New York.
In 1994, 'Art' premiered in Paris and went on to win the Molière Award for Best Author. Since then it has been produced worldwide and translated and performed in over 30 languages. The London production, produced by David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers, received the 1996–97 Laurence Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award. It also won the Tony Award for Best Play. Life X 3 has also been produced in Europe, North America and Australia. Screenwriting credits include See You Tomorrow, starring Jeanne Moreau and directed by Reza's then-partner Didier Martiny.