Oscar van Woensel

(1970-) Born in Heemskerk. After finishing secondary school, he enrolled in the theatre school in Arnhem. There he was taught to become not only an actor, but also a playwright. He learned a way of working that he would often employ later, namely, writing his plays in interaction with the actors during rehearsals. In 1993, his graduation year, he and fellow classmates Manja Topper and Kuno Bakker founded Toneelgroep Dood Paard. It was with this theatre company that Van Woensel honed his playwriting skills. Their intensive way of working contributed to the development of his tone and style. In addition to Dood Paard, he has worked closely with the children’s theatre company Het Syndicaat, writing five plays for them between 1996 and 2000. He has also written children’s plays for other theatre companies.

By now, Van Woensel has evolved into one of the Netherlands‚ most productive playwrights. In less than seven years, 25 plays have appeared under his name. He has additionally written adaptations of plays by William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Martin Amis, among others.

His text MedEia has been produced internationally - notably by Brett Bailey, who did it three times in South Africa (in 2003, 2005,and 2012).