Tom Stoppard, Wole Soyinka, Caryl Churchill, David Hare, Jez Butterworth, Richard Curtis, Tina Fey, Tanika Gupta, V (formerly Eve Ensler), and Inua Ellams are just some of the 50 leading playwrights who are donating annotated first and special editions of play texts and musical scripts to be auctioned in support of refugee artists in the UK for the Out of the Margins auction organised by Good Chance Theatre, hosted by the The Auction Collective, in collaboration with Christie’s.
Out of the Margins, the global online auction, will take place from 15th September to 6th October 2023 and will represent the largest collection of annotated texts and screenplays in Film & TV history, providing an unprecedented record of the private thoughts and feelings of some of the world’s greatest living contemporary Film, TV, and Theatre writers, covering some of the most significant moments of the last fifty years. It brings these texts together for the first time, providing a unique opportunity for members of the general public, theatre lovers, and collectors alike to bid for a piece of theatrical history.
The 50 annotated texts being auctioned in aid of refugee artists include some of the world’s best-loved theatrical productions such as Leopoldstadt, Jerusalem, Prima Facie, The Vagina Monologues, The Doctor, Closer, The Empress, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Play What I Wrote, Wicked, Jerry Springer: The Opera, Mean Girls and Matilda the Musical. Each text has been annotated by hand, giving unique insight into the writer’s creative process, and reflections, memories, thoughts, and feelings since, often in a highly personal and intimate way.
A free exhibition of selected texts will also be on public display from 20th to 28th September 2023 at Christie’s Auction House in St James’s, London.
Here for more information on how to register to bid and take part in the auction from 15th September.
The proceeds of the Out of the Margins charity auction will fund Good Chance Theatre’s work supporting refugee artists in the UK.
Featured image: Playwrights donating play texts
