If, like me, you’ve got a standing Sunday night date with Masterpiece Theatre, then you’ll recognize Andrew Davies‘ name as a Masterpiece constant: The celebrated British screenwriter has produced marvelous adaptations from all the masters, from Trollope (He Knew He Was Right, The Way We Live Now) and Austen (Pride & Prejudice, Northanger Abbey) to Dickens (Bleak House, Little Dorrit) and Forster (A Room With a View) – and that’s just a partial list (see also: Middlemarch, Dr. Zhivago, Moll Flanders, Vanity Fair, the most recent – and quite fine – big-screen Brideshead Revisited adaptation, and on and on). But Davies hasn’t restricted himself to the corseted-era; he also wrote The Tailor of Panama and collaborated on the Bridget Jones‘ pictures. And there’ve been sitcoms, stageplays, and children’s books.
In short, there appears to be very little he can’t do; we suspect he also gives good story in person, which is why we’ll be in attendance at his talk on Thursday night in the Blanton Museum of Art auditorium (a talk, by the way, moderated by the Chronicle‘s own Robert Faires). UT’s Plan II Honors Program is sponsoring the event, which takes place April 30 at 7:30pm. The event is free, but seating is limited. Go here for more info.
This article appears in April 24 • 2009.
