Yasmina Reza

Yasmina Reza (b. 1959) studied at Paris X University and later at the Jacques Lecoq Drama School. She began working as an actress in France and appeared in numerous plays by contemporary authors as well as plays by Molière, Marivaux, and Sacha Guitry. In 1987 she wrote Conversations after a Burial for performance in France and won the prestigious Molière Award for best author as well as many other awards. Following its performance in France, the play was produced in translation in Europe and South America.

Reza's French translation of Steven Berkoff's adaptation of Franz Kafka's novel The Metamorphosis for performance by Roman Polanski was nominated for the 1988 Molière Award for translation. Winter Crossing (1990), her second play, won the 1990 Molière Award for best fringe production that year. "Art" premiered in Berlin and opened in Paris in 1994, where it won the Molière Award for best author, best play, and best production. It also won prizes in London for best comedy and in Germany for best foreign play. The Unexpected Man (1995) was produced in London, France, and several other European countries. It was revived in 1998 by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican in London and has also played in New York.

In addition to playwriting, Yasmina Reza has also been engaged in screenwriting, with two recent films shown in Europe: See You Tomorrow and Lulu Kreutz's Picnic. Her novel, Hammerklavier, was published in 1997