{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Use British English|date=July 2016}} '''Christine Denniston''' (born 30 December 1963)<ref name="Today">{{cite web | url=https://todayintango.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/ | title=The Meaning of Tango | work=Today in Tango | date=25 October 2007 | accessdate=3 July 2016}}</ref> is a playwright, author and dance teacher<ref name="Learning English">{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1728_people_places/page16.shtml | title=People and Places: Tango | publisher=BBC World Service | work=Learning English | date=December 2007 | access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref> and one of Britain's leading exponents of the tango.<ref name="Body talk">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2000/feb/17/artsfeatures | title=Body talk | work=The Guardian | date=17 February 2000 | accessdate=27 September 2014 | author=Mackrell, Judith}}</ref> She graduated in theoretical physics<ref name="Body talk"/> from the University of Cambridge.<ref name="Today"/>

In April 2012, her one-act musical ''Before the Law'', co-written with Gwyneth Herbert, was awarded second place in the inaugural Sidney Brown Memorial Award for Most Promising New Work<ref name="Brown">{{cite web | url=http://mercurymusicals.com/shows/view/37/2012-06-14 | title=Sidney Brown Memorial Award 2012&nbsp;– winners | publisher=Mercury Musical Developments | date=June 2012 | accessdate=1 July 2014}}</ref><ref name="Shenton">{{cite news | url= https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/the-changing-face-of-the-british-musical-and-another-new-cabaret-space| title=The changing face of the British musical, and another new cabaret space | work=The Stage | date=17 October 2012 | accessdate=21 February 2021 | author=Shenton, Mark}}</ref> which is run by Mercury Musical Developments (MMD), the organisation which supports new musical theatre writing.<ref name="Brown"/> ''Before the Law'' was adapted from ''A Hand Witch of the Second Stage'' by Peter Barnes.<ref name="Denniston">{{cite web | url= http://www.history-of-tango.com/musicals.html | title=Book by Denniston | accessdate=1 July 2014 | author=Denniston, Christine }}</ref><ref name="S&S">{{cite web | url=http://sidneybrownmemorialaward.com/content/law | title=Before the Law | publisher=Sidney Brown Memorial Award | work=The S&S Award | accessdate=27 September 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924095640/http://www.sidneybrownmemorialaward.com/content/law | archive-date=24 September 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref> It is the companion piece to ''After Lydia'', a one-act musical based on Terence Rattigan’s play of the same name, which was commissioned by Sounds of England and was also a collaboration with Gwyneth Herbert.<ref name="Watermill"/> ''After Lydia'' was given a 45-minute reading at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London on Monday 14 March 2011, starring Rebecca Caine, Andrew C. Wadsworth, Simon Green and Daniel Fraser, with Stefan Bednarczyk as musical director.<ref name="BWW">{{cite news | url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Caine-Wadsworth-Et-Al-Star-In-AFTER-LYDIA-Mar-14-20010101 | title=Caine, Wadsworth Et Al Star In AFTER LYDIA, Mar 14, 1pm | work=BroadwayWorld | date=2011 | accessdate=5 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="Lydia">{{cite web| url= http://www.history-of-tango.com/lydia.html | title=After Lydia | publisher=www.history-of-tango.com | date=2011 | accessdate=5 September 2014}}</ref> Directed by Maria Friedman, it also had a staged reading at the Watermill Theatre, Bagnor, Berkshire in August 2012.<ref name="Watermill">{{cite web | url=http://www.watermill.org.uk/sounds_of_england_free_tickets.html | title=Sounds of England | publisher=Watermill Theatre | date=August 2012 | accessdate=11 November 2012}}</ref>

==Musical theatre== * ''Before the Law'' by Herbert & Denniston, adapted from ''A Hand Witch of the Second Stage'' by Peter Barnes ** Music and lyrics by Gwyneth Herbert • Book by Christine Denniston • Sidney Brown Memorial Award workshop and showcase at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, directed by Matt Ryan, musical director Peter White * ''After Lydia'' by Herbert & Denniston, adapted from a play by Terence Rattigan ** Music and lyrics by Gwyneth Herbert • Book by Christine Denniston • Workshop and staged readings at The Watermill, Newbury, directed by Maria Freidman, musical director Stefan Bednarczyk • Selected for the New York Musical Theatre Festival * ''Cake'' by Saward & Denniston ** Music by Tim Saward • Lyrics and book by Christine Denniston • Selected for the LOST Theatre Five Minute Festival *''Beyond the Moon'' by Bruce & Denniston ** Music and lyrics by Michael Bruce • Book by Christine Denniston • Workshop and staged reading at The Drill Hall, Bloomsbury, London, produced by Spekulation Entertainment<ref name="Musicals">{{cite web | url=http://www.history-of-tango.com/musicals.html | title=Recent shows | publisher=Christine Denniston | work=Book by Denniston | accessdate=28 September 2014}}</ref>

==Publications== * Denniston, Christine (2007). ''The Meaning of Tango: The Story of the Argentinian Dance'', Anova Books. {{ISBN|1906032165}}, 9781906032166, 206 pp.

==References==

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Denniston, Christine}} Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century British dramatists and playwrights Category:21st-century British women writers Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge Category:British female dancers Category:British women dramatists and playwrights Category:Dance teachers Category:Tango dancers Category:Place of birth missing (living people)