British playwright and actress Zawe Ashton has joined the cast of HBO’s Salem Witch Trials pilot, The Devil You Know, from Orange is The New Black creator Jenji Kohan.
Described as a provocative period drama, The Devil You Know explores the circumstances around one of the most compelling chapters in American history — the infamous Salem Witch Trials in 17th century New England, where intolerance and repression set neighbor against neighbor and led a town to mass hysteria.
In 2006 she was Young Writer in Residence at the Contact Theatre in Manchester. Her first play, Harm’s Way, was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award in 2007, and premiered at the Lowry, Salford in 2008 as part of National Youth Theatre’s new writing season. Her other plays have included Skunk, performed by the National Youth Theatre, Soho Theatre and She from the Sea performed at The Lift. Ashton was co-writer of Suddenlossofdignity.com, Bush Futures Programme. One of her plays, For all Those Women who Thought they were Mad, was selected to be part of the Royal Court Playwriting Festival in 2009. Ashton contributed to the writing of The Children’s Monologues adapted from over 300 original stories by Tswana, Zulu and Sesotho children in South Africa and presented by Dramatic Need in 2010. She is currently under commission to the Bush Theatre and the Clean Break theatre company. (via Wikipedia)
We’re very excited for Zawe’s blossoming career, and can’t wait to see what she does next!