Maria StrawCinar Biography

Maria Straw-Çinar is a novelist, performer and teacher.She has written her debut novel The Empty Quarter, whihc was short-listed for Cinnamon Press new fiction award. She has worked in theatre and new writing in Spain, Ireland, Paris and Prague. She performed in French with The Cité International Theatre in Paris: the play, Suicidé by Nicolai Erdman, won the Best Play Award at The Nice Theatre Festival. She lived in the Middle East, where she wrote Deserted, which she later produced on the London Fringe. She has been working closely with Sam Dowling in Praxis Theatre Laboratory for ten years as actor, associate director and artistic director. Her roles include MAUD GONNE MACBRIDE in The Flame and the Stone by Sam Dowling, (London, Ireland and San Franscisco Fringe Festival) , HECUBA in Women and the Trojan Horse (The New York Fringe Festival and Ireland.) With Praxis Theatre Laboratory, she has extended their tour base to the Western and Aran Island, New York and San Francisco Fringe Festivals and continues to push the boundaries of conventional theatre. She is also an experienced Drama teacher and poet. She is currently working on Vinegar Alley, a play dealing with teenage violence.