Ongoing financial crisis and recession which began in late 2007 continues with many

callineg it the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the  1930s causing
house prices to decline, and unemployment to increase. In 2009 governments in the US
and around the world pumped trillions of dollars into the financial system and into the
economies hoping to avert another Great Depression and by the end of 2009 although
unemployment had continued to increase, markets had recovered and most thought the
worst was over.

Russia fully closes down gas supplies to Ukraine due to a dispute over a debt of $2.4
billion to Gazprom. Reduced supply had started on January 1st but due to negotiations
breaking down all supplies were cut on January 7th. Most of the European Union relies
of Gas from the Gas Fields of Russia so although the dispute was between Russia and
the Ukraine the effects of it are felt in Western Europe with Bulgaria

NASA launches the final space shuttle mission to the Hubble Telescope during May. The
Space Shuttle Atlantis carried a seven person crew to complete repairs on the Hubble
Telescope for the fifth and final time. The crew consisted of Commander Scott Altman
and pilot Gregory Johnson, as well as mission Specialists Michael Good, Megan
McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Michael Massimino, and Andrew Feustel. The crew was
successful in their mission of replacing several parts and adding two new instruments to
the space telescope over the course of five space walks.

Greenland the least densely populated country in the world ( 836,109 sq miles )
population less than 60,000 an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark,
gains control over its law enforcement, judicial affairs, and natural resources

he government of the Republic of China officially adopts this style of Chinese

romanization as its official format. Before this was approved, the most commonly
used method was by Tonyong Pinyin. It was also stated that local governments
would not be able to receive financial aid if the old Tonyong Pinyin-derived
romanizations were used. 

This also makes Barack Obama the first African-American President of the United

States. Joe Biden also assumed the role of Vice President. Here’s one more 2009
fact about this event. The inauguration for his presidency also reached a new
record of attendance for any event held in Washington D.C.

The attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team occurred while they were on the bus on
the way to the Gaddafi Stadium. The bus was shot upon by 12 gunmen near the
stadium. A total of 6 players were also injured along with two staff members.

Ella Hickson:
(born 1985) is a playwright and theatrical director who was brought up
in Surrey near Guildford and educated at Guildford High School from
1996-2003
 Ella Hickson is an award-winning playwright whose work has been
performed throughout the UK and abroad. Her recent play ‘Anna’, a sonic
collaboration with Ben and Max Ringham, opened at the National Theatre
in Spring, 2019. Other theatre includes, 'Swive’ (2019) at The Globe, ‘The
Writer’ (2018) and ‘Oil’ (2016) at The Almeida Theatre, She is developing
new work with The Old Vic, Tim Minchin and The National Theatre, and
television projects with Kudos Productions and Warp Films.

Ella Hickson's play Boys is about a group of young men making the tricky transition from
university to adult life. It was first performed at the HighTide Festival, Halesworth, Suffolk, on 3
May 2012, before transferring to the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton, and Soho Theatre, London.
The play is set in the kitchen of a student flat in Edinburgh over an unusually hot summer. The
class of 2011 are about to graduate and Benny, Mack, Timp and Cam are due out of their flat.
Hedonistic Timp has been stuck in a dead-end job for as long as he can remember whilst Cam is
struggling with the pressures of a nascent classical music career. Benny is just trying to make sure
everyone is alright, much to the chagrin of cynical Mack. Stepping into a world that doesn’t want
them, these boys start to wonder if there’s any point in getting any older. Before all that, though,
they’re going to have one hell of a party.

I saw John Osborne’s Luther when I was a kid at the  National Theatre. I
remember feeling really silent afterwards, like something had shifted. X
What was your background to becoming a playwright?
I had a hard time feeling settled at university. Bedlam Theatre –
University of Edinburgh's student-run theatre – was the first time I felt
like I’d found a home. I was a producer to begin with, designing the
posters and so on. It took a while to think I might write something.
What’s the hardest play you’ve ever written?
Oil. I thought there was a solution out there and I just wasn’t finding it or
thinking hard enough, I was undermining my own confidence for years –
not realising it was the confidence itself that was the answer. X
Which brought you the most joy?
The writing of The Writer was great, not pain-free but no anxiety which
made for joy. Wendy and Peter Pan and Eight were glorious times and
gangs to be in. 
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Which playwrights have influenced you the most?
I felt like I got permission for lyricism and heat from Tennessee Williams
and Lorca, and almost everything I know about form as politics was Caryl
Churchill. These days most of what challenges me is the work of
contemporary writers, I feel like I always want to be in conversation with
what’s being made now, how we’re pushing things.
What is your favourite line or scene from any play?
Portia’s line to Brutus in Julius Caesar, “Dwell I but in the suburbs of your
good pleasure?” - concise yet deadly in its depiction of status imbalance
in a relationship.
What’s been the biggest surprise to you since you’ve had your writing
performed by actors?
The perspective of a great actor can upend your world view. I remember
writing a monologue that I was sure was about freedom – it was
performed by a brilliant actor who instantly made it very clear it was
about loneliness.
What’s been your biggest setback as a writer?
Learning to trust myself has taken a long time. The anxiety of not doing so
has made writing – and living – much harder than it needed to be. It’s
getting better with age.
And the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn?
I’ve had to give up trying to impress people. I would pick people I knew I
couldn’t really get responses from and make their approval central.
There’s a strange safety in that but it stops you from being great. 
What do you think is the best thing about theatre? And the worst?
Best: the collective act of faith – humans, sitting together, breathing and
believing - creates transformation, right there in front of you. Worst: the
increasingly pervasive idea of play as commercial product.
What’s your best piece of advice for writers who are starting out?
Work out what you feel, not what you think. Start from there.
Are there any themes and stories you find yourself re-visiting with your
plays?
I think I’m never sure how much we’re allowed to believe in things.
There’s a point at which imagination or faith hits up against reality.
Are you on Twitter? Do you find it a help or a hindrance as a writer?
It offers community which is essential but it also feeds a frenetic sense of
external approval which is really unhelpful.
How do you spend opening night?
Trying to talk to as many of my friends as possible about anything that
isn’t the play.
Writing style:
 I wasn’t worried about the feminism so much. I was more worried about the self-indulgence.
Like all I did was sit and write exactly what I wanted to write and I think that shows a lack of
responsibility. I wasn’t really thinking about anybody else at all. My only principle for it was
being relentlessly honest, and I think I was doing that because I was in a very protective
place.

 No. There were a few extra bits that I didn’t include, but that was just because they weren’t
on the theme. It was just a different way of writing. There was no censorship. There were no
critics. There was no nothing. Writing exactly what you wanted to write.
It would be very hard for me to write something that isn’t reflective of my way of being in
the world. So, that position and that way of being is going to do a lot of that work for you.
Your instincts are going to be shaped by how you feel about feminism and everything else.
Your body will just do it for you.

The Writer, for instance, is comprised of Russian-doll style scenes — plays within plays
within plays. She claims not to be bothered by fame or acclaim. “Every project I do has a
really particular trial at its core. If I could keep doing that until I die, I’d be happy.”

While all of this writing has been innovative, exciting and engaging, it also
set a high bar exposing the weaknesses in less satisfying work.

The creative process is a complex and fascinating thing, but Hickson argues
there is a personal cost for those who put something meaningful into the
world and, if the artist happens to be a woman, there are also significant
obstacles to overcome in a system that favours and empowers men. The
Writer reflects our current interest in sexual misconduct and gender
inequality to tell the story of a young writer whose early encounter with a
sleazy male director and later a passive-aggressive boyfriend affect her
work and emotional development. While she actively rejects many of the
social expectations placed on women and embarks on what seems a more
contented path, she cannot quite escape the expectations of others and
her own self-sabotage as reality fails to match the world of fiction she
wants to create.