Professor Frank McGuinness is an Irish writer. As well as his own plays, which include The Factory Girls, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me and Dolly West's Kitchen, he is recognised for a "strong record of adapting literary classics, having translated the plays of Racine, Sophocles, Ibsen, Garcia Lorca, and Strindberg to critical acclaim". He has also published six collections of poetry, and two novels. McGuinness was Professor of Creative Writing at University College Dublin (UCD) from 2007 to 2018.
Conor McPherson is an Irish playwright, screenwriter and director of stage and film. In recognition of his contribution to world theatre, McPherson was awarded a doctorate of Literature, Honoris Causa, in June 2013 by the University College Dublin.
The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world premieres of new plays primarily from the English speaking world including North America, Canada, Ireland, and Scotland including work in the Scots language, alongside rarely seen rediscovered 19th and 20th century plays. The venue also presents new and rediscovered music theatre.
The Birthday Party (1957) is the first full-length play by Harold Pinter, first published in London by Encore Publishing in 1959. It is one of his best-known and most frequently performed plays.
Andrew James Wilson, better known as Snoo Wilson, was an English playwright, screenwriter and director. His early plays such as Blow-Job (1971) were overtly political, often combining harsh social comment with comedy. In his later works he moved away from purely political themes, embracing a range of surrealist, magical, philosophical and madcap, darkly comic subjects.
Billy Roche is an Irish playwright and actor. He was born and still lives in Wexford and most of his writings are based there. Originally a singer with The Roach Band, he turned to writing in the 1980s. He has written a number of plays, including The Wexford Trilogy. He has also written screenplay of Trojan Eddie and published a novel, Tumbling Down, and a book of short stories.
The Rat Trap (1918) is a four-act drama by Noël Coward, written when he was 18, but not staged until he was 26, by which time he was well known as a rising playwright, after the success of The Vortex. The play depicts the clash of egos between a married couple of writers, the wife's attempts to keep the marriage stable, the husband's philandering, her departure and his attempts to win her back.
The Weir is a play written by Conor McPherson in 1997. It was first produced at The Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London, England, on 4 July 1997. It opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on 1 April 1999. As well as several other locations in the UK and the U.S., the play has been performed in Ireland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Australia and Canada.
Enda Walsh is an Irish playwright.
Roland Jaquarello, born 14 December 1945, is a British theatre director and radio director/producer. He started his career in Dublin Theatre Festival after graduating from Trinity College Dublin in 1968. Since then he has directed over 80 theatre and 60 radio productions in the UK and Ireland.
Leo Butler is a British playwright. His plays have been staged, among others, by the Royal Court, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Almeida Theatre. His plays have been published by Bloomsbury A & C Black. His 2001 play Redundant won the George Devine Award. Between 2005 and 2014 he was Playwriting Tutor for the Royal Court Young Writers Programme.
Magnificence is a 1973 play by English playwright Howard Brenton. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre and was next performed on the London stage in 2016, at the Finborough Theatre.
Elizabeth Kuti is an English actress and playwright.
Jason Hall is a Canadian playwright. He was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He attended Queen's University, King's College London, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Simon Jackson is a British playwright, filmmaker and poet, born in Manchester, UK. His plays deal with themes of redemptive love, the trauma of creation and the peeling back of layers to reveal the truth. The plays often exist in a dream like space between reality and fantasy and are characterised by poetic language and rich imagery.
Peter Morris is an American playwright, television writer and critic, best known for his work in British theatre.
Claire Dowie is an English writer, director, practitioner and actress. She was a pioneer of Stand-up Theatre in England. She is a writer for In-yer-face theatre.
Anders Lustgarten is a British playwright, who resides in London.
Snapdragon Productions is a London theatre company run by producer Sarah Loader and director Eleanor Rhode.
David Ireland is a Northern Irish-born playwright and actor, known for his award-winning plays Cyprus Avenue and Ulster American.
