Laura Wade
Encyclopedia
Laura Wade is a British playwright
. Wade grew up in Sheffield
, where her father worked for a computer company.
After completing her secondary education at Lady Manners School
in Bakewell
, Derbyshire, Wade studied Drama at Bristol University and was later a member of the Royal Court Theatre
Young Writers’ Programme.
, London
(where she was later Writer-in-Residence) in December 2003. Young Emma, as well as 16 Winters, was directed by Tamara Harvey, a contemporary from her time at Bristol.
In 2004 Wade was a writer on attachment at Soho Theatre
and her play Colder Than Here was produced there in February 2005 http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/colderthanhere-rev.htm. Her next play Breathing Corpses played at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in March 2005.http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/breathingcorpses-rev.htm. In March 2006 she returned to the Soho Theatre with Other Hands http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/otherhands-rev.htm.
Current projects include new plays for the Royal Court Theatre, Hampstead Theatre and David Pugh Ltd. and a television adaptation of Colder Than Here. Wade’s first radio play, Otherkin, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4
on 30 August 2007 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007x5bf, a 45-minute play billed as episode 2 of the Looking for Angels series. Her second, Hum, about the Bristol Hum
, was broadcast on BBC Radio 3
on 20 May 2009. Between these two she also wrote Coughs and Sneezes for the Radio 4 series Fact to Fiction.
In April 2010 her play Posh
began a sell-out run at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court theatre
, London. An article about Wade in the London Evening Standard drew parallels between the Riot Club, the subject of Posh, and the Bullingdon Club
, an exclusive Oxford University dining society.
Wade's plays are published by Oberon Books in the UK and by Dramatists Play Service in the USA
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. Wade grew up in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, where her father worked for a computer company.
After completing her secondary education at Lady Manners School
Lady Manners School
Lady Manners School is an English secondary school and Specialist Music College as designated by the Specialist Schools Trust situated in Bakewell, a market town in the Peak District National Park, Derbyshire...
in Bakewell
Bakewell
Bakewell is a small market town in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, deriving its name from 'Beadeca's Well'. It is the only town included in the Peak District National Park, and is well known for the local confection Bakewell Pudding...
, Derbyshire, Wade studied Drama at Bristol University and was later a member of the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
Young Writers’ Programme.
Career
Her first play, Limbo, was produced at the Sheffield Crucible Studio Theatre in 1996. 16 Winters was produced at the Bristol Old Vic Basement Theatre in 2000. After university she worked for the children's theatre company Playbox Theatre in Warwick. Wade’s adaptation of W.H. Davies' Young Emma opened at the Finborough TheatreFinborough Theatre
The Finborough Theatre is a fifty seat theatre in the Earls Court area of London, United Kingdom , which presents new British writing, UK and premieres of new plays, primarily from the English speaking world including North America, Canada, Scotland and Ireland, music theatre, and rarely seen...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(where she was later Writer-in-Residence) in December 2003. Young Emma, as well as 16 Winters, was directed by Tamara Harvey, a contemporary from her time at Bristol.
In 2004 Wade was a writer on attachment at Soho Theatre
Soho Theatre
Soho Theatre is a theatre in the eponymous Soho district of the City of Westminster. It presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret....
and her play Colder Than Here was produced there in February 2005 http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/colderthanhere-rev.htm. Her next play Breathing Corpses played at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in March 2005.http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/breathingcorpses-rev.htm. In March 2006 she returned to the Soho Theatre with Other Hands http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/otherhands-rev.htm.
Current projects include new plays for the Royal Court Theatre, Hampstead Theatre and David Pugh Ltd. and a television adaptation of Colder Than Here. Wade’s first radio play, Otherkin, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
on 30 August 2007 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007x5bf, a 45-minute play billed as episode 2 of the Looking for Angels series. Her second, Hum, about the Bristol Hum
The Hum
The Hum is a generic name for a series of phenomena involving a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming noise not audible to all people. Hums have been reported in various geographical locations. In some cases a source has been located. A Hum on the Big Island of Hawaii, typically related...
, was broadcast on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
on 20 May 2009. Between these two she also wrote Coughs and Sneezes for the Radio 4 series Fact to Fiction.
In April 2010 her play Posh
Posh (play)
Posh is a play by the British playwright Laura Wade which was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre downstairs in 2010. The play set in an Oxford student dining club called "The Riot Club" a fictionalised version of the Bullingdon Club...
began a sell-out run at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
, London. An article about Wade in the London Evening Standard drew parallels between the Riot Club, the subject of Posh, and the Bullingdon Club
Bullingdon Club
The Bullingdon Club is a socially exclusive student dining club at Oxford University. The club has no permanent rooms and is notorious for its members' wealth and destructive binges. Membership is by invitation only, and prohibitively expensive for most, given the need to pay for the uniform,...
, an exclusive Oxford University dining society.
Unpublished
- Limbo Sheffield Crucible Studio 1996
- Fear of Flying Bristol University 1997
- White Feathers Bristol University 1999
- 16 Winters Bristol Old Vic Basement 2000
- The Wild Swans Playbox Theatre at the Dream Factory Warwick 2000
- TwelveMachine Playbox Theatre at the Dream Factory Warwick 2001
- The Last Child Playbox Theatre at the Dream Factory Warwick 2002
- Young Emma Finborough Theatre 2003
Published
- Colder Than Here Soho Theatre 2005
- Subsequently produced off-Broadway by MCC TheaterMCC TheaterMCC Theater is an Off-Broadway theater company located in New York City, founded in 1986 by artistic directors Robert LuPone and Bernard Telsey along with six graduates of the New York University drama department, including Jana Herzen...
in New York, 2005, in Darmstadt in 2006 and Stockholm in 2006 and 2007
- Subsequently produced off-Broadway by MCC Theater
- Breathing Corpses Royal Court Theatre 2005
- Subsequently produced in Sydney 2006 and The Hague 2007
- British regional premiere at Alma Tavern Theatre, Bristol 2007 presented by Plain Clothes Theatre ProductionsPlain Clothes Theatre ProductionsPlain Clothes Theatre Productions is a Bristol-based theatre company producing contemporary plays from around the globe. Formed in 2003 by artistic director Sam Berger, the company has produced work in London, Bristol, Cheltenham, Toronto and Vancouver...
. Subsequently toured to the Cheltenham Everyman Studio. The production won Venue magazineVenue (magazine)Venue is the what's on magazine for the Bristol and Bath areas of the UK.It was founded in 1982 by journalists who had been working for another Bristol magazine, Out West, which had been consciously modelled on London's Time Out magazine....
's Best Play of 2007. - American premiere, produced by Luna Theater Company, at Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, Oct 2007.
- Chicago premiere, produced by Steep Theatre Jan 2008, directed by Robin WittRobin WittRobin Witt is an American theater director from Chicago, Illinois. She is an artistic associate at both the and Theaters in Chicago. Witt's notable productions include Enda Walsh's The New Electric Ballroom at A Red Orchid Theatre, Simon Stephens' Pornography and Harper Regan at Steep Theatre,...
.
- Other Hands Soho Theatre 2006
- American premiere, produced by Luna Theater Company at Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, Jan 2010.
- Catch (with April De AngelisApril De AngelisApril De Angelis is a British dramatist of part Sicilian descent. She is a graduate of Sussex University who trained at East 15 Acting School....
, Stella FeehilyStella FeehilyStella Feehily is a London-born Irish playwright and actor. Her plays include "Game" 2003 produced by Fishamble Theatre company-Dublin -published in an anthology of first plays by New Island. ISBN 978-1-84840-020-7...
, Tanika GuptaTanika GuptaTanika Gupta, MBE is a British playwright of Bengali origin. Apart from her work for the theatre, she has also written scripts for television.-Background and education:...
and Chloe MossChloe Moss-Life:Ms. Moss grew up in Liverpool and attended Manchester Metropolitan University, where she studied film. She joined the Royal Court's Young Writers programme and wrote her first professional play, A Day In Dull Armour...
) Royal Court Theatre 2006 - PoshPosh (play)Posh is a play by the British playwright Laura Wade which was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre downstairs in 2010. The play set in an Oxford student dining club called "The Riot Club" a fictionalised version of the Bullingdon Club...
Royal Court Theatre 2010
Wade's plays are published by Oberon Books in the UK and by Dramatists Play Service in the USA
Awards
- Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright 2005 for Breathing Corpses and Colder Than Here
- Pearson Playwrights Award Bursary in association with the [Finborough Theatre] 2004
- Pearson Playwrights Best Play Award for Breathing Corpses 2005
- Joint winner of the George Devine Award for Breathing Corpses 2006
- Olivier Award Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for Breathing Corpses and Colder Than Here 2006