Shelagh Stephenson
Encyclopedia
Shelagh Stephenson is a playwright
, born in Northumberland and read drama at Manchester University. Her stage plays include The Memory of Water
(1995), An Experiment with an Air Pump
, Ancient Lights, Five Kinds of Silence
(radio play 1996; stage play 2000) and Mappa Mundi (2002). Her plays frequently deal with new advances in science, such as the concept in the title of her first stage play, and including commentary on possibly pseudoscientific fads like urine therapy
. Methuen Publishing Ltd published a collection of all four of these plays in 2003. Her plays for BBC Radio
include Darling Peidi 1993; Five Kinds of Silence
1996 which was awarded the Writers Guild Award for Best Original Drama; Life is a Dream 2004; Nemesis 2005; The People’s Princess
2008. The Memory of Water
was made into a film called Before You Go in 2002 starring Julie Walters
and Tom Wilkinson
and directed by Lewis Gilbert
.
An Experiment with an Air Pump
will be revived as a rehearsed reading on Thursday 1 October 2009 at Hampstead Theatre
, where the original production premiered in 1998.
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...
, born in Northumberland and read drama at Manchester University. Her stage plays include The Memory of Water
The Memory of Water
The Memory of Water is a comedy written by English playwright Shelagh Stephenson, first staged at Hampstead Theatre in 1996.-Vi:Vi is the mother of the three sisters and whose funeral they are together for. She was a glamorous woman when younger, with whom all the men of the village were enamoured...
(1995), An Experiment with an Air Pump
An Experiment with an Air Pump
An Experiment with an Air Pump is a play by British playwright Shelagh Stephenson inspired by the painting An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright. It shared the Peggy Ramsay Award for 1997, was first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester in 1998, and has since been...
, Ancient Lights, Five Kinds of Silence
Five Kinds of Silence
Five Kinds of Silence is an in-yer-face theatre play by the playwright Shelagh Stephenson. It tells the story of a family living under the power of the vicious Billy, who physically, emotionally, and sexually abuses his wife, Mary, and children, Susan and Janet...
(radio play 1996; stage play 2000) and Mappa Mundi (2002). Her plays frequently deal with new advances in science, such as the concept in the title of her first stage play, and including commentary on possibly pseudoscientific fads like urine therapy
Urine therapy
In alternative medicine, the term urine therapy refers to various applications of human urine for medicinal or cosmetic purposes, including drinking of one's own urine and massaging one's skin with one's own urine...
. Methuen Publishing Ltd published a collection of all four of these plays in 2003. Her plays for BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
include Darling Peidi 1993; Five Kinds of Silence
Five Kinds of Silence
Five Kinds of Silence is an in-yer-face theatre play by the playwright Shelagh Stephenson. It tells the story of a family living under the power of the vicious Billy, who physically, emotionally, and sexually abuses his wife, Mary, and children, Susan and Janet...
1996 which was awarded the Writers Guild Award for Best Original Drama; Life is a Dream 2004; Nemesis 2005; The People’s Princess
The People’s Princess
The People's Princess was a radio play written by Shelagh Stephenson. Directed in Belfast by Eoin O'Callaghan, it premiered as the Afternoon Play on 11 December 2008 at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4. It was based around the marriage and divorce of George IV and Caroline of Brunswick...
2008. The Memory of Water
The Memory of Water
The Memory of Water is a comedy written by English playwright Shelagh Stephenson, first staged at Hampstead Theatre in 1996.-Vi:Vi is the mother of the three sisters and whose funeral they are together for. She was a glamorous woman when younger, with whom all the men of the village were enamoured...
was made into a film called Before You Go in 2002 starring Julie Walters
Julie Walters
Julie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
and Tom Wilkinson
Tom Wilkinson
Thomas Geoffrey "Tom" Wilkinson, OBE is a British actor. He has twice been nominated for an Academy Award for his roles in In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton...
and directed by Lewis Gilbert
Lewis Gilbert
Lewis Gilbert CBE is an English film director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:He was the son of music hall performers, and spent his early years travelling with his parents, and watching the shows from the side of the stage. He first performed on-stage at the age of 5, when asked to drive a...
.
An Experiment with an Air Pump
An Experiment with an Air Pump
An Experiment with an Air Pump is a play by British playwright Shelagh Stephenson inspired by the painting An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright. It shared the Peggy Ramsay Award for 1997, was first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester in 1998, and has since been...
will be revived as a rehearsed reading on Thursday 1 October 2009 at Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage and Belsize Park, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. In 2009 it celebrates its 50 year anniversary.The original theatre was...
, where the original production premiered in 1998.