Nick_Stafford
Nick Stafford
British playwright and writer (born 1959)
Nick Stafford (born Nicholas Thomas, 1959 in Staffordshire) is a British playwright and writer.[1] He is best known for writing the stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's novel War Horse, which garnered him a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best New Play in 2008,[2][3] and the Tony Award for Best Play in 2011.[4]
Stafford trained at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance,[5] and his first professionally produced play was commissioned in 1987 by the Half Moon Young People's Theatre, where Stafford was writer-in-residence. He also got commissions from other small companies, before going to the Young Vic, also as writer-in-residence.[6] His first play there, The Snow Queen, ran for two years.[6] He has had several plays produced at the National Theatre and at Birmingham Rep.[7] Stafford's adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's novel War Horse was first produced in London in 2007, where it is still running; other productions have been staged on Broadway, and in Toronto, Canada. Five of his plays have been published by Faber and Faber.[1]
Stafford also has had several plays produced on BBC Radio 4,[1] and has been commissioned to write movies and television drama; none of these bar a BBC short has been filmed.[6]
Stafford was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Roehampton University from 2003–06 and at the University of Southampton from 2007–09.[1][6]
Stafford's first novel, Armistice, was published in 2009.
Plays
- 1987–1988 Five plays written for the Half Moon Young People's Theatre when Writer-in-residence.[8]
- 1989 Easy Prey, first produced by Avon Touring.[8]
- 1990 Back of the Bus, first produced at the New Perspectives Theatre.[8]
- 1990 The Canal Ghost, first produced at the Birmingham Rep Studio.[8]
- 1991 The Hopeful, first produced at the Young Vic, London.[8]
- 1991 The Snow Queen, first produced at the Young Vic, London. Adapted from the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen[7]
- 1992 Moll Cutpurse, first produced at The Drill Hall, London.[7]
- 1992 The Devil's Only Sleeping, first produced at Birmingham Rep.[7]
- 1993 Listen With Da Da, first produced at the Serpentine Gallery[9]
- 1995 The Go-Between, first produced at the Royal Theatre, Northampton. Adapted from the novel by L. P. Hartley.[8]
- 1995 Grab The Dog, first produced at the National Theatre Studio.[8]
- 1996 That Day at the Beach, first produced at the National Theatre Studio.[8]
- 1997 Whisper of Angel's Wings, first produced at Birmingham Rep.[8]
- 1999 Battle Royal, first produced at the Lyttelton Theatre at the National Theatre in London.[7]
- 2001 The Chain Play, first produced at the Olivier Theatre, also at the National Theatre, London.[7]
- 2001 Luminosity, first produced at The Pit, Barbican Centre, London, by the Royal Shakespeare Company.[7]
- 2004 Love Me Tonight, first produced at Hampstead Theatre, London.[7]
- 2006 Katherine Desouza, first produced at The Door at Birmingham Rep.[7]
- 2007 War Horse, first produced at the Olivier Theatre, at the National Theatre, London. Adapted from the novel by Michael Morpurgo.[7][10]
Radio plays
All were produced for BBC Radio 4.
- The Fire Inside.
- Birdsong, adapted from the novel by Sebastian Faulks.
- A Thousand Acres, adapted from the novel by Jane Smiley.
- A Year and a Day.
- The List Two plays for VE Day.
- Frankenstein, adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley.
- La Petite Mort.
- Ring of Roses.
- A Matter of Sex Winner of Sony Award Best Original Script.[8]
Novels
- 2009 Armistice novel.
- "Nick Stafford". Royal Literary Fund. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
- Smith, Alistair (7 February 2008). "Hairspray leads the nominations at the Laurence Olivier Awards". The Stage. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
- Thwaite, Mark. "Interview: Nick Stafford". Quercus Books. Archived from the original on 26 March 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
- "Winners List – All Categories". Tony Awards. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
- "News: Rose Bruford College would like to congratulate all those involved in War Horse". Rose Bruford College. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
- "Nick Stafford Interview". WriteWords. 16 January 2006. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
- "Nick Stafford". Doollee.com. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
- "Nick Stafford". The Agency. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
- "Playback: The Bulletin of the National Sound Archive" (PDF). The National Sound Archive. Summer 1993. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
- "War Horse: Nick Stafford". Faber and Faber. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2011.