"Shirley Valentine Shirley Valentine is a one-character play by Willy Russell. Taking the form of a monologue by a middle-aged, working class Liverpool housewife, it focuses on her life before and after a transforming holiday abroad. Wondering what has happened to her youth and feeling stagnant and in a rut, Shirley finds herself regularly alone and talking to the wall while preparing an evening meal of egg and chips for her emotionally distant husband. When her best friend offers to pay for a trip-for-two to Greece, she packs her bags, leaves a note on the cupboard door in the kitchen,"
"Valentine"" and ""Educating Rita"" became successful feature films with Michael Caine, Julie Walters and Pauline Collins all winning Oscar nominations for their respective roles, as did Russell for his ""Educating Rita"" screenplay. Russell's other worldwide theatrical success has been ""Blood Brothers"", 'a Liverpudlian folk opera' about a pair of twins separated at birth and brought up in completely different environments. ""Blood Brothers"" won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 1983 and its 1987 revival saw over 10,000 consecutive performances during its 24-year West End run. Simultaneously, UK touring and international productions (including a two-year run on Broadway)"
"Julie Walters Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950) is an English actress and writer. She is the recipient of four BAFTA TV Awards, two BAFTA Film Awards, a BAFTA Fellowship, and a Golden Globe. She has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, in the categories of Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Walters came to international prominence in 1983, for playing the title role in ""Educating Rita"". It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. It also won her a BAFTA and"
"Jacquetta May Jacquetta May is a British writer, actress, and theatre director. She co-founded the award-winning new writing theatre company Plain Clothes Productions, commissioning, producing and directing for the company. She directed ""Her Sister Tongue"" at ""Lyric Theatre"" in 1997. Born in Kent, she went to Bristol University and worked as a theatre actress for 10 years before moving into TV, appearing at the National Theatre, The Royal Exchange and Liverpool Playhouse amongst others. Theatre roles include Eliza Doolittle in ""Pygmalion"", Adriana in ""The Comedy of Errors"", Olivia in ""Twelfth Night"", Lady Chatterley in ""Lady Chatterley's Lover"", Rita in ""Educating"
"West End run, the play has been translated and produced in almost every part the globe garnering awards both for its author and for many of the actors who have played the roles of Rita and Frank. Returning to the Liverpool Everyman in 1986, Russell created ""Shirley Valentine"" which went on to an acclaimed West End run, earning Olivier awards for both its author and star, Pauline Collins, before transferring to New York for a highly successful Broadway run and a Tony Best Actress award for Collins. Like the earlier ""Educating Rita"", ""Shirley Valentine"" became an international hit. Both ""Shirley"
"relationships. The play borrows from the George Bernard Shaw play ""Pygmalion"", itself based upon archetypes from Greek myth. The play was adapted by Russell for a 1983 film with Michael Caine and Julie Walters, directed by Lewis Gilbert. The play was adapted by Russell for radio in 2009 – see ""Educating Rita (radio play)"". It starred Bill Nighy and Laura Dos Santos directed by Kirsty Williams, and was a 90-minute play broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Boxing Day 2009. From June–July 2001, the Williamstown Theatre Festival mounted a production of Educating Rita at the Nikos Stage starring Jacqueline McKenzie"
"Beverley Cross Alan Beverley Cross (13 April 1931 – 20 March 1998) (known as Beverley Cross) was an English playwright, librettist and screenwriter. Born in London into a theatrical family, and educated at the Nautical College Pangbourne, Cross started off by writing children's plays in the 1950s. He achieved instant success with his first play, ""One More River"", which dealt with a mutiny in which a crew puts its first officer on trial for manslaughter. The play premiered in 1958 at the New Shakespeare Theatre Liverpool, starring Robert Shaw, directed by Sam Wanamaker, and in 1959, still with Robert Shaw,"
"Gurnett<br>George Byron – James Aubrey<br>Dr William Polidori – William Gaminara<br>Harriet Westbrook – Sue Burton The play played at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 1987 in a production directed by Lynne Meadow and was revived in 1988 at the Royal Court Theatre and in 2007 at the Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff. The play was staged by emerging company Invulnerable Nothings at The Brooklyn Art Library in 2016. Bloody Poetry Bloody Poetry is a 1984 play by Howard Brenton centring on the lives of Percy Shelley and his circle. The play had its roots in Brenton's involvement with the small touring company"
"remained so until Ockrent's death from leukemia in New York in 1999. A charitable trust now exists in his name. The trust aims to give access to theatre for children with cancer, involving nights at the theatre with visits backstage afterwards. It also funds leukaemia research, ""both mainstream and 'alternative'"". Mike Ockrent Mike Ockrent (18 June 1946 – 2 December 1999) was a British stage director, well-known both for his Broadway musicals and smaller niche plays. He was educated at Highgate School. Through directing ""Educating Rita"", ""The Nerd"" and ""Follies"", he became an established figure in London theatre. In 1986"
"Margaret McEntee Margaret C. McEntee SR. SC., also known by her confirmation name Marita James, (born July 10, 1935) is an American Catholic religious sister and educator who is known as being the inspiration for the character of Sister James in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play """" by John Patrick Shanley. The 2008 film adaptation is dedicated to her. Sister James was born and raised in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, in New York City and is of Irish Catholic ancestry, the daughter of Margaret (née Ware) and James McEntee. She attended St. Margaret of Cortona School"
"Love's Cruelty Love's Cruelty is a Caroline-era stage play, a tragedy written by James Shirley, and first published in 1640. The play was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 14 November 1631. Like the majority of Shirley's dramas, it was acted by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre. The play was entered into the Stationers' Register on 25 April 1639 by the booksellers Andrew Crooke and William Cooke, along with three other Shirley plays. (The three were ""The Opportunity,"" ""The Coronation,"" and ""The Night Walker."") The play was published the next year,"
"Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a Nobel Prize-winning British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include ""The Birthday Party"" (1957), ""The Homecoming"" (1964), and ""Betrayal"" (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others' works include ""The Servant"" (1963), ""The Go-Between"" (1971), ""The French Lieutenant's Woman"" (1981), ""The Trial"" (1993), and ""Sleuth"" (2007). He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television, and film productions of his own and"
"pounds by means of innovative seven-year tax-free covenants for the conversion of the building. It was a popular theatre specialising in local Liverpool settings & political subjects which gave opportunities to new playwrights – most famous of whom is probably Willy Russell (to whom Durband lent his Welsh cottage to write 'Educating Rita') and to actors such as: Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite, Jonathan Pryce & Julie Walters who joined the Theatre company around 1975. To mark this era, Willy Russell unveiled a plaque in memory of Alan Durband at the theatre in 1998 in the company of actor Pete Postlethwaite"
"Robert Marasco Robert Marasco (September 22, 1936 – December 6, 1998) was an American horror novelist, playwright, and teacher. He is best known for his 1970 Broadway play ""Child's Play"", and his supernatural novel ""Burnt Offerings"" (1973), which was adapted into a 1976 film of the same name. Born in the Bronx, New York City, Marasco attended Regis High School in Manhattan and graduated from Fordham University. After graduating from college, Marasco taught Latin at his high school ""alma mater"". During his time teaching at Regis High School, Marasco wrote ""Child's Play"". ""Child's Play"" debuted at the Royale Theater in"
"David Henry Wilson David Henry Wilson (born 1937, London) is an English writer. As an author he is best known for his children's stories such as the ""Jeremy James"" series. Wilson has also had a number of plays produced in the United Kingdom, both for children and adults. He is also the author of ""The Coachman Rat"" (1989), a satirical novel based on the Cinderella story. Wilson was educated at Dulwich College and Pembroke College, Cambridge. He has lived in France, Ghana, Germany and Switzerland, and for many years was a lecturer at the universities of Bristol and Konstanz (where"
"In his introduction to the play, Harold Pinter wrote: A 1974 film adaptation ""Butley"" directed by Pinter starred Alan Bates, Jessica Tandy, Richard O'Callaghan, Susan Engel, and Michael Byrne. Butley (play) Butley is a play by Simon Gray set in the office of an English lecturer at a university in London, England. The title character, a T. S. Eliot scholar, is an alcoholic who loses his wife and his close friend and colleague – and possibly male lover – on the same day. The action of the dark comedy takes place over several hours on the same day during which"
"Blood Relations (play) Blood Relations is a psychological murder mystery written by Sharon Pollock. The play is based on historical fact and speculation surrounding the life of Lizzie Borden and the murders of her father and stepmother, crimes with which Borden was charged. The play is based on the case of Lizzie Borden. On August 4, 1892, Borden's father's body was ""discovered"" by Lizzie in a downstairs room of the family home. Soon, the Bordens' maid, Sullivan, discovered the body of Borden's stepmother. The subsequent investigation and trial of Lizzie set a precedent for media coverage. On the morning of"
"At least one critic has regarded this satire as ""the best part of the play,"" though ""unrelated to the main plot."" Love Tricks Love Tricks, or The School of Complement is a Caroline stage play by James Shirley, his earliest known work. ""Love Tricks"" was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 10 February 1625; it was performed by the Lady Elizabeth's Men at the Cockpit Theatre (prior to the epidemic of bubonic plague that closed the London theatres for most of 1625). ""Love Tricks"" was revived during the Restoration era; it was performed"
"Pat Mombourquette notes in the ""International Encyclopedia of Theatre"" that Pollock does not permit passivity in the audience, ""...instead she demands that the audience acknowledge that the act of judging makes them active participants in the theatrical event."" Blood Relations (play) Blood Relations is a psychological murder mystery written by Sharon Pollock. The play is based on historical fact and speculation surrounding the life of Lizzie Borden and the murders of her father and stepmother, crimes with which Borden was charged. The play is based on the case of Lizzie Borden. On August 4, 1892, Borden's father's body was ""discovered"""
"Indiana University at Bloomington; the Mandeville Special Collections Library, Geisel Library, at the University of California, San Diego; the British Film Institute, in London; and the Margaret Herrick Library, Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, California. Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a Nobel Prize-winning British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include ""The Birthday Party"" (1957), ""The Homecoming"" (1964), and ""Betrayal"" (1978), each of"
"Vincent River (play) Vincent River is a one act stage play by Philip Ridley. It was Ridley's fourth stage play for adults and premiered at the Hampstead Theatre, London on 6 September 2000. The production was the last major collaboration between Ridley and director Mathew Lloyd, who had previously directed the majority of Ridley's other theatrical works. It is believed that the play in part draws from Ridley's unpublished radio play ""October Scars the Skin"" which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 16 January 1989. The story like ""Vincent River"" involved a mother of a murdered homosexual who befriends"
"Bryant. Susan (who initially calls herself Rita), dissatisfied with the routine of her work and social life, seeks inner growth by signing up for and attending an Open University course in English Literature. The play opens as 'Rita' meets her tutor, Frank, for the first time. Frank is a middle-aged, alcoholic career academic who has taken on the tutorship to pay for his drink. The two have an immediate and profound effect on one another; Frank is impressed by Susan's verve and earnestness and is forced to re-examine his attitudes and position in life; Susan finds Frank's tutelage opens doors"
"Mike Ockrent Mike Ockrent (18 June 1946 – 2 December 1999) was a British stage director, well-known both for his Broadway musicals and smaller niche plays. He was educated at Highgate School. Through directing ""Educating Rita"", ""The Nerd"" and ""Follies"", he became an established figure in London theatre. In 1986 he made a successful transition to New York City with ""Me and My Girl"" that earned several Tony Award nominations. In later life Ockrent worked in film, mainly straight-to-TV movies. In 1992 Ockrent worked with Susan Stroman on ""Crazy for You"" and other productions. They were married in 1996 and"
"Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ""The Rivals"", ""The School for Scandal"", ""The Duenna"", and ""A Trip to Scarborough"". He was also a Whig MP for 32 years in the British House of Commons for Stafford (1780–1806), Westminster (1806–1807), and Ilchester (1807–1812). He is buried at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. His plays remain a central part of the canon and are regularly performed worldwide. RB Sheridan was born"
"Peter Flannery Peter Flannery (born 12 October 1951, Jarrow, County Durham) is an English playwright and screenwriter. He was educated at the University of Manchester and is best known for his work while a resident playwright at the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Notable plays during his tenure include: ""Savage Amusement"" (1978), ""Awful Knawful"" (1978), and ""Our Friends in the North"" (1982). Other theatre work has included ""Singer"" (1989). He is perhaps best known to a wider audience for his highly acclaimed television adaptation of ""Our Friends in the North"", produced by the BBC and"
"Reina James Reina James (born 1947) is a British author. She has written two novels, the first of which won the Society of Authors’ McKitterick Prize in 2007. James was born in 1947, shortly after her parents arrived in the UK from South Africa. Her father was the actor Sid James. During her teenage years she played in a folk group before marrying and starting a family. In her late 20s she appeared in the stage play ""John, Paul, George, Ringo … and Bert"" by Willy Russell, and later appeared in Russell's musical ""Blood Brothers"". Having worked since the 1980s"
"recording of Blood Brothers and also as a featured vocalist on the Barbara Dickson album ""The 7 Ages of Woman"". Andrew Schofield (actor) Andrew Schofield (born 12 October 1958) is an English actor. Born in Kirkby, Lancashire, Schofield attended St Kevin's RC Comprehensive School. At 15 he was cast in Willy Russell's first Play for Today, ""Death of a Young, Young Man"". His stage credits include starring as the Narrator in Willy Russell's original production of ""Blood Brothers"" in 1983 at the Liverpool Playhouse and in the subsequent transfer to the Lyric Theatre in London's West End. He also appeared"
"James Martin Charlton James Martin Charlton (born 29 July 1966) is an English playwright, theatre director and filmmaker. He was born in Romford, Greater London, United Kingdom in 1966. His play ""Fat Souls"" won the 1992 International Playwriting Festival at Warehouse Theatre, Croydon, where it premièred in 1993. ""Fat Souls"" and the plays which followed it - ""Groping in the Dark"" and ""Coming Up"" - use verse dialogue, soliloquies and emblematic characterisation all strapped to contemporary stories. The spiritual/anarchist strain in his writing continued in ""Divine Vision"", a biographical play about the relationship between William Blake and his patron, William"
"of moral philosophy. His plays include ""Come and Be Killed"", ""Buglar Boy"" and other works. Eveling's plays have been performed worldwide and in Edinburgh at the Traverse Theatre since the 1960s. He died of cancer on 24 December 2008. Stanley Eveling Stanley Eveling, or Harry Stanley Eveling (1925 in Newcastle upon Tyne – 24 December 2008 in Edinburgh) was an English playwright and academic, based in Scotland. Eveling was educated at Rutherford College and Samuel King's School. After serving as an officer with the Durham Light Infantry in the Far East at the end of the Second World War, he"
"Saint Patrick for Ireland Saint Patrick for Ireland is a Caroline era stage play, written by James Shirley and first published in 1640. It is notable as an early development in Irish theatre. The play was written and performed during Shirley's stay in Dublin in the years 1637–40. Shirley, one of the most prominent and successful London playwrights of the previous decade, moved to Dublin during the long closure of the London theatres, from May 1636 to October 1637, due to an epidemic of bubonic plague. ""St. Patrick for Ireland"" was clearly written specifically for Shirley's new Dublin audience; it"
"of the protagonists. In his introduction to the play Brenton disclaims any interest in moralising over the actions of his characters, as he had in a programme to his earlier play ""Weapons of Happiness"". The play takes as its epigraph a comment of Richard Holmes's, “Shelley's life seems more a haunting than a history.” ""Bloody Poetry"" was first performed at the Haymarket Theatre Leicester on 1 October 1984 in a production that later played at the Hampstead Theatre. The director was Roland Rees and the cast was: Percy Bysshe Shelley – Valentine Pelka<br>Mary Shelley – Fiona Shaw<br>Claire Clairmont – Jane"
"Pauline Collins Pauline Collins, (born 3 September 1940), is an English actress of stage, television, and film, who first came to prominence portraying Sarah Moffat in ""Upstairs, Downstairs"" (1971–73) and its spin-off, ""Thomas & Sarah"" (1979). In 1992, she released her autobiography, titled ""Letter to Louise"". Collins played the title role in the play ""Shirley Valentine"", for which she won an Olivier Award in 1988, and Drama Desk and Tony Awards in 1989. She reprised the role in the 1989 film adaptation, winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and receiving Golden Globe and Academy Award"
"the West End where it ran for over a year, winning the Evening Standard and London Theatre Critics awards for the best musical of 1974. It premiered at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, and then transferred to the Lyric Theatre in the West End in 1974. Alongside further stage works, ""One for the Road"" (1976) and ""Stags and Hens"" (1978), Russell was an accomplished screenwriter with television films, ""Death of A Young Young Man"", ""Daughters of Albion"", ""Our Day Out"" and ""One Summer"". Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, ""Educating Rita"" is now a modern classic. Since its premiere and long"