Laura Wade
| Laura Wade | |
|---|---|
| Born |
16 October 1977 Bedford, Bedfordshire, England |
| Occupation | Playwright |
Laura Wade (born 16 October 1977) is an English playwright.
Early life
Wade was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire. She grew up in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, where her father worked for a computer company.[1] After completing her secondary education at Lady Manners School in Bakewell, Derbyshire, she studied Drama at Bristol University and was later a member of the Royal Court Theatre Young Writers' Programme.
Career
Wade's 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 Theatre, 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.[2] Her next play Breathing Corpses played at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in March 2005.[3] In March 2006, she returned to the Soho Theatre with Other Hands.[4] 2010 marked her reappearance at the Sheffield Crucible with her reworking of Alice in Wonderland, entitled Alice.[5]
Other 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,[6] 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.[7]
On 11 May 2012, an updated version of Posh opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, Wade's first play to appear in the West End. In 2013, filming began on The Riot Club, a film adaptation of the play directed by Lone Scherfig.[8] It will be released on 19 September 2014.[9] Wade's plays are published by Oberon Books in the UK and by Dramatists Play Service in the US. In February 2015 the regional premiere of Posh will be co-produced by Nottingham Playhouse and Salisbury Playhouse.[10]
In 2015, she adapted Sarah Waters novel Tipping the Velvet into a stage play of the same name. The play premiered at Lyric Hammersmith in September 2015,[11] before transferring to the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh.[12]
Plays
Published
- Colder Than Here, 2005, premiered at the Soho Theatre
- American premiere, produced by MCC Theater, New York, September 2005
- Breathing Corpses, 2005, premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
- American premiere, produced by Luna Theater Company at Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, October 2007
- Other Hands, 2006, premiered at the Soho Theatre
- American premiere, produced by Luna Theater Company at Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, January 2010
- Catch, 2006, premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
- Alice, 2010, premiered at the Sheffield Crucible
- Posh, 2010, premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
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, Warwick, 2000
- TwelveMachine, Playbox Theatre, Warwick, 2001
- The Last Child, Playbox Theatre, Warwick, 2002
- Young Emma, Finborough Theatre 2003
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
References
- ↑ Cooke, Rachel (4 April 2010). "Laura Wade: the girl in the Tories' soup". The Guardian. London.
- ↑ "Theatre review: Colder Than Here at Soho Theatre". Britishtheatreguide.info. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ↑ "Theatre review: Breathing Corpses at Royal Court Theatre Upstairs". Britishtheatreguide.info. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ↑ "Theatre review: Other Hands at Soho Theatre". Britishtheatreguide.info. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ↑ Wade, Laura. "Oberon Books – The UK's most exciting independent publisher". Oberonbooks.com. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Afternoon Drama, Looking for Angels, Looking for Angels: Otherkin". Bbc.co.uk. 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ↑ Curtis, Nick (7 April 2010). "Posh boys have problems too". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- ↑ "The Riot Club (2014)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ↑ de Semlyen, Phil (13 May 2014). "New Trailer For The Riot Club". Empire. Bauer Consumer Media. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ↑ Snow, Georgia (31 October 2014). "Posh leads Nottingham Playhouse's spring 2015 season". The Stage. Nottingham. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ↑ "London's Lyric Hammersmith to Present World Premiere of Laura Wade's Tipping the Velvet". playbill.com. Playbill. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- ↑ "Brian Cox and Bill Paterson return to Lyceum for 50th anniversary season". list.co.uk. The List. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.