Highlights from our recent new writing premieres
Simon Stephens is our most produced playwright after Brad Fraser and in recent years has emerged as one of the leading writers of his generation. His play PUNK ROCK was a huge critical and commercial success for us in 2009. Back in 2002 we premiered his play PORT, described by the Stockport born writer as "the first Stone Roses LP. It is Morrissey singing 'Moon river'. Or playing pool to 'Cigarettes & Alcohol'. Or the bomb in the Arndale.” An intimate epic about a young girl struggling to thrive in a neglectful family, PORT featured the Stockport setting and quirky younger characters that would come to characterise Stephen’s work for us.
His next play here, ON THE SHORE OF THE WIDE WORLD traced three generations of a family struggling to recover from the loss of a child, winning an Oliver Award for Best New Play and providing a historic landmark for the Royal Exchange as it was our first co-production with the National Theatre in 2005.
A trained teacher, Simon also worked as a hugely inspirational tutor to young writers. One such writer, was Chloe Moss, who we commissioned in 2003 after seeing her debut play A DAY IN DULL ARMOUR at the Royal Court. Originally from Liverpool, Chloe came to Manchester to study film history, and her student days here inspired many of the locations for her beautiful rites of passage play about a love triangle between three teenagers in 1989, CHRISTMAS IS MILES AWAY, which we produced in our Studio in November 2005, transferring to the Bush Theatre in February 2006.
Another student of Simon was Duncan MacMillan, who won £10,000 in our Bruntwood Royal Exchange Playwriting Competition and had his play MONSTER produced in the Royal Exchange Studio in June 2007. This urgent new play about a young white working class boy who falls through the welfare gap being tutored by a thirty-something black middle class teacher, was greatly influenced by Duncan’s experiences teaching in a secondary school and gained critical plaudits for its incisive dissection of “parenting and responsibility.”
A final student of Simon, Nick Leather, even followed in his footsteps onto a Pearson Playwright Bursary to the Royal Exchange in 2004. During his residency here, Nick wrote each scene of his award-winning play about a Manchester Ice Cream family in 1989, ALL THE ORDINARY ANGELS, in a different place in the building, writing the final scene above where you are standing now, on the roof of the theatre itself. Perhaps this writing trail lent the piece some of its incredible energy, as it traversed many different Manchester locations, with one scene even taking place on top of an ice cream van.
In 2005, at 27, Nick was the youngest ever playwright to receive a mainhouse production at the Royal Exchange. But he only held the record for two years, as in July 2007 Ben Musgrave had his debut play produced here. Ben won £15,000 and first prize in the inaugural Bruntwood Competition for PRETEND YOU HAVE BIG BUILDINGS, his tender and funny play about two teenagers, Danny and Leon, growing up in the shadow of Canary Wharf and struggling to fit into their town of Romford.
Another Bruntwood Award winner was THE CRACKS IN MY SKIN by emerging writer Phil Porter, which premiered in our Studio in 2008. This compassionate and surprising new play followed the fortunes of Janie, a troubled teenager, who attempts to build a family from the alienated and dispossessed people around her and fights to keep that family together against all odds. Janie was a great creation and Matti Houghton turned in a riveting performance as her, giving the character a near-feral wildness that affected our audiences hugely and won her a MEN Best Actress nomination.
Since the Bruntwood Royal Exchange Playwriting Competition was launched in 2005, we have received and read over three thousand new plays. The Bruntwood is still the only nationwide competition where anyone over 18 of any experience can enter and are judged equally as plays are submitted anonymously.
Our debts to the postman mounted when we received a unsolicited copy of THE FLAGS through our letterbox sent by Bridget O Connor who at that time was best known for her highly influential short stories. This riotously funny comedy about two lifeguards on the second worst beach in Ireland enjoyed a sell-out run in the Studio in 2006, was triumphantly revived in our mainhouse in 2007, and has since been re-mounted for the Dublin Festival and Royal Court, Liverpool in 2009.
More recently, our smash hit world premieres have included Matthew Dunster’s searingly honest memoir of growing up in Oldham, YOU CAN SEE THE HILLS. This one-hander play boasted a virtuosic performance by Will Ash, (who went to the same school as Matthew, even playing the Artful Dodger to his Fagin in the production of OLIVER) who as testosterone-fuelled Ashie, led us through eight years of adolescent encounters with the opposite sex; some funny, some embarrassing, some painful.
JONAH AND OTTO in 2008 marked a return to the Studio by writers’ writer Robert Holman after the retrospective of his work held here in 2003. This haunting play chronicled a chance meeting between a cleric and a young father, starring Ian McDiarmid and Andrew Sheridan (who himself went on to win a Bruntwood Prize for his own play BEFORE THE ECHOES DIE AWAY in 2008.)
In early 2009 audiences flocked to see work in both spaces by prominent Canadian playwrights: Judith Thompson offered a compelling triptych of monologues from the Iraq war in THE PALACE OF THE END in the Studio and Brad Fraser gave us a dazzling portrait of a nuclear family going into meltdown with TRUE LOVE LIES in the main space.
Below is a list of our own premieres of new plays, versions or translations since we opened. We’ve gone through our archives and records to collate this, but we are not convinced it is fully comprehensive. If you think we’ve missed any off, just email sam.pritchard@royalexchange.co.uk and we’ll update it!
Simon Stephens is our most produced playwright after Brad Fraser and in recent years has emerged as one of the leading writers of his generation. His play PUNK ROCK was a huge critical and commercial success for us in 2009. Back in 2002 we premiered his play PORT, described by the Stockport born writer as "the first Stone Roses LP. It is Morrissey singing 'Moon river'. Or playing pool to 'Cigarettes & Alcohol'. Or the bomb in the Arndale.” An intimate epic about a young girl struggling to thrive in a neglectful family, PORT featured the Stockport setting and quirky younger characters that would come to characterise Stephen’s work for us.His next play here, ON THE SHORE OF THE WIDE WORLD traced three generations of a family struggling to recover from the loss of a child, winning an Oliver Award for Best New Play and providing a historic landmark for the Royal Exchange as it was our first co-production with the National Theatre in 2005.A trained teacher, Simon also worked as a hugely inspirational tutor to young writers. One such writer, was Chloe Moss, who we commissioned in 2003 after seeing her debut play A DAY IN DULL ARMOUR at the Royal Court. Originally from Liverpool, Chloe came to Manchester to study film history, and her student days here inspired many of the locations for her beautiful rites of passage play about a love triangle between three teenagers in 1989, CHRISTMAS IS MILES AWAY, which we produced in our Studio in November 2005, transferring to the Bush Theatre in February 2006.
Another student of Simon was Duncan MacMillan, who won £10,000 in our Bruntwood Royal Exchange Playwriting Competition and had his play MONSTER produced in the Royal Exchange Studio in June 2007. This urgent new play about a young white working class boy who falls through the welfare gap being tutored by a thirty-something black middle class teacher, was greatly influenced by Duncan’s experiences teaching in a secondary school and gained critical plaudits for its incisive dissection of “parenting and responsibility.”
A final student of Simon, Nick Leather, even followed in his footsteps onto a Pearson Playwright Bursary to the Royal Exchange in 2004. During his residency here, Nick wrote each scene of his award-winning play about a Manchester Ice Cream family in 1989, ALL THE ORDINARY ANGELS, in a different place in the building, writing the final scene above where you are standing now, on the roof of the theatre itself. Perhaps this writing trail lent the piece some of its incredible energy, as it traversed many different Manchester locations, with one scene even taking place on top of an ice cream van.
In 2005, at 27, Nick was the youngest ever playwright to receive a mainhouse production at the Royal Exchange. But he only held the record for two years, as in July 2007 Ben Musgrave had his debut play produced here. Ben won £15,000 and first prize in the inaugural Bruntwood Competition for PRETEND YOU HAVE BIG BUILDINGS, his tender and funny play about two teenagers, Danny and Leon, growing up in the shadow of Canary Wharf and struggling to fit into their town of Romford.
Another Bruntwood Award winner was THE CRACKS IN MY SKIN by emerging writer Phil Porter, which premiered in our Studio in 2008. This compassionate and surprising new play followed the fortunes of Janie, a troubled teenager, who attempts to build a family from the alienated and dispossessed people around her and fights to keep that family together against all odds. Janie was a great creation and Matti Houghton turned in a riveting performance as her, giving the character a near-feral wildness that affected our audiences hugely and won her a MEN Best Actress nomination.
Since the Bruntwood Royal Exchange Playwriting Competition was launched in 2005, we have received and read over three thousand new plays. The Bruntwood is still the only nationwide competition where anyone over 18 of any experience can enter and are judged equally as plays are submitted anonymously.
Our debts to the postman mounted when we received a unsolicited copy of THE FLAGS through our letterbox sent by Bridget O Connor who at that time was best known for her highly influential short stories. This riotously funny comedy about two lifeguards on the second worst beach in Ireland enjoyed a sell-out run in the Studio in 2006, was triumphantly revived in our mainhouse in 2007, and has since been re-mounted for the Dublin Festival and Royal Court, Liverpool in 2009.
More recently, our smash hit world premieres have included Matthew Dunster’s searingly honest memoir of growing up in Oldham, YOU CAN SEE THE HILLS. This one-hander play boasted a virtuosic performance by Will Ash, (who went to the same school as Matthew, even playing the Artful Dodger to his Fagin in the production of OLIVER) who as testosterone-fuelled Ashie, led us through eight years of adolescent encounters with the opposite sex; some funny, some embarrassing, some painful.
JONAH AND OTTO in 2008 marked a return to the Studio by writers’ writer Robert Holman after the retrospective of his work held here in 2003. This haunting play chronicled a chance meeting between a cleric and a young father, starring Ian McDiarmid and Andrew Sheridan (who himself went on to win a Bruntwood Prize for his own play BEFORE THE ECHOES DIE AWAY in 2008.)
In early 2009 audiences flocked to see work in both spaces by prominent Canadian playwrights: Judith Thompson offered a compelling triptych of monologues from the Iraq war in THE PALACE OF THE END in the Studio and Brad Fraser gave us a dazzling portrait of a nuclear family going into meltdown with TRUE LOVE LIES in the main space.
Below is a list of our own premieres of new plays, versions or translations since we opened. We’ve gone through our archives and records to collate this, but we are not convinced it is fully comprehensive. If you think we’ve missed any off, just email sam.pritchard@royalexchange.co.uk and we’ll update it!
PREMIERES SINCE 1976
WP = World Premiere BP = British Premiere
1. THE PRINCE OF HOMBURG translated by Jonathan Griffin 1976 BP
2. DICK WHITTINGTON devised and composed by Derek Griffiths 1977 WP
3. LEAPING GINGER by Trevor Peacock 1977 WP
4. THE ORDEAL OF GILBERT PINFOLD by Ronald Harwood 1977 WP
5. THE GOLDEN COUNTRY translated by Francis Mathy 1977 EP
6. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT adapted by Paul Bailey 1978 WP
7. A FAMILY by Ronald Harwood 1978 WP
8. SISTERS by David Storey 1978 WP
9. CINDERELLA by Trevor Peacock 1978 WP
10. LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS by Neil Simon, 1979 BP
11. THE DEEP MAN translated by Jonathan Griffin, 1979 BP
12. THE THREE MUSKATEERS! By Braham Murray and Derek Griffiths, 1979 WP
13. CHRISTMAS FUN & A FAIRY TALE devised by Dilys Hamlett et al, 1980 WP
14. THE DRESSER by Ronald Harwood, 1980 WP
15. BLOOD, BLACK AND GOLD by Gerard McLarnon, 1980 WP
16. HAVE YOU ANYTHING TO DECLARE? Adapted by Braham Murray, 1980 BP
17. TAKE EIGHT devised by Antony Bowles, 1981 WP
18. TREASURE ISLAND adapted by James Maxwell, 1981 WP
19. THE ROUND DANCE translated by Charles Osborne, 1982 WP
20. PHILOCTETES translated by Christopher Stace, 1982, WP
21. THE NERD by Larry Shue 1982 EP
22. ANDY CAPP by Alan Price and Trevor Peacock, 1982, WP
23. AFTER THE LIONS by Ronald Harwood, 1982 WP
24. HOPE AGAINST HOPE adapted by Casper Wrede, 1983 WP
25. THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR, adapted by Gerard McLarnon, 1983 WP
26. MOBY DICK by Michael Elliott, 1984 WP
27. GREAT EXPECTATIONS adapted by James Maxwell, 1984 WP
28. CLASS K by Trevor Peacock, 1985 WP
29. WHO’S A LUCKY BOY? By Alan Price, 1985 WP
30. JACK AND THE GIANT by Trevor Peacock, 1986 WP
31. RIDDLEY WALKER by Russell Hoban, 1986 WP
32. MUMBO JUMBO by Robin Glendinning, 1986, WP
33. BEHIND HEAVEN by Jonathan Moore, 1986 WP
34. THE ACT by Richard Langridge, 1986 WP
35. COURT IN THE ACT adapted by Braham Murray, 1986 BP
36. WOUNDINGS by Jeff Noon, 1986 WP
37. A WHOLLY HEALTHY GLASGOW by Iain Heggie, 1987 WP
38. OEDIPUS translated by Christopher Strace, 1987 WP
39. THE BLUEBIRD OF UNHAPPINESS by Woody Allen, 1987 WP
40. DON CARLOS translated by James Maxwell, 1988 WP
41. AMERICAN BAGPIPES by Iain Heggie, 1988 WP
42. AMONGST BARBARIANS by Michael Wall, 1989 WP
43. IN THE TALKING DARK by Dolores Walshe, 1989 WP
44. WINDING THE BALL by Alex Finlayson, 1989 WP
45. SHE’S IN YOUR HANDS adapted by Braham Murray, 1990 WP
46. DONNY BOY by Robin Glendinning, 1990 WP
47. DEATH AND THE KING’S HORSEMAN by Wole Soyinka, 1990, WP
48. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE adapted by James Maxwell, 1991 WP
49. YOUR HOME IN THE WEST by Rod Wooden, 1991 WP
50. THE IDIOT adapted by Gerard McLarnon, 1991 WP51. DOCTOR HEART by Trevor Peacock, 1991 BP
52. MEDEA translated by Kenneth McLeish, 1991 BP
53. THE MISER translated by Braham Murray, 1992 BP
54. SIDEWALK SIDNEY by Randhi McWilliams, 1992 WP
55. THE ODD WOMEN by Michael Meyer, 1992 WP
56. THE MOONSTONE by James Maxwell, 1993 WP
57. THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV adapted by Gerard McLarnon, 1993 WP
58. POISON PEN by Ronald Harwood, 1993 WP
59. MAYBE adapted by Keith Reddin, 1993 WP
60. SMOKE by Rod Wooden, 1993 WP
61. THE LODGER by Simon Burke, 1994 WP
62. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO adapted by James Maxwell, WP
63. AN EXPERIENCED WOMAN GIVES ADVICE by Iain Heggie, WP
64. MISFITS by Alex Finlayson, 1996 WP
65. WOLK’S WORLD by Emil Wolk, 1997 WP
66. THE CANDIDATE by Paul Godfrey 1997 WP
67. POOR SUPER MAN BY Brad Fraser, 1997 BP
68. MAD FOR IT by Bill Taylor, 1997 WP
69. AN EXPERIMENT WITH AN AIR PUMP by Shelagh Stephenson, 1998 WP
70. MARTIN YESTERDAY by Brad Fraser, 1998 EP
71. SO SPECIAL by Kevin Hood, 1998 Studio WP
72. DREAMING by Peter Barnes, 1999 WP
73. TOBACCOLAND by Alex Finlayson, 1999 WP
74. THE RIB CAGE by Nicola Baldwin, 1999 Studio WP
75. FAST FOOD by Abi Morgan, 1999 Studio WP
76. CAFÉ VESUVIO by Nona Shepphard, 1999 Studio WP
77. PRIZE NIGHT by Jim Cartwright, 1999, WP
78. BATS by Emil Wolk, 1999, WP
79. SNAPSHOTS by Fiona Padfield, 2000 WP
80. TWO CLOUDS OVER EDEN by Matthew Dunster 2000 Studio WP
81. BRING ME SUNSHINE by Simon Stephens 2000 Studio WP
82. STILL TIME by Stephanie McKnight 2000 Studio WP
83. GHOST TRAIN TATOO by Simon Robson 2000, WP
84. SNAKE IN FRIDGE by Brad Fraser 2000 WP
85. LES BLANCS by Lorraine Hansberry, 2001 EP
86. ELIZA’S HOUSE by Brendan Murray 2001 WP
87. THE DEAD WAIT by Paul Herzberg 2002 BP
88. ON MY BIRTHDAY by Aubrey Sekhabi 2002 BP
89. PORT by Simon Stephens, 2002 WP
90. HABITAT by Judith Thompson 2002 BP
91. SECRET HEART by Amanda Dalton, 2002 WP
92. SHOOT THE CROW by Owen McCafferty 2003 BP
93. COLD MEAT PARTY by Brad Fraser, 2003 WP
94. WARD SIX, devised and adapted by Greg Hersov and Jo Combes 2003 WP
95. SHERLOCK HOLMES IN TROUBLE by Emil Wolk, 2003 WP
96. MOONSHED by Aisha Khan 2003 Studio WP
97. COYOTE ON A FENCE by Bruce Graham, 2004 Studio BP
98. BASIL AND BEATTIE by Linda Brogan, 2004 Studio WP
99. WEEDING CANE by Sonia Hughes 2004 Studio WP
100. DOGBOY by Amanda Dalton 2004 Studio WP
101. MAYBE TOMORROW by Nichola Schofield 2004 Studio WP
102. A CONVERSATION by David Williamson Studio 2004 BP
103. MAYHEM by Kelly Stuart 2004 Studio BP
104. THE TRESTLE AT POPE LICK CREEK by Naomi Wallace, 2005 Studio BP
105. ELECTRA adapted by Jo Combes, Studio 2005 WP
106. ON THE SHORE OF THE WIDE WORLD BY Simon Stephens 2005 WP
107. THE BABY AND FLY PIE adapted by Lavinia Murray Studio 2005 WP
108. SEX, CHIPS AND ROCK AND ROLL, by Debbie Horsfield, 2005 WP
109. PICTURES OF CLAY by Sharif Samad, Studio 2005 WP
110. ALL THE ORDINARY ANGELS by Nick Leather 2005 WP
111. CHRISTMAS IS MILES AWAY by Chloe Moss, Studio 2005 WP
112. THE FLAGS by Bridget O Connor Studio 2006 WP
113. POMEGRANATE by Linda Marshall Griffiths Studio 2006 WP
114. MARY BARTON by Rona Munroe 2006 WP
115. LOVE AND MONEY by Dennis Kelly 2006 WP
116. THINGS OF DRY HOURS by Naomi Wallace BP 2007
117. MONSTER by Duncan MacMillan WP 2007 Studio
118. PRETEND YOU HAVE BIG BUILDINGS by Ben Musgrave 2007 WP
119. THE CRACKS IN MY SKIN by Phil Porter 2007 WP
120. STRAWGIRL by Amanda Dalton 2007 Studio WP
121. JONAH AND OTTO 2008 WP Studio
122. YOU CAN SEE THE HILLS by Matthew Dunster 2008 WP Studio
123. PALACE OF THE END by Judith Thompson 2009 WP Studio
124. TRUE LOVE LIES by Brad Fraser 2009 WP
125. HAUNTED by Edna O’Brien 2009 WP
126. EVERYBODY LOVES A WINNER by Neil Bartlett 2009 WP
127. 0.0008 Sonia Hughes 2009 WP Studio
128 PUNK ROCK by Simon Stephens 2009 WP
129 PUB a season of World Premieres Studio
130 SALT by Fiona Peek WP 2010 Studio
131 1984 adapted by Matthew Dunster 2010 WP
132 POWDER MONKEY by Amanda Dalton 2010 WP Studio
