British dramatist and screenwriter
David Eldridge (born 20 September 1973) is a British
dramatist and
screenwriter , born in
Romford ,
Greater London ,
United Kingdom .
[1]
[2]
[3]
His plays have been produced in the West End and on Broadway. He has written for stage, screen and radio.
Career
His plays have been performed at major new writing institutions in the UK, including The
Royal Court Theatre , the
Bush Theatre , the
Finborough Theatre and the
National Theatre . His stage adaptation of the film
Festen transferred from the
Almeida Theatre to the West End and Broadway. His play Market Boy , informed by his childhood working on a stall at
Romford Market, played at the National Theatre's largest space, the Olivier in June 2006. In July 2008 his play Under the Blue Sky was revived at the
Duke of York's Theatre starring
Chris O'Dowd ,
Catherine Tate and
Francesca Annis .
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
In March 2011 his play The Knot of the Heart played at the Almeida Theatre and starred
Lisa Dillon , for whom the role of Lucy was written and in February 2012 his play In Basildon , played at the
Royal Court Theatre directed by
Dominic Cooke starring
Linda Bassett and
Ruth Sheen . Both plays opened to critical acclaim. The Knot of the Heart won the Off-West End Theatre Award for Best New Play
[8] and In Basildon was voted The Guardian Theatre Critics and Arts Writers No.1 Theatre of 2012.
[9] In April 2012 the
Royal Exchange Theatre presented his new version of
Miss Julie by
August Strindberg , starring
Maxine Peake . In July 2014 his play Holy Warriors played at
Shakespeare's Globe .
David's screenplay for a ninety-minute single film,
The Scandalous Lady W , based upon
Hallie Rubenhold 's book Lady Worsley's Whim , was broadcast on
BBC2 in August 2015 starring
Natalie Dormer and directed by
Sheree Folkson .
In October 2017 The
National Theatre presented the world premiere of his play
Beginning in the
Dorfman Theatre directed by
Polly Findlay .
[10]
Beginning transferred from The
National Theatre to the
Ambassadors Theatre in the
West End , opening in January 2018 with both
Sam Troughton and
Justine Mitchell reprising their original roles. Beginning was revived for a tour starting at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch, Essex in 2021. It became the first in his trilogy of plays about love and relationships for the National Theatre to be premièred in its Dorfman Theatre. The second,
Middle , had its first performances rescheduled to start in April 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
[11]
Eldridge is currently lecturer in Creative Writing at
Birkbeck, University of London .
[12] He also teaches screenwriting for the
Arvon Foundation .
[13]
Plays
Cabbage for Tea, Tea, Tea! (Exeter University, 1995)
Sideways Moving (Edinburgh Fringe, 1995)
Fighting for Breath (
Finborough Theatre , 1995)
Serving It Up (Bush Theatre, 1996)
Dirty (
Theatre Royal Stratford East , 1996)
A Week with Tony (
Finborough Theatre , 1996)
Summer Begins (
Donmar Warehouse , 1997)
Thanks Mum (Red Room/
Battersea Arts Centre , 1998)
Falling (
Hampstead Theatre , 1999)
Under the Blue Sky (Royal Court Theatre, 2000)
Killers (BBC Television, 2000)
Michael & Me (BBC Radio 4, 2001)
The Nugget Run (Short Film, 2002)
Stratford, Ilford, Romford and All Stations to Shenfield (BBC Radio 4, 2003)
M.A.D. (Bush Theatre, 2004)
Incomplete and Random Acts of Kindness (Royal Court Theatre, 2005)
Market Boy (National Theatre, 2006)
The Picture Man (BBC Radio 3, 2008)
The List (
Arcola Theatre , 2009)
A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky (written with
Simon Stephens and
Robert Holman ), (Lyric Hammersmith, 2010)
Like Minded People (BBC Radio 4, 2011)
The Knot of the Heart (Almeida Theatre, 2011)
The Secret Grief (BBC Radio 3, 2011)
The Stock Da'wa (Hampstead Theatre, 2011)
Something, Someone, Somewhere (Sixty Six Project/Bush Theatre/Westminster Abbey, 2011; inspired by
1 John )
In Basildon (Royal Court Theatre, 2012)
Holy Warriors (
Shakespeare's Globe 2014)
Jenny Lomas (BBC Radio 3, 2017)
Beginning (
National Theatre , 2017)
Middle (
National Theatre , 2022)
Adaptations/Versions
Festen - adaptation of the
Dogme film (Almeida Theatre/Lyric Theatre, 2004 / Music Box Theatre, New York, 2006)
Our Hidden Lives - television adaptation of a book by
Simon Garfield (BBC Television, 2005)
The Wild Duck - new version of a play by
Henrik Ibsen (Donmar Warehouse, 2006)
John Gabriel Borkman - new version of a play by Henrik Ibsen (Donmar Warehouse, 2007)
Babylone adaptation of the play Rue de Babylone by Jean-Marie Besset (
Belgrade Theatre
Coventry , 2009)
The Lady from the Sea - new version of a play by
Henrik Ibsen (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, 2010)
Miss Julie - new version of a play by
August Strindberg (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, 2012)
The Scandalous Lady W - screenplay based upon
Hallie Rubenhold 's book Lady Worsley's Whim (
BBC2 , 2015)
Bibliography
Plays: One (Serving It Up/Summer Begins/Under the Blue Sky/M.A.D ) (Methuen, 2005)
ISBN
0-413-77509-7
Plays: Two (Incomplete and Random Acts of Kindness/Market Boy/The Knot of the Heart/The Stock Da'wa ) (Methuen, 2012)
ISBN
978-1-4081-6483-9
Short Story: (A Whole New World) (Metheun)
References
^
"Playwright David Eldridge revisits his Essex roots" . 30 April 2012. Archived from
the original on 30 April 2012.
^
"Playwright David Eldridge on his brilliant new play" . 5 September 2011. Archived from
the original on 5 September 2011.
^
"Playwright David Eldridge on new writing" . 2 October 2011. Archived from
the original on 2 October 2011.
^
"David Eldridge on Festen" . 2 October 2011. Archived from
the original on 2 October 2011.
^
"David Eldrdge on his career" . 2 October 2011. Archived from
the original on 2 October 2011.
^
"Playwright David Eldridge goes Monsterist with Market Boy" . 2 October 2011. Archived from
the original on 2 October 2011.
^
"Playwright David Eldridge on his West End hit" . 2 October 2011. Archived from
the original on 2 October 2011.
^ Matt Trueman,
"Off West End awards: pub theatres given plenty to cheer" , The Guardian , 2 February 2012.
^ Alex Needham,
"Best theatre of 2012, no 1: In Basildon, Royal Court — David Eldridge's resonant and richly populated play put England's many postwar paradoxes on stage – and it was funny, too" , The Guardian , 21 December 2012.
^
Beginning by David Eldridge, 5 Oct - 14 Nov 2017, National Theatre
^
"David Eldridge: 'Selling shoes on a Romford Market stall definitely fed into my plays' " . The Stage . Retrieved 22 December 2022 .
^
"David Eldridge" . Department of English, Theatre and Creative Writing, Birkbeck, University of London . 3 June 2019.
^
"SCREENWRITING: TUTORED RETREAT - a course at Arvon - Arvon" .
External links