Lucy Ann Kirkwood (born October 1983) is a British

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and screenwriter. She is writer in residence at Clean Break. In June 2018 Kirkwood was elected Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...

in its "40 Under 40" initiative.

Early life

Kirkwood was born in

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, ...

and raised in east London. She has a degree in English literature from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

where she performed as part of improvisational comedy troupe, the Improverts and wrote for the

Edinburgh University Theatre Company Edinburgh University Theatre Company (EUTC) is a student theatre company at the University of Edinburgh. The EUTC was founded in 1871 as the ''Edinburgh University Amateur Dramatic Club'' and adopted its current name in the 1970s. Since 1980 it ha ...

. In 2005, she wrote and starred in her first play, ''Grady Hot Potato'', at the

Bedlam Theatre Bedlam Theatre is a theatre in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The building was completed in 1848 for the New North Free Church. After closing as a church in 1941, the building served as a chaplaincy centre and then a store for the Universi ...

. It was also selected for the

National Student Drama Festival The UK based National Student Drama Festival (NSDF) was founded in 1956 with the purpose of creating new art, new artists and new communities. It also runs a charity aimed at empowering young artists. The NSDF is targeted towards people age ...

Career

Plays

The following year she took two productions of her second play, ''Geronimo'' to the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, under the title ''The Umbilical Project''. The two productions, ''Cut'' and ''Uncut'', were an experiment in cutting the cord between writer and production. ''Uncut'' was directed by Kirkwood herself and ''Cut'' by a completely separate company under the direction of Matt Addicott. No contact was made between the two companies during the rehearsal period, prompting the tag line "Two casts, two crews, two directors, two venues, one new play... no communication". Her third play ''Guns or Butter'', about soldiers being overcome by the horror of war, was written for the Terror 2007 Festival at the Union Theatre, London. ''Tinderbox'', a dark comedy set in a fictional 21st-century England, premiered at the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a s ...

in 2008. It starred

Jamie Foreman Jamie Foreman (born 25 May 1958) is an English actor best known for his roles as Duke in ''Layer Cake'' (2004) and Bill Sikes in Roman Polanski's ''Oliver Twist'' (2005). Career Foreman played opposite Ray Winstone and Kathy Burke in Gary Oldm ...

and

Sheridan Smith Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), ''Two Pints of ...

. In the same year she also contributed to the Bush's ''50 Ways to Leave Your Lover''. Her version of

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been ca ...

'', titled ''Hedda'', premiered at London's

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Gearóid Ó Lochlai ...

in 2008 to favourable reviews. Kirkwood's promenade play about sex trafficking, ''It Felt Empty When the Heart Went At First but It Is Alright Now'', was produced by Clean Break Theatre at the

Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is an Off West End theatre in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dals ...

. Her short horror piece ''Psychogeography'' premiered at the Bush in 2008 and was revived at Southwark Playhouse. In 2010, a fresh and humorous version of
Beauty and the Beast
' was devised by Kirkwood and director Katie Mitchell and written by Kirkwood. It premiered at the National Theatre in London as Christmas show in December 2010. Her play ''NSFW'' premiered at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

, starring Janie Dee and

Julian Barrett Julian Barratt Pettifer (born 4 May 1968) is an English comedian, actor and musician. As a comedian and comic actor, he is known for his use of surreal humour and black comedy. During the 2000s he was part of The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongs ...

and directed by Simon Godwin, in October 2012. Her play ''

Chimerica Chimerica is a neologism and portmanteau coined by Niall Ferguson and Moritz Schularick describing the symbiotic relationship between China and the United States, with incidental reference to the legendary chimera. Though the term is largely ...

'' examines the relationship between the US and China since the

Tiananmen Square protests The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourt ...

through the eyes of a former activist, and features over forty scene changes and British-Chinese actors. The play opened at the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diver ...

in May 2013 and transferred to the West End in August 2013. The play's title echoes the portmanteau word "

", invented by economists to define the intertwined economies of the US and China. At the 2014 Olivier Awards, ''Chimerica'' won for best new play, best director (Lyndsey Turner), best lighting (Tim Lutkin and Finn Ross), best sound (Carolyn Downing) and best set design (Es Devlin). Kirkwood's play '' The Children'' opened at the

in November 2016, directed by James Macdonald and starring Ron Cook,

Francesca Annis Francesca Annis (born 14 May 1945) is an English actress. She is known for television roles in '' Reckless'' (1998), '' Wives and Daughters'' (1999), ''Deceit'' (2000), and '' Cranford'' (2007). A six-time BAFTA TV Award nominee, she won the 19 ...

and

Deborah Findlay Deborah Findlay (born 23 December 1947) is an English actress. She joined a theatre company while studying English at the University of Leeds. Career Findlay has worked primarily on stage and appeared in numerous productions, including the origi ...

, receiving positive reviews from critics. The production transferred to the

Samuel J. Friedman Theatre The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, formerly the Biltmore Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 261 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1925, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the neo-Renais ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in November 2017 (previews), officially on 12 December 2017, with its original cast. The play was nominated for the 2018

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newsp ...

as Outstanding New Broadway Play. The play was nominated for the 2018

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first yea ...

and the Tony Award, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play (Deborah Findlay).

Rufus Norris Rufus Norris (born 16 January 1965) is a British theatre and film director, who is currently the Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive of the National Theatre. Life and career Norris grew up in Africa and Malaysia, attended North Bromsgr ...

directed her stage play ''Mosquitoes'', which illustrates family disputes between sisters by referencing collisions in

experimental physics Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and ...

, at London's National Theatre in 2017. Kirkwood received a commissioning grant from the

Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has ...

to write the play. Thomas Bockelmann directed ''Mosquitoes'' at the German

Staatstheater Kassel The Staatstheater Kassel is a state-owned and operated theater in Kassel, Germany. History A permanent theatre house existed in Kassel during the first decade of the 17th century. It stood immediately next to the Ottoneum near the State Theatr ...

on 30 August 2018 as a three-hour stage production. Kirkwood's next play was titled '' The Welkin'' and concerned the case of a woman convicted of murder who claims to be pregnant, preventing a death sentence from being carried out. The play revolves around a group of 12 matrons assembled to determine the truth of her claim. ''The Welkin'' was performed at London's National Theatre in the first half of 2020. In June 2022 Kirkwood's most recent play ''Rapture'' opened at the

credited in the marketing under the pseudonym Dave Davidson, and the false title ''That Is Not Who I Am.'' The misleading advertisement ties into the themes and world of the story. The play purports to be a verbatim docudrama concerning paranoia and distrust of the UK Government following the 2020 pandemic and ensuing political scandals. It details the relationship, surveilance, and murder of two climate activist content creators, leaving lingering questions about the State's involvement. In the universe of this play, the UK Government has placed an embargo on the Royal Court (or theatre in question) over the contents presented, and the legality of its production are in question. Thus the opening moments of the play include an explanation that the theatre has decided to stage the play covertly. It features both an actor playing Kirkwood and a supposed cameo from the real Kirkwood herself. Kirkwood portrayed this latter version of herself in the original production at select performances.

Screenwriting

Kirkwood wrote for the second, third, and fourth series of the teen drama '' Skins'', broadcast between 2008 and 2010. In 2014, her drama series '' The Smoke'', made by

Kudos Kudos may refer to: Arts and media * ''Kudos'' (computer game), a life simulation game produced by Positech Games * Kudos (production company), a UK-based film and television production company * Kudos, a fictional currency used by the Dwellers ...

, was televised on Sky 1. It follows the exploits of white watch at a fictional London fire station. She adapted her play ''Chimerica'' into a four-part miniseries for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

, broadcast in 2019, and then wrote the four-part series ''

Adult Material ''Adult Material'' is a four-part British drama television series concerning a woman's life working in the adult film industry Starring Hayley Squires and created by an all female team, it first aired on Channel 4 on 5 October 2020. Adult indu ...

'', following a woman's life in the

adult film industry Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotical ...

Awards and nominations

Theatre

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkwood, Lucy 1983 births Living people 21st-century British women writers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British television writers English television writers English screenwriters English dramatists and playwrights Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature WFTV Award winners British women television writers Writers from London 21st-century British screenwriters