Ella Hickson (born 1985) is a British

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and theatrical director, living in London.

Early life

Hickson was brought up in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

in Surrey and educated at Guildford High School from 1996 to 2003.

Career

Hickson's first play, '' Eight'', produced by 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 ...

, won a Fringe First, the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award and the NSDF Emerging Artists Award at the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

in 2008. The show toured to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in January 2009 and opened at

Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. The Grade II listed building was built in 1930 with interiors in the Art Deco style as the Whitehall Theatre; it regularly staged ...

in July 2009. Hickson's second play '' Precious Little Talent'' opened at Trafalgar Studios in March 2011, directed by James Dacre. In 2012 her third play ''Boys'' premiered at HighTide Festival Theatre directed by Robert Icke for Headlong Theatre. It went on to tour at Nuffield Southampton Venues, as well as Soho Theatre London. In 2013 her play '' Wendy & Peter Pan'', an adaptation of J.M. Barrie's novel, was produced at the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

for the Christmas 2013 season, directed by Jonathan Munby. It was later revived for the Christmas 2015 season. In 2014 her adaptation of the legends of ''

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

'' opened at

Royal & Derngate Royal & Derngate is a theatre complex in the Cultural Quarter, Northampton, Cultural Quarter of Northampton, England, consisting of the Royal Theatre, Derngate Theatre and the Northampton Filmhouse. The Royal was built by theatre architect Cha ...

and Nuffield Southampton, directed by Liam Steel. In October 2016 her play ''Oil'' premiered at the Almeida, starring Anne-Marie Duff and directed by Carrie Cracknell. In 2018 the Almeida staged ''The Writer'', directed by Blanche McIntyre and featuring Sam West,

Romola Garai Romola Sadie Garai ( ; born 6 August 1982) is a Hong Kong-born British actress and film director. Known for her extensive work on stage and screen, she often acts in period films. Her early film roles include '' Nicholas Nickleby'' (2002), '' ...

and Lara Rossi. In 2019 ''Anna'' a binaural thriller, opened at The National Theatre. Hickson collaborated with sound designers, Ben and Max Ringham. The play was directed by Natalie Abrahami. Hickson currently teaches at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Recognition

In 2011, Hickson appeared in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

's culture section as one of the four young playwrights to watch in the future. In June 2018 she 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 800 Fellows, elect ...

in its "40 Under 40" initiative.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hickson, Ella 1985 births Living people Alumni of the University of Edinburgh English women dramatists and playwrights Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People educated at Guildford High School Writers from Guildford