Leo Butler (born 1974 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

) is a British playwright. His plays have been staged, among others, by the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

, the Royal Shakespeare Company and 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 di ...

. His plays have been published by Bloomsbury

A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels. History The firm was founded in 18 ...

. His 2001 play Redundant won the

George Devine Award George Alexander Cassady Devine (20 November 1910 – 20 January 1966) was an English theatrical manager, director, teacher, and actor based in London from the early 1930s until his death. He also worked in TV and film. Early life and education ...

. Between 2005 and 2014 he was Playwriting Tutor for the

Young Writers Programme.

Plays

*'' Made of Stone'' (2000) premiered as part of the Young Writers' Festival at

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 West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal ...

, directed by Deborah Bruce *'' Redundant'' (2001) premiered at

, directed by

Dominic Cooke Dominic Cooke (born 1966) is an English director and writer. Early life Born in Wimbledon, south London, Cooke was brought up seeing a lot of theatre as a teenager from free theatre tickets provided by the Inner London Education Authority. ...

*''Devotion'' (2002) produced by

Theatre Centre Theatre Centre is a UK-based theatre company touring new plays for young audiences aged 4 to 18. Founded in 1953 by Brian Way, the company has developed plays by writers including Lisa Evans, Noël Greig, Mike Kenny, Bryony Lavery, Leo Butler ...

premiered at Redbridge Drama Centre, directed by Liam Steel *''

Lucky Dog The ''beneficiary rule'', commonly referred to as the "lucky dog" or "free pass", is a rule in some motor racing leagues allowing the closest lapped driver to the front of the field to gain back a lap when a caution is called. The driver is cal ...

'' (2004) premiered at

, directed by James Macdonald *''

The Early Bird ''The Early Bird'' is a 1965 British comedy film directed by Robert Asher and starring Norman Wisdom. It also features Edward Chapman, Bryan Pringle, Richard Vernon, John Le Mesurier and Jerry Desmonde. It was the first Norman Wisdom film to ...

'' (2006) premiered at Queen's Theatre in the Belfast Festival, directed by

Rachel O'Riordan Rachel O'Riordan (born 1974) is an Irish theatre director. She is currently the artistic director at the Lyric Hammersmith, London. Early life and education Born in Cork, Ireland to poet and novelist Robert Anthony Welch and Angela O'Riorda ...

*''Heroes'' (2007) premiered by touring with the National Theatre, directed by Samantha Potter *''Airbag'' (2007) a collaboration with Nigerian choreographer Anthony Odey, premiered as a Rough Cut at the

*'' I'll Be The Devil'' (2008) produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company, premiered at

Tricycle Theatre The Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as n ...

, directed by

Ramin Gray Ramin Gray (born 11 October 1963) is a theatre director of Iranian (Muslim) and British (Jewish) heritage. Personal life Born in London in 1963, Ramin grew up in Oxford, Tehran, New York and Paris before graduating from Christ Church, Oxford with ...

*'' Faces In The Crowd'' (2008) premiered at

, directed by Clare Lizzimore *'' Juicy Fruits'' (2011) produced by

Paines Plough Paines Plough is a touring theatre company founded in 1974 by writer David Pownall and director John Adams. The company specialises exclusively in commissioning and producing new plays and helping playwrights develop their craft. Over the past ...

, premiered at Oran Mor, directed by George Perrin * ''Alison! : A Rock Opera'' (2012) co-written with Dan Persad premiered at

King's Head Theatre The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. It is the second oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2021, Mark Ravenhill became Artistic Director and the theatre focusses on producing LGBT ...

, directed by Nick Bagnall * ''Could You Please Close The Door Please?'' (2012) premiered at Berlin Schaubuhne as part of the Festival of International Drama. * ''Sixty-Nine'' (2012) premiered at

The Pleasance The Pleasance is a theatre, bar, sports and recreation complex in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on a street of the same name. It is owned by the University of Edinburgh, and for nine months of the year it serves the Edinburgh University Stud ...

Courtyard,

Edinburgh Festival 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 ...

, directed by Donnacadh O'Briain * ''Do It!'' (2013) premiered at

Open Court Season, directed by Ned Bennett. * ''

Boy A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is "a ...

'' (2016) premiered at the

, directed by Sacha Wares * ''Decades'' (2016) premiered at the

Ovalhouse Ovalhouse, formerly called Oval House Theatre, was an Off-West End theatre in the London Borough of Lambeth, located at 52–54 Kennington Oval, London, SE11 5SW. It closed in 2020, and moved to Brixton, becoming the Brixton House theatre (locate ...

theatre, produced and performed by the

BRIT School The BRIT School is a British performing and creative arts school located in Selhurst, Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, music technology, theatre, musical theatre, dan ...

, directed by Eva Sampson. * ''

Woyzeck ''Woyzeck'' () is a stage play written by Georg Büchner. Büchner wrote the play between July and October 1836, yet left it incomplete at his death in February 1837. The play first appeared in 1877 in a heavily edited version by Karl Emil F ...

'' (2018) an adaptation of Georg Buchner's original play premiered at

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

, directed by Roxana Silbert. * ''All You Need Is LSD'' (2018) produced by Told By An Idiot theatre company, premiered at

, directed by Paul Hunter and Stephen Harper. * ''Meet Mo'' (2020) short musical composed by Leo Butler, produced online by

Theatre Royal Stratford East The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whos ...

, directed by Eva Sampson. * ''Cinderella'' (2022) book and lyrics by Leo Butler, music and lyrics by Robert Hyman, produced by

, directed by Eva Sampson.

Film

*''Self Made'' (2011 feature) co-written with

Gillian Wearing Gillian Wearing CBE, RA (born 10 December 1963) is an English conceptual artist, one of the Young British Artists, and winner of the 1997 Turner Prize. In 2007 Wearing was elected as lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Her ...

, UK Film Council/Northern Film & Media, premiered at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

2011.

Television

*''Jerusalem the Golden'' (2002) single drama produced by BBC Four/Fictionlab, directed by Louis Caulfield, starring Rudolph Walker and Eddie Marsan.

Music

*'' Alison! A Rock Opera'' (2012) a rock opera, written by Leo Butler and Dan Persad. * ''The Collective Psychosis of the 21st Century'' (2017) an album of songs written & performed by Leo Butler and Dan Persad

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Leo 1974 births Living people Writers from Sheffield English dramatists and playwrights Alumni of Rose Bruford College English male dramatists and playwrights