Lorna French is a British playwright and the two-time winner of the Alfred Fagon Award for the best new play by a Black playwright of African or Caribbean descent living in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Her Fagon Award winner plays are ''Safe House'' and ''City Melodies.'' French is of mixed Jamaican and

Zimbabwean Demographic features of the population of Zimbabwe include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Population The population of Zimbabwe ...

heritage.

Career

French co-created the play ''These Four Walls'' with Naylah Ahmed, Sonali Bhattacharyya, Jennifer Farmer, Amber Lone and Cheryl Akila Payne. The play was commissioned by the

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 ...

and was created based on interviews with those affected by the Lozells Riot in 2005. She was a writer-in-residence at the New Wolsey Theatre in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

in 2008–2009, and earned an

MPhil A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at least ...

in Playwriting from the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

in 2011. French won the 2016 Alfred Fagon Award for her play ''City Melodies'', which explores the lives of first- and second-generation immigrants in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and their perseverance in the face of adversity. She previously won the same award in 2006 for her play ''Safe House''. The Octagon Theatre has commissioned plays or scenes from Lorna French on two occasions. In 2016, they produced a stage version of ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a 1960 Southern Gothic novel by American author Harper Lee. It became instantly successful after its release; in the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' ...

'', and commissioned three playwrights to each write a scene that provided additional perspective on the play. French's scene introduces a new character, Tom Robinson's daughter, and a black parallel to Scout. Two years later, Octagon commissioned French and Janys Chambers to write a new stage adaptation of

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Nicholls (; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known as Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë family, Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novel ...

's novel ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...

''; it premiered at the Octagon in January 2018. She cites as influences

Caryl Churchill Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non- naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes.

, debbie tucker green, and

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

, as well as

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically accl ...

and Sam Selvon.

Plays

* ''Safe House'', 2006 *''Inside My Skin'', 2008 * ''These Four Streets'', 2009 o-author*''Positive'', 2011 * ''City Melodies'', 2016 *additional scene for ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', 2016 * ''Jane Eyre'', 2018 o-adapter, with Janys Chambersref name=":1">

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Lorna British dramatists and playwrights Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Black British women writers Black British writers