Michael Wall (22 November 1946 – 11 June 1991) was 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 ...

. He wrote over forty plays, the most well-known of which are ''

Amongst Barbarians ''Amongst Barbarians'' is a 1989 play by British playwright Michael Wall, first performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester prior to a transfer to the Hampstead Theatre in London. It was filmed as a made-for-TV movie in 1990, which was s ...

'' and ''

Women Laughing ''Women Laughing'' is a stage play written by Michael Wall in 1989. It was first produced for the stage in 1992, just after the author's death. The original version of the play, which was for radio, contained only one act. A second was added f ...

''. Born in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a populatio ...

, England, he read

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

at the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

, graduating in 1976. He wrote several stage plays, but the majority of his work was done for

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

. Several of his works were produced by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

. ''Amongst Barbarians'', for which he won the 1989 Mobil Competition's prize for playwriting, was first produced at the Royal Exchange Theatre in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, England. It then moved to the

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director sin ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and was later made into a British made-for-television movie. He won the Sony and

Giles Cooper Award The Giles Cooper Awards were honours given to plays written for BBC Radio. Sponsored by the BBC and Methuen Drama, the awards were specifically focused on the script of the best radio drama produced in the past year. Five or six winners were chose ...

s in 1985 for ''

Hiroshima – The Movie ''Hiroshima: The Movie'' is a radio play written by Michael Wall in 1985. It was produced by BBC Radio in that year, and later rebroadcast in 2003. The play won Sony and Giles Cooper Awards The Giles Cooper Awards were honours given to plays w ...

'', which he wrote for BBC radio. ''Women Laughing'', written in 1989, was produced on stage 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 West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal ...

in 1992, just after the author's death. ''

Headcrash Headcrash is a satirical cyberpunk novel by Bruce Bethke, published in 1995 by Warner Books. It won the Philip K. Dick Award in 1995. It follows Jack Burroughs, who loses his bureaucratic corporate job and goes undercover on the InfoBahn (inte ...

'' was produced for the BBC in 1986. However, due to concerns about its violent content, it was not broadcast until 1993, two years after the author's death.

Bibliography (incomplete)

* ''Japanese Style'' (1982) * ''Goodnight Mr. Zero'' (1982) * ''A Marriage of Convenience'' (1983) * ''Sound Explosion'' (1984) * ''Blue Days'' (1985) * ''

'' (1985) * ''

'' (1986) * ''The Wide-Brimmed Hat'' (1987) * ''Act of Mercy'' (1988) * ''The Last of the Lovers'' (1989) * ''

'' (1989) * ''

'' (1989)

Awards (incomplete)

* Mobil Playwriting Competition award for ''Amongst Barbarians'' * The Sony Award for ''Hiroshima – The Movie'' *

for ''Hiroshima – The Movie''

Selected press quotes

* "’I'm gonna shoot roller-skaters, you coming?’ must be one of the best lines of offhand dialogue ever. It encapsulates the grimly humorous, nihilistic ambience of Michael Wall's futuristic Headcrash…" ''The Independent'', 27 July 1993 * "Michael Wall's death has come too suddenly and too soon. Following his success with AMONGST BARBARIANS…it seemed that he would finally be able to realise his potential as a major playwright for the stage." ''The Independent'', 14 June 1991 * "Amongst Barbarians…typified his challenge to the indifference and cruelty associated with Britain's colonial legacy. While he was horrified by the ignorance and arrogance of the smugglers' families, he understood the alienation that had formed their attitudes." ''The Guardian'', 17 June 1991 * Of ''Amongst Barbarians'', "...an impressively mature work, worthy winner of the second Mobil Playwriting Competition...scorchingly well acted production...A gripping evening." ''The Times'' 1989

References

Sources

* ''The Independent'' 27 July 1993 * ''The Independent'' 14 June 1991 * ''The Guardian'' 17 June 1991 * ''Financial Times'' 1996

External links

Michael Wall's Radio Plays

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, Michael 1946 births 1991 deaths Alumni of the University of York People from Hereford 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights English male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers