Moira Buffini (born 29 May 1965) is an English dramatist, director, and actor.

Early life

Buffini was born in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

to Irish parents, and attended St Mary's College at Rhos-on-Sea in Wales as a day girl. She studied English and Drama at

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a Member institutions of the University of London, constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The G ...

, London University (1983–86).Dinner By Moira Buffini
/ref> She subsequently trained as an actor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff.

Career

For ''Jordan'', co-written with Anna Reynolds in 1992, she won a Time Out Award for her performance and Writers' Guild Award for Best Fringe play. Her 1997 play ''Gabriel'' was performed at Soho theatre, winning the LWT Plays on Stage award and the Meyer-Whitworth Award. Her 1999 play ''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient hearing, audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low sound intensity, intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be exten ...

'' earned Buffini the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for best English-language play by a woman. ''Loveplay'' followed at the RSC in 2001, then ''Dinner'' at the National Theatre in 2003 which transferred to the West End and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy. Buffini wrote ''Dying For It'', a free adaptation of Nikolai Erdman's classic, ''The Suicide'', for the Almeida in 2007. She followed it with ''Marianne Dreams'' a dance play with choreographer Will Tuckett, based on Catherine Storr's book. Her play for young people, ''A Vampire Story'' was performed as part of NT Connections in 2008. She did a writers’ attachment at the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

Studio in 1996. Buffini advocates big, imaginative plays rather than naturalistic soap opera dramas, and is a founder member of the Monsterists, a group of playwrights who promote new writing of large scale work in the British theatre. She has been described by David Greig as a metaphysical playwright. All her plays have been published by Faber. Buffini is also a prolific screenwriter. In 2010 her film adaptation of Posy Simmon's '' Tamara Drewe'' was released, directed by

Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...

. In 2011 her adaptation of ''

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 ...

'' for

BBC Films BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), Truly, ...

and Ruby Films was released. The script appeared on the 2008 Brit List, a film-industry-compiled list of the best unproduced screenplays in British film. It received nine votes, putting it in second place. Buffini adapted her play ''A Vampire Story'' for the screenplay of Neil Jordan's film ''

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

'' released in 2013. She took part in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project '' Sixty Six Books'' for which she wrote a poem titled “God is Jealous,” based upon Nahum, a book of the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

. On the 21 January 2015, it was announced that

Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first takin ...

would premier '' wonder.land'', a new musical with music by

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

, book and lyrics by Moira Buffini and direction from Rufus Norris. ''wonder.land'' is inspired by ''

Alice In Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

and is a co-production with the National Theatre.

Plays

*''Jordan'' (1992) *''Gabriel'' (1997) *''Blavatsky's Tower ''(1998) *''

'' (1999) *''The Games Room'' *''Loveplay'' (2001) *''

Dinner Dinner usually refers to what is in many Western cultures the biggest and most formal meal of the day. Historically, the largest meal used to be eaten around noon, midday, and called dinner. Especially among the elite, it gradually migrated to ...

'' (2002) *''Dying For It'' (2007) a free adaptation of Nikolai Erdman's '' The Suicide'' *''A Vampire Story'' (2008) *'' Welcome to Thebes'' (2010) *''

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

'' (2011) written with Penelope Skinner, Matt Charman and

Jack Thorne Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. A massive fan of hard science fiction, he is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the fil ...

*'' Handbagged'' (2013) *'' wonder.land'' (2015) *''Manor'' (2021)

Filmography

*'' Marianne Dreams'' (2007) *'' Handbagged'' (2010) *'' Tamara Drewe'' (2010) *''

'' (2011) *''

'' (2012) *'' Viceroy's House'' (2017) *'' Harlots'' (2017-2019) *'' The Dig'' (2021)

References

External links

*
"Moira Buffini"
entry by Aleks Sierz in his '' In-yer-face theatre'' website. Accessed 8 June 2008.
"Monsterists"
entry by Aleks Sierz in his '' In-yer-face theatre'' website. Accessed 8 June 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Buffini, Moira 1965 births Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Living people People from Northwich Writers from Cheshire English women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English dramatists and playwrights 21st-century English writers 21st-century English women writers English women screenwriters English screenwriters English people of Irish descent