Peter Quilter is a playwright whose plays have been translated into 20 languages and performed in 33 countries. His shows have been performed in cities across six continents, including London, Cape Town, Rome, Prague, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Chicago, Madrid, Sydney and New York.
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Quilter was born in Colchester, England and is an honours graduate of Leeds University. He began his writing career from his home in Greenwich, London where he lived for 14 years before emigrating to the Canary Islands where he is now an official resident.
He started his career as a television presenter on BBC TV. His first play was an all-female comedy Respecting Your Piers (recently re-published by Samuel French under a new title, "Curtain Up") and he followed this with a musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde´s The Canterville Ghost which played a number one tour of the UK starring Ron Moody. The following year, he made his West End debut with a comedy about the pop industry, BoyBand. The show played a summer season at the Gielgud Theatre and later enjoyed success in South Africa, Denmark, Poland and on a 60-venue tour of the Netherlands. It is currently playing an open ended run at the Nova Scena theatre in Bratislava.
In 2005, Quilter had his first big international hit with End of the Rainbow, a musical drama about the final months in the life of Judy Garland. It premiered at the Sydney Opera House in Australia (winning Caroline O'Connor two Best Actress awards) and also had an award-winning run at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival. The following year, Joop van den Ende presented a new Dutch production which played a seven-month tour of the Netherlands culminating in performances at the Royal Theatre Carre in Amsterdam. The show has since enjoyed runs in the Czech Republic, Finland, Poland and New Zealand. A new UK production opened in February 2010 at the Royal Theatre in Northampton, directed by Terry Johnson, designed by William Dudley and starring Tracie Bennett. The show transferred to London's West End on November 16, playing at the Trafalgar Studios - a 400 seat theatre at the corner of Trafalgar Square. The show opened to great critical acclaim and was featured on the front cover of The Times newspaper. The play ended its six month run in May 2011. The show received nominations for 4 Laurence Olivier Awards - Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound and Best New Play. A new spanish production opened at the Teatro Marqina in Madrid in January 2011, starring Natalia Dicenta and a german production opened at the Hamburger Kammerspiele in June 2011. In November 2011 a new Brazilian production of the show will open in Rio de Janeiro directed by Moeller-Botelho. In January 2012, the show will make its USA debut at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, prior to an announced Broadway transfer, opening March 19th.
Quilter's other major hit Glorious! also received its debut production in 2005, opening at Birmingham Rep Theatre and transferring in November 2005 to the Duchess Theatre in the West End. The production starred the much loved comedy actress Maureen Lipman, was directed by Alan Strachan and produced by impresario Michael Codron. Glorious! told the story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the worst singer in the world. It ran in London for six months and over 200 performances. The play was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award as Best New Comedy. Glorious! made its North American debut at Theatre Calgary and had its first foreign language production at the Helsinki City Theatre, under the title Suurenmoista! It has since played in over 20 countries and recently celebrated its 2000th worldwide performance and a million ticket sales. In 2008 Quilter created a three-actor version which premiered at the Fulton Opera House, Philadelphia and also played to great success in Rio de Janeiro and Madrid. The play is currently running for its 5th year in Prague and Warsaw and has been in continual production in Canada and Germany since 2006. One of the most popular productions has been in Poland ("Boska") starring the legendary Krystyna Janda. The production has visited Chicago and New York, has toured to all major polish cities, and been broadcast live on national television. In the coming year, new productions will open in Bratislava, Caracas, Dusseldorf and Mexico City.
His other work includes -
Duets, an award-winning romantic comedy for a cast of two actors, which received several national premiere productions in 2009, including in Vilnius, Atlanta, Krakow, Manila and Sydney. It has been published by Samuel French Ltd.
The screenplay Celebrity which was made into a television movie by Teatr Telewizji in Poland titled Rodzinny Show. The film has been broadcast several times on national and digital TV and had guest screenings at various festivals. The screenplay has recently been adapted for the stage and premiered in November at the Vasterbotten Theatre in Sweden under the title Kandisfeber.
Just the Ticket is a one-woman comedy, which had its world premiere at Australia's Ensemble Theatre in February 2011.
Curtain Up! is an all-female comedy popular with amateur groups in the UK. It will open at Divadlo Palace in Prague in February 2012.
Boyband is a pop musical that has played runs in London, Cape Town, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Copenhagen and Bratislava.
The Canterville Ghost is a family musical based on Oscar Wilde's story (with music by Charles Miller). It toured the UK starring Ron Moody.
The Nightingales is a comedy with music based around a theatrical family in the 1950s. The World Premiere will be at the Contra Kreiss Theater in Bonn Germany at christmas.
Peter's latest play (July 2011) is a modern comedy about sex, love and family...and sex. It is titled The Morning After