Leo Butler

Leo Butler (b. Sheffield, 1974) is a British playwright. He graduated from the Royal Court's young writers' scheme.^[1] He is active since 2000, when he was described as one of the "Great British Hopes".^[2] His plays have been staged, among others, by the Royal Court Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.^[3] A collective edition of his plays has been published in 2008 by A & C Black.^[4] Since 2006 he has also been Playwriting Tutor for the Royal Court Young Writers Programme.

Biography

Having been born and brought up in Sheffield he moved to London to attend Rose Bruford College, before the start of his career as a playwright. His first play Made Of Stone was performed in the Young Writers Festival at Royal Court in 2000. All his plays come from a starting image and this was two brothers standing by their fathers grave he has called Made of Stone his most personal play and his 'love letter' to Sheffield.^[4]

Redundant premiered at Royal Court on 22 September 2001 as a darkly comic examination of social poverty and its effects on the life of a seventeen-year-old girl.

Lucky Dog and The Early Bird shared themes of familial despair, and saw the playwright move away from the stark naturalism of their predecessors.

I'll Be The Devil was commissioned by the RSC to be written in response to The Tempest, set in rural Ireland during the 18th Century, it received mixed reviews, many of which took exception to the play's relentless profanity and violence. Some, however, praised the piece for its unflinching portrayal of the violence and madness of military occupation. It premiered in 2008 and was the first time one of his plays was first performed in a major London theatre asides Royal Court.

That same year, his credit crunch themed play Faces In The Crowd was performed in the upstairs Jerwood Theatre at the Royal Court, and received generally good reviews for its portrayal of a couple who are torn apart by a mountain of debt, and for the bravery of its lead actors who spent much of their on-stage time in the nude.

More recently, he co-wrote the book and music for A Separate Reality: A Rock Opera with Dan Persad, which was performed as part of the Royal Court's Rough Cuts 2011 season.

He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film Self Made directed by Gillian Wearing, which premiered at the London Film Festival in 2010.

He lives in London with his wife and daughter.

Plays

• Juicy Fruits (2011) premiered at Oran Mor, directed by George Perrin^[5]
• A Separate Reality: A Rock Opera (2011) co-written with Dan Persad premiered at Royal Court Theatre, directed by Nick Bagnall^[6]
• Election Shorts - Hung Over (2010) premiered at Theatre Local, Royal Court, directed by Dipo Agboluaje^[7]
• Come to Where I'm From (2010) premiered at the Sheffield Crucible Theatre
• Faces In The Crowd (2008) premiered at Royal Court Theatre, directed by Clare Lizzimore^[8]
• I'll Be The Devil (2008) premiered at Tricycle Theatre, directed by Ramin Gray^[9]
• Airbag (2007) premiered as a Rough Cut at the Royal Court Theatre
• Heroes (2007) premiered by touring with the National Theatre, directed by Samantha Potter
• The Early Bird (2006) premiered at Queen's Theatre in the Belfast Festival, directed by Rachel O'Riordan
• Lucky Dog (2004) premiered at Royal Court Theatre, directed by James Macdonald^[10]
• Devotion (2002) premiered at Redbridge Drama Centre
• Redundant(2001) premiered at Royal Court Theatre, directed by Dominic Cooke^[11]
• Made of Stone (2000) premiered as part of the Young Writers' Festival at Royal Court Theatre

External links

• An article on Leo Butler
• An interview with Leo Butler

Notes