Roy Williams (playwright)

Roy Williams

OBE FRSL
Roy Williams; OBE FRSL
Born	Roy Samuel Williams; Fulham, London, England
Occupation	Playwright
Alma mater	Rose Bruford College
Notable awards	Alfred Fagon Award
	Literature portal

Roy Samuel Williams OBE FRSL is a British playwright.

Early life

Williams was born in Fulham, London, and brought up in Notting Hill, the youngest of four siblings in a single-parent home, with his mother working as a nurse after his father moved to the United States. Williams decided to work in theatre after being tutored by the writer Don Kinch when he was failing in school and attended some rehearsals in a black theatrical company that Kinch ran. After leaving school at the age of 18, Williams did various jobs, including working in McDonald's and in a props warehouse. In 1992, he took a theatre-writing degree at Rose Bruford College and has worked ever since as a writer.^[1]

His first full-length play was The No Boys Cricket Club, which premiered in 1996 at Theatre Royal Stratford East.^[2] Williams has done work in television, including adapting his own play Fallout, and also co-wrote the script for the 2012 British film Fast Girls.

Awards

1996: Writers Guild of Great Britain award nomination for Best new writer of the year. For The No Boys Cricket Club.
1997: First recipient of the Alfred Fagon Award for Starstruck.
1999: Winner of The Joh Whiting Award for most promising playwright for Starstruck.
1999: Winner of the Emma Award for best theatre play, for Starstruck.
2000: Joint winner of the George Devine Award for most promising playwright for Lift Off.
2001: Winner of The Most Promising playwright Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for Clubland
2002: Winner of the BAFTA award for best schools drama Offside.
2003: Best play nomination at the Evening Standard Theatre awards for Fallout.
2003: Winner of the Arts Council Decibel Award at the South Bank Awards for Fallout.
2005: Best play for young people nomination for Little Sweet Thing for the UK theatre Awards.
2008. Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty The Queen for services to drama.
2009: Winner at the Screen Nation awards for achievement in screenwriting for Fallout.
2010: Best play nomination at the Evening Standard Theatre awards for Sucker Punch.
2010: Joint winner of the Alfred Fagon Award for Sucker Punch.
2011: Best play nomination art The Olivier awards for Sucker Punch.
2011: Winner of The Best Play at the Writers Guild of Great Britain Awards for Sucker Punch.
2019: Winner of Diversity in Drama TV production for Soon Gone, Windrush Chronicle.
2019: Winner of Content Innovation for Best Short firm series Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle.
2020: Best Short form drama BAFTA TV Awards nomination for Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle.
2020: Best new play nomination at the BBC radio drama Awards for The Likes of Us.
2020: Royal Television Society (RTS) nomination for Best writer for Soon Goon: A Windrush Chronicle.
2022: Winner of Best Play/musical for Death Of England: Delroy at the Visionary Honours awards.
2022: Best Single drama nomination at RTS Awards for Death Of England: Face to Face.
2022: Best Single drama nomination at the BAFTA Awards for Death Of England: Face to Face.
2023: Best Single drama nomination at the Broadcast Awards for Death Of England: Face to Face.

2024 Winner Best adaptation at the BBC Audio Drama Awards for "Bess loves Porgy".

His plays include:

No Boys Cricket Club (1996), Theatre Royal Stratford East
Starstruck (1998)
Lift Off (1999)
Local Boy (2000)
The Gift (2000)
Souls (2000)
Clubland (2001), Royal Court Theatre Upstairs^[3]
Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads (2002), National Theatre^[4]
Fallout (2003), Royal Court Theatre downstairs^[5]
Joe Guy (2007)
Days of Significance (2007)
Baby Girl (2007), National Theatre, part of the Connections season^[6]
Sucker Punch (2010), Royal Court Theatre downstairs^[7]
A contribution to Sixty-Six Books (multi-authored piece) (2011), Bush Theatre^[8]
The Interrogation (2012– ), BBC Radio 4
Advice for the Young at Heart (2013), Theatre Centre^[9]
Kingston 14, Theatre Royal Stratford East, 2014.
Wildefire, Hampstead Theatre (2014)^[10]
Soul, Royal & Derngate / Hackney Empire (2016)^[11]
The Firm, Hampstead Theatre, 2017, returning for a second run in 2019.
Death of England, with Clint Dyer (2020)^[12]
Death of England: Delroy, with Clint Dyer (2020)^[13]
Faith Hope & Glory (2020–) BBC Radio 4
Out West (Go Girl), Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, 2021
NW Trilogy (Life Of Riley), Kiln Theatre, 2021
The Fellowship, Hampstead Theatre 2022
Unexpected Twist (based on the children's novel by Michael Rosen) opens at the Royal & Derngate Theatre Northampton, followed by four-month UK theatre tour in 2023.
The Lonely Londoners (based on the novel by Sam Selvon), Jermyn Street Theatre, 2024.^[14]

Death Of England:Closing time at the National Theatre in 2023

References

^ Miranda Sawyer, "Taking the stage" (interview), The Guardian, 10 February 2008.
^ Simon Hattenstone, "Roy Williams: Confessions of an uncool kid", The Guardian, 7 June 2010.
^ Clubland.
^ Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads. Archived 18 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ Fallout. Archived 23 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
^ Baby Girl. Archived 17 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
^ Sucker Punch.
^ Bush Theatre. Archived 4 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
^ Theatre Centre
^ Johanna Thomas-Corr, "Playwright Roy Williams: 'The time just seemed right to put the Metropolitan Police in the spotlight'", Evening Standard, 28 October 2014.
^ Hannah Ellis-Petersen, "Let's put it on: Roy Williams on Soul, his play about Marvin Gaye", The Guardian, 30 November 2015.
^ "Death of England | National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
^ "Death of England: Delroy | National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
^ "Jermyn Street celebrates 30th anniversary with Roy Williams premiere". The Stage. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

[1] Miranda Sawyer, "Taking the stage" (interview), The Guardian, 10 February 2008.

[2] Simon Hattenstone, "Roy Williams: Confessions of an uncool kid", The Guardian, 7 June 2010.

[3] Clubland.

[4] Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads. Archived 18 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine

[5] Fallout. Archived 23 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine

[6] Baby Girl. Archived 17 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine

[7] Sucker Punch.

[8] Bush Theatre. Archived 4 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine

[9] Theatre Centre

[10] Johanna Thomas-Corr, "Playwright Roy Williams: 'The time just seemed right to put the Metropolitan Police in the spotlight'", Evening Standard, 28 October 2014.

[11] Hannah Ellis-Petersen, "Let's put it on: Roy Williams on Soul, his play about Marvin Gaye", The Guardian, 30 November 2015.

[12] "Death of England | National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2020.

[13] "Death of England: Delroy | National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.

[14] "Jermyn Street celebrates 30th anniversary with Roy Williams premiere". The Stage. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

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Roy Williams OBE FRSL
Born	Roy Samuel Williams Fulham, London, England
Occupation	Playwright
Alma mater	Rose Bruford College
Notable awards	Alfred Fagon Award
Literature portal