Jack Thorne (writer)
Encyclopedia
Jack Thorne is an English screenwriter and playwright. Born in Bristol
, England, he has written for radio, theatre and film, most notably on the TV shows Skins
, Cast-offs, This Is England '86
, The Fades
and the feature film The Scouting Book For Boys
. He currently lives in Luton
.
, 2005 ), Fanny and Faggot (Finborough Theatre
and tour 2007), Stacy (Arcola Theatre
and Trafalgar Studios
, 2007), Burying Your Brother In The Pavement (Royal National Theatre
Connections Festival 2008 ), 2 May 1997 (Bush Theatre
2009) and Bunny (Underbelly and tour 2010) which won a Fringe First at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival
. He also collaborated on Greenland
(2011) with Moira Buffini
, Penelope Skinner
and Matt Charman
at the National Theatre. His plays are published by Nick Hern Books
.
He will also be partaking in the Bush Theatre
's 2011 project Sixty Six where he has written a piece based upon a chapter of the King James Bible
and Shameless
. He co-created Cast-offs (nominated Royal Television Society
Best Drama series 2010 ), and has co-written This Is England '86
with Shane Meadows
. In August 2010 BBC Three
announced Thorne would be writing a supernatural 6x60 drama for the channel called 'Touch', later to be retitled The Fades
.
(co-written with Alex Bulmer, radio 4, 2009) and People Snogging In Public Places (radio 3, 2009). The latter won him the Sony Radio Academy Awards
Gold for Best Drama 2010. The judges described it "as a wonderfully written and performed, highly original piece of radio drama in which the production perfectly mirrored the subject. Painful and funny, it was a bold exciting listen."
was released in 2009, it won him Best Newcomer at the London Film Festival
. The jury said: “Jack Thorne is a poetic writer with an end-of-the-world imagination and a real gift for story-telling.”
He is also working on a film based on the television series Skins for Film 4
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England, he has written for radio, theatre and film, most notably on the TV shows Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
, Cast-offs, This Is England '86
This Is England '86
This Is England '86 is a 2010 British drama series written by Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne. A spin-off from the 2006 film This Is England, and set three years later, it focuses on the mod revival scene rather than the skinhead subculture...
, The Fades
The Fades (TV series)
The Fades is a British supernatural drama television series broadcast on BBC Three and BBC HD. The first of six episodes aired on 21 September 2011....
and the feature film The Scouting Book For Boys
The Scouting Book For Boys
The Scouting Book for Boys is a British film directed by Tom Harper, produced by Ivana MacKinnon and written by Jack Thorne. It stars Thomas Turgoose, Holliday Grainger, Rafe Spall, Susan Lynch, Tony Maudsley and Steven Mackintosh. It premiered internationally at the San Sebastien Film Festival and...
. He currently lives in Luton
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
.
Theatre
Thorne's plays for stage include When You Cure Me (Bush TheatreBush Theatre
The Bush Theatre is based in Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 above The Bush public house by Brian McDermott, and has since become one of the most celebrated new writing theatres in the world. An intimate venue renowned for its close-up...
, 2005 ), Fanny and Faggot (Finborough Theatre
Finborough Theatre
The Finborough Theatre is a fifty seat theatre in the Earls Court area of London, United Kingdom , which presents new British writing, UK and premieres of new plays, primarily from the English speaking world including North America, Canada, Scotland and Ireland, music theatre, and rarely seen...
and tour 2007), Stacy (Arcola Theatre
Arcola Theatre
Arcola Theatre is a studio theatre in Dalston, in the London Borough of Hackney. The theatre's ambition is to create and present high-quality theatre with a social and political relevance to its multicultural local community as well as a wider audience....
and Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Studios, formerly The Whitehall Theatre until 2004, is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London....
, 2007), Burying Your Brother In The Pavement (Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
Connections Festival 2008 ), 2 May 1997 (Bush Theatre
Bush Theatre
The Bush Theatre is based in Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 above The Bush public house by Brian McDermott, and has since become one of the most celebrated new writing theatres in the world. An intimate venue renowned for its close-up...
2009) and Bunny (Underbelly and tour 2010) which won a Fringe First at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
. He also collaborated on Greenland
Greenland (2011 play)
Greenland is a play by the British playwrights Moira Buffini, Penelope Skinner, Matt Charman and Jack Thorne on global warming and its effects, named after the island of Greenland. It premiered at the Lyttelton auditorium of the Royal National Theatre in London from 27 January to 2 April 2011,...
(2011) with Moira Buffini
Moira Buffini
Moira Buffini is an English dramatist, director and actor.-Career:Buffini was born in Cheshire to Irish parents, and trained as an actor at the Welsh College of Music and Drama. For Jordan, co-written with Anna Reynolds in 1992, she won a Time Out Award for her performance and Writers' Guild Award...
, Penelope Skinner
Penelope Skinner
Penelope Skinner is a British playwright who came to prominence after her play Fucked was first produced in 2008 at the Old Red Lion Theatre and the Edinburgh Festival to huge critical acclaim and has had successive plays staged in London including at the Bush Theatre, National Theatre with an...
and Matt Charman
Matt Charman
Matt Charman is a British playwright.Charman was born on the 5 June 1979 in Crawley, West Sussex.His first play, A Night at the Dogs, was selected from over 700 entries to win the 2004 Verity Bargate Award....
at the National Theatre. His plays are published by Nick Hern Books
Nick Hern Books
Nick Hern Books is a London-based independent specialist publisher of plays, theatre books and screenplays. The company was founded by the former Methuen drama editor Nick Hern in 1988.-History:...
.
He will also be partaking in the Bush Theatre
Bush Theatre
The Bush Theatre is based in Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 above The Bush public house by Brian McDermott, and has since become one of the most celebrated new writing theatres in the world. An intimate venue renowned for its close-up...
's 2011 project Sixty Six where he has written a piece based upon a chapter of the King James Bible
Television
Thorne has written for the TV shows SkinsSkins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
and Shameless
Shameless
Shameless is a British television drama series set in Manchester on the fictional Chatsworth council estate. Produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4, the first seven-episode series aired weekly on Tuesday nights at 10pm from 13 January 2004...
. He co-created Cast-offs (nominated Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
Best Drama series 2010 ), and has co-written This Is England '86
This Is England '86
This Is England '86 is a 2010 British drama series written by Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne. A spin-off from the 2006 film This Is England, and set three years later, it focuses on the mod revival scene rather than the skinhead subculture...
with Shane Meadows
Shane Meadows
Shane Meadows is an English film director, screenwriter, occasional actor and BAFTA winner.-Background:Meadows grew up in the Westlands Road area of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. His father was a long distance lorry driver and his mother worked in a fish and chip shop...
. In August 2010 BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
announced Thorne would be writing a supernatural 6x60 drama for the channel called 'Touch', later to be retitled The Fades
The Fades (TV series)
The Fades is a British supernatural drama television series broadcast on BBC Three and BBC HD. The first of six episodes aired on 21 September 2011....
.
Radio
Thorne has written four plays for radio; an adaptation of When You Cure Me (radio 3, 2006 ), Left At the Angel (radio 4, 2007 ), an adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre DameThe Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered.-Background:...
(co-written with Alex Bulmer, radio 4, 2009) and People Snogging In Public Places (radio 3, 2009). The latter won him the Sony Radio Academy Awards
Sony Radio Academy Awards
The Sony Radio Academy Awards , started in 1983, are some of the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. They are run by ZAFER Associates in association with the Radio Academy...
Gold for Best Drama 2010. The judges described it "as a wonderfully written and performed, highly original piece of radio drama in which the production perfectly mirrored the subject. Painful and funny, it was a bold exciting listen."
Film
Thorne's first film The Scouting Book For BoysThe Scouting Book For Boys
The Scouting Book for Boys is a British film directed by Tom Harper, produced by Ivana MacKinnon and written by Jack Thorne. It stars Thomas Turgoose, Holliday Grainger, Rafe Spall, Susan Lynch, Tony Maudsley and Steven Mackintosh. It premiered internationally at the San Sebastien Film Festival and...
was released in 2009, it won him Best Newcomer at the London Film Festival
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...
. The jury said: “Jack Thorne is a poetic writer with an end-of-the-world imagination and a real gift for story-telling.”
He is also working on a film based on the television series Skins for Film 4
External links
- Jack Thorne at the London Theatre Database
- Jack Thorne at The Playwrights Database
- Jack Thorne's entry at In Yer Face Theatre
- Jack Thorne at Casarotto Ramsay
- 'Are we there yet?' Jack Thorne on writing Cast-offs, Independent, 22 November 2009
- Jack Thorne on The Scouting Book For Boys, Film4.com, March 2010
- Interview with Skins Writer Jack Thorne, After Ellen.com, July 1, 2010
- Interview and Podcast with The Writers' Guild of Great Britain, writersguildofgreatbritain.co.uk, August 2010