Leo Butler
Encyclopedia
Leo Butler is a British playwright. He graduated from the Royal Court
's young writers' scheme. He is active since 2000, when he was described as one of the "Great British Hopes". His plays have been staged, among others, by the Royal Court Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company
and the National Theatre
. A collective edition of his plays has been published in 2008 by A & C Black
. Since 2006 he has also been Playwriting Tutor for the prestigious Royal Court
Young Writers Programme.
, 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.
Redundant
contained the first ever reference in theatre to Osama bin Laden
where a character said that the whole country needed to be bombed by him to teach us all what suffering was. The play premiered at Royal Court on the 22nd September 2001 as a darkly comic examination of social poverty and its effects on the life of a seventeen year old girl, but the events of September 11th overshadowed the play's intended themes, with the references to Osama bin Laden
receiving gasps from the audience. It has since been regarded as a greater play than was originally thought.
Lucky Dog and The Early Bird
received praise from the critics in 2004 and 2006. Both plays 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.
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
's young writers' scheme. He is active since 2000, when he was described as one of the "Great British Hopes". His plays have been staged, among others, by the Royal Court Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
and the 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...
. A collective edition of his plays has been published in 2008 by A & C Black
A & C Black
A & C Black is a British book publishing company.The firm was founded in 1807 by Adam and Charles Black in Edinburgh, and moved to the Soho district of London in 1889. In 1851, the firm bought the copyright of Walter Scott's Waverley Novels for £27,000. In 1902 it published P. G...
. Since 2006 he has also been Playwriting Tutor for the prestigious Royal Court
Royal court
Royal court, as distinguished from a court of law, may refer to:* The Royal Court , Timbaland's production company*Court , the household and entourage of a monarch or other ruler, the princely court...
Young Writers Programme.
Biography
Having been born and brought up in Sheffield he moved to London to attend Rose Bruford CollegeRose Bruford College
Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance is a British drama school, offering university-level and professional vocational training for theatre and performance and the BA and MA degrees, based in Sidcup, Southeast London.-History:Founded in 1950, Rose Bruford "pioneered the first acting degree...
, 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
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
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.
Redundant
Redundant (play)
Redundant by Leo Butler premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 2001 starring Lyndsey Marshal and directed by Dominic Cooke.Set in seventeen year old Lucy's Sheffield council flat, the play follows a year in the promiscuous teenager's life as she makes one disastrous choice after another. It is a...
contained the first ever reference in theatre to Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
where a character said that the whole country needed to be bombed by him to teach us all what suffering was. The play premiered at Royal Court on the 22nd September 2001 as a darkly comic examination of social poverty and its effects on the life of a seventeen year old girl, but the events of September 11th overshadowed the play's intended themes, with the references to Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
receiving gasps from the audience. It has since been regarded as a greater play than was originally thought.
Lucky Dog and The Early Bird
The Early Bird (play)
The Early Bird by Leo Butler was first produced at the Queen's Theatre in the Belfast Festival in Ireland in 2006 and was directed by Rachel O'Riordan....
received praise from the critics in 2004 and 2006. Both plays shared themes of familial despair, and saw the playwright move away from the stark naturalism of their predecessors.
I'll Be The Devil
I'll Be The Devil
I'll Be The Devil is a play by Leo Butler that was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and written in response to The Tempest by William Shakespeare for the Complete Works Festival. It was staged for the first time at the Tricycle Theatre 2008 directed by Ramin Gray.-Overview:The play is...
was commissioned by the RSC to be written in response to The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
, 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
Credit crunch
A credit crunch is a reduction in the general availability of loans or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from the banks. A credit crunch generally involves a reduction in the availability of credit independent of a rise in official interest rates...
themed play Faces In The Crowd
Faces in the Crowd (play)
Faces in the Crowd by Leo Butler was first performed at the Royal Court theatre in London in 2008. The original cast had Amanda Drew and Con O'Neill directed by Clare Lizzimore. Its been called a 'credit-crunch generation Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'....
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
Gillian Wearing
Gillian Wearing OBE RA is an English conceptual artist, one of the YBAs, and winner of the annual British fine arts award, The Turner Prize, in 1997. On 11 December 2007, Wearing was elected as lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London....
, which premiered at the London Film Festival in 2010.
He lives in London with his wife and daughter.
Plays
- Made of Stone, 2000
- RedundantRedundant (play)Redundant by Leo Butler premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 2001 starring Lyndsey Marshal and directed by Dominic Cooke.Set in seventeen year old Lucy's Sheffield council flat, the play follows a year in the promiscuous teenager's life as she makes one disastrous choice after another. It is a...
, 2001 - Devotion, 2002
- Lucky DogLucky DogLucky Dog by Leo Butler is play which premiered in the upstairs Jerwood Theatre of Royal Court in 2004.Butler has said that he was inspired by the image of a woman turning into a dog and had the title and that image long before the play or narrative...
, 2004 - The Early BirdThe Early Bird (play)The Early Bird by Leo Butler was first produced at the Queen's Theatre in the Belfast Festival in Ireland in 2006 and was directed by Rachel O'Riordan....
, 2006 - Heroes, 2007
- Airbag, 2007
- I'll Be The DevilI'll Be The DevilI'll Be The Devil is a play by Leo Butler that was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and written in response to The Tempest by William Shakespeare for the Complete Works Festival. It was staged for the first time at the Tricycle Theatre 2008 directed by Ramin Gray.-Overview:The play is...
2008 - Faces In The CrowdFaces in the Crowd (play)Faces in the Crowd by Leo Butler was first performed at the Royal Court theatre in London in 2008. The original cast had Amanda Drew and Con O'Neill directed by Clare Lizzimore. Its been called a 'credit-crunch generation Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'....
2008 - Come to Where I'm From, 2010
- Election Shorts - Hung Over, 2010
- A Separate Reality: A Rock Opera, 2011
- Juicy Fruits, 2011