Olwen Wymark
Encyclopedia
Olwen Wymark is an American writer and playwright.
her parents being Philip W. (a professor of political science) and Barbara (Jacobs) Buck. She attended Pomona College
from 1949–51 and University College, London from 1951–52.
She has written many plays, including Gymnasium (1972), Find Me (1980), Loved (1980), Best Friends (1984) and Strike Up The Banns (1990). She was at her most prolific in the 1970s, with her most recent published play to date being Mirror Mirror, released in 1992.
Her most successful play is probably Find Me, a play about mental illness, which still features frequently on UK school syllabi as one of the set texts for drama qualifications.
with whom she had four children Jane Wymark
, Rowan, Dominic, and Tristram. Wymark currently resides in London
.
: "From the fifties until my husband died in 1970 I wrote plays because I wanted to; now I write them for a living. Although I have never written `a commercial' play, I have to sell my work. Consequently I think my plays have become less obscure (and pretentious), and I find myself more drawn to comedy. The theatre is my first passion, but I love to write for radio and would like to write more for TV and would really like to write a film."
Early life
Olwen Margaret Buck was born on February 14, 1932 in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
her parents being Philip W. (a professor of political science) and Barbara (Jacobs) Buck. She attended Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
from 1949–51 and University College, London from 1951–52.
She has written many plays, including Gymnasium (1972), Find Me (1980), Loved (1980), Best Friends (1984) and Strike Up The Banns (1990). She was at her most prolific in the 1970s, with her most recent published play to date being Mirror Mirror, released in 1992.
Her most successful play is probably Find Me, a play about mental illness, which still features frequently on UK school syllabi as one of the set texts for drama qualifications.
Personal life
Her husband was British actor Patrick WymarkPatrick Wymark
Patrick Wymark , was a British, stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Born Patrick Carl Cheeseman in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England...
with whom she had four children Jane Wymark
Jane Wymark
Jane Wymark is an English actress. The daughter of well-known actor Patrick Wymark , she is best known for playing Morwenna Chynoweth Whitworth in the 1970s BBC television period drama Poldark , and more recently Joyce Barnaby in the hugely popular ITV detective series Midsomer Murders, a role...
, Rowan, Dominic, and Tristram. Wymark currently resides in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Plays
- Lunchtime Concert (one-act), first produced in Glasgow, Scotland, at Citizens Theatre, (1966)
- Triple Image (three one-act plays) (1967)
- Coda
- Lunchtime Concert
- The Inhabitants (1967)
- The Gymnasium (one-act) (1967)
- "The Technicians" (one-act) (1969)
- Stay Where You Are (one-act) (1969)
- Neither Here Nor There (one-act) (1971)
- Speak Now (two-act) (1971)
- The Committee (one-act) (1971)
- Jack the Giant Killer (one-act) (1972)
- Tales From Whitechapel (one-act) (1972)
- Watch the Woman (two-act), (1973) with Brian Phelan
- The Twenty-Second Day (one-act) (1975)
- We Three (one-act) (1977)
- After Nature, Art (one-act) (1977)
- Find Me (two-act) (1977)
- Loved (two-act) (1979)
- Please Shim Down on Me (1980)
- Best Friends (1981)
- One Woman Plays (adapted from three plays by Dario Fo and Franca Rame) (1981)
- Lessons and Lovers: D.H. Lawrence in New Mexico: a Play (1986)
Quotes
In an interview with Contemporary AuthorsContemporary Authors
Contemporary Authors is an annually updated reference work published by Gale Cengage. It provides biographical details on over 120,000 writers in all genres whose works have been published in the English language...
: "From the fifties until my husband died in 1970 I wrote plays because I wanted to; now I write them for a living. Although I have never written `a commercial' play, I have to sell my work. Consequently I think my plays have become less obscure (and pretentious), and I find myself more drawn to comedy. The theatre is my first passion, but I love to write for radio and would like to write more for TV and would really like to write a film."
See also
- W. W. JacobsW. W. JacobsWilliam Wymark Jacobs , was an English author of short stories and novels.-Writings:Jacobs is now remembered for his macabre tale "The Monkey's Paw" and "The Toll House"...
, Olwen Wymark's grandfather