Roy Samuel Williams, OBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (born 1968) is an award-winning English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

. Williams has many awards including the George Devine Award for Lift Off, the 2001 Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright for his play Clubland, the 2002 BAFTA Award for Best Schools Drama for Offside and 2004 South Bank Show Arts Council Decibel Award. Most recently his play Sucker Punch was nominated for the Evening Standard Award for BEst New Play and the Olivier Award for Best New Play 2011. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.

Early life

Williams was born and brought up 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...

, Notting Hill

Notting Hill

Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...

, the youngest of four siblings in a single parent home with his mother working as a nurse after his father moved to America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Williams decided to work in theatre after being tutored by the writer Don Kinch when he was failing in school and attending some of his rehearsals in a black theatrical company Kinch ran. After leaving school at 18 he did various jobs including working in McDonalds and in a props warehouse. He was 25 when he took a theatre-writing degree at Rose Bruford College

Rose 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...

 and has worked ever since in writing

Work

His plays include:

• Sixty Six (short piece) (2011) 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...
  
  
• Sucker Punch
  Sucker Punch (play)
  Sucker Punch is a play by the award-winning British playwright Roy Williams. It was first staged in 2010 at the Royal Court Theatre in London. The play was nominated for the Evening Standard Award and the Laurence Olivier Awards for Best New Play.-Plot:...
  
  (2010) Royal Court Theatre
  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...
  
   downstairs
• Baby Girl(2007), 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...
  
   part of the Connections Plays
• Days of Significance (2007)
• Joe Guy (2007)
• Fallout (2003) Royal Court Theatre
  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...
  
   downstairs
• Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads(2002) 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...
  
  
• Clubland (2001) Royal Court Theatre
  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...
  
   upstairs
• Souls (2000)
• The Gift (2000)
• Local Boy (2000)
• Lift Off (1999)
• Starstruck (1998)
• No Boys Cricket Club (1996) Theatre Royal Stratford East
  Theatre Royal Stratford East
  The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company.-History:...
  
  

Williams has also done some work in television including adapting his own play Fallout for the TV.