Simon Farquhar
Encyclopedia
Simon Farquhar is a Scottish playwright.
During his time at the University of Aberdeen
he was an active writer and performer in the university's drama group, Centre Stage. His early one-act plays were staged at the Aberdeen Arts Centre, until a radio script set in Cullen, Candy Floss Kisses, was picked up by actor and producer Martin Jarvis and commissioned for BBC Radio 4
. This was followed by another Cullen-based drama, Elevenses with Twiggy, set during the dying days of the Sixties and featuring a cameo performance by Twiggy
herself.
His first full-length stage play, the Aberdeen
-based Rainbow Kiss
, starring Joseph McFadden
and Dawn Steele
and directed by Richard Wilson, opened at the Royal Court
in April 2006 as part of the theatre's 50th anniversary season. "What makes the play so impressive" wrote Michael Billington
in The Guardian
, "is Farquhar's portrait of the grimness behind Aberdeen's oil-fuelled boom. This is not just another sex'n'violence play: what it grippingly shows is the disastrous effect of a money-mad materialist culture on society's marginalised no-hopers." On the other hand, Charles Spencer at Telegraph panned the play, calling Rainbow Kiss "the archetypal Royal Court play, almost indistinguishable from all the others we have seen since the arrival of the "in-yer-face" school of theatre a decade or more ago."
In October 2006 he was invited to take part in the Old Vic
24 Hour Plays Celebrity Gala. The annual fund-raising event sees six writers asked to each choose from a pool of available actors and each write a ten-minute play for them overnight which is then learned and performed the following evening on the Old Vic
stage. The result was Dream Me a Winter starring Tamzin Outhwaite
and Patricia Hodge
.
He has also written many articles and appeared on television and radio as a champion of television drama, particularly of the 1970s. In 2007 he wrote and presented the documentary Razor Sharp: The Story of Peter McDougall
.
Rainbow Kiss
opened in New York in Spring 2008, directed by Will Frears and produced by The Play Company, and in Rome in October 2009.
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
he was an active writer and performer in the university's drama group, Centre Stage. His early one-act plays were staged at the Aberdeen Arts Centre, until a radio script set in Cullen, Candy Floss Kisses, was picked up by actor and producer Martin Jarvis and commissioned for BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
. This was followed by another Cullen-based drama, Elevenses with Twiggy, set during the dying days of the Sixties and featuring a cameo performance by Twiggy
Twiggy
Lesley Lawson née Hornby known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree....
herself.
His first full-length stage play, the Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
-based Rainbow Kiss
Rainbow Kiss
Rainbow Kiss is a play by Scottish writer Simon Farquhar. It was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre in London in April 2006, having been chosen to occupy the theatre's 50th Anniversary slot....
, starring Joseph McFadden
Joseph McFadden
Joseph 'Joe' McFadden is a television actor...
and Dawn Steele
Dawn Steele
Dawn Anne Steele is a Scottish actress best known for her roles in the TV series Monarch of the Glen, Sea of Souls & Wild at Heart.-Career:...
and directed by Richard Wilson, opened at the 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 April 2006 as part of the theatre's 50th anniversary season. "What makes the play so impressive" wrote Michael Billington
Michael Billington (critic)
Michael Keith Billington is a British author and arts critic. Drama critic of The Guardian since October 1971, he is "Britain's longest-serving theatre critic" and the author of biographical and critical studies relating to British theatre and the arts; most notably, he is the authorised...
in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, "is Farquhar's portrait of the grimness behind Aberdeen's oil-fuelled boom. This is not just another sex'n'violence play: what it grippingly shows is the disastrous effect of a money-mad materialist culture on society's marginalised no-hopers." On the other hand, Charles Spencer at Telegraph panned the play, calling Rainbow Kiss "the archetypal Royal Court play, almost indistinguishable from all the others we have seen since the arrival of the "in-yer-face" school of theatre a decade or more ago."
In October 2006 he was invited to take part in the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
24 Hour Plays Celebrity Gala. The annual fund-raising event sees six writers asked to each choose from a pool of available actors and each write a ten-minute play for them overnight which is then learned and performed the following evening on the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
stage. The result was Dream Me a Winter starring Tamzin Outhwaite
Tamzin Outhwaite
Tamzin Maria Outhwaite is an award-winning English actress. She became known for her role as Melanie Owen in the British soap opera EastEnders, whom she portrayed from 1998 until 2002.-Early career:...
and Patricia Hodge
Patricia Hodge
Patricia Ann Hodge is an English actor.-Early life:The daughter of the Royal Hotel owner/manager Eric and his wife Marion , Hodge attended Wintringham Girls' Grammar School on Weelsby Avenue in Grimsby and then St...
.
He has also written many articles and appeared on television and radio as a champion of television drama, particularly of the 1970s. In 2007 he wrote and presented the documentary Razor Sharp: The Story of Peter McDougall
Peter McDougall
Peter McDougall is a BAFTA and Prix Italia award winning television playwright whose major success was in the 1970s....
.
Rainbow Kiss
Rainbow Kiss
Rainbow Kiss is a play by Scottish writer Simon Farquhar. It was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre in London in April 2006, having been chosen to occupy the theatre's 50th Anniversary slot....
opened in New York in Spring 2008, directed by Will Frears and produced by The Play Company, and in Rome in October 2009.
Radio
- Candy Floss Kisses (2004) — Afternoon PlayAfternoon PlayThe Afternoon Play is a long-running drama programming strand, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4. Each play lasts for 45 minutes, and roughly 190 new Afternoon Plays are broadcast each year....
, BBC Radio 4 - Elevenses with Twiggy (2006) — Afternoon Play, BBC Radio 4
Stage
- I Do Solemnly Declare (2001) — Aberdeen Arts CentreAberdeen Arts CentreAberdeen Arts Centre is a theatre on King Street in Aberdeen, Scotland.The 350 seater auditorium regularly plays host to music and drama events and is the focus for much of Aberdeen's amateur dramatic activities....
- Rainbow KissRainbow KissRainbow Kiss is a play by Scottish writer Simon Farquhar. It was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre in London in April 2006, having been chosen to occupy the theatre's 50th Anniversary slot....
(2006) — Royal CourtRoyal Court TheatreThe 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... - Dream Me a Winter (2006) — Old VicOld VicThe Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
(part of The 24 Hour Plays)