Nancy Harris is an Irish playwright and screenwriter. She was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2012.[1]
Nancy Harris | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Playwright and screenwriter |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin and the University of Birmingham |
| Notable awards | Rooney Prize for Irish Literature (2012) |
| Spouse | Kwasi Agyei-Owusu |
| Parents | Anne and Eoghan Harris |
Early life and education
editHarris is the daughter of Anne and Eoghan Harris. She was educated at Trinity College Dublin, earning a B.A. in Drama Studies and Classical Civilization,[2] and the University of Birmingham, where she completed an M.Phil. in Playwriting Studies (a course founded by playwright David Edgar) in the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts.[3]
Career
editIn 2009, Harris adapted Leo Tolstoy's The Kreutzer Sonata, creating a one-act monologue for the Gate Theatre in Dublin, which was then also presented in New York City in 2012.[4]
She was awarded The Stewart Parker Award 2012 for her first original full-length play No Romance which premiered at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The play was also nominated for an Irish Times Theatre Award, a Zebbie Award and was a finalist for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2012. Her play Our New Girl, premiered at The Bush Theatre London and was long-listed for an Evening Standard 'Most Promising Playwright Award' in 2013.
In December 2017, the Gate Theatre presented Harris' unique spin on a classic fairytale, about the challenges of reimagining The Red Shoes for a new generation.[5]
Harris had two commissioned plays opening in September 2019: The Beacon for Druid Theatre[6] which premiered at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway before transferring to the Gate Theatre, Dublin in October[7] and Two Ladies for The Bridge theatre, starring Zoë Wanamaker and Zrinka Cvitešić.[8]
Harris wrote the stage musical adaptation of The Magician's Elephant (based on Kate DiCamillo's novel) with Marc Teitler for the Royal Shakespeare Company Having been delayed a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was rescheduled to premiere in winter 2021.
On television, she was BAFTA nominated for her episodes of the Channel 4 series Dates and contributed scripts for Secret Diary of a Call Girl, The Good Karma Hospital and the epic miniseries Troy: Fall of a City.
She was the screenwriter for The Dry, a comedy about a party girl returning home to Ireland to a troubled family.[9]
Her play Somewhere Out There You opened at the Abbey Theatre in September 2023 as part of Dublin Theatre Festival.[10]
Her play The Beacon is slated to open in fall 2024 as an Off-Broadway production by the Irish Repertory Theatre with actress Kate Mulgrew in the lead.[11]
Personal life
editHarris lives in London. She is married to Ghanaian scientist, Kwasi Agyei-Owusu.[12]
References
edit- ^ "Dramatist Harris wins Rooney Prize". The Irish Times. 2 October 2012. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
- ^ Drama Graduate Nancy Harris receives the Rooney Prize
- ^ Walsh, Fintan (12 December 2011). "I try to get under the skin". Irish Theatre Magazine. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
- ^ Eberson, Sharon. "PICT offers love triangle set to music." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 27, 2013, p. D3 (subscription required).
- ^ The Red Shoes-Nancy Harris on The Gate's modern fairytale. RTE
- ^ Druid Theatre website
- ^ Gate Theatre website
- ^ Nancy Harris "Plays are kind of cool now", Irish Times, 21 September 2019
- ^ "The Dry and Dead Still among TV projects to receive BAI funding".
- ^ "Somewhere Out There You". Abbey Theatre. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- ^ Gans, Andrew. "Kate Mulgrew Will Return to the New York Stage in The Beacon." New York, New York: Playbill, July 25, 2024.
- ^ "Upfront-Sunday Independent". 13 November 2022.