Sharman Macdonald

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Biography

Playwright and novelist Sharman Macdonald was born in Glasgow in 1951. Educated at the University of Edinburgh, she graduated in 1972 and moved to London where she acted with the 7:84 theatre company and at the Royal Court Theatre. While she was working as an actress, she wrote her first play, When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout, first performed at the Bush Theatre in 1984. The play won the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright.

Her other plays include The Brave, commissioned by the Bush Theatre; When We Were Women, first performed at the Cottesloe Theatre; All Things Nice, commissioned by the English Stage Company and performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 1991; The Winter Guest, commissioned and directed by Alan Rickman and filmed in 1997 starring Emma Thompson and Phyllida Law; and After Juliet, a sequel to Romeo and Juliet dealing with Rosalind's story after the death of Juliet, commissioned by the Royal National Theatre for the BT National Connections Scheme for young people. Her new play, The Girl with Red Hair (2003), will premiere at Traverse, Edinburgh in August 2003 and then transfer to London.

She is also the author of two novels, The Beast (1986) and Night Night (1988), and wrote the screenplay for Wild Flowers (1989) for Channel 4 Television and the BBC Radio play Sea Urchins. A further radio play, Gladly My Cross Eyed Bear, was broadcast in 1999. She wrote the libretto to Hey Persephone!, performed at Aldeburgh with music by Deirdre Gribbin.

Sharman Macdonald has two children, and is married to the actor Will Knightley. Her latest works are the play Broken Hallelujah, and the screenplay for The Best Time of Our Lives, currently in development.

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Genres (in alphabetical order)

Drama, Fiction, Libretto, Radio drama, Screenplay

Bibliography

When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout   Faber and Faber, 1985

The Beast   Collins, 1986

Night Night   Collins, 1988

When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout and Other Plays   (includes 'When We Were Women' and 'The Brave')   Faber and Faber, 1990

All Things Nice   Faber and Faber, 1991

Plays One   (Contents: 'When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout', 'When We Were Women', 'The Winter Guest', 'Borders of Paradise')   Faber and Faber, 1995

The Winter Guest   (screenplay)   Faber and Faber, 1998

After Juliet   Stanley Thornes, 1999

The Girl with Red Hair   Faber and Faber, 2003

Read about books by Sharman Macdonald at encompassculture.com - the British Council's book database and global online book club

Buy books by Sharman Macdonald at Amazon.co.uk

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Prizes and awards

1984   Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright   When I Was a Girl, I Used to Scream and Shout

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Contact information

Publisher (General enquiries) Faber and Faber Ltd 3 Queen Square London  WC1N 3AU Tel: +44 (0) 20 7465 0045 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7465 0034 E-mail: gapublicity@faber.co.uk http://www.faber.co.uk

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