David Storey
Encyclopedia
David Rhames Storey is an English
playwright
, screenwriter
, award-winning novelist and a former professional rugby league
player.
Born in Wakefield
, Yorkshire
, and educated at QEGS Wakefield and at the Slade School of Fine Art
, London
, his plays include The Restoration of Arnold Middleton, The Changing Room
, Cromwell, Home
and Stages.
Storey was a trumpet player who wrote the screenplay for This Sporting Life
(1963), directed by Lindsay Anderson
, adapted from Storey's first novel of the same name, originally published in 1960, which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. The film was the beginning of a long professional association with Anderson, whose film version of Storey's play In Celebration
was released as part of the American Film Theatre
series in 1975. Home
and Early Days (both starred Sir Ralph Richardson
) were made into television films.
Storey's novels include Flight into Camden
, which won the 1963 Somerset Maugham Award
;
and the 1961 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
; and Saville
, which won the 1976 Booker Prize.
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...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, award-winning novelist and a former professional rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
player.
Born in Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, and educated at QEGS Wakefield and at the Slade School of Fine Art
Slade School of Fine Art
The Slade School of Fine Art is a world-renownedart school in London, United Kingdom, and a department of University College London...
, 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...
, his plays include The Restoration of Arnold Middleton, The Changing Room
The Changing Room
The Changing Room is a 1971 play by David Storey, set in a men's changing room before, during and after a rugby game. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre on 9 November 1971, directed by Lindsay Anderson...
, Cromwell, Home
Home (play)
Home is a play by David Storey. It is set in a mental asylum, although this fact is only revealed gradually as the story progresses.The five characters include seemingly benign Harry, highly opinionated Jack, cynical Marjorie, and flirtatious Kathleen...
and Stages.
Storey was a trumpet player who wrote the screenplay for This Sporting Life
This Sporting Life
This Sporting Life is a 1963 British film based on a novel of the same name by David Storey which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. It tells the story of a rugby league footballer, Frank Machin, in Wakefield, a mining area of Yorkshire, whose romantic life is not as successful as his sporting...
(1963), directed by Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Gordon Anderson was an Indian-born, British feature film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and the British New Wave...
, adapted from Storey's first novel of the same name, originally published in 1960, which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. The film was the beginning of a long professional association with Anderson, whose film version of Storey's play In Celebration
In Celebration
In Celebration is a 1975 film directed by Lindsay Anderson. It is based in the 1969 stage production of the same name by David Storey which was also directed by Anderson. The movie was meant to be shown theatrically with tickets sold in advance....
was released as part of the American Film Theatre
American Film Theatre
The American Film Theatre was a limited run series of film adaptations of stage plays, produced by Ely Landau. Two seasons were produced from 1973 to 1975...
series in 1975. Home
Home (play)
Home is a play by David Storey. It is set in a mental asylum, although this fact is only revealed gradually as the story progresses.The five characters include seemingly benign Harry, highly opinionated Jack, cynical Marjorie, and flirtatious Kathleen...
and Early Days (both starred Sir Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
) were made into television films.
Storey's novels include Flight into Camden
Flight into Camden
Flight into Camden is a novel by British author and playwright David Storey. Written in 1961, it won the 1963 Somerset Maugham Prize for fiction....
, which won the 1963 Somerset Maugham Award
Somerset Maugham Award
The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each May by the Society of Authors. It is awarded to whom they judge to be the best writer or writers under the age of thirty-five of a book published in the past year. The prize was instituted in 1947 by William Somerset Maugham and thus...
;
and the 1961 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature by an author from the Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and published in the United Kingdom...
; and Saville
Saville (novel)
Saville is a Booker Prize-winning novel by English author David Storey.-Plot:The novel centers around Colin, a young boy growing up in the fictional Yorkshire mining village of Saxton during WWII and the postwar years.-References:**...
, which won the 1976 Booker Prize.
Style
Storey's novels are often perceived as belonging to the realist tradition, with long descriptive passages detailing many items that appear, at least superficially, to play no role in furthering the plot. Much of his work features isolated men trying to escape or connect.Works
- This Sporting Life (1960) (made into the 1963 film This Sporting LifeThis Sporting LifeThis Sporting Life is a 1963 British film based on a novel of the same name by David Storey which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. It tells the story of a rugby league footballer, Frank Machin, in Wakefield, a mining area of Yorkshire, whose romantic life is not as successful as his sporting...
) - Flight into CamdenFlight into CamdenFlight into Camden is a novel by British author and playwright David Storey. Written in 1961, it won the 1963 Somerset Maugham Prize for fiction....
(1961) - Radcliffe (1963)
- The Restoration of Arnold Middleton (1967)
- In Celebration (1969)
- The Contractor (1970)
- HomeHome (play)Home is a play by David Storey. It is set in a mental asylum, although this fact is only revealed gradually as the story progresses.The five characters include seemingly benign Harry, highly opinionated Jack, cynical Marjorie, and flirtatious Kathleen...
(1970) - The Changing RoomThe Changing RoomThe Changing Room is a 1971 play by David Storey, set in a men's changing room before, during and after a rugby game. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre on 9 November 1971, directed by Lindsay Anderson...
(1971) - Pasmore (1972) - winner of the 1973 Geoffrey Faber Memorial PrizeGeoffrey Faber Memorial PrizeThe Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize is a British literary prize established in 1963 in tribute to Geoffrey Faber, founder and first Chairman publisher Faber & Faber...
- The Farm (1973)
- Cromwell (1973)
- A Temporary Life (1973)
- Edward (1973)
- Life Class (1975)
- SavilleSaville (novel)Saville is a Booker Prize-winning novel by English author David Storey.-Plot:The novel centers around Colin, a young boy growing up in the fictional Yorkshire mining village of Saxton during WWII and the postwar years.-References:**...
(1976) - Mother's Day (1977)
- Early Days (1980)
- Sisters (1980)
- A Prodigal Child (1982)
- Present Times (1984)
- The March on Russia (1989)
- Storey's Lives: 1951-1991 (1992)
- A Serious Man (1998)
- As it Happened (2002)