Jonathan Harvey (playwright)
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Harvey is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 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...

 whose work has earned multiple awards. He is also a former secondary school English teacher.

Life and works

Jonathan Paul Harvey was born in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 in 1968. Jonathan has a brother called Timothy.
Harvey's first serious attempt as a playwright was in 1987. Fuelled by the attraction of a £1,000 first prize to young writers from the Liverpool Playhouse, the result was The Cherry Blossom Tree, a garish blend of suicide, murder and nuns. This effort won him the National Girobank Young Writer of the Year Award.

Feeling very encouraged, he went on to write Mohair
Mohair
Mohair usually refers to a silk-like fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat. The word "mohair" was adopted into English before 1570 from the Arabic: mukhayyar, a type of haircloth, literally 'choice', from khayyara, 'he chose'. Mohair fiber is approximately 25-45 microns in...

(1988), Wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...

(1992) and Babies (1993), the latter winning him the 'George Devine Award' for that year and The Evening Standard's 'Most Promising Playwright Award' for 1994. In 1993, Harvey, premiered Beautiful Thing
Beautiful Thing
Originally Beautiful Thing is a play written by Jonathan Harvey and first performed in 1993. A screen adaptation of the play was released in 1996 by Channel 4 Films, with a revised screenplay also by Harvey. Initially, the film was only intended for television broadcast but it was so well-received...

, a gay-themed play-turned-movie for which he won the prestigious 'John Whiting Award
John Whiting Award
The John Whiting Award is awarded annually to a British or Commonwealth playwright who, in the opinion of a consortium of UK theatres, shows a new and distinctive development in dramatic writing with particular relevance to contemporary society...

' the following year. 1995 saw the premiere of Boom Bang-a-Bang, at the 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...

, London, originally directed by Kathy Burke
Kathy Burke
Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke is an English actress, comedienne, playwright and theatre director. She is best known for her portrayals of Perry in the Harry Enfield film Kevin and Perry Go Large, and of Linda La Hughes in the British sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme...

. Harvey cites it as "my most comic play ever, but with some dark bits". Centred around a group of friends gathering to watch the Eurovision Song Contest, the play was a sell-out. That same year, he also premiered Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club, his "much more sad, serious and dark play".

Guiding Star (1998), is a portrayal of one man's struggle to come to terms with the Hillsborough FA Cup Semi-Final disaster, whilst Hushabye Mountain
Hushabye Mountain
"Hushabye Mountain" is a ballad by the songwriting team Robert and Richard Sherman. It appears twice in the 1968 Albert R. Broccoli motion picture Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: first as an idyllic lullaby by Caractacus Potts to his children; and later when the children of Vulgaria have lost all hope of...

(1999) deals with a world that has learned to live with AIDS. Out in the Open (2001), is a caustic and funny exploration of love and the limits of friendship.

Television and film works include: West End Girls (Carlton); Love Junkie (BBC); Beautiful Thing (Channel Four/Island World Productions); the 1998 hit/cult comedy series starring Kathy Burke and James Dreyfus
James Dreyfus
- Early life and career :Born in London, Dreyfus was educated at Harrow School and then trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His parents divorced when he was very young. He is openly gay....

, Gimme Gimme Gimme (Tiger Aspect); Murder Most Horrid
Murder Most Horrid
Murder Most Horrid is a BBC dark comedy anthology series starring comedian Dawn French. It ran for four series runs, in 1991, 1994, 1996 and 1999....

 (BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

); and Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...

 (ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

).

He also wrote the book for Closer to Heaven
Closer to Heaven
Closer to Heaven is a musical by Jonathan Harvey and Pet Shop Boys. It was premiered in May 2001 at the Arts Theatre in London, opening to mixed reviews, and ran until 13 October 2001...

, a stage musical with songs and music written by Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

. Closer to Heaven
Closer to Heaven
Closer to Heaven is a musical by Jonathan Harvey and Pet Shop Boys. It was premiered in May 2001 at the Arts Theatre in London, opening to mixed reviews, and ran until 13 October 2001...

ran for nine months at the Arts Theatre
Arts Theatre
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It now operates as the West End's smallest commercial receiving house.-History:...

 in London during 2001 and in Australia in 2005.

In 2003 Harvey heard the singer-actress Abi Roberts
Abi Roberts
Abi Roberts is a British comedian, actress and singer songwriter.Educated at Swansea University, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and later the Moscow Conservatoire, she gained prominence in a series of sketch shows on the London stage and at the Edinburgh Festival; appearing firstly in the satirical...

 perform and was so enchanted he offered to write a solo show especially for her. Taking Charlie was the outcome, staged at the 2004 Edniburgh Festival with Roberts starring, under the direction of Susan Tully
Susan Tully
Susan Tully is an English television producer, director and former actress.Her most prominent television roles to date have been those of single mother Michelle Fowler in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and her pivotal part in early Grange Hill...

. The piece was darkly comic and focused on the destructive nature of an insecure, 30-year old addict.

Harvey is a Patron of London-based HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

 charity, The Food Chain
The Food Chain
The Food Chain is a London, United Kingdom-based charity working to provide food and nutritional services to people living with HIV and related illness. Formed on Christmas Day 1988, its stated aim is "to ensure that those living with HIV.....

 and a patron of the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music.

Harvey is set to release his first book of fiction in 2012.

Plays

  • 2010: Canary (2010) (Playhouse Theatre
    Playhouse Theatre
    The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt in 1907 and still retains its original substage machinery...

    , Liverpool/Hampstead Theatre
    Hampstead Theatre
    Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage and Belsize Park, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. In 2009 it celebrates its 50 year anniversary.The original theatre was...

    , London)
  • 2004: Taking Charlie (2004)
  • 2001: Out in the Open (2001)
  • 1999: Hushabye Mountain
    Hushabye Mountain
    "Hushabye Mountain" is a ballad by the songwriting team Robert and Richard Sherman. It appears twice in the 1968 Albert R. Broccoli motion picture Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: first as an idyllic lullaby by Caractacus Potts to his children; and later when the children of Vulgaria have lost all hope of...

    (1999)
  • 1998: Guiding Star (1998)
  • 1995: Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club (1995)
  • 1995: Boom Bang-A-Bang
    Boom Bang-a-Bang
    "Boom Bang-a-Bang" was the United Kingdom entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1969It was sung by Lulu, and was co-written by Alan Moorhouse and Peter Warne aka Michael Julien, the latter of who also wrote "Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me" for Shirley Bassey....

    (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...

    , 1995); Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club (English Touring Theatre/Contact Theatre Company, Donmar Warehouse
    Donmar Warehouse
    Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...

    /Criterion Theatre
    Criterion Theatre
    The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has an official capacity of 588.-Building the theatre:...

    , London, 1995).
  • 1994: Babies (Royal 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...

     Studio/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...

    , 1994), winner George Devine Award 1993 and Evening Standard
    Evening Standard
    The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...

    's Most Promising Playwright Award 1994.
  • 1993: Beautiful Thing
    Beautiful Thing
    Originally Beautiful Thing is a play written by Jonathan Harvey and first performed in 1993. A screen adaptation of the play was released in 1996 by Channel 4 Films, with a revised screenplay also by Harvey. Initially, the film was only intended for television broadcast but it was so well-received...

    (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...

    , London, 1993 and Donmar Warehouse
    Donmar Warehouse
    Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...

    , London/Duke of York's Theatre
    Duke of York's Theatre
    The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre, until her death in 1935. It opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, with Wedding...

    , London, 1994), winner of the John Whiting Award
    John Whiting Award
    The John Whiting Award is awarded annually to a British or Commonwealth playwright who, in the opinion of a consortium of UK theatres, shows a new and distinctive development in dramatic writing with particular relevance to contemporary society...

     1994.
  • 1992: Wildfire
    Wildfire
    A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...

    (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, 1992).
  • 1988: Mohair
    Mohair
    Mohair usually refers to a silk-like fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat. The word "mohair" was adopted into English before 1570 from the Arabic: mukhayyar, a type of haircloth, literally 'choice', from khayyara, 'he chose'. Mohair fiber is approximately 25-45 microns in...

    (Royal Court Young Writers Festival, London/International Festival of Young Playwrights, Sydney, 1988).
  • 1987: The Cherry Blossom Tree (Liverpool Playhouse
    Liverpool Playhouse
    The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actresses, some of which went on to achieve...

     Studio, 1987) which won him the 1987 National Girobank Young Writer of the Year Award.


Television and film

  • 2009: Octavia
    Octavia (TV serial)
    Octavia is an upcoming ITV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's novel of the same name. The screenplay has been written by Jonathan Harvey. Octavia is set in Britain during the 1970s....

    (ITV
    ITV
    ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

    )
  • 2008: Beautiful People
    Beautiful People (UK TV series)
    Beautiful People is a British comedy drama television series based on the memoirs of Barneys creative director Simon Doonan. The series takes place in Reading, Berkshire in 1997, where thirteen-year-old Simon Doonan and his best friend Kylie dream of escaping their dreary suburban surroundings and...

    (BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

    ) (2008–2009)
  • 2004: Coronation Street
    Coronation Street
    Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...

    (ITV
    ITV
    ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

    ) (2004–Present)
  • 1999: Murder Most Horrid
    Murder Most Horrid
    Murder Most Horrid is a BBC dark comedy anthology series starring comedian Dawn French. It ran for four series runs, in 1991, 1994, 1996 and 1999....

    (BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

    )
  • 1999: Gimme Gimme Gimme (BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

    )
  • 1996: Beautiful Thing
    Beautiful Thing
    Originally Beautiful Thing is a play written by Jonathan Harvey and first performed in 1993. A screen adaptation of the play was released in 1996 by Channel 4 Films, with a revised screenplay also by Harvey. Initially, the film was only intended for television broadcast but it was so well-received...

    (Channel Four/Island World Productions)
  • 1993: West End Girls
    West End Girls
    "West End Girls" is a song by British pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the song was released twice as a single. It is a synthpop song, influenced by hip hop music. The lyrics focus on class, and inner-city pressure, and were inspired by T.S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land...

    (Carlton
    Carlton Television
    Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...

    )
  • 19?: Love Junkie (BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

    )
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