Mark Ravenhill
Encyclopedia
Mark Ravenhill is an English
playwright
, actor and journalist
.
His most famous plays include Shopping and Fucking
(first performed in 1996), Some Explicit Polaroids (1999) and Mother Clap's Molly House
(2001). He made his acting debut in his monologue Product, at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He often writes for the arts section of The Guardian
. He is Associate Director of London's Little Opera House at The King's Head Theatre
.
In 1997, Ravenhill became the literary director of a new writing company, Paines Plough
. In 2003, when Nicholas Hytner
took over as artistic director of the National Theatre
, Ravenhill was brought in as part of his advisory team. In the mid-nineties, Ravenhill was diagnosed as HIV+, his partner of the early 1990s having died from AIDS.
Although he was at the heart of new British playwriting in the 1990s and 2000s, Ravenhill is very respectful of historical theatre and has claimed that he would like to see directors focus more on the classics and stop producing new plays that don’t have as much substance or meaning. In the same article, Ravenhill posits that directors have forced themselves into the “eternal present” , rather than expanding their reach to the many different cultures and genres of the past that they have to choose from. Further evidence of his interest in traditional theatre forms lies in Ravenhill's love of pantomime
; he presented a Radio 4 documentary about the form and wrote Dick Whittington for the Barbican Theatre in 2006.
Ravenhill's work has transformed and developed in the 2000s. While his work in the 1990s - Shopping and Fucking, Handbag, and Some Explicit Polaroids for example - may be characterised by directly attempting to represent contemporary British society, his work has become more formally experimental and abstract. His one-man show, Product, which toured internationally after its premiere at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, is both a satire on our post-9/11 attitudes to terrorism, and also a minutely observed reflection on the limits of language and form to capture contemporary reality. His play, The Cut
, opened in 2006 at the Donmar Warehouse
starring Sir Ian McKellen
and divided critics with its portrait of a world dominated by the administering of a surgical procedure: the country, the year and the procedure are all unspecified. A similarly ambiguous and politically indirect style characterises the seventeen short plays that make up Ravenhill for Breakfast.
Ravenhill's former style continues to get an airing in the short plays he has written for young people, Totally Over You and Citizenship
, both written for the National Theatre's National Theatre Connections Programme
.
In November 2007, he announced in the Guardian
that for the moment, he would concentrate on writing about heterosexual characters.
In 2008 the Royal Court, The Gate Theatre, the National Theatre, Out of Joint, and Paines Plough collectively presented the seventeen short plays Ravenhill wrote for the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe under the title Ravenhill for Breakfast, retitled as Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat.
In 2009 Mark Ravenhill presented a staged reading of transcripts of conversations with actor, drag queen and equal rights activist Bette Bourne
A Life In Three Acts at the Traverse Theatre
, Edinburgh in 2009, and at St. Ann's Warehouse
in Brooklyn NY and the Soho Theatre
in London in 2010. Bourne worked with Ravenhill previously on a short play, Ripper, playing Queen Victoria at the Union Theatre
in London in 2007.
He is also working on a TV series.
Ravenhill is a regular contributor to the annual Terror Season at the Southwark Playhouse
in London
, England
. His short play The Exclusion Zone premiered in October 2010.
Ravenhill was appointed Associate Director of London's Little Opera House at The King's Head Theatre
in September 2010. He played an active role in the venue's relaunch as London's third Opera House along with patron Sir Jonathan Miller
, Robin Norton-Hale and Artistic Director Adam Spreadbury-Maher
.
In 2012, Mark Ravenhill is to become the Royal Shakespeare Company
's Writer in Residence.
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...
, actor and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
.
His most famous plays include Shopping and Fucking
Shopping and Fucking
Shopping and Fucking is a 1996 play by English playwright Mark Ravenhill. It was Ravenhill's first full-length play. It received its first public reading at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995...
(first performed in 1996), Some Explicit Polaroids (1999) and Mother Clap's Molly House
Mother Clap's Molly House
Mother Clap's Molly House is a play by Mark Ravenhill with music by Matthew Scott. It is based on an essay in the book of the same name by Rictor Norton.The play is a black comedy and explores the diversity of human sexuality...
(2001). He made his acting debut in his monologue Product, at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He often writes for the arts section of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. He is Associate Director of London's Little Opera House at The King's Head Theatre
The King's Head Theatre
The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an Off-West End venue in London. It was the first pub theatre in the UK. Adam Spreadbury-Maher became Artistic Director in March 2010 .-Background:...
.
Biography
Ravenhill is the older of two sons born to Ted and Angela Ravenhill. He grew up in West Sussex, England and cultivated an interest in theatre early in life, putting on plays with his brother when they were eight and four, respectively. He studied English and Drama at Bristol University from 1984–1987, and held down jobs as a freelance director, workshop leader and drama teacher.In 1997, Ravenhill became the literary director of a new writing company, Paines Plough
Paines Plough
Paines Plough is a London-based British touring theatre company founded in 1974 by writer David Pownall and director John Adams. They named the company after their favourite pub, the Plough, where they would drink pints of Paines....
. In 2003, when Nicholas Hytner
Nicholas Hytner
Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner is an English film and theatre producer and director. He has been the artistic director of London's National Theatre since 2003.-Biography:...
took over as artistic director of the 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...
, Ravenhill was brought in as part of his advisory team. In the mid-nineties, Ravenhill was diagnosed as HIV+, his partner of the early 1990s having died from AIDS.
Although he was at the heart of new British playwriting in the 1990s and 2000s, Ravenhill is very respectful of historical theatre and has claimed that he would like to see directors focus more on the classics and stop producing new plays that don’t have as much substance or meaning. In the same article, Ravenhill posits that directors have forced themselves into the “eternal present” , rather than expanding their reach to the many different cultures and genres of the past that they have to choose from. Further evidence of his interest in traditional theatre forms lies in Ravenhill's love of pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
; he presented a Radio 4 documentary about the form and wrote Dick Whittington for the Barbican Theatre in 2006.
Ravenhill's work has transformed and developed in the 2000s. While his work in the 1990s - Shopping and Fucking, Handbag, and Some Explicit Polaroids for example - may be characterised by directly attempting to represent contemporary British society, his work has become more formally experimental and abstract. His one-man show, Product, which toured internationally after its premiere at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, is both a satire on our post-9/11 attitudes to terrorism, and also a minutely observed reflection on the limits of language and form to capture contemporary reality. His play, The Cut
The Cut (play)
The Cut is a 2006 theatre play by Mark Ravenhill. It is a dystopia that relates the life of Paul, a practitioner of a mysterious operation who is greatly disturbed by its practice...
, opened in 2006 at the 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...
starring Sir Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
and divided critics with its portrait of a world dominated by the administering of a surgical procedure: the country, the year and the procedure are all unspecified. A similarly ambiguous and politically indirect style characterises the seventeen short plays that make up Ravenhill for Breakfast.
Ravenhill's former style continues to get an airing in the short plays he has written for young people, Totally Over You and Citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
, both written for the National Theatre's National Theatre Connections Programme
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...
.
In November 2007, he announced in the Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
that for the moment, he would concentrate on writing about heterosexual characters.
In 2008 the Royal Court, The Gate Theatre, the National Theatre, Out of Joint, and Paines Plough collectively presented the seventeen short plays Ravenhill wrote for the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe under the title Ravenhill for Breakfast, retitled as Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat.
In 2009 Mark Ravenhill presented a staged reading of transcripts of conversations with actor, drag queen and equal rights activist Bette Bourne
Bette Bourne
Bette Bourne is a British actor, drag queen and equal rights activist.-Early life:Born Peter Bourne in Hackney, east London, he made his stage debut at the age of four as one of the members of Madame Behenna and her Dancing Children...
A Life In Three Acts at the Traverse Theatre
Traverse Theatre
The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963.The Traverse Theatre commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary playwrights. It also presents a large number of productions from visiting companies from across the UK. These include new plays,...
, Edinburgh in 2009, and at St. Ann's Warehouse
St. Ann's Warehouse
St. Ann's Warehouse is a performing arts institution in Brooklyn, New York.History: 1980-2001The original home of Arts at St. Ann's was the National Historic Landmark Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. For twenty-one years, St...
in Brooklyn NY and the Soho Theatre
Soho Theatre
Soho Theatre is a theatre in the eponymous Soho district of the City of Westminster. It presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret....
in London in 2010. Bourne worked with Ravenhill previously on a short play, Ripper, playing Queen Victoria at the Union Theatre
Union Theatre
The name Union Theatre can refer to either:*The Union Theatre , a theatre in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada*The Union Theatre , a theatre in London, England*The Union Theatre , a theatre in Melbourne, Australia...
in London in 2007.
He is also working on a TV series.
Ravenhill is a regular contributor to the annual Terror Season at the Southwark Playhouse
Southwark Playhouse
-History:Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice, Tom Wilson & Mehmet Ergen. They identified the need for a high quality accessible theatre which would also act as a major resource for the community...
in 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...
, England
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...
. His short play The Exclusion Zone premiered in October 2010.
Ravenhill was appointed Associate Director of London's Little Opera House at The King's Head Theatre
The King's Head Theatre
The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an Off-West End venue in London. It was the first pub theatre in the UK. Adam Spreadbury-Maher became Artistic Director in March 2010 .-Background:...
in September 2010. He played an active role in the venue's relaunch as London's third Opera House along with patron Sir Jonathan Miller
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
, Robin Norton-Hale and Artistic Director Adam Spreadbury-Maher
Adam Spreadbury-Maher
Adam Spreadbury-Maher is a multi-award winning Australian/Irish theatre artistic director, producer and translator. He is the founding Artistic Director of London's Cock Tavern Theatre from January 2009 until the venues closure in April 2011. He became Artistic Director of the Kings Head Theatre...
.
In 2012, Mark Ravenhill is to become the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
's Writer in Residence.
Plays
- Fist (1995)
- Shopping and FuckingShopping and FuckingShopping and Fucking is a 1996 play by English playwright Mark Ravenhill. It was Ravenhill's first full-length play. It received its first public reading at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995...
(1996) - Faust Is Dead (1997)
- Sleeping Around (1998)
- Handbag (1998)
- Some Explicit Polaroids (1999)
- Mother Clap's Molly HouseMother Clap's Molly HouseMother Clap's Molly House is a play by Mark Ravenhill with music by Matthew Scott. It is based on an essay in the book of the same name by Rictor Norton.The play is a black comedy and explores the diversity of human sexuality...
(2000) - Feed Me (Radio Play) (2000)
- Totally Over You (2003)
- Education (2004)
- Citizenship (2005)
- Product (2005)
- The CutThe Cut (play)The Cut is a 2006 theatre play by Mark Ravenhill. It is a dystopia that relates the life of Paul, a practitioner of a mysterious operation who is greatly disturbed by its practice...
(2006) - Pool (No Water) (2006)
- Ravenhill For Breakfast (2007)
- Scenes From Family Life (2007)
- Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat (2008)
- Over There (2009)
- The Experiment (2009)
- Ten Plagues (2011)
External links
- Biography at the Barbican homepage.
- Mark Ravenhill at the website of the British Arts CouncilArts Council of Great BritainThe Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
. Author's page, incl. "critical perspective." (Compiled and written by Dr. Peter Buse, 2003.) - Mark Ravenhill at the website of In-Yer-Face Theatre.
- Ravenhill 10. A symposium celebrating the tenth anniversary of Shopping & Fucking, The PinterHarold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
Centre for Performance and Creative Writing, Goldsmiths, University of London. - Audio interview from open2.netOpen2.netOpen2.net was a website run by the The Open University in support of collaborations with the BBC and described as an "online learning portal". The site contained a listings guide for TV and radio programmes that aired across the BBC broadcast network, articles by OU academics, interactive learning...
- Literary Encyclopedia
- Contemporary Writers, British Council
- New York Entertainment
- The Guardian
- Barbican, Mark Ravenhill
- At the Playwright Database