Joe Penhall
| Joe Penhall | |
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 Joe Penhall at the 2009 Venice Film Festival for the promotion of The Road |
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| Born | 1967 London |
| Occupation | Playwright, Screenwriter |
| Nationality | British |
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Joe Penhall (born 1967) is an award-winning British playwright and screenwriter from London. Probably best known for his multi award winning play Blue/Orange and his screenplays for The Road and Enduring Love.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Britain, Penhall was raised in Australia.
[edit] Career
Penhall's first major play Some Voices premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1994. It was very well received and won the John Whiting Award and has since been played on Broadway twice. In 2000 he adapted the play for film directed by Simon Cellan-Jones which starred Daniel Craig and Kelly Macdonald premiering at the Cannes Directors' Fortnight
Penhall adapted Ian McEwan's novel Enduring Love in 2004 to film starring Rhys Ifans and Daniel Craig. That same year he also wrote the screenplay for BBC2's BAFTA nominated dramatisation of Jake Arnott's novel The Long Firm[2] starring Mark Strong.
In 2000 his play Blue/Orange began its run at the National Theatre directed by Roger Michell starring Bill Nighy, Andrew Lincoln and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The play centering on two NHS doctors trying to deal with a sectioned young black schizophrenic patient, was a hug success winning Best New Play at the Evening Standard Awards, Laurence Olivier Awards and at the Critics Circle. It transferred to the West End at the Duchess Theatre the following year. Penhall adapted this play in 2005 for TV with a new cast.
That same year Penhall wrote his first short film and directed it too, The Undertaker starred Rhys Ifans and premiered at the London Film Festival.
His follow up play Dumb Show was staged at the Royal Court Theatre in 2004 focused on tabloid journalism directed by Terry Johnson. Penhall has called this a 'small light play' to contrast against the 'huge dark play' Blue/Orange.
Landscape With Weapon about the invention of a weapon of mass destruction, was first performed at the National Theatre in 2007, directed again by Roger Michell starring Tom Hollander and Julian Rhind-Tutt.
Penhall spent six years working on The Last King of Scotland even flying to Uganda and meeting Idi Amin's henchmen however he allowed his name to be removed from the film after other writers were brought on board.[3] Penhall however adapted a Cormac McCarthy's book The Road in 2009 for film which starred Viggo Mortensen for which he revieved wide praise and he says is his best produced screen work.
In 2009 also Penhall's detective drama Moses Jones was shown on the BBC.[4]
In 2011 Penhall returns to the theatre with his play Haunted Child being staged at the Royal Court Theatre with Sophie Okonedo and his next play Birthday starring Stephen Mangan and directed by long term collaborator Roger Michell to be premiered six months later, a first for the theatre.
[edit] Personal life
Penhall is married and lives in London, the couple have two sons together.[5]
[edit] Plays
- Birthday (2012) premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Roger Michell [6]
- Haunted Child (2011) premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Jeremy Herrin [7]
- Landscape With Weapon (2007) premiered at the National Theatre, directed Roger Michell[8]
- Dumb Show (2004) premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, directed Terry Johnson [9]
- Blue/Orange (2000) premiered at the National Theatre, directed by Roger Michell [10]
- The Bullet (1998) premiered at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Dominic Cooke [11]
- Love and Understanding (1997) premiered at the Bush Theatre, directed by Mike Bradwell[12]
- Pale Horse (1995) premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Ian Rickson[13]
- Some Voices (1994) premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Ian Rickson[14]
- Wild Turkey (1993) premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Film
- The Road (2009)[15]
- The Undertaker (2005) short film[16]
- Enduring Love (2004)[17]
- Some Voices (2000)[18]
[edit] TV
- Moses Jones (2009) three part BBC drama[19]
- Blue/Orange (2005) TV adaptation of his own play[20]
- The Long Firm (2004) TV series of the novel[21]
- Go Back Out (1995) TV film[22]
[edit] Awards
- 1994 John Whiting Award for Some Voices
- 2000 Laurence Olivier Award Best New Play for Blue/Orange
- 2000 Evening Standard Theatre Award Best New Play for Blue/Orange
- 2000 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards Best New Play for Blue/Orange
- 2005 BAFTA nominee Best Drama Serial for The Long Firm
[edit] References
- ^ "Penhall Editorial", Bush Green, 2010, http://bushgreen.org/web/guest/editorial?p_p_id=62_INSTANCE_Z4Rw&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_pos=1&p_p_col_count=2&_62_INSTANCE_Z4Rw_struts_action=%2Fjournal_articles%2Fview&_62_INSTANCE_Z4Rw_groupId=10128&_62_INSTANCE_Z4Rw_articleId=350536
- ^ "The Long Firm", BBC, 2004, http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/longfirm/
- ^ Dawtrey, Adam (18 June 2008), "Screenwriters To Watch", Variety, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117987704
- ^ "Penhall on Moses Jones", The Times (London), 2011, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/4371598/Feature-Joe-Penhall-on-his-new-thriller-Moses-Jones.html
- ^ Lawson, Mark (29 November 2011), "Penhall Interview", The Guardian (London), http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2011/nov/29/joe-penhall-interview?newsfeed=true
- ^ "Birthday", Royal Court Theatre, 2012, http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/birthday
- ^ "Haunted Child", Royal Court Theatre, 2011, http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/haunted-child
- ^ "Landscape With Weapon", National Theatre, 2007, http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/23057/productions/landscape-with-weapon.html
- ^ "Dumb Show", Royal Court Theatre, 2004, http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/dumb-show
- ^ "Blue/Orange", National Theatre, 2000, http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/1243/productions/blueorange.html
- ^ "The Bullet", Donmar Warehouse, 1998, http://www.trpw.org/theatre/Productions.asp?id=DONM0004
- ^ "Love and Understanding", Bush Theatre, 1997, http://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/production/love_and_understanding/
- ^ "Pale Horse", Royal Court, 1995, http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/pale-horse
- ^ "Some Voices", Royal Court, 1995, http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/some-voices
- ^ "The Road", Imdb, 2009, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/
- ^ "The Undertaker", Imdb, 2005, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480045/
- ^ "Enduring Love", Imdb, 2004, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375735/
- ^ "Some Voices", Imdb, 2000, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218616/
- ^ "Moses Jones", Imdb, 2009, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276321/
- ^ "Blue/Orange", Imdb, 2005, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433528/
- ^ "The Long Firm", Imdb, 2004, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0220915/
- ^ "Go Back Out", Imdb, 1995, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126323/
[edit] External links
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