Simon Farquhar
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Simon Alexander Farquhar (born 15 December 1972) is a Scottish playwright.
During his time at the University of Aberdeen he was an active writer and performer in the university's drama group, Centre Stage. His early one-act plays were staged at the Aberdeen Arts Centre, until a radio script set in Cullen, Candy Floss Kisses, was picked up by actor and producer Martin Jarvis and commissioned for BBC Radio 4. This was followed by another Cullen-based drama, Elevenses with Twiggy, set during the dying days of the Sixties and featuring a cameo performance by Twiggy herself.[1]
His first full-length stage play, the Aberdeen-based Rainbow Kiss, opened at the Royal Court in April 2006. The production starred Joseph McFadden and Dawn Steele and was directed by Richard Wilson, as part of the theatre's 50th anniversary season.[2][3][4] Rainbow Kiss opened in New York in Spring 2008, directed by Will Frears and produced by The Play Company.
In October 2006 he was invited to take part in the Old Vic 24 Hour Plays Celebrity Gala. The annual fund-raising event sees six writers asked to each choose from a pool of available actors and each write a ten-minute play for them overnight which is then learned and performed the following evening on the Old Vic stage. The result was Dream Me a Winter starring Tamzin Outhwaite and Patricia Hodge.[5]
He has also written many articles and appeared on television and radio as a champion of television drama, particularly of the 1970s.[1] In 2007 he wrote and presented the documentary Razor Sharp: The Story of Peter McDougall, the Scottish television dramatist.
[edit] Radio
- Candy Floss Kisses (2004) — Afternoon Play, BBC Radio 4
- Elevenses with Twiggy (2006) — Afternoon Play, BBC Radio 4
[edit] Stage
- I Do Solemnly Declare (2001) — Aberdeen Arts Centre
- Rainbow Kiss (2006) — Royal Court
- Dream Me a Winter (2006) — Old Vic (part of The 24 Hour Plays)
[edit] References
- ^ a b Harriet Devine Playwrights of the Royal Court 1956-2006, London: Faber, 2006
- ^ Charles Spencer "That kitchen sinking feeling", Daily Telegeraph, 14 April 2006
- ^ Michael Billington "Rainbow Kiss, Royal Court, London", The Guardian, 12 April 2006
- ^ Paul Taylor "Rainbow Kiss, Royal Court Upstairs, London ", The Independent, 14 April 2006
- ^ "Simon Farquahar", On Air, Wireles Theatre Company
