April De Angelis (born April 1960) is an English dramatist of part Sicilian descent. She is a graduate of

Sussex University , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

who trained at

East 15 Acting School East 15 Acting School (East 15) is a British drama school in Loughton, Essex.Its degrees are awarded by the University of Essex, with which it merged on 1 September 2000. As of 2020, Essex University, where East 15 is located, has been ranked No. ...

. De Angelis began her career in the 1980s as an actress with the Monstrous Regiment theatre company. In 1987, her play ''Breathless'' was a prize winner at the 1987 Second Wave Young Women's Writing Festival. Her plays often feature historical figures. ''

Playhouse Creatures ''Playhouse Creatures'' is a 1993 play by April De Angelis, set in the theatre world of 17th century London. It premiered at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 1993 and has since been revived at the Old Vic in 1997, the Dundee Rep in 2007 and the Chich ...

'' and ''A Laughing Matter'' are set in the London theatrical milieu of the 17th and 18th centuries respectively. ''Wanderlust'' examines Victorian colonialism and ''Ironmistress'' is a verse play exploring Lady Charlotte Guest's factory ownership. As a librettist, De Angelis contributed to the opera ''The Silent Twins'' (2007), composed by

Errollyn Wallen Errollyn Wallen (born April 10, 1958) is a Belize-born British composer. Life Errollyn Wallen moved to London with her family when she was two. While her parents moved to New York, she and her three siblings (one of whom is the trumpeter By ...

, which is based on the case of June and Jennifer Gibbons.April de Angeli
"'Have I the strength to kill her?'"
''The Guardian'', 28 June 2007 De Angelis tends to write to commission and several of her plays have been produced by

Max Stafford-Clark Maxwell Robert Guthrie Stewart "Max" Stafford-Clark (born 17 March 1941) is a British theatre director. Life and career Stafford-Clark was born in Cambridge, England. the son of David Stafford-Clark, a physician, and Dorothy Crossley (née Old ...

Out of Joint theatre company Out of Joint is a British and international touring theatre company based in London. It specialises in the commissioning and production of new writing, interspersed with occasional revivals and classic productions. It was founded in 1993 by direct ...

Plays

*''Breathless'' (1987) *''Women in Law'' (1988) *''Wanderlust'' (1988,

Oval House Theatre Ovalhouse, formerly called Oval House Theatre, was an Off-West End theatre in the London Borough of Lambeth, located at 52–54 Kennington Oval, London, SE11 5SW. It closed in 2020, and moved to Brixton, becoming the Brixton House theatre (located ...

Women's Workshop) *''Visitants'' (1988) *''Ironmistress'' (1989,

Young Vic Theatre The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 201 ...

) *''Crux'' (1989,

Paines Plough Paines Plough is a touring theatre company founded in 1974 by writer David Pownall and director John Adams. The company specialises exclusively in commissioning and producing new plays and helping playwrights develop their craft. Over the past ...

) *''Frankenstein'' (1989) *''The Life and Times of Fanny Hill'' (1991, Red Shift Theatre Company) *''Hush'' (1992,

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

) *''Greed'' (1993) *''Soft Vengeance'' (1993) (from the book by

Albie Sachs Albert "Albie" Louis Sachs (born 30 January 1935) is a South African lawyer, activist, writer, and former judge appointed to the first Constitutional Court of South Africa by Nelson Mandela. Early life and education Albie Sachs was born on ...

) *''

'' (Haymarket Theatre 1993) *''The Positive Hour'' (1997,

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...

) *'' A Warwickshire Testimony'' (1999,

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

) *''A Laughing Matter'' (2002,

) *''Headstrong'' (2004,

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

Shell Connections) *''Wild East'' (2005,

) *''Catch'' (with

Stella Feehily Stella Anne Feehily (born 1969, London) is an Irish playwright and actor. Her plays include ''Game'' (2003), which was produced by Fishamble Theatre company, Dublin, and was published in an anthology of first plays by New Island. She is the au ...

Tanika Gupta Tanika Gupta (born 1 December 1963) is a British playwright. Apart from her work for the theatre, she has also written scripts for television, film and radio plays. Early life Tanika Gupta was born in London to immigrant parents from Kolkata, ...

Chloe Moss Chloë Moss (born 1976 in Liverpool) is an English playwright and screenwriter. Early life Moss grew up in Liverpool and attended Manchester Metropolitan University, where she studied film. She joined the Royal Court's Young Writers programme ...

and

Laura Wade Laura Wade is an English playwright. Early life Wade was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire. She grew up in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, where her father worked for a computer company. After completing her secondary education at Lady Manners School i ...

) (2007,

) *''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moorland, moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their tur ...

'' (2008) (From the book by

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...

) *'' Jumpy'' (2011) *''After Electra'' (2015) * ''My Brilliant Friend'' (2017) (from the

Neapolitan Novels The Neapolitan Novels, also known as the Neapolitan Quartet, are a four-part series of fiction by the pseudonymous Italian author Elena Ferrante, published originally by Edizioni e/o, translated into English by Ann Goldstein, and published by Eu ...

Elena Ferrante Elena Ferrante () is a pseudonymous Italian novelist. Ferrante's books, originally published in Italian, have been translated into many languages. Her four-book series of ''Neapolitan Novels'' are her most widely known works. ''Time'' magazine ...

) *''Wilderness'' (2019) *''Kerry Jackson'' (2020)

Libretti

*''Pig'' *''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'' *''Silent Twins'' (2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Angelis, April English women dramatists and playwrights Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1960 births English opera librettists English people of Sicilian descent Alumni of the University of Sussex Alumni of East 15 Acting School Women opera librettists 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English women writers 21st-century British dramatists and playwrights 21st-century English women writers