James Vincent Morris (born 1953, Birkenhead,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

) is an English

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

associated with social realism.

Career

He was voted Most Promising Playwright of 1981 by The Financial Times and The Morning Star for his first stage play Blood On The Dole which was performed at The Liverpool Playhouse in 1981 where he was resident playwright. He also co-founded Liverpool Lunchtime Theatre (LLt) in 1982 with three other writers - Paul Goetzee, Bruce Birchall and Denis Wainwright. His first stage play, ''Blood On The Dole'' was later made into a Television Film in 1994 and was broadcast on Channel 4. It was directed by Pip Broughton and produced by

Alan Bleasdale Alan George Bleasdale (born 23 March 1946) is an English screenwriter, best known for social realist drama serials based on the lives of ordinary people. A former teacher, he has written for radio, stage and screen, and has also written novels. ...

as part of ‘Alan Bleasdale Presents’. Starring Stephen Walters and

Suzanne Maddock Suzanne Maddock (born 13 February 1976 in New Brighton, Wirral) is an English actress, singer and voice actress. Suzanne has been an industry professional since 1994, working in both TV and Film. She first appeared in the ITV police procedural ...

; it told the story of two working class Merseyside school leavers and their struggles in facing a life of unemployment and social deprivation.

Stage Plays

* ''Blood On The Dole'' (1981), performed at Liverpool Playhouse * ''The Holiday'' (1983), performed at Liverpool Playhouse * ''The Fox and Hounds'' (1984), performed at the Warehouse Theatre in Croydon * ''Pinocchio Boys'' (1986), toured with Paines Plough starring Ian Hart * ''Changing Gear'' (1987), performed at Liverpool Playhouse * ''A Man From The Motor Trade'' (1995), performed at the Unity Theatre Liverpool * ''Exposure - The Story Of Mallory and Irvine'' (2000), performed at Andrew Irvine‘s childhood home part of

Year of the Artist Year of the Artist (YOTA) was a nationwide scheme organised by the ten English Regional Arts Boards to fund residencies by artists in new and unusual settings. The scheme ran from June 2000 to May 2001 and had the slogan "1,000 artists in 1,000 pla ...

Film and Television

* ''Blood On The Dole'' (1994), broadcast on Channel 4, produced by

. It was released on DVD 28 May 2018.

Radio Plays

* ''Boy'' (1995), an adaption of a James Hanley novel '' Boy'' (1931), broadcast on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

* ''The Seaside Came Out Of The Van'' (2005), Broadcast on BBC Radio Four about the

Morecambe Bay cockling disaster The Morecambe Bay cockling disaster occurred on the evening of 5 February 2004 at Morecambe Bay in North West England, when at least 21 Chinese illegal immigrant labourers were drowned by an incoming tide after picking cockles off the Lancashire ...

* ''Fused Rice Bowl'' (2006), broadcast on BBC Radio 3

Other works

* ''Hand on The Braille'', a novel shortlisted Constable Trophy for an unpublished novel, 1990 * ''Song of Inishmaan and London Song'' (2012), part of a song cycle entitled 'Opened Spaces' on the album ''Songs Now- British Songs Of the 21st Century'' written in collaboration with Dr Tom Armstrong of the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institut ...

and released on

Meridian Records Meridian Records is a British independent record label based in London. Having been founded in 1977, Meridian has celebrated more than a third of a century of recording classical music in its well regarded 'natural sound'. Meridian has tradit ...

* ''Eldorado - in Liverpool'' (2011), The Guardian Northern Guest Blog, the photographs of Peter Hagerty * '' Tom Wood: The DPA Work'' (2019), essay on the

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

shipyard. Published by Steidl and the University of Chester

Career

Stage Plays

Film and Television

Radio Plays

Other works

References

Further reading