Michael Wilcox is a British playwright. He was resident playwright at the Dovecot Arts Centre in Stockton-on-Tees for the 1977 season. In 1980, he was resident playwright at the

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary pla ...

, Edinburgh. In 2008, he signed a letter against Bush Theatre budget cuts. He was educated at Alleyn Court School, Westcliff-on-Sea;

Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...

in Worcestershire;

Borough Road College Borough Road is in Southwark, London SE1. It runs east–west between St George's Circus and Borough High Street. History and location The route was created as part of the planning and road improvements associated with the completion of We ...

in Isleworth, London, where he trained to be a teacher; and

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where he achieved a BA Honours degree in English Literature. In the early 1970s, Wilcox founded Northern Playwrights Society with dramatist

C. P. Taylor Cecil Philip Taylor (6 November 1929 – 9 December 1981) usually credited as C. P. Taylor, was a Scottish playwright. He wrote almost 80 plays during his 16 years as a professional playwright, including several for radio and television. He also ...

to promote the interests of playwrights living in the Northern Arts region. This has evolved into New Writing North, which is one of Britain's most successful regional writers' agencies. In addition to his theatre writing, Wilcox edited five volumes of ''Gay Plays'' for Methuen, who also published his autobiographical journal of 1989, ''Outlaw in the Hills''. His monograph "Benjamin Britten's Operas" was published by Absolute Press in 1997 and was shortlisted by the Royal Philharmonic Society for its music book of the year award. Wilcox has also worked as opera librettist for John Metcalf's ''

Tornrak ''Tornrak'' is the third opera by Welsh composer John Metcalf. It has an English-language libretto by Michael Wilcox with Inuktitut sections translated by Blendina Makkik. Set between the worlds of the Canadian Arctic and Victorian Britai ...

'' (Welsh National Opera: 1990) and Eddie McGuire's ''Cullercoats Tommy'' (Northern Sinfonia and Northern Stage: 1993). For Opera North, he worked with Jeremy Sams on a new libretto for Chabrier's ''

Le roi malgré lui ''Le roi malgré lui'' (''King in Spite of Himself'' or ''The reluctant king'') is an opéra-comique in three acts by Emmanuel Chabrier of 1887 with an original libretto by Emile de Najac and Paul Burani. The opera is revived occasionally, but h ...

'' that was first staged at the Edinburgh International Festival as ''The Reluctant King'' in 1995. His television dramas include episodes of ''Crown Court'' and ''Cluedo'', ''Cricket'' (BBC TV : Plays for Tomorrow:1981), ''Accounts'' (C4 : Film on Four:1982), ''Lent'' (BBC TV : 1985 : Pye and TRICS awards for best script of the year), ''Inspector Morse : Last Bus to Woodstock'' (1988) and ''Doctor Finlay : Winning the Peace'' (STV : 1993). He has also served as a board member for Northern Arts,

Northern Stage Northern Stage is a regional non-profit LORT (League of Resident Theatres)-D professional theater company located in White River Junction, VT. Founded in 1997 by Brooke Ciardelli. Northern Stage launched New Works Now in 2014. Northern Stage ...

, NTC Touring Company, and, for some years, was on the Arts Council of England's New Theatre Writing Panel. His play, ''Betty and Maud'' (2010), had its world premiere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on board a Saga cruise liner. During the 2012 cricket season he was chairman of Haltwhistle Cricket Club in

Haltwhistle Haltwhistle is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, east of Brampton. It had a population of 3,811 at the 2011 Census. Stone-built houses are a feature of Haltwhistle. It is one of two settlements in Great Britain which c ...

, Northumberland.

Awards

*1980 Thames Television Award *1981

George Devine Award George Alexander Cassady Devine (20 November 1910 – 20 January 1966) was an English theatrical manager, director, teacher, and actor based in London from the early 1930s until his death. He also worked in TV and film. Early life and education ...

*1983 British Theatre Association: Most promising playwright *1985 Pye Television Award: Best scripted contribution to television for ''Lent'' (BBC TV: Screen Two) *1985 TRICS Award: Best single play for ''Lent''

Works

Theatre plays: *''The Boy Who Cried Stop'', Tyneside Theatre Company 1974 *''Grimm Tales'', Tyneside Theatre Company, 1975 *''The Atom Bomb Project'', Tyneside Theatre Company 1975 *''Roar Like Spears'', Alabama Drama Institute, 1975 *''The Backetts Of Bright Street'', Dovecot Arts Centre, Stockton-on-Tees, 1977 *''Phantom Of the Fells'', Live Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1977 *''Pioneers'', Dovecot Actors Workshop, 1977 *''Mowgli'', Dovecote Youth Theatre, 1978 *''Dekka and Dava'', Newcastle upon Tyne, 1978 *''Rents'', Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 1979 *''Werffitt!'', Manor Park School, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1980 *''Accounts'', Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 1981 *''Lent'', Lyric Studio Theatre, Hammersmith, London, 1983 *''78 Revolutions'', Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh and Lyric Studio Theatre, Hammersmith, London 1984 *''Massage'', Lyric Studio Theatre, Hammersmith, London 1986 *''Green Fingers'', Live Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1990 *''Time Windows'', Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea, 1992 *''Rock'n'Roll & Barbirolli'', Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea, 1999 *''Mrs Steinberg And The Byker Boy'', Bush Theatre, London 2000 *''Betty and Maud'', Drama at Sea, 2010 Radio plays: *''Standard Procedure'', BBC Radio : Afternoon Theatre 1976 *''Accounts'', BBC Radio : The Monday Play 1982 *''Lent'', BBC Radio : Saturday Night Theatre 1993 Opera libretti: *''

'', composer John Metcalf : Welsh National Opera 1990 *''Cullercoats Tommy'', composer Eddie McGuire : Northern Sinfonia and Northern Stage 1993 *''The Reluctant King'', with Jeremy Sams : composer Chabrier : Opera North 1995 Television dramas: *''Clean Sweep'', STV 1981 *''Cricket'', Plays for Tomorrow, BBC TV 1981 *''Accounts'', Film on Four, Channel 4 TV 1982 *''Midnight Feast'', STV 1982 *''In Disgrace'', STV 1983 *"Burnt Futures", three ''Crown Court'' episodes, Granada TV 1983 *"A Party to Crime", three ''A Case for Justice'' episodes (entire 18 episode series filmed but never broadcast) Granada TV 1984 *''Inspector Morse : Last Bus to Woodstock'', Central TV, 1988 * ''

102 Boulevard Haussmann ''102 Boulevard Haussmann'' is a 1991 British biographical drama film written by Alan Bennett and directed by Udayan Prasad. It is based on the life of French novelist Marcel Proust in 1916, during his residency at 102 Boulevard Haussmann in ...

'' BBC 1991 *''Doctor Finlay : Winning the Peace'', STV 1992

Bibliography

*''Standard Procedure'', Iron Press 1978, *''Rents'', Methuen 1983, *''Lent'', Methuen 1983, *''Massage & other plays'', Methuen, 1987, *''Green fingers: a play'', Methuen Drama, 1991, *''Outlaw in the Hills, A Writer's Year'', Methuen, 1991, *''Gay Plays: Volume 1'', Editor Michael Wilcox, Methuen, 1984, *''Gay Plays: Volume 2'', Editor Michael Wilcox, Methuen, 1985, *''Gay Plays: Volume 3'', Editor Michael Wilcox, Methuen, 1988, *''Gay plays, Volume 4'', Editor Michael Wilcox, Methuen, 1990, *''Gay plays, Volume 5'', Editor Michael Wilcox, Methuen, 1994, *''Michael Wilcox Plays'': 1 : "Rents", "Accounts", "Lent", "Massage"'', Methuen Drama, 1997, *''Benjamin Britten's Operas'' Absolute Press, 1997, *''Mrs.Steinberg and the Byker Boy'' Oberon Books 2000, Short stories: *''Filipino Sting'', included in "Fabulous Tricks", Third House 1992 *''Alfredo and the Leather Mouse'', included in "Bend Sinister" Gay Men's Press 2002 *''The Haunting of James Elstead'', included in "Death Comes Easy" Gay Men's Press 2003 *''Finding Danger Boy'', included in "Serendipity" Gay Men's Press 2004 *''Dead Man's Hand'', included in "A Casualty of War" Arcadia Books 2008

References

External links

"Not much sold in Big Sell Off"
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BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

'', 29 July 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilcox, Michael Living people British dramatists and playwrights Alumni of University College London British male dramatists and playwrights Year of birth missing (living people)