Moira Buffini (born 29 May 1965) is an English dramatist, director, and actor.

Early life

Buffini was born in

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 ...

to Irish parents, and attended St Mary's College at

Rhos-on-Sea Rhos-on-Sea ( cy, Llandrillo-yn-Rhos) is a seaside resort and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The population was 7,593 at the 2011 census. It adjoins Colwyn Bay and is named after the Welsh kingdom of Rhos established there in late ...

in Wales as a day girl. She studied English and Drama at

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wo ...

, London University (1983–86).http://www.proscenium.org.uk/productions/assets/0306-dinner/programme.pdf She subsequently trained as an actor at the

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama , image_name = Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.jpg , image_size = , motto = , established = 1949 , type = Public , staff = , vice_chancellor = , students = 779 (2017/18) , undergrad ...

in Cardiff.

Career

For ''Jordan'', co-written with Anna Reynolds in 1992, she won a Time Out Award for her performance and Writers' Guild Award for Best Fringe play. Her 1997 play ''Gabriel'' was performed at Soho theatre, winning the

LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

Plays on Stage award and the

Meyer-Whitworth Award The Meyer-Whitworth Award was a literary prize established in 1991 and awarded from 1992 until 2011 to new British playwrights to help them further their careers. The £10,000 prize, one of the largest annual prizes for play writing in the UK, was ...

. Her 1999 play ''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the c ...

'' earned Buffini the

Susan Smith Blackburn Prize The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize established in 1978, is the largest and oldest playwriting prize for women+ writing for English-speaking theatre. Named for Susan Smith Blackburn (1935–1977), alumna of Smith College, who died of breast cancer. W ...

for best English-language play by a woman. ''Loveplay'' followed at the

RSC RSC may refer to: Arts * Royal Shakespeare Company, a British theatre company * Reduced Shakespeare Company, a touring American acting troupe * Richmondshire Subscription Concerts, a music society in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England * Rock Ste ...

in 2001, then ''Dinner'' at the National Theatre in 2003 which transferred to the West End and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy. Buffini wrote ''Dying For It'', a free adaptation of

Nikolai Erdman Nikolai Robertovich Erdman ( rus, Николай Робертович Эрдман, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ˈrobʲɪrtəvʲɪtɕ ˈɛrdmən, a=Nikolay Robyertovich Erdman.ru.vorb.oga; , Moscow – 10 August 1970) was a Soviet dramatist and screenwriter ...

's classic, ''The Suicide'', for the Almeida in 2007. She followed it with ''Marianne Dreams'' a dance play with choreographer

Will Tuckett Will Tuckett (born 1969) is an English director and Choreography, choreographer, who has created works for many international companies including the Royal Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, and English National Ballet. Early life Tuckett ...

, based on Catherine Storr's book. Her play for young people, ''A Vampire Story'' was performed as part of NT Connections in 2008. She did a writers’ attachment at the

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 ...

Studio in 1996. Buffini advocates big, imaginative plays rather than naturalistic soap opera dramas, and is a founder member of the Monsterists, a group of playwrights who promote new writing of large scale work in the British theatre. She has been described by David Greig as a metaphysical playwright. All her plays have been published by Faber. Buffini is also a prolific screenwriter. In 2010 her film adaptation of Posy Simmon's "

Tamara Drewe ''Tamara Drewe'' is a weekly comic strip serial by Posy Simmonds, which had a 13 month run in ''The Guardian''s Review section. The strip is based upon a modern reworking of Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel '' Far from the Madding Crowd''. The stor ...

" was released, directed by

Stephen Frears Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...

. In 2011 her adaptation of ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

'' for

BBC Films BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including '' Truly, Madly, Deeply'', '' Alan Pa ...

and Ruby Films was released. The script appeared on the 2008 Brit List, a film-industry-compiled list of the best unproduced screenplays in British film. It received nine votes, putting it in second place. Buffini adapted her play ''A Vampire Story'' for the screenplay of Neil Jordan's film ''

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

'' released in 2013. She took part in the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a spa ...

's 2011 project '' Sixty Six Books'' for which she wrote a poem titled “God is Jealous,” based upon Nahum, a book of the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

. On the 21 January 2015, it was announced that

Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first taking ...

would premier '' wonder.land'', a new musical with music by

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

, book and lyrics by Moira Buffini and direction from

Rufus Norris Rufus Norris (born 16 January 1965) is a British theatre and film director, who is currently the Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive of the National Theatre. Life and career Norris grew up in Africa and Malaysia, attended North Bromsgr ...

. ''wonder.land'' is inspired by '' Alice In Wonderland'' by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

and is a co-production with The National Theatre.

Plays

*''Jordan'' (1992) *''Gabriel'' (1997) *''Blavatsky's Tower ''(1998) *''

'' (1999) *''The Games Room'' *''Loveplay'' (2001) *''

Dinner Dinner usually refers to what is in many Western cultures the largest and most formal meal of the day, which is eaten in the evening. Historically, the largest meal used to be eaten around midday, and called dinner. Especially among the elite ...

'' (2002) *''Dying For It'' (2007) a free adaptation of

's '' The Suicide'' *''A Vampire Story'' (2008) *''

Welcome to Thebes ''Welcome to Thebes'' is a 2010 play by Moira Buffini. It premiered on 15 June 2010 in a production at the Olivier Theatre of the Royal National Theatre in London directed by Richard Eyre. Plot Set in 'a city named Thebes, somewhere in the 20 ...

'' (2010) *''

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

'' (2011) written with

Penelope Skinner Penelope Skinner is a British playwright. She came to prominence after her play ''Fucked'' was first produced in 2008 at the Old Red Lion Theatre and the Edinburgh Festival to huge critical acclaim and has had successive plays staged in London ...

Matt Charman Matt Charman (born June 5, 1979) is a British screenwriter, playwright, and producer from Horsham, West Sussex. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his 2015 film '' Bridge of Spies'', directed by Steven Spielber ...

and

Jack Thorne Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the films '' Wonder'' and '' Enola Holmes'', ...

*'' Handbagged'' (2013) *'' wonder.land'' (2015) *''Manor'' (2021)

Filmography

*'' Marianne Dreams'' (2007) *'' Handbagged'' (2010) *''

'' (2010) *''

'' (2011) *''

'' (2012) *''

Viceroy's House The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, rāsh-truh-puh-ti bha-vun; ; originally Viceroy's House and later Government House) is the official residence of the President of India at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India. Rashtrapati Bh ...

'' (2017) *''

Harlots Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

'' (2017-2019) *'' The Dig'' (2021)

References

External links

*
"Moira Buffini"
entry by Aleks Sierz in his ''

In-yer-face theatre In-yer-face theatre is a term used to describe a confrontational style and sensibility of drama that emerged in Great Britain in the 1990s. This term was borrowed by British theatre critic Aleks Sierz as the title of his book, ''In-Yer-Face Theat ...

'' website. Accessed 8 June 2008.
"Monsterists"
entry by Aleks Sierz in his ''

'' website. Accessed 8 June 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Buffini, Moira 1965 births Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Living people People from Northwich Writers from Cheshire English women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English women writers 21st-century British dramatists and playwrights 21st-century English writers 21st-century English women writers British women screenwriters English screenwriters English people of Irish descent