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 coun ...

to Irish parents, and attended St Mary's College at Rhos-on-Sea in Wales as a day girl. She studied English and Drama at Goldsmiths College, 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 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 Plays on Stage award and the Meyer-Whitworth Award. Her 1999 play '' Silence'' earned Buffini the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for best English-language play by a woman. ''Loveplay'' followed at the RSC 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, based on

Catherine Storr Catherine Storr, Baroness Balogh (born Catherine Cole; 21 July 1913 – 8 January 2001,Eccleshare (2005) gives the date of her death as 8 January; Eccleshare (2001) and Thwaite (2001) give it as 6 January.) was an English children's writer, best ...

'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" was released, directed by Stephen Frears. In 2011 her adaptation of '' Jane Eyre'' for BBC Films 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'' released in 2013. She took part in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project ''

Sixty Six Books ''Sixty-Six Books'' was a set of plays premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2011, to mark the theatre's reopening on a new site and the 400th anniversary of the King James Version. It drew its title from the 66 books of the Protestant Bible ...

'' for which she wrote a poem titled “God is Jealous,” based upon Nahum, a book of the King James Bible. On the 21 January 2015, it was announced that Manchester International Festival would premier '' wonder.land'', a new musical with music by Damon Albarn, book and lyrics by Moira Buffini and direction from Rufus Norris. ''wonder.land'' is inspired by '' Alice In Wonderland'' by Lewis Carroll and is a co-production with The National Theatre.

Plays

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

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

's '' The Suicide'' *''A Vampire Story'' (2008) *'' Welcome to Thebes'' (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 ...

'' (2011) written with Penelope Skinner, Matt Charman 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'', a ...

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

Filmography

*''

Marianne Dreams ''Marianne Dreams'' is a children's fantasy novel by Catherine Storr. It was illustrated with drawings by Marjorie-Ann Watts and published by Faber and Faber in 1958. The first paperback edition, from Puffin Books in 1964, is catalogued by the L ...

'' (2007) *'' Handbagged'' (2010) *'' Tamara Drewe'' (2010) *'' Jane Eyre'' (2011) *'' Byzantium'' (2012) *'' Viceroy's House'' (2017) *'' Harlots'' (2017-2019) *'' The Dig'' (2021)

References

External links

*
"Moira Buffini"
entry by Aleks Sierz in his '' In-yer-face theatre'' website. Accessed 8 June 2008.
"Monsterists"
entry by Aleks Sierz in his '' In-yer-face theatre'' 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