Nina Raine is an English
theatre director
A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
and
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 ...
, the only daughter of
Craig Raine
Craig Anthony Raine, FRSL (born 3 December 1944) is an English contemporary poet. Along with Christopher Reid, he is a notable pioneer of Martian poetry, a movement that expresses alienation with the world, society and objects. He was a fellow of ...
and
Ann Pasternak Slater, and a grand niece of the Russian novelist
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (; rus, Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к, p=bɐˈrʲis lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ pəstɛrˈnak; 30 May 1960) was a Russian poet, novelist, composer and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pa ...
.
She graduated from
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...
in 1998 with a First in
English Literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...
.
Life and career
She won the
Channel Four
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service i ...
/
Jerwood Space
Jerwood Space is an arts venue at Bankside on Union Street, Southwark, London. The facilities include rehearsal studios, gallery/exhibition space, meeting rooms, a café, etc. Exhibits include contemporary art and photography throughout the bu ...
Young Regional Theatre Director bursary in 2000 to train as a director at the
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 ...
where she assisted on a number of plays including ''
My Zinc Bed'', ''Mouth to Mouth'', ''
Presence'' and ''Fucking Games''.
She has directed plays in several other theatres since then, including ''
Unprotected
''Unprotected'' is a 1916 American drama silent film directed by James Young, written by James Hatton, and starring Blanche Sweet, Theodore Roberts, Ernest Joy, Tom Forman, Walter Long and Mrs. Lewis McCord. It was released on November 6, 1916 ...
'' at the
Liverpool Everyman
The Everyman Theatre stands at the north end of Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1964, in Hope Hall (once a chapel, then a cinema), in an area of Liverpool noted for its bohemian environment and political edge, a ...
and the
Edinburgh Festival
__NOTOC__
This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...
in 2006, for which she won the
TMA Best Director Award, and ''Shades'' by
Alia Bano as part of the Royal Court Theatre's Young Writers' Festival in 2009, as well as ''Jumpy'' by
April De Angelis
April De Angelis (born April 1960) is an English dramatist of part Sicilian descent. She is a graduate of Sussex University who trained at East 15 Acting School.
De Angelis began her career in the 1980s as an actress with the Monstrous Regimen ...
at the
Royal Court
A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...
and in the
West End.
''Rabbit'', Raine's first work as a dramatist, premiered at the
Old Red Lion Theatre
The Old Red Lion is a pub and fringe theatre, at Angel, in the London Borough of Islington.
The theatre was founded in 1979 as the Old Red Lion Theatre Club. The pub was Grade II listed in 1994 by Historic England.
History
Construction
The p ...
in London in the summer of 2006. The play, which she also directed, transferred to the
Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million Pound sterling, pound restoration project aiming to reinstate ...
later that autumn. She won both the 2006
Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
's
Charles Wintour
Charles Vere Wintour (18 May 1917 – 4 November 1999) was a British newspaper editor, the father of ''Vogue'' magazine editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, and of the diplomatic editor of ''The Guardian'' newspaper, Patrick Wintour. After a life in m ...
Award for Most Promising Playwright and the Most Promising Playwright Award at the 2006
Critics' Circle Theatre Awards
The Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, originally called ''Drama'' Theatre Awards up to 1990, are British theatrical awards presented annually for the closing year's theatrical achievements. The winners, from theatre throughout the United Kingdom, ar ...
.
''Rabbit'' was performed in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in June 2007 at the
Brits Off Broadway Festival.
Raine's second play ''
Tribes
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...
'' was produced by the
Royal Court
A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...
in London, in October 2010, directed by
Roger Michell
Roger Michell (5 June 1956 – 22 September 2021) was a South African-born British theatre, television and film director. He was best known for directing films such as ''Notting Hill (film), Notting Hill'' and ''Venus (2006 film), Venus'', as ...
and starring
Harry Treadaway
Harry John Newman Treadaway''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 10 September 1984) is an English actor known for his performances as Victor Frankenstein in the horror-drama series ''Penny Dr ...
,
Michelle Terry and
Stanley Townsend
Stanley Townsend (born August 1961) is an Irish actor.
Personal life
Townsend was born and brought up in Dublin. After attending Wesley College, Dublin, he studied mathematics and civil engineering at Trinity College. While there he joined the ...
. It had its Australian premiere at the
Melbourne Theatre Company
The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre compa ...
in February 2012, and its North American premiere at New York City's
Barrow Street Theatre
Barrow Street Theatre is the name of both a 199-seat Off-Broadway theatre located in New York City's historic Greenwich House at 27 Barrow Street and a production company of the same name. From 2003 to 2018, the venue was leased to Barrow Street ...
, also in 2012. It was then produced by
Artists Repertory Theatre
Artists Repertory Theatre (Artists Rep) is a professional non-profit theatre located in Portland, Oregon, United States. The longest-running professional theatre company in Portland, since 1982 the company has focused on presenting the works of ...
in Portland in February 2015. ''Tribes'' is about a deaf son who is raised in a dysfunctional, Jewish, hearing family (Raine is Jewish on her mother's side).
''Tiger Country'', commissioned by Hampstead Theatre and produced by
Alcove Entertainment
Alcove Entertainment is an independent film production and finance company, based in the UK and the UAE. Alcove Entertainment has occasionally acted as a distributor for its own films. The company was founded by Amina Dasmal and Robin Fox in 2005 ...
, opened in January 2011.
Raine also directed and dramaturged ''Behind the Image'' by
Alia Bano, which premiered at the Royal Court's 2008 Rough Cuts Season.
In 2013 she directed ''Longing'', an adaptation of two
Anton Chekov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
stories by novelist
William Boyd.
Her fourth play, ''
Consent
Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions as used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual relationships. Consent as und ...
'', premiered at the
National Theatre in April 2017, in a co-production with
Out of Joint
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 ...
. Directed by
Roger Michell
Roger Michell (5 June 1956 – 22 September 2021) was a South African-born British theatre, television and film director. He was best known for directing films such as ''Notting Hill (film), Notting Hill'' and ''Venus (2006 film), Venus'', as ...
, it starred
Anna Maxwell Martin
Anna Maxwell Martin (born Anna Charlotte Martin; 27 May 1977),Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1984–2006 listed birth name as ''Anna Charlotte Martin''; Registration year 1977; Registration District Beverley, Yorkshire som ...
,
Ben Chaplin
Ben Chaplin (born Benedict John Greenwood; 31 July 1969)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in films, including '' The Truth About Cats & Dogs' ...
and
Pip Carter. Her fifth play, Bach & Sons, is a work on the life of
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
at the
Bridge Theatre
The Bridge Theatre is a commercial theatre near Tower Bridge in London that opened in October 2017. It was developed by Nick Starr and Nicholas Hytner as the home of the London Theatre Company, which they founded following their tenancy as execut ...
, with
Simon Russell Beale
Sir Simon Russell Beale (born 12 January 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabe ...
as the composer in the premiere production.
References
External links
*
Page at United Agents
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raine, Nina
English dramatists and playwrights
English people of Russian-Jewish descent
English theatre directors
Jewish dramatists and playwrights
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)
Pasternak family