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Rebecca Lenkiewicz (born 1968) is a British playwright and screenwriter. She is best known as the author of ''
Her Naked Skin ''Her Naked Skin'' is a 2008 play by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, and was the first original play by a female writer to be produced at the Olivier Theatre at London's Royal National Theatre (two earlier plays written by women had been adaptations: Pam Gem ...
'' (2008), which was the first original play written by a living female playwright to be performed on the Olivier stage of 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 ...
. Several of Lenkiewicz's plays have been published individually, and in 2013 Faber & Faber published a collection.


Early life and education

Lenkiewicz was born in
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
, Devon, the daughter of Celia Mills and Peter Quint, a playwright. Her stepfather is artist
Robert Lenkiewicz Robert Oscar Lenkiewicz (31 December 1941 – 5 August 2002) was one of South West England's most celebrated artists of modern times. Perennially unfashionable in high art circles, his work was nevertheless popular with the public.
. Her sister is the artist Alice Lenkiewicz and her brother is the artist Wolfe von Lenkiewicz, who are both the children of Robert Lenkiewicz. Her other brothers are Peter Mills and Thomas Mills. She attended
Hyde Park Junior School Hyde Park Junior School (HPJS), founded in 1904, is a coeducational junior school located on Hyde Park Road, close to Mutley Plain in Plymouth, Devon, England. Catering for around 360 boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 11, it is housed ...
and then Plymouth High School for Girls before progressing to a BA in Film and English at the
University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...
from 1985 to 1989, then later to a BA Acting Course at the
Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...
from 1996 to 1999. Initially she worked as an actor at the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
and 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 ...
, notably in Sir Peter Hall's production of ''
The Bacchae ''The Bacchae'' (; grc-gre, Βάκχαι, ''Bakchai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. ...
''.


Writing


Theatre

Lenkiewicz's first play was ''Soho: A Tale of Table Dancers'' which she wrote for the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
Fringe in 2000. It won a Fringe First award at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
.
Helen Raynor Helen Raynor (born March 1972) is a Welsh television screenwriter and script editor from Swansea. She is best known for her work on the relaunched BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. She previously worked as a theatre director. Besides te ...
's production was revived in London on 2 February 2001, the first play to be staged at the
Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is an Off West End theatre in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dalst ...
. Lenkiewicz also appeared in the play in the role of Stella. Her second play, ''The Night Season'' (2004), set in
Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...
, tells the story of an Irish family, the Kennedys, and their attempts to find love. It was staged 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 ...
in the Cottesloe auditorium by
Lucy Bailey Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Luc ...
. In 2005, Lenkiewicz's ''Shoreditch Madonna'', directed by
Sean Mathias Sean Gerard Mathias (born 14 March 1956) is a Welsh actor, director, and writer. He is known for directing the film '' Bent'' and for directing highly acclaimed theatre productions in London, New York City, Cape Town, Los Angeles and Sydney. ...
, was performed at the
Soho Theatre The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The the ...
. A tale of love among the artists in an East London gallery, it starred
Francesca Annis Francesca Annis (born 14 May 1945) is an English actress. She is known for television roles in '' Reckless'' (1998), ''Wives and Daughters'' (1999), ''Deceit'' (2000), and '' Cranford'' (2007). A six-time BAFTA TV Award nominee, she won the 1979 ...
and
Leigh Lawson Allan Leigh Lawson (born 21 July 1945) is an English actor, director and writer. Life and career Lawson was born in Atherstone, Warwickshire. He initially studied at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts before training further at the Royal Academ ...
. In 2006 Lenkiewicz wrote the script for the dance drama, ''Justitia'', which was directed and choreographed by
Jasmin Vardimon Jasmin Vardimon (born 1971) is an Israeli-born, UK-based choreographer, dancer and artistic director of the Jasmin Vardimon Company, which she formed in 1998 in the UK. Vardimon is an associate artist at Sadler's Wells Theatre, since 2006.Sadlers ...
. It was initially performed at the
Peacock Theatre The Peacock Theatre (previously the Royalty Theatre) is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Portugal Street, near Aldwych. The 999-seat house is owned by, and comprises part of the London School of Economics and Politica ...
and has since been on tour. This was followed by ''Invisible Mountains'' toured London schools as part of the National Theatre "Interact" project. She and Abdulkareem Kasid also created a new version of ''
The Soldier's Tale ' (''The Soldier's Tale'') is a theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" () by three actors and one or several dancers, accompanied by a septet of instruments. Conceived by Igor Stravinsky and Swiss writer C. F. Ramuz, the piece was base ...
'', a music theatre piece by
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
and
Charles Ferdinand Ramuz Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (24 September 1878 – 23 May 1947) was a French-speaking Swiss writer. Biography He was born in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud and was educated at the University of Lausanne. He taught briefly in nearby Aubonne, and ...
, set in Iraq. It was staged at the
Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...
. Then in August, her hour-long play ''Blue Moon Over Poplar'' was staged by the
National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth th ...
company at the Soho Theatre as part of the NYT's Golden Jubilee. In 2008, her adaptation of
Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
's ''
An Enemy of the People ''An Enemy of the People'' (original Norwegian title: ''En folkefiende''), an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, followed his previous play, ''Ghosts'', which criticized the hypocrisy of his society's moral code. That response inclu ...
'' opened at the Arcola Theatre, directed by its founder
Mehmet Ergen Mehmet Ergen is a Turkish theatre director, producer and entrepreneur, currently based in London Borough of Hackney. Biography After completing a nine-month acting course in Turkey, Mehmet decided to become a director. He put an ad in ''The Sta ...
. ''
Her Naked Skin ''Her Naked Skin'' is a 2008 play by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, and was the first original play by a female writer to be produced at the Olivier Theatre at London's Royal National Theatre (two earlier plays written by women had been adaptations: Pam Gem ...
'', directed by Howard Davies, premiered on the Olivier stage at the NT in July 2008. It describes the struggles faced by two
suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
s immediately prior to
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. ''Faeries'', was staged at The Egg,
Theatre Royal Bath The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audien ...
. ''Faeries'' is an original drama for children, using puppetry. It tells the story of a girl evacuated during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and the adventures she has when she spends a night in the park. It was commissioned by the
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...
. ''The Lioness'' (June 2010) was performed at the Tricycle Theatre. It describes meetings that
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
had with
John Knox John Knox ( gd, Iain Cnocc) (born – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgat ...
and
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a ...
. Lenkiewicz adapted Ibsen's ''
Ghosts A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
'' for a production at the
Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is an Off West End theatre in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dalst ...
in August 2010. The National Youth Theatre, at the Tramway Theatre in Glasgow, performed ''Stars over Kabul'' (September 2010). It tells the story of a young woman growing up in Kabul. In January 2011 her play '' The Painter'' on the life of
J.M.W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbule ...
premiered at the
Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is an Off West End theatre in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dalst ...
to mark its move into new premises. Lenkiewicz's adaptation of
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
' novella ''
The Turn of the Screw ''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in ''Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmill ...
'' was performed at London's
Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diver ...
(18 January – 16 March 2013). It was directed by
Lindsay Posner Lindsay Steven Posner (born 6 June 1959)"Lindsay Posner ...
In 2014 Lenkiewicz wrote a short play, ''We Two Alone'', inspired by ''
King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...
'' and commissioned by RIFT Theatre for their Shakespeare in Shoreditch Festival. The production was directed by Tess Farley and Connor Abbott of Outbreak Theatre. Lenkiewicz's 2015 ''Jane Wenham: The Witch of Walkern'' concerned one of the last witch-hunts and trials in England, that of Jane Wenham, whose outsider status is juxtaposed with the lot of other women in the village, including the daughter of a woman executed for witchcraft, a former slave, and a widow trying to run the village taphouse on her own. Her play, ''The Invisible'' was directed by Michael Oakley at the Bush Theatre. It ran from 3 July - 15 August 2015. Lenkiewicz's shorter works include a contribution to ''24 Hour Plays'' (June 2005), ''Flowers in her Hair'' (March 2009), ''The Typist'' (June 2010), ''That Almost Unnameable Lust'' (Nov 2010). She translated ''Avec Norm'' (2004) by Serge Boucher, which was performed in a public reading at the Centre des Auteurs Dramatiques (31 July 2007).


Radio

She wrote numerous productions for BBC Radio, such as: ''Fighting for Words'' (2005), ''Caravan of Desire'', ''Blue Moon over Poplar'' (both 2006), ''The Man in the Suit'', ''Sarah and Ken'', ''Betty Lives in a Little Yellow House in Texas'' (all 2010), ''Burning Up'' and ''The Phone'' (both 2011). She also wrote an adaptation of ''Dracula'' and ''The Winter House'' (2012), and a dramatisation of Anne Tyler's ''Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant'' (May 2013) and ''Ladder of Years''.


Film and television

Lenkiewicz wrote for ''
Secret Diary of a Call Girl ''Secret Diary of a Call Girl'' is a British drama television series that aired from 27 September 2007 to 22 March 2011 on ITV2, based on the blog and books by the pseudonymous Belle de Jour. It stars Billie Piper as Belle, a high-end London ...
'' and ''
The Eddy ''The Eddy'' is a French–American musical drama streaming television miniseries, set in Paris. The first two episodes are directed by Damien Chazelle and written by Jack Thorne. Its music was scored by Glen Ballard and Randy Kerber. The serie ...
'' on television. She co-wrote the Polish-language film ''
Ida Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing *Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...
'' (2013) with
Paweł Pawlikowski Paweł Aleksander Pawlikowski (; born 15 September 1957) is a Polish filmmaker. He garnered early praise for a string of documentaries in the 1990s and for his award-winning feature films of the 2000s, '' Last Resort'' (2000) and ''My Summer of ...
, its director. The film is set in Poland in the 1960s and is the story of what happens when a novitiate nun first learns that she is an orphan of Jewish parenthood. The first version of the screenplay was written in English by Lenkiewicz and Pawlikowski, when it had the working title ''Sister of Mercy''. Pawlikowski then translated the screenplay into Polish and revised it. The screenplay for ''Ida'' won the European Screenwriter category at the
27th European Film Awards The 27th European Film Awards were presented on 13 December 2014 in Riga, Latvia. The winners were selected by more than 2,500 members of the European Film Academy. Nominations for the People's Choice Award category were announced on 1 Septembe ...
in 2014, and the Oscar for Best Foreign Film at the ceremony on 22 February 2015. She co-wrote, with director Sebastian Leilo, the script for the adaptation of ''
Disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Henc ...
'' in 2017. In 2018, she and collaborators
Wash Westmoreland Paul Westmoreland (born 4 March 1966), known professionally as Wash Westmoreland and previously known as Wash West, is a British director who has worked in television, documentaries, and independent films. He frequently collaborated with his hus ...
and
Richard Glatzer Richard Glatzer (January 28, 1952 – March 10, 2015) was an American writer and director. Early life Glatzer was born in Flushing, Queens. He grew up in Westbury, Long Island, and Livingston, New Jersey, then gained a bachelor's degree at the ...
wrote the screenplay for ''
Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...
''.


Filmography


Film

Writer * ''
Ida Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing *Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...
'' (2013) * ''
Disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Henc ...
'' (2017) * ''
Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...
'' (2018) * ''Servants'' (2020) * '' She Said'' (2022)


Television

Writer Executive producer * '' The Woman in White'' (2018)


Awards

*The Critics' Circle Theatre Award for the most Promising Playwright 2004. *Honorary degree by the University of Kent at Canterbury on 12 July 2012. *Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, the European Film Award and the Bafta in 2015"Ida wins Oscar for best foreign language film"
"The Guardian", 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
for ''
Ida Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing *Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...
''.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lenkiewicz, Rebecca 1968 births Living people Actresses from Kent Actresses from Plymouth, Devon Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Alumni of the University of Kent English dramatists and playwrights English radio writers English screenwriters English stage actresses English women dramatists and playwrights English women poets European Film Award for Best Screenwriter winners People educated at Plymouth High School for Girls Women radio writers British women television writers