Tim Fountain (born 23 December 1967) is a British writer.

Early life

Fountain was born in

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

. An only child, he was brought up in a pub in the village of

West Ardsley West Ardsley is a settlement on the south-west edge of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it roughly approximates to an amalgamation of Tingley, Woodkirk, Hill Top, Upper Green, Common ...

. He was educated at Batley Grammar School, Wheelwright sixth form college and

Hull University , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...

Career

Theatre

Fountain's first international success was ''Resident Alien'' in 1999. Based on the life and writings of

Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; – ) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well-known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of ...

, starring

Bette Bourne Bette Bourne (born Peter Bourne, 22 September 1939) is a British actor, drag queen, campaigner, and activist. His theatrical career has spanned six decades. He came to prominence in the mid-1970s onwards after joining the New York-based alterna ...

and directed by

Mike Bradwell Mike Bradwell (born July 11, 1986) is a former Canadian football wide receiver who played for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He was drafted in the second round of the 2008 CFL Draft by the Toronto Argonauts. He began playin ...

, the show opened at 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 ...

, London, before transferring to

New York Theatre Workshop __NOTOC__ New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an Off-Broadway theatre noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 4th Street (Manhattan), East 4th Street between Second Avenue (Manhattan), Second Avenue and Bowery in the East Village, ...

where it played a sell-out season and won two

OBIE Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

s (performance and design). The show subsequently won a

Herald Angel award A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to c ...

for

at the Edinburgh Festival and toured across America, Australia and the UK. It was also broadcast on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. Fountain's one-man show, ''Sex Addict'', opened at 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 April 2004. During the 90-minute show, Fountain would discuss various sex topics, in person and online, and tackle issues of

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

and the perceived immorality of

promiscuity Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different Sexual partner, partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as pro ...

. At the end, he encouraged the audience to select the next person he should have sex with on the dating website

Gaydar Gaydar (a portmanteau of ''gay'' and ''radar'') is a colloquialism referring to the intuitive ability of a person to assess others' sexual orientations as homosexual, bisexual or straight. Gaydar relies on verbal and nonverbal clues and LG ...

. After Gaydar later sent him a

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...

letter, Fountain asked the audience to choose somebody from a list of online volunteers or nominate themselves. ''The List'' praised the show for its humor and ''

The London 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 bei ...

'' called it "artistically criminal". The show later transferred to London's

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 ...

in January 2005 and the

Schaubühne The Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz (Theatre on Lehniner Square) is a famous theatre in the Wilmersdorf district of Berlin, located on the Kurfürstendamm boulevard. It is a conversion of the ''Universum'' cinema, built according to plans designe ...

in Berlin. Fountain's other plays include ''Tchaikovsky in the Park'' which played a season at the Bridewell Theatre in London. ''Last Bus From Bradford'' (winner of the Pink Paper Play Award) which was staged at the Drill Hall in London. ''Julie Burchill Is Away'', about the controversial newspaper columnist

Julie Burchill Julie Burchill (born 3 July 1959) is an English writer. Beginning as a staff writer at the ''New Musical Express'' at the age of 17, she has since contributed to newspapers such as ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''The Sunday Times'' and ''The Guardia ...

, starring

Jackie Clune Jackie Clune (born 13 December 1965) is a British actress and writer. She became established through her Edinburgh Fringe one-woman cabaret shows and her 1995 Karen Carpenter tribute act before graduating to mainstream acting. Early life Jacki ...

, ''Deep Rimming in Poplar'' starring

, and the stage adaptation of

Toby Young Toby Daniel Moorsom Young (born 17 October 1963) is a British social commentator. He is the founder and director of the Free Speech Union, an associate editor of ''The Spectator'', and a former associate editor at ''Quillette.'' A graduate of ...

's book, ''How To Lose Friends and Alienate People'' starring

Jack Davenport Jack Arthur Davenport (born 1 March 1973) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series ''This Life'' and ''Coupling'', and as James Norrington in the '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' series. He has also appeared ...

all of which played seasons at Soho Theatre in London's West End. Fountain adapted the Oscar-winning movie ''

Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama (film and television), drama film, based on the 1965 Midnight Cowboy (novel), novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars ...

'' for the stage starring Con O Neil and Charles Aitken. for the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh. His play about

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...

and his agent

Henry Willson Henry Leroy Willson (July 31, 1911 – November 2, 1978) was an American Hollywood talent agent who played a large role in developing the beefcake craze of the 1950s. He was known for his stable of young, attractive clients, including Rock ...

, ''Rock'', opened in Liverpool before transferring to the

Oval House Theatre Ovalhouse, formerly called Oval House Theatre, was an Off-West End theatre in the London Borough of Lambeth, located at 52–54 Kennington Oval, London, SE11 5SW. It closed in 2020, and moved to Brixton, becoming the Brixton House theatre (located ...

in London starring

as Hudson's agent

and

Michael Xavier Michael D. Xavier (born Michael David Smith; 27 November 1978) is an English actor and singer. Early life Michael David Smith (later known as Michael Xavier) attended Knutsford High and ultimately completed his professional acting training a ...

as Hudson. This play went on to win 'Best online drama' at the BBC audio Drama Awards 2012. His adaptation of "Dandy in the Underworld" by

Sebastian Horsley Sebastian Horsley (born Marcus A. Horsley; 8 August 1962 – 17 June 2010) was an English artist and writer. Horsley's writing often revolved around his dysfunctional family, his flamboyant and eccentric behavior, his drug addictions, sex, and ...

starring Milo Twomey played a season at

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 ...

. Fountain's comedy about

sex tourism Sex tourism refers to the practice of traveling to foreign countries, often on a different continent, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity or relationships in exchange for money or lifestyle support. This practice predominantly oper ...

in Egypt during

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

, ''Queen of the Nile'', opened at

Hull Truck Theatre Hull Truck Theatre is a theatre in Kingston upon Hull, England, which presents drama productions, and also tours. In March 2022, the theatre's original premises on Coltman Street, Hull, was recognised by a blue plaque to coincide with the theatr ...

in 2013. It was directed by Mike Bradwell and starred

Dudley Sutton Dudley Sutton (6 April 1933 – 15 September 2018) was an English actor. Active in radio, stage, film and television, he was arguably best known for his role of Tinker Dill in the BBC Television drama series ''Lovejoy''. Early life Sutton was ...

in a supporting role. Clare Brennan of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' praised the depth in the characters and dialogue but noted that there is a "lack of dramatic conflict." His short play 'Beyond the Fringe', which satirised a left wing Mother's obsession with the Israel/Palestine conflict, was performed in a season of 6 new plays written by amongst other

Caryl Churchill Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non- naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes.

and

Mark Ravenhill Mark Ravenhill (born 7 June 1966) is an English playwright, actor and journalist. Ravenhill is one of the most widely performed playwrights in British theatre of the late-twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His major plays include ''Shoppin ...

at the Edinburgh fringe in 2015. It made front-page news in the Times newspaper when fountain attacked (in print) the militant left wing protestors blocking the audience from entering a show performed by Israeli students. It transferred to

John Bercow John Simon Bercow (; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who was Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019. A member of the Conservative Party prior to ...

(The speaker of the House of Commons) apartment in the House of Commons where it was performed in front of Shami Chakrabati and the deputy head of The Met and featured a golliwog entering from the Speaker's bedroom. His most recent play EastEndless, performed by James Holmes, was a sell out success at the Camden Festival in 2019 and will play Wiltons Music Hall in June 2020 before a run at the Edinburgh Fringe. He directed the West End Production of ''

Puppetry of the Penis ''Puppetry of the Penis'' is a comedic live performance-art show featuring a series of genital contortions. The show was initially conceived as the title of a highbrow art calendar released by Australian Simon Morley in 1996. The calendar show ...

''. The show was originally scheduled to run for a month at the Whitehall Theatre but ran for a year before going on to play Broadway, touring the UK for six years and playing many countries around the world. During this time he began an affair with the then-lesbian comedian

. In the same year he was also a principal writer on the animated television sitcom version of Oscar-winning ''

Bob and Margaret ''Bob and Margaret'' is an adult animated television series created by David Fine and Alison Snowden and produced by Nelvana. The series was based on the Academy Award-winning short film ''Bob's Birthday'', featuring the same main characters, wh ...

'' which was broadcast on

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 ...

in the UK and

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

in the USA.

Writing

His books include ''Quentin Crisp: a biography'', published by Absolute Press. ''So You Want to Be a Playwright?'', published by Nick Hern. Rude Britannia, his book about the sex lives of the British is published by

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld a ...

. He has written for numerous publications including ''

'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'', ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'', ''

Scotland on Sunday ''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate ''The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 2013 ...

'', ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' and ''

Attitude Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), an individual's predisposed state of mind regarding a value * Metaphysics of presence * Propositional attitude, a relational mental state connecting a person to a pro ...

''. Fountain has appeared on ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...

'', ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...

'', '' Saturday Review'' and '' Loose Ends'' on BBC Radio Four and Weekender on BBC Radio 2. He presented a documentary about the death of Quentin Crisp for

. He is a playwriting teacher and has tutored for many organisations including 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 ...

, The

Arvon Foundation The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom that promotes creative writing. Arvon is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations. Andrew Kidd is the Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Cumper is Ch ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

and

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in the USA. He was a creative writing lecturer at

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

and Literary Manager of the

in London.

Bibliography

*Harold's Day – 1989 *Morning has Broken – 1990 *Tchaikovsky in the park – 1993 *Last bus from Bradford − 1995 *A northern wanker in London – 1996 *Resident Alien – 1999 *Quentin Crisp, a biography – 2002 *Julie Burchill Is Away – 2002 *How To Lose Friends and Alienate People – 2003 *Deep Rimmin in Poplar – 2004 *Sex Addict – 2004 *Cinderella − 2005 *Midnight Cowboy – 2006 *So You Want To Be A Playwright – 2007 *Rock – 2008 *Dandy in the Underworld – 2010 *Rude Britannia – 2012 *Queen of the Nile − 2013 *Julie Burchill – Absolute Cult – 2014 *Beyond the Fringe – 2015 *Television Street – 2015 *Supping with the Devil – 2017 *EastEndless – 2019

External links

BBC Radio ''Front Row'' on Julie Burchill Is Away

* ttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3654310/The-Cowboy-rides-again.html ''Daily Telegraph'' on ''Midnight Cowboy''br>Obituary of Sebastian Horsley
''The Independent''

''London Evening Standard''

''Telegraph''
Sex at the click of a mouse
''New Statesman''
''Bradford Telegraph and Argus'', Rude BritanniaReview of ''Queen of the Nile''
British Theatre guide
Review of ''Queen of the Nile''
''Plays to See''
Review of ''Queen Of The Nile''
''Stage''
Podcast with Mike Bradwell
''British Theatre Guide'' 2013

"The Spectator", Julie Burchill Absolute Cult 2014

"reviews gate", Beyond the Fringe 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fountain, Tim Living people 1967 births People from Dewsbury British dramatists and playwrights British male dramatists and playwrights