Dusty Hughes (born 16 September 1947) is an English

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, director and television screenwriter. In the early 1970s he was Theatre Editor of ''Time Out'' and helped to establish that magazine’s theatre coverage as an alternative voice. He then joined the Bush Theatre as Artistic Director and helped develop it as a venue for new writing and directed new plays by

Snoo Wilson Andrew James Wilson (2 August 1948 – 3 July 2013), better known as Snoo Wilson, was an English playwright, screenwriter and director. His early plays such as ''Blow-Job'' (1971) were overtly political, often combining harsh social comment wi ...

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfict ...

, Howard Barker, Ron Hutchinson and Ken Campbell.

Early life

Hughes was born in

Boston, Lincolnshire Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It lies to the south-east of Lincoln, east of Nottingham and north-east of Peterborough. The town had a population of 45,339 at ...

, the son of Harold Hughes a schoolmaster and Peggy (née Holland) a marriage guidance counsellor and youth theatre producer. Hughes was educated at

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (day school, no boarding) for boys in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter of Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabet ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

. At Cambridge, he was a member of Footlights where he appeared in the revue “Supernatural Gas” (directed by

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Roddy Doyle Roderick Doyle (born 8 May 1958) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been ...

novel and subsequent film of the same name) won him the London Theatre Critics Most Promising Playwright Award. His subsequent plays have been seen at the National Theatre, 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 opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

in Stratford and London, the Royal Court, Hampstead Theatre, the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, the Bush, the Donmar and the West End, as well as in Europe and North America. He has worked extensively in television. He was joint winner of the Writer's Guild Award for Best Drama Series for ''Between The Lines'' and created ''The Brief'' for ITV as well as adapting

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the Eng ...

’s ''The Secret Agent'' for BBC1. He has also written for many other series including ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC that focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. The series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squa ...

'', ''

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

'' and most recently, the BBC’s swashbuckling series ''

The Musketeers ''The Musketeers'' is a British period action-drama TV series based on the characters from Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers'' and co-produced by BBC America and BBC Worldwide. The series follows the musketeers Athos, Aramis ...

''.

Plays

*'' Grrr'':

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, 1968 *''In At The Death'': Bush Theatre, London, 1978 *''Commitments'':

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. Artistic Directors * Brian McDermott ...

, London, 1980 *''Heaven and Hell'': Edinburgh, 1981 *''Breach Of The Peace'': Bush Theatre, London 1982 *''Moliere; or, The Union Of Hypocrites'': Stratford-on-Avon, 1982 *''Bad Language'': Hampstead Theatre, London, 1983 *''Philistines'': Stratford-on-Avon, 1985 *''

Futurists Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futures studies or futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities ...

'': Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre, 1986, directed by

Richard Eyre Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre (born 28 March 1943) is an English film, theatre, television and opera director. Eyre has received numerous accolades including three Laurence Olivier Awards as well as nominations for six BAFTA Awards and two ...

; *''

Jenkin's Ear The War of Jenkins' Ear was fought by Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and History of Spain (1700–1808), Spain between 1739 and 1748. The majority of the fighting took place in Viceroyalty of New Granada, New Granada and the Caribbean ...

'':

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 West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

, London. 1987; *''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

'': Piccadilly Theatre, London, 1989 (a musical based on

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

's 1927 silent movie, ''

''

*''A Slip of the Tongue'':

Steppenwolf Theatre Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Immaculate Conception grade school in Highland Park, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighbo ...

, Chicago, 1992 *'' Helpless'':

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...

Theatre, London, 2000, directed by Robin Lefevre.

Television

*''Commitments'' (''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'', 1982) *''

The Secret Agent ''The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale'' is an anarchist spy fiction novel by Polish-British author Joseph Conrad, first published on 12 September 1907.. The story is set in Soho, London in 1886 and deals with Mr. Adolf Verloc and his work as a sp ...

'' (1992) *''

'' (2003–2004) *'' The Brief'' (2004–2005) *''

'' (2008–2011) *''

'' (2016)

Bibliography

*''Futurists and commitments'', Faber and Faber, 1986,

References

External links

* * John Stanley Bull, ''British and Irish dramatists since World War II.: Second series'', Gale Group, 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Dusty 1947 births Living people People from Boston, Lincolnshire 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English dramatists and playwrights English television writers English screenwriters English male screenwriters English male dramatists and playwrights English theatre directors English male television writers