Artist Profile
David Harrower was born in Edinburgh in 1966 and lives in Glasgow. His first play, Knives in Hens (1997), was first produced at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 1995. He is also the author of the plays Kill the Old Torture Their Young (1998) and The Chrysalids (1999), adapted from John Wyndham’s novel, for the National Theatre’s Connections project. Presence (2001), his third original play, was first performed at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in April 2001.
He has also adapted versions of Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author (Six Characters Looking for an Author (2000)), first staged at the Young Vic in 2000; Chekhov’s Ivanov (2002), performed at the National Theatre in autumn 2002; and Buchner’s Woyzeck, performed at the Edinburgh Lyceum in 2002. Additionally, he has translated The Girl on the Sofa (2002), a new play by Jon Fosse, presented in a joint production by the Edinburgh International Festival and the Schaubuhne, Berlin.
His play, Dark Earth (2003), premiered at the Traverse in August 2003. He has also written a new version of Odon von Horvath’s Tales from the Vienna Woods (2003) for the National Theatre, London, which opened in October 2003. Recent plays are an adaptation of Schiller’s Mary Stuart (2006) and a new translation of Brecht’s The Good Soul of Szechuan (2008).
His latest works include Blackbird (2005), Lucky Box (2009), and Ciara (2013). Blackbird has played in several regional theatres since 2004. Most notably, it premiered Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club in 2007, directed by Joe Mantello, and starred Jeff Daniels and Alison Pill. In 2016, it played again as a Revival with Mantello directing once again and Jeff Daniels and Michelle Williams playing the lead roles. It was nominated for multiple Tony Awards.