Rob Evans (writer)
British playwright (born 1978)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Alan Evans[1] (born 14 March 1978)[citation needed] is a British playwright and theatre director who primarily writes for children and young people.[2][3] He is the winner of two CATS awards (one for The Voice Thief) and a Prix D'Orpheon (for The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk).[4][2][5]
Mikey and Addie
Robert Alan Evans | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 March 1978 Oxford, England |
| Education | University of Edinburgh |
| Occupations | Playwright, director |
| Notable work | The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk Mikey and Addie |
| Website | Official website |
Early life and education
Evans was born in 1978 in Oxford, England and grew up in Glasgow, Newcastle, Cardiff[3] and Penarth. He studied for an MA in[citation needed] English Literature and History at the University of Edinburgh before moving to Glasgow in 2000, where he began writing and directing professionally for theatre.[3][6]
Career
After working as Assistant Director at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh on Gagarin Way by Gregory Burke and Iron by Rona Munro, [citation needed] Evans was sent to the World Interplay conference in Townsville, Australia in 2003 by the Traverse. His first play, A Girl in a Car with a Man,[7][6] was picked up by playwright Simon Stephens.[citation needed] It was produced at the Royal Court Theatre in 2004[7][8][9] and actor Andrew Scott received the 2005 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for his portrayal of Alex.[10] It was performed in German at the Munich Kammerspiele in November 2005.[3] Evans developed Aruba (2005)[11] and Fish Story (2007)[12] with the People Can Run theatre company.[5] Aruba had a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, then toured the UK and off Broadway.[13][11][14]
His work for younger audiences includes Pinocchio (2006);[15] Kappa (2007);[16] an adaptation of Ben Rice's short story Pobby and Dingan (2010);[17] The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk (2010);[18] and an adaptation of Barry Hines’ A Kestrel for a Knave (2011).[19][20] Pondlife was also performed in Stockholm as Neandertalare (2011)[21] and in Subiaco (2014).[22] Other works include Peter Pan (2012) at the Sherman Cymru[23][24] and Mikey and Addie (2012) for the Cultural Olympiad.[25][26] He co-created Tiger and Tiger Tale (2013) and Little Red (2015) with Natasha Gilmore and the dance theatre company Barrowland Ballet.[12][27] In 2024, his adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Odd and the Frost Giants was performed at the Unicorn Theatre.[28][29]
Evans' awards include two CATS awards (one for The Voice Thief) and a Prix D'Orpheon (for The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk).[4][2][5] In 2010, his play Pobby and Dingan won the TMA Award for Best Show for Children and Young People.[30][4] He was shortlisted for the Brian Way Award for The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk in 2011.[31] His work in the UK has been published by Faber and Faber[32] and Samuel French[33][4] and in France by L'Arche.[34] BBC Radio 4 broadcast his abridgment of A Patriot for Us by John Heilpern in 2006[35][36] and his radio play The Cracks in 2010.[37][2][5]