Alice Birch Explained

Alma Mater:University of Exeter
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Partner:Sam Pritchard
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Occupation:Writer

Alice Birch (born 1986) is a British playwright and screenwriter. Birch has written several plays, including Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. for which she was awarded the George Devine Award for Most Promising New Playwright, and Anatomy of a Suicide for which she won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Birch was also the screenwriter for the film Lady Macbeth and has written for such television shows as Succession, Normal People, and Dead Ringers.

Early life

Birch spent the first five years of her life living with her family at the rural commune Birchwood Hall, near Malvern. Because her parents were unmarried, they decided to give Alice and her sister the last name Birch after the commune's name.[1]

At 18, Birch joined the Royal Court Theatre’s young writers programme and spent a three-month unpaid internship in Los Angeles working for the film production company BenderSpink.[2]

Birch attended Exeter University for her undergraduate degree.[3]

Career

In 2010, Birch participated in 24 Hour Plays at the Old Vic in which writers, directors, actors, and other creatives have 24 hours to create a new play before it is performed. The playwrights were given 6 hours to write a play 15 minutes in length. Birch's play was called And Then There Were Four Little Beats of Four Little Hearts on the Edge of the World.[4] [5]

Birch's first performed full-length play was Many Moons, which premiered in 2011 at Theatre 503 under the direction of Derek Bond.[6] [7] The play follows four characters whose lives seem separate, but then collide.[8] Birch was nominated for the 2011/12 Susan Smith Blackburn prize, an award recognising female playwrights writing in the English language, for Many Moons.

In 2013, Birch's episode of the radio comedy Absolutely Delish was broadcast on BBC Radio 4.[9] [10] [11] Also in 2013, Birch's play Little on the Inside premiered at Latitude Festival.[12] The play is set inside a women's prison.[13]

Birch co-wrote the play Astronauts with a group of 16-19 year olds who later performed the work. Astronauts was inspired by the housing crisis. The play premiered in 2014 with Company Three.[14] Little Light is one of Birch's first plays, though it was not performed until 2015 when it premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre.[15] [16]

Birch's play Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, which gave her the prompt, "Well-behaved women seldom make history". Birch wrote the play in three days. The play was inspired by Valerie Solanas' SCUM Manifesto, though Birch took inspiration more from the power behind Solanas' words than from the messages of that work. Revolt premiered with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2014 as part of Midsummer Mischief.[17] Birch was nominated for the 2014/15 Susan Smith Blackburn prize for writing Revolt and won the George Devine Award for Most Promising New Playwright.

In 2015, Birch developed the play We Want You to Watch with the feminist theatre company RashDash. We Want You to Watch was commissioned by the National Theatre.[18] The play protests the violent and graphic world created by pornography and raises the idea of getting rid of pornography in its entirety.[19] The same year, her play for children, The Lone Pine Club, premiered as a touring production. Birch adapted the story from Malcolm Saville's children's books.[20]

Birch's Ophelias Zimmer (Ophelia's Room, in English) premiered at the Schaubühne in Berlin in December 2015.[21] The play made its debut in England in early 2016 but was performed in German with English surtitles.[22] [23] Ophelias Zimmer explores the character of Ophelia from William Shakespeare's Hamlet.[24] The play was a collaboration between Birch, director Katie Mitchell, and designer Chloe Lamford.[25] Ophelias Zimmer was nominated for the Friedrich-Luft Preis.

In 2016, Birch made her screenwriting debut with the film Lady Macbeth, based on Nikolai Leskov's novel Lady Macbeth Of The Mtsensk District.[26] Birch made several changes from the novel, including setting the film in rural England.[27] Birch won a 2017 British Independent Film Award for best screenplay for Lady Macbeth. Birch was also nominated for a BAFTA and for Best Debut Screenwriter at the British Independent Film Awards for Lady Macbeth.

In 2016, it was announced that Birch would pen the TV-adaptation of Mary Gabriel's Love and Capital, a biography of the Karl Marx and the Marx family.[28] [29] There have been no further announcements about this television series.[30] [31] Also that year, Birch and British director Katie Mitchell adapted Elfriede Jelinek's Schatten (Eurydike sagt) (Shadow (Eurydice Speaks) in English).[32] [33]

In 2017, Birch's play Anatomy of a Suicide premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London under the direction of Katie Mitchell.[34] Anatomy of a Suicide won Birch the 2018 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Anatomy of a Suicide follows three generations of women affected by mental illness in the 1970s, 1990s, and the 2030s whose stories are presented to the audience simultaneously.[35] Birch was interested in exploring the effects of having a mother who commits suicide and whether trauma can be passed on through DNA.[36]

In 2018, Birch adapted Marguerite Duras' novella La Maladie de la Mort (or, in English, The Malady of Death) for the stage.[37] The play premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that year and was directed by Katie Mitchell.[38]

[BLANK] was co-commissioned by National Theatre Connections and Clean Break. The play consists of 100 mix-and-match scenes, comprising over 400 pages, which a production is to choose from.[39] The scenes are vignettes about women and the criminal justice system. The 2019 premiere of [BLANK] at the Donmar Warehouse with Clean Break performed 22 of the 100 scenes.[40]

In 2019, Birch adapted Virginia Woolf's Orlando into German. The adaptation was performed at the Shaubühne and directed by Katie Mitchell.[41] [42]

Birch adapted Sally Rooney's novel Normal People for television with Rooney herself and writer Mark O'Rowe.[43] The Normal People TV series was released in April 2020.[44] Before the release of Normal People, it was announced that Birch would also adapt Rooney's novel Conversations with Friends for television.[45]

Birch's opera, Violet, composed by Tom Coult, was scheduled to open at the Aldeburgh Festival in June 2020.[46] [47] The opera was commissioned and produced by Music Theatre Wales, Theater Magdeburg, and Snape Maltings, with the London Sinfonietta.[48] The two created Violet in 2019.[49] The opera's premiere was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic,[50] eventually taking place at Aldeburgh in June 2022. Jude Christian's production starred soprano Anna Dennis as Violet with accompaniment by the London Sinfonietta conducted by Andrew Gourlay.[51] The production went on to tour the UK.[52] Coult’s score received an Ivor Novello Award nomination at The Ivors Classical Awards 2023 for Best Stage Work.[53]

Birch has worked with director Katie Mitchell many times. Mitchell has directed Birch's Ophelias Zimmer, Anatomy of a Suicide, and La Maladie de la Mort.[54] In October 2020, her adaptation of Rachel Cusk's Outline trilogy was set to be directed by Mitchell at the National Theatre. The production was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Birch adapted Graham Swift's 2016 novel Mothering Sunday. The film of the same name premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.[55] [56] In August 2020, it was announced that Birch would write the television reimagining of Dead Ringers, set to star Rachel Weisz.[57]

In 2022, The Wonder, for which Birch co-wrote the screenplay with Sebastián Lelio and Emma Donoghue, adapted from Donoghue's novel of the same name, premiered.[58] [59]

Personal life

Birch lives in Hackney, East London with her partner Sam Pritchard and their two children.[60]

Bibliography

Filmography

Film

Writer:

Television

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Story Editor:

Awards

!Year!Award!Category!Work!Result!Notes!Refs
2011/12Susan Smith Blackburn PrizeMany Moons[66]
2014Arts Foundation Futures AwardPlaywriting[67]
2014George Devine Award for Most Promising New PlaywrightRevolt. She Said. Revolt Again.Co-winner with Rory Mullarkey
2014/15Susan Smith Blackburn PrizeRevolt. She Said. Revolt Again.[68]
2015Friedrich-Luft-PreisOphelias Zimmer[69]
2017British independent film awardsBest screenplayLady Macbeth[70]
Best Debut ScreenwriterLady Macbeth[71]
2018BAFTAOutstanding debut by a British writer, director or producerLady Macbethwith William Oldroyd (director) and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (producer)[72]
2018Susan Smith Blackburn PrizeAnatomy of a Suicide[73]
2020Writers Guild of America AwardsDrama SeriesSuccessionwith Jesse Armstrong, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Cord Jefferson, Mary Laws, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Gary Shteyngart, Susan Soon He Stanton, and Will Tracy[74]
2020Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Writing for a Limited SeriesNormal Peoplewith Sally Rooney for "Episode 3"[75]
2020James Tait Black Prize[BLANK][76]
2022EDA Best of AwardsBest Screenplay, AdaptedThe Wonderwith Emma Donoghue, Sebastian Lelio[77]
EDA Female Focus AwardsBest Woman ScreenwriterThe Wonder and Mothering Sunday
2023British Academy Film AwardsBAFTA Award for Outstanding British FilmThe Wonderwith Sebastián Lelio, Ed Guiney, Juliette Howell, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, and Emma Donoghue[78]
Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Series – Long FormDead Ringers[79]

References

  1. News: Dickson. Andrew. Alice Birch: 'Being called an armchair feminist made me furious'. 22 January 2015. The Guardian. 6 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  2. News: Collins-Hughes. Laura. Alice Birch Speaks Softly and Writes Loud Plays. 14 April 2016. The New York Times. 6 March 2020. en-US. 0362-4331.
  3. Web site: Arts Foundation Birch, Alice. en-GB. 18 March 2020.
  4. Web site: Theatre review: 24 Hour Plays 2010 at The Old Vic. Fisher. Philip. British Theatre Guide. en-GB. 23 March 2020.
  5. Web site: From the Archive: BushGreen meets Alice Birch. 3 November 2014. bushtheatre.co.uk. en-GB. 23 March 2020.
  6. Web site: Many Moons. Tripney. Natasha. 23 May 2011. Exeunt Magazine. 17 March 2020.
  7. News: Bowie-Sell. Daisy. Many Moons, Theatre503, London, review. The Daily Telegraph. 1 June 2011. 17 March 2020. en-GB. 0307-1235.
  8. News: Costa. Maddy. Many Moons – review. 23 May 2011. The Guardian. 17 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  9. Web site: Absolutely Delish cast and crew credits. British Comedy Guide. en-GB. 18 March 2020.
  10. Web site: Alice Birch United Agents. www.unitedagents.co.uk. 18 March 2020.
  11. Web site: BBC Radio 4 Extra - Absolutely Delish - Episode guide. BBC. en-GB. 18 March 2020.
  12. Web site: Little on the inside . Clean Break. 18 March 2020.
  13. Web site: Latitude 2013. Pringle. Stewart. 15 July 2013. Exeunt Magazine. 18 March 2020.
  14. Web site: Astronauts. Company Three. en-US. 17 March 2020.
  15. Web site: Little Light. Love. Catherine. 9 February 2015. Exeunt Magazine. 17 March 2020.
  16. News: Billington. Michael. Little Light review – Alice Birch's play tests its performers (and our patience). 9 February 2015. The Guardian. 17 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  17. News: Cavendish. Dominic. Midsummer Mischief, The Other Place at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, review. The Daily Telegraph. 22 June 2014. 6 March 2020. en-GB. 0307-1235.
  18. News: Cavendish. Dominic. We Want You to Watch, National Theatre, review: 'random, incomprehensible and plain bad'. The Daily Telegraph. 16 June 2015. 17 March 2020. en-GB. 0307-1235.
  19. Web site: We Want You To Watch, National Theatre, review: Extreme look at porn. https://web.archive.org/web/20150617154115/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/we-want-you-to-watch-national-theatre-review-extreme-look-at-porn-eradication-10324141.html . 2015-06-17 . limited . live. Taylor. Paul. 16 June 2015. The Independent. en. 17 March 2020.
  20. News: Gardner. Lyn. The Lone Pine Club review – a terrific wheeze but unexpectedly moving, too. 4 August 2015. The Guardian. 18 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  21. Web site: Ophelias Zimmer – An der Schaubühne Berlin sperren Alice Birch und Katie Mitchell Shakespeares Ophelia ins Gefängnis der unterdrückten Frau. Slevogt. Esther. www.nachtkritik.de. de-de. 17 March 2020.
  22. News: Gardner. Lyn. Ophelias Zimmer review – Katie Mitchell brings Hamlet's real ghost into focus. 18 May 2016. The Guardian. 6 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  23. Web site: Ophelias Zimmer review at Royal Court, London. Bano. Tim. 17 May 2016. The Stage. en-US. 17 March 2020.
  24. News: Cavendish. Dominic. Ophelias Zimmer at the Royal Court is a far-flung feminist take on Hamlet - review. 18 May 2016. The Telegraph. 17 March 2020. en-GB. 0307-1235.
  25. Web site: 'Ophelias Zimmer': a spin-off of 'Hamlet'. Hemming. Sarah. 11 December 2015. Financial Times. 17 March 2020.
  26. News: Bradshaw. Peter. Lady Macbeth review – brilliantly chilling subversion of a classic Peter Bradshaw's film of the week. 27 April 2017. The Guardian. 18 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  27. Web site: 'Lady Macbeth' Is a Brilliantly Macabre Period Drama. Sims. David. 13 July 2017. The Atlantic. en-US. 18 March 2020.
  28. Web site: James Schamus Teams With Euro Partners For Karl Marx Family Series 'Love And Capital'. Lodderhose. Diana. 10 November 2016. Deadline. en. 6 March 2020.
  29. News: Hoggard. Liz. Alice Birch: 'I'm interested in whether trauma can be passed on through DNA'. 4 June 2017. The Observer. 17 March 2020. en-GB. 0029-7712.
  30. Web site: "Lady Macbeth" Screenwriter Alice Birch Adapting "Love and Capital" for TV. womenandhollywood.com. en-US. 18 March 2020.
  31. Web site: Karl Marx Drama Series in Works at James Schamus' Symbolic Exchange. Barraclough. Leo. 10 November 2016. Variety. en. 18 March 2020.
  32. Web site: Flipping the switch: Katie Mitchell. Kelting. Lily. 28 November 2016. EXBERLINER.com. en-us. 18 March 2020.
  33. Web site: Shadow (Eurydice speaks). 30 April 2018. Festival Grec 2019. 18 March 2020.
  34. News: Billington. Michael. Anatomy of a Suicide review – a startling study of mothers and daughters. 12 June 2017. The Guardian. 17 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  35. Web site: London Theater Review: 'Anatomy of a Suicide'. Trueman. Matt. 13 June 2017. Variety. en. 17 March 2020.
  36. Web site: Alice Birch Named Winner of 2018 Blackburn Prize. Berger. Laura. 15 March 2018. womenandhollywood.com. en-US. 18 March 2020.
  37. News: Wyver. Kate. La Maladie de la Mort review – clinical dissection of male gaze. 17 August 2018. The Guardian. 17 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  38. News: Fisher. Mark. A desire for Duras: Katie Mitchell and Alice Birch on the writer's erotic, existential mystery. 1 August 2018. The Guardian. 17 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  39. Web site: Alice Birch on her new play, writing Succession and adapting Normal People. Jones. Alice. 16 October 2019. inews.co.uk. en. 7 March 2020.
  40. News: Billington. Michael. [Blank] review – Alice Birch's build-your-own-play experiment]. 18 October 2019. The Guardian. 6 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  41. News: Evans. Gareth Llŷr. Orlando review – Katie Mitchell's gleeful celebration of gender fluidity. 13 September 2019. The Guardian. 18 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  42. News: Cappelle. Laura. 'Orlando' Awkwardly Transitions to the Stage. 3 October 2019. The New York Times. 18 March 2020. en-US. 0362-4331.
  43. News: Walker. Amy. BBC reveals stars of its adaptation of Normal People by Sally Rooney. 30 May 2019. The Guardian. 18 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  44. Web site: Sally Rooney's Normal People: trailer, cast and more. Shaffi. Sarah. 26 January 2020. Stylist. en. 18 March 2020.
  45. Web site: BBC Teams With Lenny Abrahamson on 'Conversations With Friends,' Orders Four New Titles. Croll. Ben. 25 February 2020. Variety. en. 18 March 2020.
  46. Web site: Hemming. Sarah. 28 November 2019. Director Rebecca Frecknall: 'I want to be moved and if I'm not I feel slightly cheated'. 20 March 2020. Financial Times.
  47. Web site: Bradshaw. Melissa. 2 December 2019. Aldeburgh Festival returns for 2020. 20 March 2020. Rhinegold Publishing. en.
  48. Web site: TOM COULT / ALICE BIRCH: VIOLET. 20 March 2020. London Sinfonietta. en.
  49. News: Coghlan . Alexandra . 2022-06-04 . Violet is the best new British opera in years . en-GB . The Telegraph . 2022-06-12 . 0307-1235.
  50. Web site: TOM COULT / ALICE BIRCH: VIOLET - CANCELLED. 2020-07-29. London Sinfonietta. en.
  51. Web site: Clements . Andrew . 2022-06-05 . Violet review – Coult's debut opera opens Aldeburgh with assurance . 2022-06-12 . the Guardian . en.
  52. Web site: Jackson . Claire . 2022-06-11 . In opera Violet, time becomes elastic and society crumbles . 2022-06-12 . The Big Issue . en.
  53. Web site: Taylor . Mark . 2023-10-18 . Nominees announced for The Ivors Classical Awards 2023 . 2023-10-18 . The Ivors Academy . en-GB.
  54. Web site: Marguerite Duras' "La Maladie De La Mort": Katie Mitchell and Alice Birch Collaboration. Radosavljević. Duška. 24 August 2018. The Theatre Times. en-US. 18 March 2020.
  55. Web site: Barraclough. Leo. 12 February 2017. Film4 Options 'Mothering Sunday' for Development With Number 9 (EXCLUSIVE). 18 March 2020. Variety. en.
  56. Web site: Seth. Radhika. Schama. Chloe. 2021-06-17. 12 Films to Watch Out for at Cannes. 2021-06-30. Vogue. en-US.
  57. News: Andreeva. Nellie. Kroll. Justin. 2020-08-18. Rachel Weisz To Star In & Produce 'Dead Ringers' TV Series Reboot In Works At Amazon From 'Normal People' Scribe Alice Birch & Annapurna TV. 2021-01-25. Deadline Hollywood. en-US.
  58. Web site: Tallerico . Brian . The Wonder movie review & film summary (2022) . 2022-11-21 . Roger Ebert . en.
  59. Web site: Gillmor . Alison . 2022-11-19 . Food for thought . 2022-11-21 . Winnipeg Free Press . en-US.
  60. Web site: Alice Birch: 'When I'm writing, the banalities of motherhood such as head lice disappear'. The Guardian. Jude. Rogers. 22 October 2023. 21 July 2024.
  61. News: Normal People: First trailer released for BBC's Sally Rooney adaptation. 17 January 2020. The Irish Times. 6 March 2020.
  62. News: Waterson. Jim. BBC to film series based on Sally Rooney's hit debut novel. 25 February 2020. The Guardian. 18 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  63. News: Kanter. Jake. BBC Commits To Second Sally Rooney Adaptation Before 'Normal People' Has Even Premiered. 25 February 2020. Deadline. 6 March 2020. en-US.
  64. Web site: Rachel Weisz To Star In & Produce 'Dead Ringers' TV Series Reboot In Works At Amazon From 'Normal People' Scribe Alice Birch & Annapurna TV. Deadline Hollywood. Justin. Kroll. Nellie. Andreeva. August 18, 2020. July 22, 2022.
  65. Web site: BBC enters The Ministry of Time, adapted by Alice Birch from Kaliane Bradley's debut novel. bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. 23 February 2024.
  66. Web site: 2010's The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. www.blackburnprize.org. 6 March 2020.
  67. Web site: Arts Foundation What We Do. en-GB. 6 March 2020.
  68. Web site: Alice Birch The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. www.blackburnprize.org. 6 March 2020.
  69. Web site: Diese Stücke sind für den Friedrich-Luft-Preis nominiert. Pauly. Stefan Kirschner und Katrin. 19 January 2016. www.morgenpost.de. de-DE. 6 March 2020.
  70. News: Mumford. Gwilym. God's Own Country and Lady Macbeth triumph at British independent film awards. 11 December 2017. The Guardian. 6 March 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  71. Web site: 'Lady Macbeth' Leads British Independent Film Awards Nominations – Full List. Tartaglione. Nancy. 1 November 2017. Deadline. en. 6 March 2020.
  72. News: Bafta awards 2018: full list of winners. 18 February 2018. The Irish Times. 6 March 2020.
  73. News: Quinn. Annalisa. Alice Birch Wins 2018 Blackburn Prize for 'Anatomy of a Suicide'. 12 March 2018. The New York Times. 7 March 2020. en-US. 0362-4331.
  74. News: Buchanan. Kyle. Writers Guild Awards Honor 'Parasite' and 'Jojo Rabbit'. 2 February 2020. The New York Times. 7 March 2020. en-US. 0362-4331.
  75. Web site: Turchiano. Danielle. 28 July 2020. Emmys 2020: Record Number of Black Actors Score Nominations. 28 July 2020. Variety. en.
  76. Web site: Wood. Alex. 2020-08-18. James Tait Black Prize 2020 nominees revealed. 2021-12-30. www.whatsonstage.com. en-GB.
  77. Web site: 2022 EDA AWARDS NOMINEES – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS . 2022-12-24 . en-US.
  78. Web site: Ritman . Alex . 2023-01-19 . BAFTA Awards: 'All Quiet' Leads With 14 Noms, 'Banshees,' 'Everything Everywhere' Dominate Performance Categories . 2023-01-23 . The Hollywood Reporter . en-US.
  79. Web site: Goldsmith . Jill . 2023-10-24 . Gotham Awards Nominations: 'All Of Us Strangers' Tops Movie List; Ryan Gosling Gets 'Barbie' Nom With Budget Caps Removed . 2023-11-02 . Deadline . en-US.

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