Diane Samuels Explained

Diane Samuels (born 1960) is a British author and playwright.

Samuels was born into a Jewish family in Liverpool^[1] in 1960. She was educated at King David High School, Liverpool, studied history at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and then studied for a PGCE in drama at Goldsmiths, University of London. She worked as a drama teacher in inner London secondary schools for five years and as an education officer at the Unicorn Theatre for children.^{[2] [3]}

Samuels lives in London^[4] and has been a full-time writer since 1992. She was a Pearson Creative Research Fellow at the British Library^[5] and is a visiting lecturer at Regent's University London^[5] and a reviewer of books for The Guardian newspaper.^[6]

Works

Her works include:

• Frankie's Monster (1991), an adaptation of Vivien Alcock's children's book The Monster Garden^[7]
• Kindertransport (1993)^[1] examines the life, during World War II and afterwards, of a Kindertransport child. Though fictitious, it is based upon many real kindertransport stories.^[8]
• The True Life Fiction of Mata Hari (2001) was first performed at the Palace Theatre, Watford, in 2002, with Greta Scacchi in the lead role.^[9]
• 3 Sisters on Hope Street (2008), co-written with Tracy-Ann Oberman, is a reinterpretation of Chekhov's The Three Sisters, transferring events to Liverpool after World War II and re-casting the Pozorov sisters as three Jewish Englishwomen. It was first staged at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool in 2008.^[10]
• The A-Z of Mrs P (2011), a musical co-written with composer Gwyneth Herbert, tells the story of Phyllis Pearsall's creation of the London A to Z street atlas.^[11] It opened in London at Southwark Playhouse on 21 February 2014, starring Peep Show actress Isy Suttie^{[12] [13] [14]} and Frances Ruffelle.^[15]
• Poppy + George (2016), another collaboration with Gwyneth Herbert, was performed at the Palace Theatre, Watford in February 2016.^{[16] [17]}
• This is Me (2018), an autobiographical monologue, was performed at Chickenshed in Southgate, London in 2018.^[18]
• The Rhythm Method (2018), a musical about contraception,^{[19] [20] [21]} was performed at the Landor Space in Clapham, London in May 2018.^[22] It was yet another collaboration with Gwyneth Herbert.^[19]

Notes and References

1. Safety lines . Johnston, Lucy . The Richmond Magazine . February 2014 . 16–17.
2. Kremer, S. Lillian. Holocaust Literature: An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work, Taylor & Francis, 2003,
3. Web site: Diane Samuels interview . Write Words . 14 April 2004 . 30 September 2014.
4. Web site: Diane Samuels . 24 April 2020 . Drama Online.
5. Web site: Diane Samuels . 27 November 2020 . Regent's University London.
6. Web site: Review: Toby Alone by Timothée de Fombelle . 2008-04-25 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20210804103954/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/apr/26/featuresreviews.guardianreview18 . 2021-08-04 . live .
7. Web site: Poster . 6 December 2020 . Victoria and Albert Museum. 2 March 1991 .
8. Book: Samuels, Diane . 1 January 1995 . Kindertransport . Nick Hern Books . 9781854592279 . Google Books.
9. Web site: The True Life Fiction of Mata Hari . 30 November 2020 . Nick Hern Books.
10. Web site: Three Sisters On Hope Street . 30 November 2020 . Nick Hern Books.
11. News: Suttie, Isy . Isy Suttie . 5 February 2014 . Isy Suttie: Phyllis Pearsall, the A–Z mapper who was right up my street . . 14 February 2014.
12. News: Pritchard, Claudia . 9 February 2014 . Charting a course in song: The musical dedicated to the humble A to Z . . 14 April 2015.
13. News: Dex, Robert . 8 November 2013 . Peep Show star Isy Suttie hits the street for new musical . . 11 December 2013.
14. News: Jury, Louise . 11 December 2013 . Peep Show geek Isy Suttie's musical move in London A-Z show . . 13 December 2013.
15. Web site: 8 November 2013 . The A-Z of Mrs P – new British musical opens in February 2014 . 5 April 2016 . Musical Theatre Review.
16. Web site: February 2016 . Poppy + George . 4 February 2016 . What's on . Watford Palace Theatre.
17. Book: Samuels, Diane . "Cast biographies" in Poppy + George . . 2016 . 978-1-84842-545-3 . Diane Samuels.
18. News: Brown . Peter . February 2018 . Review: monolog Chickenshed Theatre . ActDrop . 29 November 2020.
19. News: Dagan, Ori . 1 June 2016 . Gwyneth Herbert's Toronto Honeymoon . The Whole Note . 20 June 2016.
20. Web site: 2015 . About . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151120202542/http://gwynethherbert.com/about/ . 20 November 2015 . 5 September 2015 . Gwyneth Herbert . dmy-all.
21. News: Firscht, Naomi . 19 November 2015 . The show must go on – all 10 of them, as production company offers fresh way to invest in musicals . . 28 January 2016.
22. Web site: 2018 . The Rhythm Method . 17 April 2018 . Landor Space.