Oliver Emanuel was born in Kent, attended St Gregory's Catholic Comprehensive School in Tunbridge Wells, studied English and Theatre Studies at University of Leeds (1998–2001) before going on to take the Masters in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia (2001–02). His late mother was a drama teacher and his father is the fashion designer David Emanuel.[3] He was Writer-on-Attachment at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2006 and Writer-in-Residence for BBC Radio 4 Children in Need in 2010. He has lived in Glasgow since 2006.
| Radio plays written by Oliver Emanuel |
|---|
| Date first broadcast | Play | Director | Cast | Synopsis
Awards | Station
Series |
|---|
| format=dmy|2007-04-11}} | Joseph and Joseph[4] | Colin Guthrie | Shaun Dooley, Helen Longworth, Christine Kavanagh, Sam Dale, John Dougall, Philippe Smolikowski, Mark Straker and Rachel Bavidge | Identity theft is something that happens to other people, but the person who stole Joseph's life seems to be having a lot more fun with it than he is. | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
| format=dmy|2009-10-09}} | Daniel and Mary[5] | Kirsty Williams | Robin Laing and Natasha Watson | A frank and moving drama exploring alcoholism from a child's point of view. Mary's nine years old. When she comes down to breakfast to find her dad's still up from the night before and still drinking vodka, she decides it's time to leave home. Bronze Sony Award for Best Drama 2010[6] | BBC Radio Scotland Drama |
| format=dmy|2010-02-23}} | Elvis in Prestwick[7] | Eilidh McCreadie | Read by Laura Fraser | Elvis Presley's only trip to Britain, a brief stopover on 3 March 1960 at a small Scottish airport on his return from military service in Germany. A shy young girl who doesn't even like rock 'n' roll is dragged along to the airport by her best friend, who is determined to catch a glimpse of the American superstar. Taking refuge from the crowds, the girl encounters a handsome stranger in the staff corridor – some weeks later, a letter arrives from America. | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading |
| format=dmy|2010-10-30}} | The Vanishing
dramatisation of Tim Krabbé novel[8] | Kirsty Williams | Samuel West, Melody Grove, Ruth Gemmell, Liam Brennan, Natasha Watson, Claire Knight and Robin Laing | Rex and Saskia stop at a petrol station. Saskia goes in to buy drinks and is never seen again. Eight years later, Rex is so haunted by her disappearance that he sets out to discover what happened to her, regardless of the cost. A chilling love story that takes us to the heart of the perfect crime. | BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play |
| format=dmy|2010-11-17}} | Everything[9] | Lu Kemp | Natasha Watson, Sandy Grierson and Meg Fraser | Everything tells the story of a fourteen-year-old girl who spends 7 days in a refuge for runaways. Under Scottish law, any young person under the age of sixteen is allowed to stay in a refuge for up to seven days without parental notification. | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
| format=dmy|2011-02-12}} | One Night in Iran[10] | Lu Kemp | Khalid Abdalla and Maryam Hamidi | A man and a woman meet in a hotel room. They have been in love for five years but have never yet spent a night together. Tonight they meet alone for the first time. But this is Iran, and what the couple are doing is illegal. If they are caught, or even suspected, the consequences might be too terrible to contemplate. | BBC Radio 3 The Wire |
| format=dmy|2011-09-28}} | One Hundred and Forty Characters: Songbirds[11] | Kirsteen Cameron | Read by Robin Laing | A young man, devastated by a messy relationship break-up, finds solace in bird watching. | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading |
| format=dmy|2011-11-30}} | Ancient Greek[12] | Lu Kemp | Alex Austin, Vincent Ebrahim, Sophie Stanton, Caitlin FitzGerald and Austin Moulton | A promising student on the road to Oxbridge. A teacher on the eve of retirement. Graffiti scrawled on a school wall in a dead language. A play about education, protest and what we can expect in the future... | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
|
| Stage plays written by Oliver Emanuel |
|---|
| Date | Title | Director | Cast | Synopsis | Theatre Company | Notes |
|---|
| format=dmy|2001-08}} – {{dts|format=dmy|2001-08-18}} | Gemini[13] | Victoria Glass and Claire Davies | Stage By Stage |
| format=dmy|2003-08-03}} – {{dts|format=dmy|2003-08-25}} | Iz[14][15][16] | Daniel Bye | Grae Cleugh and Nick Jesper | We are introduced to the three former lovers of Iz, shortly after her death. The three men are also friends; and the play looks at the relationships between them, as well as their individual relationships with Iz, and their reactions to her death. | Silver Tongue Theatre / Pleasance Theatre | |
| format=dmy|2004-06}} – {{dts|format=dmy|}} | Grae Cleugh and James Gitsham | Silver Tongue Theatre / Tron Theatre, Glasgow |
| format=dmy|2006-08}} – {{dts|format=dmy|2006-08-28}} | Shiver[17] | Daniel Bye | Kay Bridgeman and Grae Cleugh | | Silver Tongue Theatre / Pleasance Courtyard | |
| format=dmy|2007-05-28}} – {{dts|format=dmy|2007-06-07}} | Marcia Battise | Theatre 503 |
| format=dmy|2005-08-06}} – {{dts|format=dmy|2005-08-28}} | Bella and the Beautiful Knight[18][19] | Daniel Bye | Grae Cleugh, Sally Kent, Nicholas Cowell | A love triangle. Two of the characters are siblings. Kiss me or kill me, sister. | Silver Tongue Theatre / Gilded Balloon Teviot | |
| format=dmy|2006-05}} – {{dts|format=dmy|}} | Tron Theatre, Glasgow |
| format=dmy|2007-05-19}} – {{dts|format=dmy|2007-06-08}} | Magpie Park[20][21][22][23] | Sam Brown | Alison Pargeter and Liam McKenna[24] | A store detective nabs a kleptomaniac and falls for her. Their affair is carried on in a hotel room where she eventually commits suicide. He gradually falls for her younger sister. | West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds |
| format=dmy|2007-08}} – {{dts|format=dmy|2007-08-26}} | Man Across the Way[25][26] | Daniel Bye | Grae Cleugh, Nicholas Cowell, John Milroy and Harriette Quarrie | Silver Tongue Theatre and Theatre 503 |
| format=dmy|2008-04}} – {{dts|format=dmy|2008-04-11}} | The Severed Head of Comrade Bukhari[27] | Daljinder Singh | | | Arches Theatre, Glasgow | |
| format=dmy|2008-04-16}} – {{dts|format=dmy|2008-04-19}} | Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh |
| format=dmy|2008-06}} – {{dts|format=dmy|}} | Flit | Alison Peebles | National Theatre of Scotland |
| format=dmy|2008-10-13}} – {{dts|format=dmy|}} | Videotape[28] | Joe Douglas | Robbie Jack and Sam Young | A woman follows a man through a city, recording his every move on video, in a story about "love, loss, truth and lies, and the things we can't throw away". | Oran Mor, Glasgow |
| format=dmy|2011-03}} – {{dts|format=dmy|}} | One night in Iran[29] | Nabil Stuart and Amiera Darwish | Set in a luxury hotel room in Tehran, the play explores the gap between the official culture of country – where adultery remains a crime and marriage a practical family arrangement – and the inner lives and longings of a younger generation whose ideas are shaped as much by global culture as by Iranian tradition. | Oran Mor, Glasgow |
| format=dmy|2011-06-21}} | Henry & Ingrid: Some Words For Home | A verbatim play based on the lives of Henry & Ingrid Wuga for the Scottish Refugee Council, as part of Scottish Refugee Week. | Tron Theatre, Glasgow |
| format=dmy|2011}} – {{dts|format=dmy|}} | Spirit of Adventure[30] | Dundee Rep / Oran Mor, Glasgow |
| format=dmy|2012}} – {{dts|format=dmy|}} | Random Objects Flying Through The Air | Royal Conservatoire of Scotland / Playwrights' Studio, Scotland |
| format=dmy|2012}} – {{dts|format=dmy|}} | End of The World | Red Note Ensemble |
| format=dmy|2012}} – {{dts|format=dmy|2013}} | Titus | Macrobert / Playwrights' Studio, Scotland / Imaginate / Edinburgh Festival Fringe | New English version of Jan Sobrie's text. |
| format=dmy|2013}} – {{dts|format=dmy|}} | The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish | Lu Kemp | National Theatre of Scotland | Adaptation of the book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (created by Lu Kemp and Abigail Docherty) |
| format=dmy|2013}} – {{dts|format=dmy|2015}} | Dragon | Vox Motus / National Theatre of Scotland / Tianjin People's Arts Theatre, China | Conceived by Jamie Harrison, Oliver Emanuel and Candice Edmunds |
| format=dmy|2013}} – {{dts|format=dmy|2014}} | The Little Boy That Santa Claud Forgot | Gareth Nicholls | Macrobert | Co-created with Gareth Nicholls |
| format=dmy|2014}} – {{dts|format=dmy|}} | The Adventures of Robin Hood | Visible Fictions |