Lucy Prebble
Lucy Ashton Prebble (born 18 December 1980)[1][2][3] is a British playwright and producer. She is the author of the plays The Sugar Syndrome, The Effect, ENRON and A Very Expensive Poison. For television, she adapted Secret Diary of a Call Girl[4] and co-created I Hate Suzie with her close friend Billie Piper - in addition to serving as a writer and an executive producer on Succession, for which she received two Primetime Emmy Awards.[5]
Lucy Prebble | |
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Born | Lucy Ashton Prebble 18 December 1980 |
Education | University of Sheffield |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2003–present |
Biography
Prebble grew up in Haslemere, Surrey, and was educated at Guildford High School.[6] While studying English at the University of Sheffield,[7] Prebble wrote a short play called Liquid, which won the PMA Most Promising Playwright Award.[8] She received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2014.[9]
Theatre
Prebble's first full-length play The Sugar Syndrome was performed at the Royal Court in 2003[10] and won her the George Devine Award, followed by the TMA Award for Best New Play in October 2004.
Her next theatre project ENRON, was based on the financial scandal and collapse of the American energy corporation of the same name. It was produced by theatre company Headlong at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2009, under the direction of Rupert Goold. The production transferred first to the Royal Court and subsequently to the Noël Coward Theatre. The play earned Prebble an Olivier Award nomination for Best New Play. The production's Broadway transfer opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in April 2010 but failed to match the critical acclaim it received in the UK and closed the following month.[11][12]
The Effect, a study of love and neuroscience, premiered at the National Theatre in 2012, won the 2012 Critics' Circle Award for Best Play.[13] The Effect premiered in the US Off-Broadway at the Barrow Street Theatre on 2 March 2016, directed by David Cromer, and featuring Kati Brazda, Susannah Flood, Carter Hudson and Steve Key.[14] In 2019, it was listed in The Independent as one of the 40 most "continually rewarding" plays.[15]
In April 2017 it was announced that Prebble was working on a new play, based on Bizet's Carmen[16], from the new Bridge Theatre in London.[17]
In October 2018, London's Old Vic announced Prebble's A Very Expensive Poison, a stage adaptation of Luke Harding's non-fiction book of the same name. The play is about the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko by means of the invisible radioactive isotope polonium-210.[18] The play opened at the Old Vic on 5 September 2019, directed by John Crowley.[19] A Very Expensive Poison was nominated at the 2020 Laurence Olivier Awards for Best New Play [20] and won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play [21] and Best New Production of a Play at the Broadway World Awards. Prebble was also awarded the 2020 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.[22]
Television
2007 saw the premiere of Prebble's first television series, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, starring Billie Piper. Prebble wrote for the first two of the show's four seasons, the last of which concluded in March 2011. Prebble and Piper have collaborated on a further television project, I Hate Suzie, which premiered in 2020.[23]
Prebble has also written for Frankie Boyle's New World Order and appeared on the show as a guest as well as appearing occasionally on Have I Got News for You.
Since 2018, Lucy is co-executive producer and writer on the BAFTA, Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning HBO drama Succession, for which she has also won a Writers Guild of America Award.[24]
Other writing
Prebble contributes to major publications as a journalist and wrote a weekly Tech column for The Observer newspaper.[25]
She was the Head Scene Writer for Bungie's first person shooter video game, Destiny, which was released in September 2014.
In June 2018 Prebble was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in its "40 Under 40" initiative.[26] She was also the recipient of the 2019 Wellcome Screenwriting Fellowship.[27]
Works
Theatre
- Liquid, 2002
- The Sugar Syndrome, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, London, November 2003
- ENRON, Chichester Festival Theatre / Royal Court Theatre / Noël Coward Theatre, London, 2009; Broadhurst Theatre, New York City, 2010
- The Effect, National Theatre, 2012[28] (revived 2023); Barrow Street Theatre, New York City, 2016
- A Very Expensive Poison, Old Vic Theatre, London, 2019[18]
Television
- Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007–2011)
- Succession (2018–2023)
- I Hate Suzie (2020–2022)
Awards and nominations
Theatre
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2003 | Critics' Circle Theatre Award[29] | Most Promising Playwright | The Sugar Syndrome | Won |
Evening Standard Theatre Award[30][31] | Most Promising Playwright | Nominated | ||
2004 | Susan Smith Blackburn Prize[32] | Nominated | ||
2009 | Evening Standard Theatre Award[33][34] | Best Play | ENRON | Nominated |
2010 | Laurence Olivier Award[35] | Best New Play | Nominated | |
Drama League Award[36] | Distinguished Production of a Play | Nominated | ||
Susan Smith Blackburn Prize[37] | Nominated | |||
2012 | Critics' Circle Theatre Award[13] | Best New Play | The Effect | Won |
2013 | Evening Standard Theatre Award[38] | Best Play | Nominated | |
2014 | Susan Smith Blackburn Prize[39] | Nominated | ||
2019 | Critics' Circle Theatre Award[40] | Best New Play | A Very Expensive Poison | Won |
2020 | Laurence Olivier Award[20] | Best New Play | Nominated | |
Susan Smith Blackburn Prize[22] | Won |
References
- Wiseman, Andreas (28 November 2019). "'Succession' Scribe Lucy Prebble Talks Potential Season 3 Storyline, A Horror Project Inspired By A Cult Classic & What The Wellcome Fellowship Means To Her". Deadline. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
I was born in 1980 at the beginning of the games boom.
- Prebble, Lucy (18 December 2017). "It's my birthday!". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- Tripney, Natasha (18 March 2020). "Lucy Prebble". The Stage. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
Born: 1980
- Tim Adams (5 July 2009). "'I hate to be told somewhere is out of bounds for women.' Enter Enron". The Guardian.
- Andreas Wiseman (28 November 2019). "Succession Scribe Lucy Prebble Talks Potential Season 3 Storyline, A Horror Project Inspired By A Cult Classic & What The Wellcome Fellowship Means To Her". Deadline.
- Dominic Cavendish (29 December 2009). "Lucy Prebble interview for Enron". The Telegraph.
- ALASTAIR GEE (17 February 2010). "Drama! Music! Financial Shenanigans!". The New York Times.
- Andy Barker (24 July 2009). "Introducing... Playwright Lucy Prebble". The Evening Standard Magazine. Archived from the original on 19 March 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- "'Enron' playwright, Lucy Prebble, receives Distinguished Alumni Award" sheffield.ac.uk, 24 July 2014
- Loveridge, Lizzie. "A CurtainUp London Review. 'The Sugar Syndrome' " CurtainUp, 10 October 2003. Retrieved 5 January 2009
- Jones, Kenneth. "'Enron', a Theatrical Dissection of a Famous Crime, Opens on Broadway" Playbill, 27 April 2010
- Kuchwara, Michael. "Tony nominations are not enough to save 'Enron'" chron.com,7 May 2010
- Edwardes, Jane. "The Critics' Circle Theatre Awards 2012" criticscircle.org.uk, 16 January 2013
- Clement, Olivia. "David Cromer Sets Cast for Lucy Prebble's 'The Effect' Off-Broadway" playbill.com, 28 January 2016
- "The 40 best plays to read before you die". The Independent. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- "Book now for The Bridge Theatre". A Little Bird. 26 April 2017.
- "London's new Bridge theatre should encourage playwrights to think big". the Guardian. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- Thorpe, Vanessa (29 April 2018). "Spies, assassins and strip clubs: death of Alexander Litvinenko adapted for stage". TheGuardian.com.
- Trueman, Matt. "London Theater Review: ‘A Very Expensive Poison’" Variety, 7 September 2019
- "7 OLIVIER AWARD NOMINATIONS FOR THE OLD VIC". The Old Vic. 3 March 2020.
- "Lucy Prebble's A VERY EXPENSIVE POISON wins Best New Play at the Critics' Circle awards". Knight Hall Agency. 12 February 2020.
- "Lucy Prebble Wins 2020 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize For A VERY EXPENSIVE POISON". Broadway World. 2 March 2020.
- Brigid Delaney (11 October 2020). "I Hate Suzie: Billie Piper is spectacular as a spiralling star in this train-wreck comedy". The Guardian.
- "2020 Writers Guild Awards Nominees & Winners". Writers Guild Awards.
- "The gaming column with Lucy Prebble". The Guardian.
- Flood, Alison (28 June 2018). "Royal Society of Literature admits 40 new fellows to address historical biases". the Guardian. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
- Anreas Wiseman (27 November 2019). "'Secret Diary Of A Call Girl' Creator & 'Succession' Writer/Exec Lucy Prebble Awarded Wellcome Screenwriting Fellowship In Collab With BFI, Film4". Deadline.
- , The Effect Archived 22 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine nationaltheatre.org.uk, accessed 29 January 2016
- "2003 Results | Critics' Circle Theatre Awards". 28 November 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- "Theatre Awards 2003 shortlist". Evening Standard. 4 November 2003. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- "Evening Standard Theatre Awards 1980-2003". Evening Standard. 29 October 2003. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- "2000's | The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize". www.blackburnprize.org. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- "The Standard Theatre Awards 2009: Longlist revealed". Evening Standard. 2 November 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- "Winners of Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2009". Evening Standard. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- "Olivier Awards Winners 2010 -Official London Theatre". Olivier Awards. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
- "Drama League 2010 Award Winners". New York Theater Guide. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- "2000's | The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize". www.blackburnprize.org. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- "London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2013: the winners and shortlist". Evening Standard. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- "2010's | The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize". www.blackburnprize.org. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- "2019 Results | Critics' Circle Theatre Awards". 11 February 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
External links
- Lucy Prebble at Doollee.com Playwrights Database (subscription required)
- Lucy Prebble at IMDb
- "Enron: much ado about money", Prospect, Michael Coveney