Peter Shaffer

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Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (born May 15, 1926) is an English dramatist, author of numerous award-winning plays, several of which have been filmed. He was born to a Jewish family in Liverpool, and is the twin brother of another playwright, Anthony Shaffer. He gained a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge University to read History.

Shaffer also studied history on a scholarship from Cambridge University. He was a Bevin Boy coal miner during WW2 and took a number of jobs including bookstore clerk, and assistant at the New York Public Library, before discovering his dramatic talents. Shaffer's first play, The Salt Land (1954) was presented on the BBC. Encouraged by this success, Shaffer continued to write and established his reputation as a playwright in 1958 with the production of Five Finger Exercise which opened in London under the direction of John Gielgud and won the Evening Standard Drama Award. When Five Finger Exercise moved to New York in 1959, it was equally well-received and landed Shaffer the Drama Critics Award.

Shaffer's canon contains a unique mix of philosophical dramas and satirical comedies. The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964) presents the tragic conquest of Peru by the Spanish, while Black Comedy (1965) takes a hilarious look at the antics of a group of characters feeling their way around a pitch black room -- although the stage is, of course, actually flooded with light.

Equus (1973) won Shaffer the 1975 Tony Award for Best Play as well as the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. An electrifying journey into the mind of a 17-year-old stableboy who had plunged a spike into the eyes of six horses, Equus ran for over 1000 performances on Broadway and has been revived by Massachusetts' Berkshire Theatre Festival in the summer of 2005, staged by Scott Schwartz, with Victor Slezak as Dr Martin Dysart and Randy Harrison as Alan Strang. (Roberta Maxwell, who originated the role of Jill, Alan's would-be girlfriend, in the original Broadway production in the 1970s, played a judge in this revival.) and in 2007, with Richard Griffiths and Daniel Radcliffe in the leading roles. The play was directed by Thea Sharrock, and opened in London in February 2007 at the Gielgud Theatre. The casting of Radcliffe, still associated with films intended for general audiences, caused some major controversy, since the role of Alan Strang required him to appear naked on stage.^[1]

Shaffer followed this success with Amadeus (1979) which won the Evening Standard Drama Award and the Theatre Critics Award for the London production. Amadeus tells the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and court composer Antonio Salieri who, overcome with jealousy at hearing the "voice of God" coming from an "obscene child," sets out to destroy his rival. When the show moved to Broadway, it won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Play and, like Equus, ran for more than 1000 performances.

Several of Shaffer's plays have been adapted to film, including Five Finger Exercise (1962), The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969), Equus (1977), and Amadeus (1984), which won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Peter Shaffer received the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in the American Theater in 1992, was appointed Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University in 1994, and awarded a Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in the annual New Years Honors (2001).

Peter Shaffer's works include:

The Salt Land (1954), his first play, which was presented on BBC television.
Balance Of Terror (1957)
The Prodigal Father (1957)
Five Finger Exercise (1958)
The Private Ear and The Public Eye (1962)
The Establishment (1963)
The Merry Roosters Panto (1963)
The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964) which examines the conquest of Peru by the Spanish, and was made into a 1969 film.
Black Comedy/White Lies (1967)
The Battle of Shrivings (1970)
Equus (1973), based on the real-life story of a teenage stable-boy who blinded several horses, won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Play and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and was made into a 1977 film.
Amadeus (1979) which tells a fictional story of how court composer Antonio Salieri attempted to destroy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart of whom he was jealous, and also won a Tony Award for Best Play, in 1981. It was made into a 1984 film, which won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Black Mischief (1983)
Yonadab (1985)
Lettice and Lovage (1987)
This Savage Parade (1987)
Whom Do I Have The Honour Of Addressing? (1990)
The Gift of the Gorgon (1992)