Jonathan Harvey

Jonathan Harvey (born 1968) is a British playwright whose work has earned multiple awards. He is also a former secondary school English teacher.

Life and works

Hailed as "the new theatrical voice of his generation", Jonathan Harvey was born in Halewood, Liverpool in 1968. His father was a postman who went to college late in life and went on to become a social worker. Mrs Harvey was a family planning nurse, which Harvey cites as "always quite a saucy job for my mother to have when I went to secondary school. When it came to sex education, I knew all about it!"

Harvey's first serious attempt as a playwright was in 1987. Fuelled by the attraction of a £1,000 first prize to young writers from the Liverpool Playhouse, the result was "The Cherry Blossom Tree", a garish blend of suicide, murder and nuns. This effort won him the National Girobank Young Writer of the Year Award.

Feeling very encouraged, he went on to write "Mohair" (1988), "Wildfire" (1992) and "Babies" (1993), the latter winning him the 'George Devine Award' for that year and The Evening Standard's 'Most Promising Playwright Award' for 1994. In 1993, Harvey, who is openly gay,citation |periodical=The Independent |date=July 2, 2006 |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1153578.ece |title=Gay Power: The pink list |accessdate=2007-11-01] premiered "Beautiful Thing", a gay-themed play-turned-movie for which he won the prestigious 'John Whiting Award' the following year. 1995 saw the premiere of "Boom Bang-A-Bang", at the Bush Theatre, London, originally directed by Kathy Burke. Harvey cites it as "my most comic play ever, but with some dark bits". Centred around a group of friends gathering to watch the Eurovision Song Contest, the play was a sell-out. That same year, he also premiered "Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club", his "much more sad, serious and dark play".

"Guiding Star" (1998), is a portrayal of one man's struggle to come to terms with the Hillsborough FA Cup Semi-Final disaster, whilst "Hushabye Mountain" (1999) deals with a world that has learned to live with AIDS. "Out in the Open" (2001), is a caustic and funny exploration of love and the limits of friendship.

Television and film works include: West End Girls (Carlton); Love Junkie (BBC); Beautiful Thing (Channel Four/Island World Productions); the 1998 hit/cult comedy series starring Kathy Burke and James Dreyfus, Gimme Gimme Gimme (Tiger Aspect); Murder Most Horrid (BBC); and Coronation Street (ITV).

He also wrote the book for "Closer to Heaven", a stage musical with songs and music written by the Pet Shop Boys. "Closer to Heaven" ran for nine months at the Arts Theatre in London in 2001 and recently ran in Australia in 2005.

Harvey is a Patron of London-based HIV charity, The Food Chain.

Works

Plays

*"The Cherry Blossom Tree" (Liverpool Playhouse Studio, 1987) which won him the 1987 National Girobank Young Writer of the Year Award.
*"Mohair" (Royal Court Young Writers Festival, London/International Festival of Young Playwrights, Sydney, 1988).
*"Wildfire" (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1992).
*"Beautiful Thing" (Bush Theatre, London, 1993 and Donmar Warehouse, London/Duke of York's Theatre, London, 1994), winner of the John Whiting Award 1994.
*"Babies" (Royal National Theatre Studio/Royal Court Theatre, 1994), winner George Devine Award 1993 and Evening Standard's Most Promising Playwright Award 1994.
*"Boom Bang-A-Bang" (Bush Theatre, 1995); Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club (English Touring Theatre/Contact Theatre Company, Donmar Warehouse/Criterion Theatre, London, 1995).
*Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club (1995)
*Guiding Star (1998)
*Hushabye Mountain (1999)
*Out in the Open (2001)

Television and film

*"Beautiful People" (BBC
*"Beautiful Thing" (Channel Four/Island World Productions)
*"Coronation Street" (ITV)
*"Gimme Gimme Gimme" (BBC)
*"Love Junkie" (BBC)
*"Murder Most Horrid" (BBC)
*"West End Girls" (Carlton)
*"Octavia" (ITV)

References