2014 was a spectacular year for playwright Simon Stephens, who has been
described by the Independent as 'a brilliant writer of immense
imagination' and by the Financial Times as having 'emerged in this
millennium as an outstanding playwright'.
2014 was a year for Simon Stephens which featured a high number of world
premiere plays including one for the theatre of his birthplace,
Manchester's Royal Exchange, a major new play for the Downstairs space
at London's Royal Court, and a Chekhov translation for London's Young
Vic; a transfer of his West End hit The Curious Incident of the Dog in
the Night-Time to Broadway; and projects in Germany, a country which
has seen Stephens lauded, in which he has worked extensively, and which
has shaped much of his dramaturgy. In addition to these major projects,
Stephens continued his role as a mentor of young writers, actors and
directors, and continued to be one of the most frequent, outspoken and
fiercely intelligent voices of the playwriting scene.
In an exceptionally honest account, Simon Stephens opens up to us,
through daily diary entries, his working practices, his inner-most
thoughts, his philosophy on theatre, the arts and politics, and his
feelings and reactions to specific projects he has worked on. Through
this, we are given unprecedented access to the mind of one of the most
important playwrights of the twenty-first century.
