john godber, playwright

www.johngodber.co.uk

John Godber was born in 1956, in Upton, West Yorkshire; the son and grandson of miners. He trained as a teacher of drama at Bretton Hall College. Prior to his appointment as Artistic Director of Hull Truck Theatre Company in 1984, he was Head of Drama at Minsthorpe High School, the school he attended as a student. Whilst he was teaching at Minsthorpe he won almost every major award at the National Student Drama Festival between 1981 and 1983. He has also won five Edinburgh Fringe First awards and in 1984 won the Laurence Olivier Comedy of the Year Award for Up 'n' Under.

His plays are performed across the world. Bouncers was nominated for Comedy of the Year in 1985 and won seven Los Angeles Critics Circles Awards and five awards in Chicago in 1987. On the Piste (1990) was nominated for Comedy of the Year in 1993 and April in Paris (1992) was nominated Comedy of the Year in 1994.

John's television work includes Crown Court, Grange Hill and Brookside. In 1987 he wrote and co-directed the BBC Two six part series The Ritz and its sequel The Continental. His screenplay My Kingdom for a Horse starring Sean Bean was nominated for an alternative BAFTA and he devised the BBC 2 series Chalkface. He directed a television version of Shakers - the Musical which was nominated Best Children's TV Drama 1993. John's first feature film Up 'n' Under was released in January 1998.