Roy Williams
Playwright, Radio/tv/screenwriter
About
Roy began writing plays in 1990. In 2000 he was the joint-winner of the George Devine award and in 2001 he won the Evening Standard Theatre award for Most Promising Playwright. He was awarded the OBE for services to drama in the 2008 Birthday Honours list and was made a fellow of The Royal Society of Literature in 2018.
His plays include Death of England (Dorfman, National Theatre); Death Of England: Delroy ( Olivier, National Theatre); The Firm (Hampstead Downstairs); Soul: The Untold Story of Marvin Gaye (Royal and Derngate/ Hackney Empire); Antigone (Pilot Theatre Company — UK tour); Wildefire and The Fellowship (Hampstead Theatre); Advice for the Young at Heart (Theatre Centre); an adaptation of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Pilot Theatre Company — UK tour); Sucker Punch (Royal Court — nominated for Olivier Award for Best Play); Kingston ’14 (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Category B (Tricycle); Angel House (Eclipse Theatre Company — UK tour); Days of Significance (RSC); Joe Guy (Tiata Fahodzi Theatre Company); There’s Only One Wayne Matthews (Polka Theatre); Baby Girl (National Theatre Connections); Absolute Beginners (Lyric Hammersmith); Little Sweet Thing (Nottingham Playhouse); Slow Time (National Theatre Education); Fallout (Royal Court); Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (National Theatre); Clubland (Royal Court); The Gift (Birmingham Rep/Tricycle); Local Boy (Hampstead Theatre); Souls (Theatre Centre); Lift Off (Royal Court); Starstruck (Tricycle — Winner of John Whiting award, Alfred Fagon award and EMMA Award for Best Play) and The No Boys Cricket Club (Theatre Royal, Stratford East). He also contributed to the Royal Court’s Peckham: The Soap Opera.
Film work includes Fast Girls and Death Of England: Face to Face.
Television work includes Let It Snow; Fallout (Screen Nation Award for Achievement in Screenwriting); Offside (Winner of BAFTA Children’s Film & TV Award for Best Schools Drama) and Babyfather.
Radio work includes adaptations of E. R. Braithwaite’s Choice of Straws and To Sir, With Love and John Wyndham’s The Midwich Cuckoos as well as original plays Tell Tale, Homeboys and Faith, Hope & Glory. He has also created and written eight series of Interrogation for BBC Radio 4.