| Nancy Harris | |
| Occupation: | Playwright and screenwriter |
| Nationality: | Irish |
| Alma Mater: | Trinity College Dublin and the University of Birmingham |
| Genres: | --> |
| Subjects: | --> |
| Spouse: | Kwasi Agyei-Owusu |
| Partners: | --> |
| Parents: | Anne and Eoghan Harris |
| Awards: | Rooney Prize for Irish Literature (2012) |
Nancy Harris is an Irish playwright and screenwriter. She was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2012.[1]
Harris is the daughter of Anne and Eoghan Harris. She was educated at Trinity College Dublin, earning a B.A. in Drama Studies and Classical Civilization,[2] and the University of Birmingham, where she completed an M.Phil. in Playwriting Studies (a course founded by playwright David Edgar) in the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts.[3]
In 2009, Harris adapted Leo Tolstoy's The Kreutzer Sonata, creating a one-act monologue for the Gate Theatre in Dublin, which was then also presented in New York City in 2012.[4]
She was awarded The Stewart Parker Award 2012 for her first original full-length play No Romance which premiered at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The play was also nominated for an Irish Times Theatre Award, a Zebbie Award and was a finalist for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2012. Her play Our New Girl, premiered at The Bush Theatre London and was long-listed for an Evening Standard 'Most Promising Playwright Award' in 2013.
In December 2017, the Gate Theatre presented Harris' unique spin on a classic fairytale, about the challenges of reimagining The Red Shoes for a new generation.[5]
Harris had two commissioned plays opening in September 2019: The Beacon for Druid Theatre[6] which premiered at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway before transferring to the Gate Theatre, Dublin in October[7] and Two Ladies for The Bridge theatre, starring Zoë Wanamaker and Zrinka Cvitešić.[8]
Harris wrote the stage musical adaptation of The Magician's Elephant (based on Kate DiCamillo's novel) with Marc Teitler for the Royal Shakespeare Company Having been delayed a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was rescheduled to premiere in winter 2021.
On television, she was BAFTA nominated for her episodes of the Channel 4 series Dates and contributed scripts for Secret Diary of a Call Girl, The Good Karma Hospital and the epic miniseries .
She was the screenwriter for The Dry, a comedy about a party girl returning home to Ireland to a troubled family.[9]
Her play Somewhere Out There You opened at the Abbey Theatre in September 2023 as part of Dublin Theatre Festival.[10]
Her play The Beacon is slated to open in fall 2024 as an Off-Broadway production by the Irish Repertory Theatre with actress Kate Mulgrew in the lead.[11]
Harris lives in London. She is married to Ghanaian scientist, Kwasi Agyei-Owusu.[12]