Stephen Jeffreys

John Stephen Gerrard Jeffreys (22 April 1950 – 17 September 2018) was a British playwright and playwriting teacher. He wrote original plays, films and play adaptations and also worked as translator. Jeffreys is best known for his play The Libertine about the Earl of Rochester, which was performed at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago with John Malkovich as Rochester, and later adapted into a film starring Malkovich and Johnny Depp.

Career

Jeffreys attended the Stationers' Company's School before going to University of Southampton, graduating with an English literature degree in 1972. In 1975 he started working at the Royal Court Theatre in London as assistant electrician.

His first play, Like Dolls or Angels (1977), won the Sunday Times Playwriting Award at the National Student Drama Festival. He helped set up the touring company Pocket Theatre Cumbria, for which he wrote several plays. His 1982 adaptation of Hard Times for four actors was staged all over England and the United States. Jeffreys was commissioned to write a book on playwriting based on his workshops, which was not yet finished when he died in 2018. Completed by his friends, colleagues and widow Annabel Arden, the book was published posthumously in 2019 by Nick Hern Books.

Besides plays, Jeffreys wrote the films The Libertine and Diana. He co-authored the Beatles musical Backbeat and translated The Magic Flute for the English National Opera.

Written works

His plays and screenplays include: Like Dolls or Angels (1977) Hard Times (1982), a stage adaptation of the novel Hard Times by Charles Dickens Carmen 1936 (1984) Valued Friends (1990) The Clink (1990) A Jovial Crew (1992), an adaptation of Richard Brome's play A Jovial Crew A Going Concern (1993) The Libertine (1994), later made into a film with Johnny Depp (2005) I Just Stopped By to See the Man (2000) Interruptions (2001) Lost Land (2005). The Convict's Opera (2008), a reworking of The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, jointly commissioned by Out of Joint theatre company and Sydney Theatre Company. Backbeat (2011), co-written with Iain Softley) Diana (2013, screenplay based on Kate Snell's 2001 book, Diana: Her Last Love about Diana, Princess of Wales)

Awards

Sunday Times Playwriting Award (1977) for Like Dolls or Angels at the National Student Drama Festival Fringe First award (1984) for Carmen 1936 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Evening Standard Theatre Award and Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright (1989).

Personal life He was married to theatre and opera director Annabel Arden.