Description

Admin History:

Richard Anthony Bean was born on 11 June 1956 in Kingston-upon-Hull. He was a pupil at Hull Grammar School and after leaving school worked for 18 months at a bread plant in Hull. This experience ultimately provided the inspiration for his play Toast (1999). He then studied for a degree in Social Psychology at Loughborough University, where he graduated with a 2:1 BSc Hons.

After university, he worked as an occupational psychologist for fifteen years and as a comedian between 1989 and 1994. During this time, he became a writer and performer on the Writers Guild Award nominated BBC Radio sketch show, Control Group Six. His career in theatre began in 1995 when he wrote the libretto for the opera 'Paradise of Fools'. The following year, his first full-length play, 'Of Rats and Men', premiered at the Canal Cafe Theatre. The play was later adapted for radio and was nominated for a Sony Award.

Since this early success, Richard Bean has enjoyed a prolific writing career and has written over 19 works for the stage including 'The Mentalists' (2002), 'The Hypochondriac' (2005), 'England People Very Nice' (2009), 'The Heretic' (2011), 'One Man, Two Guvnors' (2011), 'Great Britain' (2014), 'Pitcairn' (2014) and the musical 'Made in Dagenham' (2014). He has also won several awards for his work including the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play for 'Harvest' (2005) and the Evening Standard Award for Best New Play for 'The Heretic' and 'One Man, Two Guvnors' (2011). One of his most recent plays is ‘The Hypocrite’ written for Hull's City of Culture (2017).

Description:

This collection includes draft scripts for various stage, radio and TV works by Richard Bean. It also includes related correspondence, research notes, notebooks and subject files for specific projects.