Abi Morgan: Difference between revisions

|birth_date = Born{{birth 1968year (ageand 54)age|1968}}

|notableworks = ''[[Sex Traffic]]'', ''[[Brick Lane (2007 film)|Brick Lane]]'', ''[[The Hour (2011 TV series)|The Hour]]'', ''[[The Iron Lady (film)|The Iron Lady]]'', ''[[Shame (2011 film)|Shame]]'', ''[[Suffragette (film)|Suffragette]]''

==Early life and education ==

Abigail Louise Morgan was born in [[Cardiff]], Wales, in 1968.<ref name="bmd">{{Cite web |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=fstgeGHAIToS5zW5O6ewWw&scan=1|title=Index entry|access-date=25 February 2020|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS|archive-date=14 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714064403/https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=fstgeGHAIToS5zW5O6ewWw&scan=1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=WalesOnline>{{cite news|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/writer-abi-morgan-last-laugh-6079338|title=Writer Abi Morgan has last laugh at the Emmys|work=Wales Online|date=23 September 2013|access-date=23 September 2013|archive-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925085135/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/writer-abi-morgan-last-laugh-6079338|url-status=live}}</ref> She is the daughter of actress Pat England and theatre director Gareth Morgan, who was director of the [[Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne|Gulbenkian Theatre]] in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] (now the Northern Stage). Her parents divorced when she was a teenager and her childhood was spent moving around the country while her mother acted in [[repertory theatre]]; she told ''[[The Scotsman]]'' in 2010 that she had attended seven separate schools during her childhood.<ref>Aidan Smith, [http://living.scotsman.com/features/Interview-Abi-Morgan-screenwriter.6267530.jp Interview: Abi Morgan, screenwriter], ''The Scotsman'', 4 May 2010.</ref> Her sister is the fundraiser at London's Unicorn Theatre.<ref name{{Webarchive|url=stage>Maggie Brown, [https://wwwweb.thestagearchive.coorg/web/20100507100341/http://living.ukscotsman.com/features/2011/abiInterview-morganAbi-comethMorgan-the-hour/screenwriter.6267530.jp Abi|date=7 Morgan:May Cometh2010 the hour]}}, ''The StageScotsman'', 154 JulyMay 20112010.</ref>

After initial ambitions to become an actress herself, she decided to become a writer while reading drama and literature at [[Exeter University]].<ref name=telegraph>Nigel Farndale, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/8623286/Abi-Morgan-interview.html Abi Morgan interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327025010/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/8623286/Abi-Morgan-interview.html |date=27 March 2018 }}, ''Daily Telegraph'', 12 July 2011.</ref> She then took a postgraduate writing course at the [[Central School of Speech and Drama]].<ref name=stage/>

Having not dared to show any of her writing "to anyone for five years", her first professional stage credit was in 1998 with ''Skinned'' at the [[University of Southampton#Highfield Campus|Nuffield Theatre]], Southampton. She has written plays for the [[Royal Exchange, Manchester|Royal Exchange Studio Theatre]] Manchester, the [[Royal Lyceum Theatre]], the [[Traverse Theatre]], Edinburgh, the [[National Theatre of Scotland]] and the [[Royal Court Theatre|Royal Court]], London.<ref>[http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsM/morgan-abi.html List of theatrical works] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820165520/http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsM/morgan-abi.html |date=20 August 2010 }}, Doollee.com</ref>

Her 2001 play ''Tender'' commissioned by Birmingham Rep Theatre and co-produced with the [[Hampstead Theatre]] gained her a nomination as "most promising playwright" at the 2002 [[Laurence Olivier Theatre Award]]s.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

She was commissioned to write the single drama ''[[Sex Traffic]]'' for Channel 4 in 2004, about a teenage girl trafficked from the Balkans to Britain. This drama, directed by [[David Yates]], won the [[British Academy Television Awards 2005|2005 BAFTA]] award for Best Drama Serial. She has since written a number of single dramas for television including ''[[Tsunami: The Aftermath]]'' (2006), ''[[White Girl (2008 film)|White Girl]]'', part of ''[[White (BBC series)|White]]'' (2008) and ''Royal Wedding'' (2010), which follows the [[Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer|1981 Royal Wedding]] through the perspective of events held in a small Welsh mining village. Her television work also includes writing ''[[Birdsong (TV series)|Birdsong]]'', a two-part television adaptation of [[Sebastian Faulks]]'s novel of the same title.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

Morgan has also written for cinema:. [[Brick Lane (2007 film)|herHer 2007 adaptation]] of [[Monica Ali]]'s novel ''[[Brick Lane (novel)|Brick Lane]]'' was critically acclaimed, but created controversy – some [[Brick Lane]] Bengalis labelled the film "defamatory" and a planned royal film performance was cancelled.<ref name=stage/> Her next film was ''[[The Iron Lady (film)|The Iron Lady]]'', which starred [[Meryl Streep]] as [[Margaret Thatcher]], closely followed by a smaller-budget production, ''[[Shame (2011 film)|Shame]]'', co-written with [[Steve McQueen (director)|Steve McQueen]].<ref name=telegraph/>

Her work on ''The Iron Lady'' earned her a [[BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay]] nomination,<ref>{{cite news|title=Bafta Film Awards 2012: Nominations|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16590913 |access-date=17 January 2012 |date=27 March 2012|work=BBC News|archive-date=18 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118043250/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16590913|url-status=live}}</ref> while her work on ''Shame'' earned her a [[BAFTA Award for Best British Film|BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film]] nomination. She has said that she always puts one line from her last film in her next film.<ref>{{cite web

| url = http://guru.bafta.org/abi-morgan-meets-bola-agbaje-guru-encounters

| title = Abi Morgan meets Bola Agbaje {{!}} Guru Encounters

| date = 7 October 2015

| website = BAFTA Guru

| access-date = 13 October 2015

Her next film, [[The Invisible Woman (2013 film)|''The Invisible Woman'']], was an adaptation of the book of the same name by [[Claire Tomalin]], about the secret love affair between [[Charles Dickens]] and [[Ellen Ternan|Nelly Ternan]], which lasted for thirteen years until his death in 1870. The film was released to critical acclaim in 2013, but its production was reportedly strained after clashes between lead actress [[Kristin Scott Thomas]] and Morgan on set, the source of which was never disclosed.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-02-07|title=What's going on between Abi Morgan and Kristin Scott Thomas? |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/what-s-going-on-between-abi-morgan-and-kristin-scott-thomas-9114984.html|access-date=2021-04-13|website=www.standard.co.uk|language=en|archive-date=13 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413175717/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/what-s-going-on-between-abi-morgan-and-kristin-scott-thomas-9114984.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

A staunch opponent of [[Brexit]], Morgan was one of nine leading playwrights to contribute to a series of online dramas in 2017 responding to the causes and consequences of the EU referendum result. Entitled ''Brexit Shorts'', Morgan's monologue, ''The End'', starred Penelope Wilton as a woman on the brink as she faces the consequences of the end of her 43-year-old marriage.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-06-19|title=Leading playwrights create Brexit dramas for The Guardian|url=http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/jun/19/leading-playwrights-create-brexit-shorts-david-hare-abi-morgan|access-date=2021-04-13|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=13 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413234554/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/jun/19/leading-playwrights-create-brexit-shorts-david-hare-abi-morgan|url-status=live}}</ref>

MorganIn lives2015 in an architecturallyMorgan designedwas houseliving in the north London neighbourhood of [[Stroud Green]] in [[Haringey]],<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bloomfield|first=Ruth|date=2015-05-13|title=A Victorian Home in London’sLondon's Stroud Green Gets a Modern Basement|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-victorian-home-in-londons-stroud-green-gets-a-modern-basement-1431531587|access-date=2021-04-17|issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417202229/https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-victorian-home-in-londons-stroud-green-gets-a-modern-basement-1431531587|url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref> with her husband, actor Jacob Krichefski, and their two children.<ref name=lewis>{{cite web|last1=Lewis|first1=Helen|title=Abi Morgan on Suffragette: "These were voiceless women. We gave them a voice" |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/film/2015/10/abi-morgan-these-were-voiceless-women-we-gave-them-voice|website=New Statesman|date=15 October 2015| access-date=16 February 2017|archive-date=17 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217142745/http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/film/2015/10/abi-morgan-these-were-voiceless-women-we-gave-them-voice|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- citations pre-date this info - needs to be cited - - - Krichefski has [[multiple sclerosis]] and developed [[anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis]] in 2018 after participating in a clinical trial; after six months in a medically-induced coma he had [[Capgras delusion]] and could not recognise Morgan. She wrote a memoir, ''This Is Not a Pity Memoir'', describing these experiences.-->

*''[[The Mistress Contract]]'' (2014)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/the-mistress-contract|title=The Mistress Contract at The Royal Court Theatre|publisher=The Royal Court Theatre|access-date=13 September 2013|archive-date=15 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915024809/http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/the-mistress-contract|url-status=live}}</ref>

===TV screenplaysTelevision===

*''[[White Girl (2008 film)|White Girl]]'', part of ''[[White (BBCTV series)|White]]'' (2008) – with Hettie Macdonald, won the TV Spielfilm Award at the [[Cologne Conference]]

*''[[Birdsong (TV seriesserial)|Birdsong]]'' (2012)

*''[[The Split (TV series)|The Split]]'' (2018, 2020, 2022)