Alice Birch
{{short description|British playwright and screenwriter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| alma_mater = University of Exeter
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| notableworks = {{plainlist|
- Lady Macbeth
- Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.
- Anatomy of a Suicide
- Normal People
- We Want You to Watch
- [BLANK]
}}
| partner = Sam Pritchard
| children = 2
| relatives =
| awards = {{plainlist|
- George Devine Award
- Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
- British Independent Film Award for Best Screenplay
}}
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| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1986}}
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| occupation = Writer
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Alice Birch (born 1986) is a British playwright and screenwriter. Birch has written several plays, including Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. for which she was awarded the George Devine Award for Most Promising New Playwright, and Anatomy of a Suicide for which she won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Birch was also the screenwriter for the film Lady Macbeth and has written for such television shows as Succession, Normal People, and the Peabody Award-winning miniseries Dead Ringers.{{Cite web |title=Dead Ringers |url=https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/dead-ringers/ |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=The Peabody Awards |language=en-US}}
Early life
Birch spent the first five years of her life living with her family at the rural commune Birchwood Hall, near Malvern. Because her parents were unmarried, they decided to give Alice and her sister the surname Birch after the commune's name.{{Cite news|last=Dickson|first=Andrew|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/22/alice-birch-playwright-interview-we-want-you-to-watch|title=Alice Birch: 'Being called an armchair feminist made me furious'|date=22 January 2015|work=The Guardian|access-date=6 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}
At 18, Birch joined the Royal Court Theatre’s young writers programme and spent a three-month unpaid internship in Los Angeles working for the film production company BenderSpink.{{Cite news|last=Collins-Hughes|first=Laura|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/theater/alice-birch-speaks-softly-and-writes-loud-plays.html|title=Alice Birch Speaks Softly and Writes Loud Plays|date=14 April 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=6 March 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
Birch attended Exeter University for her undergraduate degree.{{Cite web|url=https://artsfoundation.co.uk/directory/alice-birch/|title=Arts Foundation {{!}} Birch, Alice|language=en-GB|access-date=18 March 2020}}
Career
In 2010, Birch participated in 24 Hour Plays at the Old Vic in which writers, directors, actors, and other creatives have 24 hours to create a new play before it is performed. The playwrights were given 6 hours to write a play 15 minutes in length. Birch's play was called And Then There Were Four Little Beats of Four Little Hearts on the Edge of the World.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/OV24hour10-rev|title=Theatre review: 24 Hour Plays 2010 at The Old Vic|last=Fisher|first=Philip|website=British Theatre Guide|language=en-GB|access-date=23 March 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://bushtheatre.co.uk/bushgreen/from-the-archive-bushgreen-meets-alice-birch/|title=From the Archive: BushGreen meets Alice Birch|date=3 November 2014|website=bushtheatre.co.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=23 March 2020}}
Birch's first performed full-length play was Many Moons, which premiered in 2011 at Theatre 503 under the direction of Derek Bond.{{Cite web|url=http://exeuntmagazine.com/reviews/many-moons/|title=Many Moons|last=Tripney|first=Natasha|date=23 May 2011|website=Exeunt Magazine|access-date=17 March 2020}}{{Cite news|last=Bowie-Sell|first=Daisy|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/8550232/Many-Moons-Theatre503-London-review.html|title=Many Moons, Theatre503, London, review|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=1 June 2011|access-date=17 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} The play follows four characters whose lives seem separate, but then collide.{{Cite news|last=Costa|first=Maddy|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/may/23/many-moons-review|title=Many Moons – review|date=23 May 2011|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Birch was nominated for the 2011/12 Susan Smith Blackburn prize, an award recognising female playwrights writing in the English language, for Many Moons.
In 2013, Birch's episode of the radio comedy Absolutely Delish was broadcast on BBC Radio 4.{{Cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/radio/absolutely_delish/cast_crew/|title=Absolutely Delish cast and crew credits|website=British Comedy Guide|language=en-GB|access-date=18 March 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/alice-birch|title=Alice Birch {{!}} United Agents|website=www.unitedagents.co.uk|access-date=18 March 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08gpcj7/episodes/guide|title=BBC Radio 4 Extra - Absolutely Delish - Episode guide|website=BBC|language=en-GB|access-date=18 March 2020}} Also in 2013, Birch's play Little on the Inside premiered at Latitude Festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cleanbreak.org.uk/productions/little-inside/|title=Little on the inside |work=Clean Break|access-date=18 March 2020}} The play is set inside a women's prison.{{Cite web|url=http://exeuntmagazine.com/features/latitude-2013/|title=Latitude 2013|last=Pringle|first=Stewart|date=15 July 2013|website=Exeunt Magazine|access-date=18 March 2020}}
Birch co-wrote the play Astronauts with a group of 16-19 year olds who later performed the work. Astronauts was inspired by the housing crisis. The play premiered in 2014 with Company Three.{{Cite web|url=http://www.companythree.co.uk/astronauts-2|title=Astronauts|website=Company Three|language=en-US|access-date=17 March 2020}} Little Light is one of Birch's first plays, though it was not performed until 2015 when it premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre.{{Cite web|url=http://exeuntmagazine.com/reviews/little-light/|title=Little Light|last=Love|first=Catherine|date=9 February 2015|website=Exeunt Magazine|access-date=17 March 2020}}{{Cite news|last=Billington|first=Michael|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/feb/09/little-light-review-orange-tree-richmond|title=Little Light review – Alice Birch's play tests its performers (and our patience)|date=9 February 2015|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}
Birch's play Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, which gave her the prompt, "Well-behaved women seldom make history". Birch wrote the play in three days. The play was inspired by Valerie Solanas' SCUM Manifesto, though Birch took inspiration more from the power behind Solanas' words than from the messages of that work. Revolt premiered with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2014 as part of Midsummer Mischief.{{Cite news|last=Cavendish|first=Dominic|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/10917888/Midsummer-Mischief-The-Other-Place-at-the-Courtyard-Theatre-Stratford-upon-Avon-review.html|title=Midsummer Mischief, The Other Place at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, review|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=22 June 2014|access-date=6 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} Birch was nominated for the 2014/15 Susan Smith Blackburn prize for writing Revolt and won the George Devine Award for Most Promising New Playwright.
In 2015, Birch developed the play We Want You to Watch with the feminist theatre company RashDash. We Want You to Watch was commissioned by the National Theatre.{{Cite news|last=Cavendish|first=Dominic|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/11671918/We-Want-You-to-Watch-National-Theatre-review-random-incomprehensible-and-plain-bad.html|title=We Want You to Watch, National Theatre, review: 'random, incomprehensible and plain bad'|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=16 June 2015|access-date=17 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} The play protests the violent and graphic world created by pornography and raises the idea of getting rid of pornography in its entirety.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/we-want-you-to-watch-national-theatre-review-extreme-look-at-porn-eradication-10324141.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617154115/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/we-want-you-to-watch-national-theatre-review-extreme-look-at-porn-eradication-10324141.html |archive-date=2015-06-17 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=We Want You To Watch, National Theatre, review: Extreme look at porn|last=Taylor|first=Paul|date=16 June 2015|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=17 March 2020}} The same year, her play for children, The Lone Pine Club, premiered as a touring production. Birch adapted the story from Malcolm Saville's children's books.{{Cite news|last=Gardner|first=Lyn|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/04/the-lone-pine-club-review-malcolm-saville|title=The Lone Pine Club review – a terrific wheeze but unexpectedly moving, too|date=4 August 2015|work=The Guardian|access-date=18 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}
Birch's Ophelias Zimmer (Ophelia's Room, in English) premiered at the Schaubühne in Berlin in December 2015.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nachtkritik.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11880&catid=34&Itemid=100476|title=Ophelias Zimmer – An der Schaubühne Berlin sperren Alice Birch und Katie Mitchell Shakespeares Ophelia ins Gefängnis der unterdrückten Frau|last=Slevogt|first=Esther|website=www.nachtkritik.de|date=9 December 2015 |language=de-de|access-date=17 March 2020}} The play made its debut in England in early 2016 but was performed in German with English surtitles.{{Cite news|last=Gardner|first=Lyn|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/may/18/ophelias-zimmer-review-katie-mitchell-hamlet-royal-court|title=Ophelias Zimmer review – Katie Mitchell brings Hamlet's real ghost into focus|date=18 May 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=6 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2016/ophelias-zimmer-review-at-the-jerwood-theatre-downstairs-london/|title=Ophelias Zimmer review at Royal Court, London|last=Bano|first=Tim|date=17 May 2016|website=The Stage|language=en-US|access-date=17 March 2020}} Ophelias Zimmer explores the character of Ophelia from William Shakespeare's Hamlet.{{Cite news|last=Cavendish|first=Dominic|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/ophelias-zimmer-at-the-royal-court-is-a-far-flung-feminist-take/|title=Ophelias Zimmer at the Royal Court is a far-flung feminist take on Hamlet - review|date=18 May 2016|work=The Telegraph|access-date=17 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} The play was a collaboration between Birch, director Katie Mitchell, and designer Chloe Lamford.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/3258fdf4-9a9c-11e5-a5c1-ca5db4add713|title='Ophelias Zimmer': a spin-off of 'Hamlet'|last=Hemming|first=Sarah|date=11 December 2015|website=Financial Times|access-date=17 March 2020}} Ophelias Zimmer was nominated for the Friedrich-Luft Preis.
In 2016, Birch made her screenwriting debut with the film Lady Macbeth, based on Nikolai Leskov's novel Lady Macbeth Of The Mtsensk District.{{Cite news|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/apr/27/lady-macbeth-review-florence-pugh-william-oldroyd-peter-bradshaw|title=Lady Macbeth review – brilliantly chilling subversion of a classic {{!}} Peter Bradshaw's film of the week|date=27 April 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=18 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Birch made several changes from the novel, including setting the film in rural England.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/07/lady-macbeth-william-oldroyd-review/533499/|title='Lady Macbeth' Is a Brilliantly Macabre Period Drama|last=Sims|first=David|date=13 July 2017|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|access-date=18 March 2020}} Birch won a 2017 British Independent Film Award for best screenplay for Lady Macbeth. Birch was also nominated for a BAFTA and for Best Debut Screenwriter at the British Independent Film Awards for Lady Macbeth.
In 2016, it was announced that Birch would pen the TV-adaptation of Mary Gabriel's Love and Capital, a biography of the Karl Marx and the Marx family.{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2016/11/james-schamus-x-filme-haut-et-court-symbolic-exchange-potboiler-love-and-capital-karl-marx-alice-birch-lady-macbeth-1201852210/|title=James Schamus Teams With Euro Partners For Karl Marx Family Series 'Love And Capital'|last=Lodderhose|first=Diana|date=10 November 2016|website=Deadline|language=en|access-date=6 March 2020}}{{Cite news|last=Hoggard|first=Liz|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/jun/04/alice-birch-anatomy-of-a-suicide-play-interview|title=Alice Birch: 'I'm interested in whether trauma can be passed on through DNA'|date=4 June 2017|work=The Observer|access-date=17 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0029-7712}} There have been no further announcements about this television series.{{Cite web|url=https://womenandhollywood.com/lady-macbeth-screenwriter-alice-birch-adapting-love-and-capital-for-tv-6e636c184bde/|title="Lady Macbeth" Screenwriter Alice Birch Adapting "Love and Capital" for TV|website=womenandhollywood.com|language=en-US|access-date=18 March 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/tv/global/karl-marx-drama-series-james-schamus-symbolic-exchange-1201914842/|title=Karl Marx Drama Series in Works at James Schamus' Symbolic Exchange|last=Barraclough|first=Leo|date=10 November 2016|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=18 March 2020}} Also that year, Birch and British director Katie Mitchell adapted Elfriede Jelinek's Schatten (Eurydike sagt) (Shadow (Eurydice Speaks) in English).{{Cite web|url=https://www.exberliner.com/api/content/9c32d416-b576-11e6-b603-0aea2a882f79/|title=Flipping the switch: Katie Mitchell|last=Kelting|first=Lily|date=28 November 2016|website=EXBERLINER.com|language=en-us|access-date=18 March 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.barcelona.cat/grec/en/show/shadow-eurydice-speaks|title=Shadow (Eurydice speaks)|date=30 April 2018|website=Festival Grec 2019|access-date=18 March 2020}}
In 2017, Birch's play Anatomy of a Suicide premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London under the direction of Katie Mitchell.{{Cite news|last=Billington|first=Michael|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/jun/12/anatomy-of-a-suicide-review-royal-court-alice-birch-katie-mitchell|title=Anatomy of a Suicide review – a startling study of mothers and daughters|date=12 June 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Anatomy of a Suicide won Birch the 2018 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Anatomy of a Suicide follows three generations of women affected by mental illness in the 1970s, 1990s, and the 2030s whose stories are presented to the audience simultaneously.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2017/legit/reviews/anatomy-of-a-suicide-review-royal-court-1202464426/|title=London Theater Review: 'Anatomy of a Suicide'|last=Trueman|first=Matt|date=13 June 2017|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=17 March 2020}} Birch was interested in exploring the effects of having a mother who commits suicide and whether trauma can be passed on through DNA.{{Cite web|url=https://womenandhollywood.com/alice-birch-named-winner-of-2018-blackburn-prize-a8b99482cb4c/|title=Alice Birch Named Winner of 2018 Blackburn Prize|last=Berger|first=Laura|date=15 March 2018|website=womenandhollywood.com|language=en-US|access-date=18 March 2020}}
In 2018, Birch adapted Marguerite Duras' novella La Maladie de la Mort (or, in English, The Malady of Death) for the stage.{{Cite news|last=Wyver|first=Kate|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/aug/17/la-maladie-de-la-mort-review-lyceum-edinburgh-festival|title=La Maladie de la Mort review – clinical dissection of male gaze|date=17 August 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} The play premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that year and was directed by Katie Mitchell.{{Cite news|last=Fisher|first=Mark|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/aug/01/a-desire-for-duras-katie-mitchell-and-alice-birch-on-the-writers-erotic-existential-mystery|title=A desire for Duras: Katie Mitchell and Alice Birch on the writer's erotic, existential mystery|date=1 August 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}
[BLANK] was co-commissioned by National Theatre Connections and Clean Break. The play consists of 100 mix-and-match scenes, comprising over 400 pages, which a production is to choose from.{{Cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/alice-birch-blank-donmar-warehouse-succession-story-editor-normal-people-815875|title=Alice Birch on her new play, writing Succession and adapting Normal People|last=Jones|first=Alice|date=16 October 2019|website=inews.co.uk|language=en|access-date=7 March 2020}} The scenes are vignettes about women and the criminal justice system. The 2019 premiere of [BLANK] at the Donmar Warehouse with Clean Break performed 22 of the 100 scenes.{{Cite news|last=Billington|first=Michael|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/oct/18/blank-review-alice-birch-donmar-warehouse-london|title=[Blank] review – Alice Birch's build-your-own-play experiment|date=18 October 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=6 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}
In 2019, Birch adapted Virginia Woolf's Orlando into German. The adaptation was performed at the Shaubühne and directed by Katie Mitchell.{{Cite news|last=Evans|first=Gareth Llŷr|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/sep/13/orlando-review-berlin|title=Orlando review – Katie Mitchell's gleeful celebration of gender fluidity|date=13 September 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=18 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news|last=Cappelle|first=Laura|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/theater/orlando-katie-mitchell-julius-caesar-comedie-francaise.html|title='Orlando' Awkwardly Transitions to the Stage|date=3 October 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=18 March 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
Birch adapted Sally Rooney's novel Normal People for television with Rooney herself and writer Mark O'Rowe.{{Cite news|last=Walker|first=Amy|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/may/30/bbc-reveals-stars-adaptation-normal-people-sally-rooney|title=BBC reveals stars of its adaptation of Normal People by Sally Rooney|date=30 May 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=18 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} The Normal People TV series was released in April 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stylist.co.uk/books/normal-people-sally-rooney-bbc-cast-air-date-director/270242|title=Sally Rooney's Normal People: trailer, cast and more|last=Shaffi|first=Sarah|date=26 January 2020|website=Stylist|language=en|access-date=18 March 2020}} Before the release of Normal People, it was announced that Birch would also adapt Rooney's novel Conversations with Friends for television.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/bbc-teams-with-lenny-abrahamson-on-conversations-with-friends-commissions-four-new-titles-1203513561/|title=BBC Teams With Lenny Abrahamson on 'Conversations With Friends,' Orders Four New Titles|last=Croll|first=Ben|date=25 February 2020|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=18 March 2020}}
Birch's opera, Violet, composed by Tom Coult, was scheduled to open at the Aldeburgh Festival in June 2020.{{Cite web|last=Hemming|first=Sarah|date=28 November 2019|title=Director Rebecca Frecknall: 'I want to be moved and if I'm not I feel slightly cheated'|url=https://www.ft.com/content/8a1f3418-1040-11ea-a7e6-62bf4f9e548a|access-date=20 March 2020|website=Financial Times}}{{Cite web|last=Bradshaw|first=Melissa|date=2 December 2019|title=Aldeburgh Festival returns for 2020|url=https://www.rhinegold.co.uk/classical_music/aldeburgh-festival-returns-for-2020/|access-date=20 March 2020|website=Rhinegold Publishing|language=en}} The opera was commissioned and produced by Music Theatre Wales, Theater Magdeburg, and Snape Maltings, with the London Sinfonietta.{{Cite web|title=TOM COULT / ALICE BIRCH: VIOLET|url=https://londonsinfonietta.org.uk/whats-on/tom-coult-alice-birch-violet|access-date=20 March 2020|website=London Sinfonietta|language=en}} The two created Violet in 2019.{{Cite news |last=Coghlan |first=Alexandra |date=2022-06-04 |title=Violet is the best new British opera in years |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/classical-music/violet-aldeburgh-festival-review-best-new-british-opera-years/ |access-date=2022-06-12 |issn=0307-1235}} The opera's premiere was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic,{{Cite web|title=TOM COULT / ALICE BIRCH: VIOLET - CANCELLED|url=https://londonsinfonietta.org.uk/whats-on/tom-coult-alice-birch-violet-cancelled|access-date=2020-07-29|website=London Sinfonietta|language=en}} eventually taking place at Aldeburgh in June 2022. Jude Christian's production starred soprano Anna Dennis as Violet with accompaniment by the London Sinfonietta conducted by Andrew Gourlay.{{Cite web |last=Clements |first=Andrew |date=2022-06-05 |title=Violet review – Coult's debut opera opens Aldeburgh with assurance |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jun/05/violet-review-coult-birch-gourlay-debut-opera-assurance-and-authenticity |access-date=2022-06-12 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} The production went on to tour the UK.{{Cite web |last=Jackson |first=Claire |date=2022-06-11 |title=In opera Violet, time becomes elastic and society crumbles |url=https://www.bigissue.com/culture/music/in-opera-violet-time-becomes-elastic-and-society-crumbles/ |access-date=2022-06-12 |website=The Big Issue |language=en}} Coult’s score received an Ivor Novello Award nomination at The Ivors Classical Awards 2023 for Best Stage Work.{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Mark |date=2023-10-18 |title=Nominees announced for The Ivors Classical Awards 2023 |url=https://ivorsacademy.com/news/nominees-announced-for-the-ivors-classical-awards-2023/ |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=The Ivors Academy |language=en-GB}}
Birch has worked with director Katie Mitchell many times. Mitchell has directed Birch's Ophelias Zimmer, Anatomy of a Suicide, and La Maladie de la Mort.{{Cite web|url=https://thetheatretimes.com/marguerite-duras-la-maladie-de-la-mort-katie-mitchell-and-alice-birch-collaboration/|title=Marguerite Duras' "La Maladie De La Mort": Katie Mitchell and Alice Birch Collaboration|last=Radosavljević|first=Duška|date=24 August 2018|website=The Theatre Times|language=en-US|access-date=18 March 2020}} In October 2020, her adaptation of Rachel Cusk's Outline trilogy was set to be directed by Mitchell at the National Theatre. The production was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Birch adapted Graham Swift's 2016 novel Mothering Sunday. The film of the same name premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.{{Cite web|last=Barraclough|first=Leo|date=12 February 2017|title=Film4 Options 'Mothering Sunday' for Development With Number 9 (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/global/film4-mothering-sunday-number-9-1201985259/|access-date=18 March 2020|website=Variety|language=en}}{{Cite web|last1=Seth|first1=Radhika|last2=Schama|first2=Chloe|date=2021-06-17|title=12 Films to Watch Out for at Cannes|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/cannes-preview-2021|access-date=2021-06-30|website=Vogue|language=en-US}} In August 2020, it was announced that Birch would write the television reimagining of Dead Ringers, set to star Rachel Weisz.{{cite news|last1=Andreeva|first1=Nellie|last2=Kroll|first2=Justin|date=2020-08-18|title=Rachel Weisz To Star In & Produce 'Dead Ringers' TV Series Reboot In Works At Amazon From 'Normal People' Scribe Alice Birch & Annapurna TV|url=https://deadline.com/2020/08/rachel-weisz-dead-ringers-amazon-annapurna-tv-alice-birch-1203011855/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-25|website=Deadline Hollywood|language=en-US}} The miniseries went on to win a Peabody Award for "aptly packaging a bold adaptation of this twinned-body horror classic within the continued nightmarish world of women’s reproductive health care in the United States."{{cite web | url=https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/dead-ringers/ | title=Dead Ringers }}
In 2022, The Wonder, for which Birch co-wrote the screenplay with Sebastián Lelio and Emma Donoghue, adapted from Donoghue's novel of the same name, premiered.{{Cite web |last=Tallerico |first=Brian |title=The Wonder movie review & film summary (2022) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-wonder-movie-review-2022 |access-date=2022-11-21 |website=Roger Ebert |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Gillmor |first=Alison |date=2022-11-19 |title=Food for thought |url=https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/2022/11/19/food-for-thought-21 |access-date=2022-11-21 |website=Winnipeg Free Press |language=en-US}} She adapted Federico García Lorca’s 1936 play, The House of Bernarda Alba, for the English stage, centring the character Bernarda's daughters.{{Cite news |last=Akbar |first=Arifa |date=2023-11-29 |title=The House of Bernarda Alba review – Harriet Walter rules as Lorca gets a refurb |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/nov/29/the-house-of-bernarda-alba-review-harriet-walter-rebecca-frecknall-lyttelton-theatre-london |access-date=2024-12-26 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} The adaptation premiered at the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre in 2023 under the direction of Rebecca Frecknall.{{Cite web |last1=Gans |first1=Andrew |last2=Culwell-Block |first2=Logan |date=2023-11-08 |title=The House of Bernarda Alba Opens at London's National Theatre November 28 |url=https://playbill.com/article/the-house-of-bernarda-alba-opens-at-londons-national-theatre-november-28 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240722114841/https://playbill.com/article/the-house-of-bernarda-alba-opens-at-londons-national-theatre-november-28 |archive-date=2024-07-22 |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=Playbill |language=en-US}}
Personal life
Birch lives in Hackney, East London with her partner Sam Pritchard and their two children.{{Cite journal|url=https://theguardian.com/stage/2023/oct/22/alice-birch-succession-normal-people-dead-ringers-the-house-of-bernarda-alba-national-theatre|title=Alice Birch: 'When I'm writing, the banalities of motherhood such as head lice disappear'|journal=The Guardian|first=Jude|last=Rogers|date=22 October 2023|accessdate=21 July 2024}}
Works
= Plays =
- Many Moons
- Little on the Inside
- Astronauts
- Little Light
- Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.
- We Want You to Watch
- The Lone Pine Club
- Ophelias Zimmer (German with English surtitles)
- Anatomy of a Suicide
- La Maladie de la Mort (French with English subtitles)
- [BLANK]
- The House of Bernarda Alba (adapted from the Federico García Lorca’s 1936 play)
- Outline. Transit. Kudos.
= Film =
- Lady Macbeth (2016)
- Mothering Sunday (2021)
- The Wonder (2022)
- The End We Start From (2023)
- Die My Love (2025){{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2025/04/die-my-love-jennifer-lawrence-robert-pattinson-deal-cannes-1236376860/ |title=Jennifer Lawrence & Robert Pattinson Cannes Competition Film Die, My Love Boarded By Patrick Wachsberger's 193 For International Sales |date=April 25, 2025 |access-date=April 26, 2025 |website=Deadline Hollywood |last=Wiseman |first=Andreas |archive-date=April 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250425235406/https://deadline.com/2025/04/die-my-love-jennifer-lawrence-robert-pattinson-deal-cannes-1236376860/ |url-status=live }}
= Television =
- Normal People (2020){{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/normal-people-first-trailer-released-for-bbc-s-sally-rooney-adaptation-1.4143104|title=Normal People: First trailer released for BBC's Sally Rooney adaptation|date=17 January 2020|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=6 March 2020}}{{Cite news|last=Waterson|first=Jim|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/feb/25/bbc-to-film-series-based-on-sally-rooneys-hit-debut-novel-conversations-with-friends-normal-people|title=BBC to film series based on Sally Rooney's hit debut novel|date=25 February 2020|work=The Guardian|access-date=18 March 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}
- Conversations with Friends (2022){{Cite news|last=Kanter|first=Jake|url=https://deadline.com/2020/02/bbc-adapting-sally-rooney-conversations-with-friends-1202866729/|title=BBC Commits To Second Sally Rooney Adaptation Before 'Normal People' Has Even Premiered|date=25 February 2020|work=Deadline|access-date=6 March 2020|language=en-US}}
- Dead Ringers (2023){{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2020/08/rachel-weisz-dead-ringers-amazon-annapurna-tv-alice-birch-1203011855/|title=Rachel Weisz To Star In & Produce 'Dead Ringers' TV Series Reboot In Works At Amazon From 'Normal People' Scribe Alice Birch & Annapurna TV|website=Deadline Hollywood|first1=Justin|last1=Kroll|first2=Nellie|last2=Andreeva|date=August 18, 2020|access-date=July 22, 2022}}
- The Ministry of Time (TBA){{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2024/the-ministry-of-time|title=BBC enters The Ministry of Time, adapted by Alice Birch from Kaliane Bradley's debut novel|website=bbc.co.uk/mediacentre|accessdate=23 February 2024}}
- Succession — Season 2 (2019)
Awards
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Award !Category !Work !Result !Notes !Refs |
| 2011/12
|Susan Smith Blackburn Prize | |Many Moons |{{nom}} | |
| 2014
|Arts Foundation Futures Award |Playwriting | |{{won}} | |
| 2014
|George Devine Award for Most Promising New Playwright | |Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. |{{won}} |Co-winner with Rory Mullarkey |
| 2014/15
|Susan Smith Blackburn Prize | |Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. |{{nom}} | |
| 2015
|Friedrich-Luft-Preis | |Ophelias Zimmer |{{nom}} | |
| rowspan="2" |2017
| rowspan="2" |British independent film awards |Best screenplay |Lady Macbeth |{{won}} | |
| Best Debut Screenwriter
|Lady Macbeth |{{nom}} | |
| 2018
|Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer |Lady Macbeth |{{nom}} |with William Oldroyd (director) and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (producer) |
| 2018
|Susan Smith Blackburn Prize | |Anatomy of a Suicide |{{won}} | |
| 2020
|Writers Guild of America Awards |Drama Series |Succession |{{won}} |with Jesse Armstrong, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Cord Jefferson, Mary Laws, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Gary Shteyngart, Susan Soon He Stanton, and Will Tracy |
| 2020
|Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series |Normal People |{{nom}} |with Sally Rooney for "Episode 3" |
| 2020
| |[BLANK] |{{nom}} | |
| rowspan="2" |2022
|Best Screenplay, Adapted |The Wonder |{{nom}} |with Emma Donoghue, Sebastian Lelio |
| EDA Female Focus Awards
|The Wonder and Mothering Sunday |{{nom}} | |
| rowspan="2"|2023
|BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film |The Wonder |{{nom}} |with Sebastián Lelio, Ed Guiney, Juliette Howell, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, and Emma Donoghue |
| Gotham Independent Film Awards
|Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Series – Long Form |Dead Ringers |{{nom}} | |
| 2024
|"For aptly packaging a bold adaptation of this twinned-body horror classic within the continued nightmarish world of women’s reproductive health care in the United States" |Dead Ringers |{{won}} | |{{cite web | url=https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/dead-ringers/ | title=Dead Ringers }} |
References
External links
- {{IMDb name|2690539}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, Alice}}
Category:20th-century English women writers
Category:20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
Category:21st-century English women writers
Category:21st-century British writers
Category:Alumni of the University of Exeter
Category:British women screenwriters
Category:English women dramatists and playwrights
Category:British women television writers
Category:People from Malvern, Worcestershire
Category:Writers from Herefordshire