Peter Oswald

Peter Charles Patrick Oswald (born 1965)Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, p. 1987.Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 146th edition, ed. Charles Kidd, David Williamson, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2000, p. 852. is an English playwright specialising in verse drama. He was a resident at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London from 1998 to 2009.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/jul/11/theatre1|title=Rhyme and punishment| work =The Guardian|date=11 July 2005}}

Early life

Oswald was born the second of four children (eldest of three sons) of farmer and stockbroker Peter David Hamilton Oswald and Juliet (née McLaughlin), of Fliskmillan, Fife, Scotland. His uncle was Sir Julian Oswald, First Sea Lord from 1989 to 1993.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, p. 1987.Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 146th edition, ed. Charles Kidd, David Williamson, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2000, p. 852.

The Oswalds were landed gentry of Cavens, Dumfries, and Auchincruive (now named "Oswald Hall"), South Ayrshire, Scotland, descending from merchant George Oswald, Rector of the University of Glasgow from 1797 to 1799.Burke's Landed Gentry, 16th edition, ed. L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage Ltd, p. 1925.

Career

Oswald was the first playwright-in-residence at Shakespeare's Globe theatre, for which he wrote three plays, from 1998 to 2009."The Plays of Peter Oswald: New Writing at Shakespeare's Globe 1998–2005', Catriona Fallow, in Studies in Theatre and Performance, Vol. 34, 2014, Issue 1, pp. 90–96. He was later playwright-in-residence at London's Finborough Theatre in West Brompton. Oswald established his own company, Heart's Tongue, to produce some of his plays.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/jul/11/theatre1|title=Rhyme and punishment| work = The Guardian|date=11 July 2005}}

In March 2022, Oswald was interviewed about his verse-drama plays on the podcast Hamlet to Hamilton: Exploring Verse Drama, hosted by Emily C. A. Snyder and Colin Kovarik.{{Cite web |title=Interview: Peter Oswald |url=https://www.hamlettohamilton.com/peteroswald.html |access-date=30 September 2022 |website=hamlettohamilton.com }}

Personal life

Oswald is married to the poet Alice Oswald, with whom he has three children.Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 146th edition, ed. Charles Kidd, David Williamson, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2000, p. 852.

In March 2025, he embarked on a 150-mile walk from Bristol to London, planned to last 13 days, while fasting to observe Ramadan, in order to raise money for children in Gaza. He finished his journey on 31 March with an event at the Marylebone Theatre, hosted by comedian Jen Brister. Describing the trip, Oswald said, "This pilgrimage was an act of empathy and resistance. It was a public declaration that we will not look away".{{cite web |url=https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/palestine-peter-oswald-gaza-israel-war-b2717694.html |title=British playwright embarks on 150-mile fasting pilgrimage for Palestine |access-date= 24 March 2025}}{{Cite web |last=Canary |first=The |date=25 April 2025 |title=Peter Oswald completes his 150 mile pilgrimage for Palestine: an act of 'empathy' and 'resistance' |url=https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2025/04/25/peter-oswald-pilgrimage-palestine/ |access-date=25 April 2025 |website=Canary}}{{Cite web |title=English playwright walks from dawn to dusk for Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2025/3/24/english-playwright-walks-from-dawn-to-dusk-for-gaza |access-date=25 April 2025 |website=Al Jazeera}}

Books

Peter Oswald; Mary Stuart. Samuel French, London (2006).
Peter Oswald; The Golden Ass or the Curious Man. Comedy in three parts after the novel Metamorphoses by Lucius Apuleius. Oberon Books: London, GB (2002). {{ISBN|1-84002-285-X}}.
Peter Oswald; Earth Has Not Any Thing to Shew More Fair: A Bicentennial Celebration of Wordsworth's Sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge (co-editor with Alice Oswald and Robert Woof). Shakespeare's Globe and The Wordsworth Trust (2002). {{ISBN|1-870787-84-6}}.
Peter Oswald; Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards. A drama in verses after an 18th-century Japanese puppet play by the kabuki playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Methuen Drama, London, GB (1996) (U.S.: Heinemann, Portsmouth, New Hampshire). {{ISBN|0-413-71510-8}}.