Philip Ridley was born in the East End of London, where he still lives and works. He is a contemporary artist, poet, novelist, film-maker and one of the country's most celebrated living playwrights. Ridley has been described as 'probably a genius' (Time Out), 'a visionary' (Rolling Stone), 'the master of modern myth' (Guardian) and 'the best British playwright of the last 20 years' (Aleks Sierz, author of In-Yer-Face Theatre). His plays include Ghost From A Perfect Place, Leaves of Glass, Mercury Fur, Moonfleece, Piranha Heights, The Pitchfork Disney, Tender Napalm, The Fastest Clock in the Universe, The Krays, Shivered and Vincent River.
Philip Ridley was born and grew up in the East End of London. He studied painting at St Martin's School of Art. He has written many highly regarded and hugely influential stage plays: the seminal The Pitchfork Disney (published as a Methuen Modern Classic), The Fastest Clock in the Universe (winner of a Time Out Award, the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, and the Meyer-Whitworth Prize), Ghost from a Perfect Place (nominated for The Evening Standard Best New Play Award), Vincent River (nominated for the London Festival Fringe Best Play Award),the highly controversial Mercury Fur, Leaves of Glass, Piranha Heights (nominated for the WhatsOnStage Mobius Award for Best Off West End Production), Tender Napalm (nominated for the London Fringe Best Play Award), Shivered (nominated for the Off-West End Best New Play Award), Dark Vanilla Jungle (winner of an Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award), Radiant Vermin, Tonight With Donny Stixx and Karagula (nominated for the Off-West End Best New Play Award), plus several plays for young people (collectively known as The Storyteller Sequence): Karamazoo, Fairytaleheart, Moonfleece (named as one of the 50 Best Works About Cultural Diversity by the National Centre for Children's Books), Sparkleshark, and Brokenville, as well as Feathers in the Snow, and Daffodil Scissors. He has also directed three feature films from his own screenplays: The Reflecting Skin – winner of eleven international awards – The Passion of Darkly Noon (winner of the Best Director Prize at the Porto Film Festival), and Heartless (winner of The Silver Meliers Award for Best Fantasy Film). In 2012 What's On Stage named him a Jubilee Playwright (one of the most influential British writers to have emerged in the past six decades). Philip has won both the Evening Standard's Most Promising Newcomer to British Film and Most Promising Playwright Awards. The only person ever to receive both prizes.
