About the Playwright: Nick Payne
Born in 1984, British Playwright and Screenwriter Nick Payne studied at York University and earned a Master's degree at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
His 2009 play about climate change, If There Is, I Haven't Found It Yet, won the George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright and put the then 25-year-old writer on the literary map. This allowed him to leave his other two jobs as an usher at the Old Vic and a clerk in the National Theatre's bookstore to write full-time. He jokes that during his two years at the store, he almost bankrupted the company by special-ordering tons of scripts that he'd read, but never buy! Constellations became his first big hit two years later when it premiered at The Royal Court theatre in London's small upstairs space before transferring to the West End. In 2012 Payne become the youngest writer ever to win the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play, and Constellations was nominated for an Olivier Award. In 2014, its American premiere opened at The Manhattan Theatre Club with Ruth Wilson and Jake Gyllenhaal, a longtime champion of Payne's work. His film adaptation of the Julian Barnes novel Sense of an Ending premiered in March 2017. He also writes for radio programs and is a contributing writer for popular television shows like The Crown. |