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Peter Shaffer
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===Theatre=== Shaffer's first play, ''The Salt Land'' (1955), was presented on [[ITV (TV channel)|ITV]] on 8 November 1955. Encouraged by this success, Shaffer continued to write and established his reputation as a playwright in 1958, with the production of ''[[Five Finger Exercise]]'',<ref name="Stevens">{{cite book |last= Stevens |first= Christopher |title= Born Brilliant: The Life of Kenneth Williams |publisher= John Murray |year= 2010 |isbn = 978-1-84854-195-5 |page=377 }}</ref> which opened in London under the direction of [[John Gielgud]] and won the Evening Standard Drama Award. When ''Five Finger Exercise'' moved to New York City in 1959, it was equally well received and landed Shaffer the [[New York Drama Critics' Circle]] Award for Best Foreign Play. Shaffer's next piece was a double bill, ''The Private Ear and The Public Eye'', two plays each containing three characters and concerning aspects of love. They were presented in May 1962 at the [[Gielgud Theatre|Globe Theatre]], and both starred [[Maggie Smith]] and [[Kenneth Williams]]. Smith won the [[Evening Standard Theatre Awards|Evening Standard Theatre Award]] for Best Leading Actress.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/profile-maggie-smith-260187/|title=Profile: Maggie Smith|date=25 November 2014|website=OfficialLondonTheatre.com|access-date=6 June 2024}}</ref> The [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]] was established in 1963, and virtually all of Shaffer's subsequent work was done in its service. His canon contains a mix of philosophical dramas and satirical comedies. ''[[The Royal Hunt of the Sun]]'' (1964) presents the conquest and killing of the [[Inca]] ruler [[Atahuallpa]] by the [[conquistador]] [[Francisco Pizarro]] in Peru, while ''[[Black Comedy (play)|Black Comedy]]'' (1965) takes a humorous look at the antics of a group of characters feeling their way around a pitch-black room β although the stage is actually flooded with light.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.samuelfrench.co.uk/p/2990/black-comedy/| title = Black Comedy| access-date =8 November 2019| website = samuelfrench.com}}</ref> [[File:Peter Shaffer, 1975.jpg|thumb|left|Shaffer in 1975]] ''[[Equus (play)|Equus]]'' (1973) won Shaffer the 1975 [[Tony Award]] for Best Play as well as the [[New York Drama Critics' Circle|New York Drama Critics' Circle Award]]. A journey into the mind of a seventeen-year-old stableboy who had plunged a spike into the eyes of six horses, ''Equus'' ran for more than 1,000 performances on Broadway. It was revived by [[Massachusetts]]' [[Berkshire Theatre Festival]] in the summers of 2005 and 2007, by director [[Thea Sharrock]] at London's [[Gielgud Theatre]] in February 2007, and on Broadway (in the Sharrock staging) in September 2008. The latter production, which ran in New York City until February 2009, required the stableboy to appear naked; its star, [[Daniel Radcliffe]], was still associated with the [[Harry Potter (film series)|''Harry Potter'' film series]] intended for general audiences, and this led to mild controversy.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5223520.stm|title=Naked stage role for Potter star|work=BBC News|access-date=22 February 2007|date=28 July 2006}}</ref> Shaffer followed this success with ''[[Amadeus (play)|Amadeus]]'' (1979) which won the Evening Standard Drama Award and the Theatre Critics' Award for the London production. This tells the story of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] and court composer [[Antonio Salieri]] who, overcome with jealousy at hearing the "voice of God" coming from an "obscene child", sets out to destroy his rival. When the show moved to Broadway it won the 1981 [[Tony Award for Best Play]] and, like ''Equus'', ran for more than a thousand performances.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/2016/film/global/amadeus-writer-peter-shaffer-dies-dead-1201789380/|magazine=Variety|title='Amadeus,' 'Equus' Writer Peter Shaffer Dies at 90|author=Leo Barraclough|date=Jun 6, 2016|access-date=6 June 2024}}</ref> After the success of ''Amadeus'', Shaffer wrote the play ''[[Lettice and Lovage]]'' specifically for [[Dame Maggie Smith]] in 1986, for which he was nominated for another Tony Award and for which Smith eventually won the Tony Award for best actress after three nominations in 1990. ''Lettice and Lovage'' also enabled [[Margaret Tyzack]] to win the award for best featured actress, and the production was nominated for best direction of a play, at the [[44th Tony Awards|1990 Tony Awards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.playbill.com/production/lettice-and-lovage-ethel-barrymore-theatre-vault-0000004308|website=Playbill|title=Lettice and Lovage|access-date=6 June 2024}}</ref>
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