David Hare author page

David Hare biography

David Hare is an English playwright, screenwriter, and director. He studied at Lancing College and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he became involved in theatre before beginning his professional career in the late 1960s.

In 1970 Hare co-founded Portable Theatre, a touring company for new writing, and soon established himself as a significant contemporary dramatist. His early works include Slag (1970) and Knuckle (1974). During the 1970s and 1980s he became associated with the National Theatre, where many of his plays were staged, including Plenty (1978), A Map of the World (1983), and Pravda (1985), co-written with Howard Brenton.

Hare has written extensively for film and television as well as the stage. His screenplays include adaptations of The Hours (2002) and The Reader (2008), both of which received Academy Award nominations. He also wrote and directed films such as Wetherby (1985) and Strapless (1989).

His later plays include Skylight (1995), which won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play, and The Judas Kiss (1998), a biographical drama about Oscar Wilde. In 2002 Hare wrote Via Dolorosa, a monologue based on his travels in Israel and Palestine, which he performed himself.

Hare has received numerous awards for his writing, including BAFTA and Tony nominations, and was knighted in 1998 for services to theatre. He became a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 2015.