Diane Samuels

Diane Samuels (born 1960) is a British author and playwright.

Samuels was born into a Jewish family in Liverpool^[1] in 1960. She was educated at King David High School, Liverpool, studied history at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and then studied for a PGCE in drama at Goldsmiths, University of London. She worked as a drama teacher in inner London secondary schools for five years and as an education officer at the Unicorn Theatre for children.^[2][3]

Samuels lives in London^[4] and has been a full-time writer since 1992. She was a Pearson Creative Research Fellow at the British Library^[5] and is a visiting lecturer at Regent's University London^[5] and a reviewer of books for The Guardian newspaper.^[6]

Works

Her works include:

• Frankie's Monster (1991), an adaptation of Vivien Alcock's children's book The Monster Garden^[7]
• Kindertransport (1993)^[1] examines the life, during World War II and afterwards, of a Kindertransport child. Though fictitious, it is based upon many real kindertransport stories.^[8]
• The True Life Fiction of Mata Hari (2001) was first performed at the Palace Theatre, Watford, in 2002, with Greta Scacchi in the lead role.^[9]
• 3 Sisters on Hope Street (2008), co-written with Tracy-Ann Oberman, is a reinterpretation of Chekhov's The Three Sisters, transferring events to Liverpool after World War II and re-casting the Pozorov sisters as three Jewish Englishwomen. It was first staged at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool in 2008.^[10]
• The A-Z of Mrs P (2011), a musical co-written with composer Gwyneth Herbert, tells the story of Phyllis Pearsall's creation of the London A to Z street atlas.^[11] It opened in London at Southwark Playhouse on 21 February 2014, starring Peep Show actress Isy Suttie^[12][13][14] and Frances Ruffelle.^[15]
• Poppy + George (2016), another collaboration with Gwyneth Herbert, was performed at the Palace Theatre, Watford in February 2016.^[16][17]
• This is Me (2018), an autobiographical monologue, was performed at Chickenshed in Southgate, London in 2018.^[18]
• The Rhythm Method (2018), a musical about contraception,^[19][20][21] was performed at the Landor Space in Clapham, London in May 2018.^[22] It was yet another collaboration with Gwyneth Herbert.^[19]

References

1. Johnston, Lucy (February 2014). "Safety lines". The Richmond Magazine: 16–17.
2. Kremer, S. Lillian. Holocaust Literature: An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work, Taylor & Francis, 2003, ISBN 0-415-92984-9
3. "Diane Samuels interview". Write Words. 14 April 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
4. "Diane Samuels". Drama Online. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
5. "Diane Samuels". Regent's University London. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
6. "Review: Toby Alone by Timothée de Fombelle". The Guardian. 25 April 2008. from the original on 4 August 2021.
7. "Poster". Victoria and Albert Museum. 2 March 1991. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
8. Samuels, Diane (1 January 1995). Kindertransport. Nick Hern Books. ISBN 9781854592279 – via Google Books.
9. "The True Life Fiction of Mata Hari". Nick Hern Books. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
10. "Three Sisters On Hope Street". Nick Hern Books. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
11. Suttie, Isy (5 February 2014). "Isy Suttie: Phyllis Pearsall, the A–Z mapper who was right up my street". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
12. Pritchard, Claudia (9 February 2014). "Charting a course in song: The musical dedicated to the humble A to Z". The Independent on Sunday. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
13. Dex, Robert (8 November 2013). "Peep Show star Isy Suttie hits the street for new musical". The Independent. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
14. Jury, Louise (11 December 2013). "Peep Show geek Isy Suttie's musical move in London A-Z show". Evening Standard. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
15. "The A-Z of Mrs P – new British musical opens in February 2014". Musical Theatre Review. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
16. "Poppy + George". What's on. Watford Palace Theatre. February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
17. Samuels, Diane (2016). "Cast biographies" in Poppy + George. Nick Hern Books. ISBN 978-1-84842-545-3.
18. Brown, Peter (February 2018). "Review: monolog Chickenshed Theatre". ActDrop. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
19. Dagan, Ori (1 June 2016). "Gwyneth Herbert's Toronto Honeymoon". The Whole Note. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
20. . Gwyneth Herbert. 2015. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
21. Firscht, Naomi (19 November 2015). "The show must go on – all 10 of them, as production company offers fresh way to invest in musicals". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
22. "The Rhythm Method". Landor Space. 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.

External links

• Official website