Rona Munro | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1959-09-07)7 September 1959 (age 66) Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, playwright |
Rona Munro (born 7 September 1959) is a Scottish writer. She has written plays for theatre, radio, and television. Her film work includesKen Loach'sLadybird, Ladybird (1994),Oranges and Sunshine (2010) forJim Loach andAimée & Jaguar (1999), co-authored by German directorMax Färberböck. Munro is the second cousin (once removed) of Scottish authorAngus MacVicar.[1]
Munro wrote thelast serial of the originalDoctor Who in 1989, and returned to the show in 2017, writing anepisode for the tenth series of the revived version. This made her the only writer thus far who has worked in both the classic and revival eras ofDoctor Who.[2]
Munro went to school inStonehaven and studied at theUniversity of Edinburgh, where she wrote plays for the Television Society. After graduating in 1980, she was involved in the staging of the series of Women Live festivals at the Netherbow Theatre in Edinburgh.[3]
Her first commissioned play wasFugue in 1983. This was followed in 1990 byBold Girls, set during theTroubles inNorthern Ireland, andIron, first produced at theTraverse Theatre in Edinburgh in 2002 and staged many times worldwide.[3]
Munro's work onDoctor Who was not limited to justSurvival (1989) and "The Eaters of Light" (2017).[4] She later novelised both stories for the original and revived range ofTarget Books, respectively.[5]
Her history cycle The James Plays,James I,James II, andJames III, were first performed by theNational Theatre of Scotland in summer 2014 in a co-production withEdinburgh International Festival and the National Theatre UK. The plays were staged again in early 2016. She followed this up withJames IV - The Queen of the Fight in 2022, which concentrated on the presence of two black women at his court. Other theatre work includes plays for the Traverse Theatre (Your Turn To Clean The Stair,Strawberries in January translation), Manchester Royal Exchange (Mary Barton,Scuttlers), Plymouth Drum Theatre andPaines Plough (Long Time Dead), and theRoyal Shakespeare Company (The Indian Boy,The Astronaut's Chair). The James Plays were performed in the United States for the first time atHillcrest High School in Midvale, Utah in early 2024.[6][7]
Munro has also contributed eleven dramas toRadio 4'sStanley Baxter Playhouse:First Impressions,Wheeling Them In,The King's Kilt,Pasta Alfreddo at Cafe Alessandro,The Man in the Garden,The Porter's Story,The German Pilot,The Spider,The Showman,Meg's Tale, andThe Flying Scotsman.
In 2006 theLyric Theatre, Hammersmith presented Munro's adaptation ofRichard Adams' classic bookWatership Down. Her early television work includes episodes of the drama seriesCasualty (BBC) and, more recently, a BBC film,Rehab, directed by Antonia Bird.
Rona Munro currently lives and works in Scotland. Her playThe Last Witch was performed at the 2009Edinburgh Festival, directed byDominic Hill, and in 2011 byDumbarton People's Theatre.Pitlochry Festival Theatre's production, directed by Richard Baron, toured Scotland in 2018. Also in 2018, a production of her adaptation ofMy Name Is Lucy Barton starringLaura Linney opened in London.
A play about Katherine Hamilton, sister ofPatrick Hamilton, is being performed on tour in 2024.
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