Richard Bean

Richard Bean, born in East Hull in 1956, is an English playwright.

[edit] Early years

Bean studied Social Psychology at Loughborough University and became an occupational psychologist^[1], having previously worked in a bread plant for a year and a half after leaving school.

Between 1989 and 1994, Bean also worked as a stand-up comedian and went on to be one of the writers and performers of the sketch show Control Group Six (BBC Radio) which was nominated for a Writers Guild Award.

In 1995 he wrote the libretto for Stephen McNeff's opera Paradise of Fools, premiered at the Unicorn Theatre.

His first full-length play Of Rats and Men, set in a psychology lab, was mounted at the Canal Cafe Theatre in 1996 and went on to the Edinburgh Festival. He adapted it for BBC Radio, starring Anton Lesser, and it was nominated for a Sony Award.

Subsequent plays include:

Toast, a hit at the Royal Court Upstairs Circle in February 1999.
Mr England, a National Theatre Studio production at the Crucible Theatre Sheffield, October 2000
The Mentalists at the National Theatre, Lyttelton Loft, July 2002
Under the Whaleback at the Royal Court, Theatre Upstairs, April 2003 [2] [3]
Smack Family Robinson at the Live Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, May 2003 [4]
The God Botherers at the Bush Theatre, November 2003 [5]
Honeymoon Suite (English Touring Theatre [6]) at the Royal Court, January 2004 [7]
Harvest at the Royal Court Theatre, September 2005 [8]
The Hypochondriac, a new version of Moliére's play, at the Almeida Theatre, November 2005 [9]
Up On Roof for Hull Truck Theatre, March 2006 [10]
In the Club at the Hampstead Theatre, August 2007 [11]
The English Game, a comedy about amateur cricketers at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, May 2008 (a production directed by Sean Holmes which also toured to the Northcott Theatre Exeter, West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds, the Oxford Playhouse, the Rose Theatre, Kingston and The Lowry Salford Quays). [12]

Richard Bean: Hot new playwright, British Theatre Guide interview 2001 [13]
Richard Bean: Blurred Boundaries (The English Game), Daily Telegraph interview 10 May 2008 [14]