Dear's plays include
Power and ''The Villains' Opera
at the National Theatre; The Art of Success
, Zenobia
and Pure Science
for the RSC; In the Ruins at Bristol Old Vic and Royal Court, London (1990); and Food of Love'' at the Almeida. Adaptations include
Gorky's
Summerfolk and
Molière's
Le Bourgeois gentilhomme at the National;
Tirso de Molina's
The Last Days of Don Juan at the
Royal Shakespeare Company;
Arbuzov's
The Promise at the Tricycle;
Henry James'
The Turn of the Screw at Bristol Old Vic; and
Ostrovsky's
A Family Affair for Cheek by Jowl. Dear's screenplays include
Persuasion,
The Gambler,
The Turn of the Screw,
Cinderella,
Byron,
Eroica and ''Agatha Christie's Poirot
. Opera libretti include The Palace in the Sky
at Hackney Empire and Siren Song'' with music by
Jonathan Dove at the Almeida. In 2005,
Lunch in Venice appeared at the
Shell Connections festival at the National Theatre. His plays
Power (2003), and
Summerfolk (1999) both premiered at the same venue.
Power deals with the intrigue and tension of the court of the young
Louis XIV of France. It has been produced at theatres in
Portugal,
Poland and
Hungary, as well as the
Finnish National Theatre (Kansallisteatteri). His play
The Art of Success premiered at the
Royal Shakespeare Company in 1986 in a production starring
Penny Downie and
Michael Kitchen, and was nominated for an
Olivier Award. The plot revolves around
William Hogarth and the political manipulation of art, the corruption of politics and treatment of women. It was subsequently produced at
Manhattan Theatre Club in 1989, with
Tim Curry playing Hogarth. Dear's adaptation of
Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein premiered at the
Royal National Theatre in 2011, in a production directed by
Danny Boyle. In November 2012
The Dark Earth and the Light Sky, his biographical play about
Edward Thomas, opened at the
Almeida Theatre, in a production directed by
Richard Eyre. ==See also==