Alistair Beaton
Alistair Beaton is a playwright and satirist whose work spans theatre, television, radio and publishing. He was born in Glasgow, educated at the Universities of Edinburgh, Bochum & Moscow, and speaks Russian, German and French. He lives in London.
His plays include ALONE IN BERLIN (Royal & Derngate, Northampton, based upon the book by Hans Fallada); FRACKED! OR: PLEASE DON'T USE THE F-WORD (Minerva Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, national UK tour followed by several productions in Germany); CALEDONIA (Kings Theatre/Edinburgh International Festival); KING OF HEARTS (Out of Joint/Hampstead Theatre/ Sonia Friedman Productions and Theater am Schlosspark, Berlin; FOLLOW MY LEADER (Birmingham Rep, Hampstead Theatre and Nørrebros Teater , Copenhagen); THE NOSE (Nottingham Playhouse and Theatre Festival Bucharest, based upon the short story by Nikolai Gogol), and FEELGOOD (Hampstead Theatre, Garrick Theatre West End, Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy and Olivier Award nomination for Best Play, with subsequent productions in Germany, Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Hungary, Portugal, Spain, Australia, Canada & USA). He is co-writer of KARDINALFEHLER / CARDINAL ERROR), a satirical play about the Catholic Church which opened at Theater Trier in 2023 and is scheduled for a six-month run in Germany commencing autumn 2024.
With Ned Sherrin he wrote THE METROPOLITAN MIKADO (Queen Elizabeth Hall / Festival Hall) and THE RATEPAYERS’ IOLANTHE (Queen Elizabeth Hall / Phoenix Theatre West End).
Alistair Beaton's plays in translation include: PLAY STRINDBERG (Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath); THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE (Shared Experience); THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI (Minerva Theatre, Chichester and Duchess Theatre, West End); THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR (Chichester Festival Theatre and American Repertory Theater San Francisco); THE ARSONISTS (Royal Court Theatre and Woolly Mammoth Theater Washington, DC), as well as the comic operas LA VIE PARISIENNE and DIE FLEDERMAUS (both D’Oyly Carte).
Television work includes: THE TRIAL OF TONY BLAIR (BAFTA nomination for Best Single Film); A VERY SOCIAL SECRETARY (Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Single Drama); DOWNWARDLY MOBILE; SPITTING IMAGE; MINDER; and NOT THE NINE O’CLOCK NEWS. He is currently developing a 3-part drama series for Jon Blair Films.
He has written and presented a number of programmes for radio, most notably: ELECTRIC INK; FOURTH COLUMN; THE BEATON GENERATION; DOME ALONE WITH ALISTAIR BEATON and LITTLE ENGLAND BIG WORLD.
Books and publications include: A PLANET FOR THE PRESIDENT; THE LITTLE BOOK OF MANAGEMENT BOLLOCKS; THE LITTLE BOOK OF NEW LABOUR BOLLOCKS; THE LITTLE BOOK OF COMPLETE BOLLOCKS; DROP THE DEAD DONKEY 2000, and THE THATCHER PAPERS.