Chris Hannan was born in Clydebank, Glasgow. His work has been produced by the RSC, the Old Vic, the National Theatre of Scotland and Shakespeare’s Globe.

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His plays include: ELIZABETH GORDON QUINN (Traverse 1985); THE EVIL DOERS (Time Out Award 1990 and Charrington London Fringe Best New Play Award) and SHINING SOULS, which opened at the Traverse in 1996 and was revived by the Old Vic in 1997, winning a Scotland on Sunday Critics Award and a Lloyds Bank Playwright of the Year nomination. In 2006 ELIZABETH GORDON QUINN was revived by the National Theatre of Scotland in its inaugural season. THE GOD OF SOHO was staged by Shakespeare’s Globe (2009) and THE THREE MUSKETEERS AND THE PRINCESS OF SPAIN (Traverse, English Touring Theatre, Coventry Belgrade) was nominated in the 2011 CATS (Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland) in four categories, winning Best New Play and Best Ensemble.
 
WHAT SHADOWS premiered at Birmingham Rep (2016). This play about Enoch Powell’s River of Blood speech and identity politics was described by the Daily Telegraph as “the most provocative theatrical act of the decade." It toured to The Park Theatre in London and the Lyceum Edinburgh in 2017. 

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As well as original plays, Hannan has adapted CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre/Liverpool Playhouse/Lyceum Edinburgh, 2013) and THE ILIAD (Lyceum Edinburgh, 2016), and also made new versions of Ibsen’s THE PRETENDERS (RSC, 1991), Gogol’s GAMBLERS (Tricycle 1992), and STARS IN THE MORNING SKY (Coventry Belgrade, 2012). His 2008 novel MISSY was awarded the McKitterick Prize for a debut novel.