Peter Shaffer
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Peter Shaffer
Sir Peter Shaffer, in full, Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (1926-2016), was a British playwright of considerable range who moved easily from farce to the portrayal of human anguish.
Educated at St. Paul’s and Trinity College, Cambridge, Shaffer first worked for a music publisher and then as a book reviewer. His first play, Five-Finger Exercise (1960), is a tautly constructed domestic drama that almost overnight established his reputation as a playwright. It was followed by The Private Ear, The Public Eye (both 1962), and The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964), a portrayal of the conflict between the Spanish and the Inca – “hope and hopelessness, faithlessness and faith.” In 1965 Shaffer’s adroit farce Black Comedy was first performed. Equus (1973; filmed 1977), dealing with a mentally disturbed stableboy’s obsession with horses, and Amadeus (1979; filmed 1984), about the rivalry between Mozart and his fellow composer Antonio Salieri, were successes with both critics and the public. Later plays include the biblical epic Yonadab (1985), Lettice and Lovage (1987) and The Gift of the Gorgon (1992). Shaffer was knighted in 2001 and sadly passed away in 2016.
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Amadeus
Peter Shaffer
Full-Length Play, DramaAmadeus
Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 12m
"Peter Shaffer's greatest play." – The Stage
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Black Comedy
Peter Shaffer
Short Play, ComedyLoading...
Black Comedy
Short Play, Comedy / 3w, 5m
In Peter Shaffer's hilarious, crowd-pleasing slapstick comedy, several colorful, duplicitous characters stumble around a pitch-black room – all in full view of the audience, who watch the events unfold in full light.
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Equus
Peter Shaffer
Full-Length Play, DramaLoading...
Equus
Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 5m
In Peter Shaffer’s classic psychological thriller, a psychiatrist struggles to understand the motives of a teenage boy who blinded six horses in a violent fit of passion.
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Five Finger Exercise
Peter Shaffer
Full-Length Play, DramaLoading...
Five Finger Exercise
Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 3m
"A powerful and absorbing drama." - The New York Post
The first stage success from the author of Equus and Amadeus, this taut family drama centers on a young German student who, coming to England to tutor the daughter of well-to-do family is drawn into the various individual dramas o…
Shop Peter Shaffer
View all-
Amadeus
Peter Shaffer
Full-Length Play, DramaAmadeus
Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 12m
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Black Comedy
Peter Shaffer
Short Play, ComedyBlack Comedy
Short Play, Comedy / 3w, 5m
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Equus
Peter Shaffer
Full-Length Play, DramaEquus
Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 5m
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Five Finger Exercise
Peter Shaffer
Full-Length Play, DramaFive Finger Exercise
Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 3m