Rob Evans (writer)
Robert Alan Evans is a British playwright and theatre director who primarily writes for children and young people. He is the winner of two CATS awards and a Prix D'Orpheon.
Early life and education
Evans was born in 1978 in Oxford, England and grew up in Glasgow, Newcastle, Cardiff and Penarth. He studied for an MA in English Literature and History at the University of Edinburgh before moving to Glasgow in 2000, where he began writing and directing professionally for theatre.Career
After working as Assistant Director at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh on Gagarin Way by Gregory Burke and Iron by Rona Munro, Evans was sent to the World Interplay conference in Townsville, Australia in 2003 by the Traverse. His first play, A Girl in a Car with a Man, was picked up by playwright Simon Stephens. It was produced at the Royal Court Theatre in 2004 and actor Andrew Scott received the 2005 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for his portrayal of Alex. It was performed in German at the Munich Kammerspiele in November 2005. Evans developed Aruba and Fish Story with the People Can Run theatre company. Aruba had a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, then toured the UK and off Broadway.His work for younger audiences includes Pinocchio ; Kappa ; an adaptation of Ben Rice's short story Pobby and Dingan ; The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk ; and an adaptation of Barry Hines’ A Kestrel for a Knave. Pondlife was also performed in Stockholm as Neandertalare and in Subiaco. Other works include Peter Pan at the Sherman Cymru and Mikey and Addie for the Cultural Olympiad. He co-created Tiger and Tiger Tale and Little Red with Natasha Gilmore and the dance theatre company Barrowland Ballet. In 2024, his adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Odd and the Frost Giants was performed at the Unicorn Theatre.
Evans' awards include two CATS awards and a Prix D'Orpheon. In 2010, his play Pobby and Dingan won the TMA Award for Best Show for Children and Young People. He was shortlisted for the Brian Way Award for The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk in 2011. His work in the UK has been published by Faber and Faber and Samuel French and in France by. BBC Radio 4 broadcast his abridgment of A Patriot for Us by John Heilpern in 2006 and his radio play The Cracks in 2010.