JANE UPTON’s plays include SCENES FROM A FRIENDSHIP (Nottingham Playhouse, May 2026); (the) WOMAN (New Perspectives / Royal & Derngate tour, 2025); THE PRICE OF HOME (Paines Plough & Derby Theatre); FINDING NANA (New Perspectives, 2017 & 2018); ALL THE LITTLE LIGHTS (George Devine Award, 2016; Fifth Word UK tour, 2017); WATCHING THE LIVING, an adaptation of two Daphne du Maurier short stories (New Perspectives Theatre UK tour, 2014); SWIMMING (Menagerie Theatre Hotbed Festival, 2013/Soho/Edinburgh Festival, 2014); and BONES (Fifth Word, Edinburgh Festival/UK tour 2011–2012).
Jane was the winner of the 2024 Off West End ‘Adopt A Playwright Award’ for her play BELONGINGS.
Review excerpts for SCENES FROM A FRIENDSHIP:
‘A platonic One Day that will melt your heart… luminous and heart-exploding… a play about the complicated, beautiful bond between two people. It leaves you desperate for more days with them’ (Guardian)
‘A powerful portrait of human connection that feels both deeply personal and universally recognisable… This brilliantly written and superbly performed piece celebrates the enduring importance of genuine, authentic friendship and the profound effect it has on our lives’ (WhatsOnStage)
‘An absolute masterclass in how to successfully present a two-hander… moving and cathartic… a vital and energising play’ (Theatre & Tonic)
‘Tenderness, poignancy and humour’ (British Theatre Guide)
Review excerpts for (the) WOMAN:
‘Gut-punching… a crash course in the reality of motherhood… every scene chips away at the myths… metatheatre at its finest, with the play feeling as if it’s being written live… blends bellyaching humour with intimate revelations… a play that feels like a roar from a place of isolation… complex and wonderfully considered’ (The Guardian)
‘Shocking… whiplash-inducing… a well-orchestrated metatheatricality, creating the thrilling sense that the play is being written live… bold and unapologetic… Men should see this, too’. (The Stage)
‘Exceptional… shines a light into those places, those feelings that are often kept hidden… Comic, touching and incredibly thought-provoking… It’s rare to find a piece that might genuinely change your perspective on life and relationships, but this is one’. (Reviews Hub)
ALL THE LITTLE LIGHTS was nominated Best Play for the 2019 OFFIES and for the 2017 Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Awards; it was joint winner of the 2016 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright. Jane received a bursary from the Peggy Ramsay Foundation and was shortlisted for CBBC New Voices Initiative.
Review excerpts for ALL THE LITTLE LIGHTS:
‘Terrifically realistic and darkly funny… truly extraordinary and moving theatre’ (Nottingham Post)
‘Couldn’t be more timely or more important… laced with humour and full of characters to care about’ (The Stage)
‘Deeply affecting work on an urgent subject… cultivates empathy without sanitising or over-determining the characters’ (Exeunt Magazine)
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