Tom Morton-Smith – författare

Winner of the 2023 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play.Joe Hisaishi and Royal Shakespeare Company present Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro.My Neighbour Totoro is a captivating coming-of-age tale that celebrates the wondrous magic of childhood and the transformative power of imagination. Two sisters, Satsuki and Mei, embark on the summer of their lives in the idyllic countryside. With their mother recovering from an illness at a rural convalescent hospital, their father decides to relocate the family so they can be closer to her.As they explore their enchanting new surroundings, Mei discovers fantastical creatures and encounters Totoro, the ancient and loveable guardian of the forest. Satsuki initially doubts her younger sister’s claims, but soon finds herself joining in on their thrilling adventures. Along with their new friends, the siblings embark on a journey through a mystical world teeming with spirits, sprites, and breath-taking natural wonders. The stage production is adapted by Tom Morton-Smith from the feature animation by Hayao Miyazaki, directed by Phelim McDermott featuring music by Joe Hisaishi, in collaboration with Nippon TV and Improbable. This edition was published to coincide with the production at London’s Barbican Centre, in November 2023.

Tom Morton-Smith is an Olivier Award-winning playwright whose works for the stage span intimate theatrical biopics to scientific explorations and broad epics. In this, his first play collection, his major stage works are brought together for the first time in a definitive edition showcasing his extensive range as a dramatist, and introduced by the author himself.In Doggerland: “Morton-Smith’s script is both poetic and philosophical, a thoughtful meditation on the impact of loss . . . a touching and funny play that explores the lives of four people brought together by tragedy and hope." (WhatsonStage)Oppenheimer: “A blast from start to finish . . . Tom Morton-Smith’s epic new play . . . ambitious in the very best way . . . it really delivers its payload in its final phase, as Oppenheimer finally rejects his humanity in favour of doing something truly inhuman to the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." (Time Out)The Earthworks: "This small, often funny play focusing on two fragile people rubbing up against each other at a moment of change has its own quiet heroism. What appears to be a romantic comedy turns into something more unsettling ... raising questions about the limits of knowledge and our capacity to face up to the future." (Guardian)Ravens: "An elegant study of pressure and paranoia . . . Recounting the gruelling, 21-game clash, Ravens: Spassky vs Fischer is a taut and cerebral character study." (The Stage)

"You know when a song gets stuck in your head? Round and round ... over and over. I've got that right now ... only it's not a piece of music ... it's not a tune ... it's a phrase: home is where the heart is ... home is where the heart is."A coastline erodes, a house falls into the sea. A mysterious brother and sister arrive looking for answers. Marnie clings to her camera, taking photographs of strangers and places. She has come to say goodbye to a life she never knew whilst her brother Linus is keen to make a fresh start. But when they find Simon and daughter Kelly, reeling in the wake of tragedy, all four lives are to become inextricably linked under the weight of the past.

1939: fascism spreads across Europe, Franco marches on Barcelona and two German chemists discover the processes of atomic fission. In Berkeley, California, theoretical physicists recognise the horrendous potential of this new science: a weapon that draws its power from the very building blocks of the universe.Struggling to cast off his radical past and thrust into a position of power and authority, the charismatic J Robert Oppenheimer races to win the 'battle of the laboratories' and create a weapon so devastating that it would bring about an end not just to the Second World War but to all war.Tom Morton-Smith's new play takes us into the heart of the Manhattan Project, revealing the personal cost of making history.

The Making Mischief Festival features work from some of today’s most exciting playwrights who are challenging and questioning our society. The Festival runs from 24 May to 17 June from The Other Place Studio Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.THE EARTHWORKS: “The universe doesn’t care if we know how it works.”On the eve of the activation of the Large Hadron Collider, two strangers – a journalist and a scientist – share their experiences of loss and hope in a funny but deeply touching one-act play.MYTH:“I can only see wrong choices. Things that will make everything worse.”In one wine-fuelled evening, two couples debate their materialistic lifestyle. As their dinner party descends into chaos, their friendship and their lives are irreparably changed. A play about those things we don’t want to see or say.

Reykjavik, 1972. All eyes are on Iceland ahead of ‘the Match of the Century’: Boris Spassky vs. Bobby Fischer. For the two contenders, the stakes have never been higher – the world title, unprecedented prize money, and stratospheric fame are all on the table.

From 11th Century Samarkand, through the Great Fire of London, to a disused weapons facility in the remotest place on earth, this is an epic odyssey spanning a thousand years.