David Hare
David Hare is a British playwright, screenwriter, and theatre director born on 5 June 1947 in St Leonards, whose work spans stage, film, and television.
He was educated at Lancing College and went on to Jesus College, giving him a grounding that fed into a career working across multiple disciplines. As a playwright and theatre director, he has received Laurence Olivier Awards, recognition that reflects his sustained presence in British theatre. His work on screen has been equally active — he has directed for both film and television, and has also worked as a film producer and, on occasion, as an actor.
His screenwriting brought him further recognition beyond the stage. He received British Academy Film Awards and a Writers Guild of America Award, and the Golden Bear also features among his honours, pointing to the reach of his film work across international recognition. That range of awards across theatre, British film, and American industry bodies marks him out as someone who has moved between those worlds with some regularity rather than staying fixed in one.
Among the honours Hare holds are a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Literature, the PEN Pinter Prize, and the title of Knight Bachelor. The PEN Pinter Prize, awarded to writers of outstanding literary merit who speak out on matters of public concern, sits alongside his Fellowship of the Royal Society of Literature as recognition of his standing as an English-language writer. His work as a playwright writing in English for British and international audiences remains the thread that runs through a career that also encompasses screenwriting, directing for stage and screen, producing, and acting.
Quotes by David Hare
David Hare's insights on:
I’m not good at standing on platforms and persuading people to my political point of view. Nor would I seek to. My gift is completely different. It’s for presenting an imaginative version of the world which I hope people would recognize and be affected by.
As Michael Cunningham would later write in his novel The Hours, I thought what I was feeling was the beginning of happiness. In fact, it was happiness.
For a politician, the mans to power is paramount, and the ideology, in a way, can look after itself; I’m afraid a writer can’t think like that. A writer has to think that it’s more important to be right than to be popular.
I don’t see the theater as an establishment. The National Theatre has always seemed to me a people’s theater. It was never meant to reinforce the values of the government of the day, nor does it, nor should it.
It’s inevitable that you will die, so the only question is when. The great thrillers are the moments that play and tease with the question, “When will it be?”
If you like judging, please: be a lawyer. Run a dog show. There’s a whole lot of jobs if judging is your passion in life. But take my advice: if you want to be happy, keep your judging professional. And don’t start putting in practice at home.
As you write plays, you discover what you believe. And until you know what you believe, you can’t write a play.