Stephen Jeffreys, playwright behind The Libertine, dies aged 68

Tributes have been paid to the influential British playwright Stephen Jeffreys, who has died aged 68. Jeffreys was best known for his play The Libertine, based on the life of hedonistic Restoration rebel the Earl of Rochester. The Libertine opened at the Royal Court theatre, London, in 1994 and was staged at Chicago’s Steppenwolf theatre two years later, with John Malkovich as Rochester. Jeffreys adapted the play himself for a 2005 film starring Malkovich and Johnny Depp; the play was revived to great acclaim in the West End in 2016, with Dominic Cooper in the lead role.
Jeffreys taught, nurtured and championed a later generation of playwrights including Simon Stephens, who tweeted: “When many of his peers turned their noses up at a generation coming after them, Stephen Jeffreys encouraged and inspired and provoked and guided us. His faith in us was an astonishing force. His faith in playwriting was towering.” Joe Penhall said that “an entire generation of playwrights was bonded to him, a symbol of selflessness in a sometimes narcissistic profession”.
Samantha Ellis also paid tribute, saying that Jeffreys had “hugely encouraged” her and “gave me the writing gift of convincing me that structure could be fun. He was always full of humour, fizzing with intelligence and very, very kind.”
Jeffreys was born in London and attended Southampton University. He first worked at the Royal Court in the mid-70s as an assistant electrician in the Theatre Upstairs. His play Like Dolls or Angels, about a stuntman, was an award-winner at the National Student Drama Festival in 1977. After establishing the company Pocket Theatre Cumbria he adapted Charles Dickens’ Hard Times for a touring production and, in 1984, his Edinburgh festival hit Carmen 1936 was staged at the Tricycle theatre, London. His 1989 drama Valued Friends, about four housemates who are offered a fortune to vacate their home for property developers, was a hit at Hampstead theatre. He returned there with A Going Concern, about a failing family business.
In 1992, he was invited by Max Stafford-Clark to become a literary associate at the Royal Court and, over the next 10 years, played a key role in discovering future classics, including Jez Butterworth’s Mojo. Stafford-Clark commissioned Jeffreys to write The Libertine, which ran in repertory with George Etherege’s 17th-century play The Man of Mode, whose hero Dorimant had been inspired by Rochester. In 2000, the Royal Court staged Jeffreys’ play I Just Stopped By to See the Man, steeped in blues music and directed by Richard Wilson.
He returned to the Tricycle in 2009 with Bugles at the Gates of Jalalabad, part of a season covering Afghan history. In 2011 there was a West End run of Backbeat, co-written by Jeffreys and Iain Softley, about the fifth Beatle, Stuart Sutcliffe. Two years later, he had a rare flop with his screen adaptation of Kate Snell’s book Diana Her Last Love, about the Princess of Wales’ relationship with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.
Jeffreys had two sons with his wife, Annabel Arden, the director of plays including his 2007 drama The Art of War for Sydney Theatre Company.
He continued to offer vital support for new writers. John Donnelly was among those recognising his encouragement, calling Jeffreys “kind, generous, always interested, never aloof. One night the man just stopped by to see us: I’d written a show for local teenagers at the Almeida. Two night run. But he was there. He proclaimed it the best show in town and made us feel like it really was.”
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/sep/18/stephen-jeffreys-playwright-dies-the-libertine