Tom Morton-Smith

Biography

Morton-Smith studied drama at the University of East Anglia before training as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

In 2006, he was selected to be part of Future Perfect, a writer's group attached to the Paines Plough theatre company. In 2007, he joined the company as their playwright-in-residence.

His debut stage play, Salt Meets Wound, premiered at Theatre503 in May 2007.

His play Oppenheimer, about the physicist J Robert Oppenheimer and the building of the atomic bomb, was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2015 in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until it transferred to London's West End in April 2015. The play was nominated for Best New Play at the 2016 WhatsOnStage Awards.

In April 2022, it was announced that he would adapt Studio Ghibli's 1988 animated film My Neighbour Totoro for the stage. Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the film's original composer Joe Hisaishi, the play ran for a fifteen-week limited season at the Barbican Theatre in London from October 2022. The play won five categories at the 2023 WhatsOnStage Awards, having been nominated in nine. It also won six categories (out of nine nominations) at the 2023 Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best Entertainment or Comedy Play. Morton-Smith dedicated his Olivier award to the memory of his stillborn daughter.

Works

Plays

• Salt Meets Wound (2007) (premiered at Theatre503)
• Everyday Maps for Everyday Use (2012) (premiered at the Finborough Theatre, London)
• In Doggerland (2013) (premiered at the Lowry, Manchester)
• Oppenheimer (2015) (premiered at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre)
• The Earthworks (2017) (premiered at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon)
• Ravens: Spassky vs. Fischer (2019) (premiered at the Hampstead Theatre)
• My Neighbour Totoro (2022) (based on the Studio Ghibli film of the same name, premiered at the Barbican, transferred to the Gillian Lynne Theatre)

Radio

• Flesh (2009) (episode 3 of series 2 ofThe Man in Black, BBC Radio 7)
• The Wind in the Willows: a Weasel's Tale (2025), (after The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, BBC Radio 4)

References

References

1. (7 May 2007). "Opening: Fame, Child, Terre, Death, Brook Sizwe". whatsonstage.com.
2. Smith, Alistair. (16 May 2007). "The Stage / Reviews / Salt Meets Wound". thestage.co.uk.
3. (3 December 2015). "WhatsOnStage Awards shortlists are announced {{!}} WhatsOnStage".
4. (26 April 2022). "RSC to adapt My Neighbour Totoro for London stage premiere this autumn {{!}} WhatsOnStage".
5. (12 February 2023). "The 23rd Annual WhatsOnStage Awards – full list of winners {{!}} WhatsOnStage".
6. Stage, Guardian. (2023-02-28). "Olivier awards 2023: complete list of nominations". The Guardian.
7. "Olivier Awards 2023".
8. (2023-04-02). "Olivier Awards 2023: Paul Mescal, Jodie Comer and Totoro triumph". BBC News.
9. Gardner, Lyn. (2007-05-22). "Salt Meets Wound". The Guardian.
10. (2012-12-07). "Everyday Maps for Everyday Use, Finborough Theatre".
11. Hickling, Alfred. (2013-11-11). "In Doggerland – review". The Guardian.
12. Mountford, Fiona. (2015-05-26). "Oppenheimer, Vaudeville theatre - theatre review".
13. (2017-05-30). "The Earthworks/Myth, The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon — stimulating". Financial Times.
14. "Ravens: Spassky vs Fischer review, Hampstead Theatre, London, 2019".
15. Akbar, Arifa. (2022-10-19). "My Neighbour Totoro review – dazzling staging of the Studio Ghibli classic". The Guardian.
16. "BBC Radio 4 Extra - The Man in Black - Episode guide".
17. "BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, The Wind in the Willows: A Weasel’s Tale".