Alice Birch Biography

Alice Birch is a highly acclaimed British playwright and screenwriter, known for her works in both theatre and film. She has received numerous accolades for her works, including the George Devine Award for Most Promising New Playwright for “Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.” and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for “Anatomy of a Suicide”. Her play, “Anatomy of a Suicide”, was also shortlisted for the Olivier Award for Best New Play. Birch has also made a name for herself in the film industry as the screenwriter for the critically acclaimed film, “Lady Macbeth”. Alice is married to her husband, Sam Pritchard.

Birch has also written for several popular television shows, including “Succession” and “Normal People”. Her work on Succession earned her a Writers Guild of America Award for Drama Series in 2020. Birch’s works often explore themes of gender, power, and violence, and her unique style has earned her a reputation as one of the most innovative voices in contemporary theatre and film.

Where is Alice Birch from?

Alice Birch was born in the year of 1986 and is currently 37 years old. She is from England. She holds British nationality and is of British-White ethnicity. Birch spent her early years living with her family at a commune, and her last name comes from the commune’s name, Birchwood Hall. She joined the Royal Court Theatre’s young writers program when she was 18 and spent three months interning at the film production company BenderSpink in Los Angeles. Although she has not revealed her parents’ names to the media, she follows the Christian religion. 

Regarding her educational qualification, Birch earned her undergraduate degree from Exeter University.

Alice Birch Career Timeline

• Alice Birch is a British playwright who has made a name for herself in the theatre world with her plays that explore difficult topics such as gender, power, and societal norms. Birch began her career participating in the “24 Hour Plays” event at the Old Vic in 2010, where she wrote a play in just 6 hours. Her first full-length play, “Many Moons”, premiered in 2011 and was nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn prize, an award recognizing female playwrights writing in English. Birch has since written several other plays, including “Little on the Inside”, which premiered at the Latitude Festival, and “Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.”, commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and inspired by Valerie Solanas’ SCUM Manifesto. Birch won the George Devine Award for Most Promising New Playwright for Revolt.
• Birch has also collaborated with young people on a play called “Astronauts”, which premiered in 2014. The play was inspired by the housing crisis and was co-written with a group of 16-19-year-olds who later performed the work. Birch’s work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and has been performed at various theatres and festivals throughout the UK. 
• Alice collaborated with feminist theatre company RashDash in 2015 to develop the play “We Want You to Watch”, commissioned by the National Theatre. The play protests against the violent and graphic world created by pornography and advocates for its eradication. Birch also premiered a touring production of her play for children, “The Lone Pine Club”, adapted from Malcolm Saville’s books.
• Alice Birch’s play “Ophelias Zimmer” premiered in Berlin in 2015, exploring the character of Ophelia from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” It was a collaboration with director Katie Mitchell and designer Chloe Lamford and was nominated for the Friedrich-Luft Preis. In 2016, Birch made her screenwriting debut with “Lady Macbeth,” a film based on a novel by Nikolai Leskov. She won the 2017 British Independent Film Award for Best Screenplay and was nominated for a BAFTA and for Best Debut Screenwriter at the British Independent Film Awards.
• Alice Birch adapted “Love and Capital” for a TV series in 2016, but there have been no further announcements about it. In the same year, she collaborated with director Katie Mitchell to adapt Elfriede Jelinek’s Schatten. “Anatomy of a Suicide” premiered in 2017 and won the 2018 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. In 2018, Birch adapted Marguerite Duras’ novella “La Maladie de la Mort” for the stage. Her play “[BLANK]”, consisting of 100 mix-and-match scenes about women and the criminal justice system, premiered in 2019 at the Donmar Warehouse with Clean Break performing 22 of the scenes.
• She adapted Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando” into German in 2019, which was performed at the Schaubühne and directed by Katie Mitchell. She also adapted Sally Rooney’s “Normal People” and “Conversations with Friends” for television. Her opera “Violet”, composed by Tom Coult, was scheduled to open in June 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic and premiered in June 2022 at the Aldeburgh Festival. Birch has collaborated with director Katie Mitchell on several projects, including Ophelias Zimmer, Anatomy of a Suicide, and La Maladie de la Mort. Their adaptation of Rachel Cusk’s Outline trilogy for the National Theatre was indefinitely postponed due to the pandemic.
• Alice adapted Graham Swift’s novel “Mothering Sunday”, which was made into a film that premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. She was also announced to write the television adaptation of “Dead Ringers”, set to star Rachel Weisz. She co-wrote the screenplay for “The Wonder” with Sebastián Lelio and Emma Donoghue, which premiered in 2022. 

Alice Birch Awards and Achievements

• In 2014, Alice Birch won the Arts Foundation Futures Award for Playwriting.
• The same year, she won the George Devine Award for Most Promising New Playwright for Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again, which she co-wrote with Rory Mullarkey.
• In 2017, Birch won the British Independent Film Awards for Best Screenplay for Lady Macbeth.
• Birch won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2018 for her play Anatomy of a Suicide.
• In 2020, she won the Writers Guild of America Award for Drama Series for Succession, which she co-wrote with Jesse Armstrong, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Cord Jefferson, Mary Laws, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Gary Shteyngart, Susan Soon He Stanton, and Will Tracy.

Who is Alice Birch married to?

Alice Birch is married to Sam Pritchard, who is a director. The couple has a son named Arthur and they are a happy family. Despite being busy with their respective careers, they manage to balance their personal and professional lives, and their love for each other continues to grow stronger with time. The family enjoys spending time together and cherishes every moment of their life.

Alice and Sam’s marriage is a testament to their commitment to each other and their dedication to their family. They support each other in their professional pursuits and make sure to spend quality time with each other and their son. The couple’s love and affection for each other are evident in the way they interact and care for each other.

How much is Alice Birch’s net worth?

As a successful playwright and screenwriter, Alice Birch has a net worth of $1.5 million as of 2023. Her main source of wealth is her career as a writer in the entertainment industry, including her work on films such as Lady Macbeth and the television series Normal People. Despite her financial success, Birch is known for living a modest lifestyle and being satisfied with her earnings. While her salary is not publicly disclosed, it is likely in the thousands of dollars per project.

Although Alice Birch is not known for indulging in lavish purchases, it is possible that she owns a house and cars, as many successful individuals in the entertainment industry do. However, there is no public information available about her personal assets. Overall, Birch’s focus appears to be on her craft and her family, rather than on material possessions.