Wright has a long and distinguished career in theatre: He was the first director of the Royal Court's Theatre Upstairs, is the author of numerous plays, including the recent hit (in London and New York) Vincent in Brixton — winner of the 2003 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play.

His new version of Chekhov's Three Sisters will open at the Lyttelton in August, and his adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (into two plays) will open at the Olivier in December.

Nicholas Wright's other plays include Cressida (Almeida/West End), Mrs. Klein (NT/West End) and The Desert Air (RSC); his many adaptations include Wedekind's Lulu (Almeida King's Cross & Kennedy Center, Washington), Pirandello's Naked (Almeida/West End), Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman and Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author (both NT). He and Richard Eyre collaborated on the book “Changing Stages,” a personal view of the British theatre in the twentieth century, upon which Eyre's BBC-TV series was based.