Meet the Playwright Peter Shaffer
“Passion, you see, can be destroyed by a doctor. It cannot be created.” -Peter Shaffer, Equus
Peter Shaffer and his identical twin, Anthony, were born in Liverpool, England in 1926. The author of many works for British television, stage, and screen, Shaffer was equally adept at comedy, historical drama, and psychological drama. Under the name of Peter Anthony, Peter and twin Anthony Shaffer, who was also an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter, co-wrote three mystery novels. Peter Shaffer’s stage successes include Five Finger Exercise (1958), The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964), The White Liars (1967) and Black Comedy (1965), Equus (1973) for which he won a Tony, Amadeus (1979) also a Tony winner, and Lettice and Lovage (1987). He also wrote the screenplay for the film version of Equus as well as that for Amadeus, for which he won an Oscar. The film version of Amadeus earned eight Academy Awards. Peter Shaffer died in 2016 at 90 years of age.
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
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