Robin Hawdon is an English playwright and novelist, with previous additional careers as actor and theatre director. He is best known for his stage comedies and novels.
His career as an actor was first established with seasons at Chesterfield, York, Guildford and Bristol Old Vic repertory theatres, and in London's West End in a variety of roles including Roar Like A Dove, The Last Joke, The Easter Man, Misalliance, One Over The Eight. He also played Hamlet in Cape Town, Prince Hal and Henry V at York, and Henry Higgins in Pygmalion at Salisbury. He made many TV appearances, in particular in the series Compact, The Flying Swan, and Chalk and Cheese,. He appeared in a number of films, including Bedazzled, Zeta One , When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Burke & Hare and I Want What I Want. He was scheduled by the James Bond producers to film test for the role, but the test was cancelled when Roger Moore finally accepted the part.
Writing
His writing career began in the early 1960s with plays produced at the Hampstead Theatre, and The King's Lynn and Salzburg Festivals, and with a nationwide tour of The Hero starring Roy Dotrice. His first large commercial success was with the comedy The Mating Game, which had a long run at London's Apollo Theatre and played in over 30 countries around the world. Subsequently, a number of comedies played regularly on tour and internationally, many being published by Samuel French and Josef Weinberger. These were followed by his farce Don't Dress for Dinner which ran for six years in London and subsequently on Broadway, and plays regularly in theatres around the English speaking world. Hawdon's comedy Birthday Suite has played on and off for over thirty-five years across Europe, as it was first played in 1983 at the Redgrave Theatre, Farnham. Even more popular globally is his comedy Perfect Wedding which has played in almost every country hosting professional theatre. Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times siad "The comic timing in a show like this has to be perfect, and sometimes it is here, but when it isn't, the director, Teresa K. Pond, tries to compensate with volume, which is never as funny as nuance." His straight play God And Stephen Hawking, based on Hawking’s life and his best-selling book A Brief History of Time, toured the UK in 2000 starring Robert Hardy and Stephen Boxer. He has written several novels, notably A Rustle In The Grass, and Survival Of The Fittest. Among his latest comedies are Stage Fright and A Night in Provence. Stage Fright is also known as Coup de Grace and in the United States as Diamonds and Divas. The comedy was premiered in Germany, in 2017 and later played in Australia and Canada. A Night in Provence premiered in Germany and United Kingdom and later played in Zürich, Switzerland and Massachusetts, United States.
Directing
Hawdon directed various plays in the provinces and in London, including The Magic Of Young Houdini, Suez. He founded the Bath Fringe Festival in the 1980s and subsequently became Director of Bath Theatre Royal.
Personal life
He was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, the son of Bunty and James Hawdon, a businessman. At the age of eight his family moved to Surrey where he lived for most of his school years. After graduating from RADA he lived in London for twenty years, after which he decided to curtail his acting career and concentrate on writing, and he and his family moved to Bath, Somerset. In 1968, he married actress and psychoanalyst Sheila Davies with whom he has two daughters. Hawdon lives between Bath, the South of France, and Australia.
