Port (Modern Plays)

I see you in the morning, on the first morning I stayed over at your house. Waking up. Watching you lying asleep next to me. You looked, you looked. It was like. I think about that more than you probably think I do.

Stockport 1988-2002. Racheal Keats is growing up in a town she doesn't like with a family in tatters and a future she cannot picture. As those she loves begin to let her down or leave her behind, can Rachel find the strength to make her own way in the world?

Port premiered at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, in November 2002. It was later staged in the Lyttelton at the National Theatre, opening in January 2013. Both productions were by Marianne Elliott.

For more than twenty-five years Simon Stephens' work has been widely translated and produced throughout the world. He has won many Awards including Olivier and Tony Awards for new plays. His 2026 play An Ark staged by Tim Drum Collective at the Shed in New York was one of the first plays ever written for Mixed Reality . His radical adaptation of Uncle Vanya, Vanya, starring Andrew Scott ran in London's West End and at the Lucille Lortel , New York between Autumn 23 and Spring 25 and was screened to phenomenal success on NT Live and NT Home. His adaptation of Jose Saramago's Blindness was made into a light and sound installation that was produced internationally during the Covid 19 pandemic. His most famous play is his adaptation of Mark Haddon's best-selling novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. He has had thirty five original plays produced professionally.

He has written new English language versions of masterpieces by Chekhov, Ibsen and Brecht, collaborated with the world's leading theatre practitioners (Patrice Chereau, Ivo Van Hove, Marianne Elliott, Katie Mitchell) and produced original work throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas.

He has been Artistic Associate at the Lyric, Hammersmith and Associate Playwright at the Royal Court Theatre. He has taught playwriting workshops in five continents. He has presented four series of the celebrated Playwright's Podcast from the Royal Court Theatre. He is a Professor at the Writing School of Manchester Metropolitan University. His book A Working Diary was published by Methuen Bloomsbury in 2016. He lives in East London with his wife, three children, their snake, two cats and two dogs.