Jack Thorne

Some Lesser Known Facts About Jack Thorne

• Jack Thorne grew up in Bristol and Newbury, England.

• His mother worked with adults who had learning disabilities. His parents were politically active and supported the Labour Party.

• They were also associated with a community theatre and acted in plays. His father wrote and directed many comedy plays.

• During his studies at the University of Cambridge, Jack Thorne took part in student drama.

• When he was 20 years old, he developed cholinergic urticaria, an allergy to heat. This caused him chronic pain and left the university.

• The medication helped him function, but the condition lasted for 10 years.

• Jack Thorne was identified as disabled until he attended a Graeae Theatre Company open day. The company is known for encouraging people with disabilities, welcomed him, and he later became its patron. He once talked about the company in a media conversation. He said,
  

  They taught me a lot of things about how to make drama.”

• In 2002, he returned to college and finished his graduation at the University of Cambridge.

• In 2005, Jack Thorne wrote the play ‘When You Cure Me,’ which premiered at the Bush Theatre.

  

• He then went on to write many theatre plays including ‘Fanny and Faggot’ (2004, Edinburgh Festival Fringe; 2007, Finborough Theatre), ‘Bunny’ (2010, Underbelly), and ‘Hope’ (2014, Royal Court Theatre).

• Jack Thorne has written four radio plays including ‘When You Cure Me’ (BBC Radio 3, 2006), ‘Left at the Angel’ (BBC Radio 4, 2007), ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ (BBC Radio 4, 2009), and ‘People Snogging in Public Places’ (BBC Radio 3, 2009).

• He has written various television shows such as ‘Skins’ (2007) and ‘Shameless (2007).’

• In 2009, his film, ‘The Scouting Book for Boys,’ won him Best Newcomer at the London Film Festival. The jury praised his poetic writing and storytelling skills.

• Jack Thorne has co-written the television shows ‘This Is England 86’ (2010), ‘This Is England 88’ (2011), and ‘This Is England 90’ (2015).

• In August 2010, he wrote a supernatural television show called ‘Touch,’ later renamed ‘The Fades’ which aired on BBC Three.

  

• In 2011, his play ‘A Summer Night’ (which aired on BBC Radio 3) was performed live at the Free Thinking festival. He wrote this play as his response to the 2011 London riots.

• In 2012, his play ‘People Snogging in Public Places’ was translated into French as Regarder passer les trains and broadcast by France-Culture.

• On 8 May 2013, Jack Thorne wrote the film ‘Wonder,’ which was based on the novel by R.J. Palacio. He co-wrote the script with Steve Conrad and Stephen Chbosky, and the film starred Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, and Jacob Tremblay.

• He then started writing films for both UK and US producers, including ‘War Book’ (2014) and ‘A Long Way Down’ (2014), which was based on Nick Hornby’s novel.

• Jack Thorne then went on to write many films such as ‘Pinocchio’ (2018), ‘The Aeronauts’ (2019), ‘Radioactive’ (2020), ‘Help’ (2021), and ‘Enola Holmes 2’ (2022).

  

• The film ‘Help’ tells the true story of Barbara Lisicki and Alan Holdsworth, founders of the Disabled People’s Direct Action Network (DAN). The organisation was set in 1989. the film showed their journey as disabled cabaret performers, and their fight for disability rights, which led to the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995.

• In 2014, his teen murder television show ‘Glue’ premiered on E4 and was nominated for Best Multichannel Programme at the 2015 Broadcast Awards.

• Jack Thorne then went on to write many television shows including ‘The Last Panthers’ (2015), ‘Don’t Take My Baby’ (2016), ‘National Treasure’ (2016), ‘The Eddy’ (2017), ‘Kiri’ (2018), ‘The Accident’ (2019), and ‘Then Barbara Met Alan’ (2022).

• Thorne has long supported the disabled community in the arts.

• Jack Thorne has written several plays and shows about disability such as ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ (2009), ‘Cast Offs’ (2009), ‘Don’t Take My Baby’ (2015), ‘CripTales’ (2020), and ‘Then Barbara Met Alan’ (2022).

  

• In 2016, he wrote the stage play ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,’ based on a story written by him, J.K. Rowling, and John Tiffany. It has been performed at the Palace Theatre, London (since August 2016), Lyric Theatre, Broadway (since April 2018), Princess Theatre, Melbourne (since February 2019), and Curran Theatre, San Francisco (since December 2019).

• In 2017, Jack Thorne adapted ‘Woyzeck,’ a stage play written by Georg Büchner for the Old Vic. It starred John Boyega.

• He wrote a new version of the play ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens for the Old Vic’s 2017 Christmas Season.

• In 2018, he rewrote ‘the King Kong’ musical for its Broadway debut.

• In 2019, Jack Thorne wrote the play ‘The End of History’ for the Royal Court Theatre.

• The same year, his play ‘Sunday’ premiered at the Atlantic Theatre Company in New York.

• In 2019, ‘A Christmas Carol’ was performed on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre. In 2020, it was broadcast live through Old Vic: On Camera television series due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  

• In June 2021, his adaptation of the film ‘After Life’ opened at the National Theatre, London.

• In August 2021, Jack Thorne gave the MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

• According to him, more disabled stories should be written and performed by disabled people to make hidden issues more visible on television.

• In 2022, he was diagnosed as autistic. He was inspired to get tested after hearing a question on Desert Island Discs.

• In April 2023, his play ‘The Motive and the Cue,’ directed by Sam Mendes, opened at the Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre.

• In June 2023, his play ‘When Winston Went to War with the Wireless,’ about the BBC during the 1926 General Strike, premiered at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Katy Rudd.

• In 2023, Jack Thorne wrote a television series of the novel ‘Lord of the Flies.’

• He then wrote ‘Toxic Town,’ a television series about the Corby toxic waste scandal.

  

• In 2024, Jack Thorne wrote about the News International phone hacking scandal for the television series ‘The Hack,’ which aired on ITV and STV.

• After his marriage, Thorne and his wife went through many IVF attempts to have their son, Elliott. This experience later inspired them to create the film Joy.

• His sister-in-law, Cath, is the long-term partner of comedian Frank Skinner.

• Once, during a media conversation, he talked about his mental health. He said,
  

  I’m a slightly deranged adult.” “I’m not very good with other people.” “I’m mental.”

• Jack Thorne is tall and full of nervous energy. He makes restless movements of his toes. He gets distracted easily, so he never rides a bike. He does not like the subway, so he walks long distances.