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Andrea Dunbar

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"The Arbor" redirects here. For other uses, see Arbor.

Andrea Dunbar
Born22 May 1961
Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died20 December 1990(1990-12-20) (aged 29)
Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
OccupationPlaywright
EducationButtershaw Comprehensive School
Literary movementRealism

Andrea Dunbar (22 May 1961 – 20 December 1990) was an English playwright. She wrote The Arbor (1980) and Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1982), an autobiographical drama about the sexual adventures of teenage girls living in a run-down part of Bradford, West Yorkshire. She wrote most of the adaptation for the film Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987).[1]

Media
Images
image icon from Telegraph & Argus , color[2]
image icon from Telegraph & Argus , monochrome[3]
image icon Dunbar, on the Buttershaw public housing estate, in the early 1980[4]
image icon Andrea Dunbar, facial scars from going through a glass window[5]
Video
video icon Lisa Holdsworth: bringing Andrea Dunbar's story back to Bradford British Theatre Guide via YouTube

Early life

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Born on 22 May 1961,[6] Dunbar was raised on Brafferton Arbor on the Buttershaw council estate in Bradford, England,[7] with seven brothers and sisters. Both her parents had worked in the textile industry.[8] Dunbar attended Buttershaw Comprehensive School.

"When 15-year-old Andrea Dunbar failed to bring in the ingredients for a domestic science lesson, her punishment was to spend her lunchtime writing the words ‘Why I Don’t Like Cookery’. What Andrea wrote instead was a witty essay on how baking buns was a middle-class pursuit and joints of meat were more practical for big families on Buttershaw estate. 'When the essay was passed around the staffroom, to howls of laughter, head of drama Tony Priestley was astonished at what he saw,' wrote Adelle Stripe in her acclaimed novel Black Teeth And A Brilliant Smile. 'It was obvious to him that she had a gift for saying the right thing. And she was funny. He asked if she’d like to join his class. What happened over coming months would change Andrea’s life forever.'"[3]

Career

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Dunbar began her first play, The Arbor, in 1977 at the age of 15,[9] writing it as a classroom assignment for CSE English, "in green biro on pages torn from a school exercise book".[10] It is the story of "a Bradford schoolgirl who falls pregnant to her Pakistani boyfriend on a racist estate," and has an abusive drunken father.[9][11][12] Encouraged by her teacher, she was helped to develop the play to performance standard.[13] It received its première in 1980 at London's Royal Court Theatre, directed by Max Stafford-Clark.[9] At the age of 18, Dunbar was the youngest playwright to have her work performed there.[14] Alongside a play entered by Lucy Anderson Jones, The Arbor jointly won at the Young Writers' Festival, and was later augmented and performed in New York City.[15] On 26 March 1980, she was featured in the BBC's Arena arts documentary series.

Dunbar was quickly commissioned to write a follow-up play, Rita, Sue and Bob Too, first performed in 1982, with Tracey Ullman.[16] This explores similar themes to The Arbor through the lives of two teenage girls who are having affairs with the same married man. Dunbar's third and final play, Shirley (1986), places greater emphasis on a central character.[17] It depicts a girl's "tumultuous relationship" with her mother. As she explained, she meant to write "about Shirley and John but, you know, I wrote the mother in and she bloody took over the whole play."[18]

The film version of Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987) was adapted for the cinema by Dunbar, directed by Alan Clarke and filmed on the Buttershaw estate. Dunbar disowned the film when more writers were brought in to give it a happier ending.[9] However, it created considerable controversy on the estate because of its negative portrayal of the area.[9] Dunbar was threatened by several residents, but nevertheless continued to live there.[9]

In 2010 a commemorative blue plaque on Dunbar's former home on Brafferton Arbor was unveiled in the presence of her relatives.[19]

Personal life

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Cap and Bells pub, Cooper Lane, Buttershaw, Bradford, West Yorkshire, March 2008[20]
The Beacon pub, Reevy Road West, Buttershaw, March 2012[21][22][23]

Dunbar first became pregnant at the age of 15; the baby was stillborn at six months.[24] She later had three children by three different fathers. The first, Lorraine Dunbar, was born in 1979, and had a Pakistani father.[25] A year later, in 1980, Lisa was born, again while Dunbar was still a teenager.[26] About three years later, she had a son, Andrew, with Jim Wheeler.[24][27]

As a single mother, Dunbar, spent 18 months in a refuge for battered women,[28] living in a Women's Aid refuge in Keighley and became an increasingly heavy drinker.[29]

"One day she was sat on a bar stool in the Cap n' Bells[30][31] pub when someone she knew dragged her off the stool by her hair and threw her to the floor and then walked out."[32]

"Having complained of headaches for weeks, she collapsed in her local pub and could not be revived."[33]

In 1990, she died of a brain haemorrhage in Bradford Royal Infirmary at the age of 29, after falling ill in The Beacon,[34] a pub on the Buttershaw Estate, at the junction of Reevy Road West and The Crescent. It was closed in 2016 and demolished in 2019,[35][36] but appears in the opening shot of Rita, Sue and Bob Too. Her cremated remains were buried at Scholemoor Cemetery and Crematorium (Section N, Grave 1219) in Bradford. Her headstone is a small black granite cross.[27]

In 2007, her eldest daughter Lorraine Dunbar, a heroin addict at the time, was convicted of manslaughter for causing the death of her child by gross neglect after the child ingested a lethal dose of methadone.[37][28][38] and jailed in April 2012.[39]

In January 2018, her daughter Lisa Pearce[40] died of stomach cancer after having been diagnosed in December 2016.[41]

"I grew up in Bradford in the 1980s, not much younger than Rita and Sue when the film came out and with pretty much the same dress sense. The three settings - manicured suburbia, the all-white Buttershaw estate, and the Victorian backstreets populated by Pakistani families - are familiar. (Bob’s street is very familiar: my schoolfriend Lucy lived on it, and if you look in the background of the scene where Fat Fucking Mavis pulls up in her Austin Metro, you can see her on her bike. God, I was jealous). I’ve watched it more times than I can count." — Anita Singh, The Telegraph[42]

Depictions

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In 2000, Dunbar's life and her surroundings were revisited in the play A State Affair by Robin Soans.[43][44][45]

A film about her life, The Arbor, directed by Clio Barnard, was released in 2010.[46][47] The film uses actors lip-synching to interviews with Dunbar and her family, and concentrates on the strained relationship between Dunbar and her daughter Lorraine.[9][7][48][47]

A novel inspired by Dunbar's life and work, Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile by Adelle Stripe, was published in 2017 by Wrecking Ball Press.[49] It was shortlisted for the Portico Prize for Literature and the Gordon Burn Prize.[50][51] A second edition came from Fleet Publishing in the same year.[52] In 2019, a stage adaptation by Freedom Studios and screenwriter Lisa Holdsworth was announced in The Guardian. Dramatisation of Stripe's novel focused on women's relationships, with a cast of five sharing the roles. It portrayed a teenage Dunbar rising to national note with her autobiographical works The Arbor and Rita, Sue and Bob Too, and the challenges of life on the Buttershaw estate in Bradford.[53][54]

A 2019, Woolyback[55] production for BBC Radio 4 written and directed by Sean Grundy – Rita, Sue and Andrea Too – dramatized the life and career of Dunbar, played by Natalie Gavin.[56]

In April 2024, Bristol-based artist Stewy created a spray-painted stencil artwork of Andrea Dunbar, on the side of The Queen pub, on Bridge Street, in Bradford.[57]

Works

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  • The Arbor (1977)
  • Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1982)
  • Shirley (1986)
  • Dunbar, Andrea; Soans, Robin (2000). Rita, Sue and Bob Too; A State Affair. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-0-413-75700-5.

Further reading

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References

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  1. ^ Youngs, Ian (28 May 2019). "The teenage Bradford 'genius' who told it like it was". BBC News. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Andrea Dunbar's legacy". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b Clayton, Emma (12 May 2019). "New drama "brings Andrea's legacy home"". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  4. ^ Hickling, Alfred (12 April 2010). "Back to Bradford: Andrea Dunbar remembered on film". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Andrea Dunbar lives on through a contemporary adaptation". The Face. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Andrea Dunbar (Estate)". United Agents. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  7. ^ a b Clayton, Emma (4 September 2009). "Friends to star in Dunbar's years on Bradford's Buttershaw Estate". The Bradford Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  8. ^ Bunting, Madeleine (18 October 2010). "Social deprivation in Britain: how a writer's life turned to tragedy". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Hickling, Alfred (12 April 2010). "Back to Bradford: Andrea Dunbar remembered on film". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Andrea Dunbar: The teenage Bradford 'genius' who told it like it was". BBC news. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  11. ^ Gardner, Lyn (6 June 2001). "Theatre review: The Arbor". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  12. ^ Gilbey, Ryan (21 October 2010). "The Arbor (15)". New Statesman. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  13. ^ Katherine Anne Limmer, "Investigating the Authority of the Literary Text in Critical Debate". Archived 31 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "Dying daughter calls for memorial to mum". BBC News. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  15. ^ Rich, Frank (21 September 1983). "Theater: 'The Arbor,' From Britain". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  16. ^ Grillo (30 March 2018). "Out of Print: Andrea Dunbar". Lenny Letter. Retrieved 21 July 2024. Lena Dunham is very sad she wasn't at the Royal Court in 1980.
  17. ^ Susan Carlson, Process and Product: Contemporary British Theatre and its Communities of Women, Theatre Research International (1988), 13: pp 249–263.
  18. ^ Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy: The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present Day (London: Batsford, 1990), p. 315.
  19. ^ Meneaud, Marc (17 October 2010). "Film and plaque are tributes to playwright Andrea". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  20. ^ "New care home in Buttershaw will create 20 jobs". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  21. ^ James W Bell (Good Honest Iago) - Leeds (20 April 2009). "Buttershaw Babes (Beacon Pub) Bradford". flickr. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  22. ^ "documentary spoof of the Beacon Pub, Buttershaw, Bradford area by resident teenagers". Retrieved 19 July 2024 – via YouTube.
  23. ^ "No hard feelings, Andrea". Telegraph & Argus. Newsquest Media Group. 15 June 1998. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  24. ^ a b Gardner, Lyn (4 July 1998), "Born to Write and Die". The Guardian; via artangel.org.uk.
  25. ^ Johnston, Sheila (18 October 2010). "The Arbor: examining Andrea Dunbar's legacy". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  26. ^ Allen, Liam (22 October 2010), "The Arbor: In the footsteps of Rita, Sue and Bob". BBC News.
  27. ^ a b Davis, Mark (17 August 2017). "Rita, Sue and Bob Too: 30 years on, we talk to Lisa Pearce, daughter of the acclaimed playwright Andrea Dunbar/". Northern Life. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  28. ^ a b Wainwright, Martin (24 November 2007). "Playwright's darkest visions return to consume her family". The Guardian.
  29. ^ Stripe, Adelle (2017). Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile. London, United Kingdom: Fleet. pp. 76–96. ISBN 978-0-7088-9895-6. OCLC 1023843825.
  30. ^ jamesw-bell (20 April 2009). "Cap & Bells Pub - Buttershaw Estate, Bradford". flickr. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  31. ^ "Cap & Bells, Bradford". Campaign for Real Ale. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  32. ^ Halley, John. "Andrea Dunbar's home, Buttershaw (22nd May 1961 to 20th December 1990)". johnhalley.uk. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  33. ^ Coatman, Anna (29 August 2018). ""My View Not Their View": The Rewriting of Andrea Dunbar's Story". Another Gaze: A Feminist Film Journal. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  34. ^ Halley, John. "The Beacon pub, Rita Sue and Bob Too". Retrieved 19 July 2024 – via YouTube.
  35. ^ "Demolition plan for pub made famous by Bradford playwright". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  36. ^ "New plan for site once home to the iconic Rita, Sue and Bob Too pub". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 6 August 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  37. ^ "Tribeca '10 |Clio Barnard's 'The Arbor' Defies Categorization", Indiewire, 15 April 2010,
  38. ^ "'Lessons to be learnt over death of Harris'". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  39. ^ "Drug addict daughter of famous playwright jailed after killing son". Evening Standard. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  40. ^ Davis, Mark (17 August 2017). "Rita, Sue and Bob Too: we talk to the daughter of Andrea Dunbar". Northern Life Magazine. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  41. ^ Clayton, Emma (5 January 2018). "Andrea Dunbar's 'force of nature' daughter dies". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  42. ^ Singh, Anita (19 May 2017). "'Thatcher's Britain with her knickers down': why the snobs were wrong about Rita, Sue and Bob Too". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  43. ^ Gardner, Lyn (25 October 2000). "Theatre: Rita, Sue.../A State Affair". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  44. ^ "Rita, Sue and Bob Too & A State Affair". Evening Standard. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  45. ^ Wolf, Matt (8 January 2001). "Rita, Sue and Bob Too/A State Affair". Variety. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  46. ^ Romney, Jonathan (17 October 2010). "Andrea Dunbar: A genius from the slums". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 October 2010.
  47. ^ a b Catsoulis, Jeannette (26 April 2011). "A Playwright's Legacy, Kindled by Addiction and Neglect". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  48. ^ Lim, Dennis (22 April 2011). "Lip-Syncing the Realities of a Tragic Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  49. ^ "Rita, Sue and Bob Too: A snapshot of 1980s Britain". BBC News. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  50. ^ Campbell, Lisa (21 July 2017). "Denise Mina makes Gordon Burn Prize shortlist | The Bookseller". thebookseller.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  51. ^ Sethi, Anita (12 January 2020). "Northern writers on why a north-specific prize is more important than ever". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  52. ^ Cowdrey, Katherine (4 September 2017). "Andrea Dunbar-inspired debut novel to Fleet". bookseller.com. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  53. ^ Wiegand, Chris (10 December 2018). "Andrea Dunbar's life story to be staged in Bradford pub". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  54. ^ Pollard, Alexandra (6 June 2019). "Andrea Dunbar: The short, troubled life of the prodigal Bradford playwright". The Independent.
  55. ^ "About". Woolyback Productions. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  56. ^ "Rita Sue and Andrea too". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre (Press release). 7 June 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  57. ^ "Andrea Dunbar: Mural to Bradford playwright appears in city". BBC News. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
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