Philip Ridley (British artist, photographer and writer) Add a review

Philip Ridley (born 1964) is an English playwright, filmmaker, writer, and multi-disciplinary artist. He has produced works in a wide variety of mediums and genres, and has self-described as a "storyteller".

As a dramatist, he has been described as "a pioneer of In-yer-face theatre", which is a style and sensibility of drama that characterised many new plays that were performed in Britain during the 1990s. Ridley's debut play, The Pitchfork Disney (1991), is considered by many to be a seminal work that influenced the development of this form of theatre. One critic dubbed it "the key play" of the 1990s. He is also recognised for creating an ongoing series of plays for young people (The Storyteller Sequence).

As a visual artist he has been cited as a contemporary of the Young British Artists, and had his artwork exhibited internationally. In film, he is perhaps best known for his award-winning screenplay for the film, The Krays (1990), a biopic about the Kray twins which was directed by Peter Medak. As a filmmaker in his own right, he created a loose trilogy of horror films: The Reflecting Skin (1990), The Passion of Darkly Noon (1995) and Heartless (2009) for which he has acquired a cult following.

Ridley is also a novelist, songwriter, poet, photographer, performance artist, and has written drama for radio.