Peter Whelan

Who is Peter Whelan?

Peter Whelan is a British playwright.

Whelan was born and raised in Stoke-on-Trent, England. His works includes seven plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company, most of which are period pieces based on real historical events. The first of these was Captain Swing, in 1979. Another was The Herbal Bed, about a court case involving William Shakespeare's daughter. It was first produced at the RSC's The Other Place theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in 1996 and was revived at The Duchess Theatre from April to October 1997.

In 2008, his play The School of Night also originally produced at The Other Place theatre, in November 1992, made its U.S. debut at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. It fictionalizes the relationships between Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare, Thomas Kyd and Sir Walter Raleigh as well as the events leading up to Marlowe's death.

Important papers of his are stored in the Borthwick Institute for Archives in the Library of the University of York.