Biography

 

Awards and Nominations

In 2024, The Return of Peter Pan was nominated for Best Book for a Musical in the Deutscher Musical Akademie Prize.

Also in 2024, the new production of The Lord of the Rings won eight Broadway World UK awards including Best Regional Production and Best New Production of a Musical.

In 2021, Shaun’s original play Rocky Road was nominated for an OnComm Award.

Home Front won Outstanding Contribution to Radio Drama Award 2019 at the BBC Audio Awards.  Ladies in Lavender won five Broadway World UK awards (including Best Fringe or Regional Play) in 2012.

The Lord of the Rings won a Best Musical DORA (Dora Mavor Moore Award) in Canada in 2006 (one of seven awards the show received), was Olivier Award nominated for Best Musical in 2007 and in the same year won an Outstanding Achievement Award from SOBOM.  

"One Small Step," Shaun’s first episode of Heartbeat, won a Royal Television Society Yorkshire: Best Drama Award in 2008.  Heidi: Teil 2 was nominated for a Prix Walo Award in 2008.

Credits

Plays

With Andrew Van Sickle he wrote Exhibitionists, a romantic comedy which was chosen to open the brand new King’s Head Theatre in Islington in January 2024. 

Together with Lin Coghlin he has adapted The Forsyte Saga into two plays Irene and Fleur, which will play at the Park Theatre in autumn 2024.

In the pipeline is his new adaptation of Robert Hichens’ The Paradine Case (touring in 2025).

He has written seven Peter James adaptations, The Perfect Murder (2014 & 2016), Dead Simple (2015), Not Dead Enough (2017) and The House On Cold Hill (2019), Looking Good Dead (2021), Wish You Were Dead (2023) and the forthcoming Picture You Dead (2025)

In 2012, Shaun wrote the multi-award-winning stage adaptation of Ladies in Lavender.  

Earlier plays include Killing Camille, Ruling Passions and adaptations of How Green Was My Valley and To Serve Them All My Days.   

Musical Theatre

Shaun has written the Book and original lyrics for the forthcoming Jack Cole, collaborating with Guy Kitchenn and Broadway legend Chet Walker.  Shaun worked with Chet on the Glenn Miller musical Feelin' In The Mood, which is also heading for production.   The Return of Peter Pan, co-written with Stephen Keeling, opened in Regensburg Germany in November 2023.

Are You As Nervous As I Am? (Lyrics by Shaun, Music by Leighton James House, Book by Simon Spencer) played Greenwich in late 2021. He has also written lyrics for Celtic Warrior, collaborating with Marti Pellow, Jack Bradley and Grant Mitchell, currently in development with Bill Kenwright Productions.  

Shaun’s four West End musicals to date include the multi-award-winning stage version of The Lord of the Rings for which he wrote Book and Lyrics (with Matthew Warchus).  It was successfully revived at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury in 2023.

Earlier West End musicals include Maddie (Book & Lyrics), Lautrec (Book, Music by Charles Aznavour) and La Cava (Additional Lyrics).  He wrote the Book for Last Dance, a disco musical based on the songs of Paul Jabara, (New York, 2012).  He wrote Book and Lyrics for the hugely successful Heidi musical in Switzerland and Germany and produced two sequels, all with music by Stephen Keeling.  Shaun also wrote Book and Lyrics for two 5-star Edinburgh Festival hits, Murder Mystery Musical (with Alister Cameron and Richard Brown) and Terry Pratchett's Only You Can Save Mankind (with Leighton James House). 

With Leighton James House he has a new musical in development, Trouser Bar.    He has co-written the Book with Tracy-Ann Oberman of Bette and Joan and Baby Jane with songs by Nikki Racklin and James Cleeve, which is scheduled for production soon.

Audio

For BBC Radio 4, Shaun has most recently written Eleanor Rising, broadcast in 2020/21.  His new variation on Henry Fielding’s Joseph Andrews broadcast in 2021.

He and Lin Coghlan created an 11-part Arnold Bennett series, China Towns, in 2019, and a 28-part reinvention of John Galsworthy’s The Forsytes (2016-17).  

Shaun was a core writer on the epic BBC Radio 4 drama series Home Front (2014-2018), about life in Britain during World War I.  He was show runner/lead writer on Seasons 3, 6 and 12.  

Previous BBC radio adaptations include John le Carre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, The Looking Glass War and A Murder of Quality.  Other radio adaptations include East of Eden, Brother Dusty Feet, East of Eden, Marnie, The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Cry of the Owl and To Serve Them All My Days. 

Original dramas include Me And Little Books, a comedy about Caligula’s horse, and Meeting Jack, about an incident in the life of Jack London.

Screen

Shaun has recently completed an original screenplay, Oscar's Boys, and is developing a period espionage drama Agent 160.    His screenplay Draugr is in development. Previous credits include a feature length thriller for ITV, The Crooked Man, and an acclaimed two-part thriller, Like Father, Like Son.  He was a regular contributor to the three final series of Heartbeat and was the writer/researcher on Great West End Theatres with Sir Donald Sinden.  He contributed occasional episodes to Doctors. 

Arena Shows

Shaun first worked with acclaimed US director Philip Wm. McKinley on Ben Hur Live at the O2 arena in 2009.  It subsequently played the Fiera di Roma in 2011. Subsequently, Shaun and Philip developed The Bible: In The Beginning. 

Shaun studied at Maidstone Grammar School and the University of Bristol.