Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti: A Working Diary

In this insightful, thought-provoking and touching joint-diary, the creative powerhouse of a couple, Lolita Chakrabarti and Adrian Lester, chronicle 16 months of their fascinating working lives. As readers, we experience, first-hand, their experiences as two of the most proactive and versatile theatre makers today, working across a range of media and exciting collaborations.

Having originally crossed paths while doing youth theatre in their home city of Birmingham, the couple met properly years later while training at RADA, and each now individually embody the roles of actor, director and writer, and their working lives both intersect and remain independent.

In this diary you'll uncover anecdotes from and accounts of THE GREATEST WEALTH at the Old Vic, RIVIERA for Sky Atlantic, GUYS AND DOLLS at the Royal Albert Hall, COST OF LIVING at The Hampstead Theatre, LIFE OF PI for The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. INVISIBLE CITIES for Manchester International Festival, THE ROOK for Starz TV, MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS for Universal pictures and other projects currently in development.

Winner of the 2012 Most Promising Playwright Evening Standard award, Lolita Chakrabarti is a British actress and writer who has worked extensively on stage and screen. Her acting theatre credits include The Great Game, Afghanistan for the Tricycle, Last Seen - Joy for the Almeida, Free Outgoing for the Royal Court, John Gabriel Borkman for the Donmar Warehouse and Fanny and Alexander for the Old Vic. Her acting screen credits include The Casual Vacancy, Jekyll and Hyde, My Mad Fat Diary season 3, Vera, Outnumbered, Hustle, ExtrasChristmas Special, Holby City, Silent Witness, Amnesia, William and Mary, Fortysomething, Bodies, and Forgiven. In 2012, Red Velvet, Chakrabarti’s debut play, was the first play performed under the Tricycle’s new artistic director Indhu Rubasingham. It returned to the Tricycle in 2014 before having its US premiere at St Ann’s Warehouse New York.

Adrian Lester OBE is one of the most feted actors of today, having appeared in key roles at the National Theatre and in the West End. For his theatre work, he has won the Ian Charleson Award, a Time Out Award and the Best Actor award in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards. On television, he has appeared in Hustle, Girlfriends, The Ghost Squad, Bonekickers and Merlin, and his films include Primary Colors, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Day After Tomorrow and Spider-Man 3. In 2013, he was awarded an OBE for services for drama.