Jordan Tannahill
Playwright
Jordan Tannahill (he/him) is a playwright and novelist, whose work has been translated into twelve languages, and honored with a number of prizes including two Governor General’s Literary Awards. His plays, like Botticelli in the Fire, Concord Floral, and Is My Microphone On?, are in repertory at several European state theaters, and his work has been presented at venues including: The Young Vic Theatre (London), Sadler’s Wells (London), Festival d’Avignon (Avignon), The Kitchen (NYC), Lincoln Center (NYC), The Deutsches Theater (Berlin), Residenz Theater (Munich), The Volkstheater (Vienna), Juliusz Słowacki Theatre (Krakow), Canadian Stage (Toronto), and on London’s West End.
His debut novel, Liminal, was honored with France’s 2021 Prix des Jeunes Libraires. His second novel, The Listeners, was shortlisted for the 2021 Giller Prize, and was originally written as a story for an opera by composer Missy Mazzoli, which premiered at the National Opera of Norway in 2022. Tannahill has recently adapted The Listeners into a limited series for the BBC, directed by Janicza Bravo and starring Rebecca Hall, and is writing and directing his debut feature film, Rapture, for 2AM. Tannahill’s book of essays on theatre, Theatre of the Unimpressed: In Search of Vital Drama, was listed by Playbill in 2022 as one of fourteen essential books for theater students.
Jordan’s virtual reality performance Draw Me Close, produced by the National Theatre (UK) and the National Film Board of Canada, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2017, played the Venice Film Festival, and ran at London’s Young Vic Theatre in 2019. From 2012 – 2016, in collaboration with William Ellis, Jordan ran the alternative art space Videofag out of their home in Toronto’s Kensington Market neighborhood. Over the four years of its operation, Videofag became an influential hub for queer and avant-garde work in the city.
