David Henry Wilson (born 1937) is a British playwright, novelist and children’s author. His plays have been performed at many well-known theatres, including The Hampstead, Theatre Royal Stratford East, King’s Head, Sheffield Crucible, Leicester Haymarket, Cheltenham Everyman, Edinburgh and Pitlochry Festivals etc. as well as abroad. His children’s books, especially the Jeremy James series, have been translated into many languages, and his novel The Coachman Rat has won acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. This website offers a selection of his works, some of which can be downloaded free of charge. Other works listed are available from: agency@hopecorner.net to whom all inquiries should be addressed concerning publication, performance and other rights.

Lear’s Fool By David Henry Wilson


Directed by Liz Carruthers
“Gorgeous,lyrical and heartbreaking”
(The Scotsman)

Showing at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe 7th - 22nd August (Not 16th) @ 13.45 (1 Hour). The riveting tale of what happened to the Fool, who mysteriously disappears halfway through Shakespeare’s tragedy.

A brand new production, directed by Liz Carruthers, following the critically acclaimed Glasgow production by Bard in the Botanics.

In this new production, the Fool will be played by Jill Riddiford, who has twice been shortlisted for Performance of the Year (Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland), and Finlay McLean will reprise his role as King Lear. Sam Stopford - also nominted for this year’s CATS - will again play the part of John the jailer (played with “such feeling and intelligence… ”), and Cordelia and the Captain will be played by Kirsty McDuff and John Kay Steel.





Novels

Full Length Plays		  

Plays Derived From Shakespeare
   


Short Plays

Children's Books		  

Children's Plays
       

Shylock's Revenge and Iago, the Villain of Venice

In 2015, to coincide with the Royal Shakespeare Company's productions of The Merchant of Venice and Othello, Michael Friend Productions presented fully staged script-in-hand performances of David Henry Wilson's sequels to both plays at the Attic Theatre, Stratford upon Avon. To view these productions, please Click Here

Lear's Fool

In September 2023, Bard in the Botanics, Glasgow, presented Lear’s Fool with Nicole Cooper playing the leading role to brilliant effect. This was the first production with a female Fool, and it entailed several changes to the original text. This and the revised text can now be downloaded separately.

“A gorgeous, lyrical and heart-rending variation on the themes of Shakespeare’s play.” (The Scotsman)

“…a self-contained, self-imagined work of genius…Nicole Cooper is spell-binding as the Fool.” (Glasgow West End Today)

Download Here (Female Lead)

The City of Upside Down
The sequel to The Castle of Inside Out, in which Lorina sets out to rescue the green people from the clutches of the terribly terrifying Pit Bull Terror. Download Here