Hassan Abdulrazzak is of Iraqi origin, born in Prague and living in London. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and has worked at Imperial College and Harvard University.

His plays include Sea Things (Southwark Playhouse, 2022), The Special Relationship (Soho Theatre, 2020), And Here I Am (Arcola Theatre, 2017 and UK tour; Europe, Middle East and Africa tour, 2018-2019), Love, Bombs and Apples (Arcola Theatre, 2016 and UK tour; Golden Thread, San Francisco, 2018 followed by a second UK tour; Kennedy Centre, Washington DC, 2019), The Prophet (Gate theatre, 2012) and Baghdad Wedding (Soho Theatre, London 2007; BBC Radio 3, 2008; Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney 2009; Akvarious productions, Delhi & Mumbai 2010). He has also recently written a musical adaptation of The Shadow World by Anthony Feinstein, a satirical and moving exposé of the damage of global arms trade does to our lives.

His film Catalina is being produced by Nadia Nadif and developed with the BFI.

Hassan is commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

He had translated numerous Arabic language plays including Chronicles of a City We Never Knew by Wael Qadour (reading at the Gate Theatre 2019), Voluntary Work by Laila Soliman (reading at The Royal Court Theatre 2012) and 603 by Imad Farajin (reading at the Royal Court Theatre 2008).

He has adapted Baghdad Wedding into a feature film for Focus Features, wrote an original screenplay called Cutting Season about FGM for New Century. He has also written four episodes for HWJN, an upcoming TV series commissioned by O3 and Image Nation productions.

He wrote an episode of The Good Listener, a BBC radio 4 drama series about GCHQ, developed by Fin Kennedy and Boz Temple-Morris which was broadcast in 2018.

His contribution to anthologies include A Country to Call Home (Unbound, 2018), Don’t Panic, I’m Islamic (Saqi Books, 2017), Iraq+100: Stories from a century after the invasion (Comma Press, 2016) and A Country of Refuge (Unbound, 2016).

He is the recipient of George Devine, Meyer-Whitworth, Pearson theatre awards as well as the Arab British Centre Award for Culture. Love, Bombs and Apples won the Bay Area theatre award for outstanding production in 2018. And Here I Am won best monodrama at Sharm El Sheikh International Theatre Festival For Youth in 2019. He was a Sundance Theatre Lab Fellow in 2020.

Select reviews

The Special Relationship

“Urgent drama” The Sunday Times ****

And Here I Am

”Irreverently funny….charming and compelling” The Stage ****

Love Bombs and Apples

”Witty and insightful” The Scotsman ****

The Prophet

“Visceral, verbally dexterous, edgy, exciting, darkly humorous and downright riveting” What’s On Stage *****

Baghdad Wedding

“Hassan Abdulrazzak’s astonishing play tells how human lives are shaped by political crisis” Michael Billington (The Guardian). Billington chose it as his favourite play of the year.

“The Prime Minister and his cabinet should take a brief course in political illumination. They should go to see Baghdad Wedding. Hot theatre” Evening Standard****