Shaffer, Peter Levin (1926– )

English dramatist. His psychological dramas include Five Finger Exercise (1958), the historical epic The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964), the controversial Equus (1973), Amadeus (1979), about the envy provoked by the composer Mozart, the comedy Lettice and Lovage (1987), and Gift of the Gorgon (1993).

In many of Shaffer's plays, the central characters are in conflict with God. His plays are also notable for their vivid stage directions, which demonstrate Shaffer's grasp of the physical elements of theatre, as in Black Comedy (1965), in which the actors have to behave as though they are in a pitch-black room. Several of Shaffer's plays have been adapted to film including The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969), Equus (1977), and Amadeus (1984), which won eight Academy Awards including that for Best Picture.

Shaffer was born in Liverpool, England. His twin brother, Anthony, also became a writer. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, Shaffer became a coal miner, a clerk, and a library assistant, before becoming a playwright. He was knighted in 2001. Equus won Shaffer the 1975 Tony Award for Best Play as well as the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. He followed this success with Amadeus, which won the Evening Standard Drama Award and the Theatre Critics' Award for the London production. When the show moved to Broadway, it won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Play.