Adriano Shaplin is a playwright and co-founder of The Riot Group and has written and acted in all of their original productions, including Pugilist Specialist which received The Scotsman's "First of the Firsts" award at the Edinburgh Fringe 2003.

He was the first Warwick/RSC International Playwright in Residence 2006-8. At the RSC he worked closely in rehearsals with Artistic Director Michael Boyd, developing his own play ideas for the RSC's ensemble of actors as part of the RSC's aim to restore the severed link between writer and ensemble. This work culminated in London in Winter 2008 with the opening of Adriano's new play, The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes, staged by the RSC at Wilton's Music Hall. For a Q&A with Adriano about his work at the RSC click here.

At Warwick, Adriano contributed to both graduate and undergraduate courses in writing for performance, working alongside the Warwick Writing Programme. In 2007-08 he co-directed The Apprentice for Artists, a series of intensive masterclasses introducing aspiring writers to various forms of writing.

For more information, see the Riot Group website .