Chris O’Connor is an accomplished playwright whose thought-provoking work has engaged audiences across the UK. His debut production, The Life and Soul, produced by Red Ladder Theatre Company in 2016, explored the critical issue of male suicide. The production’s success led to a 2019 re-commission by Red Ladder for The Parting Glass, a companion piece that further examines suicide’s impact.
Chris was the winner of the O2 Media Award for Best Entertainment Program for Exodus as part of Airplays.
Over his career, Chris has collaborated with prominent organisations like Leeds Playhouse, BBC Radio, and Lawrence Batley Theatre. His 2017 play Marching on Embers tackled the theme of radicalisation in Northern Ireland, earning praise from the Yorkshire Post for proving that “some of the very best drama outside London.” The following year, his radio play Exodus, developed with Leeds Playhouse and BBC Radio, explored migration and was performed live across five nights in Leeds. It aired on BBC Sounds as part of the O2 Media Award-winning Airplays initiative.
In addition to tackling contemporary issues, Chris has reimagined classic literature. His adaptations include Franz Kafka’s The Trial for Proper Job Theatre in 2021 and Beowulf, again with Proper Job Theatre in collaboration with Kirklees Year of Music in 2023. In 2023, he was commissioned by Lawrence Batley Theatre to adapt Frankenstein and was re-commissioned to bring The Great Gatsby to life in 2024. Chris has also written a number of immersive productions for Riptide and is currently under commission with Leeds Playhouse for a new play, Through It All Together.
Recently, Chris has ventured into the world of graphic novels, beginning with an adaptation of his first play, The Life and Soul. Alongside his creative work, he has a strong background in teaching writing, having guided aspiring writers in a range of settings, from educational institutions to community programs. His passion for storytelling and mentorship has allowed him to make a lasting impact on students and audiences alike.
There is almost no doubt that future generations will look back on ours appalled by some of our norms and practices for it has been the case throughout most of human history. Whether it be the treatment of different races, the treatment of the sexes or the treatment of those with sexual preferences at odds with the status quo, the history of our race is littered with views we now see as abhorrent. The majority of the most admired figures of the past were products of their society and as such held views that by today’s standards would be considered as sexist, racist and violent. This truth often drives how I try to behave myself, regardless of whether it is at odds with the status quo. My aim in life is to behave in a way that I believe to be morally right, regardless of where the societal consensus is. I want my Grandchildren to say that I was a good man – not that I was good but had some troubling views. Below are some of the values, beliefs and practices I have come across that serve as a guide in life and are a core part of who I am.
“The challenge for us is this: How can we ensure that, when we try to help others, we do so as effectively as possible?”
– William MacAskill, Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You
I have always been compelled to try to make the world a better place and research shows that most of us want to make a difference. However we often base these decisions on emotion, not reason and rationality, and this results in us often doing very little actual good or even in some cases, we can cause more harm. After reading William MacAskill’s excellent book Doing Good Better, I re-evaluated my own charitable giving and took the Giving What We Can pledge to give at least 10% of my earnings before tax to the most effective causes until the day I die. I have been doing this for many years with my 10% being split between the causes below:
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT FUND – 40%
This fund supports organisations that work on improving and saving the lives of some of the poorest people in the world.
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LONG-TERM FUTURE FUND – 25%
This fund supports organisations that work on improving long-term outcomes for humanity. Grants go to organisations that seek to reduce global catastrophic risks such as global pandemics, nuclear war and advanced artificial intelligence.
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ANIMAL WELFARE FUND – 18%
This fund supports organisations that work on improving the wellbeing of animals. This pot is divided amongst a number of organisations aimed at achieving large-scale reductions in farm animal suffering and promoting research and promotion of plant-based and cultured animal products.
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EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM COMMUNITY FUND – 17%
This fund is set up to increase the amount and quality of money, talent, and ideas available to tackling the world’s biggest problems.
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Based on the best available evidence it takes just £3,000 to ensure that there is someone alive today who wouldn’t have been, had that money not have been given. If you feel disheartened by politics this is an incredibly empowering and easy way to make a real difference. Ten per cent often seems like a lot, and at the start there was some adjustment. People, like I did initially, feel anxious about the commitment but I always try and frame it as, ‘Would you take a ten per cent pay cut for a dream job where you can make a real difference all over the world?’ The answer is invariably yes. A large proportion of us have that opportunity right now.
More Information – https://app.effectivealtruism.org/funds
“To lie is to intentionally mislead others when they expect honest communication.”
– Sam Harris, Lying
After reading an essay by Sam Harris on lying I made a commitment to never lie again regardless of the intention being to do good or if it seemed an innocuous white lie. A lie wilfully misrepresents the reality and truth of the world and when we do that we create a barrier in a relationship which ultimately weakens it. It really is astonishing how often we take part in this self sabotage and how much pain and suffering we cause for ourselves with it. To pick up a newspaper and read the headlines is to explore a world of pain built on personal betrayals, infidelities and governments wilfully misleading the people. The damage done when we lie is clearly evident and the world would be a far better place if people took the step to choose to be honest. Granted there are some extreme life and death cases where this should be lapsed and I am referring to intentional misleading when people expect honesty; absolving jokes, performances and poker players etc.
Lying, Sam Harris – https://samharris.org/books/lying/
“There is no fundamental difference between man and animals in their ability to feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery.”
– Charles Darwin
“Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.”
– Thomas Edison
An area where I believe we will be viewed particularly unfavourably by our future generations, should there be any, is in our treatment of animals and in particular the meat and dairy industry. There simply is no just explanation for the cruelty to animals on a mass scale or the degradation and destruction of large parts of our planet due to intensive farming practices. Ignorance of the issue is now, in the Western world, a poor excuse. Choosing to live a plant based life is one of the single biggest ways you can make a difference and I am happier and healthier for it.
“Every experience you have ever had has been shaped by your mind. Every relationship is as good or as bad as it is because of the minds involved. If you are perpetually angry, depressed, confused, and unloving, or your attention is elsewhere, it won’t matter how successful you become or who is in your life—you won’t enjoy any of it.”
– Sam Harris, Waking Up
As someone who has suffered with mental health issues, in particular anxiety, OCD and insomnia, delving into meditation has been an invaluable tool in my mental health locker. After making it a regular practice and going on a number of silent retreats, including ten days in full silence, I can honestly say it has changed my life massively for the better and completely altered the landscape of my internal world. My mind is now a calmer, more rational place and it has allowed me to focus on what is real, not the constructs or stories my mind tells me. When applied correctly it promotes humility, empathy and compassion and the scientific research on it is, though in its infancy, very promising. Through neuroplasticity you can literally alter the physical structure of your brain by meditating, and make it a place far more calm and in touch with the world. Ultimately it has allowed me to cultivate presence into my everyday life and has given me the ability to use my mind rather than have my mind use me.
Sam Harris’ Waking Up – https://samharris.org/books/waking-up/
“A reliable way of making people believe in falsehoods is frequent repetition, because familiarity is not easily distinguished from truth.”
– Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow
“But it’s in the nature of progress that it erases its tracks, and its champions fixate on the remaining injustices and forget how far we have come.”
– Steven Pinker, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
Recognising these limitations in our reasoning is crucial to making progress. Steven Pinker’s excellent book Enlightenment Now is a brilliant defence of reason, rationality and science and shows how in almost every area we look at the world is immeasurably better. We live longer, are healthier, safer and inhabit a more peaceful world than ever before and it is always worth remembering that. There is no denying that we face some huge obstacles at the moment, but these are challenges we are capable of solving. Using reason, compassion and science, rather than gut intuitions, faith and emotions will help us do just that.
Beyond his writing, Chris is deeply involved in Arts at the Arms, a performing arts organisation he co-founded with James Underwood.
Arts at the Arms supports local creatives in sharing their work, with a focus on showcasing original pieces and nurturing emerging talent from across West Yorkshire — all in a relaxed and welcoming setting.
Chris and James established Arts at the Arms after over a decade of friendship, originally meeting over a pint back in the Old Bar at Leeds University Union (one buying, one selling).
