Duncan Abel

Duncan Abel is a writer of plays, radio plays and short stories. He has written for BBC Radio 4 and was previously shortlisted for the Luke Bitmead Award for his novel The Way Home.

His stage adaptations of The Da Vinci Code, The Girl on the Train and Death Comes To Pemberley (all co-written with Rachel Wagstaff) have played on major UK tours and across Europe and the USA.  His first solo adaption, a stage version of the hit film Jack and Sarah, opened at the Mill at Sonning in May 2026.

★ ★ ★ ★
Abel’s adaptation enhances Sullivan’s original, particularly the comedy that draws on generational humour and the inherent absurdities of being new parents. The tone is overwhelmingly light, but there are episodes of grief – brutal and unfathomable – that genuinely hit home
The Stage on Jack and Sarah (Mill at Sonning)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Jack and Sarah is a rousing success … Emotionally heartfelt and brilliantly performed
Theatre and Tonic on Jack and Sarah (Mill at Sonning)

★ ★ ★ ★
funny and sad, charming and heartbreaking, and silly and sensitive
West End Best Friend on Jack and Sarah (Mill at Sonning)

Loss, love, social awkwardness and joy collide, all shot through with great lines in Duncan Abel’s adept adaptation of Tim Sullivan’s screenplay
Henley Standard on Jack and Sarah (Mill at Sonning)