I write plays for people who wouldn't be seen dead in the theatre.

Keeffe was educated at East Ham Grammar School. He was writer-in-residence at the Shaw Theatre in 1977 resident playwright with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1978 and associate writer with the Theatre Royal Stratford East from 1986 to 1991. Barrie Colin Keeffe (born 31 October 1945) is an English dramatist and screenwriter best known for his screenplay for the 1981 film The Long Good Friday.

In 2010 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Warwick. He joined the National Youth Theatre as an actor but actually started work as a journalist. He was writer-in-residence at the Shaw Theatre in 1977 resident playwright with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1978 and associate writer with the Theatre Royal Stratford East from 1986 to 1991.