Playwright Christopher Durang appears on stage with producers to accept the award for best play for “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” at the 67th Annual Tony Awards, on June 9, 2013, in New York. Also on stage are actors, background from left, Shalita Grant, Kristine Nielsen and Billy
Tag: Playwright
Christopher Durang, Playwright Who Mixed High Art and Low Humor, Dies at 75
Christopher Durang, a Tony Award-winning playwright and a master satirist, died Tuesday night at his home in Pipersville, Pa., in Bucks County. He was 75. His agent, Patrick Herold, said the cause was complications of aphasia. In 2016, Mr. Durang was found to have a rare form of dementia, logopenic
Joan Holden, 85, Playwright Who Skewered Rich and Powerful, Dies
To Joan Holden, a fiercely left-wing playwright for the award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe, life in a capitalist society offered almost too many targets: conniving politicians, labor-squashing industrialists and masters of war looking to profit by spreading conflict around the globe, to name just a few. As the theater collective’s
Mbongeni Ngema, Playwright Best Known for ‘Sarafina!,’ Dies at 68
Mbongeni Ngema, a South African playwright, lyricist and director whose stage works, including the Tony-nominated musical “Sarafina!,” challenged and mocked his homeland’s longtime policy of racial apartheid, died on Wednesday in a hospital in Mbizana, South Africa, after a car accident. He was 68. Mr. Ngema was a passenger in
Mbongeni Ngema, South African playwright and creator of 'Sarafina!', has died at 68
Performers Percy Mtwa, left, and Mbongeni Ngema in a scene from “Woza Albert” at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1981. Ruphin Coudyzer/AP hide caption toggle caption Ruphin Coudyzer/AP Performers Percy Mtwa, left, and Mbongeni Ngema in a scene from “Woza Albert” at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg,
Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse wins the 2023 Nobel Prize in literature
A file photo of a Nobel medal displayed during a ceremony in New York in 2020. Angela Weiss/AP hide caption toggle caption Angela Weiss/AP A file photo of a Nobel medal displayed during a ceremony in New York in 2020. Angela Weiss/AP Jon Fosse has won the 2023 Nobel Prize
Tina Howe, Playwright Best Known for ‘Coastal Disturbances,’ Dies at 85
Tina Howe, who in plays that could be extravagant productions or small-cast gems zeroed in on the humor, heartache and solidity of her characters’ lives, particularly the female ones, died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 85. Her family said the cause was complications of a broken hip sustained in
The Playwright Who Changed the Face of American Theater
This endearing friendship was formative for both men. Yoshimura had been told that he would succeed only if he wrote plays about Asian Americans, but Wilson assured him that was nonsense. Yoshimura tried to engage him on the subject of father-son relationships, since that is the foundation of “Fences.” Wilson,
Robert Patrick, Early, and Prolific, Playwright of Gay Life, Dies at 85
Robert Patrick, a wildly prolific playwright who rendered gay (and straight) life with caustic wit, an open heart and fizzy camp, and whose 1964 play, “The Haunted Host,” became a touchstone of early gay theater, died on April 23 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 85. The cause
A Playwright Makes the Scene in New York’s Dwelling Rooms
Within the fall of 2020, a younger playwright named Matthew Gasda determined to entertain some pals by staging a one-act drama on a grassy hilltop of Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn. The masked viewers shortly realized that what they have been watching was conspicuously relatable: Carried out on a picnic