David Greenspan

For the Ohio politician, see David Greenspan (politician).
David Greenspan
Greenspan in 2017
Born1956 (age 67–68)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Stage actor, playwright
PartnerWilliam Kennon

David Greenspan (born 1956) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of six Obies, including an award in 2010 for Sustained Achievement.[1]

Life

Greenspan was born in 1956 in Los Angeles, California. He holds a B.A. in Drama from the University of California at Irvine. He lives in New York City with his long-time partner, painter William Kennon.[2]

Career

"A classicist in experimental clothing, David Greenspan is a playwright who is also passionately involved in the theatre as an actor and director. From his early more autobiographical plays (one of which, Principia, took inspiration from the shifting modalities of Joyce’s Ulysses) to more recent works inspired by (and at times adapted from the work of) Hawthorne, Stein, Molnar, and Thorton Wilder, Greenspan’s theatre is a place where anything can happen. Deliciously complicated, incredibly funny, the work, whether tragic, tender, mysterious or cruel, betrays a profoundly empathic imagination. Both wildly conjured and deeply attentive to diverse literary and theatrical traditionsfrom vaudeville and Greek mythology to the Bible and boulevard comedyGreenspan’s plays ask big questions about history, creation, sexual behavior, the complications of family and the very act of performing a play."[3]

In 2009 he collaborated with Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields in a musical adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, under the direction of Leigh Silverman. In an interview with Lizzie Olesker in The Brooklyn Rail, Greenspan describes the musical: "We suggest things. Not like a large animated musical. There’s no amplification of our voices. We wanted something that was more direct and immediate as opposed to something coming out of a wall of sound."[4]

In 2022, Greenspan was included in the book 50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre, profiled in a chapter written by performance scholar Nick Salvato.[5]

List of works

Theater

  • The Horizontal And The Vertical, world premiere HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, NYC, 1986
  • Dig A Hole And Bury You Father, world premiere HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, NYC, 1987
  • Jack, world premiere HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, NYC, 1987
  • Principa, world premiere HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, NYC, 1988
  • The Home Show Pieces, world premiere HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, NYC, 1988[6]
  • 2 Samuel 11, Etc., world premiere HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, NYC, 1989
  • Dead Mother, Or Shirley Not All In Vain, world premiere NYSF/Public Theater, 1991
  • Dog In A Dancing School, world premiere Dance Theater Workshop, NYC, 1993
  • Son Of An Engineer, world premiere HERE Arts Center, NYC, 1993
  • Start From Scratch, world premiere New Renaissance @ Greenwich House, NYC, 1993
  • Them, world premiere Actors Theater of Louisville, 1993
  • Only Beauty, reading NYSF/The Public Theater, NYC, 1997
  • Five Frozen Embryos, world premiere New York Fringe Festival, 2002
  • She Stoops To Comedy, world premiere Playwrights Horizons, NYC, 2003[7]
  • The Argument, world premiere Target Margin Theater, NYC, 2007[8]
  • Old Comedy From Aristophanes' Frogs, world premiere Target Margin Theater, NYC, 2008[9]
  • Coraline, world premiere Manhattan Class Company, NYC, 2009[10]
  • The Myopia, an epic burlesque of tragic proportion, world premiere The Foundry Theatre, NYC, 2010[11]
  • Go Back To Where You Are, world premiere Playwrights Horizons, NYC, 2011[12]
  • Jump, world premiere Under The Radar Festival - NYSF/Public Theater, NYC, 2011[13]
  • Jonas, world premiere Transport Group, NYC, 2011
  • I'm Looking For Helen Twelvetrees, world premiere Abrons Arts Center, NYC 2015
  • The Bridge of San Luis Rey, world premiere Two River Theater, Red Bank, NJ, 2018[14]
  • On Set with Theda Bara, world premiere The Brick, Brooklyn, NY, 2023

Performance Credits

Theater

Awards and nominations

Awards
Nominations
Fellowships

Bibliography

Interviews

References

  1. ^ "Obie Awards for 'Circle Mirror Transformation' and Its Author" The New York Times
  2. ^ "Don Shewey Interview" donshewey.com
  3. ^ "David Greenspan Alpert Award bio" Archived 2011-03-09 at the Wayback Machine alpertawards.org
  4. ^ Olesker, Lizzie (May 2009). "The Power of Suggestion: David Greenspan". The Brooklyn Rail.
  5. ^ Salvato, Nick (2022). "David Greenspan". In Noriega and Schildcrout (ed.). 50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre. Routledge. pp. 85–89. ISBN 978-1032067964.
  6. ^ Gussow, Mel (29 January 1992). "Theater in Review". The New York Times.
  7. ^ "She Stoops to Comedy". 3 April 2003.
  8. ^ "The Argument & Dinner Party".
  9. ^ "Old Comedy".
  10. ^ "CORALINE :: MCC Theater :: New York City". Archived from the original on 2015-04-05. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  11. ^ "The Myopia". 18 February 2010.
  12. ^ "Go Back to Where You Are". 24 March 2011.
  13. ^ "Under the Radar: Festival Supported by Nettikasinot and Others".
  14. ^ "BROADWAY WORLD: Two River Theater Announces 10th Annual Crossing Borders Festival | Two River Theater". Archived from the original on 2018-02-20. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  15. ^ Dolen, Christine (2019-10-21). "His play speaks to Miami, a tale of love and loss that's set in Peru". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  16. ^ Green, Jesse (2018). "Review: Hipsters Double-Check Their Privilege in 'Cute Activist'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  17. ^ "David Greenspan to Perform Strange Interlude as a 6-Hour Solo Show | Playbill". Playbill. September 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
  18. ^ " Punk Rock Listing" Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine lortel.org, accessed May 11, 2015
  19. ^ [1] Archived 2014-12-26 at the Wayback Machine lortel.org
  20. ^ [2] Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine lortel.org
  21. ^ [3] Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine lortel.org
  22. ^ "25th annual Lambda Literary Award winners announced" Archived 2013-06-10 at the Wayback Machine. LGBT Weekly, June 4, 2013.
  23. ^ Obie search engine Archived 2013-05-30 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ Obie search engine Archived 2013-05-30 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ Village Voice 2006-2007 Obie Winners
  26. ^ Village Voice 2006-2007 Obie Winners
  27. ^ Obie search engine Archived 2013-05-30 at the Wayback Machine
  28. ^ Obie search engine Archived 2013-05-30 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  30. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  32. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  33. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  34. ^ Greenspan, David (2013). She Stoops to Comedy. Samuel French. ISBN 978-0573700705.
  35. ^ The Myopia and Other Plays by David Greenspan.
  36. ^ "Go Back to Where You Are by David Greenspan - Book - Subscriptions, Membership and Merchandise". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  37. ^ PLAY a Journal of Plays. Paper Theatre. January 2007.