Stephen Adly Guirgis | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1965 (age 59–60) Kearny, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Education | University at Albany, SUNY (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | Playwright, screenwriter, director, actor |
| Notable work | Between Riverside and Crazy |
| Awards | Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2015) |
Stephen Adly Guirgis (born 1965) is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is a member and a former co-artistic director ofNew York City'sLAByrinth Theater Company.[1] His plays have been produced bothOff-Broadway and onBroadway, as well as in the UK. His playBetween Riverside and Crazy won the 2015Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Born in 1965 inKearny, New Jersey,[2] Guirgis is the son of anEgyptian father and anIrish American mother.[3] He was raised onNew York City'sUpper West Side. He attended school in nearbyHarlem and graduated from theUniversity at Albany, SUNY in 1992.[1][3] He studied theatre atHB Studio.[4]
Guirgis' playIn Arabia We'd All Be Kings ran Off-Broadway in 1999.[5] A production at theElephant Theatre Company in Hollywood, California in 2007 received four LA Drama Critic's Circle Awards: Production, Writing, Scenic Design and Lighting Design.[6]
Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train premiered Off-Broadway in a production byLAByrinth Theater Company in 2000.[7][8] It was produced in London at theDonmar Warehouse in 2002,[9] and was nominated for theOlivier Award, Best New Play for 2003,[10] as well as theEdinburgh Festival Fringe First Award.[citation needed]
His playOur Lady of 121st Street ran originally in an Off-Broadway production by the LAByrinth Theater at Center Stage/NY and then transferred to theUnion Square Theatre from March 6, 2003, to July 27, 2003. The play was directed byPhilip Seymour Hoffman.[11] The play received Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Best Play.[12]
His playThe Last Days of Judas Iscariot was produced Off-Broadway by LAByrinth atThe Public Theatre in 2005 and was directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman,[13][14] and was named one of the year's "10 best" plays byTime magazine andEntertainment Weekly.[citation needed] The play completed a critically acclaimed run in London at the Almeida Theater on May 10, 2008.[15]
His one-act play,Dominica The Fat Ugly Ho, was directed byAdam Rapp as part of the 2006 E.S.T. Marathon.[16]
The Little Flower of East Orange, starringEllen Burstyn and directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, was produced Off-Broadway by the LAByrinth Theater Company atThe Public Theater, opening on April 6, 2008, and closing on May 4, 2008.[17][18] The play was developed at theManhattan Theatre Club's "6 @ 7" series.[19]
His playThe Motherfucker With the Hat was nominated for sevenTony Awards and premiered onBroadway in 2011 and featuredBobby Cannavale,Chris Rock,Elizabeth Rodriguez,Annabella Sciorra and Yul Vazquez.[20] It was also performed in San Francisco atSan Francisco Playhouse in January 2013 where it received positive reviews.[21]
Guirgis' playBetween Riverside and Crazy premieredOff-Broadway at theAtlantic Theater Company in July 2014 and closed on August 23, 2014.[22] It then was produced bySecond Stage Theatre, opening in previews on January 16, 2015, officially on February 11, 2015. Directed byAustin Pendleton, the play featuredStephen McKinley Henderson.[23] The play received a nomination for the 2015Drama League Award, Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play.[24] The play won the 2015Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play,[25] the 2015New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play,[26] and the 2015Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play.[27]Artists Repertory Theatre, located in Portland, Oregon, stagedBetween Riverside and Crazy from March 4 to April 1, 2018.[28] The show had its Broadway debut with previews beginning December 1, 2022, and opening on December 19, 2022.
His award-winning playHalfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven, directed byJohn Ortiz in 2019 in a LAByrinth Theater/Atlantic Theater co-production, features a cast of 18 plus a goat, and garneredObie Awards for its two stars,Liza Colón-Zayas and Elizabeth Rodriguez.
His adaptation of the filmDog Day Afternoon will premiere on Broadway on March 10, 2026. The show will have a 16 week run at the August Wilson Theatre, with an official opening date of March 30, 2026.[29]
Television writing credits includeNYPD Blue,[15]David Milch's short-livedCBS dramaBig Apple,[1] andShane Salerno's short-livedNBC seriesUC: Undercover. Guirgis collaborated with Academy Award nominated directorBaz Luhrmann onThe Get Down, aNetflix series about the birth ofhip-hop in the 1970s.[30]
He developed and directed Liza Colón-Zayas' playSistah Supreme forDanny Hoch's Hip Hop Theater Festival in 2000,[31] Marco Greco's award-winningBehind the Counter with Mussolini at the York Theatre (1998 in New York)[32] andLos Angeles (1999 and 2002),[33] and directed Melanie Maras'Kiss Me on the Mouth for InViolet Rep in 2009.[34]
He appeared in Brett C. Leonard's stage playGuinea Pig Solo, produced by LAByrinth at The Public Theater in 2004.[35] He has had supporting roles in films such as Todd Solondz'sPalindromes (2004),[36] Brett C. Leonard'sJailbait (2004), and Kenneth Lonergan'sMargaret (2011).[37] Other credits include the 1997Law & Order episode "Terminal" and films such asMeet Joe Black (1998),[38]Blackbird (2007),[39]Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot (2007),[40]Noise (2007),[41]Synecdoche, New York (2008),[42] and Philip Seymour Hoffman's directorial debutJack Goes Boating (2010). Guirgis was a series regular portraying Frank Mariani on HBO'sWinning Time.
In 2017 Guirgis was embroiled in a publicized debate with a small theater in San Francisco which had produced an edited version ofThe Last Days of Judas Iscariot. While Guirgis was displeased to learn that his play had been edited without his permission, in violation of the production's licensing contract, he was also sympathetic to the production's cast and crew and did not want to shut down the production asDramatists Play Service recommended. He requested that the theater place inserts in the show programs explaining that the show was edited without his permission and against his wishes. When Guirgis saw a copy of the program insert he requested, he deemed the insert unsuitable and had the production shut down.[43][44]
Guirgis has used improvisational theater to "teachHIV/AIDS prevention, conflict resolution, and leadership" in prisons, schools, shelters, and hospitals.[45] Guirgis was close professional and personal friends with late actorPhilip Seymour Hoffman[43] with whom he was a frequent collaborator.
Guirgis was awarded a 2006PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award for a playwright in mid-career,[46] a 2006Whiting Award,[47] and a 2004 TCG fellowship. He attended the 2006 Sundance Screenwriter's Lab,[48] and was named one of 2004's 25 New Faces of Independent Film byFilmmaker Magazine.
In 2014, Guirgis was awarded the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award.
Guirgis is the recipient of new play commissions fromManhattan Theatre Club, Center Theater Group, andSouth Coast Repertory. He is a member of New Dramatists, MCC's Playwright's Coalition, New River Dramatists, Primary Stages, and theActors Studio Playwright/Directors Unit.
He received the 2013Windham–Campbell Literature Prize.[49]
He received the 2015Pulitzer Prize for Drama forBetween Riverside and Crazy.[50]
Our Lady of 121st Street received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination, Outstanding Play, Outstanding Director (Hoffman); 2003 Outer Critics Circle Award nomination, John Glassner Award; Drama Desk Award nomination, Director (Hoffman) and Outstanding Play.[51]
He received a Literature Award from theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters in May 2016.
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