Craig Wright (born April 25, 1965, in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...
) is a playwright, television producer and writer. He is known for writing for shows including ''
Six Feet Under'' and ''
Lost
Lost may refer to getting lost, or to:
Geography
*Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland
* Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US
History
*Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
'' and creating the television series ''
Dirty Sexy Money
''Dirty Sexy Money'' is an American prime time drama television series created by Craig Wright. It ran on ABC from September 26, 2007, to August 8, 2009. The series was produced by Berlanti Television and ABC Studios. Wright served as an ex ...
'' and ''
Greenleaf''. He also was the screenwriter for the movie ''
Mr. Peabody & Sherman'', released March 7, 2014.
Biography
Born in 1965 in Puerto Rico, Wright attended
St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and went on to earn a Masters of Divinity degree from the
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities (United) is an ecumenical graduate school, historically rooted in the United Church of Christ and located in St. Paul, Minnesota. The school was formed in 1962 with the merger of Mission House Semin ...
.
[InsiderInsights](_blank)
/ref> He lives in Los Angeles and New York City.
Playwright
Wright is known primarily for his plays: ''Grace'', ''Mistakes Were Made'', ''The Pavilion'', ''Recent Tragic Events'', ''Main Street'' and numerous others. Wright has received awards and award nominations for his work, including the Jerome Fellowship at age 21 and apprenticeships in playwriting from the McKnight Foundation
The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. Established in 1953, the McKnight Foundation is deeply committed to advancing climate solutions in ...
and the National Endowment for the Arts. Wright was the recipient of the 2009 Horton Foote Excellence in American Playwriting Award from Baylor University in Waco, Texas
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...
. He is a member of the ensemble of the Chicago-based A Red Orchid Theatre.
Pine City plays
Wright set four plays in Pine City, Minnesota
Pine City is a city in and the county seat of Pine County, in east central Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,130 at the 2020 census. A portion of the city is located on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation. Founded as a railway town, ...
.
''Molly's Delicious'', a romantic comedy, first played at the Arden Theatre Company, Philadelphia, in September 1997, directed by Aaron Posner
Aaron Posner is an American playwright and theater director. He was co-founder of the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia and was the artistic director of Two River Theatre from 2006 to 2010. He has directed over 100 productions at major region ...
. The play takes place in Pine City, Minnesota, in 1965.
The next play set in Pine City is ''Orange Flower Water
Orange flower
Orange flower water, or orange blossom water, is a clear aromatic by-product of the distillation of fresh bitter-orange blossoms for their essential oil.
Uses
This essential water has traditionally been used as an aromatizer i ...
'', described by the Chicago ''Sun-Times'' as "a brutally honest drama about marriage and infidelity." The play premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Unitarian church on Half Day Road in Deerfield, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on ...
, Chicago, from October through December 2003. and ran Off-Broadway at the Edge Theater Company in April 2005.
It was published in August 2004. In 2005 it was performed at the Off-Off-Broadway
Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the pro ...
Theater for the New City
Theater for the New City, founded in 1971 and known familiarly as "TNC", is one of New York City's leading off-off-Broadway theaters, known for radical political plays and community commitment. Productions at TNC have won 43 Obie Awards and the P ...
with a cast of Arija Bareikis
Arija Allison Bareikis is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Officer Chickie Brown in the TV crime drama '' Southland''. She is also known for the films '' Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo'' and ''The Purge''.
Early life and educ ...
, Paul Sparks
Paul Sparks (born October 16, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as gangster Mickey Doyle in the HBO period drama series ''Boardwalk Empire'', writer Thomas Yates in the Netflix political drama series '' House of Cards'', m ...
, Jason Butler Harner
Jason Thomas Butler Harner (born October 9, 1970) is an American actor.
Life and career
Harner was born in Elmira, New York and grew up in suburban Northern Virginia, where he saw a handful of plays at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage. His mid ...
and Pamela J. Gray, directed by Carolyn Cantor, and a 2013 production in Los Angeles was critically reviewed by '' Backstage''.
''The Pavilion'' premiered Off-Broadway at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in September 2005. ''The Pavilion'' was nominated for the American Theatre Critics Association The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) is the only nationwide professional association of theatre critics in the United States. The ATCA membership consists of theatre critics who write reviews and critiques of live theatre for print, broad ...
Best New Play Award and a 2005–2006 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play and has had over 40 productions since its premiere in 2000; in the 2008 summer season it was produced at the Westport Country Playhouse
Westport Country Playhouse, is a not-for-profit regional theater in Westport, Connecticut, Westport, Connecticut.
It was founded in 1931 by Lawrence Langner, a New York theater producer. Langner remodeled an 1830s tannery with a Broadway-quality ...
. It was also produced for Boise Contemporary Theater
Boise Contemporary Theater (BCT) is a small professional theater company located in Boise, Idaho. Since 1997, BCT has been the only professional theater company in Boise committed to performing a complete season of contemporary work.
History
BCT ...
's 2009/10 Season.
''Melissa Arctic'' is the last play of his Pine City works, and ran at the Folger Theatre
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materia ...
, Washington, DC, in January and February 2004, with direction by Aaron Posner.
Other plays
''Recent Tragic Events'' premiered at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is a non-profit theatre company located at 641 D Street NW in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1980, it produces new plays which it believes to be edgy, challenging, and thought-provokin ...
, Washington, D.C. in September 2002. The play was then produced Off-Broadway by Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work.
Under the ...
in September 2003. The play won an ATCA Best New Play Citation Award in 2002.
''Grace'' premiered in October 2004 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. The play premiered on Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
at the Cort Theatre
The James Earl Jones Theatre, originally the Cort Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 138 West 48th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. It was built in ...
in September 2012 (previews), officially on October 4, 2012, and features Kate Arrington, Ed Asner
Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' a ...
, Paul Rudd
Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame i ...
and Michael Shannon
Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, producer, musician, and theater director. He is an off beat actor known for his on-screen versatility, performing in both comedies and dramas. He became known for his frequent ...
with direction by Dexter Bullard.
His play ''The Unseen'' was performed at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York in March 2009. ''Blind'' premiered in February 2010 at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre in New York. ''The Gray Sisters'' premiered in April 2010 at Third Rail Rep in Portland, Oregon.
Television career
His television writing debut was on the 2001 HBO series, '' Six Feet Under'', joining the writing staff during the 2003 season. During that season, he wrote "Twilight," for which he was nominated for an Emmy and "Timing and Space"; he penned 3 more episodes of ''Six Feet Under'' and co-wrote one with co-executive producer, Jill Soloway
Joey Soloway (previously Jill Soloway; born September 26, 1965) is an American television creator, showrunner, director and writer. Soloway is known for creating, writing, executive producing and directing the Amazon original series '' Transparent ...
. In 2004, he was appointed Executive Story Editor with Nancy Oliver. In 2005, he became a producer for the fifth and final season.
In 2005, he signed a 2-year deal with Touchstone Television
The second incarnation of Touchstone Television (formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios) was an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Disney Media Networks' Walt Disney Television owned by The Walt Disney Company. It ...
. He served as a supervising producer and writer for the second season of ABCs ''Lost
Lost may refer to getting lost, or to:
Geography
*Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland
* Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US
History
*Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
'' in Fall 2005. He left the series midseason after co-writing two episodes. Wright and the ''Lost'' writing staff won the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2006 ceremony for their work on the first and second seasons.
Wright became a co-executive producer and writer on ABC's '' Brothers & Sisters'' in 2006.
During the 2007 season, Wright worked as the creator, head writer, and executive producer of ABC's ''Dirty Sexy Money
''Dirty Sexy Money'' is an American prime time drama television series created by Craig Wright. It ran on ABC from September 26, 2007, to August 8, 2009. The series was produced by Berlanti Television and ABC Studios. Wright served as an ex ...
,'' which stars ''Six Feet Under'' alumnus Peter Krause
Peter William Krause (; born August 12, 1965) is an American actor, director, and producer. He has played lead roles in multiple television series, portraying Casey McCall on '' Sports Night'' (1998–2000), Nate Fisher on '' Six Feet Under'' ( ...
, Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films '' Citizen X'' (1995) a ...
, Samaire Armstrong
Samaire Rhys Armstrong ( ) is an American actress and fashion designer. She is known for her roles in '' Stay Alive'', '' The O.C.'', ''It's a Boy Girl Thing'', and as Juliet Darling in the ABC television series, ''Dirty Sexy Money''. She has ap ...
and William Baldwin
William Joseph Baldwin (born February 21, 1963), Note: While birthplace is routinely listed as Massapequa, that town has no hospital, and brother Alec Baldwin was born in nearby Amityville, which does. known also as Billy Baldwin,is an American ...
. The pilot was produced by Greg Berlanti
Gregory Berlanti (born May 24, 1972) is an American screenwriter, producer and director of film and television. He is known for his work on the television series ''Dawson's Creek'', '' Brothers & Sisters'', '' Everwood'', '' Political Animals'', ...
and directed by Peter Horton
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
. The series premiered in the fall of 2007.
In 2015, Wright created drama series '' Greenleaf'' for Oprah Winfrey Network.
Writing credits
''Six Feet Under'' episodes
* Timing and Space, (2003)
* Twilight, (2003)
* Falling into Place, (2004)
* The Black Forest, with Jill Soloway
Joey Soloway (previously Jill Soloway; born September 26, 1965) is an American television creator, showrunner, director and writer. Soloway is known for creating, writing, executive producing and directing the Amazon original series '' Transparent ...
, (2004)
* Time Flies, (2005)
* Static (2005)
''Lost'' episodes
* "Orientation
Orientation may refer to:
Positioning in physical space
* Map orientation, the relationship between directions on a map and compass directions
* Orientation (housing), the position of a building with respect to the sun, a concept in building de ...
" (2005) with Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Javier "Javi" Grillo-Marxuach (), born October 28, 1969 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a television screenwriter and producer, and podcaster, known for his work as writer and producer on the first two seasons of the ABC television series ''Lost'', ...
* " What Kate Did" (2005) with Steven Maeda
''Brothers & Sisters'' episodes
* "Affairs of State", with Jon Robin Baitz
Jon Robin Baitz (born November 4, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and television producer. He is a two time Pulitzer Prize finalist, as well as a Guggenheim, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and National Endowment for the ...
(2006)
* "Family Portrait", with Jon Robin Baitz and Emily Whitesell (2006)
* "Mistakes Were Made, Part One", with Jon Robin Baitz (2006)
Music
A musician, Wright was co-leader of an alternative rock band The Tropicals', whose first album, ''Live at the Jungle'', was released in 1996 . As a member of the band Kangaroo he has released three albums, ''Phantom'', ''Skyscraper Spaceship'' and ''Songs (French)''.
References
External links
*
Craight Wright Internet Off-Broadway Database Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Craig
Living people
1965 births
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American soap opera writers
American television producers
Writers Guild of America Award winners
Puerto Rican dramatists and playwrights
American male screenwriters
College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University alumni
American male television writers
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers