John Guare ( ;; born February 5, 1938) is an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of '' The House of Blue Leaves'' and ''

Six Degrees of Separation Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of " friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It is also ...

''.

Early life

He was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens.Druckman, Stephen
"THEATER; In Guare's Art, Zero Degrees of Separation"
''

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'', April 11, 1999 In 1949 his father suffered a heart attack and subsequently moved the family to Ellenville, New York while he recovered. His father's relatives lived there, making it an idyllic experience for him. Guare did not regularly attend school in Ellenville because the school's daily practices were not in keeping with the recommendations of the Catholic Church, causing his father to suspect the school had communist leanings. Instead of attending school, Guare was assigned home study and took exams intermittently, which allowed him time to go to the movies and see all the hits of the time. This had a lasting influence on Guare and his career. He attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and the

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...

, graduating in 1962 with a M.F.A in Playwriting. Under the direction of Georgetown's

Donn B. Murphy Donn B. Murphy (July 21, 1930 – April 3, 2022) taught theatre and speech courses at Georgetown University from 1954 to 2000. At the invitation of Jacqueline Kennedy and Letitia Baldrige, he became a theatrical advisor to the John F. Kennedy and ...

, his play ''The Toadstool Boy'', about a country singer's quest for fame, won first place in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

Recreation Department's One-Act-Play competition.Plunka, Gene A., "Chapter 1", ''The Black Comedy of John Guare'', University of Delaware Press, 2002, , pp 26–27, 29 In 1960, the Mask and Bauble presented ''The Thirties Girl,'' a musical for which Guare did the book, much of the music and the lyrics, again under Murphy's tutelage. Set in Hollywood's turbulent 1920s, it deals with the dethronement of a reigning diva by a fresh-faced starlet.

Career

Guare's early plays, mostly comic one-acts exhibiting a flair for the absurd, include ''To Wally Pantoni, We Leave a Credenza'', produced at Caffe Cino in 1965 and '' Muzeeka'' (1968). '' Cop-Out'' premiered on Broadway at the Cort Theatre on April 7, 1969 and closed on April 12, 1969, as part of two one-act plays, including ''Home Fires''. ''Cop-Out'' starred Linda Lavin and Ron Leibman. '' The House of Blue Leaves'', a domestic drama by turns wildly comic and despairingly poignant, premiered Off-Broadway in 1971 at the Truck and Warehouse Theatre. It was revived Off-Broadway at the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

in 1986 before transferring to Broadway later in 1986. The play was revived on Broadway in 2011, starring

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...

, whose mother,

Anne Meara Anne Meara Stiller (September 20, 1929 – May 23, 2015) was an American actress and comedian. Along with her husband Jerry Stiller, she was one-half of the prominent 1960s comedy team Stiller and Meara. Their son is actor, director, and producer ...

, had appeared in the 1971 production. According to Marilyn Stasio writing in ''Variety'' the play "sets the bar for smart comic lunacy." '' Chaucer in Rome'', "said to be a sequel of sorts to ... 'The House of Blue Leaves' and includ ngthe son of one of the earlier play's characters" received its world premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in July 1999 and was produced

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

in 2001 at Lincoln Center Theater's Newhouse Theater. Later plays include '' Marco Polo Sings a Solo'', produced at the Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival in January to March 1977, with a cast that featured Joel Grey, Anne Jackson, Madeline Kahn, and Sigourney Weaver. '' Bosoms and Neglect'' was produced on Broadway in 1979, and revived Off-Broadway in 1998 by the Signature Theatre Company. '' Moon Over Miami'' was produced at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 1987 and then at the Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven in February 1989. Guare's cycle of plays on nineteenth-century America are: ''Gardenia'' (1982) ''

Lydie Breeze Lydie may refer to: *Lydie Arickx (born 1954), French artist, with parents of Flemish origin *Lydie Auvray (born 1956), French accordionist, composer and singer *Lydie Denier (born 1964), French model and actress *Lydie Dubedat-Briero (born 1962), ...

'' (1982) and ''

Women and Water A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

'' (1985). The so-called ''Lydie Breeze'' series, also called the "Nantucket" series, "follows a group of idealistic 19th century characters and their attempts to create a

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island socie ...

n society. " ''

'' was originally produced Off-Broadway at the Lincoln Center Theater, Newhouse Theatre in June 1990. ''Six Degrees of Separation'' is an intricately plotted comedy of manners about an African-American confidence man who poses as the son of film star

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive Go ...

. It has been the most highly praised and widely produced of Guare's full-length plays. It was made into a film in 1993, starring Stockard Channing and

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

. ''

Four Baboons Adoring the Sun 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest co ...

'' was presented on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre from February 22, 1992 to April 19, 1992, and was nominated for the 1992 Tony Award, Best Play. '' Lake Hollywood'' (1999) and ''

A Few Stout Individuals A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...

'' (2002) both received their world premieres at Signature Theatre. ''A Few Stout Individuals'' is set in nineteenth century America, with a cast of characters that includes Ulysses S. Grant,

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

, soprano

Adelina Patti Adelina Patti (19 February 184327 September 1919) was an Italian 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851, and gave her la ...

and the Emperor and Empress of Japan. Guare has also been involved with musical theatre. His libretto with Mel Shapiro for the musical ''

Two Gentlemen of Verona ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps in laying ...

'' was a success when it premiered in 1971 and was revived in 2005 at the

Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American L ...

's Shakespeare in the Park. It won the two men the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical. He wrote the songs for '' Landscape of the Body.'' Guare wrote narration for ''Psyche'', a tone poem by

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was p ...

, which premiered at

Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designe ...

in October 1997, conducted by

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orch ...

with the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

. He revised the book (uncredited) of the

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

musical comedy ''

Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-sta ...

'' for its 1999 Broadway revival. He wrote the book for the musical ''

Sweet Smell of Success ''Sweet Smell of Success'' is a 1957 American film noir drama film directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, and Martin Milner, and written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman, and Mackendrick from ...

'', which premiered on Broadway in 2002, for which he received a 2002 Tony Award nomination, Book of a Musical. His play ''

A Free Man of Color ''A Free Man of Color'' is a play written by John Guare. The play is set in New Orleans in 1801 as the United States is attempting to purchase Louisiana from France, as well as some scenes taking place in Haiti and France. The story follows main ...

'' was a finalist for the 2011

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were ...

. The Pulitzer citation said: "An audacious play spread across a large historical canvas, dealing with serious subjects while retaining a playful intellectual buoyancy.""Pulitzer Prize for Drama"
pulitzer.org, accessed November 15, 2015 Guare wrote the screenplay for

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down," Malle's filmog ...

's film '' Atlantic City'' (1980), for which he was nominated for an Oscar.

Other activities

He was an original member in 1965 of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in

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Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

Cattaneo, Anne
"John Guare, The Art of Theater No. 9. Interview"
''The Paris Review'', Winter 1992, accessed November 14, 2015 and Resident Playwright at the

New York Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions a ...

, during which time he wrote ''Landscape of the Body'', ''Rich and Famous'', and ''Marco Polo Sings a Solo''. He is a council member of the

Dramatists Guild The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market. Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Me ...

. He is Co-Executive Editor of the ''Lincoln Center Theater Review'', which he founded in 1987. He co-produces the New Plays Reading Room Series at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts and teaches in the Playwriting department at the

Critical acclaim

In his foreword to a collection of Guare's plays,

wrote:

Guare practices a humor that is synonymous with lucidity, exploding genre and clichés, taking us to the core of human suffering: the awareness of corruption in our own bodies, death circling in. We try to fight it all by creating various mythologies, and it is Guare's peculiar aptitude for exposing these grandiose lies of ours that makes his work so magical.

Gregory Mosher, formerly the artistic director of Lincoln Center Theatre, said that Guare, "along with David Mamet, Sam Shepard and a handful of other dramatists, reshaped the face of contemporary American theater over the past quarter century."

Works

All plays for the stage unless otherwise noted. * 1971: '' The House of Blue Leaves'' * 1971: ''

'' * 1971: '' Taking Off'' (screenplay) * 1974: '' Rich and Famous'' * 1977: '' Landscape of the Body'' * 1977: '' Marco Polo Sings a Solo'' – Off-Broadway * 1979: '' Bosoms and Neglect'' * 1980: '' Atlantic City'' (screenplay) * 1981: ''In Fireworks Lie Secret Codes'' * 1982: ''Lydie Breeze'' * 1982: ''Gardenia'' * 1985: ''Women and Water'' * 1986: ''

The Race to Urga ''The Race to Urga'', later renamed ''A Pray by Blecht'', is an unfinished musical adaptation of the Bertolt Brecht play ''The Exception and the Rule''. Collaboration on the production was initiated in 1968, with Jerome Robbins asking John Guar ...

'' * 1990: ''

'' * 1992: ''Four Baboons Adoring the Sun'' – Broadway (Vivian Beaumont Theatre)"'Four Baboons Adoring the Sun' Broadway"
playbillvault.com, accessed November 15, 2015 * 1999: ''Lake Hollywood'' – Off-Broadway * 2001: '' Chaucer in Rome'' * 2002: ''A Few Stout Individuals'' * 2010: ''

'' – Broadway (Vivian Beaumont Theater) * 2011: ''Erased/Elżbieta'' * 2012: ''Are You There, McPhee?'' –

McCarter Theatre McCarter Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional company on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. The institution is currently led by Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg. ...

* 2013: ''3 Kinds of Exile'' – Off-Broadway * 2019: ''Nantucket Sleigh Ride'' - Off-Broadway (Lincoln Center Newhouse) (revised version of ''Are You There, McPhee?'')

Awards and honors

* ''Muzeeka'' won an Obie for Distinguished Play in 1968. * '' The House of Blue Leaves'' won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play in 1971 and the 1971 Obie Award, Best American Play; it won four

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

s for its 1986 revival at Lincoln Center Theater. * ''

'' won both the

and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical in 1972. Guare also received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics and Book. * ''

'' won an Obie Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and London's Olivier Award for Best Play; it was a finalist for the 1991

. * Guare received the Award of Merit in 1981 from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for his plays ''The House of Blue Leaves'', ''Rich and Famous'', ''Marco Polo Sings a Solo'', ''Landscape of the Body'' and ''Bosoms and Neglect''. He received the Gold Medal in 2004. * In 1989, the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters elected him a member. * In 1993, he was elected to the

American Theater Hall of Fame The American Theater Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the organization's Executive Committee. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the ...

. * In 1996, he received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...

. * The Signature Theatre honored him with a season 1998 – 1999. * In 2003, he received the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for a Master American Dramatist. *In 2005, Guare was awarded the Obie Award for Sustained Achievement *Guare received an honorary Master of Fine Arts degree from A.C.T. Conservatory, San Francisco, in May 2009. * Guare received the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dramatists Guild of America, in 2014.Purcell, Carey
"John Guare, Christopher Durang and More Will Be Honored at Dramatists Guild of America Awards"
Playbill, February 11, 2014

Personal life

He is married to

Adele Chatfield-Taylor Adele Chatfield-Taylor (born June 29, 1945) is an American arts administrator. She served as president and CEO of the American Academy in Rome from 1988 to 2013. Education, career, and honors Virginia-born and bred Chatfield-Taylor received a B.A ...

, an historic preservationist; she was President and CEO of the American Academy in Rome. They split their time between New York City, Long Island and the historic village of Waterford, Virginia where his wife grew up.

References

External links

* * * *
Biography
at theatredatabase.com
John Guare with poster for his Caffe Cino production

John Guare Papers
at Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Guare, John 1938 births American male dramatists and playwrights American dramatists and playwrights Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Georgetown University alumni Living people Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Obie Award recipients Writers from Queens, New York Yale School of Drama alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Yale School of Drama faculty Tony Award winners People from Jackson Heights, Queens