Melissa James Gibson is a Canadian-born
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 ...
based in New York.
Life
The child of former
BC Liberal
The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 British Columbia general ...
MLA Gordon Gibson
Gordon Fullerton Gibson, (born 1937) is a political columnist, author, and politician in British Columbia (BC), Canada. He is the son of the late Gordon Gibson, who was a prominent businessman and Liberal Party politician in British Columbia i ...
and journalist Valerie Gibson, Melissa James Gibson grew up in North Vancouver.
[Theprovince.com]
/ref> She graduated from Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
and from 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 ...
with an M.F.A. in Playwriting. After graduating, she worked as a college counselor at the exclusive arts-oriented Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, ...
, where her daughter, Celia Frey, graduated in 2017 and her son, Griffin Frey, is a current sophomore. She is working on commissions for the La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.
History
La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...
and The Adirondack Theatre Festival. She has received fellowships from the Jerome Foundation and the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...
.
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
theatre critic Charles Isherwood wrote that, with her play ''This'', Gibson “graduates into the theatrical big leagues with this beautifully conceived, confidently executed and wholly accessible work.”
[
She subsequently wrote episodes for '']The Americans
''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg that aired on the FX (TV channel), FX television network for six seasons from January 30, 2013, to May 30, 2018. Weisberg ...
'' and ''House of Cards
A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structu ...
'', before joining Endeavor Content in an overall deal.
Awards
* 2002 Obie for playwriting, Kesselring Prize, The Best Plays of 2001–02 for '' ic''
* 2002 Whiting Award
* 201
Steinberg Playwright Award
Works
* ''God's Paws'' (1993).
* ''Six Fugues'' (1995).
''[sic]''
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 ...
commission, New York Premiere: Soho Rep
The Soho Repertory Theatre, known as Soho Rep,The official website'now use "Soho", with a lowercase h, as do most articles from th''New York Times''/ref> is an American Off-Broadway theater company based in New York City which is notable for prod ...
(2001).
* ''Suitcase, or Those That Resemble Flies From A Distance'' (NEA/ TCG Theatre Residency Program), Soho Rep
The Soho Repertory Theatre, known as Soho Rep,The official website'now use "Soho", with a lowercase h, as do most articles from th''New York Times''/ref> is an American Off-Broadway theater company based in New York City which is notable for prod ...
(2004).
* ''Brooklyn Bridge'', music by Barbara Brousal (The Children's Theater Company/New Dramatists Playground program commission) (2005).
* ''Current Nobody'', Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, DC, (2007).
* ''Nuda Veritas'', Philadelphia Fringe Festival (2009).
* ''This'', 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 ...
, (2009).Atlantic Theater Company
Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their act ...
(2012).
* Various episodes for the TV series The Americans
''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg that aired on the FX (TV channel), FX television network for six seasons from January 30, 2013, to May 30, 2018. Weisberg ...
(2013-2014).
* ''Placebo'', 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 ...
(2015).
* ''Given Fish'' (Steppenwolf Theatre Company commission, grants from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Greenwall Foundation)
References
External links
"Melissa James Gibson", ''doollee'
* ttp://www.observer.com/node/48769 "Melissa James Gibson: Lady of the Flies", ''The New York Observer'', John Heilpern, February 8, 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Melissa James
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
American dramatists and playwrights
Columbia University alumni
Yale School of Drama alumni
Place of birth missing (living people)
Obie Award recipients