William Mastrosimone (born August 19, 1947) 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 from Trenton,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. He attended high school at

The Pennington School The Pennington School is a private (independent), coeducational college preparatory school for day and boarding students in sixth through twelfth grades, located in Pennington, New Jersey, a small community in the northeastern United States mid ...

and received a graduate degree in playwriting from Mason Gross School of the Arts, a part of

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

. His plays include ''

The Woolgatherer ''The Woolgatherer'' is a play by William Mastrosimone. It originally premiered at the Theatre at Rutgers University in 1979. It was printed in 1981. The play is William Mastrosimone's first play. It has been produced a number of times and has ...

'', '' Extremities'', '' Shivaree'', and ''Cat's Paw''. He also wrote '' Bang Bang You're Dead,'' which was once able to be downloaded from the Internet and performed by students for free. Other plays include ''The Afghan Women'' and '' Nanawatai'', upon which the film '' The Beast'' is based. Two recent plays are ''Sleepwalk'', a story again focusing on the traumas of modern teenage life, and "Dirty Business", a play about a party girl caught between the mafia and the newly elected President of the United States. Mastrosimone's first play was ''The Woolgatherer'' which premiered at Rutgers Theatre Company in New Jersey of 1979 His screenwriting credits include, '' With Honors'', '' Into the West'' and the adaptation of his play '' Extremities''. He won 2 Daytime Emmy Awards for '' Bang, Bang You're Dead'' and was nominated for a Prime Time Emmy for '' Into the West'' and '' The Burning Season''. His play '' Bang Bang You're Dead'' is being toured by 'Playground Theatre Project' with students from Actor's Playground School of Theatre (in NJ), directed by Ralph Colombino, based in the Tri-State Area. This company goes to middle schools, high schools, and universities to prevent violence.

External links

Icarus Plays''Bang Bang You're Dead''
* 1947 births Living people 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Rutgers University alumni People from Trenton, New Jersey The Pennington School alumni American male screenwriters Screenwriters from New Jersey American male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers {{US-playwright-stub