Steven Cosson (born August 1968)Tallmer, Jerry
"A jewel in the lost and found department,"
iVillager (July 12, 2007). is a writer and director specializing in the creation of new theater work inspired by real life. He is the founding Artistic Director of the New York-based investigative theater company

The Civilians The Civilians is an investigative theatre company in New York City founded in 2001 by Artistic Director, Steve Cosson. The Civilians artists pursue their inquiries using interviews, community residencies, research, and other methods. Working with ...

.Cosson bio
The Civilians website. Accessed Oct. 27, 2019.

Early life and education

Cosson was born in the

Washington, D.C. ) , 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, ...

area. He received his BA from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

and holds an MFA in directing from the

University of California San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

, where he studied under director and

Joint Stock A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...

member Les Waters.

Career

Cosson led The Civilians as the first theater company in residence at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. He wrote the first major American play about climate change, ''The Great Immensity,'' which generated significant controversy from Republicans in Congress and right-wing media, and was featured as a

TED Talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

at the main

TED conference TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

in 2012. Cosson collaborated repeatedly with composer Michael Friedman on works with The Civilians and other companies, until Friedman's death in 2017. Other notable accomplishments include developing and directing

Anne Washburn Anne Washburn is an American playwright. Life Washburn graduated from Reed College and from New York University, with an M.F.A. Her plays have been produced in New York City by Cherry Lane Theatre, Clubbed Thumb, The Civilians, Vineyard Theatre, ...

's '' Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play,'' named the 4th Best American Play of the past 25 Years by ''The New York Times.'' Credits include: * book-writer and director of ''The Abominables'' at

Children's Theatre Company The Children's Theatre Company is a regional theater established in 1965 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, specializing in plays for families, young audiences and the very young. The theater is the largest theater for multigenerational audiences in th ...

(2018) * writer and director of ''The Undertaking'' at

BAM Next Wave Festival The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

(2016), US tour, Theatre de la Ville, Paris * director of José Rivera's ''Another Word for Beauty'', world premiere at the

Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the lan ...

(2016) * writer/director, ''Rimbaud in New York'' at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

(2016) * director of Michael Friedman and Bess Wohl's musical

Pretty Filthy ''Pretty Filthy'' is a 2015 musical with a book by Bess Wohl and music and lyrics by Michael Friedman developed with director Steve Cosson. The musical is produced by American "investigative" theater company The Civilians. The show is based on Th ...

(2015) * the

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 tha ...

revival of ''

The Belle of Amherst ''The Belle of Amherst'' is a one-woman play by William Luce. Based on the life of poet Emily Dickinson from 1830 to 1886, and set in her Amherst, Massachusetts home, the 1976 play makes use of her work, diaries, and letters to recollect her en ...

'', starring

Joely Richardson Joely Kim Richardson (born 9 January 1965) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Julia McNamara in the FX drama series ''Nip/Tuck'' (2003–10) and Katherine Parr in the Showtime series ''The Tudors'' (2010). She has also appeared ...

(2014) With

: * writer/director of ''The Great Immensity'' (2014), music by Michael Friedman, created in residence with the

Princeton Environmental Institute Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

and the Princeton Atelier * co-writer and director of ''

This Beautiful City ''This Beautiful City'' is a 2007 Canadian drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Ed Gass-Donnelly. It premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and had a general theatrical release in 2008. The film depicts the l ...

'', which premiered in 2009 to excellent reviews at the

Humana Festival of New American Plays Humana Festival of New American Plays is an internationally renowned festival that celebrates the contemporary American playwright. Produced annually in Louisville, Kentucky by Actors Theatre of Louisville, this festival showcases new theatrica ...

and then completed a critically acclaimed run at the

Vineyard Theatre The Vineyard Theatre is an Off-Broadway non-profit theatre company, located at 108 East 15th Street in Manhattan, New York City, near Union Square. Its first production was in 1981. It is best known for its productions of the Tony award-winning ...

(

Drama Desk The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

, Drama League, Lortel nominations) * co-writer and director of ''Brooklyn at Eye Level'', produced at Brooklyn's Lyceum Theatre in 2008 * co-writer/director of ''Paris Commune'' produced in 2004 in

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 Li ...

's PublicLAB series * writer/director of the long-running hit '' Gone Missing'' which toured for several years throughout the U.S. and the U.K., culminating in 2007 in a seven-month Off-Broadway run at Barrow Street Theater (''New York Times''’ Top 10 of 2007 list) * writer/director ''

(I Am) Nobody's Lunch ''(I Am) Nobody's Lunch'' is a 2006 play with music produced by The Civilians, an investigative theater company in New York City. Based on interviews conducted in 2003, the play explores the compromised issues of trust and truth that arose between ...

'' (2006) (

Fringe First The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

award) * director of the company's first show ''Canard, Canard, Goose?'' (2002)Estvanik, Nicole. "What Do You Believe?" ''American Theatre Magazine''. Dec 1, 2004. Cosson has also directed

’ work at A.R.T., Actors Theatre of Louisville,

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 ...

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

Aspen Comedy Festival The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, was a comedy festival that ran from 1995 to 2008. The festival included stand-up comedy performances, appearances by the casts of television shows, and has a film component calle ...

The Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of the ...

; London's

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Ge ...

, and the

Soho Theatre The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The the ...

, among many others. As a freelance director of new plays, musicals, and classics, Cosson's other directing credits include ''Ethel's Documerica'' (

);

Dael Orlandersmith Dael Orlandersmith (born Donna Brown, 1960–) is an American actress, poet and playwright. She is known for her Obie Award-winning ''Beauty's Daughter'' and the 2002 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama, ''Yellowman''. Early life Orlandersmith, born ...

's ''Stoop Stories''; '' Spring Awakening'' (

Olney Theatre Center Located in Olney, Maryland, the Olney Theatre Center offers a diverse array of professional productions year-round that enrich, nurture, and challenge a broad range of artists, audiences and students. One of two state theaters of Maryland, Olney ...

); ''

Bus Stop A bus stop is a place where buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating, and possibly electronic passenger ...

'' (

Kansas City Repertory Theatre Kansas City Repertory Theatre is a professional resident theater company serving the Kansas City metropolitan area, and is the professional theater in residence at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). The theatre has had four artistic ...

);

’s ''A Devil at Noon'' (

); Michael Friedman's ''Adventures in Reality'' (

Lincoln Center Theater The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), the Beaumont is the only Broad ...

), and the U.S. premiere of ''Attempts on Her Life''; and new plays at theaters including Hartford Stage,

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 ...

, O’Neill Conference, New Harmony Project, and others. His plays have been published by

Oberon Books Oberon Books is a London-based independent publisher of drama texts and books on theatre. The company publishes around 100 titles per year, many of them plays by new writers. In addition, the list contains a range of titles on theatre studies, act ...

in the UK,

Dramatists Play Service Dramatists Play Service (also known as The Play Service) is a theatrical-publishing and licensing house, established in 1936 by members of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Society for Authors' Representatives. DPS publishes English-language ...

, and an anthology of his plays with

was published by Playscripts, Inc.

Plays

* 2018 ''The Abombinables,'' music/lyrics by Michael Friedman * 2016 ''The Undertaking'' * 2016 ''Rimbaud in New York,'' various composers * 2015 ''The End and the Beginning'' * 2014 ''The Great Immensity,'' music/lyrics by Michael Friedman * 2012 ''Paris Commune'' with Michael Friedman * 2010 ''In The Footprint,'' music/lyrics by Michael Friedman * 2009 ''

,'' with Jim Lewis, interviews by the company, music/lyrics by Michael Friedman * 2006 ''

,'' interviews by company, music/lyrics by Michael Friedman * 2003 '' Gone Missing,'' interviews by the company, music/lyrics by Michael Friedman * 2001 ''Canard, Canard, Goose?'' head writer, company-devised, music/lyrics by Michael Friedman * 1998 ''Fingered''

References

External links

*
The Civilians official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosson, Steve American theatre directors American dramatists and playwrights Dartmouth College alumni Living people 1968 births