Jeffrey Hatcher 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 A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. He wrote the stage play ''Compleat Female Stage Beauty'', which he later adapted into a

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

, shortened to just '' Stage Beauty'' (2004). He also co-wrote the stage adaptation of ''

Tuesdays with Morrie ''Tuesdays with Morrie'' is a memoir by American author Mitch Albom about a series of visits Albom made to his former sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, as Schwartz gradually dies of ALS. The book topped the ''New York Times'' Non-Fiction Bes ...

'' with author Mitch Albom, and ''

Three Viewings Jeffrey Hatcher is an American playwright and screenwriter. He wrote the stage play ''Compleat Female Stage Beauty'', which he later adapted into a screenplay, shortened to just ''Stage Beauty'' (2004). He also co-wrote the stage adaptation of ' ...

'', a comedy consisting of three monologues - each of which takes place in a funeral home. He wrote the screenplay ''

Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

'' for director

Lasse Hallström Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström (; born 2 June 1946) is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all the music videos by the pop group ABBA, and subsequently became a feature film director. He was nominated for an Acade ...

, as well as the screenplay for '' The Duchess'' (2008)."Psychological Thriller" '' The Union City Reporter''; April 11, 2010; Page 13. He has also written for the Peter Falk TV series ''

Columbo ''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...

'' and E! Entertainment Television.

Career

His many award-winning original plays have been performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally across the US and abroad. Some of his plays include ''Three Viewings'', ''Scotland Road'', ''A Picasso'', ''Neddy'', ''Korczak's Children'', ''Mercy of a Storm'', ''Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright '' (with

Eric Simonson Eric Simonson (born June 27, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American writer and director in theatre, film and opera. He is a member of Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, and the author of plays '' Lombardi'', ''Fake'', ''Honest'', '' Magic/B ...

), and ''Lucky Duck'' (with Bill Russell and Henry Kreiger). Hatcher wrote the book for the Broadway musical ''Never Gonna Dance'' and the musical, ''ELLA.'' Hatcher adapted

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

's novella, ''

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...

'', into a play in which actors play multiple roles, and Mr. Hyde is played by four actors, one of whom is female. The adaptation, which has been called "hipper, more erotic, and theatrically intense...definitely not your grandfather's 'Jekyll and Hyde'", was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for Best Play. Hatcher is a member and/or alumnus of The Playwrights' Center, The Dramatists Guild of America, Writers Guild of America and New Dramatists.

Work

Plays

* ''Scotland Road'', 1993 * '' The Turn of the Screw'', 1996 (adaptation of the novella of the same name by

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

) * ''Miss Nelson is Missing!'', 1996, (based on the book by Harry Allard and James Marshall) * ''Smash'', 1997 (an adaptation of

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

's Novel ''An Unsocial Socialist'') * ''Pierre'', 1998, (adapted from Pierre: or the Ambiguities by Herman Melville) * ''What Corbin Knew'', 1998 * ''Mother Russia'', 1999 * ''Compleat Female Stage Beauty'', 1999 * ''The Servant of Two Masters'', 1999, with Emilo Paolo Landi (adaptation of the Goldoni

commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

play) * ''Hanging Lord Haw Haw'', 2000 * ''To Fool the Eye'', 2000, (an adaptation of Jean Anouilh's ''

Léocadia ''Léocadia'' (''Time Remembered'') is a play by Jean Anouilh that premiered at the Théâtre de la Michodière in Paris on 2 December 1940. It is one of Anouilh's ''Pièces roses'', together with '' Humulus le muet'' (1932), '' Le Bal des voleurs ...

'') * '' Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright'', 2000, with

* ''Good 'n' Plenty'', 2001 * ''Murder by Poe'', 2003, (an adaptation of five stories by

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

) * ''A Picasso'', 2005, (loosely inspired by actual events surrounding the Nazi persecution of " Degenerate art") * ''Murderers'', 2005 * ''The Falls'', 2006 * ''Korczak's Children'', 2006 * ''Armadale'', 2007 * ''Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde'', 2008, (an adaptation of

's novella, using 4 actors to play the role of Mr. Hyde) * ''The Government Inspector'', 2008, (adapted from

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

) * ''Cousin Bette'', 2009, (an adaptation of Honoré de Balzac's '' La Cousine Bette'') * ''Bloody Radio Murders'', 2010 (written for a MMW's drama club) * ''Mrs. Mannerly'', NY premiere 2010 * ''Ten Chimneys'', 2011 * ''Louder Faster'', 2011 (co-authored with

, premiered at City Theatre) * ''Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club'', 2011 (premiered at Arizona Theatre Company) * ''No Name'', 2014 (an adaptation of the Wilkie Collins novel, premiered at

Carthage College Carthage College is a private college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It enrolls 2,600 full-time and 200 part-time students. Carthage awards bachelor's degrees with majors in more th ...

, then

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 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 ...

) * ''To Begin With'', 2015 - revived in 2017 (an adaptation of ''

The Life of Our Lord ''The Life of Our Lord'' is a book about the life of Jesus of Nazareth written by English novelist Charles Dickens, for his young children, between 1846 and 1849, at about the time that he was writing ''David Copperfield''. ''The Life of Our Lord ...

'' by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

), premiered at the Music Box Theatre in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and starred Gerald Charles Dickens * "Glensheen", 2015 premiered at History Theatre in Saint Paul, MN * ''The Alchemist'', 2021 (an adaptation of the

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

play of the same name, premiered at The Red Bull Theatre in New York City)

Scripts

Film * '' Stage Beauty'', 2004 * ''

'', 2005 (co-writer) * '' The Duchess'', 2008 * ''

Mr. Holmes ''Mr. Holmes'' is a 2015 British-American mystery film directed by Bill Condon, based on Mitch Cullin's 2005 novel ''A Slight Trick of the Mind'', and featuring the character Sherlock Holmes. The film stars Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes, Laur ...

'', 2015 * ''

The Good Liar ''The Good Liar'' is a 2019 crime thriller film directed and produced by Bill Condon and written by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Nicholas Searle. It stars Ian McKellen as a career con artist who meets a wealthy wi ...

'', 2019 TV * '' Columbo: Ashes to Ashes'', 1998 * ''

Murder at the Cannes Film Festival ''Murder at the Cannes Film Festival'' is a 2000 television film directed by Harvey Frost, and written by Jeffrey Hatcher, starring French Stewart, Jay Brazeau, Karina Lombard and Bo Derek Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins, November 20, ...

'', 2000 * '' Upstairs, Downstairs: All the Things You Are'', 2012 * '' The Mentalist: Forest Green'', 2014

Awards and nominations

for Best Play for ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' (nominated)

Notes

References

* Christopher Rawson, "Stage Preview: Prolific Writer's 'Work Song' pushes City Theatre's Limits", ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', Sunday, November 21, 2004.

External links

* *
Jeffrey Hatcher
- ''Downstage Center'' interview at American Theatre Wing.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Hatcher, Jeffrey Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Denison University alumni People from Steubenville, Ohio 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights American television writers American male screenwriters American male television writers American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Screenwriters from Ohio