Thomas E. Griffin Jr. (February 14, 1946 – March 20, 2018) was a
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just
Readin ...
, best known for ''
The Boys Next Door''.
Other plays include ''Amateurs'', ''Pasta'', and ''Mrs. Sedgewick's Head''.
Career
Griffin was born in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...
and grew up there and in
Warwick, Rhode Island
Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States, and is the third-largest city in the state, with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Warwick is located approximately south of downtown Pr ...
.
He graduated with a B.A. in theater from the
University of Rhode Island
The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...
in 1969.
He then acted with
Trinity Repertory Company
Trinity Repertory Company (commonly abbreviated as Trinity Rep) is a non-profit regional theater located at 201 Washington Street in Providence, Rhode Island. The theater is a member of the League of Resident Theatres. Founded in 1963, the the ...
in Providence,
and taught playwriting at the University of Rhode Island.
His play ''The Taking Away of Little Willie'' was performed at the 1979
Mark Taper Forum
The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighborin ...
Playworks Festival, and then at
Theatre Three in
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
.
The characters were a child with disability, "a caring, self-sacrificing mother", "an intelligent, bitter father" and "a self-appointed community guardian".
A reviewer in Dallas wrote, "The development is predictable here and there, but the play nonetheless crackles with tension."
In 1980, Griffin's play ''Einstein and the Polar Bear'' was selected for the
National Playwrights Conference.
The main characters are a reclusive novelist living in a small New England town and a woman from Manhattan who arrives claiming that her car has broken down.
It was picked up by
Mark Lamos
Mark Lamos (born March 10, 1946) is an American theatre and opera director, producer and actor. Under his direction, Hartford Stage won the 1989 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and he has been nominated for two other Tonys. For mor ...
for the
Hartford Stage Company,
and then transferred to the
Cort Theater on Broadway.
Reviewers were highly critical, particularly about what they considered "achingly artificial dialogue",
and the play closed after four performances.
References
External links
doollee.com, the Playwrights Database
21st-century American dramatists and playwrights
1946 births
2018 deaths
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
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