Archive for Playwrights

Eugène Ionesco

Posted in Montparnasse Cemetery with tags , , on January 1, 2024 by Cade

November 26, 1909 – March 28, 1994

There are absurdist playwrights. Then there is Eugène Ionesco.

Born in Romania, Ionesco spent most of his youth in France. He would alternate between the two countries depending upon whether there was a war or not, but eventually, he settled with is family in Paris. Following a transcendental experience in which he found himself awestruck by a crystal clear, sunny day in the idyllic French countryside as a young man, he was taken by how juxtaposed that feeling was to the actual world around him…which he regarded as decaying and monotonous. The moment would have a lasting impression on his life and his art.

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Samuel Beckett

Posted in Montparnasse Cemetery with tags , , , on September 11, 2023 by Cade

April 13, 1906 – December 22, 1989

Samuel Barclay Beckett was born in 1906 in Foxrock, Ireland, just outside of Dublin. He studied literature at Trinity College. He played cricket. He traveled. He wrote. While teaching in Paris – a city that would eventually become his full-time home – Beckett met fellow Irish author James Joyce and their interactions and relationship would eventually solidify the direction of Beckett’s literary career. By the time he was 40, he realized that, while Joyce pushed for knowledge as fuel for his creativity, Beckett himself was better suited to embrace his own “ignorance”. This decision freed Beckett up to concentrate his writings on the everyday absurdity and bleakness of life.

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Moss Hart

Posted in Ferncliff Cemetery with tags , , on December 13, 2021 by Cade

October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961

With the help of a beloved aunt, Moss Hart grew up enamored by the possibilities of the theater. To be able to create worlds and characters that weren’t bound by the economic or social insecurity he saw everyday was thrilling to him. So, growing up in New York City, it was no surprise when he started to write about these worlds and characters. By the time he was in his mid-20s, Hart had his first hit on Broadway: a play called Once in a Lifetime that he cowrote with George S. Kaufman. Kaufman and Hart would go on to collaborate on a string of hit plays including You Can’t Take it With You, George Washington Slept Here and The Man Who Came to Dinner. Continue reading →

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James Baldwin

Posted in Ferncliff Cemetery with tags , , , on November 22, 2021 by Cade

August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987

How does one sum up James Baldwin in a single, concise blog post?

He was an influential writer and activist who pondered and expounded upon what it meant to be Black in the height of the American Civil Rights movement, what it meant to be gay long before societal acceptance had begun to take hold, and what it mean to be, frankly, human, in a century that saw progress and cyclical violence all at the same time. Continue reading →

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William Shakespeare

Posted in Holy Trinity Church (UK) with tags , , on April 23, 2021 by Cade

April 26* 1564 – April 23 1616

It’s an odd juxtaposition that, considering he is near-universally regarded as the greatest English writer in history, so little is known about the actual life of William Shakespeare. The MAN was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK in April of 1564. By 1600, the LEGEND was already well on his way into the history books. The details of his private life are mostly lost to years and lack of records, but by 1592, Shakespeare was in London, acting and writing plays. He was most closely associated with the acting troupe, Lord Chamberlain’s Men, who originated most of his plays.  The troupe quickly became one of the most successful in London. In 1599, they built the Globe theatre where they performed to increasingly rave reviews and eventually caught the eye of newly coronated King James I.  With the monarch’s backing, the troupe rebranded in 1603 as The King’s Men. By this point, the six shareholders in the troupe, including William Shakespeare, were not only the toast of the town, but were very, very rich. Around 1613, Shakespeare retired to Stratford, where he died 3 years later at the age of 52. Continue reading →

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Arthur Miller

Posted in Central Cemetery (CT) with tags , , on May 31, 2016 by Cade

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October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005

Perhaps one of the most influential and prolific playwrights in American history, Arthur Miller explored themes such as family relationships, personal legacy and social responsibility in his plays – all set against the backdrop of the individual vs. society at-large. The masterpieces within his body of work look like a one-man anthology of the greatest American Dramas ever written:

Death of a Salesman
All My Sons
A View from the Bridge
The Crucible

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William Inge

Posted in Mt. Hope Cemetery with tags , , on July 16, 2013 by Cade

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May 3, 1913 – June 10, 1973

William Motter Inge was a Pulitzer and Academy award-winning playwright and novelist. Born in the heart of small-town America – Independence, Kansas – Inge’s depictions of solitude, thwarted ambition and sexuality all played starkly against the backdrop of classic Americana. As a drama critic in St. Louis, Inge was encouraged to write by Tennessee Williams. His biggest stage successes, Picnic, Bus Stop, Come Back, Little Sheba and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs earned multiple Tony nominations as well as Oscar nods and the aforementioned Pulitzer (for Picnic). Inge also won an Oscar for writing the Elia Kazan-directed film, Splendor in the Grass. Continue reading →

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Tennessee Williams

Posted in Calvary Cemetery (MO) with tags , , on March 20, 2013 by Cade

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March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983

Thomas Lanier Williams was an American writer who is primarily known for his plays The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire, among others. After a staggeringly successful run that saw at least 10 of his plays produced on Broadway, his career and personal life started a steady downward spiral.  Following the death of his long-time partner, Williams struggled with depression and addiction to alcohol and narcotics.  Though he continued to write throughout his life, his style mirrored his mood and his later work was never as well-received as his early work. Continue reading →

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Eugene O’Neill

Posted in Forest Hills Cemetery with tags , , on February 24, 2013 by Cade

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October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953

American playwright Eugene O’Neill was literally born on Broadway – the Bartlett Hotel, to be precise – and found a figurative home there for his entire life churning out more than 30 full-length plays including the classics The Iceman Cometh, A Long Day’s Journey Into Night, A Moon for the Misbegotten and Mourning Becomes Electra.

O’Neill won many awards for his works, including several Pulitzers and a Nobel Prize for Literature. Continue reading →

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