A. R. Gurney
Encyclopedia
A. R. Gurney (born November 1, 1930) is an American playwright
and novelist. He is known for works including Love Letters
, The Cocktail Hour
, and The Dining Room
. Gurney currently lives in both New York
and Connecticut
.
, Gurney, a graduate of St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)
, attended Williams College
and the Yale School of Drama
, after which he began teaching Humanities
at MIT. He began writing plays such as Scenes from American Life, Children
, and The Middle Ages while at MIT, but it was his great success with The Dining Room
that allowed him to write full-time. Since The Dining Room, Gurney has written a number of plays, most of them concerning WASPs
of the American northeast. While at Yale, Gurney also wrote the musical: Love in Buffalo. This was the first musical ever produced at the Yale School of Drama.
Gurney's latest play is "The Grand Manner," a play about his real life encounter with famed actress Katharine Cornell
in her production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra
. The play was produced and performed by Lincoln Center for the summer of 2010.. It was also produced in Buffalo by the Kavinoky Theatre.
Gurney has also written several novels, including:
Gurney has also appeared in several of his plays including The Dining Room
and most notably Love Letters
.
In 2006, Gurney was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Many of these plays are published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
and Smith & Kraus Publishing.
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and novelist. He is known for works including Love Letters
Love Letters (play)
Love Letters is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominated play by A. R. Gurney. The play centers on just two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III...
, The Cocktail Hour
The Cocktail Hour
The Cocktail Hour is a comedy of manners by A. R. Gurney. It premiered in June 1988 in San Diego, California at the Old Globe Theatre and, on October 20, 1988, in New York City at the Off Broadway Promenade Theatre...
, and The Dining Room
The Dining Room
The Dining Room is a play by the American playwright A. R. Gurney. It was first produced in New York, New York at the Studio Theatre of Playwrights Horizons, opening January 31, 1981....
. Gurney currently lives in both New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
.
Biography
Born in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, Gurney, a graduate of St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)
St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)
St. Paul's School is a highly selective college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire affiliated with the Episcopal Church. The school is one of only six remaining 100% residential boarding schools in the U.S. The New Hampshire campus currently serves 533 students,...
, attended Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
and the Yale School of Drama
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
, after which he began teaching Humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
at MIT. He began writing plays such as Scenes from American Life, Children
Children (play)
Children is an early play by American playwright A. R. Gurney. It was first produced in London in 1974 and was inspired by John Cheever's short story "Goodbye My Brother" A 2009 production starring Judith Light gave the play a new ending, and received positive reviews.-Plot:Randy and Barbara,...
, and The Middle Ages while at MIT, but it was his great success with The Dining Room
The Dining Room
The Dining Room is a play by the American playwright A. R. Gurney. It was first produced in New York, New York at the Studio Theatre of Playwrights Horizons, opening January 31, 1981....
that allowed him to write full-time. Since The Dining Room, Gurney has written a number of plays, most of them concerning WASPs
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant or WASP is an informal term, often derogatory or disparaging, for a closed group of high-status Americans mostly of British Protestant ancestry. The group supposedly wields disproportionate financial and social power. When it appears in writing, it is usually used to...
of the American northeast. While at Yale, Gurney also wrote the musical: Love in Buffalo. This was the first musical ever produced at the Yale School of Drama.
Gurney's latest play is "The Grand Manner," a play about his real life encounter with famed actress Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.Cornell is known as the greatest American stage actress of the 20th century...
in her production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony...
. The play was produced and performed by Lincoln Center for the summer of 2010.. It was also produced in Buffalo by the Kavinoky Theatre.
Gurney has also written several novels, including:
- The Snow Ball
- The Gospel According to Joe
- Entertaining Strangers ISBN 978-0-385-12551-2
Gurney has also appeared in several of his plays including The Dining Room
The Dining Room
The Dining Room is a play by the American playwright A. R. Gurney. It was first produced in New York, New York at the Studio Theatre of Playwrights Horizons, opening January 31, 1981....
and most notably Love Letters
Love Letters (play)
Love Letters is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominated play by A. R. Gurney. The play centers on just two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III...
.
In 2006, Gurney was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Plays
- Ancestral Voices
- Another AntigoneAnother AntigoneAnother Antigone is a play by A. R. Gurney. It was first produced in March 1987 at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California. The play opened at Playwrights Horizons in New York City in January, 1988. It is dedicated by the playwright to John Tillinger. It was published by the Dramatists...
- Big Bill
- Black Tie
- Buffalo Gal
- A Cheever Evening (based on stories by John CheeverJohn CheeverJohn William Cheever was an American novelist and short story writer. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs." His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the Westchester suburbs, old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy,...
) - ChildrenChildren (play)Children is an early play by American playwright A. R. Gurney. It was first produced in London in 1974 and was inspired by John Cheever's short story "Goodbye My Brother" A 2009 production starring Judith Light gave the play a new ending, and received positive reviews.-Plot:Randy and Barbara,...
- The Cocktail HourThe Cocktail HourThe Cocktail Hour is a comedy of manners by A. R. Gurney. It premiered in June 1988 in San Diego, California at the Old Globe Theatre and, on October 20, 1988, in New York City at the Off Broadway Promenade Theatre...
- The Comeback
- Crazy MaryCrazy MaryCrazy Mary is a play by A.R. Gurney that had its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in New York City from May 11-June 26, 2007, with actors Sigourney Weaver and Kristine Nielsen...
- Darlene
- The David Show
- The Dining RoomThe Dining RoomThe Dining Room is a play by the American playwright A. R. Gurney. It was first produced in New York, New York at the Studio Theatre of Playwrights Horizons, opening January 31, 1981....
- Far EastFar East (play)Far East is a play by American playwright A.R. Gurney.-Productions:Far East was first produced at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Massachusetts in July 1998. It premiered Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in January 1999...
- The Fourth Wall
- The Golden Age
- The Golden Fleece
- The Guest Lecturer
- Human Events
- Indian BloodIndian Blood (play)Indian Blood is a play by A. R. Gurney that premiered at the 59East59 Theaters as a Primary Stages production in 2006. The play starred Charles Socarides as Eddie and Jeremy Blackman as his cousin Lambert....
- Labor Day
- Later Life
- The Perfect Party
- The Love Course
- Love LettersLove Letters (play)Love Letters is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominated play by A. R. Gurney. The play centers on just two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III...
- The Middle Ages
- Mrs. Farnsworth
- Office Hours
- O Jerusalem
- The Old Boy
- The Old One-Two
- The Open Meeting
- Overtime
- Post MortemPost Mortem (Gurney play)Post Mortem is a two-act play written by late–20th–century/early–21st–century playwright A. R. Gurney. It was first produced on stage in New York City in November 2006.-Summary:...
- The ProblemThe Problem (play)The Problem is a one-act play by A. R. Gurney. It was originally performed in 1987 in Boston by a theatre group Gurney helped to organize called "The Theatre For Now". The reception was quiet but the play later opened to enthusiastic reviews at a popular playhouse in London, England and went on to...
- Richard Cory
- Scenes from American Life
- Screen Play
- SylviaSylvia (play)Sylvia is a play about a dog, the couple who adopts her,and the drama that results. It was written by A. R. Gurney and first produced in 1995....
- Sweet SueSweet Sue (play)Sweet Sue is a play by A. R. Gurney. It premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and later enjoyed a Broadway production at the Music Box Theatre during the 1986-87 season....
- The Snow Ball (based on his novel) ISBN 978-0-88184-214-2
- The Wayside Motor Inn
- What I Did Last SummerWhat I Did Last SummerWhat I Did Last Summer is a play by the American playwright A.R. Gurney.It is written as a memory play, as an older Charlie Higgins looks back on the summer he was 14, during World War II, when he vacationed on Lake Erie with his mother Grace and older sister Elsie...
Many of these plays are published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
Broadway Play Publishing Inc, along with Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts, Inc., and Samuel French Inc., is one of the four major New York play publishers and licensors of stage rights...
and Smith & Kraus Publishing.