Mary Gallagher is an American

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 ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. For six years, she was

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of Gypsy, a theatre company in the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District (New York), Capital District includi ...

, New York, which collaborated with many artists to create site-specific mask-and-puppet music-theatre with texts and lyrics by Gallagher. These pieces included ''Premanjali and the 7 Geese Brothers'', ''Ama'' and ''The Scottish Play''. In 1996-97, she directed the Playwrights Workshop at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

, and she taught playwriting and screenwriting at New York University/

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

from 2001 to 2010. She is a member of Actors & Writers, a theater company in the Hudson Valley, and the Ensemble Studio Theater in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She is an

alumna Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

of New Dramatists, where she developed many of her plays and created and moderated the series, "You Can Make a Life: Conversations with Playwrights" from 1994 to 2001.Mary Gallagher: Bio and play details
Playscripts, Inc.

Plays

Mary Gallagher’s plays ''Father Dreams'', ''Little Bird'', ''Chocolate Cake'', ''Buddies'', ''Dog Eat Dog'', ''Love Minus'', ''How To Say Goodbye'', ''De Donde?'' and ''Windshook'' have been published by

Dramatists Play Service Dramatists Play Service is a theatrical-publishing and licensing house imprint of Broadway Licensing Global. Established in 1936 by members of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Society for Authors' Representatives, DPS publishes English-la ...

and produced at such theatres as the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (ACT) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The American ...

Actors Theatre of Louisville Actors Theatre of Louisville is a non-profit performing arts theater located in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. Actors Theatre was founded in 1964 following the merging of two local companies, Actors, Inc. and Theatre Louisville, operated by Louis ...

, Hartford Stage Company, the

Alley Theatre Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning theatre company in Houston, Texas. It is the oldest professional theatre company in Texas and the third oldest resident theatre in the United States. Alley Theatre productions have played on Broadway at Lin ...

, the Main Street Theatre and the Cincinnati Playhouse; in NYC at the

Vineyard Theatre The Vineyard Theatre is a 120-seat Off-Broadway non-profit theatre company, located at 108 East 15th Street in Manhattan, New York City, near Union Square. Founded in 1981 by Barbara Zinn Krieger, the Vineyard states that its goal is "to give ...

The American Place Theatre The American Place Theatre was founded in 1963 by Wynn Handman, Sidney Lanier, and Michael Tolan at St. Clement's Church, 423 West 46th Street in Hell's Kitchen, New York City, and was incorporated as a not-for-profit theatre in that year. Tenness ...

, the

Ensemble Studio Theatre The Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) is a non-profit membership-based developmental theatre located in Hell's Kitchen, New York City. It has a dual mission of nurturing individual theatre artists and developing new American plays. Overview The E ...

, the Women’s Project, HOME, the

Provincetown Playhouse The Provincetown Playhouse is a historic theatre at 133 MacDougal Street between West 3rd and 4th streets in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is named for the Provincetown Players, who converted the forme ...

and the New York Shakespeare Festival; and in many other countries. "De Donde?" was published in ''American Theater'' in 1989. ''Windshook'' was published in ''New Plays from Act’s Young Conservatory Vol. I'' and ''Best Plays by Women 1996''. Many of Gallagher’s short plays are anthologized, including ''Perfect'', ''Sandwich'', ''Brother'' and ''Bedtime''.

Screenplays

Her screenplays for

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, 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 based a ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, Lifetime, and Showtime include ''Nobody's Child'' (CBS), co-written by Ara Watson and directed by Lee Grant (

Writers Guild Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

for

Marlo Thomas Margaret Julia "Marlo" Thomas (born November 21, 1937) is an American actress, producer, author, and social activist. She is best known for starring on the sitcom ''That Girl'' (1966–1971) and her Children's television series, children's franc ...

); ''Bonds of Love'' (CBS), starring

Treat Williams Richard Treat Williams Jr. (December 1, 1951 – June 12, 2025) was an American actor, whose career on stage and in film and television spanned five decades. He received many accolades for his work, including nominations for three Golden Globe ...

, Kelly McGilliss and

Hal Holbrook Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. (February 17, 1925 – January 23, 2021) was an American actor. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show that he developed called ''Mark Twain Tonight!'' while studying at Denison University. H ...

(Best TV Movie of the Year, Banff International Television Festival); and '' The Passion of Ayn Rand'', starring

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...

Peter Fonda Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He was a two-time Academy Award nominee, both for acting and screenwriting, and a two-time Golden Globe Award winner for his a ...

and

Eric Stoltz Eric Cameron Stoltz (born September 30, 1961) is an American actor, director and producer. He played Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film ''Mask'' (1985), which earned him the nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting ...

, which premiered at

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pl ...

and aired on Showtime (Emmy for Mirren,

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

for Fonda). Gallagher was also a staff writer for ''

Jojo's Circus ''JoJo's Circus'' is a stop-motion animated television series created by Jim Jinkins, David Campbell, Lisa Jinkins, and Eric Weiner and produced by the Canada-based Cuppa Coffee Studios and Cartoon Pizza. The series was written by Douglas Woo ...

'', a hit stop-motion animation show on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

Fellowships and honors

She has been awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, a

Rockefeller Fellowship The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller ("Seni ...

, the

Susan Smith Blackburn Prize The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize established in 1978, is the largest and oldest playwriting prize for women+ writing for English-speaking theatre. Named for Susan Smith Blackburn (1935–1977), alumna of Smith College, who died of breast cancer. W ...

, the Rosenthal New Play Prize, the

, and three fellowships from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Theatrical premiers

Most of these plays are in print and continue to be produced in the U.S. and other countries: * Win/Lose/Draw (co-author Ara Watson) Spanish premiere, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 2005. * First Communion City Theatre, Miami, FL, 2004 * Farther Along. Musical with composer Louise Beach. Commissioned and produced by the University of New Hampshire, 2000. * Love Minus. NYC: Players Club, 1998. * The Scottish Play. Gypsy, Compost West, Capital Repertory Theatre, at the Masonic Temple, Albany, NY, 1998. * AMA. Gypsy, MaskWork Unltd., Compost West, Kingston Point Park, NY, 1996. * Premanjali and the Seven Geese Brothers. Gypsy & MaskWork Unltd., Widow Jane Cave, Rosendale, NY, 1994. * Windshook. Young Conservatory & Professional Company, ACT, 1992, 1996. * De Donde? Cincinnati Playhouse, 1990. NYC: New York Shakespeare Festival, 1990. * Adultery, Brother. NYC: Home, 1988. * Insomnia, Children of Dysfunctional Cooks * How to Say Goodbye. Humana Festival, 1986. NYC: Vineyard Theatre, 1987. * Bedtime. NYC: Ark Theatre Company, 1984. * Special Family Things (co-author Ara Watson). NYC: Women’s Project, 1984. * Dog Eat Dog. Hartford Stage Company, 1983. * Buddies. NYC: Ensemble Studio Theatre, 1982. * Chocolate Cake. Humana Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, 1981. * (Win/Lose/Draw). NYC: Provincetown Playhouse, 1983. * Little Bird. Berkshire Theatre Festival, 1980. NYC: 78th Street Theatre Lab, 1980. * Father Dreams. American Conservatory Theater, 1978. Loretto Hilton Repertory Theatre, 1980. NYC: Ensemble Studio Theatre, 1981. * Fly Away Home. American Conservatory Theater, 1977.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Mary American dramatists and playwrights Living people University of Iowa faculty Place of birth missing (living people) New York University faculty Year of birth missing (living people)