Allan Havis 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 ...

whose dramas have pronounced political themes and probe colliding cultures. His works range from minimal-language texts to ambiguous, ironic narratives that delineate the genesis, paradoxes, and seduction of evil. Several of his stories involve Jewish identity, cultural alienation, and universal problems of racism. He has been influenced by

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

and

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that span ...

. In addition, Havis has written librettos for four operas produced in the early 21st century. He has authored two young adult novels, one adult novel, and a popular book on cult films. Since 2001, he has edited and published three anthologies of plays, selected to express the changing political landscape in the United States in the era of terrorism. He is a professor of playwriting at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is ...

Biography

Havis has an MFA from

Yale Drama School The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...

and is on the UC San Diego theatre faculty. For many years he has headed the MFA playwriting program at

. He served as Provost of Thurgood Marshall College,

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

from 2006 until 2016. He has two children.

Writing career

He has published nineteen plays in editions by

Broadway Play Publishing Inc. Broadway Play Publishing Inc (BPPI) was established in New York City in 1982 to publish and license the stage performance rights of contemporary American plays. The Broadway Play Publishing Inc catalog consists of over 1,000 plays and nearly 400 ...

, Theatre Communications Group, Penguin/Mentor, Smith & Kraus, Applause Books, University of Illinois, and Southern Illinois University. His book ''Cult Films: Taboo and Transgression'' ( University Press of America, 2008; ) covers ninety years of cinema. In addition to his plays, Havis wrote the novel ''Clear Blue Silence'' (Ktav Publishing, 2022), two novels for young adults, ''Albert the Astronomer'' (Harper & Row, 1979), and a sequel, ''Albert Down a Wormhole'' (Goodreads Press, 2019). He has edited three anthologies of plays: ''American Political Plays'' (2001), published by University of Illinois Press; ''American Political Plays after 9/11'' (2010), published by Southern Illinois University Press; and ''American Political Plays in the Age of Terrorism'' (2019), published by Bloomsbury/Methuen. In addition, Havis has written librettos for operas. He adapted his play, ''Lilith'' (1990), to use as a libretto for an opera with music by

Anthony Davis Anthony Marshon Davis Jr. (born March 11, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward and center positions. Davis is an eight-time ...

). The chamber opera highlights the mythical first woman to accompany Adam in the Garden of Eden, who was thought to have had demonic, supernatural power; she is reimagined in a modern era. The world premiere concert recital was at the Conrad Prebys Music Center, UC San Diego on December 4, 2009. Several excerpts of ''Lilith'' were given a showcase presentation and new production at the Qualcomm Institute, UC San Diego, in November 2015. This work can be see on UCSD TV online. His second opera, also developed with composer Anthony Davis, explored a modern

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...

archetype, with a woman neuroscientist with Alzheimer's disease as the protagonist. ''Lear on the 2nd Floor'' had a showcase presentation at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

's Lewis Center for the Arts in March 2012. The opera was produced in March 2013 at Conrad Prebys Music Center, UC San Diego and in November 2022 at Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York. His third opera libretto, ''St. Francis de los Barrios'', was given a showcase presentation at the Qualcomm Institute, UC San Diego in December 2017. His fourth opera in collaboration with composer Michael Roth, ''The Golem of La Jolla'' had a concert recital at La Jolla Playhouse's 2019 WoW Festival.

Dramatic works

* ''Hotel Stockholm'' (2020) * ''The Golem of La Jolla'' (opera 2019) * ''St. Francis de los Barrios'' (opera 2017) * ''My Aunt Lucy'' (2017) * ''Zeliha'' (2016) * ''Babette'' (2015) * ''The Hypnotist'' (2014) * ''Garments and Threads'' (2013) *''The Landlady'' (2012)

Awards

* 2008 San Diego Patté Award for Outstanding New Play, for ''The Tutor'' * 2003, San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award for New Play, ''Nuevo California''New Play: Bernardo Solano, Allan Havis and Sam Woodhouse, ''Nuevo California''
San Diego Theatre Critics Circle; accessed 25 June 2019 * 1987, Kennedy Center Award for New Plays, for ''Morocco''
Kennedy Center; accessed 25 June 2019 * 1986 HBO's Playwrights USA Award, for ''Morocco'' * 1985 Foundation of the Dramatist Guild/CBS Award, for ''Morocco'' * 1987

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...

* McKnight Fellowship *

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 second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

* National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship * California State Arts Fellowship * New York State Arts Fellowship

References

External links

Allan Havis
UCSD Theatre Department
Marshall College
UCSD

Charlene and Brenda in the Blogosphere, October 1, 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Havis, Allan 1951 births Living people 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Yale School of Drama alumni University of California, San Diego faculty 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights American opera librettists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers