Aaron Kozak (born August 23, 1983) 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 ...

and filmmaker.

Early life

Kozak was born in

Nacogdoches Nacogdoches ( ) is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and specia ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. After graduating from

Grapevine High School Grapevine High School is a public high school located in the far northeast portion of Tarrant County in the city of Grapevine, Texas (USA). It is part of the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District. Its attendance boundary include ...

, he went on to study

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

(OU), where he earned a B.F.A. in Drama.

Career

Kozak's inaugural play "Goodbye, Love. Goodbye, Joy. Hello, Travis McElroy" debuted to mixed reviews at Washington DC's

Capital Fringe Festival The Capital Fringe Festival was a fringe theatre festival held in Washington, DC, United States, every July from 2005 to 2019, and then again from 2022 to 2024. History The Capital Fringe Festival was first held on July 20–30, 2006. Founded by ...

in 2009. However, it was Kozak's sophomore drama "The Birthday Boys," which earned him international acclaim. The play dramatizes a

Prisoner of War A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

situation during the Iraq War, where three marines are bound and blindfolded for almost the entire play. In the 2010 world premiere run at the first annual

Hollywood Fringe Festival The Hollywood Fringe Festival is an annual fringe theatre festival in Hollywood, California. Most indoor venues for the festival are in and around Hollywood Theatre Row, a stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. Founder Ben Hill s ...

, "The Birthday Boys" earned five major award nominations, including Best of the Festival, and won both the LA Fringe Critic's Choice Award and the Fringe First Award for Best World Premiere. In 2011, "The Birthday Boys" debuted off-Broadway to rave reviews, and became the first live theatre performed since the

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

era at the historic

Texas Theatre The Texas Theatre is a movie theater and Dallas landmark located in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. It gained historical significance on November 22, 1963, as the location of Lee Harvey Oswald's arrest over the suspicion he was the ...

in Dallas. The run was listed as Dallas' top touring show of 2011, alongside the Broadway Tour of

Billy Elliot the Musical ''Billy Elliot: The Musical'' is a Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age stage musical based on the Billy Elliot, 2000 film of the same name. The music is by Elton John, and the book and lyrics are by Lee Hall (playwright), Lee Hall, who wrote th ...

. "The Birthday Boys" made its international debut at the

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

in Sydney, Australia. In 2012, Kozak joined the Los Angeles-based theatre company Theatre Unleashed as a resident artist, and his latest play, a western epic called "Round Rock", debuted to sold-out runs at the 2012 Fringe Festival and also earned another nomination for the Fringe First Award. "The Birthday Boys," "Goodbye, Love. Goodbye, Joy. Hello, Travis McElroy," and Kozak's short play compilation "Short Plays for Sad People" are set to be published in 2013.

Plays

* ''Birds and Bees of the Information Age'' (2013) * ''The Pumpkin and Penguin Dialogues'' (2013) * ''Love at First Fight'' (2013) * ''Steers and Queers'' (2013) * ''Bonkers'' (2013) * ''Surrender Dorothy'' (2013) * ''The Oak and The Reeds'' (2013) * ''Round Rock'' (2012) * ''The Birthday Boys'' (2010) * ''Goodbye, Love. Goodbye, Joy. Hello, Travis McElroy.'' (2009)

Filmography

* ''The Show Businessman'' (2009) * ''Basketball Shorts'' (2008) * ''The Night Audit'' (2004)

References

External links

Aaron Kozak on IMDB

Goodbye Love, Goodbye Joy, Hello Travis McElroy Review by Steven McKnight

Theatre Jones Review of Kozak's The Birthday Boys

CriticalRant.com Year in Review 2011
Top Touring Show of 2011 Listing for "The Birthday Boys"
AustralianStage.com.au article on "The Birthday Boys"

BitterLemons.com Theatre Unleashed article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozak, Aaron 1983 births 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights Film directors from Texas American male screenwriters University of Oklahoma alumni Living people American male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American male writers Screenwriters from Texas 21st-century American screenwriters