Allan Havis 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 ...

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 60 pla ...

and

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

. Havis has written librettos for four operas produced in the early 21st century. He has authored three novels, two young adult novels, 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 in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

Biography

Havis has an MFA from Yale Drama School 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 Thurgood Marshall College (Marshall) is one of the eight undergraduate colleges at the University of California, San Diego. The college, named after Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice and lawyer for the landmark ...

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Sc ...

from 2006 until 2016. He has two children.

Writing career

He has published twenty plays in editions by Broadway Play Publishing Inc., 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 ''Architects of the Taj Mahal'' (Willow River Press, 2024), ''Maddie Q'' (Willow River Press, 2023), ''Clear Blue Silence'' (Ktav Publishing, 2022), plus two novels for young adults, ''Albert the Astronomer'' (Harper & Row, 1979), and its 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), nicknamed "AD" and "the Brow", is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Davis, a Power forward (basketball), power f ...

). 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 seen on UCSD TV online. His second opera, also developed with composer Anthony Davis, explored a modern

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

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 university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

'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 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 ...

* 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 foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller ("Seni ...

* 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 David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University 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