David Greenspan (born 1956) is an American

actor 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. ...

and

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 ...

. He is the recipient of six Obies, including an award in 2010 for Sustained Achievement.

Life

Greenspan was born in 1956 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He holds a B.A. in Drama from the University of California at Irvine. He lives in New York City with his long-time partner, painter William Kennon.

Career

When Greenspan was awarded the Herb Alpert Award by the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

in 2002, the citation called him "A classicist in experimental clothing" whose "plays ask big questions about history, creation, sexual behavior, the complications of family and the very act of performing a play." In 2009 he collaborated with Stephin Merritt of

The Magnetic Fields The Magnetic Fields are an American Band (rock and pop), band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as frequent multi-instrumentalist. The band is named after the André B ...

in a musical adaptation of

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

's ''

Coraline ''Coraline'' () is a 2002 British dark fantasy horror children's novella by author Neil Gaiman. Gaiman started writing ''Coraline'' in 1990, and it was published in 2002 by Bloomsbury and HarperCollins. It was awarded the 2003 Hugo Award for ...

'', under the direction of Leigh Silverman. In an interview with Lizzie Olesker in ''

The Brooklyn Rail ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is an American publication and platform for the arts, culture, humanities, and politics, based in Brooklyn, New York. It features in-depth critical essays, fiction, poetry, as well as interviews with artists, critics, and ...

'', Greenspan describes the musical: "We suggest things. Not like a large animated musical. There’s no amplification of our voices. We wanted something that was more direct and immediate as opposed to something coming out of a wall of sound." In 2022, Greenspan was included in the book ''50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre'', profiled in a chapter written by performance scholar Nick Salvato.

List of works

Theater

*''The Horizontal And The Vertical'', world premiere HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, NYC, 1986 *''Dig A Hole And Bury You Father'', world premiere HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, NYC, 1987 *''Jack'', world premiere HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, NYC, 1987 *''Principa'', world premiere HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, NYC, 1988 *''The Home Show Pieces'', world premiere HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, NYC, 1988 *''2 Samuel 11, Etc.'', world premiere HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, NYC, 1989 *''Dead Mother, Or Shirley Not All In Vain'', world premiere NYSF/Public Theater, 1991 *''Dog In A Dancing School'', world premiere Dance Theater Workshop, NYC, 1993 *''Son Of An Engineer'', world premiere HERE Arts Center, NYC, 1993 *''Start From Scratch'', world premiere New Renaissance @ Greenwich House, NYC, 1993 *''Them'', world premiere Actors Theater of Louisville, 1993 *''Only Beauty'', reading NYSF/The Public Theater, NYC, 1997 *''Five Frozen Embryos'', world premiere New York Fringe Festival, 2002 *''She Stoops To Comedy'', world premiere Playwrights Horizons, NYC, 2003 *''The Argument'', world premiere Target Margin Theater, NYC, 2007 *''Old Comedy From Aristophanes' Frogs'', world premiere Target Margin Theater, NYC, 2008 *''Coraline'', world premiere Manhattan Class Company, NYC, 2009 *''The Myopia, an epic burlesque of tragic proportion'', world premiere The Foundry Theatre, NYC, 2010 *''Go Back To Where You Are'', world premiere Playwrights Horizons, NYC, 2011 *''Jump'', world premiere Under The Radar Festival - NYSF/Public Theater, NYC, 2011 *''Jonas'', world premiere Transport Group, NYC, 2011 *''I'm Looking For Helen Twelvetrees'', world premiere Abrons Arts Center, NYC 2015 *''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'', world premiere Two River Theater, Red Bank, NJ, 2018

Performance Credits

Theater

* ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' (2019), Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre as "Uncle Pio" (also Director) * ''Cute Activist'' (2018), Bushwick Starr as "Landlorde" * ''

Strange Interlude ''Strange Interlude'' is an experimental play in nine acts by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. It won the 1928 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. ''Strange Interlude'' is one of the few modern plays to make extensive use of a soliloquy technique, in ...

'', Transport Group (solo performance), NYC 2017 * ''Punk Rock'' (2014) MCC Theater as "Dr. Richard Harvey" * ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' (2012) Classic Stage Company as " Francis Flute" * ''Go Back to Where You Are'' (2011)

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit American Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. ...

as "Passalus" * ''The Patsy'' (2011) Transport Group (solo performance) NYC * ''On Set with Theda Bara'', world premiere The Brick (solo performance), Brooklyn, NY, 2023 * ''I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan,'' world premiere The Atlantic Theater (solo performance), New York, NY 2025

Awards and nominations

; Awards * 2013

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary Foundation, Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literatur ...

for Drama - ''The Myopia and Other Plays'', a collection of five of his plays published by

University of Michigan Press The University of Michigan Press is a university press that is a part of Michigan Publishing at the University of Michigan Library. It publishes 170 new titles each year in the humanities and social sciences. Titles from the press have earn ...

in 2012, won a

in 2013 in the Drama category. * 2010

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

for Sustained Achievement * 2008

Special Citation - ''The Argument'' * 2007

for Performance - ''Some Men'' * 2007

for Performance - "Faust" * 2003

Special Citation - ''She Stoops to Comedy'' * 2002 CalArts// Alpert Awards in the Arts * 2001

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

for

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

- ''Bean Cake'' * 1996

for Performance - '' Some Men'' by

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," M ...

; Nominations * 2012 Off Broadway Alliance Award Nomination - Best Special Event, ''The Patsy'' * 2012

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town news ...

Nomination - Outstanding Solo Performance - "The Patsy" * 2008

Drama League Award The Drama League Awards, created in 1922, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. Each May, the awards ...

Nomination - Distinguished Performance Award - ''Beebo Brinker Chronicles'' * 2007 Lucille Lortel Award Nomination - Outstanding Featured Actor - ''Beebo Brinker Chronicles'' * 2007

Nomination - Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play - ''Beebo Brinker Chronicles'' ; Fellowships * An alumnus of New Dramatists, he has received playwriting fellowships from the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Gr ...

, Jerome Foundation, Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation and Charles Revson Foundation. He received the 1993 McKnight Fellowship from the Playwrights Center and a 2006 Lucille Lortel Foundation Fellowship.

Bibliography

''She Stoops to Comedy'' by David Greenspan
Samuel French, Inc., October 2013 * ''The Myopia and Other Plays'', University of Michigan Press, 2012 * ''Four Plays and a Monologue'', No Passport Press, 2012
''Go Back to Where You Are'' by David Greeenspan
Playwrights Horizons, 2011 * ''She Stoops To Comedy'' in Plays From Playwrights Horizons, Vol 2, Broadway Play Publishing Inc., 2010 * "Play: A Journal of Plays, Vol. 3", 2007 * ''Son of an Engineer'', Sun and Moon Press, 2000

Interviews

* Borinsky, Alexander.
David Greenspan. And his Little Dog, Too
"

" (March 2015) * CFR Staff
David Greenspan on David Greenspan
The Clyde Fitch Report" (May 22, 2013) * Charles McNulty.
Theatricalizing Theory: A Conversation with the Inimitable David Greenspan
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' (November 9, 2011) * Raymond, Gerard.
Staging Solos: An Interview with David Greenspan
"

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

" (July 2011) * Olesker, Lizzie.
The Power of Suggestion: David Greenspan
"

" (May 2009)

References

External links

* *
David Greenspan profile
at the ''New York Times''
Bomb Magazine Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenspan, David 1956 births Living people Obie Award recipients American male stage actors 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Lambda Literary Award for Drama winners American gay writers American LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American LGBTQ people Postmodern theatre