Eric Roy Samuelsen (April 10, 1956 – September 20, 2019) was an American playwright and emeritus professor of theatre at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

in Provo, Utah. He is considered one of the most important Mormon playwrights. He won the

Association for Mormon Letters Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

(AML) drama award in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, and was AML president from 2007 to 2009. In 2012 he received the Smith–Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters.

Biography

Eric Samuelsen was born in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...

, but spent most of his early life in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

. His father Roy was an opera singer, which introduced young Samuelsen to a love for theater productions. As a young man he served in

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as a

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for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church). He received a bachelor's degree in theatre from Brigham Young University in 1983 and returned to Bloomington and earned a Ph.D. from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

in 1991. He taught at

Wright State University Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio, United States. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in ...

in Dayton, Ohio before joining the faculty at Brigham Young University in 1992. From 1999-2011 Samuelsen ran BYU's playwrighting program. Throughout his career, at least 24 of Samuelsen's plays were produced professionally throughout the United States, including California, Indiana, Louisiana, New York, and Utah. Most of Samuelsen's early plays were produced at Brigham Young University, but around 2003 he began a relationship with Plan-B Theatre Company. Since 2006, Plan-B premiered a Samuelsen play every year. He became its playwright in residence in 2012, and many of his newer plays were produced there. This may be due to a more controversial bent in later plays; ''Borderlands'' has a character who is an openly gay

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

youth. Following illness and a diagnosis of

polymyositis Polymyositis (PM) is a type of chronic inflammation of the muscles ( inflammatory myopathy) related to dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis. Its name is derived . The inflammation of polymyositis is mainly found in the endomysial layer ...

, a degenerative muscular disease, Samuelsen retired from BYU in 2012, where he had taught for 20 years. The next year, Plan-B Theatre Company dedicated 2013 as the "Season of Eric", presenting four of Samuelsen's plays.

Works

1970s

*''Letter From a Prophet'', co-written by Charles Metten. Produced at Brigham Young University, fall 1978. Directed by Charles Metten. *''A Girl Who Blushes''. One act. Produced April, 1978, at Mormon Festival of the Arts at Brigham Young University. *''Playing the Game''. Produced in 1979 at Brigham Young University.

1980s

*''Emma''. Opera libretto, music by Murray Boren. Produced at Brigham Young University 1984. Subsequently, produced by Hell's Kitchen Opera company in 1984. *''Sex and the New York Yankees''. One act. Produced by Bloomington Playwrights Project, Bloomington Indiana.

1990s

*''Accommodations''. Produced at Brigham Young University, 1993. Subsequently, published in Sunstone magazine, June 1994. Won AML annual award in drama, 1994. Directed by Thomas Rogers. *''The Seating of Senator Smoot''. Produced at Brigham Young University, 1996. Directed by Robert Nelson. The play was also videotaped and broadcast on KBYU. *''Gadianton''. Produced at Brigham Young University, 1997. Directed by Robert Nelson. Subsequently, published in ''Sunstone''. Won AML award in drama, 1997. Subsequently, produced at

University of Louisiana at Monroe The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it becam ...

. Anthologized in Mahonri Stewart, Saints on Stage. Zarahemla Press, 2013. *''Without Romance''. Produced at Brigham Young University, 1997. Subsequently, produced at Mormon Arts Festival. *''The Christmas Box''. Adapted from the novel by Richard Paul Evans. Music by Murray Boren. Produced as a musical at BYU, Pardoe Theater, 1997. Directed by Rodger Sorensen. *''Winding Sheet''. SLAC staged reading, Dec. 1998. About a Victorian social reformer and prostitution. *''Coughlaugh''. A theatrical experiment in one act. Blaine Sundrud directed a production at Brigham Young University in 1998. Later produced in 2010 at Brigham Young University. *''The Way We’re Wired''. Produced at Brigham Young University, 1999. Won AML award for drama, 1999. Subsequently, produced by Nauvoo Theatrical Society in Orem in 2003, directed by Eric Samuelsen. Also adapted by Samuelsen into a novel, Singled Out. Cornerstone, 2000.

2000s

*''A Love Affair with Electrons''. Produced at Brigham Young University 2000. Directed by Eric Samuelsen. *''Three Women'', 3 one act plays on Mormon women, VIP Arts' Little Brown Theatre, Springville, 2001. Bar and Kell, Community Standard, and Judgment. *''What Really Happened''. Produced at Brigham Young University, 2001. *''Magnificence''. March 2002, BYU Margetts. Samuelsen adapted this medieval play by John Skelton. *''Peculiarities''. Several one acts, produced in several iterations. Tony Gunn directed four one acts in Springville, 2005. Plan B Theatre produced three one acts, including ''Kiss'', which was not included in the production Tony Gunn directed. Jerry Rapier directed a film version, with all six short plays included. *''Family''. Produced at Brigham Young University in 2005. Directed by David Morgan. Won AML Drama award, also published in ''Sunstone''. Subsequently, produced at Dixie College in St. George, Utah, in 2006. Published in Sunstone March 2005. *''Miasma''. First done as ten-minute play for Plan-B Theatre Company SLAM, 2005, as ''The Butcher, The Beggar and the Bed-time Buddy''. Subsequently, produced as full-length play at Plan-B, 2006, published in ''Plays From Beyond the Zion Curtain''. *''Blood Pudding'', 10-minute play, done for Plan-B Theatre Company SLAM, 2006. *''Behind the Blue Door'', 10-minute play, done for Plan-B Theatre Company SLAM, 2007. *''Burning Desire'', 10-minute play, done for Plan-B Theatre Company SLAM, 2008. *''Perfect Circle'', 10-minute play, done for Plan-B Theatre Company/Theatre Arts Conservatory Student SLAM, 2009. *''Inversion''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company/Theatre Arts Conservatory, Salt Lake, Rose Wagner, 2008. *''Intersection''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company/Theatre Arts Conservatory, Salt Lake, Rose Wagner, 2009.

2010s

*''He and She Fighting: A Love Story''. New Play Project in Provo, 2010. Directed by Davey Morrison-Dillard. *''Amerigo''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, 2010. Subsequently, published in ''More Plays from Behind the Zion Curtain''. *''Borderlands''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, 2011. Directed by Jerry Rapier. Published in Sunstone, July 2009, and in 2012 in Plan-B's Even More Plays from Behind the Zion Curtain. *''The Plan''. Brinton Black Box Theater in the Covey Center for the Arts, Provo, Utah, 2011 Published in Sunstone, July 2009. *''Blind Dates''. Covey Center for the Arts, 2012. Four humorous short plays, all with the same title, about blind dates gone wrong. Inspired by the late Horton Foote's original work. Eric Samuelsen, J. Scott Bronson and Melissa Lelani Larson created original works to go along with the original play by Foote.　 *''Nothing Personal''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Rose Wagner, 2013. Directed by Jerry Rapier. *''Radio Hour Episode 8: Fairyana''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company and KUER's RadioWest in Salt Lake City, Rose Wagner, 2013. Directed by Cheryl Ann Cluff. *''Clearing Bombs''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Rose Wagner, 2014. Directed by Eric Samuelsen. *''3''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Rose Wagner, 2014. Directed by Cheryl Ann Cluff. Includes three short plays, Bar and Kell, Community Standard, and Duets, two of which were earlier produced as ''Three Women''. *''The Kreutzer Sonata''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company and NOVA Chamber Music Seriesin Salt Lake City, Rose Wagner, October 2015, Jerry Rapier directing. *''The Ice Front''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Rose Wagner, 2017. *''Cassandra''. Produced at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival, 2018.

References

External links

*
Reviews at AML review database''Mormon Iconoclast'', Samuelsen's blogSamuelsen on the BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications wiki

Eric Samuelsen at MormonWiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuelsen, Eric 1956 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Mormon missionaries 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American non-fiction writers American Latter Day Saint writers American male dramatists and playwrights American male non-fiction writers American Mormon missionaries in Norway Brigham Young University alumni Brigham Young University faculty Indiana University Bloomington alumni People from Bloomington, Indiana Writers from Provo, Utah Theatre in Utah Utah Democrats Wright State University faculty Writers from Indiana Latter Day Saints from Utah Latter Day Saints from Indiana Latter Day Saints from Ohio Mormon playwrights Association for Mormon Letters people