Keith Bunin (born c. 1971) Veronica Rueckert
"With Success, Panic Ends for Playwright Bunin"
''

Wisconsin State Journal The ''Wisconsin State Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin. As of Septembe ...

'', October 23, 2003, via

HighBeam Research HighBeam Research was a paid search engine and full text online archive owned by Gale, a subsidiary of Cengage, for thousands of newspapers, magazines, academic journals, newswires, trade magazines, and encyclopedias in English. It was headqua ...

. is an American

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. His plays include ''The Credeaux Canvas'', Alvin Klein
"3 Youths, Adrift in Life and a Play"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', July 14, 2002. ''The World Over'', and ''The Busy World is Hushed'', all of which have been produced by

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. ...

Life and career

Bunin was born in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...

.Robert Vaughan
"Keith Bunin's ''Busy World''"
''At Play'' (

Dramatists Play Service Dramatists Play Service is a theatrical-publishing and licensing house imprint of Broadway Licensing Global. Established in 1936 by members of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Society for Authors' Representatives, DPS publishes English-la ...

), no. 13, Fall/Winter 2008, pp. 6-7. The son of "a half-Jewish father nda Catholic mother," he was first "raised in the Episcopal Church,"Everett Evans
"Main Street Theater production explores faith"
''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'', September 25, 2007. then attended

Oakwood Friends School Oakwood Friends School is a Private school, private, independent, co-educational Boarding school, boarding and day school located at 22 Spackenkill Road in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. With roots going back to Nine Partners Boarding Sch ...

, a Quaker prep school. He ascribes his religious viewpoints, as manifested in works such as ''The Busy World is Hushed'', to this "polyglot religious" upbringing. He moved to New York to attend film school at

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institutio ...

, then graduated from

Goddard College Goddard College was a Private college, private college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle. The college offered undergraduate and graduate degree programs. With predecessor ins ...

and received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. In his 2002 review of ''The Credeaux Canvas'', Alvin Klein of ''

'' called Bunin "a brainy young playwright with the mighty mission of combatting mindlessness" and said his "works reveal a boundless sense of wonder". Bunin's play ''The Coast Starlight'' premiered at

La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a nonprofit professional theater on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under the ...

in 2019 and was subsequently staged by

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

in 2023. The 2023 Lortel Awards recognized Mia Barron as "Outstanding Featured Performer in a Play" for her performance as Liz in the New York production. Bunin wrote the "Oliver" episodes for season 2 of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series ''

In Treatment ''In Treatment'' is an American drama television series for HBO, produced and developed by Rodrigo García (director), Rodrigo Garcia, based on the Israeli series ''BeTipul'' (), created by Hagai Levi, Ori Sivan and Nir Bergman. The series fol ...

'', as well as the screenplay for the 2013 film '' Horns'', based on the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

by Joe Hill. In 2012 it was reported that

Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character actor, character roles—eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical productio ...

had agreed to direct Bunin's screenplay, ''Ezekiel Moss'', which had been included on the 2011 " Black List" of most promising unproduced screenplays. Bunin's screenplay for

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

's '' Onward'' (co-written with

Dan Scanlon Daniel Scanlon (born June 21, 1976) is an American filmmaker, storyboard artist, and animator. He is best known for directing the Pixar animated films ''Monsters University'' (2013) and ''Onward (film), Onward'' (2020), with the latter nominatin ...

and Jason Headley) earned a nomination for Best Writing: Feature from the 2021

Annie Awards The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origi ...

. Bunin also shares story credit on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's animated film ''

Nimona ''Nimona'' is a science fantasy graphic novel by American cartoonist ND Stevenson. The story follows the title character, a shapeshifter who joins the disgraced knight Ballister Blackheart in his plans to destroy the over-controlling Institut ...

'' (2023).

References

* http://sorrowsdramaturgy.wikispaces.com/Keith+Bunin+-+The+Playwright * http://lisathatcher.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/the-credeaux-canvas-sure-foot-productions-does-keith-bunin-theatre-review/

External links

Keith Bunin
at Internet Off-Broadway Database * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunin, Keith 1971 births Living people 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American screenwriters American male screenwriters Writers from Poughkeepsie, New York Goddard College alumni Columbia University alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni American male dramatists and playwrights Screenwriters from New York (state)