Richard Hellesen (born 1956) is a West Coast playwright. His play
Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground
premiered Off-Broadway at the Theatre at St. Clements starring

John Rubinstein John Rubinstein (born December 8, 1946) is an American actor, composer and director. Early life Rubinstein is the son of Polish parents. His mother, Aniela (née Młynarska), a dancer and writer, was a Roman Catholic native of Warsaw, the da ...

in June, 2023, after a developmental production in October/November, 2022 at Theatre West in Los Angeles. Hellesen's works have been performed by regional theater companies including

South Coast Repertory South Coast Repertory (SCR) is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California. South Coast Repertory was founded in 1964. It has three stages and presents plays from all eras. SCR producers new plays, Theatre for Young Audiences ...

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

, the LA Rep ( Los Angeles Repertory Company), the

Denver Center Theatre Company The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is an organization in Denver, Colorado which provides a showcase for live theatre, a nurturing ground for new plays, a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit, acting classes for the communi ...

Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in 1863. The theater is best known for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box where ...

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, City Theatre in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, and

Geva Theatre Geva Theatre Center is a regional, not-for-profit, professional theatre company based in Rochester, New York. It is housed in an 1868 building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, located in Rochester at 75 Woodbury Boulevard near ...

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. A

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 ...

resident, the playwright has served on the faculty of

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

and

American River College American River College (ARC) is a public community college in unincorporated Sacramento, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System. History The college was opened in 1955 as American River Junior College (ARJC), on the ...

, and has been a resident artist at the William Inge Center for the Arts in

Independence, Kansas Independence is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Kansas, Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,548. It was named in commemoration of the ...

. He received the Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwriting Award from the National Theatre Conference in 1998. His 1987 musical adaptation of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

's ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

'', written with composer

David de Berry David de Berry (1952–1995) was a U.S. composer of theater music as well as an actor and music director. De Berry is best known for the score of a 1987 adaptation of Charles Dickens's ''A Christmas Carol,'' on which he collaborated with playwrigh ...

, may be Hellesen's most widely produced work.

Plays by Hellesen (full-length/one-act/theatre for young audiences; date of first production)

* ''Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground'' (2022) * ''Necessary Sacrifices'' (2012) * ''The Road From Appomattox'' (2009) * ''Gathering Blue'' (adapted from Lois Lowry; 2008) * ''You're Getting Warmer'' (2008) * ''Johnny Tremain'' (adapted from Esther Forbes; 2007) * ''One Destiny'' (2006) * ''The Emperor's New Clothes'' (adapted from Andersen; 2006) * ''Eureka!'' (2006) * ''Birdman'' (2005) * ''The Wind in the Willows'' (adapted from Kenneth Grahame; 2004) * ''A Speedy and Public Trial'' (adapted from Kafka; 2004) * ''The Pride of Weedpatch Camp'' (2004) * ''Indian Summer'' (2003) * ''Power Play'' (2002) * ''Teardown'' (2001) * ''Bad Water Blues'' (2001) * ''Communique'' (2001) * ''Kingdom'' (1999) * ''Untamed'' (1998) * ''Counting Ninas'' (1998) * ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' (adapted from Rostand; 1998) * ''Layin' Off the Lizard-Boy'' (1997) * ''4/100ths'' (1997) * ''Caribbean Folk Tales'' (1997) * ''Trashed!'' (1997) * ''Birds of a Feather'' (1995) * ''Dos Corazones'' (1994) * ''A Cappella'' (1994) * ''My Mom's Dad'' (1993) * ''Face2Face'' (1991) * ''Once In Arden'' (1990) * ''Gift Rap'' (1990) * ''The Twelve Dancing Princesses'' (adapted from the Brothers Grimm; 1990) * ''A Christmas Carol'' (adapted from Dickens; 1987) * ''Moonshadow'' (1987) * ''Couvade'' (1987) * ''Drive In'' (1976) * 1040 Blues ( 1974)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellesen, Richard 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Living people Writers from California 1956 births California State University, Fullerton faculty American River College faculty