Stephen Karam (born ) is an American playwright, screenwriter and director. His plays '' Sons of the Prophet'', a comedy-drama about a Lebanese-American family, and '' The Humans'' were finalists for the

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

in 2012 and 2016, respectively. ''The Humans'' won the 2016

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Play, and Karam wrote and directed a

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of the play, released in 2021.

Biography

Karam grew up in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

, in a Lebanese-American family of Maronite Catholic faith. He graduated in 2002 from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, then apprenticed at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. There he met Arian Moayed (who later appeared in ''The Humans'') and P. J. Paparelli, who collaborated with him on ''columbinus'' and directed ''The Humans'' in Chicago.Soloski, Alexis
"Stephen Karam’s Plays Treat Anguish as a Laughing Matter"
''New York Times'', September 24, 2015 Karam teaches at The New School in New York. His plays have appeared both

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

and on Broadway. Karam was a three-time winner in The Blank Theatre's Nationwide Young Playwrights Festival in 1997, 1998 and 1999. His first play ''A Work of Art'' ('97) starred Robert Pine and Janet Carroll, ''Agnes'' ('98) starred Alyson Hannigan in her stage debut, and ''Lies in the Eye of the Beholder'' ('99) starred Richard Ruccollo. His musical ''Emma'' won the Kennedy Center American College Theater (KCACTF) Musical Theatre Award in 2001. The

Roundabout Theatre Company The Roundabout Theatre Company is a nonprofit organization, non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. History The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fr ...

produced '' Speech & Debate'' in October 2007 at The Black Box,Hernandez, Ernio
"Three Teens Team for Speech & Debate at Roundabout's Black Box"
Playbill, October 29, 2007 after a workshop at Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

in 2006. This play was the first at Roundabout Underground, their "initiative to introduce and cultivate artists." '' columbinus'' was produced Off-Broadway in 2006 at the New York Theatre Workshop, following co-premieres in 2005 at the Round House Theatre in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

and at Perseverance Theatre in

Juneau, Alaska Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Southeast Alaska, Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the ...

. '' Sons of the Prophet'' was produced in 2011 at the

's Laura Pels Theatre. The play was a finalist for the 2012

and winner of the New York Drama Critics' Circle, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards for Best Play. ''Dark Sisters'' is a chamber opera, with the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

written by Karam and the music composed by Nico Muhly, commissioned by the Gotham Chamber Opera, Music-Theatre Group, and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. The opera premiered at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College in November 2011, directed by Rebecca Taichman and conducted by Neal Goren. Karam is the Writer in Residence at the 2016 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. Karam prepared an adaptation of ''

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' () is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Pu ...

'' by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

, which was presented on Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre in a limited engagement at the American Airlines Theatre from September 15, 2016 (previews), officially on October 16 to December 4. Directed by Simon Godwin, Diane Lane stars as Lyubov Ranevskaya, with Joel Grey (Firs), John Glover (Gaev), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Varya), Harold Perrineau (Lopakhin) and Tavi Gevinson (Anya).

''The Humans''

'' The Humans'' was Karam's second commission from the Roundabout Theatre; the first was for ''Sons of the Prophet''.Hetrick, Adam and Clement, Olivia
"Stephen Karam's Family Drama 'The Humans' Sets Sights on Broadway"
Playbill, October 27, 2015 The play had its world premiere at the American Theater Company, Chicago, in November 2014, directed by PJ Paparelli. ''The Humans'' ran on Broadway, opening at the Helen Hayes Theatre on February 18, 2016. It premiered Off-Broadway in a Roundabout Theatre Company production at the Laura Pels Theatre on October 25, 2015, and closed on January 3, 2016. ''The Humans'' was a finalist for the 2016

, 2016

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 Playwriting, and won the 2016

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, an Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first year ...

Style

According to Alexis Soloski (in ''The New York Times'') "Mr. Karam specializes in painful comedies that really shouldn’t be as funny as they are. In ''Speech & Debate'', which centers on three misfit teenagers, at least two characters have undergone traumatic sexual experiences.... In ''The Humans'', an Irish-American family’s Thanksgiving dinner is dotted with chatter of depression, dementia, illness and the specter of Sept. 11. This, too, is a comedy. At least in part. It is also possibly a horror story." He writes about loss "and the messy, haphazard, necessary ways we get on with our lives afterward." In an article about Karam, Charles Haugland, Artistic Programs & Dramaturgy at Boston's Tony Award-winning Huntington Theatre Company, wrote: "Karam has an uncanny knack for echoing American culture in ways that amuse and compel audiences equally... Karam's humor is notable, and he can be funny in remarkably few words... he is quick to note that he starts his plays with the basics: character and plot." Peter Marks, writing in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' observed: "Through pieces like ''Speech and Debate,'' which explored teenage relationships and the questionable morals of a teacher, and ''Sons of the Prophet,'' about the travails of a pair of brothers living hand-to-mouth in a small Pennsylvania town, Karam has demonstrated an acute perceptiveness for the ways people lean on one another even as they get under each other’s skins.... Karam says he’s drawn to 'the strangeness in people' who live in a state of dread; it’s the psychological realism of the everyday, it seems, that fires his imagination."

Plays

* ''

'', adapted (2016) * '' The Humans'' (2014) * '' Sons of the Prophet'' (2011) * ''Dark Sisters'' (2011) * '' Speech & Debate'' (2006) * '' columbinus'' (2005) * ''Girl on Girl'' (2005) * ''Emma'' (2000)

Filmography

* '' Speech & Debate'' (2017, screenwriter) * ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' () is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 in literature, 1895 and first produced in 1896 in literature#Drama, 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramati ...

'' (2018, screenwriter) * '' The Humans'' (2021, screenwriter, director)

Awards and honors

*2012 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for ''Sons of the Prophet'' *2012 Outer Critics' Circle Award for ''Sons of the Prophet'' *2012 Drama Desk Award for ''Sons of the Prophet'' *2012 Lucille Lortel Awards for ''Sons of the Prophet'' *2012 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for ''Sons of the Prophet'' *2016 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for ''The Humans'' *2016 Drama Desk Award for ''The Humans'' *2016 Drama League Award for ''The Humans'' *2016 Obie Award for ''The Humans'' *2016 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for ''The Humans'' *2016 Tony Award for Best Play for ''The Humans'' Karam received the Berwin Lee Playwrights Award in 2015, which includes a $25,000 award as a commission. He is a MacDowell Colony fellow. He received the inaugural Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Drama Desk Award for ''Sons of the Prophet''. Karam received the Horton Foote Playwriting Award, awarded by the Dramatists Guild, in February 2016. The award has a $25,000 cash prize.Gans, Andrew
"Stephen Karam Wins New Horton Foote Playwriting Award"
playbill.com, February 23, 2016

References

External links

Website for Stephen Karam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karam, Stephen 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American male dramatists and playwrights American male screenwriters American writers of Lebanese descent Brown University alumni Film directors from Pennsylvania American LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights LGBTQ people from Pennsylvania Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Screenwriters from Pennsylvania Writers from Scranton, Pennsylvania Year of birth missing (living people)