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STEVEN COSSON |
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Nationality: USA Email: n/a Website: n/a |
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Literary Agent: Creative Artists Agency NY |
Steven Cosson founded The Civilians in 2001. With the company: co-writer and director of Paris Commune, which was recently produced at the Public Theater, and previously at La Jolla Playhouse; co-writer and director of This Beautiful City which premiered at the 2008 Humana Festival with productions at Studio Theatre, Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre and The Vineyard Theatre; writer/director of the long-running hit Gone Missing (New York Times critic Charles Isherwood's Best of 2007 list), published by Dramatists Play Service; (I Am) Nobody's Lunch (2006 Fringe First award at Edinburgh) published by Oberon Books in the UK and Playscripts, Inc.; and director of the company-createdCanard, Canard, Goose? The Civilians have also been produced at American Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, HBO's Aspen Comedy Festival, London's Gate Theatre and Soho Theatre among many others. Mr. Cosson has directed and developed many new plays including Neal Bell's Shadow of Himself,Mat Smart's 13th of Paris, Tommy Smith'sAir Conditioning, Anne Washburn'sCommunist Dracula Pageant, the world premiere of Peter Morris' Square Root of Minus One, the U.S. premiere of Martin Crimp's Attempts on Her Life, the U.S. premiere of Sarah Kane's Phaedra's Love;also The Time of Your Life, Serious Money, The Importance of Being Earnest,and Guys and Dolls. Mr. Cosson has been a Fulbright Scholar in Colombia, a MacDowell Fellow, and Resident Director at New Dramatists. The Civilians won an Obie in 2004.
Plays by Steven Cosson
(I Am) Nobody's Lunch | ||
| 1st Produced: | P.S. 122 | 24 Sep 2004 | ||||
Company: | ||||||
| 1st Published: | in The Civilians: An Anthology of Six Plays, Playscripts, Inc - New York (2009) >>> | ISBN/ASIN: | 978-0-9819099-0-5 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #46766 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | 75-90 min Comedy/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 5 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | (5-15 actors possible: 3-8 males, 2-7 females) | |||||
Notes: | Created by the Company. Written by Steven Cosson from interviews conducted by the Company. Music and Lyrics by Michael Friedman. Participants in the creation include Andy Boroson, Daoud Heidami, Chrstina Kirk, Alix Lambert, Matthew Maher, Caitlin Miller and KJ Sanchez | |||||
| Delving into the politics of information, The Civilians -- in its singular signature style -- conducted extensive interviews with subjects ranging from a policymaker at Homeland Security on the verge of a nervous breakdown to a plucky extraterrestrial (channeled by an equally funny human); from every Jessica Lynch in the phone book (who was willing to talk) to soldiers guarding the New York subway with unloaded weapons. Turning these interviews into a mercurial cabaret-play, a versatile cast inhabits an eccentric cast of characters, all taken from real life. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Canard, Canard, Goose? | ||
| 1st Produced: | 25 Feb 2002 | |||||
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| 1st Published: | The Civilians: An Anthology of Six Plays, Playscripts, Inc - New York (2009) >>> | ISBN/ASIN: | 978-0-9819099-0-5 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #139730 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | 75-90 min Comedy/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 4 | ||
Parts other: | (7-15 actors possible: 2-7 males, 3-8 females) | |||||
Notes: | book by Steven Cosson, music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, The Civilians; with additional text by Anne Washburn | |||||
| The Civilians leave New York City to pursue a story about a Hollywood movie and a lost flock of carelessly imprinted geese. Though they start off in search of a story about an evil corporation and the birds that were allegedly left behind, what results is a wild goose chase around Long Lake in search for answers. An eclectic show about disorientation, misplaced empathy, and coming home. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Gone Missing | ||
| 1st Produced: | The Belt, NYC | 09 Oct 2003 | ||||
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| 1st Published: | in The Civilians: An Anthology of Six Plays, Playscripts, Inc - New York (2009) >>> | ISBN/ASIN: | 978-0-9819099-0-5 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #48418 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | music-theatre documentary Musical | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Play by Steven Cosson, music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, additional text by Peter Morris | |||||
| A wry and whimsical documentary musical of loss devised from interviews with real-life New Yorkers by The Civilians, the acclaimed New York-based company. This collection of very personal accounts of things "gone missing"-everything from keys, personal identification and a Gucci pump to family heirlooms, your dog and your mind-creates a unique tapestry of the ways in which we deal with loss in our lives. A flexible company of six performs more than thirty characters, intertwining these stories of lost objects with tales from some unusual "finders," ranging from a retired NYPD cop to a pet psychic. Set against eclectic and tuneful songs by Michael Friedman, GONE MISSING is cabaret-theater about the little things in life seen largely. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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In the Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards | ||
| 1st Produced: | Irondale Center | 22 Nov 2010 | ||||
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| 1st Published: | Dramatists Play Service, NY, 2012 | ISBN/ASIN: | 978-0-8222-2522-5 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #121529 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Piece | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | doubling, flexible casting | |||||
Notes: | written by Steven Cosson and Jocelyn Clarke, music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, from interviews by the company | |||||
Synopsis: | The Civilians presents the world premiere of In the Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards, a new play with music. The site of the future Atlantic Yards Project including the Barclays basketball arena is located two blocks away from the theater where In the Footprint will chronicle the conflicts surrounding the largest land development project in Brooklyn's history. This lively theatrical production is inspired by interviews with the real-life players in the controversy, representing many different perspectives: residents of Prospect Heights and Fort Greene, political leaders such as Letitia James and Marty Markowitz, members of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, union members, and project supporters such as ACORN's Bertha Lewis. This show is the culmination of a two-year long company investigation. The creative team listened to Brooklynites from Borough Hall to barber shops to gain insights into both the Atlantic Yards drama and the ongoing story of gentrification. In the Footprint, along with several pre- and post-show dialogues, will examine the conflicts that erupted in the case of the Atlantic Yards through to their current resolution in an attempt to discover how the fate of the city is decided in present-day New York and what can be learned from this epic and ongoing story of politics, money, and the places we call home. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Paris Commune | ||
| 1st Produced: | workshop at La Jolla Playhouse | 2006 | ||||
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| 1st Published: | The Civilians: An Anthology of Six Plays, Playscripts, Inc - New York (2009) >>> | ISBN/ASIN: | 978-0-9819099-0-5 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #55855 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | music-theatre documentary Musical | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 5 | Female | 4 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Co-authored by Steven Cosson and Michael Friedman. | |||||
| With actual songs from the period and a text constructed from primary historical materials, Paris Commune employs a bold theatrical form to tell the story of the Parisian uprising of 1871 -the first socialist revolution in Europe. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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This Beautiful City | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2008 | |||||
Company: | The Civilians | |||||
| 1st Published: | Playscripts, Inc - New York | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #94945 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Musical | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | written by Steven Cosson, Michael Friedman, and Jim Lewis. Humana Festival 2008: The Complete Plays brings together all eleven scripts from the 2008 Humana Festival of New American Plays, the 32nd annual cycle of world premiere productions staged at Actors Theatre of Louisville. The seven full-length plays and four ten-minute plays represent an exceptional array of work by some of the most exciting new voices in American theatre | |||||
Synopsis: | This Beautiful City explores the growth of the evangelical Christian movement. It is docu-drama in nature, drawn principally from interviews The Civilians have conducted with people involved with or affected by the mega-church movement in Colorado Springs. A play with music, This Beautiful City was created from interviews by Emily Ackerman, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Brad Herberlee, Stephen Plunkett, Alison Weller and the authors with actual persons over the course of ten weeks in Colorado Springs. Every leading church in the area participated in the project, as did numerous civic organizations, progressive activists, and individuals from all walks of life. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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