Biography of Joel Drake Johnson

Joel Drake Johnson is a resident playwright at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theater where three of his play have been produced: "Before My Eyes" (Jeff nomination), "The End of the Tour" (Jeff nomination) and "Four Places" (a finalist in the National Art's Club's Best New Play of 2006). All three plays were directed by Sandy Shinner. "The End of the Tour" was chosen for inclusion in the anthology "New Plays From Chicago" and was published once again by The Broadway Play Publishing Company. Johnson got his start as a writer at Chicago's critically acclaimed Econo-Art Theatre under the artistic direction of Lynn Baber, Barb Reeder and Marc Silvia who produced five of his plays. "As the Beaver", a critical and popular hit for Chicago's Zebra Crossing Theatre was also produced at the Burbage Theatre in LA and the Vortex Theatre in Austin, TX. Other plays have been produced at the New Playwrights' Theatre in Ashland, Oregon; the West Bank Theatre and The Ensemble Studio Theatre in NYC; Manbites Dog in Durham; The Road Theatre in LA and the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. Johnson won Illinois Arts Council grants for "Blind Hearts", "The Fall to Earth" and "A Blue Moon". "A Blue Moon" was first produced at the Chicago Dramatists Theatre and, in the fall of 2002, it was nominated for best new work by the Joseph Jefferson Committee. The Jeff Award winning production of "The Fall to Earth" was first produced (in an extended run) by Steppenwolf Theatre (2004). It was published by Broadway Play Publishing in the fall of 2006. Steppenwolf Theatre subsequently commissioned Johnson to write "A Blameless Life" and "Tranquillity Woods" which they produced in the summer of 2005 and '07, respectively. Johnson is a member of The Dramatists Guild, Pen America Center and the Chicago Dramatists advisory board. He has taught playwrighting at Northwestern University, DePaul University and Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. He lives in Chicago and New Buffalo, Michigan where he is working on a third commission from Steppenwolf Theatre.