David Robson (playwright)

David Robson is an American playwright and educator from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania born on September 11, 1966. He is currently based in Wilmington, Delaware. He earned a B.A. in Communications from Temple University, an M.S. in English Education from Saint Joseph's University, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. He is a professor of English at Delaware County Community College.. He is married to actress and photographer Sonja Robson.
==Career==
===Theater===
Some of Robson's earliest work was produced by InterAct Theatre Company.. Since then, his plays have been produced and presented by TheaterWorks (Hartford), Penguin Rep, Delaware Theatre Company, the Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Act II Playhouse, The Lark, Theatre Exile, Passage Theatre, and City Theater Company, among others. Robson credits his mother for his initial interest in theater, along with the work of Edward Albee, Samuel Beckett, Sam Shepard, and Ted Tally.
===Academia===
Robson began his teaching career at Delaware County Community College in the fall of 2002 There he teaches courses in composition, creative writing, and film. He received the Gould Award for Teaching Excellence in 2010. At the 2014 Association of Writers & Writing Programs in Seattle, Washington, Robson and co-presenters Lloyd Noonan, Nancy McCurry, and Paul Pat presented "New Approach to Teaching Creative Writing to Senior Citizens".
==Works==
===Plays (Selected)===
*Man Measures Man (2001), first produced by InterAct Theatre Company and The Lark
*Out of Place (2004)
*Killing Neil Labute (2005)
*A Few Small Repairs (2007)
*After Denmark (2008)
*Playing Leni (with John Stanton) (2011)
*Playing the Assassin (2013), first produced by InterAct Theatre Company as "Assassin" and by Penguin Rep as "Playing the Assassin"
*Priceless (2014), first developed and produced by Penguin Rep
*After Birth of a Nation (2015), first produced by City Theater Company
*Muleheaded: Zora and Langston Write a Play (2016)
*Clay Warrior (2017)
*Birthright (2017), published in Polish by Dialog magazine in Warsaw
*The Passion of M. (2018)
*Without Consent (2019), developed at Penguin Rep, Delaware Theatre Company, and Theatre Exile
*Ball N’ Chain: Big Mama Thornton Plays Monterey (play with music) (2019)
*Comfort and Joy (2020)
*By the Eye (2020)
*The Stronger (2021)
*Hammer of God (2022)
*The Maids (2022)
*Freud und Freud (2023)
===Books (Selected)===
*The Black Arts Movement, Lucent Books. . (2008)
*The Kennedy Assassination, Reference Point Press. . (2008)
*Auschwitz, Lucent Books. . (2009)
*Racism, Lucent Books. . (2010)
*The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict, Lucent Books. . (2010)
*The Murder of Emmett Till, Lucent Books. . (2010)
*Encounters with Vampires, Reference Point Press. . (2010)
*The Decade of the 2000s, Reference Point Press. . (2011)
*Colonial America, Reference Point Press. . (2012)
*The Internment of Japanese Americans, Reference Point Press. . (2013)
*Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, Reference Point Press. . (2013)
==Awards and Honors==
*Individual Artist Fellowship, Delaware Division of the Arts (1999)
*Barrymore Award, Nomination (2001)
*Julie Harris Playwriting Award, Finalist (2006)
*Individual Artist Fellowship, Delaware Division of the Arts (2006)
*Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays, Finalist (2007)
*Short and Sweet Festival, Featured Play (2007)
*Lincoln Boyhood Drama Association, Finalist (2007)
*Artist Opportunity Grant, Delaware Division of the Arts (2007)
*Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays, Finalist (2010)
*Hotel Obligado Audience Choice Award for New Work (2010)
*Artist Opportunity Grant, Delaware Division of the Arts (2010)
*Philadelphia Theater Critics’ Awards, Best Play Nomination (2013)
*Pulitzer Prize in Drama, Nomination (2014)
*Philadelphia Geek Award, White Mountains Project, Winner: Someone Else’s Life" (2015)
*Best Delaware Playwright, Broadway World Awards (2017)
*Artist Opportunity Grant, Delaware Division of the Arts (2022)
==Critical Reviews==
“Football executives, fans, coaches and players at all levels would be well-advised to see — and ponder — David Robson’s Playing the Assassin…compelling dialogue and forceful characters provide so much theatrical energy...takes a good, solid shot at professional football while telling a gripping story. Touchdown.”--The New York Times on Playing the Assassin
“A brutal gridiron drama…a thrilling production…will appeal to theatergoers who never watch football as much as die-hard fans who can now glimpse their game treated with understanding and depth.”--The Philadelphia Inquirer on Playing the Assassin
"A quasi-historical farce loaded with sight gags, cross-dressing, snappy dialog and larger-than-life characters. The plot amusingly weaves from policy talk to social issues to religion to the arts...The wacky first act sets up a screwball second...After Birth of a Nation is a funny look at what might have happened in 1915, but many of the jokes and comical references are topical. Robson has crafted his historical farce for today’s audiences."--Delaware Arts Info on After Birth of a Nation
“Tightly written, sometimes tense, and generally commanding work… It sure is good theater.”
--The Philadelphia Inquirer on Playing Leni
“A Few Small Repairs creates, in tiny increments, both admiration and pathos for Little Alice, this peculiar, hairless, middle-aged daughter who, with her `low threshold for guilt' finds her life has vanished in devotion to her demented mother. A charming and moving play. It lingers vividly in the mind because it created characters of subtlety and humanness, each of whom was a real individual. "--The Philadelphia Inquirer on A Few Small Repairs
Category:1966 births
Category:People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Category:American people
Category:Temple University alumni
Category:Saint Joseph University alumni
Category:Playwrights
Category:Educators