Richard Nelson Biography (1950-)

Full name, Richard John Nelson; born October 17, 1950, in Chicago, IL; son ofRichard Finis (a sales representative) and Viola (a dancer; maiden name, Gabriel) Nelson; married Cynthia Blair Bacon, May 21, 1972; children: Zoe Elizabeth, Jocelyn Anne.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Writer
Birth Details: October 17, 1950; Chicago, Illinois, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Stage Work
Director
(With Ted D'Arms) Between East and West, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle, 1984
James Joyce's The Dead (musical), Playwrights' Horizons Theatre, New York City, 1999 then Belasco Theatre, New York City, 2000 later Geary Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco, 2001
Madame Melville, Vaudeville Theatre, London, 2000-2001
Franny's Way, Playwrights' Horizons Theatre, 2001
The General from America, Alley Theatre, Houston, 2001
Goodnight Children Everywhere, Geary Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, 2001
Television Appearances
Episodic
Working in the Theatre, CUNY (New York City), 2000
WRITINGS
Plays
The Killing of Yablonski: Scenes of Involvement in a Current Event, produced at New Theatre for Now, Mark Taper Forum/Lab, Los Angeles, 1975 then PAF Playhouse, Huntington Station, NY, 1978 published in Plays by Richard Nelson: Early Plays, Volume 1.
Conjuring an Event, produced at Center Theatre Group, Mark Taper Forum/Lab, 1976 then American Place Theatre, New York City, 1978 published inAn American Comedy and Other Plays, Performing Arts Journal (New YorkCity), 1986
Scooping (one-act monologue), produced at Arena Stage (now Fichandler Stage), Washington, DC, 1977 published in Plays by Richard Nelson: Early Plays, Volume 1.
The Vienna Notes, produced at Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis,1978 then Mainstage Theatre, Playwrights' Horizons Theatre, later Mark TaperForum, and in Sheffield, England, all 1979 published in Wordplays 1,Performing Arts Journal, 1980 and in Plays by Richard Nelson: Early Plays,Volume 2.
Jungle Coup, produced at Playwrights' Horizons Theatre, New York City, 1978 published in Plays from Playwrights' Horizons, Broadway Play(New York City), 1987 and Plays by Richard Nelson: Early Plays, Volume 1.
Don Juan (adaptation of the work of Moliere), produced at Arena Stage, 1979 published by Broadway Play, 1989
The Suicide (adaptation of a work by Nikolai Erdman), produced atGoodman Theatre, 1980 then Arena Stage, 1980-1981
(Translator with Helen Ciulei) "The Wedding" (based on a work by BertoltBrecht), in The Marriage Dance: An Evening of Farce, produced at Lepercq Space, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, New York City, 1980 then Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle, 1984
Bal, produced by Chicago Theatre Group, Goodman Theatre, Chicago,1980 published in An American Comedy and Other Plays, Performing ArtsJournal, 1986 and in Plays by Richard Nelson: Early Plays, Volume 2.
Il Campiello: A Venetian Comedy (adaptation of the play by Carlo Goldoni), produced at New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, New YorkCity, 1981 published by Theatre Communications Group (New York City), 1981
Jungle of Cities (adaptation of a work by Bertolt Brecht), produced at Playhouse Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, New York City, 1981
Rip Van Winkle; or, "The Works," produced at Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1981 published by Broadway Play, 1986
The Marriage of Figaro (adaptation of a work by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais based on a translation by Nelson), produced at Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, 1982 then Circle in the Square, New York City, 1985
The Return of Pinocchio, produced at Empty Space Theatre, Seattle,1983 then 47th Street Theatre, New York City, 1986 published in An American Comedy and Other Plays, Performing Arts Journal, 1986 and in Playsby Richard Nelson: Early Plays, Volume 2.
The Accidental Death of an Anarchist (adaptation of a work by Dario Fo as translated by Suzanne Cowan), produced at Kreeger Theatre, Arena Stage, then Belasco Theatre, New York City, both 1984 later produced in Philadelphia, PA, published by Samuel French (New York City), 1987
Between East and West (two-act), produced at Seattle Repertory Theatre, 1984 then Hampstead Theatre Club, London, 1987 published in New Plays USA 3, Theatre Communications Group, 1986
The Three Sisters (adaptation of the work by Anton Chekhov as translated by Nelson), produced at Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, 1984 then Goodman Theatre, 1995

An American Comedy, produced by Center Theatre Group, Mark Taper Forum, 1986 later produced by the Second Stage Theatre Company, New RepertoryTheatre, Newton Highlands, MA, and Firehouse Center for the Arts, Newburyport, MA, both 2000 published in An American Comedy and Other Plays, Performing Arts Journal, 1986
Principia Scriptoriae, produced by Royal Shakespeare Company, London, then Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City, both 1986 published by Broadway Play, 1986
(Author of book for musical [with Tim Rice]) Chess (two-act), produced at Imperial Theatre, New York City, 1988 later Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, c. 1996 Barn Theatre, Montville, NJ, c. 1996-1997 Delgado Community College, New Orleans, 2000 and Temple University, Philadelphia, 2001 published by Samuel French, 1989
Roots in Water, produced at River Arts Repertory Theatre, Woodstock, NY, 1988 produced as a radio play, BBC-3, 1989
Jitterbugging (adaptation), produced in 1989
Sensibility and Sense (two-act), produced at Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, New York City, 1989 published by Faber, 1989
Some Americans Abroad, produced by Royal Shakespeare Company, 1989then Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, later Vivian Beaumont Theatre, New York City, both 1990 later Hilberry Theatre, Detroit, MI, 1999 published by Faber, 1989
Two Shakespearean Actors, produced by Royal Shakespeare Company, Lincoln Center Theatre, New York City, 1991 then Cort Theatre, New York City,1992
Columbus and the Discovery of Japan, produced by Royal ShakespeareCompany, Barbican Theatre, London, 1992
Life Sentences (expanded version of his television special "The End of a Sentence," American Playhouse), produced at Second Stage, New York City, 1993
(With Alexander Gelman) Misha's Party, produced at The Pit, London, 1993 then Main Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, MA, 1997
New England, produced by Royal Shakespeare Company, Barbican Theatre, 1994 then Manhattan Theatre Club, 1995
The Imaginary Cuckold (adaptation of a part of The Moliere Comedies), produced at Roundabout Theatre, 1995
The School for Husbands (adaptation of a part of The Moliere Comedies), produced at Roundabout Theatre, New York City, 1995
The Father (adaptation of a work by August Strindberg), produced at Criterion Center Stage, New York City, then Roundabout Theatre, 1996
The General from America, produced by Royal Shakespeare Company, Barbican Theatre, 1996 then Milwaukee Repertory Company.
Goodnight Children Everywhere, produced by Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, 1997 then London, 1998-1999 later Playwrights' Horizons Theatre, c. 1999
(And lyricist with Shaun Davey) James Joyce's The Dead (adaptationof the work by James Joyce), produced at Playwrights' Horizons Theatre, 1999then Belasco Theatre, 2000
Madame Melville (adaptation of a work by Charles Isherwood), produced at Vaudeville Theatre, London, 2000-2001 then Promenade Theatre, New YorkCity, 2001
Enrico IV (adaptation of work by Luigi Pirandello), produced at Geary Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco, 2001
Franny's Way, produced at Playwrights' Horizons Theatre, 2001
With Colin Chambers, author of Kenneth's First Play (for children), Royal Shakespeare Company.
Screenplays
Ethan Frome (based on the novel by Edith Wharton), Miramax, 1993
Television Movies
(With Elinor Karpf and Stephen Karpf) Terror in the Sky, CBS, 1971
Houston, We've Got a Problem, ABC, 1974
Television Specials
"Sensibility and Sense," American Playhouse, PBS, 1990
"The End of a Sentence," American Playhouse, PBS, 1991 expanded version produced as the theatrical play Life Sentences.
Television Episodes
Kojak, CBS, 1973
Radio Plays
Languages Spoken Here, BBC-3, 1987 published in Best Radio Plays of 1987, Methuen (London), 1988
Eating Words, BBC-3, 1989
Roots in Water (based on his theatrical play), BBC-3, 1989
Advice to Eastern Europe, 1990
The American Wife, 1994
Also the author of the radio plays The Fall of Agnew, Hank Aaron's 715th, The Unrequited Lovers' Manual, and Watergate: An Audio Memory, all WUHY-FM.
Collected Works
Also wrote Plays by Richard Nelson: Early Plays, Volume 1 (contains Conjuring an Event, Jungle Coup, The Killing of Yablonski, and Scooping), and Plays by Richard Nelson: Early Plays, Volume 2 (contains Bal, The Return of Pinocchio, and The Vienna Notes).
Other Writings
(Editor and contributor) Strictly Dishonorable and Other Lost AmericanPlays, Theatre Communications Group, 1986
(With David Jones) Making Plays: The Writer-Director Relationship in the Theater Today, edited by Colin Chambers, Faber, 1995
Contributor to periodicals, including Performing Arts Journal andPhiladelphia Drummer.

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals

Chicago Tribune, May 5, 1988
Christian Science Monitor, November 20, 1984 April 16, 1986
Daily News (New York), November 16, 1984 October 11, 1985 April 10, 1986
Los Angeles Times, October 7, 1983
New York, April 15, 1985
New York Post, November 19, 1984 October 11, 1985 April 12, 1986
New York Times, February 21, 1978 March 21, 1978 November 16, 1984October 11, 1985 April 3, 1986 April 10, 1986 April 30, 1986 September 24, 1986 January 17, 1988 April 24, 1988 April 29, 1988 May 8, 1988
Time, April 28, 1986
Times (London), December 18, 1987
Wall Street Journal, November 20, 1984

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