c/o Mary Harden
Harden-Curtis Associates
850 Seventh Avenue, Suite 405
New York, NY 10019
(212) 977-8502
(212) 977-8420 fax
Email:
newdramatists@newdramatists.org
Michael received a Bachelor of Music in viola
performance from Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Arts in theatre from
Villanova University, where he is now an assistant professor of theatre.
Because of his background as a musician, Michael considers his plays
compositions: characters are instruments, scenes are movements; tempo,
rhythm, and dynamics are critical; and melody and counterpoint are always
set in relief by rests--beats, pauses, the spaces in between.
For PBS, Michael has written three short films and co-authored the
feature-length PHILADELPHIA DIARY. Awards include the Roger L. Stevens
Award from the Fund for New American Plays, a Barrymore Award for
Outstanding New Play, the F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Theatre
Artist, a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award, a commission from The Ensemble Studio
Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science and Technology Project, and
fellowships from the Independence Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Arts
Foundation, and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
TOOTH AND CLAW
Two-act drama, 110 Minutes
8M, 2W
Multiple Suggested Interiors and Exteriors
Biologist Schuyler Baines, the first female director of the Charles
Darwin Research Station, arrives in Galapagos full of ideas and
idealism. But when she becomes aware of an exploding black market that
threatens to destroy the islands’ fragile ecosystem, Schuyler shuts the
industry down, sparking a deadly, survival-of-the-fittest conflict with
native fishermen. A compelling exploration—based on actual events— of
evolution, extinction, and the ever-present nature of Darwin’s “struggle
for life.”
World premiere, Arden Theatre
Company (2004); New York premiere, Ensemble Studio Theatre (2004);
commissioned through the Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Science
& Technology Project.
RED HERRING
Two-act Comedy, 120 Minutes
3M, 3W
Multiple Suggested Interiors and Exteriors
Three love stories, a murder mystery, and a nuclear espionage plot
converge in this fable about marriage and other explosive devices. It's
1952: America is on the verge of the H-bomb, Dwight Eisenhower is on the
campaign trail, and I Love Lucy is on Monday nights. Meanwhile, Senator
Joe McCarthy's daughter just got engaged to a Soviet spy, and detective
Maggie Pelletier has to find out who dumped the dead guy in Boston
Harbor—or else lose out on a honeymoon in Havana. A blunt-nosed,
sharp-eyed look at love and tying (untying, and retying) the knot.
World premiere, Arden Theatre Company (2000); Actors Theatre of
Louisville (2002); Florida Stage (2002); City Theatre Company (2001);
Berkshire Theatre Festival workshop (1999); Barrymore Award for
Outstanding New Play (2000).
EUREKA! A techno-mystery
One-act Comedy, 45 Minutes
2M, 2W
Multiple Suggested Interiors
An engaging, fast-paced play for young audiences that shows how intuition,
inquiry, and perseverance are more critical to problem-solving than even
the most powerful technological tools. Between his incessant computer
games and her endless chat rooms, Jenna and Justin engage in more than
their share of sibling rivalry over the family computer. Each hopes to win
a school essay contest and its grand prize -- a brand-new Archimedes 5000
computer. But when their school's computer lab is mysteriously damaged,
and Jenna and Justin become prime suspects, brother and sister must first
work together to solve the mystery and prove their innocence.
Commissioned and toured by Philadelphia Theatre Caravan and The
Franklin Institute (1999).
AN EMPTY PLATE IN THE
CAFÉ DU GRAND BOEUF
Full-length Comedy, 100 Minutes (no intermission)
4M, 2W
Unit Set (Interior)
A comic tragedy in seven courses, celebrating the joys of cooking, sex,
bullfighting, and the collected works of Ernest Hemingway.
No menu necessary at the world's greatest restaurant, the Café du Grand
Boeuf in Paris. Why? "Because we have everything," headwaiter Claude
admonishes waiter-in-training Antoine. On this hot July night in 1961, the
two join waitress Mimi and chef Gaston in awaiting the imminent arrival of
Victor, the Café's owner and sole patron. But when "Monsieur" returns,
disheveled and morose, from the bullfights in Madrid, his wish is simple:
to die of starvation at his own table. The frantic staff, whose very lives
depend on Victor's appetite, try all means to change his mind, but to no
avail. Finally, they make a last-ditch plea: out of respect for their
life's work, will he let them prepare one final meal—provided they leave
it in the kitchen? Instead they will describe it, course by course, over a
series of empty platters. Victor consents, and the feast of adjectives and
adverbs begins...
World premiere, Arden Theatre Company (1994); New York premiere,
Primary Stages (2000); London premiere, Indelible Theatre, Ltd. (1998);
Stamford Theatre Works (2001); Berkshire Theatre Festival (1998); Access
Theatre (1997); Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble (1995); Cricket Theatre
(1995); Salt Lake Acting Company (1995); PlayLabs conference workshop
(1994).
INCORRUPTIBLE
Two-act Comedy, 110 Minutes
5M, 3W
Unit Interior Set
A dark comedy about the Dark Ages.
Welcome to Priseaux, France, circa 1250 B.C.E.: The river flooded again
last week; the chandler's shop just burned to the ground. Nobody's
invented the wheelbarrow yet. And Sainte Foy, the patron of the local
monastery, hasn't worked a miracle in 13 years. All eyes turn to the Pope,
whose promised visit will surely encourage other pilgrims to make the
trek, and restore the abbey to its former glory. That is, until a rival
church claims to possess the relics of Sainte Foy-- their bones are
working miracles. All seems lost until the destitute monks take a lesson
from a larcenous one-eyed minstrel, who teaches them an outrageous new way
to pay old debts.
World premiere, Arden Theatre Company and City Theatre Company (1996);
Seattle Public Theatre (2001); Generic Theatre (2001); Creede Repertory
(2000); Artists Repertory Theatre (1998); Mountain Playhouse (1997);
Florida Stage (1997); Salt Lake Acting Company (1997); Denver Center
Theatre Company/USWest Theatrefest workshop (1994); Illusion Theater/Pew
Playwright Exchange workshop (1994).
TINY ISLAND
Two-act Drama, 110 Minutes
1M, 3W
Unit Interior Set
A poignant drama about the limits of love and the limitless magic of the
movies.
As little girls, nestled in the tiny projection booth of their
family-owned cinema, Hazel and Muriel flew to exotic islands with their
mother, lofted by the plane-like whir of the projectors. In her teens,
Muriel found her first kiss there, underscored by the stirring music of a
Hollywood romance. Now, in middle age, Muriel returns to the fading movie
palace where her estranged sister screens old films for a dwindling
audience, and a new phenomenon called a video store has forebodingly
appeared across the street. When Hazel, bitterly separated from her
husband, insists she wants nothing to do with her sister, Muriel confesses
she's been hearing voices—"little girls' voices, late at night"—and begs
Hazel to help her resurrect the cinema and her own failing marriage.
World premiere, Arden Theatre Company (1997) and The People's Light and
Theatre Company (1998); Next Theatre (2000); Guthrie Theatre/Pew
Playwright Exchange workshop (1997); Roger L. Stevens Award from the Fund
for New American Plays.
CLEAN GETAWAY (with Beth Dannenfelser)
One-act Musical, 25 Minutes
3M, 2W
No Set
Three serious crimes, three telltale clues, three likely suspects. There's
a mystery afoot, and only Detective Curbside and his sidekick, Sam, can
solve it in this funny, fast-paced musical about littering and its
alternatives: recycling, reducing, and reusing.
Clean Getaway originated as a project of PhilaPride's award-winning
"Clean Street Theatre" program. After multiple tours of Philadelphia-area
schools and community centers, Clean Getaway was released nationally for
live production as well as video presentation. This lively, tuneful play
has entertained and educated tens of thousands of young people across the
country: in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Jersey,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and
Wisconsin.
HOT AIR
One-act Comedy, 45 Minutes
3M, 3W
Multiple Suggested Interiors and Exteriors
A lively, hard-hitting comedy for young audiences about tobacco marketing,
use, and addiction. Jessica's got a great shot at setting a county record
in the 800 meters -- until she starts smoking again and her times start
going up instead of down. Meanwhile, her father just landed the biggest
advertising client of his life: J. R. Phillips, makers of Smooth menthols,
Carolina Thins ("the feminine smoke"), and Chaparral, "rugged as the Wild
West." Jessica struggles to keep her smoking secret from her father, while
he is asked by J. R. Phillips to market to teens through loopholes in the
Tobacco Settlement. When their secret pursuits are revealed, father and
daughter square off and are challenged with difficult decisions. A funny,
engaging play with colorful characters that neither preaches nor talks
down to kids.
Commissioned and toured by Philadelphia Theatre Caravan (1997); toured
by Liberty Science Center in partnership with the New Jersey Department of
Health (2001-2002).
OPUS
Full-length Drama, 90 Minutes (no
intermission)
Multiple Suggested Interiors
4M, 1W
When their mentally-imbalanced violist mysteriously disappears, a
world-class string quartet takes a chance on a gifted but relatively
inexperienced young woman. With only a few days to rehearse a grueling
Beethoven masterpiece, the four struggle to prepare their
highest-profile performance ever – a televised ceremony at the White
House. Their rehearsal room becomes a pressure cooker as passions rise,
personalities clash, and the players are forced to confront the
ephemeral nature of their life's work.
World premiere, Arden Theatre Company and City Theatre Company (2006);
Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble (2006)..