John Clancy (playwright)
Encyclopedia
John Clancy is a contemporary American
playwright
and director
. He was a co-founder and first Artistic Director of the New York International Fringe Festival
and its producing organization The Present Company
.
John Clancy's written work centers mainly on the American experience, and is characterized by dark humor
and farce
. His best-known play is Fatboy: An American Grotesque, a modern re-working of Alfred Jarry's
Ubu Roi
.
Clancy's directing has earned five Fringe First Awards (Edinburgh Festival Fringe) and two Best of Fringe Awards (Adelaide Fringe Festival
). He was awarded a 2005 Obie Award
for Sustained Excellence of Direction, a 2002 Glasgow Herald Angel Award for Excellence in Direction, a 1997 New York Magazine Award, and a 2008 Dialogue ONE
Award for Outstanding Contribution to Theatre.
Clancy lives on Manhattan's
Lower East Side
with his wife, actress Nancy Walsh.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and director
Theatre direction
A theatre director or stage director is a practitioner in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production by unifying various endeavours and aspects of production...
. He was a co-founder and first Artistic Director of the New York International Fringe Festival
New York International Fringe Festival
The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, is a Fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It takes place over the course of two weeks every August, spread across several neighborhoods in downtown Manhattan, notably the Lower East Side, the...
and its producing organization The Present Company
The Present Company
The Present Company is a theater company in New York City and the producing organization of the New York International Fringe Festival....
.
John Clancy's written work centers mainly on the American experience, and is characterized by dark humor
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
and farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
. His best-known play is Fatboy: An American Grotesque, a modern re-working of Alfred Jarry's
Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
Ubu Roi
Ubu Roi
Ubu Roi is a play by Alfred Jarry, premiered in 1896. It is a precursor of the Theatre of the Absurd and Surrealism. It is the first of three stylised burlesques in which Jarry satirises power, greed, and their evil practices — in particular the propensity of the complacent bourgeois to abuse the...
.
Clancy's directing has earned five Fringe First Awards (Edinburgh Festival Fringe) and two Best of Fringe Awards (Adelaide Fringe Festival
Adelaide Fringe Festival
The Adelaide Fringe Festival is an arts festival held annually in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. The event is the Southern Hemisphere's largest arts event and the second-largest fringe festival in the world, second in size only to the Edinburgh Fringe...
). He was awarded a 2005 Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
for Sustained Excellence of Direction, a 2002 Glasgow Herald Angel Award for Excellence in Direction, a 1997 New York Magazine Award, and a 2008 Dialogue ONE
Dialogue ONE
Dialogue ONE is an international theatre festival of one-person theatre. Its founder and artistic director is Omar Sangare, actor and professor at Williams College.-History:...
Award for Outstanding Contribution to Theatre.
Clancy lives on Manhattan's
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
with his wife, actress Nancy Walsh.
List of authored plays and monologues
- Fatboy
- Secret Agent Man
- Paper Man
- Notice of Default and Opportunity to Cure
- The Fire Sermon
- The Broccoli Incident