Michael Townsend Smith
Encyclopedia
Michael Townsend Smith (born October 5, 1935) is an American playwright
. He was born in Kansas City
, Missouri
, and educated in Kansas City and at Hotchkiss
and Yale
. As theatre critic for The Village Voice
in the 1960s and early 1970s, he was active in the development of an alternative, non-commercial theatre in New York (Off-Off-Broadway
) and also active as a director, playwright, and lighting designer. He directed early works by Sam Shepard
, Ronald Tavel
, María Irene Fornés
, Emanuel Peluso, Jean-Claude van Itallie, Soren Agenoux, H. M. Koutoukas, and William M. Hoffman
, as well as many of his own plays and plays by Samuel Beckett
, Edward Albee
, Christopher Fry
, Gertrude Stein
, and others. His plays include "Captain Jack's Revenge," "Country Music," "Cowgirl Ecstasy," "Heavy Pockets," and "Half Life." In the 1980s he worked as a harpsichord
and fortepiano
maker. In the 1990s he was the editor of Santa Barbara Magazine and founded Genesis West, a Santa Barbara
theatre company, presenting his own plays and plays by Shepard, Fornes, and George F. Walker
. He was arts editor of the "Santa Barbara Independent
" and music and dance critic for the Santa Barbara News-Press
. In 2003 he moved to Oregon
, where he is associated with the Brush Creek Players.
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...
. He was born in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, and educated in Kansas City and at Hotchkiss
Hotchkiss School
The Hotchkiss School is an independent, coeducational American college preparatory boarding school located in Lakeville, Connecticut. Founded in 1891, the school enrolls students in grades 9 through 12 and a small number of postgraduates...
and Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
. As theatre critic for The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
in the 1960s and early 1970s, he was active in the development of an alternative, non-commercial theatre in New York (Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...
) and also active as a director, playwright, and lighting designer. He directed early works by Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
, Ronald Tavel
Ronald Tavel
Ronald Tavel was an American screenwriter, director and actor, best known for his work with Andy Warhol and The Factory.-Early life and career:...
, María Irene Fornés
María Irene Fornés
María Irene Fornés is a Cuban-American avant garde playwright and director who is associated with the establishment of the Off-off-Broadway movement in the 1960s. Fornes themes focused on poverty and feminism. In 1965, she won her first Obie Award for Promenade and her second for The Successful...
, Emanuel Peluso, Jean-Claude van Itallie, Soren Agenoux, H. M. Koutoukas, and William M. Hoffman
William M. Hoffman
William Moses Hoffman is an American playwright, editor and educator.- Biography :Born in New York City, New York, United States, Hoffman's earliest works either were mounted in small, experimental off-off-Broadway theaters in New York City or remain unproduced.It was not until 1985 that he...
, as well as many of his own plays and plays by Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
, Edward Albee
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
, Christopher Fry
Christopher Fry
Christopher Fry was an English playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, notably The Lady's Not for Burning, which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:...
, Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
, and others. His plays include "Captain Jack's Revenge," "Country Music," "Cowgirl Ecstasy," "Heavy Pockets," and "Half Life." In the 1980s he worked as a harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
and fortepiano
Fortepiano
Fortepiano designates the early version of the piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. It was the instrument for which Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven wrote their piano music...
maker. In the 1990s he was the editor of Santa Barbara Magazine and founded Genesis West, a Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
theatre company, presenting his own plays and plays by Shepard, Fornes, and George F. Walker
George F. Walker
George F. Walker, CM is a Canadian playwright and screenwriter. He is one of Canada's most prolific playwrights, and also one of the most widely produced Canadian dramatists both in Canada and internationally.-Early years:...
. He was arts editor of the "Santa Barbara Independent
Santa Barbara Independent
The Santa Barbara Independent is a news, arts, and entertainment newspaper published every Thursday in Santa Barbara, California.-History:The paper was founded in November 1986...
" and music and dance critic for the Santa Barbara News-Press
Santa Barbara News-Press
The Santa Barbara News-Press is a broadsheet newspaper based in Santa Barbara, California.-History:The News-Press asserts it is the oldest daily newspaper in Southern California, publishing since 1855...
. In 2003 he moved to Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, where he is associated with the Brush Creek Players.