Richard Dresser
Encyclopedia
Richard Dresser is a popular American playwright
whose work has been widely performed in theatres across the United States, as well as in Europe. In addition to his plays, he wrote the book for the Broadway musical Good Vibrations
and the musical Johnny Baseball. Dresser has also served as a writer and producer for multiple television series, most notably The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
.
. Following college, he worked in several different jobs at various New England
factories, including one position where he manufactured thigh
s for G.I. Joe
action figure
s. Dresser later became a graduate student in communication
s at the University of North Carolina
, with the intention of pursuing a career in radio; he discovered his talent for drama when he took an elective course in dramatic writing that led him to enter, and win, a collegiate play festival.
Before finding success as a playwright, Dresser did freelance writing for corporate speeches and industrial films, mainly for pharmaceutical companies. He credits his early career experiences in factories and the corporate world with inspiring his workplace comedies The Downside and Below the Belt (set in a pharmaceutical company and a manufacturing plant, respectively).
Dresser lived in New York City
as of the late 1980s; in the early 1990s, he moved to Los Angeles
with his wife and son (born around 1990) He and his family moved from Los Angeles to upstate New York
in approximately 2000.
; the Contemporary American Theatre Festival (CATF) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia
; and the Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, California
.
Among his most notable early works were Better Days (premiered in April 1987 at the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays) and The Downside (premiered in November 1987 at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven). In 1995, Dresser's Below the Belt premiered at the Humana Festival, followed by a 1996 Off-Broadway
production named by the Wall Street Journal as the "best new American play of the season." Since its debut, Below the Belt has found especially high popularity in Europe, including over 40 productions in Germany alone.
Perhaps Dresser's most successful play in the new millennium has been Rounding Third, his 2002 two-character baseball comedy, which was workshopped at CATF in 2001 before its 2002 premiere in Chicago, where it met with great favour from audiences. In 2003, the play was performed at San Diego's Old Globe Theater and the Laguna Playhouse before an Off-Broadway run in the fall and a return to CATF in summer 2004.
Kevin Kelly of the Boston Globe called Dresser "a ferocious playwright...(who) writes with a headlong intensity and a sense of pervasive mystery."
Dresser's latest play, The Last Days of Mickey & Jean, had its world premiere at Merrimack Repertory Theatre
in Lowell
, MA in March, 2010. The play is a retirement comedy about an aging mobster on the run with his longtime girlfriend. The show is an apparent dramedy about Whitey Bulger but, of course, Dresser and his lawyers say it is not.
for the Broadway
musical
Good Vibrations
, a story about teenagers in southern California, told through the music of the Beach Boys. Following a preview period, Good Vibrations opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre
in February 2005; the show received poor reviews and closed in April after 94 regular performances.
In spring 2010, the American Repertory Theatre
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
premiered Johnny Baseball
, a musical about the history of the Boston Red Sox
with book by Dresser and music by Robert
and Willie Reale
. Diane Paulus
directed the production.
. He was offered the writing job by the show's creator Jay Tarses
after Tarses saw one of Dresser's plays at the Humana Festival.
Dresser has also worked on the series Keen Eddie
, The Job
, and Madigan Men
. In 2002, Dresser worked with Lorne Michaels
, Chevy Chase
and Tom Leopold
as a co-writer and producer on an NBC sitcom pilot
to star Chase as a father of three daughters. The pilot, America's Most Terrible Things, was not picked up to air on the network.
at Shepherdstown's Shepherd University
, which hosts CATF annually. In his address, Dresser told graduates that in the current state of the world, "A lot of things need fixing and there are a lot of people who need help. We need you, your talent, energy and optimism." He warned them that "there are no safe choices." Dresser also received an honorary degree from the university during the ceremony.
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...
whose work has been widely performed in theatres across the United States, as well as in Europe. In addition to his plays, he wrote the book for the Broadway musical Good Vibrations
Good Vibrations (musical)
Good Vibrations is a Broadway jukebox musical featuring the music of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys. It opened February 2, 2005, at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre and ran for 94 performances before closing on April 24, 2005. The musical follows the tale of three high school friends who want to...
and the musical Johnny Baseball. Dresser has also served as a writer and producer for multiple television series, most notably The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd is an NBC/Lifetime comedy-drama that aired from 1987 to 1991. It was created by Jay Tarses and starred Blair Brown in the title role.-Premise:...
.
Personal life and early career
Dresser was raised in MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. Following college, he worked in several different jobs at various New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
factories, including one position where he manufactured thigh
Thigh
In humans the thigh is the area between the pelvis and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb.The single bone in the thigh is called the femur...
s for G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier , Action Sailor , Action Pilot , Action Marine and later on, the Action Nurse...
action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s. Dresser later became a graduate student in communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
s at the University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina
Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...
, with the intention of pursuing a career in radio; he discovered his talent for drama when he took an elective course in dramatic writing that led him to enter, and win, a collegiate play festival.
Before finding success as a playwright, Dresser did freelance writing for corporate speeches and industrial films, mainly for pharmaceutical companies. He credits his early career experiences in factories and the corporate world with inspiring his workplace comedies The Downside and Below the Belt (set in a pharmaceutical company and a manufacturing plant, respectively).
Dresser lived in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as of the late 1980s; in the early 1990s, he moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with his wife and son (born around 1990) He and his family moved from Los Angeles to upstate New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in approximately 2000.
Playwriting
Since his early career, Dresser has been unusually prolific for a playwright. As of May 2009, he had published seventeen plays; at least fourteen full-length plays and six one-acts by Dresser have been performed for American audiences. Venues that have commonly hosted regional, national or world premieres of Dresser's work include the Humana Festival in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
; the Contemporary American Theatre Festival (CATF) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia
Shepherdstown, West Virginia
Shepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, located along the Potomac River. It is the oldest town in the state, having been chartered in 1762 by Colonial Virginia's General Assembly. Since 1863, Shepherdstown has been in West Virginia, and is the oldest town in...
; and the Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach is a seaside resort city and artist community located in southern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southwest of the county seat of Santa Ana...
.
Among his most notable early works were Better Days (premiered in April 1987 at the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays) and The Downside (premiered in November 1987 at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven). In 1995, Dresser's Below the Belt premiered at the Humana Festival, followed by a 1996 Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
production named by the Wall Street Journal as the "best new American play of the season." Since its debut, Below the Belt has found especially high popularity in Europe, including over 40 productions in Germany alone.
Perhaps Dresser's most successful play in the new millennium has been Rounding Third, his 2002 two-character baseball comedy, which was workshopped at CATF in 2001 before its 2002 premiere in Chicago, where it met with great favour from audiences. In 2003, the play was performed at San Diego's Old Globe Theater and the Laguna Playhouse before an Off-Broadway run in the fall and a return to CATF in summer 2004.
Kevin Kelly of the Boston Globe called Dresser "a ferocious playwright...(who) writes with a headlong intensity and a sense of pervasive mystery."
Dresser's latest play, The Last Days of Mickey & Jean, had its world premiere at Merrimack Repertory Theatre
Merrimack Repertory Theatre
Merrimack Repertory Theatre is a non-profit professional theatre located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Performances are presented September–May at the historic Liberty Hall, a 308-seat theatre located adjacent to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium...
in Lowell
Lowell
- In the United States :* Lowell, Massachusetts** Lowell National Historical Park** Lowell * Lowell, Arkansas* Lowell, California* Lowell, Florida* Lowell, Indiana* Lowell, Bartholomew County, Indiana* Lowell, Maine* Lowell, Michigan...
, MA in March, 2010. The play is a retirement comedy about an aging mobster on the run with his longtime girlfriend. The show is an apparent dramedy about Whitey Bulger but, of course, Dresser and his lawyers say it is not.
Musicals
Dresser wrote the bookBook
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
for the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Good Vibrations
Good Vibrations (musical)
Good Vibrations is a Broadway jukebox musical featuring the music of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys. It opened February 2, 2005, at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre and ran for 94 performances before closing on April 24, 2005. The musical follows the tale of three high school friends who want to...
, a story about teenagers in southern California, told through the music of the Beach Boys. Following a preview period, Good Vibrations opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre
Eugene O'Neill Theatre
The Eugene O'Neill Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 230 West 49th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it was built for the Shuberts as part of a theatre-hotel complex named for 19th century tragedian Edwin Forrest...
in February 2005; the show received poor reviews and closed in April after 94 regular performances.
In spring 2010, the American Repertory Theatre
American Repertory Theatre
The American Repertory Theater is a professional not-for-profit theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1980 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to neglected works of the past; and to established classical texts...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
premiered Johnny Baseball
Johnny Baseball (2010 play)
Johnny Baseball: The New Red Sox Musical is a musical with a book by Richard Dresser and a score by brothers Robert Reale and Willie Reale. The story involves circumstances relating to the Curse of the Bambino. The musical had a preview run in Massachusetts that began on May 14, 2010...
, a musical about the history of the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
with book by Dresser and music by Robert
Robert Reale
Robert Reale is an American composer with a long list of credits in film, TV and theater. He is also the owner of and . Reale regularly works with younger brother Willie Reale. In 2003 he was nominated for a Tony Award for A Year with Frog and Toad for Best Original Musical Score...
and Willie Reale
Willie Reale
Willie Reale is an American playwright and lyricist who often works with his elder brother Robert Reale.He had small acting roles in The Hudsucker Proxy, The Laser Man, Tales from the Darkside and The Burning...
. Diane Paulus
Diane Paulus
Diane Paulus is an American director of theater and opera who became Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University in 2009. Paulus was nominated for the Best Director Tony Award for her revival of Hair...
directed the production.
Television
Dresser's most significant work in television has been as a writer, story editor and producer for the 1987-1991 comedy-drama The Days and Nights of Molly DoddThe Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd is an NBC/Lifetime comedy-drama that aired from 1987 to 1991. It was created by Jay Tarses and starred Blair Brown in the title role.-Premise:...
. He was offered the writing job by the show's creator Jay Tarses
Jay Tarses
Jay Tarses is an American television comedy writer and producer. He created and produced The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd and The Slap Maxwell Story, co-created Buffalo Bill , and was an executive producer for The Bob Newhart Show...
after Tarses saw one of Dresser's plays at the Humana Festival.
Dresser has also worked on the series Keen Eddie
Keen Eddie
Keen Eddie is an American action, comedy-drama television series that aired in 2003 on the Fox Network. The series follows a brash NYPD detective who goes to London when one of his cases goes sour and remains to work with New Scotland Yard...
, The Job
The Job
The Job may refer to:* The Job , a 1917 novel by Sinclair Lewis* The Job , a 1998 novel by Douglas Kennedy* The Job , an action film starring Daryl Hannah...
, and Madigan Men
Madigan Men
Madigan Men is an American television comedy that premiered on ABC in the U.S. on October 6, 2000. The show performed poorly in the ratings and among critics and was canceled on December 18, 2000.-Cast:*Gabriel Byrne as Ben Madigan...
. In 2002, Dresser worked with Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
, Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
and Tom Leopold
Tom Leopold
Tom Leopold is an American comedy writer, performer and novelist. He has written episodes of Seinfeld and Cheers and several books. He has often been associated with Chevy Chase, Harry Shearer and Paul Shaffer in various projects...
as a co-writer and producer on an NBC sitcom pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
to star Chase as a father of three daughters. The pilot, America's Most Terrible Things, was not picked up to air on the network.
Other activities
In May 2009, Dresser delivered the commencement addressCommencement speech
A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions. The "commencement" is a ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred upon graduating students...
at Shepherdstown's Shepherd University
Shepherd University
Shepherd University, formerly Shepherd College, is a state-funded university in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, United States. The University currently serves more than 4,200 students.- Accreditation :...
, which hosts CATF annually. In his address, Dresser told graduates that in the current state of the world, "A lot of things need fixing and there are a lot of people who need help. We need you, your talent, energy and optimism." He warned them that "there are no safe choices." Dresser also received an honorary degree from the university during the ceremony.
List of plays
| Title | Plot/Notes | Premiere and/or Selected Other Performances |
|---|---|---|
| At Home | One-act. | Premiered April 1984 at Ensemble Studio Theater in New York City, as part of the theater's seventh annual marathon of new one-act plays. |
| The Hit Parade | A decade after the death of a talent agent Talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs... 's only successful client, the agent hires a car thief to impersonate the dead rock star in a comeback concert for the residents of the musician's hometown. |
Performed in summer 1985 by Manhattan Punch Line at TOMI Theater in New York City. |
| Bait and Switch | One-act. Two brothers attempt to save their struggling restaurant by bringing in a new partner, a member of the Mafia Mafia The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering... . |
Performed April 1986 as the opening play in the third annual New Dramatists Lunchtime One-Act Play Festival in . West Coast premiere in fall 1993 by Interact Theatre Company InterAct Theatre Company InterAct Theatre is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A founding member of the National New Play Network, it is committed to producing socially and politically relevant new work... at Theater Exchange in North Hollywood. |
| Amnesia | A man suffers from amnesia and other difficulties. Originally written to be filmed. | First reading July 1987 at the National Playwrights Conference at Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Eugene O'Neill Theater Center The Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut is a 501 not-for-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. The O'Neill is the recipient of the . The O'Neill is home to the National Theater Institute , and several major theater conferences including the... in Waterford Waterford Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland... . |
| The Downside | Employees of a New Jersey pharmaceutical company prepare an anti-stress drug for its American release and cope with its unexpected side effects Side Effects Side Effects is an anthology of 17 comical short stories written by Woody Allen between 1975 and 1980, all but one of which were previously published in, variously, The New Republic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Kenyon Review. It includes Allen's 1978 O... . |
Premiered November 1987 at Long Wharf Theater in New Haven. West Coast premiere in December 1989 at Pasadena Playhouse Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engagements each year.-History:... . Performed December 1990 at Griffin Theatre in Chicago Chicago Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles... . |
| Alone at the Beach | Six single strangers share a summer house in the Hamptons Hamptons The Hamptons may refer to several villages and hamlets in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on the far east end of Suffolk County in Long Island, New York. These townships occupy the South Fork of Long Island, stretching into the Atlantic Ocean. The Hamptons form a popular seaside resort,... . |
Performed in spring 1988 at Humana Festival in Louisville Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096... , Kentucky Kentucky The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth... . Performed in summer 1989 by the Phoenix Theatre Company at the Masters School in Westchester Westchester Westchester may refer to:*Westchester, Connecticut*Westchester, Florida*Westchester, Illinois*Westchester, Indiana*Westchester, Los Angeles, California*Westchester County, New York*The Westchester, a shopping mall in White Plains, New York... . Performed in summer 1991 at Way Off Broadway Playhouse in Santa Ana Santa Ana, California Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States.... . Performed May 1992 at Griffin Theatre Company in Chicago. Performed June 1993 as part of Bay Street Theater Festival in Sag Harbor. |
| Splitsville | One-act. A young Florida couple seek jobs in a sinister new theme park being built across the street from their home. | Performed May 1988 by Primary Stages Company at 45th Street Theater in New York City. West Coast premiere in fall 1993, along with Bed and Breakfast and Bait and Switch (under the title Splitsville) by Interact Theater Company at Theater Exchange. |
| Better Days | A depressed former factory town in New England New England New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut... is revitalized by a booming industry in arson Arson Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires... . |
Performed in 1986 by Levin Gheater Company at Douglas College Douglas College Established in 1970, Douglas College is one of the largest public colleges in British Columbia, Canada serving 14,000 credit students, 9,000 continuing education students and 1,000 international students each year.-Programs:... in New Brunswick New Brunswick New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area... . Performed summer 1989 by Gloucester Stage Company in Massachusetts Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010... . Performed May 1990 by Renegade Theater Company at United Synagogue of Hoboken United Synagogue of Hoboken The United Synagogue of Hoboken is a Conservative synagogue in Hoboken, New Jersey, "in the heart of the gentrified part of Hoboken."-History:In 1946 The Hoboken Jewish Center and The Star of Israel Synagogue merged to form The United Synagogue of Hoboken... . Performed July 1990 by Dramatist Workshop in Chicago Chicago Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles... . Performed January 1991 at Primary Stages in New York City New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... . Performed in winter 1992-1993 at Way Off Broadway Playhouse in Santa Ana. |
| Bed and Breakfast | One-act. Two American couples vacation near England's Stonehenge Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks... . |
Performed May 1993 as part of Ensemble Theater's Marathon of one-act plays. West Coast premiere in fall 1993 by Interact Theater Company at Theater Exchange (see Splitsville). |
| The Road to Ruin | One-act. Two mechanics work on the broken automobile of a married couple. | Performed July 1993 by Renegade Theater Company in New York as part of "An Evening of One-Act Comedies." |
| Below the Belt | Three managers stationed in a bleak, rural manufacturing plant toil and conspire against each other. | Premiered April 1995 at Humana Festival. Performed in spring 1996 at John Houseman Theatre (off-Broadway Off-Broadway Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts... ) in New York (called "Best New Play of 1996" by the Wall Street Journal). Southern California premiere May 1997 at Old Globe Theatre Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons... in San Diego. Performed summer 1997 at Contemporary American Theater Festival Contemporary American Theater Festival The Contemporary American Theater Festival is an American annual professional-theatre festival held at Shepherd University, located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia... (CATF) in West Virginia. Over 40 productions in Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... . |
| Gun-Shy | A divorced couple and their new partners are stranded together in a snowbound house. | Premiered April 1997 at Humana Festival. Performed February 1998 at Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work.... . Performed summer 1998 at CATF Contemporary American Theater Festival The Contemporary American Theater Festival is an American annual professional-theatre festival held at Shepherd University, located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia... . Southern California premiere in spring 2000 at Laguna Playhouse. |
| What Are You Afraid Of? | One-act (15 minutes long), written by the request of the Humana Festival's producing director Jon Jory, who asked Dresser to write a play performed in the front seat of an actual car while audience members sit in the back seat. A shy driver struggles with his attraction to an attractive female hitchhiker. | Premiered spring 1999 at Humana Festival in parked vehicle. Performed in Hamburg, Germany, where actors drove on city streets with the audience. |
| Something in the Air | A down-and-out man seeks to profit from the life insurance Life insurance Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger... policy of a bitter, terminally ill patient. |
Performed summer 1999 at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. Performed summer 2000 at CATF Contemporary American Theater Festival The Contemporary American Theater Festival is an American annual professional-theatre festival held at Shepherd University, located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia... . |
| Wonderful World | A mother attempts to connect with her two grown sons, both of whom are struggling with their own long-time relationships. | Premiered spring 2001 at Humana Festival. West Coast premiere summer 2001 at Laguna Playhouse. |
| Rounding Third | Two Little League coaches try to reconcile their very different approaches to baseball and to life. Dresser was prompted to write the play when he learned that his son's Little League Little League Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S... coach was planning to cheat Cheating Cheating refers to the breaking of rules to gain advantage in a competitive situation. The rules infringed may be explicit, or they may be from an unwritten code of conduct based on morality, ethics or custom, making the identification of cheating a subjective process. Cheating can refer... to win a game. In the original Chicago production, which starred George Wendt George Wendt George Robert Wendt III is an American actor, best known for the roles of Norm Peterson and Tug Clarke on the television shows Cheers and Modern Men.-Early life:... , the play's opening scene was moved from a bar to a ballfield to avoid audience identification with Wendt's Cheers Cheers Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles... character. |
Workshopped summer 2001 at CATF Contemporary American Theater Festival The Contemporary American Theater Festival is an American annual professional-theatre festival held at Shepherd University, located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia... . Premiered fall 2002 at Northlight Theatre outside Chicago Chicago Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles... . West Coast premiere January 2003 at Laguna Playhouse. Performed summer 2003 at Old Globe Theater in San Diego. Performed October 2003 at John Houseman Theater in New York (off-Broadway). Performed summer 2004 at CATF Contemporary American Theater Festival The Contemporary American Theater Festival is an American annual professional-theatre festival held at Shepherd University, located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia... . |
| Greetings From The Home Office | One-act (seven minutes long), performed with no live actors, only recorded voices emitted from a speaker phone. A solo audience member enters an office setting and finds that they are playing the role of a newly hired employee. The audience member interacts with the computer while the voices of a boss and co-workers come from the intercom, involving the audience member in a storyline of purported scandal and corruption. Eventually the audience member "must make a pivotal decision about whom to trust," based on the voices and their interactions with the computer. The play was written for a specifically detailed commission by the Technology Plays project, a joint effort by the State University of New York State University of New York The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus... (SUNY) and the Capital Repertory Theatre Capital Repertory Theatre Capital Repertory Theatre is a 287-seat professional regional theatre in Albany, New York. Capital Rep is the only theatre in the Capital District in the League of Resident Theatres . The theatre operates under regulations dictated by Actors' Equity Association. The theatre is located at 111 N... . (Dresser said later that he had accepted the commission, with its strenuous demands for a play to be told without live actors to one audience member at a time, only because he believed "nothing would ever come of it", and was forced to follow through when the project received a grant.) |
Premiered November 2003 with five other short plays (one commissioned from William Kennedy William Kennedy William Kennedy may refer to:* William Kennedy , Canadian sailor and part of the search for Sir John Franklin* William Kennedy , British admiral... ; four others the result of a university-sponsored script competition) in the New Atrium Library at SUNY. Appeared May 2004 at the Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany. |
| Augusta | The first play in Dresser's "Happiness Trilogy" about class in America. Two female housecleaners scheme with their shady manager to achieve a better life for themselves. | Premiered summer 2006 at CATF Contemporary American Theater Festival The Contemporary American Theater Festival is an American annual professional-theatre festival held at Shepherd University, located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia... . New England premiere in fall 2006 at Merrimack Repertory Theatre Merrimack Repertory Theatre Merrimack Repertory Theatre is a non-profit professional theatre located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Performances are presented September–May at the historic Liberty Hall, a 308-seat theatre located adjacent to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium... in Lowell Lowell - In the United States :* Lowell, Massachusetts** Lowell National Historical Park** Lowell * Lowell, Arkansas* Lowell, California* Lowell, Florida* Lowell, Indiana* Lowell, Bartholomew County, Indiana* Lowell, Maine* Lowell, Michigan... . |
| The Pursuit of Happiness | The second play in the Happiness Trilogy. Unhappily-married middle-class parents attempt to help their daughter win acceptance to college. Written on commission from the Laguna Playhouse. | Premiered January 2007 at Laguna Playhouse. Performed summer 2007 at CATF Contemporary American Theater Festival The Contemporary American Theater Festival is an American annual professional-theatre festival held at Shepherd University, located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia... . Performed at Merrimack Repertory Theatre. |
| A View of the Harbor | The third play in the Happiness Trilogy. A young man brings his wealthy girlfriend to meet his eccentric family at the rural home where he grew up, and buried secrets come to light. | Premiered summer 2008 at CATF Contemporary American Theater Festival The Contemporary American Theater Festival is an American annual professional-theatre festival held at Shepherd University, located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia... . New England premiere January 2009 at Merrimack Repertory Theatre Merrimack Repertory Theatre Merrimack Repertory Theatre is a non-profit professional theatre located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Performances are presented September–May at the historic Liberty Hall, a 308-seat theatre located adjacent to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium... . |
| The Last Days of Mickey and Jean | A gangster on the run with his girl friend faces the same problems of communication and retirement as the rest of the world. Written on commission from the Merrimack Repertory Theatre Merrimack Repertory Theatre Merrimack Repertory Theatre is a non-profit professional theatre located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Performances are presented September–May at the historic Liberty Hall, a 308-seat theatre located adjacent to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium... . |
Premiered March 18, 2010 at Merrimack Repertory Theatre Merrimack Repertory Theatre Merrimack Repertory Theatre is a non-profit professional theatre located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Performances are presented September–May at the historic Liberty Hall, a 308-seat theatre located adjacent to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium... . |
| Johnny Baseball | The story of the Boston Red Sox Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"... mythical Curse of the Bambino Curse of the Bambino The Curse of the Bambino was a superstition cited as a reason for the failure of the Boston Red Sox baseball team to win the World Series in the 86-year period from 1918 to 2004... (no World Series win since 1918): what really happened and how it was lifted in 2004. Dresser wrote the book for the musical. |
Premiered June 2, 2010 at the Loeb Drama Center of the American Repertory Theater after previews starting May 14. |