Richard Hellesen is a West Coast

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

 playwright.

His works have been performed by regional theater companies including South Coast Repertory

South Coast Repertory

South Coast Repertory is a professional theatre company located in Costa Mesa, California.Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, founded in 1964 by David Emmes and Martin Benson and now under the leadership of Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Paula Tomei, is widely...

 in Orange County, California

Orange County, California

Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

, the LA Rep (Los Angeles Repertory Company), the Denver Center Theatre Company, Ford's Theatre

Ford's Theatre

Ford's Theatre is a historic theater in Washington, D.C., used for various stage performances beginning in the 1860s. It is also the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865...

 in Washington, DC, City Theatre

City Theatre

City Theatre is the performing arts program at Sacramento City College, part of the Los Rios Community College District, in Sacramento, California...

 in Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

, and Geva Theatre

Geva Theatre Center

Geva Theatre Center is Rochester's leading professional theatre, operating in the Naval Armory-Convention Hall. It is the birthplace of many new and popular works such as Gregg Coffin's Convenience and Five Course Love. Geva is an abbreviation of Genesee Valley Arts Foundation...

 in Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

. A California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 resident, the playwright has served on the faculty of California State University, Fullerton

California State University, Fullerton

California State University, Fullerton is a public university located in Fullerton, California. It is the largest institution in the CSU System by enrollment, it offers long-distance education and adult-degree programs...

 and American River College

American River College

American River College is a California community college located in the southern edge of unincorporated Foothill Farms in Sacramento County, California....

, and has been a resident artist at the William Inge Center for the Arts in Independence, Kansas

Independence, Kansas

Independence is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,483.-Geography:...

. He received the Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwriting Award from the National Theatre Conference in 1998. His 1987 musical adaptation of Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

's A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...

, written with composer David de Berry

David de Berry

David de Berry was a U.S. composer of theater music as well as an actor and music director.De Berry is best known for the score of a 1987 adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, on which he collaborated with playwright Richard Hellesen and director Dennis Bigelow...

, may be Hellesen's most widely produced work.

Plays by Hellesen (full-length/one-act/theatre for young audiences; date of first production)

• The Road From Appomattox (2009)
• Gathering Blue (adapted from Lois Lowry; 2008)
• You're Getting Warmer (2008)
• Johnny Tremain (adapted from Esther Forbes; 2007)
• One Destiny (2006)
• The Emperor's New Clothes (adapted from Andersen; 2006)
• Eureka! (2006)
• Birdman (2005)
• The Wind in the Willows (adapted from Kenneth Grahame; 2004)
• A Speedy and Public Trial (adapted from Kafka; 2004)
• The Pride of Weedpatch Camp (2004)
• Indian Summer (2003)
• Power Play (2002)
• Teardown (2001)
• Bad Water Blues (2001)
• Communique (2001)
• Kingdom (1999)
• Untamed (1998)
• Counting Ninas (1998)
• Cyrano de Bergerac (adapted from Rostand; 1998)
• Layin' Off the Lizard-Boy (1997)
• 4/100ths (1997)
• Caribbean Folk Tales (1997)
• Trashed! (1997)
• Birds of a Feather (1995)
• Dos Corazones (1994)
• A Cappella (1994)
• My Mom's Dad (1993)
• Face2Face (1991)
• Once In Arden (1990)
• Gift Rap (1990)
• The Twelve Dancing Princesses (adapted from the Brothers Grimm; 1990)
• A Christmas Carol (adapted from Dickens; 1987)
• Moonshadow (1987)
• Couvade (1987)
• Drive In (1976)