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Stephen Karam

Stephen Karam
Bornc. 1980 (age 43–44)
Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation
  • Playwright
  • director
EducationBrown University (BA)
Period2000–present
Notable works

Stephen Karam (born c. 1980)[1] is an American playwright, screenwriter and director. His plays Sons of the Prophet, a comedy-drama about a Lebanese-American family, and The Humans were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2012 and 2016, respectively. The Humans won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play, and Karam wrote and directed a film adaptation of the play, released in 2021.

Biography

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Karam grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in a Lebanese-American family of the Maronite faith.[2] He graduated in 2002 from Brown University, then apprenticed at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, where he met Arian Moayed (who is appearing in The Humans) and P. J. Paparelli, who collaborated with him on columbinus and directed The Humans in Chicago.[3] Karam teaches at The New School.[4] His plays have appeared both Off-Broadway[5] and on Broadway.

Karam was a three-time winner in The Blank Theatre's Nationwide Young Playwrights Festival in 1997, 1998 and 1999. His first play A Work of Art ('97) starred Robert Pine and Janet Carroll, Agnes ('98) starred Alyson Hannigan in her stage debut, and Lies in the Eye of the Beholder ('99) starred Richard Ruccollo.[6]

His musical Emma won the Kennedy Center American College Theater (KCACTF) Musical Theatre Award in 2001.[7]

The Roundabout Theatre Company produced Speech & Debate in October 2007 at The Black Box,[8][9] after a workshop at Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island in 2006.[10] This play was the first at Roundabout Underground, their "initiative to introduce and cultivate artists."[8]

columbinus was produced Off-Broadway in 2006 at the New York Theatre Workshop,[11] following co-premieres in 2005 at the Round House Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland and at Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska.[12]

Sons of the Prophet was produced in 2011 at the Roundabout Theatre Company's Laura Pels Theatre. The play was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama[13] and winner of the New York Drama Critics' Circle, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards for Best Play.[14][15]

Dark Sisters is a chamber opera, with the libretto written by Karam and the music composed by Nico Muhly, commissioned by the Gotham Chamber Opera, Music-Theatre Group and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. The opera premiered at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College in November 2011, directed by Rebecca Taichman and conducted by Neal Goren.[15][16]

Karam is the Writer in Residence at the 2016 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut.[17]

Karam prepared an adaptation of The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, which was presented on Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre in a limited engagement at the American Airlines Theatre from September 15, 2016 (previews), officially on October 16 to December 4. Directed by Simon Godwin, Diane Lane stars as Lyubov Ranevskaya, with Joel Grey (Firs), John Glover (Gaev), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Varya), Harold Perrineau (Lopakhin) and Tavi Gevinson (Anya).[18][19][20][21]

The Humans

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The Humans was Karam's second commission from the Roundabout Theatre; the first was for Sons of the Prophet.[9][22] The play had its world premiere at the American Theater Company, Chicago, in November 2014,[23] directed by PJ Paparelli.[24]

The Humans ran on Broadway, opening at the Helen Hayes Theatre on February 18, 2016. It premiered Off-Broadway in a Roundabout Theatre Company production at the Laura Pels Theatre on October 25, 2015, and closed on January 3, 2016.

The Humans was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama,[25] 2016 Obie Award for Playwriting,[26][27] and won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play.[28]

Style

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According to Alexis Soloski (in The New York Times) "Mr. Karam specializes in painful comedies that really shouldn’t be as funny as they are. In Speech & Debate, which centers on three misfit teenagers, at least two characters have undergone traumatic sexual experiences.... In The Humans, an Irish-American family’s Thanksgiving dinner is dotted with chatter of depression, dementia, illness and the specter of Sept. 11. This, too, is a comedy. At least in part. It is also possibly a horror story." He writes about loss "and the messy, haphazard, necessary ways we get on with our lives afterward."[3]

In an article about Karam, Charles Haugland, Artistic Programs & Dramaturgy at Boston's Tony Award-winning Huntington Theatre Company, wrote: "Karam has an uncanny knack for echoing American culture in ways that amuse and compel audiences equally... Karam's humor is notable, and he can be funny in remarkably few words... he is quick to note that he starts his plays with the basics: character and plot."[29]

Peter Marks, writing in The Washington Post observed: "Through pieces like Speech and Debate, which explored teenage relationships and the questionable morals of a teacher, and Sons of the Prophet, about the travails of a pair of brothers living hand-to-mouth in a small Pennsylvania town, Karam has demonstrated an acute perceptiveness for the ways people lean on one another even as they get under each other’s skins.... Karam says he’s drawn to 'the strangeness in people' who live in a state of dread; it’s the psychological realism of the everyday, it seems, that fires his imagination."[30]

Plays

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Filmography

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Awards and honors

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Karam received the Berwin Lee Playwrights Award in 2015, which includes a $25,000 award as a commission.[33]

He is a MacDowell Colony fellow.

He received the inaugural Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Drama Desk Award for Sons of the Prophet.

Karam received the Horton Foote Playwriting Award, awarded by the Dramatists Guild, in February 2016. The award has a $25,000 cash prize.[34]

References

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  1. ^ Scheck, Frank (November 27, 2015). "A Playwright Hits the Big Time: Stephen Karam on His White-Hot Career". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  2. ^ Sod, Ted. "A Conversation with Sons of the Prophet Playwright, Stephen Karam" Archived November 8, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Roundabout Theatre Company, September 28, 2011, accessed July 30, 2016
  3. ^ a b Soloski, Alexis. "Stephen Karam’s Plays Treat Anguish as a Laughing Matter" New York Times, September 24, 2015
  4. ^ "Faculty. Stephen Karam" newschool.edu, accessed October 29, 2015
  5. ^ "Karam Off-Broadway" lortel.org, accessed October 28, 2015
  6. ^ "The Blank Theatre | Hollywood's Resident Theatre Since 1990". www.theblank.com. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  7. ^ "The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival" Archived September 23, 2016, at the Wayback Machine kennedy-center.org, accessed April 19, 2016
  8. ^ a b Hernandez, Ernio. "Three Teens Team for Speech & Debate at Roundabout's Black Box" Playbill, October 29, 2007
  9. ^ a b Hetrick, Adam and Clement, Olivia. "Stephen Karam's Family Drama 'The Humans' Sets Sights on Broadway" Playbill, October 27, 2015
  10. ^ "'Speech & Debate' Listing, 2006" brown.edu, accessed May 15, 2012
  11. ^ Isherwood, Charles (May 23, 2006). "'columbinus': Exploring the Evil That Roams a High School's Halls". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  12. ^ Jones, Kenneth. "Alaska's Perseverance Explores High School Tragedy in 'columbinus', May 4-29", Playbill, April 22, 2005
  13. ^ "2012 Pulitzer Prizes for Letters, Drama and Music". The New York Times. April 16, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  14. ^ Isherwood, Charles (October 20, 2011). "Blighted Existences, Eased With Hope and Humor". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  15. ^ a b Weinert-Kendt, Rob (October 6, 2011). "Darkly Comic Voice Adds a Libretto to His Résumé". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  16. ^ Hetrick, Adam. "Stephen Karam-Nico Muhly Opera 'Dark Sisters' Begins World-Premiere Run Nov. 9", Playbill, November 9, 2011
  17. ^ Viagas, Robert. "O'Neill's National Playwrights Conference Bows Today with Eight New Plays on Tap", Playbill, July 6, 2016
  18. ^ Viagas, Robert. "Diane Lane Will Star in Stephen Karam Adaptation of 'Cherry Orchard' on Broadway", Playbill, April 5, 2016
  19. ^ Gans, Andrew. "Joel Grey, Celia Keenan-Bolger Will Join Diane Lane in Broadway's 'Cherry Orchard' ", Playbill, July 7, 2016
  20. ^ The Cherry Orchard, roundabouttheatre.org, accessed September 18, 2016
  21. ^ Viagas, Robert. "See What the Critics Said About 'The Cherry Orchard' on Broadway", Playbill, October 16, 2016
  22. ^ The Humans Archived November 25, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, lortel.org, accessed October 27, 2015
  23. ^ The Humans, theatreinchicago.com, accessed May 4, 2016
  24. ^ The Humans, atcweb.org, accessed May 4, 2016
  25. ^ Viagas, Robert. "'Hamilton' Wins 2016 Pulitzer Prize; Miranda Reacts"
  26. ^ Obie Awards, 2016 Winners Archived November 24, 2017, at the Wayback Machine.
  27. ^ Playbill, April 18, 2016
  28. ^ Viagas, Robert. " 'Hamilton' Tops Tony Awards With 11 Wins" Playbill, June 12, 2016
  29. ^ Haugland, Charles. "Stephen Karam: A Quick Look At The Playwright" huntingtontheatre.org, accessed October 30, 2015
  30. ^ Marks, Peters. "How a humane playwright made it all the way to Broadway" The Washington Post, February 19, 2016
  31. ^ Lloyd Webber, Imogen. "Tony Winner Michael Mayer Taps Brian Dennehy, Elisabeth Moss & More Broadway Alums for 'The Seagull' Movie" broadway.com, July 23, 2015
  32. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 13, 2019). "Film Adaptation Of 'The Humans' Play In Works By A24, IAC, Scott Rudin & Eli Bush". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  33. ^ "Stephen Karam & Zinnie Harris Honored With 2015 Berwin Lee Playwrights Award Tonight" broadwayworld.com, March 19, 2015
  34. ^ Gans, Andrew. "Stephen Karam Wins New Horton Foote Playwriting Award" playbill.com, February 23, 2016
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