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Ken Urban

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Ken Urban
Born (1974-06-20) June 20, 1974 (age 50)
New Jersey
EducationBucknell University (Bachelor's)

Rutgers University (Master's)

Rutgers University (PhD)
Occupation(s)Playwright, Musician, Senior Lecturer
Websitekenurban.org

Ken Urban (born June 20, 1974) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and musician based in New York. Urban is a resident playwright at New Dramatists[1] and an affiliated writer at the Playwrights' Center.[2]

He is a senior lecturer of Theater Arts and the Director of Dramatic Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Previously he has taught writing at Harvard University, Princeton University, Tufts University, and Davidson College.[3]

Urban's play The Happy Sad, had its first production at the Summer Play Festival at The Public Theater He adapted the play into a screenplay, and in 2013, it was released as a feature film directed by Rodney Evans.[4]

Background

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Urban attended Bucknell University, and graduated magna cum laude in English in 1996.[5] He earned a Master's and Ph.D. in English Literature from Rutgers University in 2006.[6] After receiving his doctorate, Urban taught at Harvard University for 8 years, and has since held teaching positions at Princeton University and Tufts University, focusing on instruction related to playwriting, screenwriting, academic writing, and dramatic literature.[3] Urban is currently a senior lecturer and Director of Dramatic Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has been since 2017. There, he founded the annual Playwright's Lab, a play festival featuring student-written plays read by local professional actors.

Urban has a portfolio that includes over ten plays, and has had plays both Off-Broadway and on London's West End. Further included in his portfolio are screenplays and albums and songs from the band Occurrence —which Urban is the lead member of.

Plays

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Produced plays

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Source:[7]

Plays in progress

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According to Urban's website, he has the following plays in progress.[19]

  • The Moderate
  • The Tenure Itch
  • Danger and Opportunity

TV and film

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Pilots

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  • The Art of Listening (Optioned by ITV and Madison Wells Media)[20]

Feature films

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Short films

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  • 2013: I Am a Great Big Ball of Saddness (Produced by Manhattan Short Film Festival and directed by Chris Tyler)[22]

Music

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Urban is a co-founder of the band Occurrence, which also features vocalists Cat Hollyer and Johnny Hager.[23]

Occurence (band)

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Albums

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Source:[24]

  • 2016: The Past Will Last Forever
  • 2018: If He Were Here
  • 2018: Everyone Knows the Disaster is Coming
  • 2021: I Have So Much Love to Give
  • 2023: Slow Violence

Singles

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Source:[24]

  • 2017: "The Time of Year"
  • 2020: "Privacy Invaders"
  • 2020: "Dead Sleep Best"
  • 2020: "All My Days" (Remix H1987)
  • 2020: "All My Days"
  • 2021: "My Eternal Autumn"
  • 2021: "Boy Joy"
  • 2021: "The Happy Years"
  • 2021: "I Have So Much Love to Give"

Awards and honors

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Awards

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  • 2007: Playwriting Fellowship, Huntington Theatre Company, Boston, MA[25]
  • 2007: Nancy Quinn Grant, A.R.T./NY, NYC[26]
  • 2008: L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award (for Sense of an Ending)[27]
  • 2010: Dramatists Guild Fellowship, NYC[28]
  • 2016: New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Playwriting/Screenwriting[29]
  • 2018: Independent Reviewers of New England Award for Best New Play (for A Guide for the Homesick)[30]
  • 2023: A IS FOR Playwriting Contest (2nd Place Winner) (for Cath Carroll)[31]
  • 2024: Winner of the Blue Ink Award for Playwriting (for The Conquered)[32]

Residencies

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  • 2003: Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, NY[33]
  • 2008: MacDowell Fellow, MacDowell, Peterborough, NH[34]
  • 2009: MacDowell Fellow, MacDowell, Peterborough, NH[34]
  • 2012 Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Woodside, CA[35]
  • 2014 Core Writer, Three-Year Residency, Playwrights' Center, Minneapolis, MN[36]
  • 2015 Selected Playwright, R&D Group, The Civilians, NYC[37]
  • 2015 Artist in Residence, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA[38]
  • 2016 Member Playwright, Multi-Year Residency, New Dramatists, NY[20]
  • 2017 Affiliated Writer, Playwrights' Center, Minneapolis, MN[39]
  • 2019 Artist in Residence, Millay Colony, Austerlitz, NY[40]
  • 2020 Selected Playwright, Keen Playwrights Lab, Keen Company, New York, NY[41]
  • 2020 Selected Playwright, R&D Group, The Civilians, NYC[42]
  • 2020 EST/Alfred P. Sloan Science & Technology Project Commission[34]
  • 2022 MacDowell Fellow, MacDowell, Peterborough, NH[34]
  • 2023 MacDowell Fellow, MacDowell, Peterborough, NH[34]
  • 2023 Venturous Theater Fund Finishing Commission[43]

References

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  1. ^ "Topics – Ken Urban". newdramatists.org. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  2. ^ Smith, Marc (2018-05-08). "32: Ken Urban - Playwright Spotlight". Talking Theater. Archived from the original on 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  3. ^ a b Aucoin, Don. "For playwright Ken Urban, a world premiere and a teaching gig at MIT". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  4. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (15 August 2013). "'The Happy Sad,' Based on Ken Urban's Play". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  5. ^ "Ken Urban '96". www.bucknell.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  6. ^ "Friends of Rutgers - A Newsletter for Alumni and Friends of the Department of English". english.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  7. ^ "Plays". Ken Urban Playwright. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  8. ^ Gates, Anita (September 13, 2006). "Seeing Four Women's Lives, Full of Pluses and Minuses". The New York Times.
  9. ^ La Rocco, Claudia (September 12, 2007). "Must Check This Out! Eskimos Speak Spam! Who Knew?". The New York Times.
  10. ^ "Studio Theatre | The Remains: Visual History". www.studiotheatre.org. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  11. ^ Rampell, Catherine (August 30, 2013). "To Sleep, Perchance to Dream Another's Reality". The New York Times.
  12. ^ Feldman, Adam (February 13, 2014). "The Correspondent". TimeOut.
  13. ^ Jeffrey Gantz (January 15, 2015). "In 'A Future Perfect,' the end of indie". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2024-09-15.
  14. ^ "Sense of an Ending". TimeOut. May 21, 2015.
  15. ^ Soloski, Alexis. "Review: 'Nibbler,' About the Sweet Horrors of Youth". The New York Times.
  16. ^ "'A Guide For The Homesick' Could Leave You With Spiritual Sunburn". WBUR. 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  17. ^ "Studio Theatre | The Remains". www.studiotheatre.org. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  18. ^ "Vapor Trail". Tribeca Festival. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  19. ^ "Ken Urban Playwright". Ken Urban Playwright. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  20. ^ a b "Ken Urban | New Dramatists". newdramatists.org. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  21. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette Catsoulis (August 15, 2013). "Each Couple Is Unhappy in Its Own Way". The New York Times.
  22. ^ Tyler, Chris; Voorhees, Chase, I Am a Big Ball of Sadness (Short, Drama), David Bernstein, David Bernstein, Brian McManamon, retrieved 2024-09-15
  23. ^ "Occurrence". Occurrence. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  24. ^ a b "Occurrence". Spotify. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  25. ^ "Playwriting Fellows". Huntington Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  26. ^ "The world premiere of In the Event of My Death | IRT Theater". Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  27. ^ "Clarence Coo's Chapters Of A Floating Life Receives 2023 L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award". Williamstown Theatre Festival. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  28. ^ "Ken Urban – Dramatists Guild Foundation". dgf.org. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  29. ^ "NYFA Announces Recipients and Finalists for 2016 Artists' Fellowship Program". NYFA. 2016-07-08. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  30. ^ "2017 IRNE Awards Winners Announced – Shoshana Bean, Mark Rylance, Scottsboro Boys and More!". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  31. ^ "Playwriting Contest 2024!". A is For. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  32. ^ Blues (2024-03-27). "2024 Blue Ink Award Winner Announced". American Blues Theater. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  33. ^ "Writer Director Lab". Soho Rep. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  34. ^ a b c d e "Ken Urban - MacDowell Fellow in Theatre Arts". MacDowell. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  35. ^ "Ken Urban's The Immortals". Arts at MIT. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  36. ^ "An interview with Ken Urban | Playwrights' Center". pwcenter.org. 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  37. ^ "2015-2016 - The Civilians". thecivilians.org. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  38. ^ "Ken Urban - Headlands Center for the Arts". Headlands Center for the Arts -. 2014-12-16. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  39. ^ "Ken Urban | Playwrights' Center". pwcenter.org. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  40. ^ "Alumni 2010-2020". Millay Arts. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  41. ^ "Keen Playwrights Lab". Keen Company. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  42. ^ "2020-2021 - The Civilians". thecivilians.org. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  43. ^ "Finishing Commissions Program". Venturous Theater Fund. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
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