Casey Childs
Casey Childs is the Founder of Primary Stages, a New York State non-profit, off-Broadway theater company in New York City. Since founding the company in 1984, he has produced over 130 productions of new plays, many of them world premieres and all of them New York City premieres, by such writers as David Ives, Horton Foote, Charlayne Woodard, Melissa Manchester, Jeffrey Sweet, Donald Margulies, Conor McPherson, Terrence McNally, A.R. Gurney, John Patrick Shanley, Tina Howe, Charles Busch, John Henry Redwood, Romulus Linney, Lee Blessing, Michael Cristofer, Mac Wellman, Lynne Alvarez, Willie Holtzman, Athol Fugard, Brooke Berman, Michael Hollinger and Julia Jordan. He produced the commercial moves of David Ives’ ALL IN THE TIMING and MERE MORTALS and oversaw the commercial moves of Charles Busch’s YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY and Colin Martin’s VIRGINS AND OTHER MYTHs.
He conceived, commissioned and directed the commercial off-Broadway show WOMAN BEFORE A GLASS by Lanie Robertson about Peggy Guggenheim with Mercedes Reuhl which ran for seven months at the Promenade Theatre. Other plays he directed for Primary Stages include THE MORINI STRAD by Willie Holtzman, BAREFOOT BOY WITH SHOES ON by Edwin Sanchez, BARGAINS by Jack Heifner, BRUTALITY OF FACT by Keith Reddin, THE PRESERVATION SOCIETY by Wm. S. Leavengood, ELSA/EDGAR by Bob Kingdom, THE DOLPHIN POSITION by Percy Granger, LUSTING AFTER PIPINO’S WIFE by Sam Henry Kass, THE SECRET SITS IN THE MIDDLE by Lisa-Maria Radano, ALGERIAN ROMANCE by Kres Mersky, MADAM ZELENA FINALLY COMES CLEAN by Ron Carlsen, STOPPING THE DESERT by Glen Merzer, IN SEPTEMBER WOODS by David Hill and NASTY LITTLE SECRETS by Lanie Robertson.
Plays produced by Primary Stages have received many nominations and awards from the Obies, the Drama Desk, the Outer Critics Circle; and the Adelco Awards for Excellence in Afro-American Theatre. In 2008, Primary Stages received an award for Outstanding Body of Work from the Lucille Lortel Foundation. Also, Carnegie Mellon University awarded Casey their Commitment to Playwrights Award in 1995.
From 1982 until 1985 Casey was the Artistic Programs Director for the New Dramatists, America’s oldest playwrights’ organization, where he conducted the workshops for over 75 new playwrights in developing over 300 new works. He oversaw the development of new plays by many new playwrights including August Wilson, Amlin Grey, Wendy Kesselman, John Ford Noonan, Emily Mann, John Pielmeier, Steve Carter and Pedro Juan Pietre. Works developed during that time have received productions on and off Broadway and in countless American regional theatres garnering Pulitzer Prizes, Tony Awards and other honors.
Casey spent four seasons directing staged readings of new plays for the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Conference where he worked under Lloyd Richards on scripts by playwrights including Joe DiPietro, Lee Blessing, Bill Bozzone, Joe Pintaro and Deborah Bailey.
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