Richard Nelson (playwright)
| Richard Nelson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Richard John Nelson October 17, 1950 Chicago, Illinois |
| Spouse | Cynthia Blair Bacon (m. 1972) |
| Child(ren) | 2 |
| Information | |
| Notable work(s) |
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| Awards | Obie Award, Rockefeller Playwright-in-Residence Award, Giles Cooper Award, Tony Award, Olivier Award, Drama Desk Award, PEN/Laura Pels Award |
Richard John Nelson (born October 17, 1950) is an American playwright and librettist. He wrote the books for the Tony Award-winning musicals James Joyce's The Dead, the Broadway version of Chess, as well as the critically acclaimed play cycle The Apple Family Plays.
Nelson was born in Chicago, Illinois to Viola, a dancer, and Richard Finis Nelson, an accounting-systems analyst and some times sales representative. During Nelson's childhood, the family moved frequently to accommodate his father's work, but they settled for long stretches in Gary, Indiana, the outskirts of Philadelphia, and finally in a suburb of Detroit. Nelson's earliest theatrical influences were in musical theatre, and he estimates that he saw more than twenty-five musicals before ever seeing his first straight play.
He graduated from Hamilton College in 1972, and received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Hamilton College in 2004.
He married Cynthia Blair Bacon on May 21, 1972; they have two daughters, Zoe (b. 1983) and Jocelyn (b. 1988).
He has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and had ten plays produced there. Those plays include: Principia Scriptoriae (1986), Some Americans Abroad (1989), Two Shakespearean Actors (1990),Columbus and the Discovery of Japan (1992), Misha's Party (1993),New England (1994),The General From America (1996) and Goodnight Children Everywhere (1997).
in November 2006, Frank's Home, about two days in the life of Frank Lloyd Wright, premiered in Chicago, Nelson's home town, at the Goodman Theatre (in association with Playwrights Horizons). In an interview in The Brooklyn Rail at the time of its New York debut, Nelson offers advice to young writers: "My advice is always to write, to write what really matters. I ask my students two questions: Why did you write it? And should I watch it? People ask about structure, form, character development, and I’m not even sure what all of that means. Try not to second guess yourself. Form will come if you focus on what you want to say with truth and honesty. Structure is the hand that holds up what you want to say." From 2005-2008, Nelson was the chair of the playwriting department at the Yale School of Drama.
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