Playwrights find big love on the small screen

"Shameless" writer Molly Smith Metzler calls theater her "secret lover." "I always want to be with her the most," she…

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In two articles published last week, the Los Angeles Times profiled a series of playwrights who have found success and fulfillment writing for television. Among those profiled are Halley Feiffer and Dominique Morisseau, both of whom have plays on the main stage in our 2017/18 season. Halley Feiffer’s play A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City opened the season this past September (she also took on the leading role). Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew, the third play in her cycle Detroit Projects will end our season this summer. We’re proud to support such multi-talented writers at the Geffen Playhouse, and we hope this encourages you to enjoy their writing in other mediums. Check out the two articles here and read more about these amazing writers bringing their talents to both stage and screen in Hollywood.

Scenes from the green room: Playwrights on why they thrive in TV

More than 24 playwrights who also work in TV hang out with The Times in a series of photo shoots and talk about the art…

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Halley Feiffer

Halley Feiffer, pictured left, opened this season starring in her own play A Funny Thing Happened…for its West Coast premiere. Feiffer played Karla, a struggling young stand-up comic cooped up with Don
(Jason Butler Harner), a wealthy middle-aged divorcée, in a hospital room shared by their cancer-stricken mothers. This was the first time Feiffer acted in one of her own plays, a task she was also interviewed about by the Los Angeles Times (see link below). She discussed the challenges and rewards of acting in one’s own work. Feiffer is a writer on the yet to be released show “The One Percent”, which was created by “Birdman” director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu and is set to star Greg Kinnear and Hillary Swank. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for her snappy dialogue!

When the playwright becomes the star: How one writer is jumping from her script onto the stage

Playwright Halley Feiffer is wearing a truly hideous sweater. Gaudy flowers crowd the neck, and festive green-yarn…

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Dominique Morisseau

Dominique Morisseau’s play Skeleton Crew will round out our season this June. Skeleton Crew follows four factory workers at an auto plant in Detroit in 2008 as they navigate economic instability, troubling rumors and the ways in which loyalty and love shape every decision we make. Skeleton Crew is the third play in the Detroit Projects play cycle; the other two are Detroit ’67 and Paradise Blue. Morisseau writes on the Showtime series “Shameless”, and is one of the executive story editors. “Shameless” stars William H. Macy as Frank Gallagher, an alcoholic single father of six, and just began its 8th season. The show has won three Primetime Emmy Awards as well as two Screen Actor’s Guild Awards. You can read more about her play on our website.