Adam Bock

Adam Bock
Bock at the 2019 Pacific Playwrights Festival
Born (1961-11-05) November 5, 1961
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
EducationBrown University (MFA)
OccupationPlaywright
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Parents
  • Paul Bock (father)
  • Judy Bock (mother)
AwardsObie Award for Playwriting "The Thugs" and Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada

Adam Bock (born November 5, 1961) is a Canadian playwright currently living in the United States. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In the fall of 1984, Bock studied at the National Theater Institute at The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. He is an artistic associate of the Shotgun Players, an award-winning San Francisco theater group. His play Medea Eats was produced in 2000 by Clubbed Thumb,[1] which subsequently premiered his play The Typographer's Dream in 2002.[2] Five Flights was produced in New York City by the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in 2004.[3]

The Thugs opened Off-Off-Broadway in a production by SoHo Rep in October 2006, directed by Anne Kauffman.[4] He won a 2006-07 Obie award, Playwriting, for The Thugs.[5]

During the 2007-2008 New York theatrical season, two plays by Bock were produced Off Broadway: The Receptionist at Manhattan Theatre Club in 2007[6] and The Drunken City, originally commissioned by the Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, New York, at Playwrights Horizons.

Bock is openly gay and often writes about homosexuality. He is quoted as saying "I'm a gay playwright. I like being called a gay playwright. It's who I am. It's how I write. I have a very specific take on the world because I'm gay."[7]

Bock has been nominated for two 2007-2008 Outer Critics Circle Awards. Both The Receptionist and The Drunken City were nominated for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play. In 2012, he won a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship for his work.[8]

Bock's play A Small Fire ran December 16, 2010 – January 23, 2011 Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, under the direction of Trip Cullman.[9] A Life premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons on September 30, 2016 (previews), starring David Hyde Pierce and directed by Anne Kauffman.[10] A Life was nominated for the 2017 Drama Desk Awards: Outstanding Play; David Hyde Pierce as Outstanding Actor in a Play; Anne Kauffman for Outstanding Director of a Play; Laura Jellinek for Outstanding Set Design for a Play; and Mikhail Fiksel for Outstanding Sound Design in a Play.[11]

Awards and Honors

Year Association Category or Award Project Result Ref.
2017 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Play A Life Nominated [12]
2012 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Guggenheim Fellowship - Creative Arts Awarded [13]
2011 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Play A Small Fire Nominated [14]
2008 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards Favorite New Off-Broadway Play The Receptionist Won [15]
2008 Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play The Drunken City Nominated [16]
2008 Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play The Receptionist Nominated [17]
2008 William Inge Center for the Arts Otis Guernsey New Voices in the American Theatre Award Won [18]
2007 Obie Award Playwriting The Thugs Won [19]
2006 GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding New York Theatre: Broadway & Off-Broadway Swimming in the Shallows Nominated [20]
2006 National Ten-Minute Play Contest Heideman Award Three Guys and a Brenda Won ,[21][22]
2005 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Musical The Audience Nominated [23]
2002 Theatre Bay Area Will Glickman Award Five Flights Won [24]
2000 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Best Original Production Swimming in the Shallows Won [25]
2000 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Best Original Script Swimming in the Shallows Won [25]

Theatrical works (produced premieres)

Year Title Theatre Director Cast Notes Ref.
2026 The Receptionist Second Stage Theater Sarah Benson Off-Broadway Revival [26]
2009 Evidence Room and Odyssey Theater Bart DeLorenzo Jennifer Finnigan, Chris L. McKenna, Megan Mullally, Jeff Perry West Coast premiere [27]
2007 Manhattan Theatre Club Joe Mantello Josh Charles, Robert Foxworth, Jayne Houdyshell, Kendra Kassebaum World premiere ,[28][29][30][31]
2019 Before the Meeting Williamstown Theater Festival Trip Cullman Cassie Beck, Kyle Beltran, Arnie Burton, Midori Francis, Deirdre O’Connell World premiere [32]
2019 The Canadians South Coast Repertory Jaime Castañeda Corey Brill, Daniel Chung, Corey Dorris, Linda Gehringer, Kyle T. Hester World premiere ,[33][34][35]
2016 A Life Playwrights Horizons Anne Kauffman Marinda Anderson, Brad Heberlee, David Hyde Pierce, Lynne McCollough, Nedra McClyde World premiere ,[36][37]
2016 I Wasn't Going to Tell Anybody and then I Told Everybody NYU Tisch School of the Arts Lisa Peterson World premiere [38]
2014 The Colby Sisters of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Tricycle Theatre, now Kiln Theatre Trip Cullman Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo,  Isabella Calthorpe, Claire Forlani, Charlotte Parry, Patricia Potter, Alice Sanders World premiere ,[39][40]
2012 Love is a Many Splendored Thing The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway Andy Fickman Jason Biggs, Rachel Dratch, America Ferrera, Eddie Kaye Thomas World premiere [41]
2011 A Small Fire Playwrights Horizons Trip Cullman Reed Birney, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Michele Pawk, Victor Williams World premiere ,[42][43]
2011 Phaedra Shotgun Players Rose Riordan Patrick Alparone, Keith Burkland, Catherine Castellanos, Cindy Im, Trish Mulholland World premiere [44]
2010 We Have Always Lived in the Castle Yale Repertory Theater Anne Kauffman Jenn Gambatese, Alexandra Socha Musical adaptation of the novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Music by Todd Almond. Lyrics by Adam Bock and Todd Almond. ,[45][46]
2009 The Flowers About Face Theatre Trip Cullman Caron Buinis, Brian-Mark Conover, Kieran Kredell, Merrina Millsapp, Bruch Reed, Ben Sprunger World premiere ,[47][48][49]
2008 The Drunken City Playwrights Horizons Trip Cullman Cassie Beck, Mike Colter, Maria Dizzia, Barrett Foa, Sue Jean Kim, Alfredo Narciso New York City premiere ,[50][51][52]
2005 Kitchen Theatre Company Jesse Bush, Rachel Lampert Alison Bacewicz, Brendan Farley, Karl Gregory, Kevin Rockower, Lauren Walsh Singerman, Erica Steinhagen World premiere ,[53][54]
2008 The Song of the Falling Man The 24 Hour Musicals Jonathan Butterell Victoria Clark, John Ellison Conlee, Cheyenne Jackson, Claudia Shear Musical. Music by Todd Almond. Lyrics by Todd Almond and Adam Bock. Book by Adam Bock. ,[55][56]
2008 Why I Love Camping The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway Ari Edelson Rachel Dratch, Jennifer Esposito, Matthew Settle, Ben Shenkman World premiere ,[57][58]
2007 The Shaker Chair Humana Festival of New American Plays at the Actors Theatre of Louisville Marc Masterson Kathleen Butler, Brie Eley, Geraldine Librandi, Larry John Meyers, Sarah Peterson, Andy Prosky World premiere ,[59][60][61][62]
2006 The Thugs SoHo Rep Anne Kauffman Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Brad Heberlee, Carmen M. Herlihy, Chris Heuisler, Keira Keeley, Lynne McCullough, Maria Elena Ramirez, Mary Shultz World premiere ,[63][64][65][66]
2006 Three Girls and a Bob The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway Elinor Renfield Jennifer Aniston, David Cross, Rosie Perez, Lynn Whitfield World premiere ,[67][68]
2006 Three Guys and a Brenda The 24 Hour Company at Atlantic Theater Company Garrett Savage Julie Shavers, Carla Rzeszewski, Jama Williamson, Tami Dixon New York City premiere ,[69][70]
2004 Humana Festival of New American Plays at the Actors Theatre of Louisville Steven Rahe Suzanna Hay, Keira Keeley, Cheryl Lynn Bowers, Sarah Augusta World premiere
2005 The Audience Transport Group Theatre Company Jack Cummings III World premiere. Musical. Conceived by Jack Cummings III and developed with Adam Bock. ,[71][72][73]
2005 Swimming in the Shallows Second Stage Theater Trip Cullman Michael Arden, Rosemarie DeWitt, Murphy Guyer, Logan Marshall-Green, Susan Pourfar, Mary Shultz New York City premiere ,[74][75][76][77]
1999 Shotgun Players Kent Nicholson Katie Bales, Mary Eaton Fairfield, John Flanagan, Dawn-Elin Fraser, Gene Thompson, Liam Vincent West Coast premiere [78]
2005 The Typographer's Dream Encore Theatre Company Anne Kauffman Aimee Guillot, Jamie Jones, Michael Shipley West Coast premiere ,[79][80]
2003 Bright Choice Productions, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Owen Lewis Kathryn Akin, Kenneth Avery-Clark, Nicola Redmond European premiere [81]
2002 Clubbed Thumb Drew Barr Kate Hampton, Meg MacCary, Dan Snook World premiere ,[82][81]
2005 The Windows The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway Hal Brooks Anthony Mackie, Andre Royo, Ben Shenkman, Alan Tudyk World premiere ,[83][84]
2003 Thursday Encore Theatre Company Kent Nicholson Cassie Beck, Chloe Broznan, Jibz Cameron, Jason Frazier, Robert Martinez, Craig Neibaur, David Ryan Smith, Lisa Steindler World premiere [85]
2002 A Fairy's Tale Shotgun Players Patrick Dooley World premiere [86]
2000 Medea Eats Clubbed Thumb Pam MacKinnon Gary Brownlee, Lars Hanson, Seth Herzog, Gretchen Lee Krich, Meg MacCary, Rizwan Manji, Kimberly Ross, Maria Striar, John Wellmann, Mather Zickel World premiere ,[87][88]
1995 A Roadside Garden Nora Theater Eric Engel Mimi Huntington, Faith Justice, Jim O’Brien, Jacqui Parker, Liam Sullivan [89]
1990 Percy Stripped Down Miranda Theatre Company Diego Taborda Peggy Flood, Martha MaCallum, Matthew Mutrie ,[90][91]

References

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