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Eric Samuelsen

ERIC SAMUELSEN

  
Nationality:    USA
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    n/a

Eric Samuelsen taught at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio before joining the faculty at Brigham Young University in 1992. He became head of the Playwriting program at BYU in 1999. He has also taught as an adjunct faculty member in the Religion department. He retired from BYU in 2012. As a playwright, Samuelsen has had twenty-seven plays professionally produced in Utah, Indiana, Louisiana, New York, and California. Some of his plays include Gadianton, which has seen three professional productions across the country, A Love Affair with Electrons, Family, The Plan, andThe Way We're Wired. He is resident playwright at Plan B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, who designated their 2013-14 season a 'season of Eric, including productions of six plays. He is a member of the Playwrights' Circle, and the Dramatists Guild. He is three-time winner of the Annual Award in Playwriting offered by the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) and he became president of AML in 2007. In 2013 the organization awarded him the Smith Pettit Award for his lifetime work as a playwright. He has been a staff writer for the on-line satirical magazine The Sugarbeet. He was also featured in the book Conversations with Mormon Authors, edited by Chris Bigelow. He is a noted Ibsen translator, and has also published scholarly articles on 19th and 20th century Scandanavian Theatre, and more recently, on LDS drama and film. He blogs at Mormoniconoclast.com.

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below is a list of Eric Samuelsen's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Accomodations         Amerigo         Borderlands         Coughlaugh         Doll House, A         Family         Gadianton         Ghosts         He and She Fighting         Kreutzer Sonata, The         Letter From A Prophet, A         Little Eyolf         Love Affair With Electrons, A         Magnificence         Miasma         Peculiarities         Seating of Senator Smoot, The         Way We're Wired, The         Without Romance

Accomodations

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Nelke Theatre, Brigham Young University     1993

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Amerigo

Synopsis:
Amerigo was a great play-one so brilliantly and beautifully written and executed that it revitalized my love for great theater over the course of its ninety minute running time. If I don't entirely give it the essay it deserves, it is because I don't want to spoil the many discoveries to be had in the experience itself. Merely relating the show's premise is a delight-it concerns a debate between Christopher Columbus (Mark Fossen) and Amerigo Vespucci (Matthew Ivan Bennett), as moderated by Niccolo Machiavelli (Kirt Bateman) and judged by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (Deena Marie Manzanares), in purgatory. Samuelsen takes his premise and runs with it-the play is very, very funny in places, but it is also many other things: challenging, moving, educational, and, ultimately, spiritually uplifting . . . Amerigo, ultimately, is a play about America. It is about the driving forces behind America-religion and commerce. It is about the land, and about the sins of the fathers-about capitalism and Catholicism, colonialism, sexism, racism. It is about how we are all inadvertent imperialists, whether our proselytizing be political or spiritual (or both). It is an amazing play-one that made me laugh, think, and moved me deeply. - Davey Morrison of Utah Theatre Bloggers

Notes:
about who really discovered America.

1st Produced:
Plan-B Theatre Company, Salt Lake City     2011

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Leicester Bay Theatricals, 2014   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Borderlands

Synopsis:
What's it like to pretend to be perfect? What's it like to be a Mormon but question your faith? What's it like to be gay and LDS? What's it like to live in the "Borderlands"? A powerful exploration of the difference between outward orthodoxy and true faith. This is not an easy play. It asks hard questions by presenting tough material in edgy situations. It deals with hypocrisy and self-righteousness but deftly avoids smugness or easy answers. Set in a used car lot in Provo, Utah this play is written with Latter-day Saint characters, but its philosophies and questions, its heart, are part of any Faith.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Studio Theater, Salt Lake City     31 Mar 2011

Organisations:
Plan B Theatre Company

1st Published:
Leicester Bay Theatricals, 2014   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Drama. - - Gay, full length

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Coughlaugh

Synopsis:
Have you ever attended a play where the actors seemed to do absolutely nothing? Well, here is that premise taken to the extreme. HE is reading a newspaper. SHE is watching television. They do nothing, until they hear a sound. Then they take the audience on a journey of frustration and laughter until the final sound brings a halt to the proceedings. This play has caused every emotional response possible from its audiences. And it is highly experimental. No performance has ever failed and some audiences have guessed early what is happening. Sometimes it took them a very long and hilarious time to get to the end. This script is a perfect blend of improvisation and control. You'll have fun. . . and so will your audiences.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Brigham Young University    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Leicester Bay Theatricals, 2014   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
Short Play, Experimental, Improvisational

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Doll House, A

Synopsis:
A DOLL HOUSE examines gender roles, social constraints and the power of secrets through the seemingly happy marriage of Nora and Torvald Helmer. The play is called A DOLL HOUSE instead of the traditional A DOLL's HOUSE. It's a more accurate translation of the Norwegian title ET DUKKEHJEM. When we buy our kids a house for them to use to play with dolls, we call it 'a doll house' - Norwegian children play with 'a dukkehjem.' Nora is Torvald's doll, in a doll house, that is not her own.

Notes:
Adapted from the Ibsen classic.

1st Produced:
Plan-B Theatre Company     2011

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Leicester Bay Theatricals, 2014   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Family

Synopsis:
In Family, real life becomes a bad weekend for the well-educated, intellectual, gospel-grounded, well-to-do Hull family. One daughter has left her husband (whom she may or may not really have shot), a son has left his mission early, and another daughter, an R.M., has left graduate school. Not exactly ideal. And their dark space monologues reveal the reality they're in is a place that they don't want to tell anyone of and almost can't speak about. Even the parents who burn the roast or buy the wrong salad have to re-decide who they are and what they mean to each other as individuals and within the family unit; that in order to move toward being Gods, which is the whole point, they each have to constantly reinvent themselves, be reborn, re-think, re-decide.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Brigham Young University    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Leicester Bay Theatricals, 2014   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Gadianton

Synopsis:
What makes our acts moral? Is any practice "just business"? Can Book of Mormon lessons speak to us in our high-tech world? In contexts as diverse as nuclear testing, corporate mergers, and Mormon family life, Gadianton powerfully reminds us that every decision is personal.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New American Playwrights Project     1996

Organisations:
Utah Shakespeare Festival

1st Published:
Leicester Bay Theatricals, 2014   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Play

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ghosts

Synopsis:
Mrs. Alving has spent her life meticulously creating the fantasy of a happy home and family and marriage, which explodes in revelations of sexually transmitted diseases, suicide and insanity. Quite possibly the most radical play in history.

Notes:
Adapted from the Ibsen classic.

1st Produced:
Plan-B Theatre Company     2013

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Leicester Bay Theatricals, 2014   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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He and She Fighting

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Plan-B Theatre Company    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Leicester Bay Theatricals, 2014   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Kreutzer Sonata, The

Synopsis:
A harrowing exploration of the mind of a man driven mad by unfulfilled passions and Beethovens music, freely adapted from Leo Tolstoys novella.

Notes:
a co-production with NOVA Chamber Music Series. In Salt Lake City,

1st Produced:
Plan-B Theatre Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)     Oct 2015

Organisations:
Plan B Theatre Company

1st Published:
http://www.indietheaternow.com/Play/the-kreutzer-sonata   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
one act 45 min

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Letter From A Prophet, A

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Written by Eric Samuelson And Charles Metten

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Little Eyolf

Synopsis:
This new translation of Ibsen's 1894 play emphasizes the terrible consequences of poor decisions, the power of strength built in a crucible of sorrow, and the singular importance of family unity. It delves deep into both family tragedy and almost fable-like elements of Norwegian folklore. The plot circles around the Allmer family, with Father Alfred about to abandon his plans for a book in favor of raising son Eyolf, a crippled little boy whom few are sure might live a normal life. When the family opens its door to a mysterious Rat-Wife capable of lulling rodents into the sea, followed by an engineer who fancies daughter Asta, all manner of guilt, resentment and sorrow follow, but so does the chance that the family might find some form of redemption; it's what we're all about. This is a play about secrets and hidden longings. It is about choices and consequences and how those choices have the possibility of destroying lives.

Notes:
by Henrik Ibsen. Adapted and Translated by Eric Samuelsen

1st Produced:
Tonic Productions     2006

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Leicester Bay Theatricals, 2014   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  1 boy

Further Reference:
-

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Love Affair With Electrons, A

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Magnificence

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Written by Eric Samuelson And John Skelton

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Miasma

Synopsis:
A dissection of family, racial and sexual politics set against the backdrop of the beef industry. "Miasma" thoughtfully mines the drama of a family ripped apart by a father's corporate vision. Its ripped-from-the-headlines themes are thoroughly plowed - dwelling on the exploitation and stench of the beef packing industry, built on the backs of a workforce of immigrant laborers. Sensitivity rating: The play includes profanity (primarily the slang term for cow manure), descriptions of animal slaughter, brief sexual references. Not for young children.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Plan-B Theatre Company, Salt Lake City     2006

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Leicester Bay Theatricals, 2014   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Peculiarities

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Sun Stone Symposium, Salt Lake City    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Seating of Senator Smoot, The

Synopsis:
The plot centers around congressional hearings conducted early in this century regarding the election of Reed Smoot, an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to the U.S. Senate. The major sticking point was, of course, polygamy -- which Smoot did not practice. But it wasn't really Smoot who was under fire, it was the Church as this 'practice' was perceived to threaten family values. Most of theAnti-Mormon, Anti-Smoot issues were raised by Idaho Senator Fred Dubois and his wife. It is a dynamic play about personal integrity, religious hypocrisy and religious and political freedom and how those who seek to protect their own religious freedoms so often are the attackers of those freedoms for others.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Brigham Young University    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
www.ziontheatricals.com, 2014   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Way We're Wired, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Brigham Young University    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Leicester Bay Theatricals, 2014   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Without Romance

Synopsis:
An unconventional missionary play set in the Oslo Norway Mission.The concepts and conflicts that sometimes divide us, that really should unite us through tolerance and understanding are explored in this tight drama about mission life, testimony, and Church Doctrine. It is a fine commentary on missionary work, what it means to follow the spirit or letter of the law, and what role obedience plays in our decisions. A quote from the play: "Blindly through the darkness--The mist is the world, its noise and confusion. The mist is the adversary, dragging us with him. And our best guide is a compass. Our only guide is a handrail." We do the best we can. Each of us. We obey, or try to. We understand, if we can. We struggle, climb, reach, fail, try again. Hey, it's not about just the mission, it's about life! What makes it work -- love from pure hearts. And the surprising thing is, you never know where or when you will find that pure heart.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Brigham Young University    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
www.ziontheatricals.com, 2014   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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