Dan Giles

Dan Giles

[playwright]
Picture

​Dan Giles (he/him) is a New York City-based playwright originally from Massachusetts.

His plays have been produced and developed with Ensemble Studio Theatre, Next Door at New York Theatre Workshop,
New Light Theater Project, First Floor Theater (Chicago), Haven Theatre (Chicago), FaultLine (San Francisco), the Great Plains Theatre Commons (Omaha), the Kennedy Center (DC), and others.

​Awards include the New Light New Voices Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Screenwriting Award, and the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting. This year, he's one of three American playwrights selected for the East by West UK/US Playwright Exchange, through which he'll develop new work in a cohort with three Scottish playwrights at An Tobar & Mull Theatre (Scotland), Citizens Theatre (Glasgow), EST (NYC), and Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (Cape Cod), with support from Playwrights' Studio, Scotland and Arch 468 (London).

​MFA Carnegie Mellon. Alum of Youngblood, the collective of playwrights at Ensemble Studio Theatre.


Agents: Di Glazer & Ross Weiner, CAA
diana.glazer [at] caa.com, ross.weiner [at] caa.com

Direct: 
djgiles47 [at] gmail.com

Plays​
some recent work
more at the
 New Play Exchange
photos by WHO IS SHE, First Floor Theater

​Mike Pence Sex Dream
In the aftermath of the 2016 election, Gary finds his new marriage put to the test. His partner Ben wants to fight the power. But Gary wants to become the power. When a beguiling client makes him an unscrupulous offer, Gary sets down a path of violent delights that will lead to violent ends. A romantic travesty about bringing home the bacon and fucking a pig.

Production
First Floor Theater (Chicago) dir. Hutch Pimentel

Development
virtual workshop production, Ensemble Studio Theater (NYC) dir. Matt Dickson
​​
Awards
Plays for Now Grant, Venturous Fund
semifinalist, SPACE on Ryder Farm
semifinalist, Lighthouse Works

Reviews: Chicago Reader, ​Rescripted, Storefront Rebellion
photos by Hunter Canning, New Light Theater Project

​Breeders
Two men, Dean and Mikey, prepared for ages to have a baby, but now Dean’s doubts gnaw at him. Two hamsters, Tyson and Jason, are abruptly pregnant with nine babies, and now Tyson’s fears nibble at her. Nobody was planning to eat anyone. Things just got out of hand.

​
Productions
New Light Theater Project (NYC) dir. Jaki Bradley
FaultLine Theater (San Francisco) dir. Adam Odsess-Rubin

Awards
New Light New Voices Award, New Light Theater Project
Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting, The Kennedy Center
finalist, Lark Playwrights Week
finalist, Bay Area Playwrights Festival
finalist, Playwrights Center Core Apprenticeship


​Development
Great Plains Theatre Commons Conference (Omaha) dir. Ron Zank
Dixon Place (NYC) dir. Alex Tobey

Reviews: Time Out NY, NY Times, Huffington Post


photos by Chad Batka, Next Door at New York Theater Workshop

1969: The Second Man
music, lyrics, & concept by Jacob Brandt
book by Dan Giles


Jacob Brandt's rueful, raucous song cycle tells the story of one small man who became one giant myth. A folk rock fable about competition, sacrifice, and collective achievement.​

Production
​
Next Door at New York Theater Workshop, Foster Bersin Productions (NYC) dir. Jaki Bradley

Music
Cast performance live at Paste Studio NYC

Reviews: The New Yorker, Lighting & Sound


photos from Haven Theater

​How You Kiss Me Is Not How I Like To Be Kissed
​Kiss her, poorly. Decide to take him home anyway. Define the relationship. Set sensible boundaries. Confess secrets. Meet her dad, blow it. Fall in love casually, strangely, effortlessly. Negotiate monogamy. Take him to IKEA, regret it, survive it. Fight about work. Fight about family. Fight about marriage. Make a life together. Fall out of love as easily as you fell in. Now what?

Productions
Haven Theater (Chicago) dir. AJ Schwartz
FringeNYC (NYC) dir. self

Awards
finalist, Playwrights Center Core Apprenticeship
finalist, John Cauble Award, The Kennedy Center
semifinalist, Princess Grace Award

Development
The Kennedy Center (DC) dir. Dean Gabourie
In the Works
newer stuff

Polar Bear in a Fish Tank in a Mall in China
On the set of a TV show deep in the snowy mountains, seven gay men compete for the love of one bachelor. But as the house reveals its secrets— a curse, a conspiracy, a monster— they discover that the game isn’t what it seemed. Stalked by an implacable terror, each must decide for himself: did he come here to make friends? Or to win?

finalist, SPACE on Ryder Farm
finalist, Pipeline PlaySpace
semifinalist, ​O'Neill National Playwrights Conference
You're Not Here
Long after they should be sleeping, four lonely people chase desire to the same Flatbush apartment. As they discover who they are to each other, the illusions that brought them together begin to fall apart. A nocturne for lovers and strangers, and those who are both.

finalist, Lighthouse Works

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