Ou Alum David Robinson’s play “The Imaginary Music Critic Who Doesn’t Exist” has been selected for the prestigious “First Look Series” at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago! This is his play that was previously selected for the Eugene O Neill summer residency. Each year 6 plays are selected. Here is how they describe the series: Join us this summer for an early look at work in progress from some of the most dynamic playwrights in the field. Now in its 10th season, First Look develops new plays for future production at Steppenwolf and other theaters across the country.
The festival runs this August 11th through the 16th! Check it out if you’re in Chicago! Congrats David!
Here’s a synopsis of the play: Lacey is a tattooed rock journalist who runs an influential summer music festival. When a major act drops out, Lacey saves the fest by booking the gifted but controversial MC #Frankie. But Lacey’s coworkers take issue with #Frankie’s misogynist lyrics, threatening to unravel everything she’s built.
You can read the press release here
and to get tickets/more info click here
More about David
David Mitchell Robinson is likely a playwright because growing up in the frosty Twin Cities suburbs requires one to develop a surplus of indoor, isolation-intensive hobbies. So far, his goal to write a play about every place he’s ever lived has resulted in Carapace (Minneapolis), Olympic Village (Atlanta), The Imaginary Music Critic Who Doesn’t Exist (Chicago), and Terminals (airplanes).
These and other plays have been produced, developed, or commissioned by the Alliance Theatre, Center Theatre Group, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Primary Stages, the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Actor’s Express, Forum Theatre, Theater J, B Street Theatre, the Inkwell, Rep Stage, Ohio University, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, the Source Festival, Field Trip Theatre, and the Horn Project. Carapace is available through Samuel French.
David has been the winner of the Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition and the Scott McPherson Playwriting Award as well a nominee for the PoNY Fellowship, the Lanford Wilson Award, the Terrence McNally Award, and a Suzi Bass Award. He has also been a finalist for such programs as the Jerome Fellowship, the Clubbed Thumb Biennial Commission, NNPN’s Smith Prize Commission, InterAct Theatre’s 20/20 Commission, the Lark’s Playwrights’ Week, the NNPN Showcase of New Plays, and the Source Festival’s Full Length Plays.
He holds an MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University and a BA in Literature/Theater from the New College of Florida. He currently lives in DC, where he is working on his plays about Baltimore and southeast Ohio.
