Stephen Adly Guirgis

Playwright Biography

  • Graduated from University at Albany - SUNY.
  • Former Co-Artistic Director of LAByrinth Theatre Company in New York City.
  • Former educator in New York City area prisons, schools, shelters, and hospitals for conflict resolution and HIV/AIDS prevention.
  • Won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Between Riverside and Crazy.
  • Plays have been performed throughout the US and across 5 continents.
  • Awards include: Lucille Lortel Award, PEN/Laura Pels Award, the Yale Wyndham-Campbell Prize, The Harold & Mimi Steinberg Award, Whiting Award, TCG fellowship, Fringe First Award, NY Drama Critics Circle, and the L.A. Drama Critics Prize.
  • Also an actor and has appeared in theater, film, and television.

Highlighted Play: Our Lady of 121st St

Synopsis

Former students return to their old neighborhood to mourn the loss of their teacher, Sister Rose, but they are unable to hold a service because her body has been stolen. As the 12 diverse characters wait for a resolution of this matter, they must confront their pasts. The lives of the individuals intertwine as they each struggle to cope with loss, regret, and the search for redemption.

How the play could be used in an educational setting

The piece deals with universal themes of regret, forgiveness, and what it means to try to be good in a messy world. The play could be used in an educational setting to identify, compare, and discuss the various relationships. Edwin and Pinky provide a relationship that is very complex and students could explore the perspective of being a caretaker for another person. It would provide students in a theater classroom with scenes that are fairly short which could be used for an exploration of character. Within this one short span of space and time we encounter characters who are very different from one another and students could look for clues from the text to support their assumptions as they develop acting choices regarding a specific character.


Sample Activity

Spectrum of Difference taken from Structuring Drama Work by Jonothan Neelands, Tony Goode

Create a spectrum within the space of whatever room the class will be in. One side of the room will be "fully agree", the other "fully disagree". The middle of the room is designated for the grey area between those two ends of the spectrum. After each prompt, ask for a few participants to justify or explain where they stand. Before moving on to the next prompt, give the participants an opportunity to alter their stance after hearing each other's justifications.

Prompts

    • Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to do the right thing.
    • Power leads to corruption.
    • Religious practice doesn't always translate into goodness.


Discussion Questions

  • What do you think Stephen Adly Guirgis is saying about religious authority through the character of Father Lux?
  • In what way/s did the characters in the play use guilt as motivation?

Additional Plays

Jesus Hopped the A Train

Synopis: Angel Cruz awaits trial for shooting and wounding a religious leader, Reverend Kim. He is being counseled by Mary Jane, who agrees to represent Angel after making a personal connection with his side of the story. She believes he may have had good intentions even though he did something wrong. Angel is beaten by fellow inmates regularly. Reverend Kim dies, which intensifies the trial. Mary Jane agrees to put Angel on the stand knowing that he is guilty, which puts her career at stake, and ultimately her pride costs Angel the verdict.

How this play could be used: This play could be used in a variety of settings. I believe it would be a good educational experience for students to see this play and even to analyze and participate in acting the piece. It deals with justice and morals and would be a great way to explore different perspectives through the various characters. This piece would ask students to think critically about whether actions can be classified as good and bad, or if there is a grey area. It could be used in a high-school ethics, sociology, or humanities course in discussions of choices we make, their consequences, and being held accountable for those actions.


Between Riverside and Crazy

Synopsis: Pops, a retired African-American police officer, is being threatened by his landlord with eviction if he does not comply with the NYPD, who want his signature to settle a lawsuit against a white cop who shot him six times using racial slurs. Pops decides to try and make his own deal with his old partner and her new husband, who are under pressure from the NYPD to get this deal with Pops to go through.

How this play could be used: In a school setting this play would be valuable as a text that students might analyze for deeper understanding of playwriting, character development, and social justice, but would be less suited for performances simply due to the main character being a retired cop. The age difference could be distancing and distracting from the serious subject matter. The play can prompt students to evaluate what they perceive as right and wrong. It could be used as a springboard for discussions of race and the abuse of power by the police. The characters in the play have complex motivations for their actions and would provide a good opportunity for a theater classroom to analyze motivation, objective, and tactic. Another interesting device in the play is how Stephen Adly Guirgis makes the audience begin to doubt Pop’s story, which would be a good opportunity to ask students to make inferences with justification from the text.

Comprehensive List of Plays

Full-Length Plays

Between Riverside and Crazy (2015)

Motherfucker with a Hat (2011)

Little Flower of East Orange (2008)

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (2005)

Our Lady of 121st St (2002)

Jesus Hopped the A Train (2000)

In Arabia We’d All Be Kings (1999)

Den of Thieves (1997)

Race, Religion, and Politics (1997)


One-Act Plays

Francisco and Benny (his first play, not produced)

Dominica the Fat Ugly Ho (2006)


Television (Episodic Writer)

NYPD Blue

Big Apple

UC: Undercover

The Sopranos

The Get Down (co-creator)


Additional Resources:

Bibliography:

Als, H. (2014, August 11). The family of man. The New Yorker, 88-89.

Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/


Bixby, S., & Guirgis S. A. (2012). [Interview Transcript] Retrieved from http://www.speakeasystage.com/interview-with-the-playwright/


Choi, S. (2013). Performing the passion of christ in postmodernity: Remembering the passion in a pluralistic age in our lady of 121st street. Ecumencia 6 (2), 25-38.


Coleman, D. (2011, June 10). Crosses that bear the past. The New York Times.

Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/fashion/stephen-adly-guirgis-looks-to-his-past.html


Collins-Hughes, L. (2012, September 05). Finding balance, finishing the hat. The Boston Globe. Retrieved from https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-art/2012/09/15/characters-struggle-rein-excess-the-expletive-with-hat-but-playwright-stephen-adly-guirgis-seeks-serenity/aCCzghapTuudcL7PPPeFVJ/story.html


Evans, S. (2014, November 18). The community of Stephen Adly Guirgis. American Theatre. Retrieved from http://www.americantheatre.org/2014/11/18/the-community-of-stephen-adly-guirgis/


Guirgis, S. A. (2011, March 22). Stephen Adly Guirgis on the injury that inspired a motherf*cker of a play. Retrieved from http://www.broadway.com/buzz/155707/stephen-adly-guirgis-on-the-injury-that-inspired-a-motherfker-of-a-play/


Isherwood, C. (2003, March 09). Review: Our lady of 121st st. Variety.

Retrieved from http://variety.com/2003/legit/reviews/our-lady-of-121st-street-1200542941/


Kelly, G. (2015, July 17). Pulitzer-winner Stephen Adly Guirgis: The prize doesn't really mean anything. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/11736602/Pulitzer-winner-Stephen-Adly-Guirgis-the-prize-doesnt-really-mean-anything.html


Pellegrini, D. (2008). Parables for his people: Legal and religious authority in the plays of Stephen Adly Guirgis. Text & Presentation: Journal of the Comparative Drama Conference, 110-122.




Web page compiled by Aaron Lenhart (2017)