A.R.
Gurney, playwright of The Cocktail
Hour, is one of the most prolific and produced playwrights in America.
His work focuses primarily on the issues and realities of middle-class
American life and has been produced on international theatre stages for
more than 40 years. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952,
Gurney joined the United States Navy during the korean War, writing shows
to entertain the military personnel. Following his discharge in 1955, he
enrolled in the Yale School of Drama where he received his master's degree
in playwriting. Later he joined the faculty at Massachusetts Institute
of Technology in Cambridge where he taught until 1996.
In 1958, Gurney wrote Love
in Buffalo, the fist musical ever produced at Yale. His breakthrough success
came in 1982 with The Dining Room. In addition to The Cocktail
Hour, other award winning plays include The Perfect Party, Another
Antigone, Love Letters, A Cheever Evening, Sylvia, and Ancestral
Voices.
Gurney is the recipient of
many awards, notable a Drama Desk Award in 1971, a Rockefeller Award in
1977 and two Lucille Lortel Awards in 1989 and 1994.
He was an instructor at M.I.T.
until 1996. Mr. Gurney devides the place he calls home between Connecticut
and New York City. He is the husband of one, father of four and grandfather
of six.
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