Playwrights Ensemble
Charles Smith
His plays include Denmark, Free Man of Color (Joseph Jefferson Award, John W. Schmid Award), Knock Me a Kiss (Black Theater Alliance Award, Joseph Jefferson nomination), The Sutherland (Scai Jaaz Legacy Award, Illinois Arts Council Governor’s Award, Joseph Jefferson nomination), Freefall (Audelco nomination), Jelly Belly (NBC New Voices Award, Cornerstone Playwriting Award, Theodore Ward Playwriting Award, Audelco nomination, Black Theater Alliance nomination), Takunda, and Cane, all of which received their world premiere productions at Victory Gardens Theatre.
His other plays include Sister Carrie, Les Trois Dumas, Black Star Line, City of Gold, and Pudd’nhead Wilson. In addition to Victory Gardens, he has received commissions from, and has been produced by Indiana Repertory Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and The Acting Company whose production of Pudd’nhead Wilson was produced
off-Broadway after a twenty-two city national tour. His plays have also been produced by the Indiana Repertory Theatre, Ujima Theatre Company, The People’s Light and Theatre Company, The Goodman Theatre, Penumbra, Penguin Rep., St. Louis Black Rep., New Federal Theatre, Seattle Rep., Berkeley Rep, and by Independent Theatre in Adelaide, Australia.
He is a graduate of the University of Iowa Playwriting Program and is currently head of the Professional Playwriting Program
at Ohio University.
His plays can be obtained through Northwestern Press, Dramatic Publishing, Meriwether Publishing, Smith & Kraus,
and Samuel French.
