Jonathan Marc Sherman - Biography

Jonathan Marc Sherman (born 10 October 1968) is a contemporary American playwright.

He was born in Morristown, New Jersey, and grew up in Livingston. He began writing plays on a typewriter his father gave him as a birthday gift when he was twelve or thirteen years old. His first performed original play was the one-act Confrontation (1986).

He submitted plays for several years Young Playwrights Inc.'s National Playwrights Competition before they did a staged reading of his one-act, Serendipity and Serenity in 1987, followed by a full production of his next play, Women and Wallace (1988).

He graduated from Bennington College in 1990. He dropped out of the Yale School of Drama after less than two months. His work has been performed in front of audiences across the country, as well as in Europe and Japan. He lives in New York City.

Plays

Serendipity and Serenity

1987. Young Playwrights Festival at Playwrights Horizons (staged reading)

Women and Wallace

• 1988. Young Playwrights Festival at Playwrights Horizons. Josh Hamilton as Wallace
• 1990. American Playhouse (PBS television), with Josh Hamilton (Wallace), Joan Copeland, Shaie Dively, Erica Gimpel, Joanna Going, Mary Joy, Debra Monk, Cynthia Nixon, and Jill Tasker. Directed by Don Scardino.

Jesus on the Oil Tank

Winner of the 21st Century Playwrights Award

Sons and Fathers

The short play is about a family of two brothers, Toby and Max, and their father, fifteen years after the mother committed suicide. Toby, an idealist who has never quite recovered from his mother's death, still wears diapers at the age of 21 and hardly leaves the house. His older brother Max often lectures him on the ways of life and love. Joanna, a new representative for the diaper company responsible for Toby's deliveries, makes a delivery and Toby instantly falls in love. The play ends with Toby leaving the house, and more symbolically, his dependence on his mother's memory, to be with Joanna.

The play was written in 1991, and was performed by Ethan Hawke's Malaparte Theater Company in New York City. Calista Flockhart played Joanna, Josh Hamilton (actor) played Toby and Ethan Hawke played Max. In the play's earlier incarnation as a workshop reading, Sherman himself played the part of Toby.

In the play's foreword, Sherman stresses the significance of Toby in the play; that his character is the nucleus of the play.

Veins and Thumbtacks

• 1991. Los Angeles Theatre Center. Jimmy Bonaparte: Fisher Stevens
• 1994. Malaparte (theater company) in New York City. Jimmy Bonaparte: Frank Whaley
• 2001. Basis for Frank Whaley's movie The Jimmy Show, with Frank Whaley, Carla Gugino, Ethan Hawke, and Lynn Cohen.

Sophistry

• March, 1993. Playwrights Horizons. With Linda Atkinson, Nadia Dajani, Ethan Hawke, Katherine Hiler, Scarlett Johansson, Dick Latessa, Anthony Rapp, Jonathan Marc Sherman, and Steve Zahn
• September–November, 1993. Playwrights Horizons. With Linda Atkinson, Nadia Dajani, Calista Flockhart, Ethan Hawke, Austin Pendleton, Anthony Rapp, Jonathan Marc Sherman, and Steve Zahn.

Wonderful Time

1995. WPA Theater in New York City.

Evolution

• 1998. Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts. Directed by Nicholas Martin. With Matt McGrath (actor) (Henry), Dylan Baker (Storyteller), Anna Belknap (Gina), Marin Hinkle (Hope), Justin Kirk (Ernie), and Sam Breslin Wright (Rex). Sets by Alexander Dodge, Lights by Stephen Brady, Costumes by Marisa Timperman, Sound by Jerry N. Yager
• 2002. 45 Below at Culture Project in New York City. Directed by Elizabeth Gottlieb. With Josh Hamilton (actor) (Henry), Larry Block (Storyteller), Peter Dinklage (Rex), Keira Naughton (Hope), Armando Riesco (Ernie), and Ione Skye (Gina). Sets by Andromache Chalfant, Lights by Jeff Croiter, Costumes by Daphne Javitch, Video by Edmond Deraedt

Things We Want

2007. The New Group in New York City. Directed by Ethan Hawke. With Paul Dano (Charlie), Peter Dinklage (Sty), Josh Hamilton (actor) (Teddy), and Zoe Kazan (Stella). Sets by Derek McLane, Lights by Jeff Croiter, Costumes by Mattie Ulrich, Sound by Daniel Baker.

Knickerbocker

2009. Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts. Directed by Nicholas Martin. With Brooks Ashmanskas (Melvin), Peter Dinklage (Chester), Bob Dishy (Raymond), Rightor Doyle (Steve), Annie Parisse (Tara), Susan Pourfar (Pauline), and Reg Rogers (Jerry). Sets by Alexander Dodge. Sound Design by Alex Neumann.

Acting

• Oliver! (as "The Artful Dodger") Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, 1983
• My First Swedish Bombshell (TV) (Harrison Slide) NBC & Showtime, 1985
• The Chopin Playoffs (as "Irving Yanover") American Jewish Theatre, 1986
• A Joke (as "Grizzoffi"), Malaparte (theater company), 1992
• Sophistry (as "Igor"), Playwrights Horizons, 1993
• Wild Dogs, Malaparte (theater company), 1993
• Unexpected Tenderness (as "Roddy Stern"), WPA, 1994
• The Great Unwashed, Malaparte (theater company), 1994
• Quiz Show (as Don Quixote Student #2), 1994
• Southie (as "Eddie Eaton"), 1998
• Pigeonholed (as Bartender), 1999
• I Wanna Be Adored, NY Performance Works, 2000
• Zog's Place (as himself), 2001
• Broadway: The American Musical (TV), 2004
• The Baxter (as "Deaf Bar Baxter"), 2005
• Escape Artists (as "Linus"), 2005
• The Limbo Room (as "Guy Greenbaum"), 2006
• Steam (as "Norman"), 2006
• When The Nines Roll Over (as "the Australian"), 2006
• The Hottest State, 2007

External links