Bio


Playwright and screenwriter Jonathan Dorf has had more than 500 play productions, including productions in all but two US states, as well as in Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. He has been a finalist for the Actors Theatre of Louisville Heideman Award, the Hyperion One Act Award, the Weinberger Playwright Residency and the Interact and Charlotte Rep New Play festivals, and he has worked with such companies as the Walnut Street Theatre, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Ensemble Studio Theatre - LA, Moving Arts and the Pittsburgh New Works Festival.  He co-founded YouthPLAYS, a growing publisher of plays and musicals for young actors and audiences at which a number of his plays reside, with more than 25 other works published by such companies as Playscripts, Brooklyn Publishers, Heuer, Eldridge Publishing, and Original Works, with monologues published in collections published by Meriwether, Playscripts and Smith & Kraus.  He has been instrumental in the development of ProduceaPlay.com, the internet's top "how to produce a play" resource site for prospective producers of theatre at all levels - schools, colleges, community and professional theatres.

He is the resident playwriting expert for Final Draft (for whom he created the playwriting "Ask the Expert") and The Writers Store (creator of Playwriting101.com, for many years Google's top-ranked playwriting website, and playwriting instructor at Writers University), the co-chair of the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights and the former managing director of the Philadelphia Dramatists Center. He is also a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. For screen, he has written a trio of produced shorts as well as a number of feature scripts. He is the author of Young Playwrights 101, a book for young playwrights and those who teach them, and conducts workshops at schools and festivals across the US and as far away as Singapore and Japan. He served as Visiting Associate Professor in the M.F.A. playwriting and children's literature programs at Hollins University, and as United States Cultural Envoy to Barbados. He holds a B.A. in Dramatic Writing and Literature from Harvard University and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from UCLA.

 
 
Co-Chair of the Alliance of Los Angeles
Playwrights
, member of The Dramatists Guild of America, and life member of the Philadelphia Dramatists Center.

Final Draft Resident Playwriting Expert and author of Playwriting101.com.

Resident Playwriting Expert of The Writers Store.





Recent News
Upcoming Productions
Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Salina Central High School (Salina, KS), February 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Richard Henry Dana Middle School (Hawthorne, CA), February 2012

High School (non) Musical
Heath High School (Heath, OH), March 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Pine Prairie High School (Pine Prairie, LA), March 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Washington High School (Martinsburg, WV), March 2012

4 A.M.
Randolph High School (Randolph, MA), March 2012

4 A.M.
Blue Valley Northwest High School (Overland Park, KS), March 2012

Pepperoni Apocalypse
Hopkins HIgh School (Minnetonka, MN), March 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Magnolia High School (New Martinsville, WV), March 2012

After Math
Bold as Brass Productions (Stoke on Trent, United Kingdom), March 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
J A Williams High School (Lac La Biche/Edmonton, AB, Canada)

High School (non) Musical
Morris County School of Technology (Denville, NJ), March 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Immaculate High School (Danbury, CT), March 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Newton Falls Drama (Newton Falls, OH), March 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
South Winneshiek Elem/Middle School (Ossian, IA), March 2012

4 A.M.
STARS (Tucson, AZ), March 2012

Run Like the Dickens
Central MN Christian School (Prinsburg, MN), March 2012

The White Pages
H. Harcastle School (Edam, SK, Canada), March 2012

After Math
Sock & Buskin Community Theatre (Sidney, OH), March 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Fletcher Public School (Fletcher, OK), March 2012

From Shakespeare with Love?
Central College (Pella, IA), March 2012

After Math
Bill Sybert School (El Paso, TX), April 2012

4 A.M.
Holy Rosary Catholic School (Argyle, TX), April 2012

X Marks the Spot
Lemon Bay Playhouse (Englewood, FL), April 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Oddfellows Playhouse (Middletown, CT), April 2012

After Math
Florence High School (Florence, AL), April 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Annapolis Area Christian School (Severn, MD), April 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Carson High School (Carson City, NV), April 2012

Just Add Zombies
High Desert Middle School (Bend, OR), April 2012

Now You See Me
David W. Butler High School (Matthews, NC), April 2012

Run Like the Dickens
Park River Public School (Park River, ND), April 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Thoreau High School (Thoreau, NM), April 2012

4 A.M.
Edmondson County High School (Brownsville, KY), April 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Edmondson County High School (Brownsville, KY), April 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Academy ACL (Colorado Springs, CO), May 2012

High School (non) Musical
Riggs High School (Pierre, SD), May 2012

4 A.M.
Jay M. Robinson Middle School (Charlotte, NC), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Jane Addams Middle School (Bolingbrook, IL), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Excelsior Springs High School (Excelsior Springs, MO), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
The Capitol School (Tuscaloosa, AL), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Osceola Middle School (Seminole, FL), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Edgren High School (Misawa, Japan), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Simonsen 9th Grade Center (Jefferson City, MO), May 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Jefferson Middle School (Jefferson City, TN), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
South Park High School (Fairplay, CO), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
East High School (Cheyenne, WY), May 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Fremont High School (Sunnyvale, CA), May 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Bay Theatrix: Dover Bay Secondary (Nanaimo, BC, Canada)

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Sequoia Middle School (Pleasant Hill, CA), June 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight
Drama With a Difference (Melbourne, VIC, Australia), October 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Westwood High School (Palestine, TX), January 2013

 
The Locker Next to Mine: 

Stay tuned for more information about this play commissioned by Wantagh High School (NY), coming in spring 2012.


Rumors of Polar Bears: 

Though the one-act version, available from Playscripts, stands on its own (and is perfect for competition!), this play was always intended to be a full-length composed of three acts:  Rumors of Polar Bears, Ursa Major and Northern Lights.  Look for the other two plays in the cycle sometime in 2012.


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