BIOGRAPHY (Updated 01/10)

Andy Bragen, a graduate of Brown University's MFA Program in Literary Arts, is the winner of the Clubbed Thumb Biennial Commission for his play Ranch Home. The Hairy Dutchman, commissioned by the University of Rochester's International Theatre Program, was produced at the University of Rochester in April 2009. Other honors include a Tennessee Williams Fellowship from the University of the South, a Jerome Fellowship, a New Voices Fellowship from Ensemble Studio Theatre, a Dramatists Guild Fellowship, and residencies at Millay Colony and Blue Mountain Center. Spuyten Duyvil, which Andy developed at the 2004 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, was produced by Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep. in July 2008. Greater Messapia was produced at Queens Theatre in the Park in March 2004. Also a translator, Andy works directly from French and Spanish, and with a co-translator from the Japanese. Vengeance Can Wait, workshopped at the 2006 Playlabs Conferences in Minneapolis, was produced at PS122 in April 2008. Other plays and translations have been seen and heard at numerous theatres in New York and elsewhere, including The Guthrie Theatre, Ars Nova, Rattlestick, LAByrinth, EST, Repertorio Español, Soho Think Tank, Page 73 Productions, NYU's hotINK Festival, The Illusion Theatre, The Aurora Theatre and the Lark Theatre.

Since 2007 Andy has been collaborating with the jazz saxophonist and composer John Ellis. Their first work, Dreamscapes, appeared at The Jazz Gallery in December 2007. Their second work, an hour long chamber piece entitled The Ice Siren, premiered in May 2009.

Andy holds a BA in English from Johns Hopkins. Subsequently, he studied with the playwright Tina Howe at Hunter College where he was the recipient of the John Golden Award and the Zarkower award for playwriting.

Andy has taught playwriting at Brown University, the University of Rochester, Marymount College, and Sewanee: The University of the South.

A native New Yorker, Andy lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

CURRENT PROJECTS

The Ice Siren with jazz saxophonist John Ellis: John was commissioned to write another hour of music for a large ensemble. I wrote the libretto for an hour long narrative jazz composition which premiered in May 2009 at the Jazz Gallery. We are busily applying for grants for our next project.

Ranch Home: I continue to develop this play with Clubbed Thumb, am looking forward to further workshops in the coming months.

Visiting Day: I am continuing to work on this new play, which was developed at Sewanee.

The Good Son: I am working on a new original screenplay with Yarn, a small film company founded by the theatre director Jackson Gay.

This Is My Office. I have written a new one man show inspired by my LMCC Office space. It is designed to be performed both in theatres and site-specifically. Check back for more details on an upcoming summer production.

The Dowager: This is a new one woman show, that I'm working on in the 24/7 Lab this spring.