DANA COEN is the former Director of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Writing for the Screen and Stage Program, a two-year, interdisciplinary minor, in which selected students study the craft of dramatic writing in preparation for careers in theatre, film and television. He is the creator and producer of Long Story Shorts, the program’s annual one act festival and the editor of “Twenty-Five Short Plays...”, a selection of plays from the first five years of the festival. He also created “Activated Art,” an ekphrastic theatre festival, presented in collaboration with the Ackland Art Museum. A former New York actor and director, he has written extensively for both television and the theatre. He was Co-Executive Producer and writer on the Fox primetime series BONES and Co-Executive Producer on the CBS primetime series JAG, where he spent eight seasons and wrote thirty-seven episodes. Other credits include a comedy development deal for Walt Disney Studios, Story Editor on ROOM FOR TWO, starring Linda Lavin and Patricia Heaton, and Staff Writer on CAROL AND COMPANY, starring Carol Burnett. Dana has also written pilot scripts for ABC, NBC, FOX, Paramount Television and MCA/Universal Television. Awards include the 2003 Jewish Image Award for his JAG episode "The Promised Land" and the 1999 Templeton Prize for his JAG episode "Second Sight". As a playwright, his produced work includes PROPERTY, presented in the Redbird Festival at the Carrboro Arts Center, Los Angeles productions of INTERNAL BLEEDING at The Pacific Repertory Theatre, TINKLE TIME, starring Howard Hesseman, Harry Shearer and Luke Wilson at Showtime’s Act One Festival, BUNCHES OF BETTY at the West End Playhouse, and SYMPATHY, which was produced at both The Burbank Theatre Guild and Off Broadway at The Manhattan Punchline Theatre.
Plays
As her 99 year old mother lies on her death bed, Margie Curran-Hicks re-lives their relationship amidst the intrusion of her daughter, her daughter's daughter, and her daughter's lover.
MORTAL SOIL - Green Street is the first in a two-play series that explores white, working class grievance, and occurs simultaneously in two separate Boston neighborhoods. They are connected by the character of Tommy Hanlon in the companion play MORTAL SOIL - Pearl Street, which can also be found on this site.
Four friends on the cusp of middle age, await the arrival of a member of their group, who has just been released from rehab. As time passes, unexpected revelations raise the existential stakes. This is the second play in a two-play series, exploring white, working class grievance, which can be produced in the same evening or in repertory with MORTAL SOIL - Green Street.
When the President of the United States dies unexpectedly, his reluctant V.P. is encouraged to boldly transform the country by his recently deceased wife, who appears as a voice from her pillow.