David Templeton is a Bay Area playwright and award-winning arts journalist. His play "Galatea" was the recipient of a 2022 Steinberg/ATCA New Play citation award, after receiving honorable mention in the 2021 William Glickman New Play Awards. Templeton has won awards for his writing of “Wretch Like Me,” which has had runs at the San Francisco Fringe Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in Scotland. In addition to “Polar Bears,” his other plays include “Pinky,” “Drumming With Anubis,” “Mary Shelley’s Body” (the latter adapted from his novella of the same name, published in the 2016 anthology “Eternal Frankenstein.” David’s newest play, “Galatea,” had its world premiere at Spreckels Performing Arts Center in September of 2021. He is currently at work on a three-actor comedy titled "Featherbaby," a play about female boxers titled "Ghost Punch" and a collection of his previously produced fantasy plays to be titled "Monsters, Gods and Robots," expected to be published in 2022.
Plays
GALATEA is a science-fiction mystery about what it means to be human, which parts of humanity are worth saving, and which human behaviours the universe would be better off without. In 2167, high above the Earth on a vast space station, robotics-specialist Dr. Margaret Mailer conducts a series of sessions with the synthetic Seventy-One, the only surviving member of member of a crew once assigned to the Galatea, a legendary deep-space transport vessel that disappeared over 100 years ago -- with more than a thousand organic passengers aboard. Found floating in a crumbling escape shuttle after decades in cryogenic sleep, Seventy-One now dutifully engages with Dr. Mailer in a series of exercises designed to improve her social skills and human-like characteristics. As she learns what it means to smile, shake hands, make friends, tell jokes and laugh, it becomes clear that Seventy-One is carefully guarding a secret. In series of cliffhanger-ending scenes, Mailer slowly peels away layer after layer of Seventy-One's protective programming, and begins to suspect something that could change the future of humankind, all while seeking the answer to a century-old question: were there any other survivors, and what, exactly, happened on the Galatea?
This award-winning solo Holiday monologue tells a charming true story about a very big lie. David never wanted to have kids, convinced he wasn't up to the challenge. Then he got one. Then another. To David, the one positive -- the only positive -- was Christmas. To be specific, Santa Claus. Having stopped believing when he was very young (his parents were sloppy with the Christmas morning details), David carried very strong ideas about Santa Claus, and knew he would always be able to make the holidays as magical as they could be. When a holiday calamity takes place, David's drive to assure his kids believed in Santa longer than he did is pushed into hilarious extremes. Do things backfire? Of course they do, with breathtaking lessons learned about love, resilience and the true meaning of Santa.
A supernatural comedy about a group of mythology-loving, heavy metal fans on a drum circle retreat in the desert. Following the recent death of their founder, the legendary DethDog drummer Joshua Tree, they've gathered for one final weekend of chanting, drumming and drinking, plus a few metal-inspired "rituals," When a somewhat clueless new member proves to be more than he seems, a whole series of life-altering surprises - including at least one other unexpected guest - begin to unfold. Before it's over, the group will face a long night of the soul (hotdogs optional). Will this turn out to be the friends' best male-bonding trip ever -- or its last?
Successes
David Templeton's solo show Polar Bears will be presented in New York City as part of the 2022 United Solo Theatre Festival in October, where it will be [erformed by the author, following a separate presentation (as a staged reading on July 20, 2022) at New Jersey's Vivid Stage, as part of the Summit, NJ theater company's annual solo festival. In Summit, the play will be performed by Scott McGowan.
Winner of the 2022 Steinberg/ATCA New Play citation for "Galatea"
Honorable mention in the 2021 Bay Area Will Glickman New Play Awards for "Galatea"
Winner in seven categories for the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Awards Excellence in Theatre awards, including BEst production in the San Francisco Bay Area and Best Original Script for "Galatea."