John’s plays have been produced and commissioned at theaters such as Center Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Public Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Fest, and off-Broadway at Urban Stages. A two-time Alfred P. Sloan Fellow and a former James Michener Fellow, other awards include: Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, American Theatre Critics Association’s Osborn Award, and the Frederick Loewe Award in Musical Theatre with composer Nile Rodgers.
John was a writer for and series editor of the four-part mini-series, BrainWorks: The Theatre of Neuroscience, in collaboration with The Nine Network of Public Media, Washington University Department of Neuroscience, and Barnes Jewish Hospital in Saint Louis. The series aired in markets nationally and can be streamed on-demand at PBS.org: https://www.pbs.org/show/brainworks-theatre-neuroscience/
A proud alum of New Dramatists in NYC, John has taught at UT-Austin, Bennington College, and the Iowa Playwrights Workshop among others. He currently heads the M.F.A. Playwriting Program @ University of Arkansas.
Plays
"Where you go, I will go…" Ruth 1:16
This dramatic re-exploration of The Book of Ruth delves into the ongoing debate on immigration. In the play, two women — Naomi, an Army lieutenant, and Anisah, her Afghan translator — lose their husbands during war. Upon discharge, the young officer sees the danger her translator is in and brings Anisah with her back home to Mississippi.
When they arrive, this act of kindness is met with open hostility by Naomi's sister-in-law, Gail, who is running for mayor on an immigration platform that makes deportment the focus of her campaign. But things get complicated when Gail's own son stands up for what he thinks is right.
By turns funny and moving, this timeless story adapted from the Old Testament challenges notions of what it means to be an American as it contemplates the redemptive power of welcoming strangers.