Mat Smart has written 25 full-length plays that have been produced around the country and currently has several television and film projects in development. His play Kill Local premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse and was recently translated and performed in Seoul, South Korea at the Broadway Musical Center. The Agitators, his play about the true, untold friendship between Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, has been produced at over 20 different theatres from Maine to California.
Select productions include: The Royal Society of Antarctica (Gift Theatre, recipient of the Jeff Award for Best New Work in Chicago), Eden Prairie, 1971 (National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, Riverside Theatre; New Jersey Rep; BETC), Samuel J. and K. (Williamstown Theatre Festival; Steppenwolf), Naperville (Slant Theatre Project, Theatre Wit), Tinker to Evers to Chance (Geva; Merrimack Rep), The 13th of Paris (City Theatre), and The Hopper Collection (Huntington; Magic).
His newest play, A Black-billed Cuckoo, a comedy about birding, was recently workshopped at the South Carolina New Play Festival and the Ruth Easton Series at the Playwrights’ Center.
An avid traveler and baseball fan, Mat has been to all of the states, all of the continents, and all of the current MLB stadiums. From 2008-2011, he lived in Minneapolis while receiving two Jerome Fellowships and a McKnight Advancement Grant from the Playwrights’ Center. A native of Naperville, Illinois, he currently lives in Brooklyn. Undergrad: University of Evansville. MFA: UCSD.