Christopher Shinn
Christopher Shinn is an acclaimed American playwright known for tackling themes of homosexuality, personal relationships, and contemporary societal issues. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, and raised in Wethersfield, Shinn began writing plays at a young age and studied at the Tisch School of the Arts, where he was mentored by Tony Kushner. His first major work, "Four," premiered at London's Royal Court Theatre in 1998, receiving significant critical praise and establishing his reputation in the theater community.
Shinn's plays often explore the struggles of LGBTQ+ individuals seeking acceptance, and he has received numerous accolades for his work, including the Robert Chesley Award and an Obie Award for playwriting. His 2006 play "Dying City," which examines the impact of the Iraq War on personal lives, solidified his standing as a prominent figure in contemporary American theater and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Shinn's later works, such as "Teddy Ferrara," address pressing social issues, including bullying and suicide, while his recent endeavors include "An Opening in Time" and an adaptation of Ödön von Horváth's "Judgment Day." Currently, he is an assistant professor of playwriting at the New School for Drama in New York City, continuing to influence the next generation of playwrights.
Subject Terms
Christopher Shinn
Playwright
- Born: May 9, 1975
- Birthplace: Hartford, Connecticut
Contribution: Christopher Shinn is an American playwright. His 2006 play Dying City was a finalist in 2008 for the Pulitzer Prize in the drama category.
Background
Christopher Shinn was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and raised in the nearby suburb of Wethersfield. He wrote his first play at age fifteen. Shinn attended the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts before enrolling in the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU), where American Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Tony Kushner was his mentor.
Shinn earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in dramatic writing at NYU. In 2001 Shinn undertook a career-development residency through the National Endowment for the Arts and the Theatre Communications Group.
Career
Shinn’s first major work, Four, debuted at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 1998. Centered on a closeted gay man and his sixteen-year-old daughter, the play received critical praise from the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Advocate. It separately follows both father and daughter as they rendezvous with secret romantic interests in suburban Connecticut on the Fourth of July. The play’s overarching background of American culture and its notions of American patriotism have become common thematic threads throughout Shinn’s work.
Shinn was quick to establish himself as one of the most acclaimed American playwrights working with themes and stories of homosexuality and contemporary culture. Many of Shinn’s plays concentrate on the struggles of people coming to grips with their sexuality, as well as the struggles of gay people to find acceptance. Acclaim for Four and Shinn’s other early plays—notably, 2000’s Other People and 2001’s The Coming World—earned Shinn the 2002 Robert Chesley Award for the advancement of gay and lesbian theater.
His 2002 play Where Do We Live captured the personal struggles of a young gay writer in New York City’s Lower East Side, set against the societal fractures and cultural upheaval in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The impact of the events is seen through a diverse cast of characters, ranging from a disabled man to a struggling actor. Shinn won an 2005 Obie Award for playwriting for his work on the play. That same year, he won a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship.
Shinn’s most acclaimed work to date, Dying City, fittingly premiered at the site of his first production, the Royal Court Theatre, in 2006. The work affirmed Shinn’s place as one of the premier American playwrights. Dying City’s narrative focuses both on an Iraq War widow and her brother-in-law struggling to cope with their loss and on the impact of war on the American psyche. The three-character play continued Shinn’s method of utilizing sparse narrative formulas to impart commentary on monumental world events.
Dying City won Shinn international praise from critics and audiences alike. The play received a 2007 Lucille Lortel Award nomination for the year’s most outstanding play. It was also one of two finalists for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a nominee for London’s Evening Standard Theatre Award for best play of the year.
Shinn’s 2013 play Teddy Ferrara is a dramatization of the tragic case of Tyler Clementi, a New Jersey college student who committed suicide after he was publicly outed by a vengeful roommate. The work continued Shinn’s practice of drawing on contemporary societal issues as a means of inspiration for his art. In June of 2013, Shinn told his friends that the rare cancer he had been diagnosed with in 2012 was not responding to aggressive chemotherapy and that his prognosis was very poor. He decided to write one last play, An Opening in Time, about a widow in her sixties named Anne who struggles with romance and intimacy. Shinn’s prognosis improved dramatically after he participated in a six-month clinical trial that left him with no evidence of cancer in his body, and the ability to return to work. An Opening in Time subsequently premiered at Hartford Stage in the fall of 2015.
Shinn went on to write a new play, Against, which had its world premiere at the Almeida Theatre in London in August 2017. In the play, an aerospace billionaire named Luke who hears God telling him to eradicate violence and save the world. Shinn’s next major work was an adaptation of Ödön von Horváth’s Judgment Day, which was commissioned by the Park Avenue Armory in New York. Shinn’s adaptation was directed by Richard Jones and debuted at the Armory in December 2019.
Shinn is a part-time assistant professor of playwriting at the New School for Drama in New York City.
Impact
Shinn’s place of prominence among contemporary American playwrights can be attributed to both the depth of his characters and the intricacies of his plots. Yet Shinn’s true mastery lies in his ability to adapt his skills as a playwright to fresh narratives combating issues of personal relationships, sexuality, community, and politics, and their larger impact in the contemporary culture of the United States.
Personal Life
Shinn lives and works in New York City.
Principal Works
Four, 1998
Other People, 2000
The Coming World, 2001
What Didn't Happen, 2002
Where Do We Live, 2002
On the Mountain, 2005
Dying City, 2006
Now or Later, 2008
Hedda Gabler (adaptation), 2009
Picked, 2011
Teddy Ferrara, 2013
An Opening in Time, 2015
Against, 2017
Judgment Day (adaptation), 2019
Bibliography
Brantley, Ben. “The Walking Wounded Who Never Saw a Battlefield.” Rev. of Dying City, by Christopher Shinn. New York Times. New York Times, 5 Mar. 2007. Web. 16 July 2013.
Hartigan, Patti. “Christopher Shinn on Politics, Pain, and ‘Now or Later.’” Boston Globe. New York Times, 13 Oct. 2012. Web. 16 July 2013.
“Shinn, Christopher.” New School for Drama. New School, 2012. Web. 15 July 2013.
Weinert-Kendt, Rob. “Christopher Shinn’s Plays Explore What Victims Do Next.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2013. Web. 15 July 2013.
Wong, Curtis M. “‘Teddy Ferrara,’ Play Based on Tyler Clementi Suicide Case, Opening at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.” Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 21 Aug. 2013.