{{short description|American dramatist}} {{Infobox writer | name = Eric Samuelsen | birth_name = Eric Roy Samuelsen | birth_date = {{birth date|1956|4|10}} | birth_place = Provo, Utah, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|09|20|1956|4|10}} | death_place = | alma_mater = Brigham Young University <small>(B.A.)</small> <br/>Indiana University Bloomington <small>(Ph.D.)</small> | genre = Drama | spouse = Annette Mason <small>(1980-2019)</small> | children = 4 | awards = AML playwright award <small>(1994, 1997, 1999)</small> <br/> Smith Pettit Award <small>(2012)</small> | website = [http://www.mormoniconoclast.com/ MormonIconoclast.com] }}
'''Eric Roy Samuelsen''' (April 10, 1956 – September 20, 2019)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://local.sltrib.com/eu/|title = We'll be back}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | author=Janine Michelle Sobeck | title=Study Guide: Family: A new play by Eric Samuelsen | publisher=Brigham Young University College of Fine Arts and Communications, Department of Theatre and Media Arts | date=March 2–19, 2005 | url=https://cfac.byu.edu/tma/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/newfamilySG_TBO-program.pdf | accessdate=2015-04-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708215251/http://cfac.byu.edu/tma/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/newfamilySG_TBO-program.pdf | archive-date=2013-07-08 | url-status=dead}}</ref> was an American playwright and emeritus professor of theatre at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is considered one of the most important Mormon playwrights.<ref name=PopCulture>{{cite book | editor=James Michael Hunter | title=Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon | page=259 | year=2012 | publisher=ABC-CLIO | isbn=978-0313391675 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5oM1B1VE-yMC&pg=PA259 | accessdate=2015-04-22}}</ref> He won the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) drama award in 1994,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mormonletters.org/Awards/Year.aspx?year=1994 |title=AML Awards for 1994 |publisher=Mormonletters.org |accessdate=2012-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727093455/http://mormonletters.org/Awards/Year.aspx?year=1994 |archive-date=2011-07-27 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 1997,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mormonletters.org/Awards/Year.aspx?year=1997 |title=AML Awards for 1997 |publisher=Mormonletters.org |accessdate=2012-06-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219100614/http://mormonletters.org/Awards/Year.aspx?year=1997 |archivedate=2012-02-19}}</ref> and 1999,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mormonletters.org/Awards/Year.aspx?year=1999 |title=AML Awards for 1999 |publisher=Mormonletters.org |accessdate=2012-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219100801/http://mormonletters.org/Awards/Year.aspx?year=1999 |archive-date=2012-02-19 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and was AML president from 2007 to 2009. In 2012 he received the Smith–Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters.<ref>{{cite web | title=Report on AML Conference 2013 and List of Awards | work=Dawning of a Brighter Day | publisher=Association for Mormon Letters | date=March 31, 2013 | url=http://associationmormonletters.org/blog/2013/03/report-on-aml-conference-2013-and-list-of-awards/ | accessdate=2015-04-22}}</ref>
==Biography== Eric Samuelsen was born in Provo, Utah, but spent most of his early life in Bloomington, Indiana. His father Roy was an opera singer, which introduced young Samuelsen to a love for theater productions.<ref>{{cite news | author=Ellen Fagg | title=A meaty look at modern life | date=September 3, 2006 | work=Salt Lake Tribune | url=http://archive.sltrib.com/printfriendly.php?id=4274653&itype=NGPSID | accessdate=2015-04-22}}</ref> As a young man he served in Norway as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).<ref name=MormonIbsen>{{cite web | author=Mahonri Stewart | title=The Mormon Ibsen: A Tribute to Eric Samuelsen | date=May 14, 2012 | work=Dawning of a Brighter Day | publisher=Association for Mormon Letters | url=http://associationmormonletters.org/blog/2012/05/the-mormon-ibsen-a-tribute-to-eric-samuelsen/ | accessdate=2015-04-22}}</ref><ref name=cfac>{{cite web | title=Eric Samuelsen | work=College of Fine Arts and Communications | publisher=Brigham Young University | date=January 14, 2015 | url=http://history.cfac.byu.edu/index.php/Eric_Samuelsen | accessdate=2015-04-22}}</ref> He received a bachelor's degree in theatre from Brigham Young University in 1983 and returned to Bloomington and earned a Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1991. He taught at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio before joining the faculty at Brigham Young University in 1992.
From 1999 to 2011 Samuelsen ran BYU's playwrighting program. Throughout his career, at least 24 of Samuelsen's plays were produced professionally throughout the United States, including California, Indiana, Louisiana, New York, and Utah.<ref name=StagesIndiana>{{cite journal | title=Class Notes... | date=Fall 2013 | journal=Stages | publisher=Indiana University Department of Theatre, Drame, + Contemporary Dance | pages=10–11 | url=http://www.indiana.edu/~thtr/alumni/STAGES%202013w.pdf | accessdate=2015-04-22}}</ref>
Most of Samuelsen's early plays were produced at Brigham Young University, but around 2003 he began a relationship with Plan-B Theatre Company.<ref>{{cite web | author=Mahonri Stewart | title=Eric Samuelsen | date=February 2011 | work=Mormon Artist | issue=14 | url=http://mormonartist.net/interviews/eric-samuelsen/ | accessdate=2015-04-22}}</ref> Since 2006, Plan-B premiered a Samuelsen play every year. He became its playwright in residence in 2012, and many of his newer plays were produced there.<ref name=StagesIndiana/><ref>{{cite web | title=Eric Samuelsen | date=May 31, 2013 | work=Zion Theatricals | url=http://www.ziontheatricals.com/eric-samuelsen/ | accessdate=2015-04-22 | archive-date=2016-03-05 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305030600/http://www.ziontheatricals.com/eric-samuelsen/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> This may be due to a more controversial bent in later plays; ''Borderlands'' has a character who is an openly gay Mormon youth.
Following illness and a diagnosis of polymyositis, a degenerative muscular disease, Samuelsen retired from BYU in 2012, where he had taught for 20 years.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Dale Thompson | title=Eric Samuelsen in Three Acts | date=February 2014 | journal=15 Bytes: Utah's Art Magazine | publisher=Artists of Utah | url=http://artistsofutah.org/15bytes/14feb/page5.html | accessdate=2015-04-22}}</ref> The next year, Plan-B Theatre Company dedicated 2013 as the "Season of Eric", presenting four of Samuelsen's plays.<ref>{{cite news | author=Barbara Bannon | title='Ghosts' kicks off Plan-B's season dedicated to Utah playwright | work=Salt Lake Tribune | date=August 18, 2013 | url=http://archive.sltrib.com/printfriendly.php?id=56739470&itype=cmsid | accessdate=2015-04-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025637/http://archive.sltrib.com/printfriendly.php?id=56739470&itype=cmsid | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Works== {{Incomplete list|date=April 2018}}
===1970s=== *''Letter From a Prophet'', co-written by Charles Metten. Produced at Brigham Young University, fall 1978. Directed by Charles Metten. *''A Girl Who Blushes''. One act. Produced April, 1978, at Mormon Festival of the Arts at Brigham Young University. *''Playing the Game''. Produced in 1979 at Brigham Young University.
===1980s=== *''Emma''. Opera libretto, music by Murray Boren. Produced at Brigham Young University 1984. Subsequently, produced by Hell's Kitchen Opera company in 1984. *''Sex and the New York Yankees''. One act. Produced by Bloomington Playwrights Project, Bloomington Indiana.
===1990s== *''Accommodations''. Produced at Brigham Young University, 1993. Subsequently, published in Sunstone magazine, June 1994. Won AML annual award in drama, 1994. Directed by Thomas Rogers.<ref>{{cite web|last=Samuelson |first=Eric |url=http://mormonlit.lib.byu.edu/lit_work.php?w_id=1111 |title=Mormon Literature Database - Accommodations |publisher=Mormonlit.lib.byu.edu |date= |accessdate=2012-06-25}}</ref> *''The Seating of Senator Smoot''. Produced at Brigham Young University, 1996. Directed by Robert Nelson.<ref>{{cite news | title='Seating of Senator Smoot' A Smooth Bit of Utah History | author=Christi C. Babbitt | date=June 5, 1996 | work=Deseret News | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/493866/SEATING-OF-SENATOR-SMOOT-A-SMOOTH-BIT-OF-UTAH-HISTORY.html?pg=all | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085205/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/493866/SEATING-OF-SENATOR-SMOOT-A-SMOOTH-BIT-OF-UTAH-HISTORY.html?pg=all | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | accessdate=2015-04-22}}</ref> The play was also videotaped and broadcast on KBYU. *''Gadianton''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=3429 |title=Display Review |publisher=Mormonletters.org |date=2001-09-14 |accessdate=2012-06-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316120925/http://www.mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=3429 |archivedate=2012-03-16}}</ref> Produced at Brigham Young University, 1997. Directed by Robert Nelson. Subsequently, published in ''Sunstone''. Won AML award in drama, 1997. Subsequently, produced at University of Louisiana at Monroe. Anthologized in Mahonri Stewart, Saints on Stage. Zarahemla Press, 2013. *''Without Romance''. Produced at Brigham Young University, 1997. Subsequently, produced at Mormon Arts Festival. *''The Christmas Box''. Adapted from the novel by Richard Paul Evans. Music by Murray Boren. Produced as a musical at BYU, Pardoe Theater, 1997. Directed by Rodger Sorensen.<ref>{{cite news | title=Lots of Christmas productions to choose from this week | date=November 16, 1997 | work=Deseret News | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595199/Lots-of-Christmas-productions-to-choose-from-this-week.html?pg=all | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082538/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595199/Lots-of-Christmas-productions-to-choose-from-this-week.html?pg=all | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | accessdate=2015-04-22}}</ref> *''Winding Sheet''. SLAC staged reading, Dec. 1998. About a Victorian social reformer and prostitution. *''Coughlaugh''. A theatrical experiment in one act. Blaine Sundrud directed a production at Brigham Young University in 1998. Later produced in 2010 at Brigham Young University. *''The Way We’re Wired''. Produced at Brigham Young University, 1999. Won AML award for drama, 1999. Subsequently, produced by Nauvoo Theatrical Society in Orem in 2003, directed by Eric Samuelsen. Also adapted by Samuelsen into a novel, Singled Out. Cornerstone, 2000.
===2000s=== *''A Love Affair with Electrons''. Produced at Brigham Young University 2000. Directed by Eric Samuelsen. *''Three Women'', 3 one act plays on Mormon women, VIP Arts' Little Brown Theatre, Springville, 2001.<ref>{{cite news | title='Three Women' plays touch on sensitive subjects | date=February 20, 2001 | work=Deseret News | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/826490/Three-Women-plays-touch-on-sensitive-subjects.html?pg=all | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082708/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/826490/Three-Women-plays-touch-on-sensitive-subjects.html?pg=all | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | accessdate=2015-04-22}}</ref> Bar and Kell, Community Standard, and Judgment. *''What Really Happened''. Produced at Brigham Young University, 2001.<ref>{{cite web | author=Andrew Hall | title=2001 Mormon Literature Year in Review | date=December 9, 2011 | orig-date=January 2002 | work=Dawning of a Brighter Day | publisher=Association for Mormon Letters | url=http://associationmormonletters.org/blog/2011/12/2001-mormon-literature-year-in-review/ | accessdate=2015-04-22}}</ref> *''Magnificence''. March 2002, BYU Margetts. Samuelsen adapted this medieval play by John Skelton. *''Peculiarities''. Several one acts, produced in several iterations. Tony Gunn directed four one acts in Springville, 2005. Plan B Theatre produced three one acts, including ''Kiss'', which was not included in the production Tony Gunn directed. Jerry Rapier directed a film version, with all six short plays included. *''Family''. Produced at Brigham Young University in 2005. Directed by David Morgan. Won AML Drama award, also published in ''Sunstone''. Subsequently, produced at Dixie College in St. George, Utah, in 2006. Published in Sunstone March 2005. *''Miasma''. First done as ten-minute play for Plan-B Theatre Company SLAM, 2005, as ''The Butcher, The Beggar and the Bed-time Buddy''. Subsequently, produced as full-length play at Plan-B, 2006, published in ''Plays From Beyond the Zion Curtain''. *''Blood Pudding'', 10-minute play, done for Plan-B Theatre Company SLAM, 2006. *''Behind the Blue Door'', 10-minute play, done for Plan-B Theatre Company SLAM, 2007. *''Burning Desire'', 10-minute play, done for Plan-B Theatre Company SLAM, 2008. *''Perfect Circle'', 10-minute play, done for Plan-B Theatre Company/Theatre Arts Conservatory Student SLAM, 2009. *''Inversion''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company/Theatre Arts Conservatory, Salt Lake, Rose Wagner, 2008. *''Intersection''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company/Theatre Arts Conservatory, Salt Lake, Rose Wagner, 2009.
===2010s=== *''He and She Fighting: A Love Story''. New Play Project in Provo, 2010. Directed by Davey Morrison-Dillard. *''Amerigo''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, 2010. Subsequently, published in ''More Plays from Behind the Zion Curtain''. *''Borderlands''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, 2011. Directed by Jerry Rapier. Published in Sunstone, July 2009, and in 2012 in Plan-B's Even More Plays from Behind the Zion Curtain. *''The Plan''. Brinton Black Box Theater in the Covey Center for the Arts, Provo, Utah, 2011 <ref>{{cite web | author=Keri Stevens | title=Perfect Date: 'The Plan' for a date | date=March 31, 2011 | work=Daily Herald | url=http://www.heraldextra.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/perfect-date-the-plan-for-a-date/article_47326919-6a01-5c48-9370-14dcc1d59050.html | accessdate=2015-04-22 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> Published in Sunstone, July 2009. *''Blind Dates''. Covey Center for the Arts, 2012. Four humorous short plays, all with the same title, about blind dates gone wrong. Inspired by the late Horton Foote's original work. Eric Samuelsen, J. Scott Bronson and Melissa Lelani Larson created original works to go along with the original play by Foote. *''Nothing Personal''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Rose Wagner, 2013. Directed by Jerry Rapier. *''Radio Hour Episode 8: Fairyana''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company and KUER's RadioWest in Salt Lake City, Rose Wagner, 2013. Directed by Cheryl Ann Cluff. *''Clearing Bombs''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Rose Wagner, 2014. Directed by Eric Samuelsen. *''3''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Rose Wagner, 2014. Directed by Cheryl Ann Cluff. Includes three short plays, Bar and Kell, Community Standard, and Duets, two of which were earlier produced as ''Three Women''. *''The Kreutzer Sonata''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company and NOVA Chamber Music Seriesin Salt Lake City, Rose Wagner, October 2015, Jerry Rapier directing. *''The Ice Front''. Produced by Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Rose Wagner, 2017. *''Cassandra''. Produced at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival, 2018.
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== *{{MormonLit author|2121|Eric R. Samuelsen}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110726122633/http://www.mormonletters.org/Reviews/Author.aspx?id=1866 Reviews at AML review database] *[http://www.mormoniconoclast.com/ ''Mormon Iconoclast'', Samuelsen's blog] *[http://history.cfac.byu.edu/index.php/Eric_Samuelsen Samuelsen on the BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications wiki] *[http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsS/samuelsen-eric.html Eric Samuelsen at doolee.com, The Playwrights Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320015856/http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsS/samuelsen-eric.html |date=2015-03-20}} *[http://www.mormonwiki.com/Eric_Samuelsen:_Mormon_Playwright Eric Samuelsen at MormonWiki]
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