Jonathan Spector

Jonathan Spector

Jonathan Spector is a playwright based in Oakland, California.

His will make his Broadway debut this fall with EUREKA DAY, directed by Tony Award-winner Anna D. Shapiro at Manhattan Theater Club's Samuel Friedman Theater. EUREKA DAY was commissioned by and premiered at Aurora Theater in Berkeley, where it received all the Bay Area’s new play awards (Glickman Award, Bay Area Theater Critics...
Jonathan Spector is a playwright based in Oakland, California.

His will make his Broadway debut this fall with EUREKA DAY, directed by Tony Award-winner Anna D. Shapiro at Manhattan Theater Club's Samuel Friedman Theater. EUREKA DAY was commissioned by and premiered at Aurora Theater in Berkeley, where it received all the Bay Area’s new play awards (Glickman Award, Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award, Theater Bay Area Award, Rella Lossy Award) and went on to productions around the world, including Off Broadway with Colt Coeur (NY Times Critics’ Pick, NY Drama Critics Circle Award Nomination), London’s Old Vic (starring Helen Hunt, WhatsOnStage Award Nomination), the National Theater of Austria (in German translation), Asolo Rep, Syracuse Stage, InterAct Theater, Mosaic Theater, and the State Theater of South Australia, among others. A feature film adaptation is currently in development with Lorne Michael’s Broadway Video.

THIS MUCH I KNOW premiered at Aurora Theater in Berkley (Glickman Award, Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award, Edgerton New Play Award), and was subsequently produced at the Hampstead Theater in London and Theater J in Washington DC. This Much I Know was developed with Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, New Harmony Project, PlayPenn, Manhattan Theater Club, Playwrights Foundation and Playwrights Center.

BEST AVAILABLE will have its first production in May at Shotgun Players in Berkeley. It was commissioned by South Coast Rep, and developed with the Ashland New Play Festival, Playwrights Center, and Portland Center Stage.

Other plays include GOOD. BETTER. BEST. BESTED. (Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Just Theater/Custom Made Theater), SIESTA KEY (Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Crowded Fire Matchbox Series) and IN FROM THE COLD (Just Theater, Global Age Prize).

Works currently in development include ZERO HOUR, a co-commission from Roundabout Theater Company and La Jolla Playhouse, as well as commissions for Manhattan Theater Club and Miami New Drama.

Jonathan has been a Playwrights Center Core Writer, TheatreWorks Core Writer, MacDowell Fellow, SPACE at Ryder Farm Resident, and Playwrights Foundation Resident Playwright. He is a former Associate Artistic Director of Playwrights Foundation and was the long-time Co-Artistic Director of Just Theater. He is a graduate of the much-besieged New College of Florida and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from SF State. His work is published with Broadway Licensing/Dramatists Play Service in the US and UK, and S. Fischer in Germany.

Plays

  • Best Available by Jonathan Spector
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    8
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, political, satire
    We're not going to talk about the sudden departure of our previous Artistic Director, because we want to focus on the future, not the past. The one thing we're all on the same page about it is: We Need Change. Change that builds on the remarkable legacy of our institution.

    It's just like the Ancient Blessing, May You Live In Interesting Times.
  • Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector
    Recommendations: 11
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: vaccine, school + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, political
    Keyword: vaccine, school, consensus, Fake news, motivated reasoning, microaggressions
    The Eureka Day School in Berkeley, California, is a bastion of progressive ideals. In weekly meetings Eureka Day’s five board members develop and update policy to preserve this culture of inclusivity, reaching decisions only by consensus. But when a mumps outbreak threatens the Eureka community, facts become subjective and every solution divisive, leaving the school’s leadership to confront the central question...
    The Eureka Day School in Berkeley, California, is a bastion of progressive ideals. In weekly meetings Eureka Day’s five board members develop and update policy to preserve this culture of inclusivity, reaching decisions only by consensus. But when a mumps outbreak threatens the Eureka community, facts become subjective and every solution divisive, leaving the school’s leadership to confront the central question of our time: How do you build consensus when no one can agree on truth?
  • This Much I Know by Jonathan Spector
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 1 more
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    Keyword: behavioral psychology, History + 1 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, political
    Keyword: behavioral psychology, History, Joseph Stalin
    A psychology professor's search for his missing wife launches us on a time-hopping fugue, weaving together the stories of Stalin's daughter defecting to America, the son of a white supremacist growing to doubt the beliefs he was raised with, and the secret despair of becoming an accidental killer. This Much I Know is a wildly theatrical exploration of how we make decisions, how we change our minds,...
    A psychology professor's search for his missing wife launches us on a time-hopping fugue, weaving together the stories of Stalin's daughter defecting to America, the son of a white supremacist growing to doubt the beliefs he was raised with, and the secret despair of becoming an accidental killer. This Much I Know is a wildly theatrical exploration of how we make decisions, how we change our minds, and how much responsibility we bear for things we do not control.
  • Siesta Key by Jonathan Spector
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: dark comedy, docudrama/historic + 4 more
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    Keyword: Dystopia, future America + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, experimental, political, science fiction
    Keyword: Dystopia, future America, war crimes, metatheatrical
    It’s Florida…sometime in the future. Violent militia rule is followed by violent resistance. Years later, the atrocities of this period are filtered through a cinematic lens and distant memory. Through shifting time and unreliable narrators, Siesta Key investigate the complexity of moral absolutism, its personal cost, and the elusiveness of truth in acts of hate.
  • Good. Better. Best. Bested. by Jonathan Spector
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: Las Vegas, war + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, experimental, political, satire
    Keyword: Las Vegas, war, ensemble
    A one-night journey down the Las Vegas strip, an interwoven story of bachelorettes, magicians, street performers, gamblers, and tourists. As the nighttime festivities get under way, an earth-shattering event happens half a world away. In the midst of this tragedy and the chaos it unleashes, the characters must reckon with how much to let it disturb their good time.
  • Adult Swim by Jonathan Spector
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5–6
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 4 more
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    Keyword: magical realism, coming of age + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, experimental, fable/folktale, fantasy, romantic comedy
    Keyword: magical realism, coming of age, teenagers
    A magic realist play in which a pair of teenage lifeguards struggle to unwrap the mysteries of life during in a hot, slow summer amongst bratty kids, killer ping pong and lots of whistle-twirling.