The Body of an American
Full-length drama / 2 actors, multiple roles
Dan O'Brien's gripping and provocative play The Body of an American speaks to a moment in history when a single, stark photograph—of the body of an American dragged from the wreck of a Blackhawk through the streets of Mogadishu—reshaped the course of global events. In a story ranging far in time and place, from Rwanda to Afghanistan to the Canadian Arctic, and in powerful, theatrical language, Dan O’Brien explores the ethical and personal consequences of Paul Watson’s photograph, as well as the interplay between political upheaval and the experience of trauma in an age saturated by images and information. In his multi-award-winning play, Dan O'Brien pinpoints a globally historic moment, and with it, shines a light on deeply personal issues relevant to our time and culture. Winner of the Horton Foote Prize, the Edward M. Kennedy Prize, the L. Arnold Weissberger Award, and the PEN USA Center Award for Drama.
The Body of an American is winner of the inaugural Horton Foote Prize for Excellence in American Theatre, The Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History, the PEN Center Award for Drama, the L. Arnold Weissberger Award. The Body of an American premiered at Portland Center Stage, directed by Bill Rauch, and received its European premiere at the Gate Theatre in London, directed by James Dacre, where it was shortlisted for an Evening Standard Drama Award.
The Body of an American is based in part on the memoir Where War Lives by Paul Watson. The play was commissioned and developed with support from The Playwrights’ Center’s McKnight Commission and Residency Program, Minneapolis, MN. Additional support received from the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Residency, a Future Collaborations Grant from Theatre Communications Group, a Sundance Institute Time Warner Storytelling Fellowship, PlayLabs at The Playwrights’ Center, the New Harmony Project, a workshop at Pioneer Theatre, and the JAW Festival at Portland Center Stage.
REVIEWS
“Poetic . . . Truthful . . . A poignant and lyrical work of theatre.”
—Alexis Soloski, New York Times (Critic’s Pick)
“Electric . . . Emotionally gripping, psychologically astute . . . a theatrical jewel”
—David DeWitt, New York Times
“ . . . ferociously honest, astonishingly vivid . . . “
—Heddy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times
“Utterly riveting . . . frequently exhilarating . . . You have to admire the pressurized shape that the writer has found for his story . . . You feel for these men—and you also get a sobering reflection of the effect that the Mogadishu photo had on world events over the years.”
—Nelson Pressley, Washington Post
“Hauntings, on a personal and national scale, guilt, obsession and depression form the subject of this dense, knotty play . . . a play that tightens its grip as it probes where war lives, and discovers we each carry it inside ourselves.”
—Lyn Gardner, Guardian
“The Body of an American is a play about writing a play but it’s also an intricate meditation on the nature of memory and guilt.”
“This play is an extraordinary exploration of mental health, war and friendship. Unrelentingly gripping, The Body of an American will lodge itself in the mind and there it will remain, hopefully and deservedly, for a long time.”
—Timothy Bano, The Upcoming
“An engrossingly subjective docu-drama which feels psychologically acute and politically important . . . a really superb piece of theatre.”
—The Stage
“Provides ample food for thought . . . Moment by moment the livewire, oddly introspective theatrical experience keeps us on our toes, and accumulatively it presents us with a debate about where we should draw the line between observation and involvement, what’s good about curiosity and what’s bad.”
—Telegraph
“The Body of an American is as richly poetic as it is pixel sharp. It’s the document of a relationship that began as art and became something like therapy, it’s a play about violence and the power of the image, and of facing the difficult truths about your privileged place in the world. The Body of an American is a stunning, complex piece of theatre that refuses to be tamed or drawn into conclusions. There is no moralising or sanding down of rough or difficult edges . . . It’s the story of two lives flicking through one another for answers, a record of vital but insoluble moral questioning.”
—Exeunt
“One of the most exciting and original new plays that you’re ever likely to see. I’m still reeling from the experience. Fascinating and immensely powerful.”
—WOW 24/7
FEATURES
“‘The Body of an American’ Visits Battle Zones of the Field and the Heart” by Rob Weinert-Kendt in The New York Times
“The strangest fact about the prize-winning play ‘The Body of an American’” by Peter Marks in The Washington Post
“New York play focuses on photo that haunts the photographer” by Kathy Willens in the Associated Press
“Dan O’Brien’s The Body Of An American premieres in London” by Siobhan Murphy in Metro
“Connecting Through Trauma” by Diep Tran in American Theatre
“First Winners of Kennedy Playwriting Prize Announced” by Partrick Healey in The New York Times
“Playwrights Parks, O'Brien get Horton Foote Prize” in the Associated Press
“A Mogadishu image that haunts two men” by A.D. Amorosi for the Philadelphia Inquirer
Video trailer for Gate Theatre / Royal & Derngate Production
“Photo Coverage: Dan O'Brien & Robert Schenkkan Awarded Kennedy Prize” in BroadwayWorld
The Body of an American wins PEN Center USA Award for Drama in the Los Angeles Times
Interview and resources for The Body of an American and the Edward M. Kennedy Prize at Columbia University
INTERVIEWS
Dan O’Brien and Paul Watson interviewed by Brooke Gladstone for On The Media (WNYC)
Dan O’Brien interviewed on Front Row on BBC Radio 4
“A war photographer's image of hell—recreated in a play he can't bear to see” by David Smith in The Guardian
“Digging Deeper Into Drama ‘Body of an American’” in Backstage
“Provocative, gripping drama ‘The Body of an American’ at Hartford Stage” by Linda Tuccio-Koonz in The Connecticut Post
Interview with Samuel French / Concord Theatricals
Interview in Portland Shakes
