RICHARD HELLESEN is the author of numerous plays for adults and young audiences. The former include KINGDOM (Denver Center; Stavis Award, National Theatre Conference), ONCE IN ARDEN (South Coast Repertory; Julie Harris Award, Beverly Hills Theatre Guild), MOONSHADOW (numerous regional productions; Dennis McIntyre Award, Philadelphia Festival Theater), and several projects for Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC where he is an Associate Artist, including the full-length NECESSARY SACRIFICES and the long-running one-act ONE DESTINY. His solo show EISENHOWER: THIS PIECE OF GROUND, starring Tony-winner John Rubinstein, ran off-Broadway in 2023 and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Solo Performance. With composer David De Berry he wrote the book for a widely-produced musical adaptation of Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL. His two dozen short plays include five finalists for the National Award for Short Playwriting, all produced at City Theatre in Miami (among others). Mr. Hellesen’s plays for young audiences include a version of THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES (published by Samuel French), and adaptations of THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES and Esther Forbes’ JOHNNY TREMAIN (B Street Theatre). With Grammy-winning composer Michael Silversher he has written a musical adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS (South Coast Repertory), as well as eleven Educational Touring musicals for SCR, three of which were subsequently produced at the Sundance Children’s Theatre in Utah. A member of the Dramatists Guild, Mr. Hellesen has twice been playwright-in-residence at the William Inge Center for the Arts in Independence, Kansas.
