Simon Levy

About Me

Since 1993, Simon has been the Producing Director/Dramaturg for the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles.

His stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby inaugurated the Guthrie Theater’s new theatre complex in July 2006, was produced at Seattle Repertory in November 2006, and is in preparation for a commercial run in London.

His critically-acclaimed production of What I Heard About Iraq, which he adapted and directed, was extended several times at the Fountain Theatre, was nominated by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle for Best Adaptation, was produced at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it won the Fringe First Award, has been read/produced in 45 cities around the world, has been produced as a radio play by BBC 4 Radio for airing in May 2007, was produced at the 2007 Adelaide Fringe Festival where it won the Advertiser Weekly Fringe Award, and just completed a 30-city UK tour April-June 2007, culminating at the Arts Theatre, London.

His current writing project, courtesy of the Tennessee Williams Estate, is a stage version of Tennessee's novella, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, scheduled for production in 2008.

He recently re-mounted his Ovation award-winning production of Master Class for Santa Barbara Theatre in January 2007; and last year directed Dael Orlandersmith in her one-woman play, The Gimmick, for the Fountain Theatre, Critic's Choice, Los Angeles Times.

In 2005 he directed Rupert Holmes’ Accomplice at the Colony Theatre, Critic’s Choice in Back Stage West and recipient of 4 Back Stage West 2005 Critics List Honorable Mentions (Production, Direction, Performance, Design).

Other recent shows he's directed include: Lynne Kaufman's Daisy in the Dreamtime, Uncle Vanya for Actors Co-op, and Going to St. Ives (which went to the Edinburgh Festival). His critically-acclaimed production of Terrence McNally's Master Class ran for 8 months and won the 2004 L.A. OVATION Award for Best Production. He also directed Awake and Sing for International City Theatre in Long Beach, nominated by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle for Revival of the Year.

He was the producer of the World Premiere of Athol Fugard's new play, Exits and Entrances, which ran for 7 months at the Fountain Theatre, and won 3 OVATION Awards and 5 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, including Best Production and World Premiere Play; it premiered Off-Broadway at Primary Stages in April 2007, and will be produced at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

His adaptation of Gatsby, the first granted exclusive rights by the Fitzgerald Estate since 1926, completes his Fitzgerald Trilogy of stage plays, which includes Tender is the Night (winner of the PEN West Literary Award in Drama, 7 Drama-Logue awards including Best Production and Direction, as well as numerous other awards, and has been published in the Modern American Literature Series, Prestige Books), and The Last Tycoon (winner of 5 Back Stage West/Drama-Logue awards including Best Adaptation and Best Direction, and was nominated for the prestigious Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Ted Schmitt Award for Original Play).

Other writing projects include, A Noble Peace, based on the life of Nobel Laureate, Andrei Sakharov, and a contemporary adaptation of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People (A Modern Version for America); and he just finished Sessions with a Dead Poet, inspired by Dr. Frederick Kurth’s book about the father of modern Japanese poetry, Hagiwara Sakutaro.

His one-act, Pink Skin, was produced April, 2004 at the Bloomington Playwrights Project in Indiana, and at thesideproject in Chicago, June 2005. His one-act play, She-Who-Is-Made-Of-Clay, among its many awards, is in pre-production as a short film. His one-act play, Vivian on the White Wall, was a finalist for the Heideman Award, Actors Theatre of Louisville.

His directing and producing credits are numerous, over 85 productions in Los Angeles and San Francisco that have won more than 150 awards. Some of his other directing credits include: Night of the Iguana, Summer and Smoke, and Orpheus Descending at The Fountain; the Off-Broadway premiere of James Mellon's Unfinished Song at the Provincetown Playhouse; and award-winning productions at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco, including Lynne Kaufman's The Couch.

Also in San Francisco he was the Founding Producer of the Playwrights Unit, One Act II, which specialized in new work by local writers; became Artistic Director of the One Act Theatre Company where he produced and directed many award-winning productions; and was general manager of San Francisco's hit revue, Beach Blanket Babylon.

He teaches Playwriting at UCLA Extension, is a site evaluator for both the National Endowment for the Arts and California Arts Council, and is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, the National New Play Network, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society, PEN USA, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, as well as a host of political, environmental, and humanitarian advocacy groups.

Goal

To continue being creative.

Professional Experience

Playwright
The Fountain Theatre
January 1993 - Present

Contacts

None.