Elizabeth Diggs
{{Short description|American playwright and television writer}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Elizabeth Diggs
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|08|6|df=y}}
| birth_place = Tulsa, Oklahoma
| occupation = Playwright
| alma_mater = Brown University
| spouse =
| notableworks = {{ubl
|Close Ties
}}
| influences =
| influenced =
}}
Elizabeth Diggs is an American playwright.{{cite web |title=Broadway World – Elizabeth Diggs |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Elizabeth-Diggs/ |website=Broadway World |access-date=11 May 2023}} She is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre.{{cite web |title=Ensemble Member Artists: Elizabeth Diggs |url=https://www.ensemblestudiotheatre.org/elizabeth-diggs |website=Ensemble Studio Theatre |access-date=10 May 2023}}
Early life and education
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1939 to attorney James B. Diggs and Virginia Francis Diggs,{{cite book |title=National Playwrights Directory |date=1981 |publisher=Drama Book Specialists |page=80 |isbn=9780960516001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I8bpAAAAMAAJ&q=%22goodbye+freddy%22+%22lexington+conservatory%22 |access-date=10 May 2023}} Diggs attended Brown University, where she first became involved with theatre. In 1960 she co-wrote Happily Never After, the annual Brownbrokers musical, with future partner Emily Arnold McCully.{{cite news |last1=Armstrong |first1=Leslie |title=Book and Lyrics Surpass Brownbrokers' Performance |url=https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:1090714/ |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=Pembroke Record |date=April 22, 1960}} She graduated in 1961.{{cite web |title=Pembroke Oral History Project, 50th Reunion Class of 1961 |url=https://www.brown.edu/initiatives/pembroke-oral-histories/interview/50th-reunion-class-1961 |website=brown.edu |access-date=10 May 2023}} After Brown, she earned a PhD from Columbia University and entered a period of political activism in the anti-war and feminism movements,{{cite book |last1=Love |first1=Barbara J. |title=Feminists Who Changed America, 1963–1975 |date=September 22, 2006 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252031892 |page=118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kpNarH7t9CkC |access-date=11 May 2023}} including the distinction of heading one of the first Women's Studies programs at Jersey City College, where she co-developed curriculum and oversaw the launch and expansion of the program.{{cite journal |last1=Diggs |first1=Elizabeth |title=The Future of Women's Studies |journal=Women's Studies Quarterly |date=1975 |issue=Summer |pages=24–25 |url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/wsq/215/}} She is a professor of dramatic writing at the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing at Tisch.{{cite web |title=Biography |url=https://elizabethdiggs.com/biography.html |website=elizabethdiggs.com |access-date=10 May 2023}}
Career
Diggs' first major success was the play Close Ties, which premiered at Lexington Conservatory Theatre in August 1980.{{cite news |title="Close Ties" to Premiere at LCT |work=Stamford Mirror-Recorder |date=August 20, 1980}} The play starred notable stage actress Margaret Barker, Sofia Landon Geier and John Griesemer. It was directed by Barbara Rosoff. "A remarkable production of a lovely and loving play," said critic Jeffery Borak. The Knickerbocker News described it as "...beautiful, touching, gentle and heartwarming."{{cite news |last1=Goepfert |first1=Bob |title=Lexington's 'Close Ties' a pleasant drama |work=The Knickerbocker News |date=August 25, 1980}}{{cite news |last1=Borak |first1=Jeffery |title='Close Ties' is Unforgettable |work=Poughkeepsie Journal |date=August 23, 1980}} A year later it was produced at Long Wharf Theatre, directed by Arvin Brown and once again starring Barker;{{cite news |last1=Gussow |first1=Mel |title=Stage: Elizabeth Diggs' 'Close Ties' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/22/theater/stage-elizabeth-diggs-s-close-ties.html |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=New York Times |date=March 22, 1981}} the actress had been friends with Diggs for several years, and the author crafted the role with Barker in mind.{{cite news |last1=Frankel |first1=Haskel |title=A Veteran of Drama Stars at Long Wharf |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/15/nyregion/theater-a-veteran-of-drama-stars-at-long-wharf.html |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=New York Times |date=February 15, 1981}} In 1983, it was made into a television film.{{cite web |title=Close Ties: Full Cast and Crew |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0233467/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm |website=IMDB.com |access-date=10 May 2023}}
Her next play, Goodbye Freddy, was workshopped at Lexington Conservatory Theatre,{{cite book |title=National Playwrights Directory |date=1981 |publisher=Drama Book Specialists |page=80 |isbn=9780960516001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I8bpAAAAMAAJ&q=%22goodbye+freddy%22+%22lexington+conservatory%22 |access-date=10 May 2023}} followed by its world premiere production at South Coast Repertory in 1983. Diggs won the CBS Dramatists Guild Prize for the play that May.{{cite news |last1=Triplett |first1=Gene |title=Tulsa Spotlight Shines Play Lauded at Home |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1984/03/15/tulsa-spotlight-shines-play-lauded-at-home/62810333007/ |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=The Oklahoman |date=March 15, 1984}} The play was produced at Portland Stage Company in December 1984, starring fellow Lexington Conservatory alumni Court Miller and Kit Flanagan, and directed by another alumni, Barbara Rosoff.{{cite news |last1=Larock |first1=Cindy |title='Freddy' full of surprises |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5QgAAAAIBAJ&dq=court+miller+torch+song+trilogy&pg=PA17 |access-date=12 September 2023 |work=Lewiston Daily Sun |date=December 3, 1984}} The production of Goodbye Freddy was later remounted in New York on September 20, 1985, starring Barbara Eda-Young and Michael Murphy in place of Court Miller, along with Walter Bobbie, Carole Monferdini, Nicholas Cortland and Kit Flanagan.{{cite book |last1=Diggs |first1=Elizabeth |title=Goodbye Freddy |date=1986 |publisher=Dramatists Play Service |isbn=9780822204602}}"As she demonstrated in Close Ties and the one-act Dumping Grounds, the playwright has a keen ear for dialogue and a watchful eye for those offhanded moments when characters accidentally reveal themselves," said New York Times critic Mel Gussow.{{cite news |last1=Gussow |first1=Mel |title=Stage: 'Goodbye Freddy' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/26/theater/stage-goodbye-freddy.html |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=New York Times |date=September 26, 1985}}
American Beef, her third play, explores the dying myths of the American west, and was inspired by childhood visits to the Chapman-Barnard Ranch in Osage County, Oklahoma.{{cite news |last1=Minor |first1=Darla Jones |title=Play Probes Ranch Woes |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1987/05/22/play-probes-ranch-woes/62689295007/ |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=The Oklahoman |date=May 22, 1987}} It was commissioned in 1985 for South Coast Repertory. Productions include 1987 world premiere at Gloucester Stage Company in Massachusetts followed by International City Theater in Long Beach, California.{{cite news |last1=Arkatov |first1=Janice |title=SAVING THE RANCH |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-02-ca-495-story.html |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=August 2, 1987}}
In October 1988, she premiered Saint Florence at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany, NY, after a staged reading of it there in May.{{cite news |last1=Koblenz |first1=Eleanor |title=Despite Flaws, Cap Rep 'Saint Florence' First Class |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7nwhAAAAIBAJ&dq=elizabeth+diggs&pg=PA8&article_id=780,676352 |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=The Daily Gazette |date=October 4, 1988}}{{cite news |title=Albany's Capital Rep Co. Skeds Reading Series |work=Variety |date=May 27, 1987}} "Both an instructive lesson from history and a compelling act of the imagination," said the review of the premiere in the New York Times.{{cite news |last1=Gussow |first1=Mel |title=This Florence Nightingale Knew How to Fight a War: [Review] |work=New York Times |date=October 15, 1988}} Based on the life of Florence Nightingale, the production starred Claire Beckman. In 1990, it was produced at the Vineyard Theatre in New York. Re-titled Nightingale it was directed by John Rubinstein with Kathryn Pogson in the starring role.{{cite news |last1=Gussow |first1=Mel |title=Florence Nightingale as a Saint Without the Halo |work=New York Times |date=December 4, 1990}}
In 1996, she collaborated with composer Harvey Schmidt and lyricist Tom Jones, writing the book for the musical Mirette based on Emily Arnold McCully's Caldecott award-winning children's book Mirette on the High Wire. It opened in August 1996 at the Norma Terris Theatre{{cite news |last1=Klein |first1=Alvin |title=A Musical in the Making: 'Mirette,' about finding what one must do in life. |work=New York Times |date=August 18, 1996}} and later moved to the Goodspeed Opera House.{{cite news |last1=Marks |first1=Peter |title=On a Tightrope, Finding Her Dream |work=New York Times |date=July 31, 1998}}
Diggs also contributed to the first season of television series St. Elsewhere. Although writing for television was lucrative, she found the experience less fulfilling than theatre.{{cite news |last1=Koblenz |first1=Eleanor |title=Prize-Winning 'Goodbye Freddy' to Open Tomorrow at Capital Rep |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SUJGAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Elizabeth+Diggs%22+%22St.+Elsewhere%22&pg=PA12&article_id=1112,1159387 |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=The Daily Gazette |date=February 7, 1986}}
Personal life
Her daughter, with director Will Mackenzie, is documentary filmmaker Jenny Mackenzie.{{cite news |title=Jennifer Mackenzie, a Therapist, Weds |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/08/style/jennifer-mackenzie-a-therapist-weds.html |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=New York Times |date=October 8, 1990}} She lives in Chatham with her partner, author Emily Arnold McCully.{{cite web |last1=Larson |first1=Jamie |title=The Rural We: Elizabeth Diggs |url=https://ruralintelligence.com/community/the-rural-we-elizabeth-diggs |website=Rural Intelligence |access-date=10 May 2023}}
List of plays
=Feature length=
- Close Ties{{cite news |last1=Gussow |first1=Mel |title=Stage: Elizabeth Diggs' 'Close Ties' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/22/theater/stage-elizabeth-diggs-s-close-ties.html |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=New York Times |date=March 22, 1981}}
- Goodbye Freddy{{cite news |last1=Gussow |first1=Mel |title=Stage: 'Goodbye Freddy' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/26/theater/stage-goodbye-freddy.html |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=New York Times |date=September 26, 1985}}
- Nightingale{{cite news |last1=Gussow |first1=Mel |title=This Florence Nightingale Knew How to Fight a War: [Review] |work=New York Times |date=October 15, 1988}}
- American Beef{{cite news |last1=Minor |first1=Darla Jones |title=Play Probes Ranch Woes |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1987/05/22/play-probes-ranch-woes/62689295007/ |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=The Oklahoman |date=May 22, 1987}}
- Grant & Twain{{cite news |last1=Smullen |first1=Sharon |title=Two rock stars of the Gilded Age, Ulysses S. Grant and Mark Twain, forge a bond in a new play at PS21 |url=https://www.berkshireeagle.com/arts_and_culture/arts-theater/two-rock-stars-of-the-gilded-age-ulysses-s-grant-and-mark-twain-forge-a/article_b22310d3-5fb6-50b6-8ce6-08316683a89e.html |access-date=14 May 2023 |work=Berkshire Eagle |date=September 26, 2018}}
- Custer's Luck{{cite news |title=Familiar Diggs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/612813489 |access-date=14 May 2023 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=September 5, 1997}}
- Glory Girls{{cite web |last1=Sierra |first1=Gabrielle |title=Ensemble Studio Theatre Presents OCTOBERFEST |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-broadway/article/Ensemble-Studio-Theatre-Presents-OCTOBERFEST-20100907 |website=Broadway World |access-date=14 May 2023}}
- Mirette{{cite news |last1=Klein |first1=Alvin |title=A Musical in the Making: 'Mirette,' about finding what one must do in life. |work=New York Times |date=August 18, 1996}}
=One-act plays=
Awards and honours
- National Endowment for the Arts grant, for the premiere production of Saint Florence, 1983{{cite journal |title=Around the Endowment |journal=National Endowment for the Arts: Arts Review |date=1983 |volume=1–5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cv_MQMq-tOgC |access-date=14 May 2023}}
- CBS/Dramatists Guild Prize for the writing of Goodbye Freddy, 1983{{cite news |last1=Triplett |first1=Gene |title=Tulsa Spotlight Shines Play Lauded at Home |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1984/03/15/tulsa-spotlight-shines-play-lauded-at-home/62810333007/ |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=The Oklahoman |date=March 15, 1984}}
- Runner-up, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for the writing of Saint Florence, 1987{{cite news |last1=Koblenz |first1=Eleanor |title=Capital Rep to Stage Diggs' 'Saint Florence' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmItAAAAIBAJ&dq=elizabeth+diggs&pg=PA13&article_id=1106,7562047 |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=The Daily Gazette |date=September 29, 1988}}
- Guggenheim Fellowship award, for exceptional creativity in the field of dramatic arts, 1988{{cite news |title=262 Chosen for Guggenheim Awards |work=New York Times |date=April 10, 1988}}{{cite web |title=Fellows: Elizabeth Diggs |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/elizabeth-diggs/ |website=Guggenheim Foundation |access-date=14 May 2023}}
- Kennedy Center for the Arts grant for the premiere production of Saint Florence, 1988{{cite news |last1=Koblenz |first1=Eleanor |title=Capital Rep to Stage Diggs' 'Saint Florrence' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmItAAAAIBAJ&dq=elizabeth+diggs&pg=PA13&article_id=1106,7562047 |access-date=10 May 2023 |work=The Daily Gazette |date=September 29, 1988}}
- Theatre Communications Group Edgerton Foundation Award for New Plays, for development of Grant & Twain, 2013{{cite web |title=Grant & Twain |url=https://circle.tcg.org/edgertonfoundationnewplayawards/2013/grant--twain?ssopc=1 |website=Theatre Communications group |access-date=14 May 2023}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://elizabethdiggs.com Official Website]
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Category:Writers from Tulsa, Oklahoma
Category:Brown University alumni
Category:Columbia University alumni
Category:Writers from New York (state)