playwright

I've written over 30 plays, most of which have been performed as full productions or staged readings. My work has been staged extensively in Portland, Oregon, my home base, as well as in Chicago, Los Angeles, Tampa, Austin, and, oddly enough, Christchurch, New Zealand. I've twice been a finalist the Oregon Book Award, for Bombardment in 1991 and for Altered States of America in 2004.  In 1997, I was the recipient of the first artist's fellowship awarded by the Portland Civic Theatre Guild (for my play Turquoise and Obsidian). In 1998, Stark Raving Theatre received a $10,000 grant from the Flint Ridge Foundation to produce my play, Liberation.  I am a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, a past board member of the Northwest Playwright’s Guild, and a member of Portland Center Stage’s PlayGroup Playwrights Workshop.

The boxes below provide links to my plays arranged by general categories and include brief synopses, dialogue samples, production photographs, and eclectic links of sites related to the plays' subjects and themes.

§        The War Plays deal with the human costs of war and politics in plays, and include Waiting on Sean Flynn (the Vietnam War), Liberation (the Bosnian War), and Depth of Field (war in West Africa). 

§        The Dream Plays deal with the underpinnings of human psychology, especially the exploration of the unconscious mind and dreamlike states of consciousness. These plays include Turquoise and Obsidian (hallucinogens and alcoholism in Mexico) and Curl of Smoke (dreams and psychotherapy) as well as more experimental plays that use unique structures, surreal language, and non-naturalistic approaches to probe modern culture or extreme states of being. These include Malaria, Bombardment, The Continuing Adventures of Mr. Grandamnus, and Delusion of Darkness.

§        The New Orleans Plays are a suite of one-acts about the strange, sad, wonderful Crescent City (where I used to live).

§        The Ghost Plays are a suite of one-acts about the paranormal, with an emphasis on the dividing line between the real and unreal.

§        One Acts and Other Works contains a miscellany of shorter pieces and longer works with themes outside the above categories.

§        Complete Play List contains a text list of my complete works and productions to date.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Playwright

Born in 1960 in Spokane, Washington, Steve Patterson has lived in all three West Coast States, and in New York City and New Orleans. He majored in journalism at the University of Oregon, and studied writing with award-winning novelists Kate Wilhelm and Damon Knight. Patterson has worked as a reporter, an editor, and as an assistant to literary agent Don Congdon. Since 1990, Patterson has been the artistic director of Pavement Productions. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Deborah Lee, a superbly talented singer and actor, and with Zoe the Wonder Dog, who unfortunately has psychological issues.

If you're a playwright, check out playwriting resources. If you'd like to see some of the theatrical photographs I've taken, check out photographer.