The New York Observer's George Gurley Talks with American Playwright Susan Kathryn Hefti About Her Hit Comedy 'Dear Prudence'

Over a casual lunch on the Upper East Side, The New York Observer's George Gurley talked with American Playwright Susan Kathryn Hefti about the world premiere of her hit comedy Dear Prudence.

Their conversation was then translated into The New York Observer's own special dialect (longtime NYO readers will need no supertitles) and memorialized in the paper's legendary Eight Day Week column:

The New York Observer's conversation with Hefti had her phone ringing off the hook for months!

Susan Kathryn Hefti's 'Dear Prudence' Heats Up The Paris Stage This Fall!

Ooh là là! Things are really heating up on the Paris stage this fall: On October 14, 2010, Susan Kathryn Hefti's hit comedy Dear Prudence - which enjoyed an extended run Off-Broadway in 2003 - was back on the boards again in the city of lights!

Translated and produced by the popular French actress Myriam Blanckaert - best known to American audiences for her memorable role as Evelyn the Paris Bookstore owner in the final episodes of Sex and the City - Chere Prudence, a playfully bawdy farce about a lovable nymphomaniac named Prudence, proved a perfect match for the Parisian audience in this exciting staged reading at La Comédie Bastille this fall!

So keep your passports at the ready, as we all may be jetting off to Paris before too long!

Special thanks again (Merci! Merci!) to Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr. for taking a chance on an unknown playwright by hosting the original Backer's Reading for Dear Prudence in his living room, raising all the money for the original NYC production in just one night!

As Chere Prudence continues to wind its way from page to stage - in preparation for a Paris production - we'll keep you all posted on her very exciting progress!

  

Congratulations again to Myriam and the rest of her marvelous cast on the very exciting staged reading of Chere Prudence in Paris on October 14th: C'est si bon! 

Playwright Susan Kathryn Hefti Nominated to 2010 Nantucket Screenwriters Colony

Nominated to the 2010 Nantucket Screenwriters Colony by acclaimed filmmaker Mitchell Lichtenstein - best known for his films TEETH and HAPPY TEARS - Susan Kathryn Hefti is the author of the screenplays THE POLKA DOT TEA PARTY and SUM LUV KITCHEN.

With Canadian filmmaker Chris Smets, Susan Kathryn Hefti - an American Playwright and active member of the Dramatists Guild - co-authored the screenplay BAD DATES a dark comedy about dating and mating in NYC based on Hefti's original story idea.

Susan Kathryn Hefti's Hit Comedy 'Dear Prudence' Goes to Paris!

On June 8, 2010, Susan Kathryn Hefti's hit comedy Dear Prudence - which enjoyed an extended run Off-Broadway in 2003 - wowed a brand new audience in an exciting staged reading at Théâtre Mélo d'Amelie in Paris - in preparation for an upcoming French production!

Adapted for the French audience by Myriam Blanckaert - a popular French actress best know to American audiences for her portrayal of Evelyne the Paris Bookstore owner in the final episodes of Sex and The City - Chere Prudence hit all the right notes with the Parisian audience and had them laughing out loud through the play!

So keep your passports handy and your calendars clear: We all may be headed for Paris before too long!

Special thanks (Merci! Merci!) to Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr. - a man who truly does have the midas touch - for taking a chance on a little known playwright when - in the middle of a blizzard that blanketed Manhattan - he threw open his doors and hosted the original Backer's Reading for Dear Prudence in the warmth and glow of his living room- raising all the money for the original NYC production in just one snowy evening!

We'll be sure to keep you all posted on the exciting progress of Chere Prudence!

In the meantime, congratulations to Myriam Blanckaert and her spirited troupe of Parisian actors on the successful staged reading of Chere Prudence in Paris this summer: C'est si bon!

Or as Paris Hilton used to say...that's hot!  

Susan Kathryn Hefti Playwright

An emerging American playwright, Susan Kathryn Hefti's plays have been developed or produced at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater NYC; The Lark Play Development Center NYC; The Harold Clurman Playwrights Division at The Stella Adler Studio NYC; St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery Theatre NYC; Capital Stage Company CA; Long Beach Playhouse Theatre CA and in Paris at Théâtre Mélo d'Amelie & La Comédie Bastille. 

Susan's newest play THE POWER PLAY, or Smart Bombs & Other Sexy Toys received a Roundtable Reading at the Lark Play Development Center NYC in July and a staged reading in August as it was selected to be part of Capital Stage Company's annual New Works Festival PLAYWRIGHTS REVOLUTION 2013.

AMERICAN DAMES, or Waiting for Dolley (2012 Long Beach Playhouse New Works Festival Finalist; 2011-2012 Harold Clurman Playwright-in-Residence Finalist & Beverly Hills Theatre Guild's 2012 Julie Harris Playwright Award Semi-Finalist) enjoyed readings at both the 2012 Harold Clurman Playwrights Division's New Play Reading Festival in NYC and the 2012 Long Beach Playhouse Theatre's New Works Festival in Long Beach, California.      

Inspired by the tragic death of one of her Yale students, Hefti's play KEEPIN' COOL was selected 2004 Princess Grace Award Semi-Finalist.

In 2006 Hefti's one-act history play A DEFIANT SOUL  was presented at the St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery Theater (directed by Vernice Miller) as part of a city-wide event entitled 5 Dutch Days. Set in 1661, A DEFIANT SOUL brings to life the dramatic battle of wills between New Amsterdam‘s Dutch Director-General Petrus Stuyvesant and the English Quaker John Bowne whose dangerous and singular act of civil disobedience led directly to the establishment of religious freedom in the new world.

Written in verse, A DEFIANT SOUL was later adapted to be used as a teaching tool in the NYC school system - in workshops led by theatre artist Vernice Miller - where it has been widely performed by students exploring early NYC history and the establishment of religious freedom in America.

The success of that play also brought Hefti a commission from the City of NY; to write the narrative for the related exhibit on the 1657 document protesting religious intolerance in New Amsterdam. The exhibit, The Flushing Remonstrance: Who Shall Plead For Us?, was designed to travel around the country following its celebrated 2009 NYC debut. Enjoying an encore return to NYC in April 2010, the exhibition was again extended due to popular demand. Following a 2012 installation in Pennsylvania, the exhibition is expected to travel on to the American midwest.

A proud member of the Dramatists Guild, The Playwrights' Center and Fractured Atlas, Susan debut work for the stage was launched by the highly successful 2003 world premiere of her play Dear Prudence which enjoyed an extended run at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. The impressive success of Dear Prudence also led Tony Award winning Arielle Tepper Productions to select Hefti as Guest Speaker for the 2003 Syracuse University Tepper Theater Program in Manhattan. 

Hailed by Gay City News as "a light, wonderful play that will have you laughing all the way through", Dear Prudence wowed a whole new audience in 2010 with two exciting staged readings in Paris ( Théâtre Mélo d'Amelie and La Comédie Bastille)! 

Hefti began her professional writing career as a journalist specializing in environmental news before transitioning into writing for the stage. In 2009, Susan was invited to dust off her reporter's notebook and write a regular column for The Clyde Fitch Report. Happy to use the opportunity to explore another issue close to her heart, Hefti dubbed the online series, The Preservation Diaries. 

A 2004 recipient of a PEN American Center Writers Grant, Hefti has taught at several Universities including Brown and Yale.

For more information about Susan Kathryn Hefti or to make a tax-deductible gift to help support the continued development of this American artist's work, please visit The Emerging American Artist's Fund by simply clicking on this link.

The Emerging American Artist's Fund is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the purposes of The Emerging American Artist's Fund must be made payable to 'Fractured Atlas' and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.