John J King is part Texan and part Tyrannosaur, and lives in Providence. He has a B.A. in Theatre & English from SUNY Boondocks, and an accent from his mama.
His mission: To Create and Spread Delight.
His original comedy-horror TV Pilot BLOOD FROM A STONE won 2nd Place in the 89th Annual Writer’s Digest Script Competition, and a Top 5 Finalist for the 2021 Austin Film Festival.
In 2020, John’s play 7 MINUTES reached the finalist shortlist for Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries Cycle 3 at the American Shakespeare Center, and was a finalist for the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center. His web series HOME OFFICE – created and written with his wife – about a couple learning to work from home together during lockdown, received rave reviews from the Boston Globe, and WBUR’s The Artery.
In January 2019, John’s play MARTHA’S (B)RAINSTORM: A BOSTON FAIRY TALE, was awarded the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Fellowship in Dramatic Writing. John served as the inaugural Playwright in Residence at the Boston Public Library, 2017 - 2018, and is a proud alum of the Huntington Playwriting Fellows.
John’s latest play, MUSEUM PIECE, a farce about institutional (personal, and national) diversity, was commissioned and developed at Speakeasy Stage Company, part of the Boston Project, culminating in a public reading in June 2023. John’s work has been produced in Boston by Vaquero Playground, SpeakEasy Stage, New Exhibition Room, and Company One Theatre.
John supports his artistic life with a kaleidoscope of jobs in almost as many towns. He's delivered pizzas in Arlington, TX and Santa Fe, NM; washed dishes and jacked-of-most-theatrical-trades in Rochester, NY; worked as an aide to a young man with cerebral palsy, and a nanny to a single mother in Cambridge, MA. In the midst of that, he squished 7 years of venue management at the best and biggest arts institutions in Boston.
He currently serves as primary care-giver to his two year old son, and works in tech for Harvard...because leaving Boston, only to get a job at Harvard is a very JJK thing to do.
Plays: 7 MINUTES (Finalist, Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries), BLUESHIFT (O'Neill Theatre Center National Playwrights' Conference Finalist, 2016); FROM DENMARK WITH LOVE (IRNE nomination: Best New Play); an adapted libretto for Marschner’s Gothic opera DER VAMPYR. He is currently finishing book, lyrics and music for his glam-rock opera THE RISE & FALL OF OEDIPUS T REX & THE GOAT SONG OF THEBES.
His mission: To Create and Spread Delight.
His original comedy-horror TV Pilot BLOOD FROM A STONE won 2nd Place in the 89th Annual Writer’s Digest Script Competition, and a Top 5 Finalist for the 2021 Austin Film Festival.
In 2020, John’s play 7 MINUTES reached the finalist shortlist for Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries Cycle 3 at the American Shakespeare Center, and was a finalist for the National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill Theater Center. His web series HOME OFFICE – created and written with his wife – about a couple learning to work from home together during lockdown, received rave reviews from the Boston Globe, and WBUR’s The Artery.
In January 2019, John’s play MARTHA’S (B)RAINSTORM: A BOSTON FAIRY TALE, was awarded the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Fellowship in Dramatic Writing. John served as the inaugural Playwright in Residence at the Boston Public Library, 2017 - 2018, and is a proud alum of the Huntington Playwriting Fellows.
John’s latest play, MUSEUM PIECE, a farce about institutional (personal, and national) diversity, was commissioned and developed at Speakeasy Stage Company, part of the Boston Project, culminating in a public reading in June 2023. John’s work has been produced in Boston by Vaquero Playground, SpeakEasy Stage, New Exhibition Room, and Company One Theatre.
John supports his artistic life with a kaleidoscope of jobs in almost as many towns. He's delivered pizzas in Arlington, TX and Santa Fe, NM; washed dishes and jacked-of-most-theatrical-trades in Rochester, NY; worked as an aide to a young man with cerebral palsy, and a nanny to a single mother in Cambridge, MA. In the midst of that, he squished 7 years of venue management at the best and biggest arts institutions in Boston.
He currently serves as primary care-giver to his two year old son, and works in tech for Harvard...because leaving Boston, only to get a job at Harvard is a very JJK thing to do.
Plays: 7 MINUTES (Finalist, Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries), BLUESHIFT (O'Neill Theatre Center National Playwrights' Conference Finalist, 2016); FROM DENMARK WITH LOVE (IRNE nomination: Best New Play); an adapted libretto for Marschner’s Gothic opera DER VAMPYR. He is currently finishing book, lyrics and music for his glam-rock opera THE RISE & FALL OF OEDIPUS T REX & THE GOAT SONG OF THEBES.
QUOTES.
JJK and his work have been called:
"[web series Home Office" is not-to-be-missed, captur[ing] the joys and complexity of sheltering-in-place." - The Boston Globe
"King’s libretto is the crowning achievement[...] Not only is his rhyming dexterously hilarious[...], but it always serves the story and the score."
- The Boston Globe
“Unabashed, R-rated fun.” - The Boston Herald
"[King's] libretto brims over with clever and often anachronistic or off-color rhymes [...] and puns." - New York Arts
Audiences say:
"sexy evil genius"
"adult innocence at its best"
"a sexy, hipster ice-cream man who drinks on the job"
"[web series Home Office" is not-to-be-missed, captur[ing] the joys and complexity of sheltering-in-place." - The Boston Globe
"King’s libretto is the crowning achievement[...] Not only is his rhyming dexterously hilarious[...], but it always serves the story and the score."
- The Boston Globe
“Unabashed, R-rated fun.” - The Boston Herald
"[King's] libretto brims over with clever and often anachronistic or off-color rhymes [...] and puns." - New York Arts
Audiences say:
"sexy evil genius"
"adult innocence at its best"
"a sexy, hipster ice-cream man who drinks on the job"
john j king | j[email protected] | providence, ri