Susan Hansell began constructing text/s for dancers, choreographers, and performers (herself and others) in San Francisco in the late 1980's. Work from this period has been published in Heinemann’s More Monologues for Women by Women (among other publications), and produced as A Day In, Affair on the Air, Drop It, Don't, 14 Ladies in Hats, Pink Rope (with dancer Deborah Phillips), and Trolls (all of which were produced at a variety of venues, including The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Poetry Center of San Francisco State, Artists Television Access of San Francisco, Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco, Project Artaud in San Francisco, and The Harold Clurman Theatre in New York City).
In New York City during the 1990's, Susan Hansell wrote My Medea, which became a selection of the 1996-97 Best American Short Plays series, subsequently staged by the CSULB Players in 2005; Rollover Othello, a Pushcart Prize nominee as published in Oasis; and American Rose: Our Gals on the Homefront, 1941-1945, which was produced at NYC's Ohio Theatre in 1997. American Rose went on to win Honorable Mention in the 1998 Jane Chambers National Playwriting Contest.
Published plays by Susan Hansell are We Are All Dick 3 (Oasis 11.3 Oct-Dec 2003); Little Kings (Oasis 10.1 Jan-Mar 2002); MaryMary (Inflatable Magazine, Winter 1999); My Medea (The Best American Short Plays 1996-1997, and The Best American Short Plays 1996-1998, Applause Theatre Books, NYC); Rollover Othello (Oasis 5.1 Jul-Sep 1996); Don't (More Monologues for Women by Women, Heinemann, 1996); Affair on the Air (More Monologues for Women by Women, Heinemann, 1996); and Lady in the Purple Velvet Hat (Rockford Review 11, 1992).
Susan Hansell is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. She has taught in the Creative Writing Department at San Francisco State University, in the English Departments on two CUNY campuses (Brooklyn College and Kingsborough Community College), in the English Department at Long Beach City College, and most recently, at California State University, Long Beach, in the Departments of English, History, and Theatre. Her degrees are a B.A. with High honors in Sociology from U.C. Berkeley (1981); an M.A. in English: Creative Writing from San Francisco State University (1987); and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing: Playwriting from CUNY - Brooklyn College (1996), in which program she subsequently taught the M.F.A. playwriting tutorials.
Since returning West in 2001, she has lived in Long Beach, Los Angeles, and in Tucson, AZ, where she currently resides with the noted scientist and US judo coach, Gerald Uyeno, to whom she is married.
BLOG
CONTACT
Email Susan Hansell directly at: <susan.hansell@gmail.com>.
COMPLETE PRODUCTION AND PUBLICATION RESUME:
Original Stage Productions:
My Medea. University Players, California State University, Players Theatre, March 4 – 19, 2005.
Rollover Othello. California State University Long Beach, Showcase Productions, October 15, 2004.
Don't. Detroit Mercy University Playhouse, Detroit Mercy University Productions, Detroit, MI. November, 1999.
Affair on the Air. The Harold Clurman Theatre, 412 W. 42nd Street, New York, NY. A Love Creek Production, July 11-23, 1998.
American Rose: Our Gals on the Homefront, 1941-1945. The Ohio Theatre, 66 Wooster Street, New York, NY. A Sightlines Theatre Company Production, March 6-15, 1997.
Rollover Othello. 42nd Street Studios, 410-412 W. 42nd Street, New York, NY. A Love Creek Production, April 26-28, 1996.
Lady in the Purple Velvet Hat and Trolls. Oklahoma State University Theatre. Student Directors Choice Productions, May 9-10, 1993.
A Day In.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. A San Francisco State University
Poetry Center Production, Nov. 17, 1988. (A videotape of this
performance is available on-line through the SFSU Poetry Center or by
telephone at 415/338-2227.)
14 Ladies in Hats. Centerspace Studio Theatre, Project Artaud, San Francisco, CA. April 7-28, 1988.
Drop It. Artists Television Access Productions, San Francisco, CA. July 21, 1987.
Collage. Centerspace Productions, Project Artaud, San Francisco, CA. June 19-27, 1987.
Pink Rope. Centerspace Studio Theatre, Project Artaud, San Francisco, CA. April 10-21, 1986.
Three Monologues. Centerspace Productions, Centerspace Studio Theatre, Project Artaud, San Francisco, CA. August 15-24, 1985.
Commissioned Works:
American Rose: Our Gals on the Homefront, 1941-1945. Commissioned by Sightlines Theatre Company in September, 1996 and produced at the Ohio Theatre in NYC, March 6-15, 1997.
Reviews Of:
“Cal Rep’s My Medea.” Mike Guardabascio. The Long Beach Union Weekly. Vol. 56, Issue 8. 14 March 2005. 11.
“CSULB’s Performance of My Medea.” Mike Guardabascio. The Long Beach Union Weekly. Vol. 56, Issue 8. 14 March 2005. 7.
“Greek Theater, Modern Touch at CSULB.” Harry Saltzgaver. The Long Beach Grunion Gazette. 10 March 2005: 26A.
“Not Like Greek Tragedy, but a Good Show.” Alessandra Djurklon. The Long Beach Press Telegram. 10 March 2005. U Entertainment.
“O.J. Simpson in News Again with CSULB’s My Medea.” Katie DeBoer. The Daily 49er. Vol. LV, No. 86. 9 March 2005.
"'Hats Off' to a Promising New Playwright." Robert Hurwitt. The San Francisco Examiner. 16 April 1988: B-2.
"Brash Ideas about the Trouble with Men." Robert Wilden. The San Francisco Progress. 22 April 1988: B-7.
Critical Studies Of:
"Highfalutin Greeks." Neal Storrs. Oasis 5.2 Oct.-Dec. (1996): Editor's Foreword.
"Disability in Western Culture." Jenny Morris. Pride Against Prejudice. London: The Woman's Press, 1991. 84-116.
Awards:
Pushcart Prize nominee for Rollover Othello as published in Oasis 1996.
Picard and Lurmann Fellow, SFSU, 1986-7.
The Lawrence and Lee Playwriting Award, SFSU, 1986.
Dorothey E. Wells Scholar, SFSU, 1985-6.
SFSU Graduate Equity Fellow, 1985-6.
The Academy of American Poets Prize, SFSU, 1985.
Publications - Plays:
“We Are All Dick 3.” Oasis 11.3 Oct.-Dec. (2003): 26-62.
“Little Kings.” Oasis 10.1 Jan.-Mar. (2002): 29-56.
"Mary Mary." Inflatable Magazine 5, 1999. Also at <www.geocities.com/Athens/ Oracle/2515> (click on Issue 5).
"My Medea." The Best American Short Plays, 1996-97. Ed. Young. New York: Applause Books, 1998. 95-133.
"My Medea." The Best American Short Plays, 1995-97. Eds. Stein and Young. New York: Applause, 1997. 354-389.
"Rollover Othello." Oasis 5.1 Jul.-Sep. (1996): 27-36.
"Don't." More Monologues for Women by Women. Ed. Haring-Smith. Portsmouth NH: Heinemann, 1996. 61-3.
"Affair on the Air." More Monologues for Women by Women. Ed. Haring-Smith. Portsmouth NH: Heinemann, 1996. 58-60.
"Lady in the Purple Velvet Hat." Rockford Review 9 (1992): 19-22.
Publications - Poems:
"As Usual." Rip Rap 28 (2006): 113-4.
"Winter Pears." Disability Rag Nov.-Dec. (1992): 33.
“From The L.A. Horoscope Poems.” The Portable Californian 1 (1992): 28.
"Odysseyan: Excerpts from the Epic/Epoch." Phoebe 3.1 (1991): 44-5.
"Every House Plant." Metis 7 (1991): 6.
“The Wolf.” Pride Against Prejudice. Morris. London: The Woman's Press, 1991. 86-8.
"The Wolf." Kaleidoscope 20 (1990): 85-6.
"Two Halves of the Same Game." Expresso Tilt 7 (1988): 11.
“Three Views.” With Tim Badger. Just Press Forum 7 (1988): 16-7.
“From Epilogue: you/he.” Magazine 5 (Fall 1988): 49-56.
"From Epilogue: you/he." Five Fingers Review 6 (1988): 40-2.
“Excerpt from Decisions Terminate Panic.” Athena Incognita 8 (1987): 49.
"Poem for a Goodbye Never Spoken" Sinister Wisdom 32 (1987): 16-7.
"The Wolf." Sinister Wisdom 32 (1987): 76-8.
“Poem for a Goodbye Never Spoken.” Mr. Cogito 7.1 (Winter 1986): 3-4.
"Broadway!" Expresso Tilt 3 (1985): 16.
“The Wolf.” The Power of Each Breath. Eds. Browne et. al. Pittsburg: Cleis, 1985. 5-7.
“Bareback.” Kaleidoscope 10 (1985): 57-8.
“For Mary Cate.” Common Lives, Lesbian Lives 9 (Fall 1983): 46-7.
Publications - Essays:
"Re/fractions from Los Angeles." Phoebe 4.1 (1992): 19-22.
"Behind Bars: Juvenile Institutions and Lesbian Youth." Catalyst 4.4 (1984): 13-22.
"Some Think We Aren't Feminist Enough." Guardian 23 Nov. 1983: 10-11.
“Salvadorans Speak for Justice.” Plexus Dec. 1983: 5.
"A Personal View of Nicaragua." Plexus Mar 1983: 10-12.
Publications - Translations:
"Breaking Down Barriers in Ideas and Practice." Trans. Susan Hansell. A Dream Compels Us. Ed. Carter. Boston: South End, 1989. 93-6.
Forced to Move. Renato Camarda. Trans. Susan Hansell. Berkeley: New Americas, 1985.
"Mortally Wounded" and "The American Way of Death." Claribel Alegria. Trans. Susan Hansell. El Tecolote June (1985): 7-8.
"Three Poems by Claribel Alegria." Trans. Susan Hansell. Suisun Valley Review 5.1 (1985): 61-3.
UNIVERSITY DEGREES AND TEACHING HISTORY:
Education:
Master of Fine Arts in English, Creative Writing, Playwriting: Brooklyn College of The City University of New York, 1996. Comprehensive examinations under Jack Gelber in over one-hundred
critical and creative works. Cumulative works of five original plays,
including "Rollover Othello" (a 1996 Pushcart Prize nominee) and "My
Medea" (published in The Best American Short Plays
1996-97 and 1995-97). Theatre Department course work with
Mona Heinze-Barreca (now at Cal Arts) in Dramaturgy, Translation of
Plays, and Dramatic Structure. Theatre Criticism with Doug Langworthy
(then managing editor of American Theatre Magazine) at the CUNY
Graduate Center in Manhattan.
Master of Arts in English, Creative Writing: San Francisco State University, 1987.
Comprehensive examinations and specializations in Samuel Beckett, Emily
Dickinson, and Zora Neale Hurston. Recipient of SFSU Awards from the
Academy of American Poets and the Lawrence and Lee Playwriting
Contest. Two-woman show "Pink Rope" staged professionally at Project
Artaud in San Francisco with dancer Deborah Phillips of Christopher
Beck's Dance Theatre. Thesis, under Kathleen Fraser, in Contemporary
Poetry, with additional course work in Feminist Poetics, in Ethnic
Studies with Chinosole, and, under Robert Gordon, in 20th C American
Theatre.
Bachelor of Arts with High Honors in Sociology: The University of California at Berkeley, 1981.
Honors Thesis in social theory (race/class/gender studies) under Michael
Buroway. Graduate-level course work in Structural Anthropology (with
Ann Merrill) and Political Sociology (with William Kornhauser).
Additional undergraduate upper-level course work in Afro-American
Literature, Chicano Literature, Comparative Literature,
Media-Communications (with Todd Gitlin), and in Women's Studies.
Teaching Assistant for Margaret Rivka Polatnick
in Sociology of Women in 1980, the first time such course was offered at UCB.
Faculty Appointments:
California State University, Long Beach, Departments of English, History and Theatre, 2000-2007. Lecturer in upper-level Literature (370; 385), Theory (384), and Pedagogy (400) courses, in senior-level History of American Women (485), in graduate-level Theory of Theatre Aesthetics (696), in lower and upper level composition and literature (1; 100; 270; 309) and in interdisciplinary general education courses (372).
Long Beach City College, Department of English, 2000-2001. Lecturer in Composition.
Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, 1994-2000.
Lecturer in the graduate M.F.A. Program in Playwriting: Taught the
M.F.A. program tutorials for the graduate-level student playwrights.
Lecturer in Core 6 (Landmarks in Literature) Courses; Lecturer in
Multi-Disciplinary Composition.
California State University, Northridge, Department of English, 1989-92.
Lecturer in English and Creative Writing. Taught Advanced Narrative
Writing and Major American
Authors for English majors in the B.A. Literature and the B.F.A.
Creative Writing programs. Taught Introduction to Literature and Composition courses.
Loyola Marymount University, Department of English, 1990-1. Lecturer in English. Taught Composition and Introduction to Fiction.
San Francisco State University, Department of Creative Writing, 1987-8.
Lecturer in Creative Writing. Taught Fundamentals of Creative Writing to Majors in the B.F.A.
program. Taught Introduction to Creative Writing to students from a variety of majors.
Related Positions:
California Arts Council, 1985-6. Individual Artist in Residence. Taught creative writing classes at the Independent Living Center in San Francisco. Desk-top published an anthology of participants' works and organized public readings and performances.
New Americas Press, 1981-5. Translator and Editor of materials from Spanish to English. Extensive travel in North and Central America.
LINKS
Use ISBN # 1-55783-317-6 for The Best American Plays 1996-97 (Applause Theatre Books) and ISBN # 0-435-07022-3 for More Monologues for Women by Women (Heinemann Press), both of which are available on Amazon.com.
You may find more works and links to works by Susan Hansell in the following places:
www.sightlinestheater.org/slide_1.htmlwww.lbunion.com/oldarticle.php?158
www.lbunion.com/oldarticle.php?140
www.csulb.edu/~d49er/archives/2005/spring/diversions/volLVno86-simpson.shtml
www.sfsu.edu/~poetry/archives/h.html
http://isbndb.com/d/person/hansell_susan.html
www.advocadopress.org/ragg.html
www.missioncreeep.com/TilT/poetry.html
www.sfsu.edu/~newlit/newcatalog/atoz.htm
www.advocadopress.org/anthology/anthtoc.html
http://home.comcast.net~richmckee/recent.htm
http://www.missioncreep.com/TiLT/broadway.html
http://isbndb.com/d/book/more_monologues_for_women_by_women.html
http://www.tomfolio.com/bookdetailsmem.asp?book=A1404&mem=50
website photo by a. paul cartier