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Adam Rapp
Adam Rapp
Adam Rapp
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Adam Rapp (born June 15, 1968) is an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, musician and film director.[1] His play Red Light Winter was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2006.[2]

Key Information

Early life

[edit]

Rapp was born in Chicago to Mary Lee (née Baird; died 1997) and Douglas Rapp (died 2024), and spent most of his youth in Joliet, Illinois.[3][citation needed]

He is a graduate of St. John's Military Academy (Delafield, Wisconsin) and Clarke College (Dubuque, Iowa).[3] At Clarke, he captained the varsity basketball team.[4]

After college he moved to New York City's East Village, where he landed a day job in book publishing and wrote fiction and plays at night. He later completed a two-year playwriting fellowship at Juilliard School.[3][4] His younger brother is actor-singer Anthony Rapp.

Career

[edit]

Plays

[edit]

Rapp attended the O'Neill Playwrights Conference in 1996.[5] His play Finer Noble Gases was staged by the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in 2000, by Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2001, by Carolina Actors Studio Theatre in Charlotte in 2003, and by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in New York City in 2004.[6] In 2001, Nocturne was premiered by the New York Theatre Workshop.[6] It has also been staged at by American Repertory Theater and Berkeley Repertory Theatre.[6] His play Stone Cold Dead Serious was produced in 2002 by the American Repertory Theater.[6]

His play Red Light Winter received the Joseph Jefferson Award (Best New Work) in 2005 for its production at Steppenwolf Theatre Company.[7] The play ran off-Broadway at the Barrow Street Theatre from January 20, 2006 to June 25, 2006, directed by Rapp. The play was nominated for the 2006 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Play, and Rapp received the 2006 Obie Award, Special Citation.[8] The play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2006.[2]

Rapp directed a production of Los Angeles, by Julian Sheppard, in 2007 at the Flea Theatre. In 2011, Rapp's The Metal Children was given its regional debut by Swine Palace on Louisiana State University's campus.[9]

He has said that the Edge Theater Company in New York City is his "artistic home": "Edge Theater changed my life back in 2003. They are my family."[10]

He made his Broadway debut with his play The Sound Inside, which began playing at Studio 54 starting on September 14, 2019 (opening officially on October 17, 2019), starring Mary-Louise Parker.[11] The play premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2018.[12] It was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play at the 74th Tony Awards.

Rapp wrote on the book for The Outsiders: A New Musical, a re-imagination of the 1967 S. E. Hinton novel and the 1983 Francis Ford Coppola film adaptation. Broadway performances began on March 16, 2024, at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre in New York City.[13] Rapp was nominated with his co-author Justin Levine for the 2024 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. The musical won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Musical.

Teaching

[edit]

He has taught at the Yale School of Drama.[14]

Style

[edit]

The majority of Rapp's plays feature small casts and are set in small spaces.[1] Many characters in the plays are working class Americans.[15] His plays often combine stories of Midwestern longing with the idea of finding escape in New York. He combines humor with gloom, preferring dark themes[14]

In a conversation with fellow playwright Gina Gionfriddo published in The Brooklyn Rail, Rapp says: "When you see something powerfully acted on stage, it hits a nerve in the way music hits a nerve … Watching someone twelve feet from you falling in love or being abused … There’s something raw about that experience that you don’t get from film or TV."[16]

Novels

[edit]

Rapp's first young adult novel, Missing the Piano, was published in 1994. After writing his second book, The Buffalo Tree, which was published in 1997, Rapp was invited to be the first author in residence at Ridgewood High School.[17] The Buffalo Tree was censored by the Muhlenberg School Board in Reading, Pennsylvania due to its themes, graphic language and sexual content.[18] His 2003 novel 33 Snowfish was one of Young Adult Library Services Association's Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults.[19] He released Under the Wolf, Under the Dog in 2004.

His first adult novel, The Year of Endless Sorrows, was released in 2006.[20] Rapp made his graphic novel debut with the release of Ball Peen Hammer in September 2009.[21] His second graphic novel, Decelerate Blue, was published in February 2017.

Film, television and music

[edit]

Rapp directed his first film, Winter Passing, with Zooey Deschanel and Will Ferrell in 2005[22] and was a creative consultant for the television show The L Word.[23]

While working on The L Word, Rapp left in the middle of the season to attend the Edinburgh Festival, where he directed his play, Finer Noble Gases, which won the Fringe First Award.[5] He wrote for the 2010 season of HBO's In Treatment.[24]

He was a member of the band Bottomside, which released the independent CD The Element Man in September 2004.[25] He is a member of Less the Band, which released the album Bear in April 2006.[26]

In 2021, he co-wrote the pilot episode "Cold Snap" for the Showtime special event series Dexter: New Blood.

List of works

[edit]

Awards

[edit]

Source: Gale[1]

Year Award Work Outcome
1995 American Library Association, Best Books for Young Adults Missing the Piano Won
American Library Association, Best Books for Reluctant Readers citation Won
1997 National Playwrights Conference, Herbert & Patricia Brodkin Scholarship Trueblinka Won
1999 Princess Grace Fellowship[27] Won
2000 Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, Roger L. Stevens Award Won
2001 Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights Nocturne Won
2004 American Library Association, Best Books for Young Adults 33 Snowfish Won
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Novel Under the Wolf, Under the Dog Finalist
2005 American Library Association, Best Books for Young Adults Won
2006 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Red Light Winter Nominated
Obie Award Won
Schneider Family Book Award, teen category Under the Wolf, Under the Dog Won
2007 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play Essential Self-Defense Nominated
2010 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book Punkzilla Won
2012 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award Won
2020 Tony Award for Best Play The Sound Inside Nominated
2024 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical The Outsiders Nominated

References

[edit]
[edit]
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Adam Rapp

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Adam Rapp (born June 15, 1968) is an American , director, , , and filmmaker renowned for his raw, introspective works that often delve into themes of , isolation, and psychological turmoil. Born in and raised in , Rapp graduated from (formerly Clarke College) in , with degrees in fiction writing and before completing a two-year playwriting fellowship at the . Rapp's theater career gained prominence in the early 2000s with plays such as Nocturne (2000), which premiered at the American Repertory Theater and explored sibling tragedy, and Red Light Winter (2005), a Pulitzer Prize finalist that examines fractured friendships and personal despair during a European sojourn. His later works include the Tony-nominated The Sound Inside (2019), a taut drama about a professor and her student, the book for the Tony Award-winning musical The Outsiders (2024), adapted from S.E. Hinton's novel and focusing on class divides and youthful rebellion, and the new play The Night Fawn (2025), developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Among his numerous accolades are Obie and Jeff Awards for Red Light Winter, the Helen Merrill Award, the PEN/Laura Pels Award, and the 2021 Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has also directed productions like Sam Shepard's True West and serves as a resident playwright at New York City's Edge Theater Company. Beyond theater, Rapp has authored young adult novels such as The Buffalo Tree (1997), a Printz Honor Book set in a juvenile detention center, and adult fiction like The Year of Endless Sorrows (2002), drawing from his experiences in post-collegiate New York. In film and television, he wrote and directed the feature Winter Passing (2005), starring Ed Harris, and has contributed as a writer and producer to series including In Treatment, The Looming Tower, and American Rust. He lives in New York City, splitting his time with upstate New York, and continues to innovate across mediums, blending literary depth with dramatic intensity.

Early life

Adam Rapp was born on June 15, 1968, in , . He was the second of three children born to Douglas Rapp and Mary Lee Rapp (née Baird), a prison nurse; his older sister is . The family moved to , where Rapp was raised. Rapp attended St. John's Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin, for high school. He later transferred to Clarke College (now Clarke University) in Dubuque, Iowa, where he captained the basketball team and developed an interest in writing. Rapp graduated with a B.A. in fiction writing and psychology in 1991. After college, Rapp moved to and completed a two-year playwriting fellowship at the .

Career

Plays

Adam Rapp's plays are renowned for their unflinching examination of human isolation, grief, and psychological turmoil, often set against stark, contemporary American backdrops. Emerging in the late 1990s, his dramatic works blend poetic language with raw naturalism, earning productions at major institutions like the , , and . Many of his plays premiered and have garnered awards, including and Pulitzer Prize nominations, reflecting his influence on modern American theater. One of Rapp's early breakthrough works, (2000), is a monologue-driven exploration of fraternal loss and survivor's guilt. The play centers on a young man reflecting on a car accident that killed his sister when he was 17, unfolding as a dense, metaphorical that spans over two hours. Premiering at the and later at under director Marcus Stern, it was praised for its imaginative staging and the actor's intense delivery, though some critics noted its linguistic density risked overwhelming the narrative. *Rapp's 2005 play Red Light Winter, a finalist, delves into the disintegration of a toxic friendship amid desperate romantic pursuits. Set in a seedy hotel room, it follows Matt, a editor in his late 20s fleeing personal failures, and his college friend Davis, whose vacation turns bleak when Matt becomes infatuated with a local sex worker. Premiering at before transferring to Barrow Street Theatre in New York, the production, directed by Adam Rapp, won a for Best New Work and an . Critics highlighted its emotional depth and Rapp's expanded range in depicting human vulnerability, despite occasional contrivances. In Essential Self-Defense (2007), Rapp examines societal alienation through the unlikely bond between a jobless drifter, Yul—a sociopathic misfit who serves as a in classes—and Sadie, a kind-hearted drawn to his damaged psyche. The narrative unfolds against a backdrop of , punctuated by radio reports of child abductions and live interludes, culminating in a tense exploration of attraction and fear. Premiering at , the play was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for its original music but drew mixed reviews for its stylized approach, with some finding the characters' dynamics contrived and the two-hour runtime numbing. Rapp's later play The Sound Inside (2018) shifts to a more introspective thriller format, narrated by Bella Baird, a Yale professor confronting terminal cancer. As she contemplates and mentors a talented but awkward , Christopher Dunn, the 90-minute piece blurs lines between , fiction, and confession, building suspense through layered storytelling. World-premiering at the with in the lead role, directed by , it transferred to Broadway in 2019, earning six Tony nominations including Best Play and acclaim as a "Critic's Pick" for its haunting dread and controlled performances. More recently, Rapp adapted S.E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders as the book for a 2024 Broadway musical, infusing the story of class-divided Tulsa teenagers—the working-class greasers versus affluent socs—with themes of youthful rebellion and violence. Centering on Ponyboy Curtis's coming-of-age amid rival gang clashes, the production features a sensory design with gritty staging and a score by and Justin Levine. Directed by Danya Taymor at the , it won the 2024 , lauded for its sincere energy and vivid choreography despite uneven song integration. Other notable plays include Finer Noble Gases (2002), a surreal family drama that premiered at the Humana Festival and won a Fringe First Award at the Fringe; Animals and Plants (2001), an early work on relational breakdown staged at the ; Wolf in the River (2016), a mythic tale of survival directed by Rapp himself at ; and The Night Fawn (2025), a new play workshopped and publicly performed at the . These, along with works like The Hallway Trilogy (2011) and American Sligo (2007), showcase his recurring motifs of fractured psyches and existential dread across diverse formats.

Novels

Adam Rapp's novels encompass both young adult and fiction, often characterized by raw, unflinching explorations of trauma, , family dysfunction, and the underbelly of . His writing frequently features marginalized protagonists confronting , , , and loss, blending gritty realism with moments of poignant humanity. Rapp began publishing novels in the mid-1990s, initially focusing on that earned acclaim for its bold handling of difficult subjects, before expanding into adult-oriented works that delve deeper into multigenerational sagas and psychological depth. Across his oeuvre, Rapp's prose is noted for its visceral intensity and rhythmic, almost poetic quality, drawing comparisons to authors like for its unflinching gaze on human frailty. In his young adult novels, Rapp often centers stories on resilient yet vulnerable teens navigating institutional or societal failures. His debut, Missing the Piano (1994, ), follows 15-year-old Sandro DeLuca, who is uprooted from and sent to a strict after his mother's death, where he struggles with , , and the loss of his passion for music. This semi-autobiographical work introduces recurring motifs of isolation and artistic longing. Similarly, The Buffalo Tree (1997, ) depicts 12-year-old Pasha Zebrun's harrowing experience in a juvenile detention facility modeled after a real , emphasizing themes of survival, makeshift friendships, and the dehumanizing effects of incarceration; the novel was praised for its authentic portrayal of institutional cruelty and received a Michael L. Printz Honor. 33 Snowfish (2003, ), one of his most celebrated YA works, tracks three damaged runaways—a former child prostitute, a car thief, and a boy carrying a kidnapped infant—on a desperate cross-country flight, highlighting redemption amid chaos and was named a Best Book for Young Adults by the . Other notable YA titles include The Copper Elephant (1999, Front Street), a dystopian tale of an 11-year-old trainer in a poisoned world, and Under the Wolf, Under the Dog (2004, ), which earned the 2007 Schneider Family Book Award for its sensitive depiction of a teen grappling with addiction and suicide in a treatment facility. Rapp's adult novels shift toward broader, more introspective narratives while retaining his signature darkness. The Year of Endless Sorrows (2002, ) captures the aimless drift of recent college graduate Leonard Link in recession-era New York, where he squats in abandoned buildings and confronts failed relationships and existential . In Know Your Beholder (2015, ), a former retreats to his during a brutal winter after a family tragedy, emerging to navigate love, art, and personal reinvention in a quirky small-town setting. His recent multigenerational epic, Wolf at the Table (2024, ), inspired by elements of his mother's life and the execution of serial killer , chronicles the Larkin family's unraveling after a nearby triple homicide in 1951 , probing the long shadow of violence on ordinary lives and the illusions of the ; critics lauded its masterful blend of historical detail and psychological insight. These works underscore Rapp's evolution as a , consistently challenging readers with empathetic yet stark examinations of moral ambiguity and resilience.

Film, television, and music

Rapp made his debut as writer and director with Winter Passing in , a dramedy starring , , and , exploring themes of family dysfunction and artistic ambition. He followed this with Blackbird (2007), adapting and directing his own play into a about grief and brotherhood, featuring and . Rapp directed Almost in Love (2013), a comedy-drama centered on urban relationships, and Loitering with Intent (2014), an indie about aspiring filmmakers navigating personal and professional chaos. In television, Rapp contributed as a writer to episodes of The Jury (2004) on Fox, The L Word (2006) on Showtime, and In Treatment (2010) on HBO, often focusing on psychological depth and character-driven narratives. He served as a producer and writer for the miniseries Flesh and Bone (2015) on Starz, a drama about the world of professional ballet, and wrote for Vinyl (2016) on HBO, a series depicting the 1970s rock music scene created by Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese. Rapp was a producer and writer on The Looming Tower (2018), an Hulu miniseries chronicling the lead-up to 9/11 based on Lawrence Wright's book. He co-wrote the pilot episode "Cold Snap" for Dexter: New Blood (2021) on Showtime and has been executive producer and writer for American Rust (2021–2024) on Showtime, adapting Philipp Meyer's novel into a crime drama set in post-industrial Pennsylvania. As a , Rapp was a member of the band Bottomside, which released the album The Element Man in 2004; the group contributed original music to his Winter Passing, including the track "The Last Good Time." He later joined Less the Band, an ensemble that has performed original compositions in conjunction with his theatrical works, such as the play (2004).

Teaching

Adam Rapp has held several teaching positions and residencies focused on playwriting and young adult fiction, drawing from his own experiences as a to mentor emerging talents. Early in his career, he served as playwright-in-residence at beginning in 2000, where he engaged with students during his two-year fellowship period. Around 2002, Rapp taught young adult fiction at , an experience he later described as fulfilling due to his passion for discussing writing struggles and helping students develop their voices. He has expressed that teaching in this genre allowed him to connect with his own early work in novels like The Buffalo Tree and Little Chicago, emphasizing narrative techniques for adolescent themes. In the late 2000s, Rapp taught playwriting for one year each at Wesleyan University and Yale University. At Yale, he accepted the role of associate chair of the Graduate Dramatic Playwriting Program around 2009, commuting three days a week to New Haven and working with nine students. This period profoundly influenced his play The Sound Inside (2019), as the isolation of the commute and interactions with intelligent, open-minded students shaped its themes of mentorship, loneliness, and academic life. Rapp has noted that these teaching stints honed his ability to articulate playwriting principles, informed by mentors like John Guare and A.R. Gurney, and reinforced his commitment to giving back to the field. More recently, in March 2016, Rapp served as the Visiting Flournoy Playwright at , spending a week on campus to interact with students and faculty on playwriting practices. Throughout his career, Rapp has occasionally participated in workshops and residencies, such as his 2025 role at the Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference, where he continues to support new dramatic works through developmental feedback. These engagements reflect his selective approach to academia, prioritizing hands-on guidance over long-term faculty positions, as evidenced by his decision to decline an associate chair offer at University's playwriting program earlier in his career.

Style

Adam Rapp's writing is characterized by its raw intensity and exploration of human alienation, often delving into dark, haunting themes of loss, , and existential disconnection. His works frequently employ a stream-of-consciousness approach, blending with visceral to create an immersive, unsettling atmosphere. This style is evident across his plays and novels, where characters grapple with rootlessness and bodily alienation, reflecting Rapp's fascination with the and malleability of . In his theater pieces, Rapp experiments with structure and form to heighten suspense and emotional depth, drawing on Aristotelian principles while incorporating non-linear elements and direct audience address. Plays like Nocturne and Animals and Plants feature grim, often violent dramas punctuated by tar-black humor, portraying disaffected protagonists in bleak, alternate-universe settings that critique societal complacency. His dialogue is rigorously unsentimental yet compassionate, favoring elliptical narratives over conventional plot progression to evoke a sense of haunting mystery. Rapp's prose in novels such as Punkzilla and Wolf at the Table mirrors this theatrical intensity with powerful, graphic depictions of fractured lives, using free-flowing, stream-of-consciousness techniques to convey inner turmoil. His language is haunting and unsparing, prioritizing emotional authenticity through vivid, sensory details that underscore themes of and . This consistent stylistic thread—raw, linguistic innovation amid darkness—has earned Rapp acclaim for capturing the raw edges of contemporary American experience.

List of works

Theatre

Adam Rapp's theatre oeuvre consists primarily of original plays that delve into themes of grief, isolation, and the American underclass, often premiered at venues and regional theaters. His works have garnered critical acclaim, including finalist status and , establishing him as a prominent voice in contemporary American drama. Many of Rapp's early plays emerged in the early , showcasing his signature blend of dark humor and raw emotional intensity. (2000), a poignant , follows a young aspiring novelist grappling with the aftermath of his sister's fatal car accident; it premiered at the and transferred to . Animals and Plants (2001) is a surreal depicting Midwestern dysfunction through the lens of a troubled family; it debuted at the . Finer Noble Gases (2002) explores the chaotic lives of East Village musicians in an absurdist fever dream; first presented at the 26th Humana Festival of New American Plays, it later received the Fringe First Award at the 2006 Fringe Festival. Faster (2002), a Faustian tale of two men bargaining with the devil, was produced at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Rapp's mid-2000s works gained wider recognition for their unflinching portrayals of personal and societal decay. Stone Cold Dead Serious (2003) centers on a Midwestern family's desperate bid for salvation through a violent contest; it premiered at the . Blackbird (2004), a stark romance between two self-destructive lovers, debuted at The Bush Theatre in before U.S. productions. Red Light Winter (2005), which examines friendship and regret during a debauched trip, premiered at and earned Rapp an , a for Best New Work, and a finalist nomination in 2006. Essential Self-Defense (2006) follows a socially awkward man in a class uncovering a town's sinister underbelly; it was staged at . Later plays continued to innovate with intimate character studies and speculative elements. The Metal Children (2004), inspired by a banned scandal in a small town, premiered at The Vineyard Theatre. (2008) depicts a mother and son's perilous New York odyssey; it opened at . The Hallway Trilogy (2012), a cycle of interconnected one-acts, portrays urban alienation in a single building; produced at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. The Sound Inside (2018), a two-hander about a professor and her student contemplating , premiered at and transferred to Broadway in 2019, earning six Tony Award nominations including Best Play. In recent years, Rapp has expanded into and experimental forms. He wrote the book for The Outsiders (2023), an adaptation of S.E. Hinton's that premiered on Broadway in 2024 and received a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical. The Night Fawn (2025), a haunting exploration of memory and revenge, was developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference. Jackals (forthcoming), set in a pandemic-blighted middle American city, is scheduled for premiere in Fall 2026 at The New Group, directed by Carolyn Cantor. Rapp has also directed several of his own works and others, including the world premiere of Karen O's Stop the Virgens at St. Ann's Warehouse in 2011, further solidifying his role in contemporary theatre.

Adult novels

Adam Rapp has published three adult novels, each exploring themes of personal disillusionment, family dynamics, and the undercurrents of American life through introspective, often darkly humorous narratives. His prose in these works draws from his background as a playwright, emphasizing character-driven stories set against gritty, everyday backdrops. Unlike his young adult fiction, which often focuses on adolescent struggles, Rapp's adult novels delve into the complexities of adulthood, loss, and societal disconnection. Rapp's debut adult novel, The Year of Endless Sorrows (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006), follows an unnamed Midwestern aspiring writer who moves to New York City's East Village in the early . Sharing an with roommates—including his actor brother Feick, friend Glenwood, and the enigmatic vagrant Burton Loach—the protagonist navigates the city's bohemian underbelly while working at the fictional Van Von Donnell Publishing, where he satirizes the shallow and depraved behaviors of his superiors. The story traces his romantic entanglements, particularly with the Polish émigré actress Basha, amid a backdrop of urban ambition and heartbreak, presented as a filled with winning set pieces that capture the era's cultural flux. In Know Your Beholder (Little, Brown and Company, 2015), Rapp shifts to a more absurdist tone, centering on Francis Falbo, a thirty-something musician grappling with profound loss in rural Pollard, Illinois. Sequestered as an agoraphobic shut-in in his attic during a harsh winter, Falbo copes with his mother's death, his wife's abandonment for a younger man, and the dissolution of his psychedelic rock band through drugs supplied by his dealer and voyeuristic observations of the eccentric tenants in his house. Narrated in a raw, journal-like manuscript infused with black humor and embittered angst, the novel examines themes of depression and paralysis—what Falbo terms a "Life in Default"—while highlighting the protagonist's unfiltered ruminations on personal hygiene and existential stagnation, ultimately enchanting readers with its darkly comedic edge. Rapp's most recent adult novel, Wolf at the Table (Little, Brown and Company, 2024), is a multigenerational saga inspired by his mother's career as a prison nurse, including her possible involvement in examining serial killer John Wayne Gacy before his 1994 execution. The narrative spans decades and locations, beginning in 1951 Elmira, New York, where young Myra Lee Larkin encounters a stranger at a diner who claims to be Mickey Mantle and offers her a ride home amid a rainstorm; the next day, she learns of unsolved murders nearby matching the man's description. The story advances to 1964, focusing on Myra Lee's brother Alec's descent into crime, and then to 1966, where their mother Ava, now a nurse at an Illinois prison, confronts the horrors of mass murderers like Richard Speck and Gacy. Through cryptic postcards from Alec and Myra Lee's haunting memories, the novel meditates on the nature of evil within ordinary families, evoking a lower-middle-class American household's denial of its dark undercurrents, though its broad scope sometimes dilutes the eerie tension. Critics note its unsparing observation of familial denial and the inexplicable origins of monstrosity, drawing parallels to works like The Corrections and We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Young adult novels

Adam Rapp has authored numerous novels for young adults, often drawing from personal experiences such as his time in a juvenile detention center to portray the harsh realities faced by marginalized teens. His works frequently address themes of trauma, institutional , , and , presented through gritty, first-person narratives that emphasize emotional resilience amid despair. These books have garnered acclaim for their authenticity and have received multiple honors from the (ALA), including selections as Best Books for Young Adults. Rapp's debut young adult novel, Missing the Piano (1994, Viking), centers on fifteen-year-old Mike Tegoff, who is sent to St. Matthew's Military Academy after his mother and sister leave for a touring production of Les Misérables, forcing him to confront bullying and rigid discipline in an all-boys environment. The novel was named a Best Book for Young Adults and a Best Book for Reluctant Readers by the ALA in 1995. In The Buffalo Tree (1997, Front Street), twelve-year-old Sura chronicles daily life in a brutal juvenile detention facility after being incarcerated for petty theft, highlighting the fragile alliances formed among the boys. It earned a spot on School Library Journal's Best Books of the Year list and was controversially removed from the curriculum at Muhlenberg High School in Pennsylvania due to its depiction of institutional abuse. Subsequent novels build on these themes of adversity and redemption. The Copper Elephant (1999, Front Street) follows eleven-year-old Whensday Bluehouse in a dystopian wasteland called the Shelf, where toxic rains and labor in mines define survival under a tyrannical warden. Little Chicago (2002, Front Street) depicts eleven-year-old Blacky Brown grappling with , , and cruelty while under investigation by services. Rapp's 33 Snowfish (2003, ) tracks three runaways—Custis, Curl, and Boobie—fleeing in a stolen with a kidnapped baby, exposing their intertwined histories of violence and loss; it was nominated for the ALA Best Books for Young Adults and ranked among the top 50 books of all time. Under the Wolf, Under the Dog (2004, ) explores a teen's entry into a drug rehab program amid grief and aggression, earning a nomination for the for . Later works include Punkzilla (2009, ), an epistolary tale of a teenage runaway and meth addict to visit his dying brother, which was selected as a Best Fiction for Young Adults by the ALA; and The Children and the Wolves (2012, ), where three teens navigate abduction and in a story of class disparity and brutality. Rapp's sole young adult graphic novel, Decelerate Blue (2017, First Second), co-written with Mike Cavallaro, envisions a near-future America enforcing sterilization on girls over sixteen, following Angela's against this regime. These novels collectively underscore Rapp's commitment to voicing the unfiltered experiences of youth on society's fringes.

Screenwriting

Adam Rapp began his career in the early , adapting his own plays for the screen while also contributing to television series. His first major screenwriting credit was for the legal The Jury (2004), where he wrote episodes for the short-lived series. In film, Rapp wrote and directed Winter Passing (2005), a dark comedy- about a young woman's quest to reconnect with her estranged father, starring , , and ; the screenplay was adapted from his own unpublished work. He followed this with Blackbird (2007), another adaptation of his 2004 play, depicting the fraught relationship between a veteran and a teenage runaway amid heroin addiction, featuring and . These films established Rapp's screenwriting style, characterized by intimate character studies and explorations of personal dysfunction, often drawing from his theatrical roots. Rapp's television writing gained prominence in the late 2000s and 2010s, with contributions to acclaimed HBO and Showtime series. He wrote episodes for The L Word (2006), the groundbreaking drama about lesbian life in Los Angeles. For In Treatment (2010), he penned scripts delving into psychological therapy sessions, aligning with the show's introspective format. Rapp served as a writer and producer on the Starz ballet miniseries Flesh and Bone (2015), contributing to narratives of ambition and vulnerability in the dance world. He wrote for HBO's Vinyl (2016), a Martin Scorsese-produced rock 'n' roll drama, and for the Hulu miniseries The Looming Tower (2018), where he authored two episodes examining the lead-up to 9/11. More recently, Rapp co-wrote the pilot episode "Cold Snap" for Showtime's Dexter: New Blood (2021), reviving the thriller with a story by Clyde Phillips. He also wrote for the Showtime crime drama (2021), based on Philipp Meyer's novel, serving as and contributing to its setting and moral dilemmas. These television projects highlight Rapp's versatility in adapting complex emotional and societal themes to episodic formats.

Directing

Adam Rapp has established himself as a director primarily in theater, often helming productions of his own plays while occasionally taking on works by other writers. His directorial approach emphasizes intimate, character-driven narratives, drawing from his background as a to explore themes of isolation, loss, and human fragility on . One of Rapp's notable early directing achievements was the 2005 Chicago premiere of his play Red Light Winter at Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Garage space, which he directed to sold-out houses and earned the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work. The production later transferred Off-Broadway to Barrow Street Theatre for a six-month run, marking the first time a play received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play while directed by its author. This success highlighted Rapp's ability to blend raw emotional intensity with precise staging, contributing to the play's critical acclaim and multiple . In 2006, Rapp directed the Off-Broadway premiere of his play Blackbird at the Edge Theater, a production that garnered two Drama Desk Award nominations for its taut exploration of and . That same year, he helmed Finer Noble Gases at the Fringe Festival, where it received the Fringe First Award, the London Stage Best Actor Award, and The List Magazine/’s Best Newcomer Prize, underscoring his international appeal as a director of innovative, poetic . Rapp's directing credits also include the world premiere of Stop the Virgens, Karen O's psycho-opera, in 2011 at St. Ann's Warehouse as part of The Creators Project; the production was later selected for the Vivid Live Festival at the , achieving six sold-out performances. In 2012, he directed Sam Shepard's True West at Actors Theatre of Louisville, a revival praised as one of the year's best cultural moments by local critics. Additionally, Rapp directed his short play Train Story at The , further demonstrating his commitment to staging compact, evocative works. Extending his work to film, Rapp made his feature directorial debut with Winter Passing in 2005, a comedy-drama he also wrote, starring , , and ; the premiered at the and explored familial dysfunction through a lens informed by his theatrical sensibilities. He returned to in 2014 with Loitering with Intent, a dramedy about aspiring artists, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and reinforced his reputation for introspective storytelling across media.

Awards

YearAwardWork/Notes
1999Princess Grace FellowshipPlaywriting fellowship.
2000Roger L. Stevens AwardFrom the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays.
2001.
2001Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding New ScriptFor .
2005Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New WorkFor Red Light Winter (Chicago production).
2006, Special CitationFor Red Light Winter.
2006 Finalist, DramaFor Red Light Winter.
2006Princess Grace Statue Award.
2006Lucille Lortel Playwright's Fellowship.
2012/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater AwardAmerican Playwright in Mid-Career.
2019Tony Award nomination, Best PlayFor The Sound Inside.
2019Writers Guild of America Award nomination, Dramatic SeriesFor .
2021Arts and Letters Award in From the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
2024Tony Award nomination, Best Book of a MusicalFor The Outsiders (co-book with Justin Levine).

References

  1. https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/rapp-adam-1968
  2. https://atlantictheater.org/bio/adam-rapp/
  3. https://www.bookreporter.com/authors/adam-rapp
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  5. https://www.curioustheatre.org/artist/adam-rapp/
  6. https://www.theoneill.org/meet-the-playwright-adam-rapp
  7. https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-off-broadway/article/Works-Process-At-Guggenheim-to-Present-THE-NIGHT-FAWN-By-Adam-Rapp-20251001
  8. https://playbill.com/article/stage-to-screens-chatting-with-playwright-and-screenwriter-adam-rapp-com-130950
  9. https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/rapp-adam-1968
  10. https://www.fandango.com/people/adam-rapp-553254/biography
  11. https://www.facebook.com/ClarkeAlumni/posts/adam-rapp-91-found-his-niche-once-he-became-a-transfer-student-at-clarke-while-a/4228209420627515/
  12. https://www.nyt.com/2003/05/14/theater/writer-s-youths-pain-have-will-survive-adam-rapp-parlays-angst-his-childhood.html
  13. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/21/theater/theater-review-let-him-count-the-ways-a-man-reveals-anguish.html
  14. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/theater/reviews/young-and-craving-the-salvation-that-only-romance-can.html
  15. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/theater/reviews/29esse.html
  16. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/03/theater/the-sound-inside-mary-louise-parker-review.html
  17. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/11/theater/review-outsiders-musical.html
  18. https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/1967/adam-rapp
  19. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/27/books/review/wolf-at-the-table-adam-rapp.html
  20. https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/adam-rapp/wolf-at-the-table/9780316434164/
  21. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380817/
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  23. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2390994/
  24. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1452688/
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  26. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6474236/
  27. https://dexter.fandom.com/wiki/Adam_Rapp
  28. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2004/04/18/rapp-gets-personal-in-blackbird/
  29. https://www.playbill.com/article/less-gives-more-to-new-adam-rapp-play-finer-noble-gases-off-broadway-sept-14-com-121879
  30. https://biography.jrank.org/pages/167/Rapp-Adam-1968.html
  31. https://fictionwritersreview.com/interview/exit-on-interview-street-a-conversation-with-adam-rapp/
  32. https://deborahwiles.substack.com/p/the-unity-of-opposites
  33. https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/edinburgh-blog-adam-rapp-on-the-sound-inside_1615830/
  34. https://my.wlu.edu/lenfest-center/past-seasons/flournoy-playwright-2016
  35. https://americanrepertorytheater.org/media/rapping-with-rapp/
  36. https://oaklawnlibraryfriends.com/adam-rapp/
  37. https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/theater-talkback-for-one-critic-its-a-rapp/
  38. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/25/theater/mary-louise-parker-adam-rapp-sound-inside.html
  39. https://www.readingrants.org/2009/04/15/punkzilla-by-adam-rapp/
  40. https://www.lct.org/shows/people/adam-rapp/
  41. https://www.concordtheatricals.com/p/92304/the-sound-inside
  42. https://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsR/rapp-adam.php
  43. https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Adam-Rapp/
  44. https://www.abouttheartists.com/artists/5319-adam-rapp
  45. https://playbill.com/person/adam-rapp-vault-0000024619
  46. https://playbill.com/article/new-works-from-tom-kitt-adam-rapp-more-revealed-for-eugene-oneill-theater-centers-fall-development-schedule
  47. https://thenewgroup.org/events/jackals
  48. https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780316368919
  49. https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780374293437
  50. https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780316434164
  51. https://books.google.com/books/about/Missing_the_Piano.html?id=vK7RAAAACAAJ
  52. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/adam-rapp/the-buffalo-tree/
  53. https://vineyardtheatre.org/archive/adam-rapp/
  54. https://www.candlewick.com/9780763654245/33-snowfish/
  55. https://boston.broadway.com/buzz/playwright-adam-rapp-on-building-a-world-of-adolescent-extremes-for-the-outsiders/
  56. https://www.fantasticfiction.com/r/adam-rapp/
  57. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250155108/decelerateblue/
  58. https://v.playbill.com/article/adam-rapp-film-winter-passing-to-be-released-feb-17-com-129391
  59. https://www.screendaily.com/blackbird/4031454.article
  60. http://press.amazonmgmstudios.com/us/en/cast/adam-rapp/1833
  61. https://deadline.com/2022/05/adam-rapp-caa-broadway-american-rust-1235015633/
  62. https://watch.plex.tv/person/adam-rapp
  63. http://strubt.ch/media/person/585272
  64. https://www.thecinemaspot.com/2021/11/15/dexter-new-blood-episode-1-non-spoiler-review/
  65. https://behindthelensonline.net/site/reviews/winter-passing/
  66. https://www.elliotnortonawards.com/2001
  67. https://www.obieawards.com/events/2000s/year-07/
  68. https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/adam-rapp
  69. https://pen.org/2012-penlaura-pels-international-foundation-for-theater-award-for-an-american-playwright-in-mid-career/
  70. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1452688/awards/
  71. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=3185
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