Wayne Lemon
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Wayne Lemon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is a native Texan and son of a Southern Baptist minister.
[edit] Career
Lemon began his career as a theater and music critic for the Austin Chronicle. He holds an MA in Film Production/Screenwriting from the University of Texas at Austin with a minor concentration in Shakespeare.
Lemon has developed motion picture screenplays for various major studios. He has written for such critically acclaimed shows as Grace Under Fire and The Famous Teddy Z as well as cult favorites The Torkelsons, Invasion America and Movie Stars. He is a cultural commentator for the website The Simon.
His darkly comic debut work, Jesus Hates Me, received its world premiere by the Denver Center Theater Company as part of the inaugural Colorado New Play Summit - Winter, 2006. Lemon served as playwright in residence at DCTC during the play's production.
The Texas premiere was produced by Kitchen Dog Theater of Dallas in Fall, 2006. Patrons were invited to experience Jesus Hates Me for the holidays. The Dallas Morning News began questioning the appropriateness of the title five months in advance of the premiere. However, after the KDT opening, the Dallas Morning News' review stated, "...exceptionally well acted, impressively physical and ultimately about something more than finding the laugh lines and chuckling at the hicks." The Dallas set was created by local set designer, Erin Bailey.
Variety called the play "irreverent and at times as profane as rap, yet filled with pertinent issues and rebellious politics." Colorado Backstage said "The result is an exquisite comedy, featuring dark black lines of intriguing thought, with some of the funniest lines ever to appear on stage."
The play was a selected reading at the Steppenwolf Theater Company, at Horizon Theatre's 2006 New South PlayWorks Festival, the Hartford Stage's 2005 Brand:NEW Festival of Plays and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's 2005 Southern Writer's Project. It was also chosen to be a part of the American National Theater's premiere fundraiser, chaired by Paul Newman in New York, May 2005. A Fall, 2007 production of the play was produced by Emigrant Theater of Minneapolis.
The Chance Theater of Anaheim has scheduled a Summer, 2008 production of "Jesus Hates Me." Lemon continues to write for film and television in Los Angeles.
