William Mastrosimone
Playwright
With plays that spark conversation and tackle tough issues, William Mastrosimone has earned a reputation as a bold and influential voice in American theater
William Mastrosimone’s play Extremities, fi rst produced at Rutgers, was destined to bring him fame. Starring Farrah Fawcett off-Broadway and then in a version for the screen, Extremities sparked much controversy as it dealt with the sensitive issue of rape. Mastrosimone made his professional debut with The Woolgatherer in 1981. In 1992, he won a Golden Globe for his miniseries Sinatra, and he received an Emmy nomination for The Burning Season. His play Like Totally Weird debuted in 1998 at the 22nd Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville. His play Bang, Bang You’re Dead, based on a shooting incident in Oregon that killed two students and injured 22, appeared as a movie on Showtime in October 2002. The screenplay adaptation of Benedict Arnold, starring Kelsey Grammer and Aidan Quinn, premiered on A&E in January 2003. Other projects include The Afghan Women, which premiered in Kabul, Afghanistan, and is available to colleges and universities to perform as a fundraiser for Afghan orphans through International Orphan Care. In 2005, Mastrosimone was nominated for an Emmy award for his writing on the Stephen Spielberg-produced TV miniseries In the West.