Jeffrey Hatcher


Jeffrey Hatcher is an American playwright and screenwriter. He wrote the stage play Compleat Female Stage Beauty, which he later adapted into a screenplay, shortened to just Stage Beauty. He also co-wrote the stage adaptation of Tuesdays with Morrie with author Mitch Albom, and Three Viewings, a comedy consisting of three monologues - each of which takes place in a funeral home. He wrote the screenplay Casanova for director Lasse Hallström, as well as the screenplay for The Duchess. He has also written for the Peter Falk TV series Columbo and E! Entertainment Television.

Early life

Hatcher spent his youth in Steubenville, Ohio, a gritty Ohio River town better known for its mob connections, houses of ill repute and industrial detritus than for its literary sons and daughters. Hatcher was much influenced by a high school teacher, Glenda Dunlope, an old-school thespian who ran the drama program there. He attended Denison University in Granville, Ohio, and later, as he migrated to New York City and ultimately to Minneapolis, he continued to draw on his home turf for inspiration.
Hatcher believes the best teachers don’t push students into writing in a particular way but encourage them to try working in whatever tradition they enjoy.

Career

His many award-winning original plays have been performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally across the US and abroad. Some of his plays include Three Viewings, Scotland Road, A Picasso, Neddy, Korczak's Children, Mercy of a Storm, Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright , and Lucky Duck. Hatcher wrote the book for the Broadway musical Never Gonna Dance and the musical, ELLA.
Hatcher adapted Robert Louis Stevenson's novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, into a play in which actors play multiple roles, and Mr. Hyde is played by four actors, one of whom is female. The adaptation, which has been called "hipper, more erotic, and theatrically intense...definitely not your grandfather's 'Jekyll and Hyde'", was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for an Edgar Award for Best Play.
Hatcher is a member and/or alumnus of The Playwrights' Center, The Dramatists Guild of America, Writers Guild of America and New Dramatists.

Work

Plays