Adriano Shaplin

Guest Artist

Adriano Shaplin is the artistic director of the Riot Group, an ensemble he founded in 1997. He is the author of eight plays for the company, including Wreck the Airline Barrier, Victory at the Dirt Palace, Pugilist Specialist, and Switch Triptych and is a four-time recipient of the Scotsman Fringe First Award for new writing. His plays are published by Oberon Books and have been translated, produced, and performed all over the world.

In 2004 Shaplin joined Pig Iron Theater Company to create Hell Meets Henry Halfway, an adaptation of the work of Witold Gombrowicz, which received a 2005 OBIE award for Outstanding Production.

In 2006 Adriano Shaplin became the first International Playwright-in-Residence with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His first play for the RSC, Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes, opened in November 2008 in London. He is the recipient of a Sloan Foundation Grant and has been commissioned by Playwright's Horizons, Royal Shakespeare Company, Soho Theatre and the Riot Group.

He received a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a M.A. in Performance Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. He has taught acting and writing at UC Berkeley, Rose Bruford College, Swarthmore College, MIT, and Warwick University.

Shaplin was born in Burlington, Vermont, and currently lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.