Medoff, Mark (Howard) - Introduction

Mark (Howard) Medoff 1940–

American playwright, director, and actor.

Medoff's plays follow in the realistic tradition of the mainstream American theater. His When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?, which won the 1974 Obie for best play, is often likened to O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh for its shared themes of unfulfilled dreams and alienation. Medoff peppers his meticulously vernacular dialogue with witty and sometimes sardonic wisecracks.

Children of a Lesser God, winner of the 1980 Tony Award, concerns the relationship between deaf and hearing people and, using speech as well as sign language, Medoff manages to present a poignant plot with a deaf and practically speechless protagonist.

(See also CLC, Vol. 6; Contemporary Authors, Vols. 53-56; Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, Vol. 5; and Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 7.)