NEWS
Bill Coleman's new one-act play, Waiting for Alexander Graham Bell, produced by the Brown Couch Theatre Compnay, is (was) being performed on a bill of plays entitled Last Call at the Viaduct Theatre in Chicago.
A non-fiction book Bill and his wife Linda spent nearly 30 years researching, Voices of Wounded Knee, is now in quality paperback (Bison Books, University of Nebraska Press). The book which deals with the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 still continues to sell here and abroad. To date it has rceeived more than 30 favorable reviews here and in England, Sweden, and Germany. As a result of two debates at the United States Army's Judge Advocate's graduate law school situated on the University of Virginia campus, the Army is reviewing the erroneous citation for the 7th Cavalry's battle streamer. Bill and his wiofe wrote the first draft of the new citation.
BIOGRAPHY
William S.E. Coleman, professor emeritus of theatre arts from Drake Univeristy, is an award winning and produced screenwriter and playwright. Public Television's production of my screenplay, The Split Infinity, received the finalist award (4th place out of 3150 entries) at the Worldfest Houston/The Houston International Film and video Festival. I received the $10,000 best screenplay award in the American Cinema Foundation's annual competition for Out of the Night, a screenplay dealing with the 1943 Danish Rescue of that country's Jewish citizens. Research for this writing project was partially funded by Thanks to Scandinavia, an international foundation then headed by the late Victor Borge.
Three screenplays have been optioned, all three were renewed. In addition, Bill was nominated a record 7 consecutive times and received 3 best screenplay awards from the Iowa Motion Picture Association's annual awards ceremony. As an award-winning playwright, he has had more than 50 productions in university and regional theatres. Included are three productions in Chicago and one in Off-off-Broadway in NYC.
Voices of Wounded Knee, a non-fiction book published by the University of Nebraska Press was researched for nearly 30 years by Coleman his wife Linda. It remains in print in hardback and quality paperback editions. The book provided Coleman with research for his award winning screenplay, Ghost Dance. It has received unanimously positive reviews here and in England, Germany, and Sweden.
His innovative Playwrights Acting Company at Drake has produced many published, produced, and award winning playwrights and screenwriters.