Bio

MATTHEW BARBER was born in Los Angeles and is a UCLA graduate. His stage play ENCHANTED APRIL premiered in 2000 at Hartford Stage and opened on Broadway in 2003, garnering the John Gassner Award for Outstanding New American Play and Drama League and Tony Award nominations for Best Play. With more than 500 international productions to date, ENCHANTED APRIL has become one of the most produced plays of the past decade. Current work includes the stage play FIREFLIES, which premiered in 2017 at Long Wharf Theatre (Edgerton Foundation New Play Award), and two screenplays — the original historical drama INDEPENDENCE, and a film adaptation of his stage play ENCHANTED APRIL. Work in development includes the stage plays THE FORCES and DARK AGE, and a musical stage adaptation of ENCHANTED APRIL (with actor/composer Bruce Dow). Matthew has been a participating playwright in Broadway’s 24 Hour Plays event to benefit Urban Playground, is the recipient of Wurlitzer Foundation and Art OMI fellowships, and is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.