Mat Smart is the author of twelve full-length plays, the book & lyrics of one musical, and numerous one-acts.  He is a past recipient of two Jerome Fellowships from the Playwrights' Center.  This summer, Williamstown Theatre Festival produced the world premiere of his newest play, Samuel J. and K. Steppenwolf Young Adult will produce the Midwest premiere of the play this winter.

Also this summer, the New Theatre Group produced his one-act, A Standing Long Jump, in the Minnesota Fringe Festival.

His play The 13th of Paris premiered at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre and was the recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award. It has since been produced by Horizon Theatre in Atlanta, The Public Theatre of Maine, The Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, South Carolina, and Seattle Public Theatre. The 13th of Paris will soon be published by Dramatic Publishing.

The Hopper Collection won San Diego Playbill's award for Best New Play and was subsequently produced at Huntington Theatre Company in Boston and the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. It is published by Broadway Play Publishing and a monologue from the play appears in Smith and Kraus' Best Womens Monologues 2008.

Mat is a co-founder of Slant Theatre Project in New York City, serves on the Board of Directors for The New Harmony Project, and is an alumnus of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and Ars Nova's Play Group. He has been commissioned to write new plays by South Coast Rep and Huntington Theatre Company.  

A graduate of the University of Evansville, he holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from University of California – San Diego. An avid Chicago Cubs fan, he has seen baseball games at twenty-seven of the current MLB stadiums.

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The 13th of Paris

In this charming and theatrical romantic comedy, Vincent travels to an apartment in Paris carrying only a suitcase filled with the surprising love letters of his late grandparents. Then he begins receiving romantic advice from a dapper ghost in a pinstripe suit, Vincent wonders if the love he imagines is possible, even in the 13th of Paris.

The 13th of Paris was originally commissioned and developed by South Coast Repertory with support from the Elizabeth George Foundation. The writing of The 13th of Paris was supported in part by the 2006 Conference of The New Harmony Project. The play received its world premiere at City Theatre in Pittsburgh PA, Tracy Bridgen Artistic Director, Greg Quinlan, Managing Director.  It has since been produced at Seattle Public Theatre, Horizon Theatre in Atlanta, The Public Theatre of Maine and The Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, SC.

Samuel J. and K.

Samuel J. surprises his adopted brother, Samuel K., with a trip back to his birth country of Cameroon for college graduation — but Samuel K. has no desire to face a place and a past that abandoned him. Samuel J. and K. challenges the traditional definitions of family and asks if a place we’ve only imagined can become home overnight.

Samuel J. and K. premiered at Williamstown Theatre Festival in July 2010 with Justin Long as Samuel J. and Owiso Odera as Samuel K. It will be produced in February/March 2011 in Chicago at Steppenwolf Young Adult.

A Bed the Size of Portugal

Olivia is beautiful.  Oscar is beautiful.  They are newlyweds and completely in love with each other.  Everyone is jealous.  But Olivia snores like a sailor and Oscar hasn't slept in months.  Will a bed the size of Portugal solve their problem?

A Bed the Size of Portugal has received readings and workshops at Ars Nova, Shakespeare on the Sound and in the Atlantic Theatre Company’s Latino MixFest 2010.