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ABOUT BILL
Kentucky Playwright & Writer
William "Bill" H. McCann, Jr. is a playwright, poet, writer of flash fiction, and arts columnist for the Winchester (KY) Sun. His full-length play Boats Against the Current was given a workshop production in the summer of 2018 and a full-production in February/March 2019 by Flashback Theater, Somerset, KY; Sommer Schoch directed both productions.
The second production of Boats is currently scheduled to be produced by Spotlight Playhouse, Berea, KY in the spring of 2021. His one-act play, co-written with Dr. Jennifer Goodlander, Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven was produced at the University of Kentucky in October 2011 as part of the Department of Theatre's Main Stage Season. His 10-minute plays include Strained Pears which won second place in the Kentucky Theatre Association's 2020 Roots of the Bluegrass 10-Minute Play Contest, There is No Wrigley Field which was produced at both the Mid-America Theatre Conference and at Spotlight Playhouse, Berea. Finally, his play Three O'clock was produced as part of the Kentucky New Play Series.
Mr. McCann is a founder of the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop and its current president. He originated and produced the Kentucky New Play Series from 2012 - 2019. The first seasons were produced at the Kentucky State Fair. Most Finalists were produced at a variety of venues either as part of a festival or as appetizer play preceding a full-length play. Additionally, Mr.McCann edited and published a collection of the winning plays from seasons one and two of the Kentucky New Play Series Anthology, 2012-2013 (JW Books, 2015).
Mr. McCann has edited and published 37 short plays by Kentucky playwrights including those in the KNPS anthology, the I Come From: A Voices Inside Anthology (JW Books, 2017) as well as plays published in the literary journal Snapdragon for two years (four issues) and in the Kentucky Theatre Yearbook (four years).
Since the spring of 2019, Mr. McCann has served as an arts columnist for his hometown newspaper, The Sun. He lives with Jeanine Grant Lister, three cats, and Halligan the Wonder Dog.
IN THE NEWS
Headlines & Stories
WINCHESTER NATIVE TO DEBUT AS PLAYWRIGHT
Staff at The Winchester Sun write about Bill McCann's debut as a playwright as his play, "Boats Against the Current” was set to premiere in March 2019.
BILL MCCANN: PROFILE IN THE DRAMATIST
Staff at The Dramatist, a news arm of the Dramatists Guild, profile Kentucky Playwright Bill McCann.
THERE FOR THE ASKING: BILL MCCANN ’79
Staff at 1780, the official blog of Transylvania University, sit down with Bill McCann, a graduate of the class of 1979.
FBTC MATURES WITH 'BOATS AGAINST THE CURRENT'
Christopher Harris, a reporter for the Somerset Commonwealth Journal, reviews William McCann's "Boats Against the Current."
KENTUCKY NEW PLAY SERIES EXPANDS FOR 2016 STATE FAIR
Ashlie Stevens, a reporter for WFPL, writes about producer Bill McCann's fifth annual Kentucky New Play Series at the 2016 Kentucky State Fair.
KENTUCKY PLAYWRIGHTS WORKSHOP HITS THE STAGE AT THE BARD’S TOWN BEFORE VENTURING ON TO THE STATE FAIR
Staff at the Louisville Insight write about the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, of which Bill McCann is a founding member.
NEW ANTHOLOGY OF KENTUCKY PLAYS EDITED BY UK ALUMNUS
Whitney Hale, a writer for UK Now, details the release of the anthology of the Kentucky New Play Series which features University of Kentucky alumnus William H. McCann Jr.'s work.