Franklin Ashley
Playwriting

Telephone: (843) 953-8149
Fax: (843) 953-8210
Office: Room 215, Albert Simons Center for the Arts
Email: ashleyf@cofc.edu

Dr. Franklin Ashley (BA - Newberry College; MA - University of South Carolina; PhD - USC) is Professor of Playwriting in the Dept. of Theatre. He is currently Chair of the Playwrights Program for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Most recently he was included in Monologues for Men by Men published by Heinemann Press in April, 2002. Dr. Ashley's plays include AMBER KEYHOLE, MIDNIGHT RIDE, SMOKEY IN HOLLYWOOD, and the award-winning THE DELTA DANCER.

Dr. Ashley also co-authored the musical SOUTHERN FRIED with William Price Fox and Shel Silverstein. In 1998, the Lowcountry Heritage Society presented the world premiere of THE GUEST DIRECTOR, a biting satire of theatre in Higher Education. The comedy was a sellout for each performance, with nearly 800 people attending opening night at Sottile Theatre.

Dr. Ashley has also written for a number of national magazines, including HARPER'S, THE NEW REPUBLIC, THE PARIS REVIEW, SPORT, and TV GUIDE.Dr Ashley is a member of The Dramatists Guild and is ATHE liason to the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

A noted jazz pianist, Dr. Ashley also composed music and lyrics for AMBER KEYHOLE, MIDNIGHT RIDE, SMOKEY IN HOLLYWOOD as well as SOUTHERN FRIED. He also wrote the dramatic music underscoring THE DELTA DANCER. He recently wrote music and librettos for three new dances performed by the Robert Ivey Ballet. He is the winner of the Amoco award for distinguished teaching.

PLAYWRITING
In Nov. of 2001, BACKSTAGE magazine recognized the playwriting courses at the College as being one of four areas in Higher Education worthy of special notice. The other Colleges were the ACT in San Francisco, The University of Houston, and The New School in New York.Playwriting students have distinguished themselves by winning contests sponsored by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival and the national New Play Development Workshop at ATHE where they successfully competed against college professors, graduate students and professional playwrights. Additionally students have had their scripts performed locally, regionally and nationally. One student was the only undergraduate published in More Monologues for Women by Women.

At the College students may take Playwriting I, where they are introduced to the basic principles of the art, culminating in a reading of their work, entitled Playwrights Tonight. Playwright II focuses on longer one-acts and includes a trip to New York where the students have their work evaluated by the chair of the NYU dramatic writing program, an exclusive arrangement between NYU and CofC. Students also participate in workshops at New Dramatists, The Dramatists Guild, and have informal discussions with working playwrights in New York.There are also opportunities for developing longer work in Playwriting III, and screenwriting. For further information please contact Dr. Franklin Ashley.