ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
More than 100 productions of Wiles's plays and musicals have been produced across America from Hawaii to Maine, and internationally as far away as Newfoundland and The Netherlands.
Playwright Julian Wiles founded Charleston Stage in 1978 and continues to serve as the company’s Producing Artistic Director. Under Wiles's leadership, Charleston Stage, in residence at Charleston’s Historic Dock Street Theatre and South Carolina's largest resident professional theatre, has grown into one of the region's largest and most respected arts institutions. Wiles has written 31 original plays, musicals, and stage adaptations, many of which have had their premieres at Charleston Stage.
Wiles grew up on a cotton farm in rural Ft. Motte, South Carolina. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from the College of Charleston in 1974 and an MFA in Dramatic Art from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1976.
Wiles's many and varied interests are reflected in the wide range of subjects and styles of his work. A number of his works celebrate the rich cultural history of the South Carolina Lowcountry, and many are based on historical events and characters.
Eight of Wiles's works are published and licensed by The Dramatic Publishing Company, and the boy who stole the stars was anthologized in Coleman Jenning's Twelve Plays for Children With Mature Themes (University of Texas Press, 1996). Two works, Night of the Pterodactyls and the boy who stole the stars, have been published in Dutch and taught in Dutch schools.
In 1988, Wiles was awarded the National Youth Theatre Director's Award by the American Association for Theatre and Education for his work with young people and his writing for young audiences.
Wiles is a recipient of the 2010 Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Governor’s Award for the Arts, South Carolina's highest award in the arts.
Wiles was inducted into the SC Theatre Association's Hall of Fame in 2018.
Wiles is married to Jenny Hane, his wife of almost 40 years. They have two children: Marianna, a high school writing teacher in Brooklyn, and Nicholas, an aerospace engineer and software designer in San Francisco.
A CHRONOLOGY OF WRITING
1979
Caroliniantics
Seize the Street!
The Mother Goose Radio Show
1981
1982
DuBose Heyward’s The Country Bunny (adaptation)
1983
The Tradd Street Follies
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (adaptation)
Twelve Days of Christmas (an early version of Fruitcakes)
1984
Gilbert and Sullivan’s Treasure Island (adaptation)
A Christmas Carol, A Ghost Story of Christmas (adaptation)
1985
In Dixieland I'll Take My Stand
1986
Life on the Mississippi (adaptation)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (adaptation)
1987
Shakespeare's Clowns, Fools and Buffoons (adaptation)
Night of the Pterodactyls
1988
a boy and his piano
Huckleberry! (adaptation)
1989
1990
Fruitcakes
Anne of Green Gables (adaptation)
1991
Fire Over the City: The Siege of Charleston
Dracula, King of Vampires (adaptation)
1992
1993
The Incandescent Young Tom Edison
1994
Nevermore! Edgar Allan Poe, the Final Mystery
1996
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (adaptation)
1998
The Secret Garden (adaptation)
2003
Gershwin at Folly
Beneath the Sweetgrass Moon
2004
2007
2012
2014
A Christmas Carol, A Ghost Story of Christmas (final version)