by Seva May
Everyone loves a good story. When that story is told through the eyes of a creative person, it’s even better. When that story is told and then written as a book, a play or a screenplay, the story comes alive. But when the story is told and written from one’s heart and soul it stays in the spotlight of our minds forever.
Erik Champney, born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, spent most of his formative years in and out of a hospital bed. Born with a muscle deficiency, Erik had to undergo difficult, extensive surgeries that would allow him to walk. In fact, Erik didn’t walk until he was three years old. At the tender age of four, his father became his stenographer as he sat for hours dictating stories and plays. Being confined may have been difficult for him, but he made the best of it by developing an incredible imagination. Television became an instrumental source of entertainment and by the age of nine, Erik had seen most all of Alfred Hitchcock’s films. To this day, Erik claims that Hitchcock is the greatest director that ever lived.
His parents enrolled him in Shreveport’s Peter Pan Players under the direction of Isabell Rosenbloom. It was there, playing the role of an Oompa Loompa in Willie Wonka, that he fell in love with theatre. That was only the beginning. In high school Erik was commissioned to write a play for Peter Pan Players which formally launched his playwriting career. He graduated from Haughton High School and enrolled in the theatre program at Centenary College
in Shreveport. Erik received a B.A. in both
Theatre and English from Centenary College of Louisiana followed by a M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Throughout the decade of 2011-2021, Erik wrote 18 plays and received 42 productions, workshops, and readings.
Erik’s work has been produced, developed, and celebrated across the United States and beyond through such organizations as Kierstead Productions, Broadway Factor,
The Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Potomac Theatre Project, Dartmouth College, La MaMa, Orlando Shakes!, Seattle Fringe Festival, Abingdon Theatre Company, Above the Stag Theatre in London, and Home Club in Singapore. He has enjoyed collaborations with remarkable people, including Misha Osherovich, Judith Chaffee, Ethan Chia, Doug Harris, Shaun Peknic, Mao Sun, Matt Maretz, Erik Ransom, Bill Army, Philippe Bowgen, Sawyer Spielberg, Dylan Goodwin, and Elizabeth Inghram. Erik’s acclaimed play, The Screens, featured in the Screaming Queens anthology, published by Left Coast Publishing. Susannah Perkins, Erin Wilhelmi, Marrick Smith, David Pittu, Jake Smith, Valerie Leonard,
Erik also called Seattle and Singapore home before planting roots in New York. The recipient of many awards, he has been honored twice by The Kennedy Center for his plays Dead Brains (National AIDS Fund/CFDA-Vogue Initiative Award for Playwriting) and Pangaea (Commendation for Excellence). In 2021, Erik wrote and directed his debut film, Tuesday, currently on an acclaimed international tour through the festival circuit. He will leave for the Ferarra Film Festival in Ferarra, Italy where Tuesday will be presented from 40 films out of 2500 submissions. Erik was a member of Young Playwrights Inc., where he studied under Stephen Sondheim, John Weidman and Wendy Wasserstein. Other notable influences have been B. Mark Seabrooks, Craig Lucas, and Leigh Silverman. His upcoming film projects include The Screens (2023) and Giallo (2024), both adapted from his stage plays. In September, Erik will return to Shreveport to direct Seva May, On My Own, which opens October 28 and runs through October 30 at the Shreveport Little Theatre. Erik Champney is not capable of sitting still, even with a disability. He chose to “do” what he loved the most and he’s reaping the rewards. www.erikchampney.com
“Erik Champney’s writing is equal parts deep literate drama, witty contemporary humor, and base raw sexuality…makes you question your own mortality and even your own perceptions of life.” Mia Moreta,Outer-Stage
Seattle Fringe Festival, Abingdon Theatre Company, Above the Stag Theatre in London, and Home Club in Singapore.
He has enjoyed collaborations with remarkable people, including Misha Osherovich, Susannah Perkins, Erin Wilhelmi, Marrick Smith, David Pittu, Jake Smith, Valerie Leonard, Judith Chaffee, Ethan Chia, Doug Harris, Shaun Peknic, Mao Sun, Matt Maretz, Erik Ransom, Bill Army, Philippe Bowgen, Sawyer Spielberg, Dylan Goodwin, and Elizabeth Inghram. Erik’s acclaimed play, The Screens, featured in the Screaming Queens anthology, published by Left Coast Publishing.
Erik also called Seattle and Singapore home before planting roots in New York. The recipient of many awards, he has been honored twice by The Kennedy Center for his plays Dead Brains (National AIDS Fund/CFDA-Vogue Initiative Award for Playwriting) and Pangaea (Commendation for Excellence).
In 2021, Erik wrote and directed his debut film, Tuesday, currently on an acclaimed international tour through the festival circuit. He will leave for the Ferarra Film Festival in Ferarra, Italy where Tuesday will be presented from 40 films out of 2500 submissions.
Erik was a member of Young Playwrights Inc., where he studied under Stephen Sondheim, John Weidman and Wendy Wasserstein. Other notable influences have been B. Mark Seabrooks, Craig Lucas, and Leigh Silverman.
His upcoming film projects include The Screens (2023) and Giallo (2024), both adapted from his stage plays. In September, Erik will return to Shreveport to direct Seva May, On My Own, which opens October 28 and runs through October 30 at the Shreveport Little Theatre.
Erik Champney is not capable of sitting still, even with a disability. He chose to “do” what he loved the most and he’s reaping the rewards. www.erikchampney.com
