Michael London is a playwright and the director of the Ohio Playwrights Circle. His plays have been performed in the US, the UK, and Canada. He has taught playwrighting in a variety of theatrical, university and community settings.
Michael London is a playwright and the director of the Ohio Playwrights Circle. His plays have been performed in the US, the UK, and Canada. He is currently the Ohio Regional Representative for the Dramatists Guild of America and helps to connect playwrights in the region to the education and services of the Guild.
Michael London is a playwright and the director of the Ohio Playwrights Circle. His plays have been performed in the US, the UK, and Canada. He is currently the Ohio Regional Representative for the Dramatists Guild of America and helps to connect playwrights in the region to the education and services of the Guild.
For Michael, stories are the text-books for life. This belief is at the center of the what and the why he does this work as a playwright. The theatre is a place to watch & create those stories that keep people thinking and learning long after they have left the space.
There are two key themes throughout his work…. secrets and families. What fascinates him is learning the histories and stories that aren’t told, the secrets of society. He has been called “an historian that writes plays.”
Families are often the context of his stories. Whether it is the families we know, the ones we don’t, the ones we think we know, or the families we create where none exists, all are the context for where we have come from, are going to, or wish we had.
While Michael has written in other forms, he considers himself a playwright. It’s his way to tell our stories and add to that textbook of life.
He considers himself lucky to have studied with a wide array of professionals, and that wide range of perspectives and the constant learning never stops. In 2026 he’s at Oxford University taking new classes that will affect his writing as much as some of the first classes he took many years ago.
And just so you know, he is called Mike as often as Michael, and he is happy with either.
Michael believes strongly in the value of teaching others the craft of writing, not only the history or theory of playwriting, but the daily craft. And critical to that craft is hearing the words of a new script. Each class brings to life the words of each writer as they hear the script spoken by actors who are guests to each session. Because of this, his classes were frequently maxed out as students grew to be better writers through weekly writing assignments and feedback sessions after listening to their words come alive.
He was a Teaching Artist and Visiting Artist for the Ohio Arts Council’s Arts-in-Education Program for over 20 years. He was a Guest Professor in playwriting for Otterbein University and taught Playwriting for The Human Race Theatre Company’s Education Program for many years.
Until recently he taught classes and facilitated workshops and public readings of new plays for the Ohio Playwrights Circle. He is currently available for teaching but on a very limited basis.
Working as an Artist-in-Residence is a powerful way to have an impact with the process of creating art. It can be an important experience for the site of the residency as well as for the artist. A residency is about collaboration and often experimentation to create art that is unique to serving the mission of the sponsoring site of the residency. That site might be a school, a museum, a library, a community arts center, or a theatre. It might even be a hospital or a commercial workplace.
Mike has worked as an Playwright-in-Residence at a number of institutions, and each residency is different in many ways except one. The art created in the residency is always intended to further the mission of the sponsoring site. For Mike the work of a Residency is to create a storytelling experience that serves the mission and community of the sponsor.
Mike participated as an artist in a wide variety of residencies serving many communities for over 20 years with the Ohio Arts Council’s Arts in Education program. These residencies served schools and communities across the state of Ohio.
If you are interested in designing a residency with Mike, use the contact form below on this page and Mike will be in touch with you to explore what is possible.
Mike has been a speaker for many occasions. His work as a writer of historical material has led him to speak on a range of topics in Storytelling and History. Each presentation is informative and a true bit of fun. Here are a few:
THE INSIDE STORY – is a presentation on the power of the transformational arc in storytelling. Mike studied with Dara Marks and others over the years and presents a brief overview of these storytelling concepts that bring success to playwrights, novelists and screenwriters alike.
THE DRIVING POINT – is a presentation on the understanding of a simple and key point in storytelling that has been used for thousands of years. An unusual structural point that can be so valuable for a writer in any genre. And learning this is simply fun, discovering something that you already knew but didn’t know that you knew.
THOSE ENGLISH GIRLS – is a presentation on Ida and Louise Cook, two British sisters who turned their love of Opera into a cover for their efforts to save a number of families from the dangers of the Holocaust. It is a rare and inspiring story of courage and ingenuity. Mike’s play, Those English Girls is based upon this true story.
FATHER AND SON: THE FRANKLINS – is a presentation on Benjamin Franklin and his son William Franklin and their close and eventually volatile relationship that exploded as a result of their political differences. Mike’s play, Treason is based upon this true story.
VARIAN – is a presentation on the work of Varian Fry, and American writer/editor that travelled to France after it fell to the Germans during the second world war. With that expedition he saved over 4,000 lives of refugees escaping the Holocaust and certain death. Mike’s play, Varian is based upon this true story.
FESTIVAL PRESENTATIONS
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
AWARDS & COMMISSIONS
PLAYS
Full Length
Short Plays
Scripts for Streaming
TRAINING
I also maintain the Ohio Playwright’s Circle program, a resource that focuses on service and education to Ohio playwrights.
To contact me about the Ohio Playwright’s Circle, email me at ohioplaywrightscircle@gmail.com
Or visit the blog site at ohioplaywrightscircle.wordpress.com
