Rate My Professor Charles Smith

Charles Smith is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Playwriting in Ohio University's School of Theater, where he headed the Professional Playwriting Program and served as an Ohio University Presidential Research Scholar in the Arts and Humanities. A graduate of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop with an M.F.A. in Theater from the University of Iowa, Smith has enjoyed a prolific career as a playwright whose works employ historical contexts to examine contemporary American issues of race, identity, and politics. His plays have premiered off-Broadway and been staged nationwide and internationally, including nine world premieres at Victory Gardens Theater—where he was playwright in residence, an alumnus playwright of New Dramatists, and a founding member of the Playwrights Ensemble—as well as at Goodman Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, American Blues Theater, Shakespeare & Company, and others. Productions have featured at HBO New Writers Project, the International Children’s Theatre Festival in Seattle, the North Carolina Black Arts Festival, and the National Black Theatre Festival.

Among Smith's notable works are Free Man of Color (2004), commissioned by former Ohio University President Robert Glidden for the university's bicentennial and chronicling the life of John Newton Templeton, Ohio University's first Black graduate; Objects in the Mirror; Knock Me a Kiss; Les Trois Dumas; Pudd'nhead Wilson, which completed a 22-city national tour; Takunda and City of Gold, which toured the West Coast; and The Reclamation of Madison Hemings. He authored two Emmy Award-winning teleplays, Fast Break to Glory and Pequito. Publications include The Gospel According to James and Other Plays (Ohio University Press, 2012). Smith's accolades encompass the Kesselring Prize (2025), Joyce Award, Joseph Jefferson Award, Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award (2008), Illinois Arts Council Governor’s Award, Princess Grace Fellowship, Theodore Ward National Playwriting Award, and August Wilson Playwriting Award. He has taught playwriting at Northwestern University, the Prague Summer Program in Creative Writing, and the Center for Dramatic Art in Croatia, significantly influencing generations of playwrights through his mentorship and contributions to theater addressing pivotal social concerns.