Douglas Parker

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Douglas M. Parker (b. May 25, 1963) is a playwright best known for biographical and reality-based plays. His works include Thicker Than Water (2004), a drama based on the Andrea Yates murders; BESSIE: The Life and Music of Bessie Smith (2005), a play with music about the rise and fall of the great American blues singer; Life on the Mississippi (2006), a play about the young Samuel Clemens leaving home to learn about steamboat piloting, adapted from the Mark Twain book of the same title; and Declarations (2007), a one-act play drawn from the letters of John and Abigail Adams from their earliest courtship through the summer of 1776. In 2008, working as librettist and lyricist, Parker adapted his play Life on the Mississippi into a musical with composer Denver Casado, which premiered in April, 2008. Also working as lyricist with Denver Casado, he contributed two songs to the musical Everything About a Family, scheduled to premiere in July, 2008. His works have been produced in theaters across the country. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.