Michael Hollinger (born January 13, 1962, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania) is an American playwright who is currently an associate professor of theatre at Villanova University and an alumnus of New Dramatists.^[1] He received a Bachelor of Music in viola performance from Oberlin Conservatory in 1984 and a Master of Arts in theatre from Villanova in 1989. He has been married to Megan Bellwoar since 1990.

Because of his background as a musician, Hollinger considers his plays compositions. He is quoted as saying, "Plays are music to me; characters are instruments, scenes are movements; tempo, rhythm and dynamics are critical; and melody and counterpoint are always set in relief by rests—beats, pauses, the spaces in between."^[2]

Hollinger has written three short films for PBS and co-authored the feature-length Philadelphia Diary. His awards include the Roger L. Stevens Award from the Fund for New American Plays, three Barrymore Awards for Outstanding New Play, a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, the F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Theatre Artist, a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award, a commission from The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science and Technology Project, and fellowships from the Independence Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Works

Full-length plays:

• Under the Skin' (2015)
• Hope and Gravity (2014)
• Cyrano, translated, and co-adapted with Aaron Posner (2011)
• Ghost-Writer (2010)
• A Wonderful Noise (musical), co-authored with Vance Lehmkuhl (2009)
• Opus (2006)
• Tooth and Claw (2004)
• Red Herring (2000)
• Tiny Island (1997)
• Incorruptible (1996)
• An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf (1994)

Plays for young audiences:

• Eureka!
• Hot Air
• Boxheads
• Clean Getaway (musical), co-authored with Beth Dannenfelser

Ten-minute plays:

• Battle of the Backyard
• Senior Moment
• Truth Decay
• Naked Lunch
• Serviette
• Two-Part Invention

Screenplays:

• Opus
• Incorruptible
• Pipe