Cellini

by John Patrick Shanley

Book by John Patrick Shanley

Genres: Plays

72 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2002

About the author

John Patrick Shanley was born in The Bronx, New York City, to a telephone operator mother and a meat-packer father. He is a graduate of New York University, and is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre.

For his script for the 1987 film, Moonstruck, Shanley won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.

In 1990, Shanley directed his script of Joe Versus the Volcano. Shanley also wrote two songs for the movie: "Marooned Without You" and "The Cowboy Song."

In 2004 Shanley was inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame.

In 2005, Shanley's play Doubt: A Parable was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Drama Desk Award and Tony Award for Best Play. Doubt: A Parable, is featured in The Fourth Wall, a book of photographs by Amy Arbus in which Shanley also wrote the foreword.

In 2008, Shanley directed a film version of Doubt starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all the moments when Cellini is arguing with Pope Paolo. Paolo: “If I were you, I would not laugh.” Cellini: “You are mistaken. If you were me, you would laugh. And the proof is: I did laugh.” Later the pope confronts Cellini about unflattering remarks he had made when he wasn’t around, which Cellini admits to having made. Paolo: “There it is. In the midst of all your cleverness, a catastrophic hubris. You have maligned me.” Cellini: “I have described you. That is my vocation.” I love it. My own Grandmother was excommunicated from the Catholic Church as a young artist for having painted an unflattering portrait of a couple priests. I’m so proud of her for that. The conflict between art, science and religion are thus a favorite theme of mine, and run all through this play. A great play.